Today in Restaurant and Grocery Tech: Curbside Gets Automated; Jet Founder Takes on Food Delivery

Today in restaurant and grocery tech news, ResTech company Presto announced a partnership with robotics startup Ottonomy to automate curbside delivery, and Jet founder Marc Lore revealed plans for a new food technology company. Plus, Madeline Aufseeser, omnichannel grocery and drugstores leader at ACI Worldwide, discusses how grocers can meet today’s consumers’ digital expectations.

REEF to Buy 2ndKitchen Food Delivery Service

REEF, which operates delivery kitchens, logistics and proximity hubs, has bought virtual kitchen company 2ndKitchen, according to a press release emailed to PYMNTS. 2ndKitchen’s services help bars, breweries, hotels and other businesses partner with hyper-local restaurants in order to offer custom food experiences, add new customers and make more money.

Restaurant OS GrubTech Notches $13M Series A for Global Expansion

GrubTech, an all-in-one operating system for restaurants and cloud kitchens, announced on Monday (Dec. 6) it had raised $13 million in a Series A funding round led by Addition, with participation by Ventures and Hambro Perks Oryx Fund. Currently used by clients across 15 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe, GrubTech plans to use the fresh infusion of capital to continue advancing its solutions and further grow its footprint in new markets. The startup recently processed a milestone of 2 million orders.

Digital Consumers Demand UK Grocers Improve Online, In-Store Shopping Experiences

In a PYMNTS report on what U.K. consumers expect from their grocery shopping experiences, ease and convenience were the main reasons 66.2% of U.K. grocery shoppers said they are continuing to buy groceries online — a trend that Madeline Aufseeser, omnichannel grocery and drugstores leader at ACI Worldwide, said will likely continue well after the pandemic has ended.

Robots Help Restaurants Improve Curbside Delivery

With the challenges of today’s restaurant labor market stretching indefinitely into the future, businesses are looking to automate more stages of the process. While restaurants have been experimenting with autonomous home delivery for years, Redwood City, California-based restaurant technology company Presto, which creates touch, vision and voice solutions, is working on a new use case for delivery robots. On Tuesday (Dec. 7), the company announced a partnership with Santa Monica, California-based autonomous delivery startup Ottonomy to automate curbside delivery.

Jet Founder Marc Lore Planning ‘One-Stop Shop’ for Cooked Meals

Entrepreneur Marc Lore is joining forces with Scott Hilton, Walmart’s former chief revenue officer on Wonder Group, an eCommerce platform that will bring together the best elements of food trucks, ghost kitchens and fast food delivery, he wrote in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday (Dec. 7).