This IIT Madras graduate sold his salad-making robot to the $56 billion DoorDash

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The restaurant-delivery app <keyword id="2675287" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Doordash">DoorDash</keyword> has bought the food-robotics company <keyword id="4386379" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Chowbotics">Chowbotics</keyword>.</li><li>Chowbotics makes Sally, a robot that prepares custom salads in under a minute.</li><li>More than 350 of the <keyword id="16719" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="robots">robots</keyword> are in use worldwide, a number that could grow following the deal.</li></ul>DoorDash has bought <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sally-the-salad-robot-chowbotics-2017-4">Chowbotics</a>, the developers of a robot that can make custom fresh salads in under a minute.DoorDash merchants will now be able to expand their menus and reach new markets without investing in new stores, the food-delivery app said in a <a href="https://blog.doordash.com/welcoming-chowbotics-to-the-doordash-team-cf0b59c4ce94">statement Monday</a>, suggesting merchants could use the robots to fulfill orders delivered through DoorDash.The release didn't say how much DoorDash, the top restaurant-delivery service in the US, paid for Chowbotics, but <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/doordash-is-buying-robotics-startup-chowbotics-11612805441">The Wall Street Journal</a> said Chowbotics was valued at $46 million in 2018. The Journal first reported the deal.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/startups-uber-most-likely-to-buy-lime-nimblerx-oja-express-2021-2?r=gd-sub">6 startups that Uber could acquire as it battles DoorDash to rule delivery, an expert says</a>Chowbotics' flagship product is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sally-the-salad-robot-chowbotics-2017-4">Sally</a>, a 3-foot-by-3-foot machine that dispenses fresh ingredients customers can use for salads, grain and poke bowls, parfaits, cereals, and snacks.DoorDash said the simple-sounding task was actually complex because of the different weights and shapes of the ingredients."The level of autonomy, accessibility, and customization that Chowbotics provides to consumers is proven and unmatched," it added.<div type="image" title="Sally Chowbotics" height="675" width="900" msid="80770815" hostid="261"></div>The robot stores its ingredients in 22 canisters, which have to be filled manually. Chowbotics says Sally can make <a href="https://www.chowbotics.com/faq/">50 to 100 meals</a>, taking less than a minute each, before a refill is required.Chowbotics said Sally had become <a href="https://www.partners.chowbotics.com/webinar-grocery-food-robotics">all the more useful during the coronavirus pandemic</a> as people increasingly focused on hygiene. Humans don't handle the ingredients apart from stocking up the machine, and customers need only touch a tablet screen to get their <keyword id="51752" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="salad">salad</keyword>. In October, Chowbotics rolled out a contactless option, too, which let users order in advance with an app.The robot also uses temperature controls to keep ingredients fresher for longer, which leads to less waste, Chowbotics said, and merchants get an automated dashboard with data on temperatures, sales, and ingredient use.<a href="https://www.chowbotics.com/how-it-works/">Chowbotics says</a> the robots are in <a href="https://www.chowbotics.com/grocery/?hsCtaTracking=08af9a73-35f1-4a9f-9c96-36bc23d5fee6%7C82458f4c-6185-4f3c-b444-d084ef486b18">more than 350 locations worldwide</a> and can serve <keyword id="6181" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Food">food</keyword> "at all places and times" without requiring extra staffing.The inventor <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/food-100-coolest-people-in-food-and-drink-2019-1#62-deepak-sekar-founder-and-ceo-of-chowbotics-35">Deepak Sekar set Chowbotics up</a> in 2014, first developing a machine that combined spices and vegetables to make curry before creating a salad-making version. The company has raised about $21 million, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/08/doordash-acquires-salad-making-robotics-startup-chowbotics/">TechCrunch</a> reported.<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/doordash-stock-price-ipo-public-trading-debut-nyse-dash-offering-2020-12-1029878632?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest">DoorDash went public</a> in December and raised about $3.4 billion with its initial public offering, at a valuation of roughly $34.2 billion, amid surging demand during the pandemic.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doordash-enters-instacart-territory-by-expanding-beyond-food-delivery-2021-2">DoorDash</a> has been quietly expanding its partnerships with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doordash-enters-instacart-territory-by-expanding-beyond-food-delivery-2021-2">Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, 7-Eleven, and Macy's</a>, Insider's Nancy Luna reported. It is now delivering cough medicine, pet supplies, and shampoo.

DoorDash has bought Chowbotics, which builds robots that can chop you a fresh salad in under 60 seconds

Welcome to Monday, readers. Jordan Parker Erb here, reporting to you from New York. Twitter and Elon Musk are in the midst of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-timeline-stock-purchase-board-seat-drama-2022-4">a very public, very chaotic breakup</a>, and I'm here to walk you through it. Let's get started.<hr /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/10-things-in-tech">Sign up here to get 10 Things in Tech in your inbox each weekday morning.</a><hr /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-timeline-stock-purchase-board-seat-drama-2022-4"></a>1. A Twitter exec told employees the company will "be ok." After Elon Musk <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-says-he-is-terminating-his-deal-to-buy-twitter-2022-7">backed out</a> of his agreement to buy Twitter, an internal memo shows an exec telling employees — some of whom had already taken to social media to express "glee" or "relief" — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-nick-caldwell-internal-memo-elon-musk-deal-2022-7">to use "discretion" in tweeting</a>.<ul><li>ICYMI: Musk on Friday sent a letter (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/read-elon-musk-letter-to-twitter-deal-is-off-2022-7">read it here</a>) to Twitter's board saying he's decided to "terminate" the $44 billion deal — but he has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-breakup-fee-for-backing-out-twitter-deal-2022-7">no intention of paying</a> the $1 billion fee for backing out. </li><li>The next day, Musk flew to Sun Valley, Idaho to attend the exclusive Allen &amp; Co. conference. In an interview, Musk notably skirted all conversation about his breakup with Twitter. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-stays-quiet-twitter-deal-at-sun-valley-conference-2022-7">Here's what he talked about instead.</a></li><li>Twitter has since hired one of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-hires-law-firm-sue-elon-musk-over-dropped-deal-2022-7">the world's best law firms</a> to sue Musk, and execs are trying to quell employees' concerns. In response to Musk's letter, general manager Nick Caldwell wrote a memo to staff, saying: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-nick-caldwell-internal-memo-elon-musk-deal-2022-7">"Phew! This is a lot."</a></li></ul><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-timeline-stock-purchase-board-seat-drama-2022-4">Get caught up on Elon Musk's chaotic Twitter saga.</a><hr />In other news:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-political-emails-spam-public-comment-fec-ruling-2022-7"></a><div type="image" title="Google Gmail illustration" height="2847" width="3797" msid="92803304" hostid="261"></div>2. Gmail users could soon see more political emails in their inboxes. Google has asked federal regulators to OK a plan letting political committees avoid spam filters — but officials are giving users a little time to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-political-emails-spam-public-comment-fec-ruling-2022-7">express their feelings on the potentially pivotal ruling</a>.3. Softbank-backed startup Remote is cutting 10% of its staff. Remote, an onboarding startup valued at nearly $3 billion, cited ongoing economic uncertainty and a focus on sustainable growth as it laid off nearly 100 workers. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/remote-payroll-startup-cuts-100-jobs-2022-7">What we know so far.</a>4. Uber used a tactic known as the "kill switch" to block company data during police raids. Documents leaked to the Guardian suggest Uber <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-files-leak-secret-kill-switch-blocked-data-from-police-2022-7">activated the protocol at least 12 times in 2017</a> — when the app was illegal in several countries. Documents also appear to show its former CEO urged drivers to join protests against Uber, saying "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-founder-travis-kalanicks-attempt-to-weaponize-drivers-report-2022-7">violence guarantees success</a>."5. DoorDash is closing robotics company Chowbotics. DoorDash said it shuttered the business because it didn't meet certain internal benchmarks — resulting in layoffs and signaling a roadblock in its already slow adoption of automation. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doordash-closes-chowbotics-and-lays-off-35-employees-2022-7">Inside DoorDash's robotixcs setback.</a>6. A new lawsuit alleges that embattled crypto platform Celsius is a Ponzi scheme. Jason Stone, the CEO of a firm Celsius acquired, says it failed to hedge risk and manipulated the market. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-lender-celsius-jason-stone-ponzi-scheme-lawsuit-2022-7">What to know about the lawsuit.</a>7. How much do Amazon Web Services employees make? Insider combed through data to find out how much engineers, analysts, and hundreds of other employees at the cloud computing subsidiary make, and some are bringing in up to $185,000. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-web-services-salaries-engineers-analysts-sales-2022-7">See how much you could earn at AWS.</a> 8. Researchers in China claim they have developed "mind-reading" AI. The Sunday Times UK first reported that researchers say they've developed artificial intelligence capable of measuring citizens' loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-says-mind-reading-ai-can-gauge-political-loyalty-reports-2022-7">Get the full rundown here.</a><hr />Odds and ends:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rivian-r1s-electric-suv-photos-review-range-tesla-2022-7"></a><div type="image" title="The Rivian R1S electric SUV." height="1773" width="2365" msid="92803308" hostid="261"></div>9. Take a tour of the Rivian R1S, the coolest new EV in the US. Shipping to customers later this summer, the R1S is a stylish — but rugged — SUV that can handle itself both on-road and off. Insider's transportation reporter got up close and personal with the EV — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rivian-r1s-electric-suv-photos-review-range-tesla-2022-7">check it out here.</a>10. Amazon Prime Day kicks off tomorrow. While there are already some early deals going on (like sales on Apple Watches, iPads, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/deals/apple-prime-day-deals">and other Apple products</a>), one of the best promotions we've seen is offering up to $284 in credits to use on Prime Day — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/deals/best-amazon-prime-day-credits-deal-2022-7">here's how to claim every promotion</a>. Plus, Axios has a look at <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/07/08/amazon-prime-day">the inner workings of Prime Day</a>.<hr />What we're watching today:<ul><li>"Better Call Saul" returns for its final six episodes on AMC.</li><li>Nano Labs is expected to announce its final IPO pricing.</li><li>Fortune Brainstorm: <a href="https://twitter.com/brainstormtech">TECH event</a> kicks off today in Aspen, Colorado.</li></ul><hr />Keep updated with the latest <keyword id="6358815" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tech" source="Orion">tech</keyword> news throughout your day by checking out<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/therefresh"> The Refresh from Insider,</a> a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. <a href="https://link.chtbl.com/therefresh">Listen here.</a><hr />Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email <a href="mailto:jerb@insider.com">jerb@insider.com</a> or tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/jordanparkererb?lang=en">@jordanparkererb</a>.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/hallam_bullock">@hallam_bullock</a>) in London.

Inside Twitter as Elon Musk nixes deal to buy company

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58f0003acf6d8fcf008b4651-2000" alt="sally salad robot chowbotics 3474" />Melia Robinson/Business InsiderIn Silicon Valley, you can buy everything from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/zume-robot-powered-pizza-delivery-2016-9">pizza</a> to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/thiel-fellow-cafe-x-technologies-robot-coffee-2017-1">coffee</a> made by a robot.Sally the Salad Robot, which debuted at San Francisco coding academy Galvanize on April 13, is more glorified vending machine than automated chef. She (it?) dispenses 21 ingredients to create more than 1,000 different salads, and each takes about a minute to make.Deepak Sekar, CEO of robotics startup <a href="http://www.chowbotics.com/">Chowbotics</a>, says Sally's goal is to provide workers with quick and healthy meals they can buy on-site. Sekar hopes to install about 125 salad-making bots in Bay Area tech offices through the end of 2017, and is in talks with WeWork and Amazon to bring Sally to their workspaces.<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58efef4731fdc726008b45f1-2000" alt="chowbotics sally salad robot 2" />ChowboticsThree years ago, Sekar - an inventor who holds over 100 patents - hacked together a machine that combined spices and vegetables to make curry. He decided to turn his side hobby into a business when a Silicon Valley investor (and owner of 15 McDonald's restaurants) took interest. Sekar got a team together and worked for another two years on a salad-making version.Sally can make salads, but she relies on humans to get part of the job done. The robot has canisters for different ingredients, which a company can source on its own or buy from Chowbotics. Every day, a person loads the canisters and replenishes them throughout the day.When a customer orders a salad from Sally, they can make a custom combination or choose from a handful of signature salads created by Chef Charlie Ayers, who's known for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chef-charlie-googles-first-chef-menu-2014-10">being the first executive chef at Google</a>. The menu rotates as seasonal ingredients become available.<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58efffd231fdc76f008b467b-2000" alt="sally salad robot chowbotics 3529" />Melia Robinson/Business InsiderThe California Love Salad features ripe cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, Kalamata olives, and croutons served over a bed of kale. The ingredients are cut into small pieces, which Ayers says is good for computer programmers who want to graze while they work. Sally can't mix salads yet, and avocado is noticeably missing from the ingredients menu. Sekar says the fruit is too soft to be handled by the robot, but the company is working on a solution.The organizations that install Sally will determine the various costs of the salads. At Galvanize, the average salad will go for $8.Chowbotics plans to sell the robot to companies for $30,000, and offers a monthly payment plan to make it affordable for midsized offices. The price will probably exclude small startups; Sally makes more sense for companies with cafeterias or infrastructure for storing ingredients.Sekar says the cost is worthwhile if companies can squeeze more time out of their employees. He suggests that if just five employees (who make $100,000 each on average) decide to work until 8 o'clock five days a week - because they can grab dinner from Sally rather than scavenge for food at home - the value of their time comes in around $10,000 a month."Our revenue model is what I call SaaS - Salad as a Service model," he says. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/caliburger-using-burger-flipping-robots-flippy-2017-3">CaliBurger plans on using these burger-flipping robots</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

This salad-making robot can build 1,000 different salads in 60 seconds each

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e18b561b2e66a7986349624-1244/eatsa-robot-restaurant-san-francisco-2956.jpg" alt="eatsa robot restaurant san francisco 2956" />Melia Robinson/Tech InsiderCustomers wait to pick up their Eatsa orders from the automat's futuristic pickup windows in San Francisco in 2016.<ul class="summary-list"><li>A trend in food automation has swept the country in recent years.</li><li>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/san-francisco">San Francisco Bay Area</a> has seen a high concentration of robot-run restaurants, but some of them have failed.</li><li>It may simply be that <a href="https://www.grubstreet.com/2017/10/humans-werent-ready-for-eatsas-fully-automated-restaurants.html">people still value some sort of human interaction</a> in a dining experience.</li><li>Here's what it was like visiting some of San Francisco's automated eateries.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul>The robot revolution in San Francisco has begun. Or has it?The tech-centric city has seen an automized restaurant scene in recent years. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/25/robot-chefs-cooking-san-francisco-food">The idea is that robots</a> could be used to fill repetition-heavy positions that require hours of nonstop work - like line cooking - that could then free up human employees to provide higher quality customer service. Labor costs and, subsequently, menu prices would be lowered, tipping would become obsolete, restaurants could more heavily invest in higher quality ingredients, and profits would increase for business owners in the process - or at least that's the theory.It's a trend seen across the country and the world, but San Francisco specifically has been the ideal market for robot and semi-robot restaurant testing <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/04/06/robots-invade-foodie-san-francisco-promising-low-prices-cheap-labor/3334069002/">for a number of reasons.</a>The city's millennial workforce is busy, which makes a quick automated culinary experience appealing. A harshly visible wealth divide, low wages, and a housing crunch also spell a labor shortage in the 7x7 city, a shortage that could be addressed by placing robots into these roles. And on top of that, venture funding-seeking startups here have long used the streets of San Francisco as an experimental playground, with the city's occupants as their guinea pigs for testing out what could be promising technology - so much so that it's grown into a bit of an issue, with the city considering launching an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-office-emerging-technology-robots-scooters-2019-11">office specifically designed to regulate emerging tech </a>before companies can throw it into public spaces.<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b1ea1f11ae6623c008b4d0b-2000/cafex-san-francisco-robot-cafe-coffee-bar-robotic-4.jpg" alt="cafex san francisco robot cafe coffee bar robotic 4" style="float: right;" />Katie Canales/Business InsiderThe robotic barista at CafeX prepares a coffee order for a customer.At San Francisco's Eatsa automat, you could quickly order and then pick up your $7 quinoa bowls - prepared behind the scenes by unseen employees - through futuristic pickup windows lined against the wall of the restaurant, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/eatsa-review-2016-6">as Business Insider's Melia Russell reported.</a> At a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cafe-x-robotic-coffee-bar-automation-2018-6">Peter Thiel-backed CafeX coffee bar</a>, a jolly-looking robotic arm is the barista building and serving you your coffee order. And at Creator, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/robot-made-burger-restaurant-creator-review-2018-7#around-the-corner-from-the-dining-area-is-the-inhuman-star-chef-3">the Google parent company-backed burger joint of the future</a>, a robot builds your $6 burger from start to finish in five minutes.Other Bay Area-based automated restaurants like pizza-making and delivery startup <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zume-pizza-robot-expansion-2017-6">Zume</a>, TeaBOT, the ramen vending machine <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/ramen-vending-machine-san-francisco-metreon-sf-12717428.php">Yo-Kai Express</a>, the Blendid company <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/Meet-San-Francisco-s-new-giant-13710040.php#photo-17111080">whose robot will fix you a $6 smoothie</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sally-the-salad-robot-chowbotics-2017-4">Chowbotics' salad-prepping Sally robot</a> round out the region's autonomous eatery arena.Visiting one can feel like stepping into a sci-fi flick - being handed a cup of coffee by a robot is a bit of a novelty.But innovation aside, there are concerns that automation <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-future-of-the-machine-worker-is-here-2016-3">may result in mass unemployment</a> as robots are deployed to fill jobs that humans could occupy. There's also the longstanding question of whether or not people actually desire human interaction when they're being served. And even with those questions aside, it turns out that some of these restaurants aren't surviving.In July 2019, Eatsa shuttered its San Francisco locations after the company was found to be thousands behind in unpaid rent. It's since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-announces-deal-tech-startup-brightloom-formerly-eatsa-2019-7">pivoted to restaurant tech and software</a> and rebranded itself as Brightloom, with a new deal with Starbucks announced in 2017. Just this week, <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/coffee-robot-baristas-3-locations-Cafe-X-close-14959241.php">CafeX closed its San Francisco locations</a>, though its stations at San Francisco International Airport and San Jose Airport are still open. And Zume, the Softbank-backed startup known for its pizza-making robots, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zume-cmo-mark-crumpacker-executive-departures-softbank-startup-2019-11">shuttered its pizza business and pivoted into food-truck tech and services in November 2019.</a> Then, in January 2020, the company laid off 400 employees to further cut costs, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zume-pizza-robots-layoffs-leadership-turmoil-alex-garden-softbank-2020-1">as reported by Business Insider's Megan Hernbroth</a>. <img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e18caa7f44231097373d9ea-2400/creator-robot-burger-momentum-machines-1070574.jpg" alt="creator robot burger momentum machines 1070574" />Katie Canales/Business InsiderA human employee at Creator.One of the robot-run restaurants that seems to be doing alright is Creator, which is still humming along since opening in mid-2018. There are "robot attendants" and humans present in most of these restaurants, but there's more of a human presence in the burger-making robot joint, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/25/robot-chefs-cooking-san-francisco-food">The Guardian's Vivian Ho</a> pointed out. The robot prepares the Creator burger, but humans take your order and perform other tasks. And as <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/robot-restaurants-barista-pizza-san-francisco-14103302.php#">SF Gate's Alix Martichoux writes</a>, the robot restaurants the author visited and enjoyed the most were the ones that involved real-life people.So there could be multiple reasons why some of them have flopped, but perhaps <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40541212/this-restaurant-robot-is-designed-to-help-servers-not-replace-them">a straightforward explanation</a> is that <a href="https://www.grubstreet.com/2017/10/humans-werent-ready-for-eatsas-fully-automated-restaurants.html">we're simply not ready</a> to be served by robots in lieu of humans.Here's what it's like eating at San Francisco's robot restaurants, some of which have since failed.

You Searched For "Chowbotics" and got 5 results

This IIT Madras graduate sold his salad-making robot to the $56 billion DoorDash

Sanchita Dash

DoorDash has bought Chowbotics, which builds robots that can chop you a fresh salad in under 60 seconds

Grace Dean

Inside Twitter as Elon Musk nixes deal to buy company

Jordan Parker Erb

This salad-making robot can build 1,000 different salads in 60 seconds each

Melia Robinson

Some of San Francisco's robot-run restaurants are failing. It could simply be that we still want to be served by humans, not machines.

Katie Canales