Earlier than the pandemic, Lee Kindell ran a journey hostel in Seattle, the place he was identified for the tasty pizza he served his company. A pair years and a pandemic later, he’s operating Seattle’s hottest restaurant and has simply closed his first spherical of funding.
In an interview with The Spoon, Kindell has revealed that MOTO Pizza has raised $1.85 million in funding from what he describes as strategic, non-public “non-venture capital” funding. He says the brand new funding will assist the corporate execute on its plans for the following twelve months, plans which embody the chain’s first transfer outdoors of Washington State.
In response to Kindell, MOTO will open its first location in California in Indian Wells, a metropolis in Coachella Valley nestled between Palm Desert and La Quinta. California’s first MOTO will reside inside the Indian Wells Tennis Backyard tennis facility, the place it is going to serve up pizza at massive occasions such because the Indian Wells Tennis Open in March 2024. The corporate additionally has plans to increase to new areas inside Washington State, together with up north to Bellingham and over on the east facet in Bellevue.
Past retailer enlargement, MOTO is increasing its expertise portfolio, together with trialing a salad-bowl robotic from Vancouver’s Cibotica. For Cibotica, which publicly debuted its bowl meals robotic final week, MOTO is their first introduced trial associate within the US.
Kindell advised The Spoon that MOTO can even begin supply by way of drone in 2024, signing a take care of Zipline to ship pizza by the top of subsequent 12 months. Final month, Zipline achieved a big milestone when it launched its first “past visible line of sight” (BLVS) supply. MOTO is the second pizza associate for Zipline in Washington state after the corporate introduced it was working with Pagliacci in Might.
Kindell stated that whereas he’s heard from a number of VCs taken with investing in MOTO, a modest funding felt proper for the approaching 12 months.
“We felt prefer it was too early for us to lift via VC,” stated Kindell. “We wished to make the most of the demand and a focus for MOTO and use it to develop, whereas implementing the brand new expertise into our development. I believe we can have the mannequin we’ve been working arduous in the direction of subsequent 12 months, after which we are able to put collectively a giant elevate. We’ve already captured some consideration with some VC, and that’s fairly thrilling.”
“My finish recreation is a profitable autonomous pizza operation, and I can’t anticipate it!”
