I first recommended Blendid in December 2020.
To refresh your memory, Blendid is not only the name of the startup, but also the name of the food robot that makes delicious and incredibly healthy smoothies. Blendid uses the latest technological advances in robotics, machine vision and AI. Its articulated arm moves faster than the human eye can follow — making up to 45 smoothies a minute.
The robot had caught the eye of Jamba Juice shortly before I began following Blendid. By the time I wrote about the company in December, it had already launched its first “Jamba by Blendid” (JBB) location in Dixon, California. A second one soon followed in Downey, California.
This past January, it launched its third. This one is located at Georgia College in Atlanta. Founder and CEO Vipin Jain says it’s special because it represents a series of firsts, as in…
- First use of Blendid’s next generation kiosk
- First kiosk outside California
- First kiosk on the East Coast
- And first kiosk operated by Sodexo, a premier brand in food service.
Less than three weeks later, it launched another JBB kiosk in Atlanta at Kennesaw State University.
And this is just the beginning. Blendid has many more launches planned this year. It’ll be deploying JBB kiosks in hospitals, travel centers, fitness centers and college campuses across the country.
To support its nationwide rollout, Blendid is ramping up its manufacturing capacity. It’s an exciting and critical time for the company. Blendid will need more money to fund its busiest year yet. To that end, it plans to initiate a Series B raise soon. The company has not finalized a valuation but when it does, I’ll be sure to let you know what your unrealized profit is to date (if you invested).