Ocado puts £4.7m into developing robot chefs

ONLINE grocer Ocado has stumped up £4.75m for a stake in ready- meal robotics firm Karakuri.

The start-up company, founded by friends Barney Wragg and Simon Watt with help from Lastminute. com founder Brent Hoberman, aims to reduce food waste by using a robo-chef to precisely measure out ingredients and make meals.

Ocado was the lead investor in the £7m funding round, and will take an 18pc stake.

Karakuri’s robots can be used in restaurants to produce quick meals to a customer’s exact specification, and food manufacturing centres to prepare ready-meals suited to any dietary requirements.

Wragg, Karakuri’s chief executive, said: ‘Growth in menu personalisation is putting huge pressure on restaurants, cafes and other food retailers. By using robotics and machine learning, Karakuri’s systems provide localised micro manufacturing within an existing restaurant or commercial kitchen.’