It’s like I, Robot, but with coffee (and no violence)

Every day, 100k+ smart people read our newsletter. You can sign up here.

Hello readers,

Have you ever had your food prepared for you by a robot? I did a couple of years ago. I was having a staycation with my girlfriend, and the egg station at the breakfast buffet was manned (robotted?) by a machine – it was this one-armed thing that could make three types of eggs. It did its job pretty well, though my second sunny-side up egg came with a hearty helping of egg shell as well 🤷‍♂️.

Maybe robots can do coffee better. Robotics cafe and lounge startup Ratio makes robotic arms that it said can serve close to 60 types of coffee and cocktails. The company has just completed a US$10 million series A round and is also building new robots for non-beverage categories like food. Here’s to no shells in my eggs-made-by-robots in the future.

Today, we look at:

• The robotics cafe startup that just closed its series A round
• A new philanthropy fund in Singapore
• Other newsy highlights such as Google paying for news and what could be next for TikTok in India

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Coffee, tea, or robot baristas?

Robotics cafe and lounge startup Ratio has raised US$10 million in its series A round, which was led by Singapore-based real estate giant Frasers Property. Others that joined the round include JustCo, the Southeast Asian co-working unicorn, and zVentures, the venture arm of gaming and lifestyle brand Razer.

• Popular and well-liked: The round was oversubscribed, so the company is considering a series A+ round in the second half of 2021, says Ratio CEO and founder Gavin Pathross.
• Autobots, roll out: The new funds will support the startup’s plan to expand in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia this year and launch its robotic units to customers. Its expansion blueprint will also include hiring as well as R&D work to reduce its manufacturing costs and build robots that make food.
• One night in Beijing: The brand has become popular in the Chinese market, which has seen growing demand for coffee chains in recent years. It has also formed a close relationship with Alibaba: Ratio’s robotics technology is present in the Chinese tech titan’s campus and smart hotels.

Read more: Robotics cafe startup Ratio nets $10m in series A round led by Frasers Property

STARTUP SPOTLIGHT

Lending a helping hand (that’s holding cash)

How to attract investors using a cap table