Byte Foods targets smart vending machines with a fresh twist
The only thing we like more than talking about one thematic tailwind is doing so when two or more come together for an even more powerful tailwind. In this case, it’s Food with Integrity meets Connected Society and Cashless Consumption as food that is good for you meets smart vending machines. As we enter 2017 looking to follow our own advice to eat better, we hope to see more of these vending machines than the ones stocked with candy and chips from Hershey, M&M Mars and PepsiCo.
A San Rafael-based startup called Byte Foods has raised $5.5 million in seed funding to popularize its smart vending machines and delivery service stocking them with nutritious food and drinks from local vendors.
If the idea of the internet-connected vending machine sounds a bit familiar, it has been around for more than a decade, actually. But according to market research by Berg Insight, only 1.5 million of the world’s 17 million vending machines are actually internet-connected today.
Byte Foods is poised to grow as the IoT share of this market does as well. Berg predicts by 2020, the world will have at least 3.6 million internet-connected vending machines in circulation.
Source: Byte Foods raises $5.5 million for smart vending machines that serve local fare | TechCrunch
