Keatz, a restaurant-chain-without-any-restaurants that creates food exclusively for delivery, raised $13m to expand its network of “cloud kitchens” across Europe.
Thanks to the ongoing popularity of food delivery platforms like Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash, and Deliveroo, cloud kitchens are cropping up across the globe to crank out deliverable food.
‘Food made for delivery’
Keatz operates 8 separate food “brands” out of its shared kitchens, using Wi-Fi-connected convection ovens and a wide network of delivery platforms (Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Glovo, Just Eat, Delivery Hero and Takeaway) to deliver fresh eats fast.
Unlike its brick-and-mortar competitors, Keatz designs its dishes specifically for delivery instead of adapting sit-down dishes to prevent nightmare scenarios like (trigger warning) soggy french fries.
Keatz launched in 2016 and now operates 10 cloud kitchens in Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain.
Cloudy with a chance of kitchens
Keatz is far from the only company with its kitchen in the clouds: Green Summit Group and CloudKitchens have launched similar collectives of ghost restaurants across the US.
Companies like Uber are actively encouraging the development of cloud kitchens to make sure their delivery drivers have enough burritos to drive around: Uber Eats uses its delivery data to partner with local restaurants to launch digital food brands.
The food delivery market is expected to grow from $35B to $365B by 2030.
