Shark Tank US | The Sharks Are HUNGRY for Chefee Robotics Product

Summary

In the pitch for Cheffy Robotics on Shark Tank, Assaf presents a robotic chef that automates meal planning, cooking, and grocery ordering. Seeking $500,000 for 4% equity, he demonstrates the system's capabilities, which include dispensing, weighing, and cooking meals. The sharks are impressed by the technology but express concerns about market fit, execution, and maintenance. Kevin O'Leary ultimately offers $500,000 for 15% equity, which Assaf counters down to 12.5%, leading to a deal. The product targets high-end kitchens, with costs ranging from $9,500 to $50,000 depending on the version.

Takeaways

• 🤖 Assaf is seeking $500,000 for 4% equity in his company, Cheffy Robotics, which aims to bring robotic chefs into homes.
• 🍽️ Cheffy is a robotic system that handles meal planning, cooking, and even grocery ordering, automating the kitchen experience.
• 🍛 The robotic chef can prepare various dishes like Spanish paella, spicy ratatouille, and tofu tikka masala, which were demonstrated live.
• 🛠️ Cheffy integrates with an app for customization, including ingredient selection, portion control, and scheduling meals.
• 💰 The initial price for Cheffy is around $9,500 for a basic version, while a premium model could cost between $40,000 to $50,000.
• 📦 The company has not yet launched but has a $500,000 Letter of Intent (LOI) from a kitchen remodeling company and has installed three prototypes.
• 🔧 The robots are built with off-the-shelf components, but Assaf insists that Cheffy is an original robotics company with patents pending.
• 📈 Assaf aims to raise more funds to move into manufacturing, with a current cost of around $1,500 for materials and $1,000 for labor per unit.
• 🛠️ Kevin O'Leary (Mr. Wonderful) offers $500,000 for 15% equity, eventually agreeing to a deal at 12.5%, focusing on licensing opportunities.
• 👨‍🍳 Assaf believes Kevin is the perfect match due to his connections and strategic insight, while other sharks felt uncertain about the market fit and maintenance challenges.

Q & A

What is the name of the company Assaf is raising funds for?

The company Assaf is raising funds for is called Cheffy Robotics.

What problem does Cheffy Robotics aim to solve?

Cheffy Robotics aims to solve the problem of cooking healthy, fresh meals while managing a busy lifestyle, targeting parents who care about nutrition but may lack time or skills to cook.

What is unique about Cheffy's product?

Cheffy's product is an embedded robotic chef that handles meal planning, cooking, tracking nutrition, and even ordering groceries, making the cooking process extremely easy and automated.

How much equity is Assaf offering in exchange for the $500,000 investment?

Assaf is offering 4% equity in Cheffy Robotics for the $500,000 investment.

What are the customization options available with Cheffy's robotic chef?

Cheffy's robotic chef allows users to customize recipes based on ingredients, adjust the number of servings, and even schedule cooking times through the Cheffy app.

What is the cost range for the Cheffy robotic chef system?

The cost for the Cheffy robotic chef system ranges from $9,500 for the value-engineered version to a premium version priced between $40,000 and $50,000.

How does Cheffy handle the integration with existing kitchen appliances?

Cheffy is designed to integrate with existing kitchen appliances, such as induction cookers, without reinventing the wheel, focusing on creating a robotic ecosystem that automates kitchen tasks.

What is the status of Cheffy Robotics in terms of sales and revenue?

At the time of the pitch, Cheffy Robotics is pre-revenue and has not yet launched the product to the market.

What is the maintenance plan for Cheffy's robotic chef?

The maintenance plan for Cheffy's robotic chef is not explicitly detailed in the script, but it suggests that the system is designed to be easily maintained, potentially leveraging existing plumbing and handyman services.

What is the relationship between Cheffy Robotics and high-end kitchen appliance companies?

Cheffy Robotics has presented their product to high-end kitchen appliance companies like Wolf and Sub-Zero, and they are open to strategic partnerships, licensing, or rebranding opportunities with such companies.

What was the final deal struck between Assaf and the sharks?

The final deal was made with Kevin O'Leary, who offered $500,000 for 15% equity in Cheffy Robotics.

Outlines

00:00

🍳 Introducing Cheffy Robotics: The Future of Automated Cooking

Assaf, the presenter, introduces Cheffy Robotics, seeking $500,000 for 4% equity. Cheffy aims to revolutionize cooking by creating an automated kitchen system that handles meal planning, cooking, nutrition tracking, and grocery ordering. The system is designed to be easy to use, with users simply restocking ingredients and using the Cheffy app to order meals. Cheffy then takes care of weighing, combining, dispensing, and cooking the ingredients. Assaf demonstrates the system by showing three dishes prepared by Cheffy and discusses the customization options available. The presentation also covers the system's components, including a refrigeration module and an induction cooker, and the potential for integration with grocery delivery services. The cost of the system is discussed, with a range from $9,500 for a basic version to $40,000-$50,000 for a premium version.

05:01

🤖 Cheffy's Business Model and Market Strategy

The discussion shifts to Cheffy's business model and market strategy. Assaf explains that they are pre-revenue and have a signed Letter of Intent (LOI) from a high-end kitchen remodeling company. He outlines their marketing approach, which includes social media and organic marketing, as well as strategic partnerships with celebrity chefs, builders, and designers. Assaf also addresses the concerns about shipping and manufacturing, stating that they are raising funds to move into production. The cost to manufacture the $10,000 unit is revealed to be around $2,500, including materials and labor. The sharks question the company's identity as a robotics company versus an integration company, and Assaf defends their position by highlighting their patents pending and the extensive work that went into creating the robotic system. The sharks express concerns about the product's execution, market potential, and maintenance, leading to some declining investment while others express interest.

10:03

💼 Negotiations and Final Deal with an Investor

The final paragraph covers the negotiations between Assaf and the sharks. One shark expresses interest but is concerned about the high cost and the maintenance requirements, leading to a decision not to invest. Another shark appreciates the design and integration but questions the market and the company's differentiation in the robotics industry, also choosing not to invest. A third shark, however, sees potential in the high-end market and is interested in the possibility of a partnership with Subzero, a high-end appliance company. After some back-and-forth, an agreement is reached with one of the sharks, who offers $500,000 for 15% equity, and Assaf accepts. The paragraph concludes with Assaf expressing excitement about the partnership and the potential for Cheffy's success in the market.

Keywords

💡Cheffy Robotics

Cheffy Robotics refers to the company presenting their innovative product, Cheffy, in the video. The company is focused on revolutionizing the cooking experience by integrating robotics and technology into the kitchen. In the script, Cheffy Robotics is raising funds to develop and market their robotic chef, Cheffy, which automates the cooking process.

💡Equity

Equity in this context refers to the ownership interest in a company that is being offered to potential investors in exchange for their capital. The script mentions that Cheffy Robotics is seeking $500,000 for a 4% equity stake, indicating that they are looking for financial backing in return for a share of the company's future profits.

💡Meal Planning

Meal planning is the process of deciding what meals to cook and eat ahead of time. In the video, Cheffy's system includes meal planning as one of its features, allowing users to order and schedule meals through the Cheffy app, which then coordinates the cooking process.

💡Nutrition Tracking

Nutrition tracking involves monitoring the nutritional content of the food one consumes. Cheffy's system is described as having the capability to track nutrition, which could be beneficial for users who are health-conscious or have specific dietary needs.

💡Grocery Ordering

Grocery ordering is the process of purchasing food and household items, often online for delivery or pickup. The script mentions that Cheffy can order groceries, suggesting an integrated system with services like Instacart or Amazon Fresh to automate the replenishment of ingredients.

💡Robotic Chef

A robotic chef is an automated system capable of preparing meals. Cheffy, the product presented, is described as the world's first embedded robotic chef, implying it can perform various cooking tasks, from weighing ingredients to cooking, with minimal human intervention.

💡Customization

Customization in the context of the video refers to the ability of the Cheffy system to adapt recipes based on user preferences or dietary restrictions. The script highlights that users can customize recipes within the Cheffy app, showcasing the system's flexibility.

💡Integration

Integration in this script refers to the combination of various technologies and appliances to create a cohesive system. Cheffy Robotics is described as an integration company, meaning they are assembling different components to form a complete robotic cooking system.

💡Induction Cooker

An induction cooker is a type of cooking appliance that uses electromagnetic energy to heat a pot or pan. In the video, it's mentioned that Cheffy works with any stove top, including induction cookers, indicating compatibility with modern kitchen setups.

💡Strategic Partnerships

Strategic partnerships are alliances formed between companies to achieve common business goals. The script suggests that Cheffy Robotics is open to strategic partnerships, such as with celebrity chefs or kitchen appliance companies, to enhance their product's market presence.

💡Maintenance Contract

A maintenance contract is an agreement for ongoing support and servicing of a product. The discussion in the script about the need for maintenance contracts for Cheffy indicates the importance of after-sales service for such a complex system.

Highlights

Assaf is raising $500,000 for 4% equity in his company, Cheffy Robotics.

Cheffy Robotics introduces a self-cooking kitchen system with embedded robotic capabilities for meal planning, cooking, and grocery ordering.

Cheffy allows users to customize meals, track nutrition, and use app integration for easy meal preparation.

The robotic system weighs, combines, dispenses, and cooks ingredients without the user needing to intervene.

Cheffy's upper part stores and dispenses ingredients, and it fits into standard kitchen cabinets.

The system includes refrigeration for fresh ingredients and integrates with services like Instacart and Amazon Fresh.

The cost of Cheffy ranges from $9,500 for the value-engineered version to $40,000-50,000 for the premium version.

Pre-revenue stage with $500,000 signed letter of intent (LOI) from a high-end kitchen remodeling company.

Cheffy has three installations in investor homes and headquarters but is not yet shipping.

Assaf clarifies that Cheffy is a robotics company, with patents pending in the US and abroad for the entire system.

Cheffy's estimated production cost for the $10,000 unit is about $2,500, including labor and materials.

The Cheffy system is described as elegant and simple to maintain, and its components can be installed by general handymen.

One of the sharks, Kevin, offers $500,000 for 15% equity, and after negotiation, they settle on 12.5% equity.

Kevin agrees with Assaf's strategy for Cheffy, focusing on licensing and maintenance for scalability.

Assaf expresses excitement about working with Kevin, believing that Cheffy has great potential for high-end kitchen markets.

Transcripts

[Applause]

first into the tank is a product that

takes cooking into the

[Music]

future hi sharks my name is Assaf and

I'm here raising $500,000 for 4% equity

in my company cheffy robotics wow sharks

we all know how hard it can be to cook

healthy fresh meals while juggling our

busy life

how many millions of parents around the

world care about the nutrition of their

families but they hate cooking don't

know how to do it don't have time to do

it or just plain suck at it but what if

all of that could change what if cooking

was so easy you could literally walk

into your home and talk to your kitchen

nice sounds like science fiction not

anymore forget self-driving cars and

start thinking selfcooking kitchens

introducing cheffy the world's first

embedded robotic chef from meal planning

and cooking to tracking nutrition and

yes even ordering the groceries cheffy

will do it all here's how easy it is to

use just once a week you'll restock

ingredients then open the cheffy app to

place in order cheffy will do the rest

weighing combining dispensing and

cooking so sharks who's ready to bring

personal private chefs to everyone with

cheffy oh my you got to show us got to

show us how it work oh of course let's

do it in front of you are three dishes

that cheffy prepared we have Spanish paa

spicy ratou and tofu Tika Masala so

cheffy made this yes and as my mom would

say beton which means Bon wow it's good

P's good the chicken p is amazing can

you add like spices and stuff of course

of course so you can customize it here

based on an ingredient if you're

allergic to anything and so forth this

tastes great let's see it work all right

I'm going to customize the recipe I'm

going to select the number of servings I

can even schedule it I'm going to say

right now and cheffy receives the order

that Curry is delicious really good

isn't it really it's my

favorite

Tada just like magic what cheffy comes

out of your counter and the first thing

it does it picks up the lid of the

cooker it's going to invert it no way it

seems unbelievable the future is here

Barbara wow cheffy has made a two parts

upper and lower the upper stores and

dispenses ingredients the upper fits

into a standard upper kitchen cabinet

okay right what's it doing now so right

now it's dispensing and weighing so it

goes under yep and based on what you put

in the app it's going to put the

materials in correct what about fresh

things like proteins right so the left

side is refrigerated so we have a

refrigeration module built specifically

for cheffy but you're not ordering from

you no we're a robotics company for the

groceries that's a subscription model

one of them is integration with

instacart or Amazon Fresh you're in the

robot business that's what we do we do

the tech so now it has the material

what's it doing pour it right into the

cooker is that a standard cooker or

yours we don't reinvent the wheel we're

not here to build a cooker we're here to

build a robotic ecosystem that automates

your appliances so it's a vending

machine connected to a bowl far more

than that but yes if it looks that

simple then we've done a great job in

hiding the complexity it works with any

stove top no so these are cookers they

ins but these are yours correct it's an

induction cooker okay so it's all

Incorporated all Incorporated you can

install these in any modern kitchen on

the planet so what is this going to cost

me if I say I love cheffy I saw it on

Sharp tank I want the whole thing

including installation and I hope a

maintenance contract there a lot of

moving Parts what's that going to cost

me for the value engineered version of

sheffy as low as $9,500 is what we want

to launch with 10 grand right all the

way up to that's 10 grand yes everything

I see here the refrigeration will

probably not be included in the 10 grand

because it goes from 9500 all the way up

to a premium version which we want to

which is how much is the premium version

we're thinking it's between $40 and

$50,000 holy God so 40 to 50,000 what do

I get that I don't get at 10,000 so you

would get more ingredients right so

you'll be able to make a lot more things

so how are you going to bring this to

Market have you done it yet have you

sold any if you have what are your sales

what does it cost to make one what does

it cost to acquire customer the numbers

yeah that's what I want first of all we

are pre-revenue okay we haven't launched

we have a $500,000 signed Loi from a

high-end kitchen remodeling company

already in Palm Springs now in terms of

where we're going we're going all in

with social media and organic marketing

and we've also shown this already to

builders designers high-end kitchen

appliance companies like wolf Subzero I

presented this a year and a half ago

face to face with one of their uh top

execs he loved it is the idea with

someone like

Subzero that they would Rebrand this

that would be a licensing plate okay is

that your go to market it's not it's not

necessarily so everything is on the

table that's the beauty let's talk about

strategic Partnerships with celebrity

chefs right Partnerships with Builders

designers every person I've shown we've

been hosted by high-end designing

locations in Austin Texas what do you

mean you've been hosted you you've

actually installed these units so we've

installed three total so one in our

Investor's home one in our q and now

you're seeing this so so why haven't you

shipped already because I I don't want

to overpromise underd deliver I going to

do the opposite that's the sales pitch

right why specifically are you not

shipping yet oh we're not shipping which

is why we're here we're raising 500,000

to get to manufacturing how much have

you raised so far $450,000 and I

injected 90k of my own money as well for

the $10,000 unit what's your cost to

make it about $1500 materials 1,000 in

labor so let's just be clear here you're

not a robotics company you're an

integration company you're taking offthe

shelf or stuff you've licensed and you

maybe you've written some software and

you have some IP and you're doing that

to integrate it right you're not

manufacturing the individual components

is that true that's a great question so

we are a robotics company we have a

patents pending in the US and abroad

specifically for the entire system the

custom parts and the embedded form

factor I spent 8,000 hours on this I've

learned everything from mechanical

engineering three printer I slept under

the 3D printers in the office for weeks

to get this done so yes we're not

producing the motors but we're

absolutely creating the entire robotic

system that's an

integrator there's nothing wrong with

that nothing wrong with that no I'm not

saying there's anything wrong but you

got to say who you are and what you're

doing and what's working what's not

working because if we're going to

understand how you get to a product we

have to understand why you're not

already there if you truly created

something that is so differentiated so

unique when you're in an industry when

everybody in their brother seems like is

coming out with a new robotic bace

system there should be so much money

being thrown at you that you can't even

keep up with it well but and now I see

you're trying to find the hole in my

story right there I see a thousand holes

I don't see any I I have a question a

hole I want to buy the product I want to

put it in my Miami Kitchen who's going

to maintain it for me when it stops

working because it's such a simple

elegant system we can actually piggyback

on platforms like task RIT oh you're

killing me all they need is Plumbing the

plumbing experience a handyman can

install this main let me clear the deck

um it sounds sexy definitely I was like

whoa you know this is something I'd love

but I really don't trust the execution

I'd be afraid to call and say mine is

broken so I'm out you have the other

sharks I I regardless of what you've

built or haven't built from an IP

perspective it's a beautifully designed

integrated machine I'll give you that

thank you but if I don't want to cook

there's lot lots of other services where

people can make well prepared food

packages that show up that don't cost

10,000 I just don't know if I see the

market I'm out let me tell you guys a

Qui do you have one of these in your

home yeah in our HQ you use it every day

not every day but we've Ed it a lot and

let me tell you the experience and what

do you do if you want to bake

potato order a new Breeze I'm serious I

want to hit the market with something

that's beautiful can make you hundreds

of dishes from scratch but yeah I can't

make you everything on the planet but we

can make a lot of potato dishes you're

like all inventors right you are so

excited you are so passionate but I

don't understand how well this will

adopt and maybe I'll be kicking myself

down the road but for today I wish you

good luck but I'm

out I'm not worried about the price of

this I know how the other sharks are but

I know there's a high-end market for

tricking out kitens because I buy

Sub-Zero products that's why I was

interested in hearing more about the

Subzero deal because because if they

take it over Rebrand it and provide

their maintenance contract that would be

interesting but I I'm choking on the 4%

I mean the next time you raise money I

get deluded we are here open to

negotiation look I'll make you an offer

I don't care if you like it or you don't

I'll give you the 500,000 I want

15% thank you for that offer yes it's

reasonable s i I'll simplify things I

think it looks great conceptually makes

sense technically not quite sure whose

pieces and parts you integrated but the

reality is there's no way you did it

from scratch and created everything in a

couple years for

$450,000 the fact that you think it's so

crazy that we did this tells me that

Holy yeah we have done it no that's not

what I'm saying at all I'm saying you

haven't said anything about the

technology at all you've described it

and you've sold the the value

proposition which is great but I know a

little bit about robotics I know about

you know operating systems and I know

about integration if you want I can shut

off sales go Technical and geek out with

you from now until for an hour okay oh

please don't that's are you going to do

this steal or not do it anyway I'm

out so I am the only Chef up here I'm a

real Chef I'm I'm putting myself out of

business Mr Wonderful yes can I counter

you with 8% no no the journey is binary

on this thing I think the only way to

actually make this work and sell

hundreds of thousands of installations

is with licensing and you're going to

find that out without me or with me

because the maintenance is going to be

Paramount you be you go down to 12 no

ooh it's a tough shark I know 125 does

it really make a difference I'm trying

to save um all right Mr Wonderful we got

a deal

wow congrats Kevin Let's uh let's focus

on how we can actually make some

money let's go and see Subzero congrats

congrat

thanks

guys I think Mark is going to absolutely

regret missing this opportunity with

cheffy but Kevin is a perfect match he

understands the space he has connections

he understands strategic moves that

sheffy could could take and I'm super

excited to work with somebody of that

caliber