In 2015, Alex Garden, the enigmatic co-founder and CEO of Zume, unveiled an ambitious plan to revolutionize the pizza industry with advanced technology and robots. His concept caught the attention of major venture capital funds, including Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo, and SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund. With substantial funding and media attention, Zume seemed poised to transform the food industry. However, despite having all the right ingredients, what led to their downfall was so outrageous it will have you scratching your head and questioning how half-baked the management was. This is sure to be one of the most intriguing failures you’ve ever heard about yet.
Tune in to Episode 66 of The Great Fail to hear the full story. Special thanks to Joanna Fantozzi for her contributions to this segment.
Episode Resources
Bay Area-founded pizza startup Zume reportedly shuts down after raising $445 million
History of Pizza: Who Invented It, and Where?
The $500 million robot pizza startup you never heard of has shut down, report says
Zume shuts down its robot-powered pizza business
Silicon Valley’s $445 million robot pizza revolution that wasn’t
Go read this story about the failed pizzas-made-by-robots-and-cooked-during-delivery startup
A Food Tech Case Study: Four Lessons From the Demise of Zume
Why Zume Died: How Melting Cheese Burnt a $2.3B Pizza Delivery Startup Run By Robots
SoftBank-backed pizza startup shuts down after raising $445 million
ROBOT PIZZA STARTUP SHUTS DOWN AFTER CHEESE KEPT SLIDING OFF
Whatever Happened to Zume’s Pizza-Making Robots?
Essential Pizza Industry Statistics In 2024
SoftBank-backed Zume is laying off half its staff and shuttering its pizza delivery business
What a Failed $428M Robot Pizza Startup Can Teach You About Practicality
Robot Pizza Company Raised $500 Million Dollars And Couldn’t Make Pies Right
$400+ million ex-pizza robot company Zume shuts down
Special Guest
Joanna Fantozzi, Senior Editor at Nation’s Restaurant News
Joanna Fantozzi is a Senior Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality. She has spent close to a decade writing about the restaurant and hospitality industry. Her editorial coverage ranges from profiles of independent restaurants around the country to breaking news and insights into some of the biggest brands in food and beverage, including Starbucks, Domino’s, and Papa John’s.
Joanna holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature and creative writing from The College of New Jersey and a master’s degree in arts and culture journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Prior to joining Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group in 2018, she was a freelance food, culture, and lifestyle writer, and has previously held editorial positions at Insider (formerly known as Business Insider) and The Daily Meal. Joanna’s work can also be found in The New York Times, Forbes, Vice, The New York Daily News, and Parents Magazine.