Dublin-based Fresco, a smart kitchen platform that is on a mission to make cooking effortless and rewarding by connecting dots in the kitchen, announced on Thursday that it has closed $20M (approximately €18.48M) in its Series B round of funding.
CEO and co-founder of Fresco, Ben Harris, says. “Fresco exists to bridge the gap between intention and action around cooking by using technology to empower home chefs.”
The company will use the proceeds from this round for working capital to expand its workforce and invest in improvement in its digital platform and related applications.
Investors in this round
The round was led by three international appliance brands; Instant Brands, maker of the iconic Instant Pot; Vorwerk, the company behind all-in-one multicooker Thermomix TM6; and a third major appliance manufacturer will be announced later in the year.
According to a statement from Fresco, these preeminent appliance manufacturers are investing in the company’s KitchenOS because they believe Fresco is positioned to make the promise of the smart kitchen a reality. Ben Gadbois, CEO and President of Instant Brands, says, “Instant Brands and Fresco are working together to develop innovative breakthroughs in the kitchen, and beyond. This investment deepens our partnership further and supercharges these initiatives.”
Besides the appliance brands, Fresco’s existing investors also participated in this round.
Drop becomes Fresco
According to the company’s website, Drop recently rebranded itself to Fresco. After a year-long rebranding process, the startup says “our brand now better reflects our promise to connect dots in the kitchen to make cooking effortless.”
With the new identity, the company looks to better connect to its community. Ben Harris says, “Drop was a great name for a physical product, but over the years, we pivoted to become a smart kitchen platform, providing end-to-end solutions for making appliances connected, from firmware development to IoT expertise and an app that pulls all the appliances together.”
About Fresco
Founded in 2012 by Ben Harris, Jonny McCauley, and Tim Redfern, Fresco claims to be the only technology that brings appliances, home cooks, and recipes together. It connects any compatible appliance–across brands–so that the cook can focus on preparing meals. The company has adopted the “connects with Fresco” brand to certify appliances that can be controlled from smartphones, tablets, smart speakers, and smart home assistants. Consumers can use the Fresco app to guide their cooking to prepare better and more creative meals.
The company knows that no kitchen has appliances from a single brand, hence it has partnered with the world’s biggest appliance makers like BOSCH, Electrolux, GE Appliances, Instant Brands, Kenwood, LG Electronics, Panasonic, and Thermomix, to provide its services.
Ben Harris says, “We know that every kitchen has appliances from different brands. Now through this Fresco platform, our partners are forming alliances across the whole kitchen, enabling the promise of the smart kitchen. To our appliance partners, Fresco provides end-to-end solutions to make any appliance smart: firmware; IoT modules; cloud services, and apps that pull it all together. Combined with the Fresco app, our step-by-step smart recipes inspire and guide home cooks to perfect results.”
The KitchenOS combined with the Fresco app can help consumers interact with their kitchen through whatever interface or appliance they choose. According to Statista, smart kitchen appliance users are projected to reach 248 million worldwide by 2027. Keeping this in mind, the Fresco KitchenOS platform has been designed to facilitate the transition to that future for both appliance makers and users.
Currently, the company operates globally and has offices in Dublin, Ireland, and Zaragoza, Spain.
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