Botrista raises $55M, hires former Zoup president to lead strategyQSR Web

Botrista Beverages, a provider of automation technology and the inventor of The Botrista DrinkBot, has raised $55 million for expansion.

The San Franciso-based start-up has earned 10 times its recurring revenue in less than 12 months since DrinkBot was launched in 2021, capturing the craft beverage trend while solving labor shortage in the F&B industry, according to a company press release. Botrista is now in 26 states nationwide and growing exponentially, said founder and CEO Sean Hsu, who is excited about what he calls “the merging of a Silicon Valley tech startup with the restaurant industry.”

Hsu, who was a Tesla employee during its early stages in Silicon Valley, recently hired Jason Valentine, the former president of Zoup Eatery, to oversee the company’s growth strategy.

“Botrista’s beverage innovation addresses core problems that restaurants face: labor efficiency, quality consistency and portion control,” Valentine said in the release. “By using automation technologies to make a wide variety of craft beverages, Botrista is positioned perfectly to help brands innovate their beverage menu, increase topline sales and bottom line profit.”

Hsu said he has always valued the knowledge and experience of restaurant executives, which is why Don Fox, CEO of Firehouse Subs, has been on the senior advisory board for two years, and in 2021, Kim Lodrup, retired Red Lobster CEO, also joined the board.

“We currently employ almost 100 people, and each individual contributes in a meaningful way,” Hsu said in the release. “We are excited about the progress we’ve accomplished in 2022, but we are just getting started to revolutionize the industry.”