Irish-based smart kitchen company Fresco has raised €15 million in funding to bring its personalised cooking companion app to more manufacturers and consumers globally.
The company offers a platform to connect smart kitchen appliances. It has two elements to its approach: KitchenOS, a cross-brand platform that connects appliances, and the Fresco AI Cooking Companion, a personalised sous chef that suggests recipes, guides home cooks step by step in real time, and intelligently controls and syncs appliances.
The funding will help boost the evolution of the AI Cooking Companion and accelerate its distribution, allowing Fresco to further grow its partnerships with the world’s biggest appliance brands.
“AI has been changing everything, but it is so applicable to the kitchen when done well. It has accelerated the potential of how we can help home cooks,” said Ben Harris, co-founder and chief executive of Fresco. “The investment is now driving and bringing it to life.”
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Fresco is tapping into a global smart kitchen appliances market that is expected to reach $60 billion (€52 billion) by 2030. Despite the potential for growth, however, many appliance brands have not yet developed a way to offer personalised cooking experiences at scale.
The company already has partnerships with a number of well-known companies, including Panasonic, AGA, Bosch, Kenwood and LG Electronics.
“Instead of having to go to each of the brands, we have gone directly to the manufacturer,” Mr Harris said. “Appliance brands can get a Fresco-enabled solution that can work with their ovens, induction cooker tops and other areas. It accelerates the integration and distribution of our whole system.”
The Series C round sees new investment from Strong Roots founder Sam Dennigan, Cubic Telecom’s Barry Napier, Stanley Cheng of the Meyer Corporation, and Arda’s Tyler Hu. Existing investors Middleby, ACT Venture Capital, AE Ventures, Morpheus Ventures and Alsop Louie Partners also backed the round.
Cofounded by Mr Harris, Jack Phelan, Jonny McCauley and Tim Redfern, Fresco developed its own smart scale, the Drop scale, before developing a dedicated platform to connect appliance manufacturers, recipe publishers and food stores together.
It launched the operating system, KitchenOS, last year.
