AT A CLEVELAND CLOUDKITCHENS, OPERATORS SAY THEY WERE SET UP TO FAIL

Tiffany Rogers wanted a permanent home for her catering business.  Jay Freeman planned to expand an existing restaurant.  Latisha Clark hoped to pursue her passion for feeding people.  One by one, the chefs found their way to Carnegie Food Hub, a CloudKitchens facility in Cleveland’s MidTown neighborhood.  They were drawn in by a proposition of …

CLOUDKITCHENS SOLD THESE RESTAURANTS A DREAM. WHAT THEY GOT WAS A NIGHTMARE

Eric Roldan had always wanted to open a restaurant.  Drawing on his Puerto Rican heritage, the menu would feature plantain-based dishes like jibaritos and mofongo. It would also have a mojito bar.  He’d always envisioned it as a sit-down place. But then Roldan’s business partner told him about CloudKitchens, a company that rents kitchen space …

Uber’s Infamous Co-founder Wins Microsoft As First US Investor For His Dark Kitchen Startup

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) has become the first U.S.-based investor in Uber Technologies, Inc (NYSE: UBER), known to have backed CloudKitchens, the “dark kitchen” startup run by the ride-hailing company’s controversial co-founder Travis Kalanick, the Financial Times reports. The investment was part of CloudKitchens’ $850 million funding round that closed in November 2021, valuing it at $15 billion. The cash gain …

The Uber of ghost kitchens sucks, apparently

For some budding restauranteurs, CloudKitchens might sound like a great opportunity to get off the ground. The service, owned by Uber founder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick, promises restaurateurs delivery-only kitchens in rented warehouse spaces with low startup fees. But a report from Insider reveals that many CloudKitchens operators are struggling to keep their business alive due to a …

India’s Ola switches gears on its food delivery business Foodpanda

India’s Ola, which has expanded to select international markets and set ambitious goals for its electric vehicles business, is struggling with selling food. So it is making major changes to its food business. The ride-hailing giant is pivoting Foodpanda,  the Indian business of the food delivery startup it acquired in late 2017, to focus on in-house food brands, sources familiar with …

Uber and Travis Kalanick are in business again. This time, as competitors

Uber Technologies Inc. is already delivering billions of dollars’ worth of food for local restaurants. Soon it could be taking over their kitchens, too. The ride-hailing giant is testing a program where it rents out fully equipped, commercial-grade kitchens to serve businesses selling food on delivery apps like Uber Eats. Last year, Uber’s food delivery …