Microsoft has invested in Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick’s new venture, Cloud Kitchens, becoming the first known U.S.-based investor to do so, according to the Financial Times.
The news outlet, citing two people with knowledge of the agreement, reported that the investment was part of CloudKitchens’ $850M funding round in November 2021. It gave the company, which provides “dark kitchens” to restaurants for the purpose of cooking food to be sold on delivery apps, a $15B valuation.
The infusion of capital was used to help the company expand with more than 4,000 employees across the U.S., Latin America, the U.K. and the Middle East. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which gave Uber $3.5 billion in 2016, invested $400 million into CloudKitchens in 2019.
Ghost kitchens — also known as cloud kitchens and dark kitchens — initially hit the scene in 2015 and took off in March 2020 when the pandemic took hold and the demand for delivered restaurant meals skyrocketed.
The concept involves buying or leasing warehouse, storefront, or other space and converting the premises into a massive kitchen for preparing food for multiple restaurants simultaneously specifically for takeout orders.