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- Zume
Zume Valuation, Funding & Investors
Zume is valued at $1.9B as of November 2018.
Last Zume valuation
$1.9B
Undisclosed stage · Nov 2018
Last Zume funding round
$375M
Undisclosed stage · Nov 2018
Cumulative funding Zume raised
$423M
across 2 funding rounds
Key investors in Zume
FJ Labs
SoftBank Group
AME Cloud Ventures
SignalFire
SGH CAPITAL
Kortschak Investments L.P.
About Zume
Mountain View-headquartered Zume is a sustainable packaging company producing biodegradable alternatives to single-use plastics for foodservice. The firm partners with distributors in over 25 countries, including Packme Ltd in the UK, Rausch Verpackung GmbH in Germany, and Ultra Pac in Chile. Zume's molded fiber products replace foam and plastic containers for global manufacturers.
Founded
2015
HQ
Website
Status
Privately held
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Product sales
Valuation
$1.9B (Nov 2018)
Zume Valuation
Zume is currently valued at $1.9B, based on its undisclosed-stage round in November 2018.
The $375M round was led by SoftBank Group.
Zume's valuation has grown 11x from $170M at its Series B in October 2017 to $1.9B in November 2018, across 2 priced rounds.
Zume valuation by funding round
| Date | Stage | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2018 | Undisclosed stage | $1.9B |
| Oct 2017 | Series B | $170M |
Zume Funding History
Zume has raised a total of $423M across 2 funding rounds.
Zume's first fundraising round was a $48M Series B in October 2017. The most recent completed round was a $375M undisclosed-stage round in November 2018.
Zume funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Valuation | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2018 | Undisclosed stage | SoftBank Group (lead) | $375M | $1.9B | Zume, a Mountain View, California-based startup founded in 2015, developed robotics and automation technology initially for pizza-making and delivery, using 'cobot' culture where humans and robots collaborate to par-bake pizzas that finish cooking in oven-equipped trucks en route to customers. The company raised $375 million from SoftBank Vision Fund in a round reported in early November 2018, bringing its post-money valuation to approximately $2.25 billion, with reports indicating SoftBank planned an additional $375 million investment in the future. CEO Alex Garden stated the funding would support growth, hiring, and expansion of its proprietary technology beyond pizza to other restaurant concepts and food categories. Zume's platform emphasized reducing time and distance between food sources and customers through automation, AI, logistics, and mobile kitchens, positioning it to serve dense population centers efficiently. Prior to this round, Zume had raised about $70 million. The investment aligned with SoftBank's broader bets on food delivery and robotics, including a $535 million lead in DoorDash valued at $4 billion, amid a growing tech arms race in the restaurant industry facing labor shortages and rising delivery demands estimated at $76 billion by 2022. Zume aimed to license its 'Bake on the Way' technology, with partnerships like Pizza Hut testing prototypes to improve customer experience by cooking closer to delivery points. Despite high ambitions likening it to 'Domino’s without the labor component' for profitability, Zume later pivoted from pizza to sustainable packaging and shut down due to insolvency years after. |
| Oct 2017 | Series B | AME Cloud Ventures (lead); SGH CAPITAL; SignalFire; FJ Labs; Vijay Chattha; Kortschak Investments L.P. | $48M | $170M | Zume was a Silicon Valley food-tech startup founded in 2015 that initially focused on robot-powered pizza delivery. The company secured a patent on cooking during delivery with algorithms to predict customer choices and planned to partner with businesses to provide other robot-prepared meal components. In fall 2017, Zume raised $48 million in Series B funding at an approximate $170 million valuation, representing a significant step before its later growth. However, baking pizzas in moving vehicles proved impractical, and customers complained about quality issues with the robot-made pizzas, leading the company to eventually shelve the pizza delivery concept. Following the unsuccessful pizza business model, Zume pivoted to focus on sustainable food packaging and packaging solutions for other food companies. The company subsequently bought Pivot in 2019, a company that made plant-based packaging, to strengthen its position in compostable packaging. In November 2018, just over a year after the Series B round, SoftBank Vision Fund invested $375 million in the company, valuing it at $2.25 billion—a dramatic increase reflecting the market's initial enthusiasm for the pivoted business model, though the company would eventually shut down due to insolvency years later. |
Who has invested in Zume?
7 investors have backed Zume across its funding rounds, including FJ Labs, SoftBank Group, AME Cloud Ventures, SignalFire, SGH CAPITAL and Kortschak Investments L.P..
Lead investors include SoftBank Group and AME Cloud Ventures.
Zume Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Participant | Oct 2017 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Oct 2017 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Nov 2018 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Oct 2017 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Oct 2017 | ||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 7 Zume investors. Start Free Trial | ||||
Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples
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Start Free TrialAcquisitions by Zume
Zume has acquired 1 company to date.
Last acquisition by Zume was on June 13th 2019. Zume acquired Pivot Packaging for $21M.
Latest Acquisitions by Zume
| Description | Pivot Packaging is a Mississauga-based supplier of flexible packaging solutions for food, beverage, and consumer products. The company manufactures stand-up pouches, rollstock films, and custom-printed bags using polyethylene and polypropylene materials with capabilities in lamination and high-speed filling lines. |
| HQ Country | |
| HQ City | Los Angeles, CA |
| Deal Date | 13 Jun 2019 |
| Valuation | $21M |
| EV/Revenue | |
| EV/EBITDA | |
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Zume acquisitions and their M&A valuation multiples. Start Free Trial | |
Zume Competitors
Zume competitors include listed companies like Sunrun and SMA Solar Technology, and private ones like PhaBuilder, Plenty, Radiant and Pivot Bio.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private | - | - | $287M | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $1.9B | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $1.8B | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $2B | - | ||
| Publicly listed | $3B | $546M | $2.1B | 6.0x | ||
| Publicly listed | $1.7B | ($77M) | $2.2B | 1.1x |
Zume Public Comps
Zume is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Winpak, Nofar Energy, Sunrun, Mayr-Melnhof, LINTEC, Borregaard, SMA Solar Technology, SolarEdge, Ygsoft and Ableprint.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $1.1B | $230M | 1.4x | 1.3x | 6.7x | 6.5x | |||
| $103M | $95M | 49.8x | - | 53.6x | - | |||
| $3B | $546M | 6.2x | 6.0x | 33.6x | 25.4x | |||
| $4.5B | $463M | 0.6x | 0.6x | 5.9x | 5.8x | |||
| $2.1B | $266M | 0.9x | 0.9x | 6.9x | 6.3x | |||
| $807M | $169M | 2.2x | 2.2x | 10.7x | 9.4x | |||
| $1.7B | ($77M) | 1.2x | 1.1x | (26.4x) | 14.3x | |||
| $1.2B | ($365M) | 1.8x | 1.6x | (5.7x) | (86.7x) | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Zume competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about Zume
| When was Zume founded? | Zume was founded in 2015. |
| Where is Zume headquartered? | Zume is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, United States. |
| Is Zume publicly listed? | No, Zume is a private, VC-backed company. |
| What is Zume's valuation? | Zume was last valued at $1.9B in its undisclosed-stage round in November 2018. |
| How much funding has Zume raised? | Zume has raised $423M across 2 funding rounds. |
| What was Zume's last funding round? | Zume's last funding round was a $375M undisclosed-stage round in November 2018, led by SoftBank Group. |
| Who are Zume's investors? | Zume's investors include SGH CAPITAL, SignalFire, SoftBank Group, FJ Labs, Vijay Chattha, AME Cloud Ventures and Kortschak Investments L.P.. |
| Which companies are comparable to Zume? | Companies comparable to Zume include PhaBuilder, Plenty, Radiant, Pivot Bio, Sunrun and SMA Solar Technology. |
| How many companies has Zume acquired? | Zume has acquired 1 company, including Pivot Packaging. |
| What was the largest acquisition by Zume? | The $21M acquisition of Pivot Packaging in June 2019 is the largest acquisition Zume has made to date. |
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