Frozen dinners were still a novelty in 1945 when scientists realized they could also cook foods using microwaves. After being created in 1986, microwaved meals soon took over the frozen section at the supermarket and have since ballooned into a $160B market worldwide.
Today, Americans spend more than $35.5 billion on microwave-ready dinners. While they provide a quick and easy meal option for busy parents, many kids like Nymble founders Raghav Gupta and Rohin Malhotra grew up hating microwaved meals, wishing instead for something home-cooked.
Gupta and Malhotra said they disliked the meals so much, they started cooking on their own. Launching in August, their robotic chef, the Nymble is set to ship its first 1,400 orders. They hope it will revolutionize how Americans eat.
Loaded up with more than 500 recipes from 10 cuisines worldwide, the robot allows users to customize every recipe, save preferences and manage portion control with ease. Users simply choose a recipe, prep the ingredients, load up Nymble and press “Cook.”
When Malhotra picked up cooking as a teen, he told Paste that it was fun at first, but it soon became a chore he dreaded.
“It was so much work, and when Raghav, my then-friend and soon-to-be co-founder, realized we had similar experiences we started working on the Nymble together, “ he said. The two met in high school and officially started building Nymble right after finishing college in 2017.
In addition to cutting down on money spent on takeout or delivery, they said Nymble will be able to give back time to caretakers at home who spend hours a day preparing food for their family, allowing them to focus on other things. Using AI-assisted computer vision to cook and mimic human intuition, Nymble can, for instance, check to see if the onions have been sauteed and wait for the right stage of cooking before adding in the ingredients in a layered manner.
“We believe that the stovetop hasn’t seen any disruption in all these decades and is still ancient,” Malhotra said. “We want to eventually achieve a built-in status in kitchens like the oven or microwave, which started as standalone appliances and have now become a unit in the kitchen. Our customers like to get in a workout, attend a meeting or spend more time with their kids while Nymble cooks for them. It helps our users save up to 45 minutes per meal.”
As of now, Nymble is the only fully autonomous robot chef currently on the market as other devices like machines from ChefRobot and Tyanlo are either semi-automated or ovens that help cook food, but that’s all about to change. Several robot-powered kitchens are currently in late-stage development. Moley Robotics recently showed off a generation of robotic kitchens, including a fully robotic Chef’s Table, several residential kitchens and the massive C AiR Commercial Kitchen.
After starting Chefee in 2021, Assaf Pashut and his team have spent the last few years developing more than 30 prototypes for their automated kitchen system. After appearing on Shark Tank last year, Pashut told Paste the company began accepting reservations and will be accepting down payments in August for our first batch of units that have an estimated delivery schedule of Q1, 2025.
There are three Chefee models currently in development: a Countertop model and Standalone, and Seamless. Each has a different level of aesthetic, space efficiency, and flexibility. Chefee countertop starts at $39,995, Standalone starts at $49,995, and Seamless starts at $59,995.
“Together, these three form factors enable Chefee to fit into virtually any home in the world. Best of all, with the exception of the Seamless model, Chefee can be installed with no kitchen renovation, one of our biggest selling points in terms of adoption and scalability,” he said.
According to Pashut, Chefee has raised $750k from angels thus far to keep their team purposely very lean. In terms of partnerships, they’ve received messages from literally all over the world – Singapore, Italy, Australia, Denmark, England, Canada, EAU, India, etc. – with interest in becoming distributors and vendors. Chefee has also gained the attention of various major corporations including Sony, Samsung, and Compass Group.
“Given the huge engagement level we’ve received online by millions of viewers and tens of thousands of shares, we’ll be launching a crowdfunding campaign (likely on StartEngine) very soon to allow people around the world to join us on this exciting journey,” he said. “I can’t tell you how much homemade food means to me personally, having grown up with Tunisian grandparents and a mom with a golden spatula. Asking Chefee to whip up some of my favorites while I’m working out or coding is truly Jetsons-esque.”
When creating Chefee, Pashut said he wanted to stay away from a robot arm or humanoid that could scare kids or cause other mishaps. Additionally, the team believes that tech should be as hidden and seamless as possible, so Chefee was designed to blend into a home’s design and be installed in a matter of hours.
In addition to cooking your meal, Pashut said, Chefee can help plan your menu, order the ingredients, minimize food waste, track your macros and much more. Additionally, Pashut said Chefee is an evolving system and teased the company’s first module ever: Chefee Airfryer.
“Imagine your kitchen being able to cook full menus from your top 20 restaurants,” he said. “This is where we’re headed.”
