Clayton Wooden, the CEO of pizza robotic maker Picnic, is departing the corporate, in response to a publish made by Wooden on Linkedin.
Wooden joined the corporate – initially named Otto Robotics and Vivid Robotics earlier than it will definitely settled on Picnic – in 2019 after it parted methods with its founding CEO, Garett Ochs. Since then, Wooden has led Picnic by important development and a few funding rounds.
The Picnic CEO’s departure comes simply weeks after Wooden introduced on Linkedin that the corporate was having its first layoffs. On the time, Wooden stated the corporate “needed to make the tough determination to scale back our firm measurement and say goodbye to some colleagues” as a result of “present financial atmosphere.” Now Wooden is saying goodbye to the corporate he led for over 4 years.
“After a tremendous 4+ 12 months trip, I’m stepping down as CEO at Picnic,” Wooden wrote. “It’s been an exhilarating journey, serving to to construct a brand new trade of restaurant automation, and I’m very pleased with the work I used to be capable of accomplish with the invaluable help of a tremendous crew of leaders and contributors.”
Wooden stated he doesn’t know the place he’ll find yourself subsequent however plans to begin searching for his subsequent position after a while off. After shedding an enormous chunk of his crew and dealing with the prospect of making an attempt to boost extra capital within the present VC winter, I can’t blame him for eager to take a break.
So what does the long run appear to be for Picnic and the broader meals robotics house?
The near-term prospects for the corporate are powerful, having to search for a brand new CEO and lift extra cash. The corporate raised a $16.3 million Collection A in 2021 and, in response to a submitting final 12 months, was trying to increase an extra $7.75 million. Regardless of Wooden’s success elevating cash beforehand, the corporate was undoubtedly having problem elevating a big Collection B within the present funding local weather. The corporate may now be a goal for acquisition by a bigger firm akin to Middleby, a meals gear conglomerate that has fueled a lot of its development by way of acquisition. Middleby confirmed off its personal pizza robotic in 2020 however hasn’t talked a lot about it since.
As for the broader market implications, my guess is, sadly, we’ll proceed to see some meals robotics startups battle over the subsequent couple of years, given the slowdown in enterprise capital, notably these trying to increase bigger rounds for scaling. The pizza house is especially aggressive, and we’ve already seen some startups within the house exit of enterprise.
We want Clayton – who has been beneficiant together with his time for Spoon occasions and podcasts – good luck on his subsequent journey!
