Zume Pizza

About Zume Pizza

Zume Pizza shut down in January 2020 after raising 445 million. The startup used robots to make pizzas in trucks while delivering. SoftBank Vision Fund invested 375 million in 2018 at a 2.25 billion valuation. The robotic pizza concept was technologically ambitious but economically unviable. The trucks were expensive and the pizzas were mediocre. Zume pivoted to sustainable packaging in 2019 but could not attract customers. The shutdown was one of the most expensive failures in the SoftBank Vision Fund portfolio. The case illustrates how investors can be seduced by technology without adequate analysis of fundamental economics. Zume returned most of its remaining cash to investors. The sustainable packaging business was acquired by Pace Architects.