Artly

Artly Coffee uses AI to create robots that mimic the actions of human baristas to produce ultra-premium quality drinks at the same price point as its large-chain competitors. Motion-capture technology is used to precisely record the actions of championship-winning baristas, and the robots adapt and replay the exact motion by leveraging proprietary imitation learning, computer vision, robotic control, and large language models. This proprietary AI technology can be readily applied to other beverage and food categories, as well as other industries.

The product is very unique. The company is making robotic baristas that can mimic human movement using deep learning to make the best specialty coffees with the same precision every time. The technology has the potential to enter into other industries with primary applications in the food and beverage industry.

The global coffee market is expected to reach $497.89B by the end of 2028, with the US coffee shop market worth around $47.5B USD in 2019. The retail value of the U.S. coffee market is estimated to be $48B with specialty comprising approximately 55% value share. The company has high competition from existing coffee-selling brands like Starbucks. On the tech side, some competitors include Briggo, CafeX, and Rozum Cafe.

Artly's standard robot module is a mere 20 square feet. A store with 2-3 robots averages between 100 to 400 square feet, just one-fifth of the square footage required by a Starbucks coffee shop. The startup cost of one Artly coffee shop is just one-sixth of the construction cost of the Starbucks store. Artly cafes are available across all segments including retail (Muji), tourist (Pier 39 & Pike Place Market), hotel (Ritz Carlton), and office (Hill7 Seattle). It has applied for three patents related to its robotic barista technology. Artly Coffee employs two primary growth models: partnership (store-in-store) and franchise model. Also, the company plans to monetize its tech as RaaS (robotics as a service).

Artly coffee shops have seen a significant increase in business, with 19 robots deployed in 9 locations making thousands of cups of coffee each day and have made over 350k cups thus far. The company has experienced 900% revenue growth from $100,000 in 2021 to $910k in 2022. It is opening four new stores: in California, New York, and Oregon. The Artly coffee shop in San Francisco Premium Outlet generated $40k per month in 2022 and a 40% EBITDA margin due to its inherently low labor costs and the coffee shop at Stewart 101 has achieved an average profit margin of 40% since it opened. All 9 Artly coffee shops have a positive EBITDA margin.

The company plans to use the proceeds for R&D, inventory, and platform fees.

Meng Wang, Co-Founder and CEO
Meng Wang is a seasoned entrepreneur and innovator. With experience as a Principal Scientist at AWS AI and as a co-founder and former CTO of Orbeus Inc. Meng is recognized as a leading expert in computer vision and machine learning. Orbeus was acquired by Amazon and became the AWS Computer Vision services, including AI services like Rekognition and Textract. Meng has more than 30 US Patents in AI. Meng’s dedication to excellence and his passion for creating products that make a difference have earned him a reputation as a visionary leader in the tech and coffee industries. This is his second startup with a successful exit from the first one. He works full-time with Artly.

Joe Yang, Chief Coffee Officer
Wenbo (Joe) Yang is a highly accomplished coffee professional with over 10 years of experience in the specialty coffee industry. He is a certified Q Arabica Grader and has won multiple awards in the United States, including 3rd place in the 2022 USCC Cold Brew Competition, 6th place in the 2022 USCC Roaster Competition, and the 2021 USCC Roaster Competition Qualifying Champion. Joe is also the creator of In J Coffee and Super Joy Coffee in Portland. He is known for his expertise in all aspects of coffee, from sourcing and roasting to brewing.

The company has specialists for all aspects of the business starting from building the product to selling it. The members are very skilled and capable with extensive experience in their fields.