Technology

Company behind burger-flipping robot beefs up leadership

White Castle deployed Miso Robotics' Flippy ROAR at some locations last July. (Image: Miso Robotics/file)

July 28, 2021

Miso Robotics, the company behind a number of foodservice kitchen production robotics products, like the modified Flippy machines used at some White Castle locations, has named iRobot executive, Chris Kruger, as its chief technology officer, according to a news release. In the position, Kruger will work on scaling Miso's products for new markets, while overseeing the company's current technology.

At iRobot, Kruger developed a large-scale cloud-based robotics simulation platform for Roombas and other home robots. Miso also named three members to its Board of Advisors, including:

Bill Mitchell, president of Hut American, Flynn Restaurant Group, who has nearly 30 years of U.S. and global franchising experience.
John Inwright, former president and CEO of Wendy's Quality Supply Chain Cooperative.
Jane Gannaway, principal for JPG Consulting LLC, where she has helped foodservice clients with strategic planning, engineering, and facility design and layout.

The release said that demand for Miso Robotics' products has continued to accelerate after release of its flagship product, Flippy, as well as SaaS option, CookRight — fueled by the impact of the pandemic and record labor shortages. Seeing the opportunity to bring further efficiency to kitchens and help operators stay open, the company recently announced plans to produce an automated beverage dispenser with global manufacturer, Lancer Worldwide.

"We are in the extremely fortunate position to not only bring in a rock-star CTO in, Chris, but also strengthen our board of advisors to give us a holistic understanding of the vast foodservice market and help us navigate the untapped areas in it where we can integrate our technology," CEO Mike Bell said in the release. "With the amount of product interest we receive on a daily basis, we needed to make sure we had the right team in place to meet our rapid growth trajectory — and this is that team."

Christopher Kruger will lead the charge to scale new products for new markets while overseeing Miso Robotics' current technology portfolio. Ryan Sinnet, who previously served as CTO, will transition his role into a full-time lead for Research and Development as its chief research officer, supporting Miso Robotics in new software and technology.