Founder, Forward Kitchens
After graduating from Columbia University with a B.S. in Computer Science, Raghav joined the Y Combinator 2019 batch with his newly formed company CookDash - a digital storefront for restaurants.
We had been tracking the New York-based company for months given their initial momentum and our strong appetite for food-related opportunities. Upon their arrival to San Francisco for YC, we chatted with Raghav at one of our monthly BBQs.
Shortly after completing YC, Raghav rebranded the company as Forward Kitchens, with the premise of enabling restaurants to seamlessly create multiple digital storefronts, launch food delivery, and ultimately become their off-premise operating system. After a few more informal conversations, we fully believed in what the Forward Kitchens team was working towards - a scalable, cost-effective approach to deploy cloud kitchens in operational restaurants and help them drive their revenue.
It quickly became clear that we were not alone in our beliefs as we ultimately participated in Forward Kitchen's Seed Round alongside SV Angel, Floodgate and Slow ventures.
Since our initial investment, we're happy to have helped Forward Kitchens secure key early hires, in addition to participating in all of the company's subsequent funding rounds.
Founder, Coco
Co-Founder, Coco
Zach and Brad both studied Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at UCLA, where they also co-founded the Connected Autonomous Electric Vehicle consortium.
While at university, they became deeply immersed in the application of robotics in the outdoor logistics space, with the goal of developing a solution that could deliver immediate value for merchants and their customers.
We met Zach and Brad in early 2019 at one of our BBQs, where we immediately aligned with their energy and appreciated their vision for Coco.
Shortly thereafter, we were their first fundraising pitch; they were raising funds to build their first robot prototype to be tested on the UCLA campus for fast deliveries. Their enthusiasm, drive, and strong resolve led to BBQ Capital becoming their first check.
While Coco's robots and business model have shifted since then, their passion to bring automated delivery to the expanding delivery market remains.
Since our first check, Coco has gone on to raise multiple rounds of capital from Sam Altman, Founders Fund, Pelion Ventures, and Outlander VC. We're happy to have followed on through their Series A.
Founder, Regression Games
Aaron has long had a love for gaming and machine learning, and it was only a matter of time until he combined his two passions in a professional setting. He first explored his interest in ML while studying at MIT. There, he helped launch MIT Battlecode Competition, where thousands of players write programs to battle other teams. He also performed deep AI and ML research at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and at MIT's RLE Quantum Photonics Group.
Aaron went on to work for Instabase where he was the company’s sixth full-time hire and gained proficiency in the best AI and ML practices – all while pursuing his own software development business on the side. This idea has taken shape as Regression Games, a platform and ecosystem that makes AI gaming and esports accessible and fun to everyone.
We met Aaron in April 2022 through a mutual connection in San Francisco who thought our deep gaming roots would fit well with Aaron's vision for Regression Games. After a couple calls, it became clear that Aaron was highly capable of executing upon his idea and that there were areas where BBQ could add meaningful value. We wired over capital shortly thereafter and participated in Regression Games' Seed Round led by NEA with investment from a16z and Roosh Ventures - a firm with extensive ML proficiency that we brought in as a co-investor.
Ready to take your restaurant business to the next level? Contrary to the ways of old-school restaurateurs, the path to growth doesn't necessarily involve opening more locations. It's about maximizing your existing kitchen's potential and tapping into the ever-growing market right before you!
Nabis is a licensed cannabis wholesale marketplace that distributes cannabis products to retailers. It provides a lightning-fast distribution, sales, marketing, financing, and data analytics services. The company's technology coordinates the entire cannabis distribution lifecycle from production to delivery.
Brella is a child care center that provides flexible scheduling and quality care. The company offers a fully licensed program that features an enrichment-based curriculum, age-appropriate classrooms, and caregiver-child ratios.
We'd been tracking the company for a few months while they were based in New York City, before we connected with them live in SF as they were in town to attend Y Combinator. After a few informal meetings and BBQs, we were completely onboard with what Raghav and his team were building.
We met Zach and Brad in early 2019 at one of our BBQs, where we immediately aligned with their energy and appreciated their vision for Coco. Shortly thereafter, we were their first fundraising pitch; they were raising funds to build their first robot prototype to be tested on the UCLA campus.
We met Aaron Vontell in April 2022 through a mutual connection who thought our deep gaming roots would fit well with Aaron's vision for Regression Games. It became clear that Aaron was highly capable of executing upon his idea and that BBQ could add meaningful value.
