Kitchen United

Kitchen United was a ghost kitchen company founded in 2017 that operated shared kitchen spaces for delivery-only restaurants.¹⁵¹⁰¹⁸ The company raised $175 million in total funding, including a $100 million Series C in July 2022.¹⁰¹⁵ In late 2023, Kitchen United sold or closed all of its physical locations and pivoted to software, and in March 2024, some of its assets and IP were acquired by Sam Nazarian's C3.¹⁴¹⁸

Timeline

Money raised

Kitchen United raised a $10 million Series A round in October 2018 led by GV.¹⁰¹⁴¹⁶ In September 2019, Kitchen United raised a $40 million Series B round co-led by RXR Realty and GV.¹⁰¹⁷ The Series B round brought Kitchen United's total funding to $50 million.¹⁰ In July 2022, Kitchen United raised a $100 million Series C round, bringing total funding to $175 million.¹⁰¹⁵ The Series C round included investors such as Kroger, Couche-Tard, Restaurant Brands International, and Simon Property Group.¹⁰¹⁵ Forge Global reported a post-money valuation of $120.19 million for the Series C round.¹³

Investors named in the sources: RXR Realty¹⁰¹⁷, Fidelity Investments Canada ULC¹⁰¹⁷, DivcoWest¹⁰¹⁷, G Squared¹⁰¹⁷, Harry Tsao¹⁰¹⁴¹⁶, John Miller¹⁰¹⁴¹⁶, Kroger¹⁰¹⁵, Couche-Tard¹⁰¹⁵, Restaurant Brands International¹⁰¹⁵, Simon Property Group¹⁰¹⁵, Phillips Edison & Co.¹⁰¹⁵, B. Riley Venture Capital¹⁰, Cali Group¹⁰, General Global Capital¹⁰, GoldenArc Capital¹⁰, Rich Products Ventures¹⁰, HAVI¹⁰, Peyton Manning¹⁰.

What happened

Kitchen United was founded in 2017 as a ghost kitchen company.⁵¹⁰¹⁸ The company operated shared commercial kitchen spaces for restaurants focusing on delivery-only meals.¹⁰¹⁸ In October 2018, Kitchen United raised a $10 million Series A round led by GV.¹⁰¹⁴¹⁶ The Series A funding was intended to accelerate expansion to new facilities in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Columbus, Phoenix, Seattle, Denver, and New York City.¹⁰ In September 2019, Kitchen United raised a $40 million Series B round co-led by RXR Realty and GV.¹⁰¹⁷

The Series B round brought total funding to $50 million and was earmarked for expansion into New York City and other markets.¹⁰¹⁷ At the time of the Series B, Kitchen United operated facilities in Pasadena, California, and Chicago, with 13 more locations in the pipeline.¹⁰ Kitchen United aimed to open 400 kitchen centers in the next few years.¹⁰ The company partnered with real estate firms to reduce costs and target high-rent urban areas.¹⁰ Kitchen United's customers included major chains like Chick-fil-A.¹⁰

In 2021, Kitchen United acquired Zuul, a New York-based virtual kitchen operator.¹⁰ In July 2022, Kitchen United raised a $100 million Series C round, bringing total funding to $175 million.¹⁰¹⁵ The Series C round included new investors such as Kroger, Couche-Tard, Restaurant Brands International, and Simon Property Group.¹⁰¹⁵ The funds were intended to support expansion from about 15-20 locations to over 500 locations in five years.¹⁰ Kitchen United partnered with Kroger to open ghost kitchens inside grocery stores.⁴¹⁰¹⁸

The company also partnered with Simon Property Group to open virtual food courts in shopping malls.¹⁰ Kitchen United operated about 200 kitchens across 20 regions at its peak.¹⁰¹¹ The company claimed triple-digit top-line growth for three straight years.¹⁰ In November 2023, Kitchen United announced it would sell or close all of its physical locations and pivot to software.¹⁴¹³ The company had already shuttered all of its Kroger locations.¹⁴

Kitchen United CEO Atul Sood said the closures were "in an effort to focus on our core technology."⁴ The company's technology allowed customers to order from multiple concepts within one location.⁴ In March 2024, C3 CEO Sam Nazarian acquired some of Kitchen United's assets and IP.¹⁸ Nazarian planned to use Kitchen United's kitchens and food halls as a foundation for a new digital restaurant company called Everybody Eats.¹⁸ Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.¹⁸

The press release from Nazarian did not indicate how many locations were acquired.¹⁸ Nazarian said in a statement that Kitchen United and Nextbite "have had incredible ideas and unbelievable instincts but just not enough capital to ultimately disrupt the market."¹⁸ The company's pivot to software was confirmed by CEO Atul Sood in a LinkedIn post.⁴ Kitchen United's software was designed to let customers order from multiple restaurant concepts in one transaction.⁴ The company had previously lamented the "ghost kitchen" label, with CEO Atul Sood calling it a "misfortune."⁴

The company's pivot to software was seen as a strategic shift away from real estate.⁹ Nazarian's new company Everybody Eats was described as a "100% asset light IP and premium QSR and CPG brand company."¹⁸ Kitchen United's technology and IP were part of the acquisition by Nazarian.¹⁸ Kitchen United's customers included restaurant brands that used its kitchen spaces for delivery operations.¹⁰ The company's closure of physical locations left its restaurant partners to find alternative arrangements.¹

Kitchen United's pivot to software meant it would no longer operate physical kitchen spaces.¹⁴ The company's software was intended to be licensed to other operators.¹⁰ Kitchen United's Series C investors included Kroger, which had partnered with the company for in-store ghost kitchens.¹⁰¹⁵ The company's total funding of $175 million was reported by multiple sources.¹⁰¹⁵ Kitchen United's post-money valuation after the Series C was $120.19 million according to Forge Global.¹³

The company's headquarters was in Pasadena, California.¹⁰¹¹ Kitchen United was founded by Harry Tsao and John Miller.¹⁰¹¹ The company's early investors included GV, Harry Tsao, and John Miller.¹⁰¹⁴¹⁶

Where the founders are now

Harry Tsao and John Miller were co-founders of Kitchen United.¹⁰¹¹

Sources

1. Kitchen United will sell or close all physical units, pivot to ..., restaurantdive.com, Nov 28, 20
4. Kitchen United pivots to software, expedite.news, Nov 30, 20
5. Ghost kitchens are dead! Long live ghost kitchens!, fastcompany.com, Mar 14, 20
9. Ghost kitchens and virtual brands: does the economics actually work?, katalystos.com, 2026-06-29
10. Kitchen United Funding, Investors & Competitors | Multiples, multiples.vc, 6 days ago
11. Kitchen United: Funding, Team & Investors, Startup Intros, Jul 13, 20
13. Kitchen United IPO Timeline and Financing Details - Forge, forgeglobal.com
14. Kitchen United scores $10M in funding as demand for off- ..., restaurantdive.com
15. Kitchen United Brings in $100M For New Locations, dot.LA, 2022-07-25
16. Kitchen United closes $10 million funding round, bakingbusiness.com, Oct 8, 201
17. Kitchen United Raises $40 Million In Funding, Pulse 2.0, 2019-09-24
18. C3 CEO Sam Nazarian acquires Kitchen United's ghost kitchens, Restaurant Business, Mar 14, 20

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