Fast casual salad chain Sweetgreen sells Spyce food automation platform to Marc Lore's Wonder
US-based healthy eating restaurant chain, Sweetgreen, has entered into an agreement with Wonder, a food delivery and technology startup founded in 2018 by former Walmart U.S. eCommerce executive, Marc Lore, to sell the company’s Spyce business responsible for developing and launching Infinite Kitchen technology.
Sweetgreen says that the $186.4 million deal will enable it to reinvest in key priorities and sharpen its focus on growth and profitability. It bought startup Spyce in 2021 for approximately $70 million
It will receive $100 million in cash plus shares of Series C preferred stock of Wonder with an implied value of $86.4 million based on the price per share at which shares were issued by the latter to cash investors in its most recent equity financing.
Sweetgreen has put in place a supply agreement and license agreement that will allow it to continue to deploy Infinite Kitchens across its restaurants. As part of the agreement, 38 Spyce engineers and support staff, including co-founders Michael Farid, Kale Rogers, Brady Knight, and Luke Schlueter, will transition to Wonder.
“We’re incredibly proud of the work our team and the Spyce team have done to develop, scale, and monetise one of the world’s most advanced robotic food technologies,” says Jonathan Neman, Co-Founder and CEO at Sweetgreen.
“We remain deeply confident in both the Infinite Kitchen’s future impact and the brilliant team behind it. As we focus on driving long-term, profitable growth, our collaboration with Wonder will enable us to continue expanding and enhancing the Sweetgreen experience for our guests, while unlocking new opportunities for innovation and scale in the years ahead.”
“Everything begins and ends with the customer,” says Lore. “As we evolve from a first of its kind, multi-restaurant operator into a truly scalable, technology powered food platform, the acquisition of Spyce’s Infinite Kitchen gives us leading robotics capabilities that will transform how food is prepared and served.”
“This technology enables us to eventually operate more than 100 restaurants across any cuisine type and price point, all out of a small kitchen, while serving food faster, hotter and with flawless accuracy and consistency. It furthers our mission to make great food more accessible, bringing more restaurants to more people, in more places, at more times of day and at more affordable prices.”
2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS
Automation was a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.
We received a record number of entries and many fantastic examples of the continued resilience and dynamism of the retail space during hugely challenging times.
For a full rundown of all of the shortlisted entries, click here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC in Central London on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
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