Funding
$17.7M
Models
1
Overview
Karakuri was a London-based robotics company developing automated food preparation systems. Founded in 2018 by ex-ARM engineers Barney Wragg and Simon Watt, the company built the DK-One robotic canteen — a pre-production meal assembly robot capable of dispensing up to 18 ingredients for personalized meals — along with the FRYR automated fry line and SEMBLR meal assembly system. Karakuri raised approximately £13.5M ($17.7M) from investors including Ocado , firstminute capital, and Hoxton Ventures, but wound down operations in June 2023 after failing to secure additional funding.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- None on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
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Key facts
CEO
Founded
Status
Total funding
Key investor
Data & sources
News coverage
2
Web sources
3
5 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Karakuri on the deployment map
Where Karakuri's robots are verified operating. Explore the deployment map by place and type.
Relationships
Explainers
Plain-language answers to the questions people ask about Karakuri, from DEPLOY’s explainer library. Each is written in the language of the question and cross-checked against this registry.
- What are food service robots and how do they work?
Food service robots are autonomous or semi-autonomous machines that perform cooking, food assembly, portioning, or in-dining delivery tasks. The category divides along two axes: vision-guided robots (which perceive food state and adapt) vs scripted robots (which execute fixed motion sequences), and kitchen automation vs dining delivery. The cohort includes several companies that closed or sold in 2021 to 2024.
- What was Karakuri and why did it go into administration?
Karakuri was a UK-based robotic food preparation startup that developed automated systems for restaurant and food service kitchens. The company entered administration in 2024, becoming one of several food service robot startups to fail in the 2021 to 2024 period. Karakuri is no longer operating.
Founders (2)
- Barney Wraggcofounderfounded 2018-04-01no longer at company
- Simon Wattcofounderfounded 2018-04-01no longer at company
Former / Previously (2)
- Barney Wragg Co-founder & CEO2018 to 2023SEC-verified
- Simon Watt Co-founder2018 to 2023SEC-verified
Safety record
No incidents on record for Karakuri.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Recent coverage
Karakuri in third-party press
Peer companies
- Bear Robotics3 models
- KEENON Robotics2 models
- Richtech Robotics2 models
- Artly Coffee1 model
- Blendid1 model
- Botrista1 model
Supplied by (1)
Mechanical / contract manufacturing
- KUKA AGvia Karakuri DK-OneKUKA KR AGILUS six-axis robot (up to 900mm reach)suppliesended
Inbound supply edges feeding this company directly or via the models it owns. Same source bar as the outbound view (verified against at least two strong sources).
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- wound_down
- Counterparty risk class
- high
- Going concern
- flaggedDefunct (administration Jun 2023; assets sold ~GBP 350k).
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Funding rounds (2)
- Seed2020-12-02
$8M
Investors: firstminute capital (lead), Hoxton Ventures, Taylor Brothers, UK Future Fund, Ocado Group
- Strategic2019-07-01
$6M(reported)
Investors: Ocado Group (lead)
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 6, 2026
Karakuri DK-One demo (historical)
- Record createdJun 6, 2026
Added to the verified registry
Sources (5)
- https://www.therobotreport.com/food-robotics-startup-karakuri-shutting-down/
- https://www.uktech.news/foodtech/karakuri-appoints-administrators-20230620
- https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/02/food-robotics-startup-karakuri-unveils-automated-canteen-plus-8-4m-investment-led-by-firstminute/ · 2020-12-02
- https://www.uktech.news/news/karakuri-secures-63m-unveils-worlds-first-automated-canteen-20201203 · 2020-12-03
- https://retailtechinnovationhub.com/home/2023/6/20/journeys-end-robotics-startup-karakuri-collapses-after-failing-to-secure-new-funding · 2023-06-20
Common questions
- What is Karakuri?
- Karakuri was a London-based robotics company developing automated food preparation systems. Founded in 2018 by ex-ARM engineers Barney Wragg and Simon Watt, the company built the DK-One robotic canteen — a pre-production meal assembly robot capable of dispensing up to 18 ingredients for personalized meals — along with the FRYR automated fry line and SEMBLR meal assembly system. Karakuri raised approximately £13.5M ($17.7M) from investors including Ocado, firstminute capital, and Hoxton Ventures, but wound down operations in June 2023 after failing to secure additional funding.
- What does Karakuri make?
- Karakuri has 1 robot model on the DEPLOY registry: Karakuri DK-One (Karakuri builds physical robots).
- Who competes with Karakuri?
- On the DEPLOY registry, peer companies to Karakuri building in the same form factors include Bear Robotics, KEENON Robotics, Richtech Robotics, Artly Coffee.
- Who is the CEO of Karakuri?
- Barney Wragg is the ceo of Karakuri, per the DEPLOY registry.
- Where is Karakuri headquartered?
- Karakuri is headquartered in London, UK.
- How much funding has Karakuri raised?
- Karakuri has raised approximately $18M in disclosed funding on record in the DEPLOY registry.
- Where does Karakuri operate robots?
- Karakuri is a robot manufacturer and does not directly operate deployments on the DEPLOY registry. Its products are deployed by customer operators; see the company page for the verified deployment record.
- Is Karakuri a top robotics company?
- On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, funding, hiring, media, safety, and IP signals, Karakuri ranks in roughly the top 89% of companies tracked by the registry.
- When was Karakuri founded?
- Karakuri was founded in 2018.
- Is Karakuri safe?
- Karakuri has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.
Methodology: Verified · 5 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-17
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-17
Sources by quality tier
- 3
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 1
- secondary-trade-publication
- Trade publication
- 1
- secondary-industry-publication
- Industry publication
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Karakuri.Peer companies
- Bear Robotics3 models
- KEENON Robotics2 models
- Richtech Robotics2 models
- Artly Coffee1 model
- Blendid1 model
- Botrista1 model
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Karakuri from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Food robotics startup Karakuri shutting down
The Robot Report covers Karakuri's shutdown after failing to secure new funding, with talks with Henny Penny collapsing. Founder and CEO Barney Wragg announced the wind-down.
Journey's end: robotics startup Karakuri collapses after failing to secure new funding
Retail Tech Innovation Hub reports on Karakuri's collapse after funding talks with Henny Penny fell through, leading to administration.
Karakuri secures £6.3M, unveils world's first automated canteen
UKTN reports on Karakuri's £6.3M raise and DK-One launch, noting total funding of £13.5M to date.
Food robotics startup Karakuri unveils automated canteen, plus $8.4M investment led by firstminute
TechCrunch coverage of Karakuri's DK-One unveiling and $8.4M funding round led by firstminute capital, with participation from Hoxton Ventures, Ocado Group, and UK Future Fund.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/karakuri.md
- RSS feed: /companies/karakuri/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/ce52b00c-e04f-4f69-9b7f-96d5b34e4767
- Revision history: /companies/karakuri/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Bear Robotics3 models
- KEENON Robotics2 models
- Richtech Robotics2 models
- Artly Coffee1 model
- Blendid1 model
- Botrista1 model
Video
Demonstration of Karakuri's FRYR automated fry line, controlling time, temperature, and quantity when frying foods.
Reality vs attention
Karakuri draws attention at the 50th percentile but verifies reality at the insufficient-data level among food_service robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Funding runway warrants monitoring: last known round 69 months ago.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Jul 21, 2026