Technology conglomerate Alphabet and media company Bertelsmann have exited Orange Chef, a US-based provider of internet-connected kitchen tools, through an acquisition by food discovery platform Yummly on Friday.
Orange Chef was founded in 2011 and sold connected kitchen utensils such as the Prep Pad, a food scale that connected to an iPad app to offer consumers nutritional information about their food.
The company raised $3m in a seed round that closed in February 2014. Alphabet subsidiary GV, then called Google Ventures, co-led the round with Spark Labs Global Ventures, while Bertelsmann unit Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments invested in its $1.2m first tranche.
Kima Ventures, Graph Ventures, Social+Capital Partnership, New Enterprise Associates, Lerer Ventures, Forerunner Ventures and assorted angel investors also participated in the seed round.
However, despite also raising $47,000 in a 2013 crowdfunding campaign and $500,000 in debt financing in June this year, Orange Chef shut down in November 2015 after facing technical issues with Prep Pad and struggling to successfully expand its product range.
Financial terms of the transaction, which involves Yummly taking on Orange Chef’s staff rather than its hardware, were not disclosed. Orange Chef founder and CEO Santiago Merea has joined Yummly as chief revenue officer.