Piestro

About Piestro

Piestro is an automated pizzeria system designed to address the high labor and real estate costs that typically constrain the profit margins of traditional pizza restaurants. The company was founded in 2020 by CEO Massimo De Marco, a hospitality industry veteran with decades of experience working with restaurateurs like Wolfgang Puck and co-founding the food delivery platform Kitchen United. De Marco, who comes from a multi-generational family of Italian chefs, aimed to combine his passion for authentic pizza with robotics to make high-quality food more accessible.

The core of Piestro's business is a stand-alone, automated kiosk, roughly the size of two vending machines, that assembles and cooks artisanal-style pizzas from fresh ingredients in about three minutes. Customers can place orders through a touchscreen interface and watch the entire process, from sauce dispensing to the adding of toppings and baking, through a large window. This fully automated system is designed for 24/7 operation, requires no direct labor, and aims for zero food waste. The company has also integrated with facial recognition firm PopID for contactless payment and has formed partnerships with robotic delivery companies like Kiwibot and Serve Robotics for an end-to-end automated experience.

Piestro operates on a dual business model. The company plans to deploy its own branded kiosks in high-traffic locations such as airports, hospitals, universities, and apartment complexes. Concurrently, it offers a white-label "Powered by Piestro" program, allowing existing pizza chains to lease or purchase the machines to expand their market reach without the significant capital investment of a new brick-and-mortar store. This model includes options for a direct purchase or a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) subscription, which covers leasing, maintenance, and a royalty per pizza sold. The company has secured significant pre-orders and partnerships with brands like 800 Degrees Pizza and Carbone Restaurant Group (CRG). Piestro is backed by lead investor Wavemaker Partners and has raised capital through multiple equity crowdfunding campaigns.