Robam bets $15M on smart kitchen startup Youte as home sales slide
What's the deal? Robam Appliances is investing US$13.8M to take an 8.3333% stake in Youte Smart Kitchen, a Zhuhai-based maker of commercial cooking robots. The deal, signed roughly a year after an initial letter of intent, closed after Robam's board approved it on October 27.
What does Youte do? Founded in 2008, it builds commercial smart stir-fry machines — its G2, G3, and G5 series — for restaurant chains, school canteens, and central kitchens. The company says it works with more than 2,000 restaurants and that one machine can match the output of 20 chefs using cloud-shared recipes.
Why now? Robam's core home-appliance business is slipping. In the first three quarters of 2026, revenue fell 14.37% year-on-year to US$860.8M, while net profit dropped 27.53% to US$115.4M — the latest in a multi-year decline tied to China's cooling property market.
What's the endgame? The Zhejiang appliance maker is pushing into restaurant kitchens, where demand holds up better than new-home installations. Its commercial kitchen revenue rose 332% year-on-year by the third quarter, and it has landed flagship stores with chains including Green Tea and Xinbailu.
How the pieces fit: Robam gains Youte's ready-made channel of 2,000-plus restaurants and a market-tested product; Youte gets Robam's brand and consumer supply chain. The deal follows a July 2025 strategic partnership with cooking-robot firm Enjoy Robotics, signalling a broader commercial push.
What could go wrong? Much of Robam's home-appliance expertise may not transfer cleanly to commercial kitchens, which demand heavy continuous use, waste control, and consistent output. The cooking-robot market is also crowded, and prices could fall as "being able to cook" becomes table stakes.
The signal: Smart cooking equipment reached 40% penetration among restaurant chains in 2025, per the World Cooking Robot Industry Development Report, with team- and fast-food adoption projected to hit 50% by 2028. Robam isn't early, but the window for equipment makers to claim share hasn't closed — and this minority stake reads as a growth option, not yet proof the new business can offset the old.
Read more: 36kr.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
