内容来源：https://www.geekwire.com/2026/robot-pizza-startup-runs-out-of-dough-picnic-shuts-down-sells-assets-to-mystery-buyer/

内容总结：

西雅图披萨机器人创企Picnic倒闭，资产变卖，员工遣散

成立十年、曾融资约5000万美元的西雅图食品自动化初创公司Picnic近日正式关门歇业，并进入资产清算程序。这家以机器人制作披萨为卖点的公司，因无力偿还债务，于5月11日依据州法律执行了“为债权人利益进行的总转让”，由加州圣莫尼卡的清算机构CMBG Advisors接管后续变卖事宜。

据CMBG创始人兼总裁詹姆斯·贝尔透露，公司资产及知识产权已有买家接手，但出于隐私保护，他拒绝披露买家身份、收购价格及资产用途。Picnic的官网目前仍可访问，并继续展示其最新融资轮次信息。

Picnic成立于2016年，最初名为Otto Robotics，后更名为Vivid Robotics，最终以Picnic Works的名义运营。其核心产品“Picnic Pizza Station”可通过自动化配料流程，让一名员工每小时制作多达100张定制化的12英寸披萨，旨在帮助高客流量餐饮企业应对人力成本高企和人员流失的痛点。微软联合创始人保罗·艾伦的风投机构Vulcan Capital曾参与其种子轮融资。

2023年，Picnic员工规模一度达到约100人，但因遭遇经济逆风、融资困难，被迫进行裁员，时任CEO克莱顿·伍德也于同年离职。伍德回忆称，公司“夹在2018至2019年的宽松资金期与2022年的市场低谷之间”，最终未能突围。

此后，Picnic在2023年5月迎来新任CEO迈克尔·布里奇斯，并获得了500万美元新融资，但布里奇斯在2025年7月去职。2024年9月，瓦莱丽·英廷出任CEO，计划打造“酒店优先的自动化披萨连锁”，原定今年早些时候在纽约开设快闪店，但未能实现。

目前，Picnic位于西雅图Interbay社区的原总部已人去楼空，办公空间空置数月。有租户回忆，机器搬离后，垃圾桶里曾堆满马达和其他零部件。

Picnic的倒闭也连累了其早期客户。西雅图Moto Pizza的老板李·金德尔是Picnic最热情的拥趸之一，曾公开表示“机器人是食品的未来”。如今，他的餐厅里闲置着价值25万美元的Picnic设备，被他戏称为“机器人水族箱”。金德尔透露，他原本有意收购Picnic，但在公司最终倒闭后，愤而自己成立了一家名为Motobotics的机器人公司，计划自主研制披萨制作机器。他表示，仍对Picnic的下落保持关注，“我想知道买家是打算利用这些专利，还是试图让Picnic复活。”

中文翻译：

成立于西雅图的餐饮自动化初创公司Picnic，曾致力于用机器人技术革新披萨制作流程。这家运营十年的企业现已关闭并清算资产。根据法律文件及一封致债权人与投资者的邮件显示，Picnic因无力偿还债务，于5月11日依据州法律启动“债权人利益转让程序”，允许资不抵债的公司通过非破产途径完成资产清算。总部位于加州圣莫尼卡的清算机构CMBG Advisors Inc.被指定负责后续清盘事宜。

GeekWire获得的邮件中写道：“CMBG将着手变卖公司剩余资产，计划在扣除相关费用后，将现金收益分配给债权人。”CMBG创始人兼总裁詹姆斯·贝尔在周五下午的电话中透露：“实际上已为这些资产及Picnic的知识产权找到买主。”他补充道：“出于隐私保护考量，我暂不便透露买家身份、收购价格及资产后续用途。”

这一变故堪称戏剧性转折——这家累计融资约5000万美元的初创企业，其披萨制作机器人曾遍布全美体育场馆、高校及大型零售卖场。截至周五，Picnic官网仍在线运营，甚至还在推介最新融资轮次的信息。

由机械工程师加勒特·奥克斯于2016年创立的Picnic，最初名为Otto Robotics，后更名为Vivid Robotics，最终以Picnic Works之名注册成立，致力于解决餐饮业长期存在的痛点：人工备餐的高成本与不稳定性。微软联合创始人保罗·艾伦旗下的Vulcan Capital参与了其种子轮融资。

其标志性产品“Picnic披萨工作站”通过自动化配料流程，可使单名员工每小时生产100个定制的12英寸披萨——这套方案精准瞄准了受困于人力成本与人员流动的高客流餐饮服务商。2019年，当时由CEO克莱顿·伍德领导的Picnic在位于西雅图Interbay社区的总部结束隐密研发阶段，GeekWire率先体验并报道了这款机器人披萨机。

此后数年，Picnic在伍德掌舵下持续融资拓展客户。疫情期间外卖及配送需求的激增恰逢餐饮业转型浪潮。2021年，该公司完成1600万美元融资，并与西雅图Ethan Stowell餐厅集团达成合作；2022年则与达美乐披萨合作测试机器人披萨组装系统。

“现阶段我们正与横跨多个领域的客户洽谈，便利店、品牌披萨、大型披萨连锁、滑雪度假村、主题公园、杂货店及托管餐饮服务都是目标。”伍德当时表示，“我们对所有可能性都充满期待。”至2023年，Picnic团队已扩充至约100人，但遭遇经济逆风，融资受阻被迫裁员，伍德于同年卸任CEO。

回忆往昔，伍德感慨Picnic“夹在2018-2019年与2022年间的资金宽松期”与“市场骤然见底”的漩涡中。2023年5月，公司迎来新任CEO迈克尔·布里奇斯，并成功吸引500万美元融资，投资方包括西雅图资深企业家兼投资人安迪·刘共同创立的Unlock Venture Partners。

“此后他们的一切运作都转入隐密模式，这让我觉得匪夷所思。”伍德说，“因为我过去的策略始终是积极推广、打造知名度。”布里奇斯的任期约两年，于2025年7月离任。去年9月，新任CEO瓦莱丽·英廷上任，她计划打造“以服务体验为先的自动化披萨连锁”，原定年初在纽约开设快闪店，但该计划未能实现。

周五，GeekWire探访了Picnic原总部所在地——西雅图工业区Interbay的灵活办公空间R&D Interbay。二楼空间已空置，空气中不再弥漫机器人披萨的气息。楼内其他租户回忆，Picnic数月前便开始清场，有人记得曾不时品尝到披萨样品，另一人则称搬家后的垃圾桶里堆满电机等“有趣零件”。

因Picnic倒闭而陷入困境的，包括西雅图Moto披萨店主厨李·金德尔——这位厨房技术拥趸。Moto披萨在西雅图拥有八家门店，并正拓展加州市场。作为Picnic最热忱的早期客户之一，金德尔2023年曾在Belltown店展示披萨工作站时宣称“机器人是餐饮的未来”。他本周向GeekWire透露，得知Picnic财务危机时曾试图收购该公司。最终结局让他“持有价值25万美元的‘机器人水族馆’”——这是他对闲置在店内的Picnic机器的戏称。

“我气得自己开了家机器人公司。”他提到另立门户的Motobotics（与Moto披萨无关联），旨在自主研发披萨制作设备。目前他正与Igor Institute及西北机器人联盟成员Fresh Consulting合作。但他仍关注着Picnic的命运：“我想知道那个神秘买家，是会利用知识产权，还是试图让Picnic复活。”

英文来源：

Picnic, the 10-year-old Seattle food automation startup that set out to revolutionize the production of pizza with robotics, has shut down and liquidated its assets.
According to legal documents and an email to creditors and investors, Picnic was unable to pay its debts and on May 11 executed a General Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors, a state-law process that allows an insolvent company to liquidate its assets outside of bankruptcy. A Santa Monica, Calif.-based liquidator, CMBG Advisors Inc., was named to handle the wind-down.
“CMBG will be working to sell off any remaining company assets and intends to distribute any cash proceeds after expenses to creditors,” stated the email, which was seen by GeekWire.
In fact, a buyer for those assets and Picnic’s intellectual property has since been found, said James Baer, founder and president of CMBG, speaking via phone Friday afternoon.
“I want to be respectful of privacy issues, but I will disclose that we did sell the company,” Baer said. He declined to reveal the name of the buyer, the purchase price or how any of the assets might be used.
The development marks a dramatic turn for a startup that raised about $50 million and was placing its pizza-making robots in stadiums, universities, and big-box retailers across the country. As of Friday, Picnic’s website was still live, touting its most recent funding round.
Founded in 2016 by mechanical engineer Garett Ochs as Otto Robotics and then Vivid Robotics, Picnic incorporated as Picnic Works, and set out to tackle one of the food industry’s most persistent challenges: the high cost and inconsistency of manual food preparation. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital was among those that funded the company’s seed round.
Its signature product, the Picnic Pizza Station, could help a single employee produce up to 100 customized 12-inch pizzas per hour by automating the topping process — a pitch aimed squarely at high-volume food service operations struggling with labor costs and turnover.
GeekWire first saw and tested the robotic pizza maker in 2019 as the company, led at the time by CEO Clayton Wood, emerged from stealth mode at its headquarters in Seattle’s Interbay neighborhood.
Picnic continued to raise funding and seek new customers over the next few years with Wood at the helm. The pandemic accelerated demand for carry-out and delivery as food service was reimagined. In 2021, the startup raised $16 million and inked a partnership with Seattle’s Ethan Stowell Restaurants. In 2022, a partnership with Domino’s tested robotic pizza assembly.
“Right now we’re really excited about some of the customers we’re talking to across all kinds of segments,” Wood said at the time. “We’re looking at everything — convenience stores, branded pizza, large brands in pizza, ski resorts, theme parks, grocers, managed food service. We’re jazzed.”
By 2023, Picnic had grown to about 100 employees, but it ran into economic headwinds, struggled to raise more cash, and was forced to conduct layoffs. Wood stepped down as CEO that year.
Reached Friday, Wood recalled Picnic being “caught in the squeeze” between a free-money era of 2018-2019 and 2022, “when the bottom dropped out of the market.”
The company brought on new CEO Michael Bridges in May 2023 and managed to attract $5 million in new financing, with backing from Unlock Venture Partners, the firm co-led by longtime Seattle-area entrepreneur and investor Andy Liu.
“Everything they did after that was happening in some kind of stealth mode, which was bizarre to me,” Wood said. “Because everything I was doing was trying to promote it and make it famous.”
Bridges lasted about two years and was gone in July 2025.
Last September, another new CEO came aboard — Valeri Inting — who had her sights set on building a “hospitality-first automated pizza chain,” with a pop-up planned for New York City earlier this year. But it never happened.
On Friday, GeekWire visited R&D Interbay, a flexible workspaces development in Seattle’s industrial Interbay neighborhood where Picnic’s headquarters were previously located.
The second-floor space was empty. There was no lingering smell of robotic pizza in the air.
Other tenants in the building recalled Picnic packing up several months ago. One remembered tasting pizzas from time to time, and another said the trash bins were full of “interesting materials” such as motors and other components after the move-out.
Among those left in the lurch by the demise of Picnic was Lee Kindell, owner and chef at Seattle’s Moto Pizza and an evangelist for technology in the kitchen. Moto operates eight Seattle locations and is expanding in California.
Kindell was one of Picnic’s most enthusiastic early customers, saying in 2023 that “robotics is the future of food” as he showed off a Pizza Station at his Belltown location. He told GeekWire this week that he actually wanted to buy Picnic when he first learned of the company’s financial troubles.
When the end finally came, he said, he was left holding a $250,000 “robot aquarium” — his term for the idle Picnic machines now sitting in his restaurant.
“I was so pissed I started my own robot company,” he said, referencing Motobotics, a new and separate entity from Moto Pizza, to build his own pizza-making machines. He’s partnering with the Igor Institute and Fresh Consulting, which is part of the Northwest Robotic Alliance.
But he still has his eye on Picnic — or whatever it is next. Of the mystery buyer, he said, “I want to know if they’re just going to use the IP, or if they’re going to try to resurrect Picnic.”