MyAppCafé
Unstaffed robot-barista coffee bar sold as a franchise
MyAppCafé builds a 9 m² unstaffed coffee kiosk in which a Kawasaki robot arm operates precision espresso machines and serves 80 to 120 cups per hour, ordered through a touchscreen terminal or a mobile app. Units run in shopping centres and transit locations in Germany and the US under a franchise model; staff intervention is limited to refilling and cleaning after roughly 650 servings.
Our reading. Best for shopping-centre or transit-site operators who want an unstaffed coffee point and can finance a turnkey franchise unit.
Strengths
- Runs with almost no staff: one hour of refilling and cleaning per 650 cups
- Turnkey franchise package including hardware, app and ordering terminal
- Around 160 to 250 drink variants from organic and fair-trade beans
Limits
- High upfront investment for an independent operator
- Closed system: no POS or third-party integrations
- Small footprint of about ten units so far
Founded 2019, about ten robot coffee units in Germany and the US, franchise model with no disclosed venture funding
Described as the first German franchise system built around a robot; units in Karlsruhe Postgalerie, Mercaden Böblingen and Stadtgalerie Heilbronn; robot built with Kawasaki Robotics and Zimmer Group grippers
- https://www.franchiseportal.de/franchise-unternehmen/myappcafe-m-19471
- https://ifr.org/case-studies/myappcafe-introduces-fully-automated-coffe-to-go-service