Byte Kitchen, a high tech restaurant startup, raised $6 million as it aims to bring food from independent restaurants to the masses through a single kitchen — its kitchen.

**Why it matters:** Startups with so-called ghost kitchens — professional cooking facilities designed with food deliveries in mind — have drawn increasing investor interest as a way to provide food service without the overhead costs of running a facility.

**Driving the news:** The seed raise, announced last week, was co-led by Crosslink Capital, Emergent Ventures and Lookout co-founder Kevin Mahaffey.

- Caviar co-founder Shawn Tsao and Black Bear Diner founder Bruce Dean were among the investors who participated.
- Also last week, Byte cut the ribbon for its second “digital food hall” in San Carlos, California (joining its first San Mateo location).

**What’s next:** The company plans to use the funds to continue digitizing the back end of its kitchens, building its teams, and bringing on more restaurant partners, CEO Divyang Arora tells Kimberly.

- Byte will also open more food halls as well, expanding deeper into the Bay Area and California, and eventually across the country, he says.

**How it works:** The San Mateo company’s storefronts, known as Noshery Food Halls, partner with several local restaurants and license their menus, recipes and brands.

- Byte cooks the food from its facilities using its own staff and equipment, as well as facilitates the food deliveries or pickup.
- Customers can select a mix of items from multiple restaurants within a single order from its food halls, for delivery or pickup.
- Byte’s mission is to help independent restaurants scale their brands without the burden of bearing all the costs associated with adding new locations, Arora says.
- “It is truly an additional revenue stream,” he adds. “There is no expenditure in terms of money or capital,” for the local restaurants it works with.

**State of play:** Byte is one of a handful of ghost kitchen companies that have drawn investment dollars of late. Read rest [here](https://www.axios.com/pro/retail-deals/2022/08/24/byte-kitchen-to-ride-digital-kitchen-wave-with-new-funding).