What the business is
A foodtech startup running AI-crafted culinary offerings from micro kitchen hubs in German cities, founded by a former Flink co-founder.
Starting capital
Terms of the Aitme acquisition undisclosed; Circus had raised €18M from BlackMars Capital, 2bX, WestTech Ventures, Ride Capital investor Verena Pausder, Pink Capital founder Lea-Sophie Cramer and fromAtoB CEO Gunnar Berning.
How it started
Circus was founded in 2022 in Hamburg by Nikolas Bullwinkel, previously a co-founder of quick-commerce grocer Flink, to produce AI-crafted meals through compact micro kitchen hubs.
What happened
By 2023 Circus had extended its footprint to Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin and Duisburg. In August 2023 it completed the acquisition of Aitme, a Berlin culinary robotics startup, folding Aitme's cooking robot into its offering to bring costs down further — citing the robots' ability to reduce cooking times and decrease food waste.
What has to be true
Vertical integration closes the loop: the AI that designs dishes can now optimize the robot that cooks them, which a supplier relationship would keep slow.
Aitme's robots attack the two costs that decide foodtech economics — labor hours and wasted food.
Four-city footprint by year one gave the robotics an immediate deployment network rather than a lab demo.
What can be applied
In food automation, the recipe algorithm and the machine that executes it want to be one company — buying the robotics beats bolting them on.
Aftermath
As of August 29, 2023, the acquisition was complete and Circus was operating in four German cities on €18M raised; the company positioned the combined AI-plus-robotics stack as its platform for expansion.
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