SHERIDAN, WYOMING - December 10, 2025 - Fresco is stepping up its ambition to become the default operating system for the smart kitchen, closing a €15 million Series C round to accelerate its AI-driven cooking platform for appliance manufacturers and their global consumer base. The Dublin-based company is positioning its KitchenOS and AI Cooking Companion as core infrastructure for appliance OEMs that want to deliver personalized, connected cooking experiences at scale.
From Smart Appliances to an AI-Driven Connected Kitchen Ecosystem
The latest funding round brings together mission-aligned investors focused on the future of food and connected living. New backers include Samuel Dennigan of Strong Roots, Barry Napier of Cubic3 and Tyler Hu of Arda, with continued support from existing investors such as Middleby, ACT Venture Capital, AE Ventures, Morpheus Ventures and Alsop Louie Partners.
Their bet is on a fast-growing but still fragmented market. The global smart kitchen appliances segment is projected to reach around USD 60 billion by 2030, yet most brands still lack a robust software layer to orchestrate devices, content and user data. Fresco's proposition is to fill that gap with a cross-brand platform that sits between OEMs, content providers and end users.
AI Cooking Companion: Turning Any Appliance into a Guided, Personalized Experience
At the center of Fresco's roadmap is its AI Cooking Companion, described as a personalized, appliance-aware "sous chef" that can recommend recipes, guide home cooks in real time and control compatible devices directly. The system is designed to work across screens and voice interfaces, and to coordinate multiple appliances so that complex meals finish on time and to specification.
By understanding the specific capabilities and constraints of each connected oven, hob, air fryer or multicooker, Fresco can adapt instructions dynamically-reducing user error, increasing satisfaction and giving brands a new way to differentiate beyond hardware features alone. For B2B partners, this opens recurring engagement opportunities via firmware updates, recipe packs and premium services.
OEM Integration Layer: Scaling Across Brands and Product Lines
A key strategic move behind this funding round is Fresco's integration with major appliance and component OEMs such as E.G.O. and Arda, who collectively manufacture for hundreds of brands worldwide. By embedding at this layer, Fresco can be enabled across entire product portfolios with onboarding cycles measured in days rather than months.
This architecture gives appliance makers:
- A ready-made platform (KitchenOS) to power guided cooking and remote control.
- Faster time-to-market for "smart" product lines without extensive in-house software development.
- A consistent experience across multi-brand or private-label portfolios.
As CEO and co-founder Ben Harris put it, "Almost every part of daily life has been transformed by technology except the kitchen, where the opportunity to help people is arguably the biggest. Fresco already connects all the pieces, positioning us to make AI genuinely useful in the kitchen, personalizing every cooking experience to make it effortless to cook a delicious, healthy meal."
Strategic Investors from Food, Connectivity and Manufacturing
The investor mix reflects the ecosystem Fresco is trying to connect. Dennigan brings deep experience in consumer food brands and sees Fresco as "the next step. Not just changing what we eat, but how we cook, using technology to make it easier, more personal and more sustainable."
Napier, who led Cubic3 through global growth in automotive connectivity, emphasized that Fresco is "the only ecosystem capable of harmonizing hardware, connectivity, and AI to truly transform how we cook." For appliance manufacturers, this combination of food, hardware and connectivity expertise signals a platform built around real-world use, not just consumer tech hype.
Implications for Appliance Brands and Digital Transformation Roadmaps
Fresco already powers connected cooking experiences for major names including Panasonic, Instant Pot Brands, Viking, Kenwood and others, supporting multi-language deployments and regional customization from offices in Dublin and Madrid. With the Series C capital, the company aims to move OEM partners from isolated "smart appliance" pilots to integrated fleets of AI-enabled products that share data, content and user profiles.
For global appliance brands, the strategic implications are clear:
- A common cloud and AI layer to serve diverse product lines and markets.
- Reduced risk and cost versus building proprietary software stacks internally.
- New service-based revenue models built on recurring engagement, not just unit sales.
As the smart kitchen market matures, Fresco's cross-brand, software-first approach offers OEMs a path to participate in AI-driven home cooking without surrendering their customer relationships to third-party consumer apps.
For full platform information and partner details, visit https://frescocooks.com.