Jay-Z leads $16.5 million investment in pizza-making robots

Rapper Jay-Z continues to diversify his investment portfolio with his latest investment in the food industry. It will be recalled that he and his wife, Beyonce, teamed up with nutritionist Marco Borges to launch a vegan meal delivery brand called 22 Days Nutrition.

He also made a similar investment in 2019 when he invested in a vegan cookie and baking brand called Partake. He is an investor in Oatly, a vegan brand known for its oat milk. He also assisted a plant-based food startup, Impossible Foods, to raise $300 million in series E funding.

His latest moves in the food industry revolve around a pizza-making robot company called Stellar Pizza, which was founded by a former SpaceX employee in 2019. Jay-Z reportedly led a $16.5 million investment in Stellar Pizza. The company has previously raised $9 million in fundraising rounds.

The founding round was reportedly led by Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners, which is known for its investments in Therabody and Savage x Fenty.

According to Restaurant Business, Stellar Pizza uses a robot to prepare ordered mobile pizzas, which are then delivered by a truck driver. The first robotic pizza truck is expected to open at the University of Southern California campus in Los Angeles, this fall.

Aside from his investment in food, Jay-Z has assets ranging from the entertainment company Roc Nation to a fine art collection, including works by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

According to Forbes, Jay-Z’s music catalog, which has some 300 songs, is worth $20 million. Also, his fine art collection is valued at $70 million and features works by Damian Hirst, David Hammons, and Richard Prince. He sees the collection as an investment.

In addition, Jay-Z and his wife, Beyoncé, jointly own homes that are valued at $50 million, while his Roc Nation venture is valued at $140 million. 

Jay-Z also has a stake in the French audio tech firm Devialet. The tech firm recently launched wireless earbuds called Gemini to rival Apple and Samsung’s dominance in the wireless earphone market.

The rapper’s most recent big-money moves also include venturing into the marijuana industry, which is estimated to pump up to $130 billion on an annual basis into the U.S. economy by 2024, according to Marijuana Business Factbook.