This Startup is Bringing 'Michelin Star' Meals to Chinese Homes

Walking in the streets of China’s “Silicon Valley” – Beijing’s Zhongguancun hi-tech hub – big tech buildings housing the likes Youku and Microsoft keep your eyes busy. Besides these mammoth companies, there are also numerous startups contributing to the high-tech scene, who also have the potentially to change our way of life forever.

But these startups need to solve many challenges to land investment and grow bigger. One way to garner the attention necessary to do this is to join a startup contest.

This post comes courtesy of our content partners All China Tech.

Last Thursday, in the cozy basement of a building in Zhongguancun, a group of energetic young entrepreneurs, investors, and volunteers gathered at Slush Inception, a smaller-scale Chinese version of the startup event from Finland.

Nise Tech was the final winner after presentations from six entrepreneurs all hoping to make it big in the industry.

Founded in Beijing in 2015, Nise Tech aims to provide a one-stop dietary solution for individuals based on smart hardware. The company uses a smart cooking device, a mobile app, and a food delivery system to offer customers a personalized eating experience at minimum cost.

The company landed RMB 10 million (USD 1.54 million) in a Pre-A series financing round last April. This round of fundraising was led by Walden International Capital, which also invested in drone maker DJI Technology and action camera maker Gopro.

How did Nise Tech start?

Grant Hu, the CEO of Nise Tech, has lived in Canada for 17 years. In 2014 he quit his job and returned to China to build his own startup in a hardware incubator in Zhongguancun.

Before Nise Tech, Hu founded an American hardware investment fund and worked as the country director of Nexus China.

Hu is a foodie and crazy about cooking. When he found out that a new western-style restaurant in Hong Kong was cooking grouper using the sous-vide method, he flew there to try it and returned home the next day. He also flew to Lanzhou just for a taste of the authentic Lanzhou handmade noodles.

Hu usually cooks a table of delicious of food for his family on the weekends when he is free.

But Hu has been wondering why commercial kitchens can cook professional-quality dishes while home cooks cannot.

Later, an idea burst into his mind. He wanted to turn professional equipment in restaurant kitchens into smart cookers for individual homes.   

“We aim to help people cook healthy food at home quickly. We want them to feel like they are eating at Michelin-starred restaurants,” Hu told All China Tech.

Last December, Nise Tech launched its product, the Sous Vide Pro.

What is the Sous Vide Pro?

Sous-vide is a method of cooking in which food is vacuum-sealed in plastic bags and cooked in a temperature-controlled water bath.

The Sous Vide Pro is a smartphone-connected cooking wand that controls temperature and circulates the water in a water bath to ensure precise sous-vide cooking.

People can use their mobile phones to get information about the ingredients and cooking process by scanning QR codes.

In addition, people can buy ready-to-cook ingredients directly, using an app.

“We are working with many food manufacturers to provide various fresh ingredients to our users,” Hu said.

“Young people are under so much pressure from work that they usually eat outside or order takeout, which could pose many potential nutrition and health hazards, and our smart products and services can help them cook healthy food at home quickly, ” he added.

Last December, Nise Tech launched a crowdfunding campaign for this product and in only two hours, RMB 2,000,000 (USD 308,000) was paid by supporters.

“We have about 1,000 users right now,” Hu said.

Nise Tech also has developed various cookers targeting the high-end consumer crowd who are interested in smart kitchen products.

What’s next?

Nise Tech aims to work with smart phones, smart bands and smart scale manufacturers in the near future.

“We will customize better dietary solutions for individual customers based on data about their physical conditions and exercise regimes, ” Hu said.                         

Right now, the company is mainly targeting small business market and individual homes while simultaneously planning its Series A financing round.

“We will provide products and services for about 3,000 coffee shops, fitness centers and boutique hotels with smart cookers, smart apps, food delivery and personalized cooking methods,” Hu says confidently.

Photos courtesy of Slush China, Nise Tech