June, the smart kitchen start-up founded in 2013 by Matt Van Horn and Nikhil Bhogal has just been acquired by Weber, leader in the outdoor kitchen sector and famous maker of kettle-grills. As a reminder, I presented the brand’s smart oven to you.
So, although the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Weber confirmed that June will continue to operate under her own brand; 100% owned by Weber-Stephen Products. The company will continue to both sell and develop the June oven and related products. Meanwhile, Nikhil Bhogal, co-founder of June, will assume the role of Senior Vice President of the Technology and smart health connected Devices division for the entire Weber range.
June and Weber had already teamed up
Weber had previously teamed up with June. The start-up providing the technology and expertise behind its Weber Connect smart grill platform. This includes both the Weber Connect Smart Grilling Hub. The latter adds smart grill functions smart health connected to any grill. As well as smart cooking functions integrated into its range of SmokeFire wood pellet grills. This partnership began with an email Mr. Van Horn received in 2018 from the CEO and current executive chairman of Weber; Jim Stephen, the son of the company’s original founder.
“He said he was a fan, he was a customer and he couldn’t imagine a future without June’s technology that powers all the products in the Weber collection.” Van Horn explains in an interview.
As mentioned, June partnered with Weber and powered the smart health connected cooking platform that she launched at CES last year. Weber also helped fund June’s C Series.
New products to come!
Van Horn will act as June’s chairman under the terms of the new agreement and will continue to lead the development of its current and future products. He said Weber’s ability to help them grow internationally and distribute them through their existing global footprint was a big motivator in choosing June to join the now 63-year-old company. .
“The reason Nikhil and I created June is obviously that we love food and we love to cook. And a lot of the principles of our thinking about how products are made are Apple’s; much of June’s team is from Apple. We have obviously taken this to a micro scale with our small start-up of 60 people. But being able to work with this very enthusiastic Weber team was very exciting from the start ”.
Finally, as for Weber, the company has a team of software and technologies born from the idea of approaching the kitchen from the angle of technology first; and it intends to infuse this expertise into its entire product line. The objective is to strengthen its heritage of quality and the enthusiasm of its customers.
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