MooBella secures $18m as it eyes ice cream launch
MooBella Inc., a Taunton company that is gearing up to market a "make-your-own" ice cream machine, said that it has secured $18 million in Series A funding from W. Health LP, a venture fund managed by Inventages.
According to MooBella, its multi-patented technology allows consumers to buy fresh, hard-scoop ice cream that is made in about 40 seconds. During that time, a machine about the size of a refrigerator mixes, aerates, and flash-freezes an "all natural dairy mix" of ingredients into ice cream, a company spokeswoman said. (Check out a 2006 Globe story about a company prototype.)
The initial target customers for MooBella are likely to be food service companies that operate in universities and hospitals, she said, and MooBella hopes to begin deploying roughly a hundred of the refrigerator-size machines in the Boston area either by the end of this year or the start of next year.
During a recent beta test of the MooBella machine at a food court at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, customers were able to choose from 12 ice cream flavors as well as such add-ons as M&M's, with offerings priced in the $2.85 range, the MooBella spokeswoman said.
The plan is for food services to rent the machines for a monthly fee of $400, the spokeswoman said.
The machines, which do not accept payment, will initially be located in places with attendants, she added.
The photo of the machine that appears with this post was provided by MooBella.
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