Artly :: AI-powered Robotics for the Food & Beverage Industry

Artly is a Seattle-based company specializing in AI-powered robotics for the food and beverage industry, most notably through its line of robotic barista systems. Founded in 2020 by Meng Wang and Yushan Chen (with roots tracing back to their earlier AI company Orbeus, acquired by Amazon), Artly combines advanced physical AI with championship-level coffee expertise to deliver consistent, high-quality specialty drinks at scale while preserving artisanal techniques.

The company operates under two closely linked brands: Artly Coffee (consumer-facing coffee experiences at https://artly.coffee(opens in new tab)) and Artly AI (the underlying robotics and AI platform at artly.ai and artlybaristabot.com). Its flagship robot-based product is the Barista Bot™, an AI-driven system featuring robotic arms that handles the full coffee-making process, from grinding and tamping beans to pulling espresso shots, steaming milk, and pouring intricate latte art. The bots are trained using imitation learning, motion capture, computer vision, and Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models directly from human experts—most notably U.S. Coffee Champion and Artly’s Chief Coffee Officer Joe Yang. This approach allows the robots to replicate nuanced human skills rather than relying on rigid programming.

Key technical features include real-time anomaly detection, structure-from-motion, obstacle avoidance, path planning, and physical reasoning, enabling the robots to operate safely and reliably in dynamic public environments. Customers can watch the arms work in real time while ordering via kiosk or the Artly app. The system supports a full menu of hot and cold drinks and delivers repeatable results that match or closely approximate expert barista quality. Artly also offers broader hardware solutions, such as the Artly VisionArm and plans for a humanoid Gen1 platform, along with technology adaptable to other tasks.

In addition to the Barista Bot, the company has announced or is developing extensions like Bartender Bot for cocktails and Teaism Bot for tea. Artly operates its own branded coffee locations (with nine or more sites in the U.S., including high-traffic areas like Pike Place in Seattle) and provides robots to partners through leasing (starting around $2,500/month), outright purchase, pop-up events, and franchise models. Major deployments include Microsoft, MUJI, Nvidia, and other corporate and retail venues. The company roasts its own championship-quality coffee beans in-house (Medium Roast, Dark Roast, and single-origin options such as Ethiopia Yirgacheffe) under Joe Yang’s supervision and sells beans directly online.

Artly has served more than one million cups since 2021 and emphasizes not just automation but the democratization and elevation of fine coffee craftsmanship. Its proprietary Robot School platform trains robots on new skills from human demonstrations in as little as 30 minutes, with a focus on real-world deployment rather than simulation alone. The technology addresses labor shortages while creating entertaining, Instagram-worthy customer experiences. With over $11 million in funding and active expansion plans, Artly positions its robotic systems as a scalable solution for consistent, high-end foodservice across hospitality and beyond.