What if your daily coffee was served not by a person, but by a vending machine? Malaysian startup Otter Barista is deploying its "cafe in a box" vending machines across the Klang Valley, aiming to solve the demand for affordable, consistent, and convenient coffee, especially in high-traffic locations like hospitals.

Founder and CEO Eeyong Ho joins us to share her journey of building a seven-figure robotic coffee business. She discusses their strategy for overcoming the stigma of vending machine coffee through quality beans and superior service, how they use IoT to manage a growing fleet of machines, and their ambitious plans to scale to over 300 locations.

We discuss:

• The "cafe in a box" model for reducing rental and manpower costs.

• Their strategy for winning in high-demand locations like hospitals.

• How they use IoT and proactive maintenance to ensure quality and hygiene.

• The importance of branding to "humanise" an automated service.

• Their growth plan to scale from 70 to 300 machines via strategic partnerships.

  For founders in the F&B and retail tech space, this is a dive into building an automated, hardware-based business from the ground up.