“I found my purpose and lifelong connections here,” said Cui (B.S. ’17, ECE), who is Yummy Future’s CEO and co-founder.

One of those connections was Garrett Yan (B.S. ’16, M.S. ’18, ECE) whom Cui met while working on a class project in the Advanced Digital Projects Lab at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building. Cui points out that it’s the same lab space where one of his inspirations, ECE alumnus Martin Eberhard, a co-founder and the first CEO of Tesla Motors, assembled his own projects as a student. The lab became a springboard for the budding entrepreneurs as their academic partnership turned into a friendship.

Cui, who said he chose to study at ECE because of its prestige and high rankings, found early support from undergraduate advisers, Romit Roy Choudhury and Yih-Chun Hu, who are both researchers in the Coordinated Science Lab. Their guidance made his transition into ECE’s M.S. and Ph.D. program smoother and opened doors to opportunities, like an internship at Google.

“I really wouldn't have been able to launch this startup without those two paving the way for me,” Cui said.

As graduate students, Cui and Yan spent part of their time prototyping a robot, which Cui bought through Kickstarter. The idea to create a service robot to boost efficiency while assisting humans in the food and beverage industry evolved from building their first robotic arm at their workspace on Champaign’s Mercury Drive. They figured if San Francisco had a robotic café, why not Champaign?

Cui and Yan’s business plan took off when they found affordable tenant space and support at Illinois’ tech hub, Research Park, which boasts over 50 startup companies at its business incubator, EnterpriseWorks. Around the same time, they entered the 2019 Cozad New Venture Challenge where Yummy Future was a winner of the Amazon Alexa Prize, receiving $3,750. That same year they received $150,000 in funding from startup accelerator Y Combinator. Their success and its growing responsibilities prompted Cui to leave the graduate program to pursue the business full-time while expanding a team.

In 2022, Yummy Future opened their first brick-and-mortar store on 609 E. Green Street in Champaign where patrons were introduced to Mozart, a robotic arm that quickly served up drinks from its platform. Two years later, they opened a second location on 401 E. Green Street; currently, two more locations are on the way at Siebel Center for Design and in Palo Alto, California.

The growing partnership between humans and machines aligns with the young entrepreneurs’ vision for Yummy Future and “as the first step toward a future where robots are co-living with humans,” as Yan’s LinkedIn page states. But the need for human connection cannot be replaced, as Cui and Yan are aware. Not only do they hire mechanical and robotic engineers but also baristas who are freed up to focus more on customer service and food orders. Their locations are designed to feel welcoming as monitor displays flash images of smiling customers and employees alongside colorful drinks. If patrons can find their own connections there, even better for Cui and Yan, who continue to support the community where their startup journey began.