Stephen has been fanatical about foodservice since childhood, a journey that took him from starting a restaurant in college to joining Instacart in 2014 to work on product ops.


Prior to founding Hyphen, Stephen served as VP of Operations for CafeX, a pioneer in foodservice automation. In this role, Stephen not only led ops, but worked with regulatory bodies to obtain the first-ever permit for a robotic restaurant in the U.S.

Daniel grew up in the Bay Area and began competing in robotics competitions at the age of 10.


Prior to founding Hyphen, Daniel made significant contributions at L2F, integrating Tesla's Model X and S lines, designing a tack welding robot for SpaceX, and automating processes for companies in foodservice (e.g., Taylor Farms, Zume Pizza). This work led to Middleby (#1 in foodservice equipment) acquiring L2F in 2018.