Irish smart kitchen firm Fresco has closed a $20m financing round led by three international appliance brands.

Smart kitchen appliance users are projected to reach 248 million worldwide by 2027, according to Statista. The Fresco KitchenOS platform is designed to facilitate that transition for appliance makers and users. Fresco connects any compatible appliance across brands so cooks can focus on preparing meals.

The company has adopted the “connects with Fresco” brand to certify appliances that can be controlled from smartphones, tablets, smart speakers and smart home assistants. Consumers can use the Fresco app to guide their cooking to prepare better and more creative meals.

“We know that every kitchen has appliances from different brands,” said Fresco CEO Ben Harris. “Now through this Fresco platform, our partners are forming alliances across the whole kitchen, enabling the promise of the smart kitchen. To our appliance partners, Fresco provides end-to-end solutions to make any appliance smart: firmware; IoT modules; cloud services; and apps that pull it all together. Combined with the Fresco app, our step-by-step smart recipes inspire and guide home cooks to perfect results.”

Two of the investors are Instant Brands and Vorwerk. The third will be announced later as part of a new partnership. All the company’s existing venture investors also participated. Future partners will also be given the opportunity to invest in Fresco.

Instant Brands is the maker of the iconic Instant Pot. Vorwerk is the company behind the Thermomix TM6 all-in-one multicooker. These appliance manufacturers are investing in the Fresco KitchenOS because they believe the company is positioned to make the promise of the smart kitchen a reality.

“Instant Brands and Fresco are working together to develop innovative breakthroughs in the kitchen, and beyond,” said Ben Gadbois, CEO of Instant Brands. “This investment deepens our partnership further and supercharges these initiatives.”

Fresco will use the investment proceeds for working capital to expand its workforce and invest in improvement in its digital platform and related applications.

Partnering with appliance makers such as Bosch, Electrolux, GE Appliances, Instant Brands, Kenwood, LG Electronics, Panasonic and Thermomix, Fresco knows that almost no kitchen has appliances from a single brand. The KitchenOS combined with the Fresco app is a seamless way consumers can interact with their kitchen through whatever interface or appliance they choose.

Founded in 2012, Fresco operates globally and has offices in Ireland and Spain.