A US$700 juice-maker that caught Silicon Valley's eye

New York

IN RECENT years, venture capitalists have funded all manner of improbable ideas. An app that lets random people call and wake you up. A bathroom scale that posts your weight on Twitter.

And then there is Doug Evans' brainchild. With no experience running tech companies and a bungled juice-bar chain under his belt, he has extracted US$120 million in investments from Silicon Valley titans, including Google Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and big companies like Campbell Soup.

His pitch: a US$700 machine that makes an eight-ounce glass of juice.

Mr Evans is a raw food evangelist although "occasionally I eat steamed vegetables, to not be dogmatic", he said. But even as Silicon Valley retreats from its recent boom, this unlikely entrepreneur has persuaded top investors to t…