‘Robotics is the future of food’: An artisan pizza maker embraces automation

• Today, Kindell (above) is all in on technology. The owner and chef at Seattle’s wildly popular Moto Pizza is using a pizza-making robot from food automation startup Picnic.

• He has plans for a robotic bartender, drone delivery, vertical hydroponics and more as Moto has expanded to multiple locations and Kindell dreams of going global.

• GeekWire visited Moto’s newest shop to see how tech and pizza come together. 

Seattle trucking marketplace startup Convoy reportedly hired an investment bank in recent months and is weighing different options, including a potential sale of the company, according to a new report by The Information. Read more.

Tech Moves: Microsoft and Amazon veteran Sonny Patel joins San Francisco-based insurance tech startup Socotra, and other notable hires.

The former director of auto marketplace Tred was indicted by a federal grand jury in Seattle this week on five counts of wire fraud in an alleged scheme to steal more than $2 million from the company. Read more.

Hot links:

• Funko fans can now use the toy maker’s personalized “Pop! Yourself” experience online. GeekWire previously built a Pop! figurine in person at the company’s Everett, Wash., flagship store.

• Netflix said this week that if you’re still getting its DVDs by mail, you can keep them — and ask for more. The streaming company is shuttering its physical media business after 25 years. (The New York Times) 

• Microsoft released a guidebook for journalists and citizens seeking to preserve and strengthen independent local news reporting, nearly three years after launching an initiative to address the growing problem of “news deserts” across the country.