Starship Technologies, the company that manufactures robots for delivering company Bolt, Uber’s rival, received a financial boost from investors this week. The $90 million investment is set to help lead the last-mile delivery industry to more improvements.
“The new investment round will enable Starship to use continuing advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning,” announces Starship Technologies. This is handy to further its developments with AI, tech, and wireless charging infrastructure.
This funding round, led by Plural and Iconical, brings Starship’s total funding to an impressive $230 million since its inception in 2014. The timing of the investment could not have been better. Food delivery platforms are expected to double this year.
HTF Market Intelligence predicts that the food delivery market will increase by $642 billion at a CAGR of 11.3% by 2029.
Starship Technology’s long journey
It’s known for putting delivery robots on the streets of the US and Europe, and with this latest round of investment, global expansion is on the cards. The demand for home deliveries is surging, and in its eight years of existence, Starship already made over six million deliveries.
There have been many obstacles on their journey, like the safety of their robots. Starship Technologies has been at the receiving end of vandalism for the past few years. Vandals and opportunists have damaged robots in some instances. People have stepped on the robot and forcefully removed transported items.
Greener deliveries
Starship robots can run for 18 hours fully charged and have significantly cut carbon dioxide emissions. The robots are spread over 80 locations globally and use less energy, which offers a green alternative for delivering everything from takeaways to groceries.
Starship’s commitment to perfecting autonomous technology over the past decade has paid off. Robots are 99% autonomous and can navigate challenging situations, including snow, rocky terrain, and obstacles.
Recently, the company also introduced wireless charging at George Mason University. “In a world first, Starship robots can now recharge autonomously and wirelessly in between deliveries,” reads the statement.
Starship plans to roll out its wireless charging solution globally in the coming months.
Starship’s future
Ahti Heinla, co-founder and CEO at Starship Technologies, is confident in building a “category-dominating company.” He wants to revolutionize the daily lives of millions of customers. Heinla says autonomous delivery isn’t “some science fiction concept from Bladerunner for decades in the future.”
Finally, after a few years of hard work, dedication, and perseverance, Heinla says it all paid off. “Building a company like Starship takes at least a decade of perfecting the technology, streamlining operations, and reducing costs. [This is] to make last-mile autonomous delivery viable and sustainable at scale.”
He says it’s now ready to “take on the world” to improve people’s lives around the globe.
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Mia is a multi-award-winning journalist. She has more than 14 years of experience in mainstream media. She's covered many historic moments that happened in Africa and internationally. She has a strong focus on human interest stories, to bring her readers and viewers closer to the topics at hand.
