Raphael Thys
DELIVERY27 Jan 2021by Paul Skeldon
Starhip has already expanded its UK operations with Co-op
Robot delivery company Starship has made its 1millionth delivery using an autonomous vehicle, a world first
Starship Technologies, provider of autonomous delivery services to. Among others the Co-op, has hit he milestone of making 1 million autonomous deliveries with its robots. It has also secured an additional $17m in finding to continue to expand.
Investors include TDK Ventures and Goodyear Ventures, and the new investment brings Starship’s total funding to $102m to date. The additional funding comes at a time of increasing interest in the autonomous delivery industry. Contactless delivery has proved to be one of the most reliable ways to protect vulnerable populations and enable social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After recently expanding UK operations into a second UK town in Northampton, Starship has also confirmed that it has added service in the US to two new university campuses - UCLA and Bridgewater State University (Massachusetts). UCLA is regularly considered one of the top public schools in the US, while Bridgewater State University offers one of the country’s most distinguished Teacher and Education programmes.
“Completing one million deliveries is a milestone that everyone at Starship is celebrating,” says Ahti Heinla, Co-founder and CEO of Starship Technologies. “We are delivering a fully commercial service operating 24-7 across five different countries now doing thousands of deliveries a day and millions of autonomous miles per year. This scale puts Starship on par with the biggest companies in the self-driving car market when it comes to miles travelled in the last year alone. We’re proud to be offering a crucial service that is now becoming part of everyday life for millions of people.”
Starship has continued to see exponential growth since starting its first commercial delivery service in 2018. In the past year, the company has seen order numbers in Milton Keynes triple, and with 120 robots, the town is home to the world’s largest fleet of autonomous robots. A further 30 robots are serving residents in Northampton, following the launch of Starship’s service in November 2020, with operations set to scale up further in the coming weeks.
The Starship Food Delivery app is available for download on iOS and Android. To get started, users choose from a range of their favourite food or drink items, then drop a pin where they want their delivery to be sent. They can then watch as the robot makes its journey to them, via an interactive map. Once the robot arrives, they receive an alert, and can then meet and unlock it through the app.