2024-02-08
Starship raises $90M for outdoor delivery robots
Starship Technologies, maker of delivery robots, has secured $90 million in new funding as it aims to expand its autonomous services globally. This latest round brings Starship’s total funding to $287.7 million since its founding in 2014.
The Estonia-based startup plans to utilize the capital infusion to grow its robotic delivery operations, which are already active across 5 countries and 80 cities. Starship’s six-wheeled robots can autonomously transport food orders, groceries, tools and corporate materials to customers’ doorsteps.
Powered by batteries that allow 18 hours of run time per charge, the robots have completed over 6 million deliveries. Starship is now completing 1 million deliveries every 3 months – a rapid acceleration from when it took 6 years to hit the first million back in 2020.
The company credits improving efficiencies and technologies like wireless charging and enhanced autonomous navigation of obstacles for the growth. Starship intends to introduce wireless charging stations for its delivery bots in additional markets this year.
“Autonomous delivery isn’t some science fiction concept...it’s a reality for hundreds of thousands of people every day,” said Starship CEO Ahti Heinla. “Now we’re ready to take on the world.”
The $90 million funding round was led by Plural and Iconical, two European investment funds focused on high-growth startups. The capital will fuel Starship’s global expansion plans to bring its autonomous delivery model to new markets in the coming months and years.
With demand for contactless delivery surging, Starship aims to dominate the autonomous last-mile delivery space in the near future. But with rivals like Cartken, Ottonomy and Serve Robotics also scaling up robots, the competition promises to remain fierce as the industry matures.
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