Serve Robotics is the provider of robotics services intended to shape the future of delivery by connecting people via robots. Its self-driving robots serve people in public spaces, starting with food delivery, enabling customers to get their products faster.
Serve Robotics was funded $13 million with participation from strategic investors Uber Technologies Inc. Delivery Hero supported DX Ventures; 7-Eleven Inc.’s corporate venture arm, 7-Ventures, LLC; and Wavemaker Partners’ food automation focused venture studio Wavemaker Labs. The latest round extends Serve’s previous seed funding and includes existing seed investors Neo, Western Technology Investment, and angel investor Scott Banister.
This company is based in San Francisco, CA; the capital will accelerate the scaling of its robotic platform, geographic support expansion, and drive continued product advancement.
Serve Robotics is forming the future of sustainable, self-driving delivery. Founded in 2017 as the robotics division of Postmates, Serve is now a self-governing company on a mission to make delivery more affordable, sustainable, and accessible for everyone. The company’s self-driving robots have completed tens of thousands of contactless deliveries in major U.S. cities.
The pandemic has reinvigorated the segment of companies developing delivery robots small enough to navigate crosswalks, sidewalks, and corporate campuses. Robots minimize human-to-human contact and can fill in at a time when the industry is facing a historic shortage of delivery drivers.
Serve’s meter-high robots sport colorful, LED-laden exteriors that conceal a suite of sensors, including RGB cameras, sonar, time-of-flight sensors, GPS, and lidar. The control panel, which sits off to the side, contains a “Help” button, a video chat display, and a touchscreen panel.
A top hatch conceals a cargo compartment that’s unlocked with a phone app or a passcode. Serve’s a robot can carry up to 50 pounds for 25 miles on one charge — enough to make more than dozen deliveries per day, Kashani claims.
Sidewalk robot delivery is just starting to heat up as an industry, and with it will be a race among companies to come up with the most sophisticated technology and the best go-to-market strategy. With this round of funding, and its accompanying partners, Serve is already prepping for national and global scale.
