Starship Technologies lands fresh funding, new CEO

Self-driving robot delivery startup, Starship Technologies, has secured $25 million in seed funding and appointed former Airbnb executive Lex Bayer as CEO.

The round includes follow-on investments from the likes of Matrix Partners and Morpheus Ventures. Additional investors include Airbnb Co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk, Skype founding engineer Jaan Tallinn, and former Chairman and CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Gary Barber. The venture previously raised $17.2 million in a seed round led by Mercedes-Benz Vans.

Starship’s autonomous robots can carry items, like groceries or packages, within a two-mile radius. It is planning to use the funding to deploy robots at scale in neighbourhoods, corporate and university campuses in the US and Europe. “I’m delighted to join the Starship team at this inflection point in the company’s journey and look forward to helping the business build on its position as the world’s leading provider of autonomous delivery,” says Bayer. 

Starship Co-founder Janus Friis comments: “We are at the point where we are ready to start deploying our network of robots at scale. This additional funding, and Lex’s appointment, will allow us to bring our services to market. Lex joins us with a proven track record of growing businesses that change the way we live for the better.”

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