Starship Technologies snags funding injection from European Investment Bank
US-based autonomous delivery services firm Starship Technologies has agreed a €50 million quasi-equity facility agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB), the lending arm of the European Union (EU).
The financing, which is supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments, has been facilitated via a venture loan, and will be used for R&D, including the building of thousands more robots at Starship’s engineering and innovation facility in Tallinn, Estonia.
Alastair Westgarth, CEO, Starship Technologies, says: “We’re proud of our European roots as well as the growing team there that remains a vital part of our operations.”
“As the market leader in autonomous delivery we are constantly looking to innovate and find new ways to improve our service.”
“This backing from the EIB will help enable us to continue to reshape last mile delivery and bring the benefits of on demand delivery and convenience to millions more people.”
“The additional engineering resources that we will hire in Europe will be another key component in making this possible.”
“Electric vehicles in all shapes and sizes will be part of our future, and can be a key part in the sustainable transport puzzle,” says EIB Vice-President Thomas Östros.
“Starship’s delivery robots are already proving their worth, and we are glad to support the company so that they can continue to develop their technology and scale-up their production.”
Dalton Philips
In September of last year, Starship Technologies added Dalton Philips to its board.
Philips is currently CEO at daa, whose principal activities include the operation and management of Dublin and Cork Airports, global airport retailing subsidiary ARI, and international aviation consultancy daa International.
He was previously CEO at UK supermarket chain Morrisons from March 2010 to February 2015.
His CV also includes stints as Chief Operating Officer at Loblaw, CEO Brown Thomas Group, and Chief Operating Officer at both Walmart Brazil and Walmart Germany.
Philips said: “Cracking the last mile - as in exceeding customer expectations at a cost that is economically accretive for the retailer - has been the ultimate goal of all digitally connected businesses for the last decade.”
“Starship Technologies has developed both the hardware and software which will allow global retailers to now realise this ambition, and it’s a huge honour to join this incredibly exciting board where I hope to bring my own retail experience to support what is arguably the finest team in this space anywhere in the world.”
