Tesco Labs talks Starship Technologies robot delivery trial
Matthew Bennett, Software Development Engineer II - Tesco Labs at Tesco, has been discussing an autonomous delivery trial with Starship Technologies.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: “Was great to speak about the trial with Starship Technologies to all of Tesco Technology at Ignite 2022 (the grocery giant’s annual technology conference). Super proud of the work we did to enable an exciting trial in autonomous robot delivery.”
Starship’s six-wheeled robots launched in the UK in 2018, delivering groceries within a two-mile radius of a Milton Keynes Co-op branch.
The quick commerce service has since expanded to more areas of Milton Keynes, and in 2020 rolled out in Northampton in partnership with Co-op.
There are around 500 Starship autonomous vehicles currently in operation in the UK, delivering for Co-op as well as from several Tesco and Budgens stores.
In March, the company announced that it had raised $100 million in a 30-day period, including a new $42 million Series B funding round led by the Japanese-Nordic VC firm NordicNinja and Estonia’s Taavet+Sten.
The Series B cash will help Starship further scale its service and launch in new cities in North America and Europe, including university campuses in the US.
The $100 million, including a $57 million investment from the European Investment Bank (EIB), brought total funding to $202 million.
Other investors in the Series B round included TDK Ventures, and Goodyear.
“Everyone is talking about how to fix the issues with last mile delivery,“ said Shinichi Nikkuni, Managing Partner at NordicNinja VC.
“Time and again, Starship has proven itself to be years ahead of others with world leading autonomous driving technology for sidewalk delivery, leading to accumulating more and more data and experiences through much wider commercial operations.”
“There aren’t many companies that have a truly autonomous service that has earned so much customer loyalty and adoration. We think Starship has found the right formula for success on a global scale and are excited to be part of their future journey.”
“The autonomous delivery market has been gaining momentum the past couple of years and we think it will really take off this year,” commented Alastair Westgarth, CEO at Starship Technologies.
“The demand for our services continues to rapidly increase and we are regularly contacted by more college campuses and cities that want our services, often because they hear about the great results that we are already delivering.”
“I’m impressed with every member of our team who believes in what we are doing and has helped us hit yet another milestone of three million commercial deliveries. I also appreciate the investors who trust our vision and who are helping us get to the next phase of our journey.”
