Coco, the robotic delivery company is turning heads again, this time in Chicago.
Coco’s robo-couriers have been making deliveries in the Windy Cindy since December. Orders placed via the DoorDash app are delivered by robots in the West Loop, River West and Fulton Market areas.
Once an order is prepared, restaurant staff place the meal inside the insulated compartment and lock it with a code. The pink and red bot then takes off to its location, navigating sidewalks and avoiding obstacles. Customers type in a code upon arrival to retrieve their meal.
Local restaurants using their service so far include Veggitopia, Nile Authentic Mediterranean Grill, Superior Philly Cheesesteak and Mrs. Quesadilla.
Coco launched in Los Angeles in 2020 and has completed nearly 500,000 deliveries thus far. It’s delivered to various restaurants in the area and tapped a partnership with Uber Eats. It even expanded internationally, making deliveries in Helsinki, Finland.
CEO and Co-founder Zach Rash says the company has spent the last few years fine-tuning its tech.
Zach Rash, CEO, Co-Founder Coco Robotics
Originally, Coco’s sidewalk delivery bots were tele-operated, meaning a human oversaw the navigation remotely. The bots are now “hybrid” meaning they do operate autonomously but are still supervised by a human operator.
Rash says that a big push for the company is improving the automation of delivery.
“It’s now about what level of supervision is required. The idea would be, one operator can be responsible for more and more bots at a time and instead tap in for more complex decision-making,” he said.
“It’s less about, ‘How do you go straight down this walkway?’ and more about, ‘When is it safe to cross? There’s construction here—how should we handle this?’ So, we’re really leveraging them for this kind of decision-making, which, in turn, also makes the system smarter and better. That’s been a big initiative of ours.”
Coco will be in Chicago through May 31 as part of a pilot program, but aims to make a permanent presence.
Coco is among a handful of companies deploying fleets of foodservice delivery robots. Others include Starship, Avride, Cartken and Serve Robotics.
