Starship Technologies has raised $90 million to further the global expansion of its autonomous delivery service.
The company utilizes robots for last-mile deliveries, providing a sustainable solution to increasing demands for home delivery.
The company has deployed its autonomous robots across 80 locations throughout the U.S. and Europe, as well as in a handful of college campuses.
Each robot can run for 18 hours when fully charged. Starship claims its robots have reduced close to 1.8 million kg of carbon dioxide since their launch.
The latest funding, co-led by Plural and Iconical, will be added to the $230 million raised since Starship’s inception in 2014.
Starship robots have been completing deliveries at George Mason University since 2019.
Taavet Hinrikus, a partner at Plural, said, “Starship is the global leader in autonomous technology, built in Europe. For the past 10 years, the team have been working tirelessly to build the most advanced autonomous logistics technology in the world, driving more miles and making more deliveries than any other company, whilst reducing the impact of last-mile and on-demand delivery on the planet. The culmination of this hard work over the past decade and this new funding means Starship is well-positioned for accelerated growth.” He continued, saying they look forward to supporting the company on their journey.
Starship’s team of engineers has been instrumental to their success. This most recent round of investments will be used to further develop AI as well as tech and wireless charging infrastructure. Wireless charging for Starship robots was recently introduced at George Mason University, with plans to implement wireless charging globally in the coming months. This will bring the company closer to reaching its goal of creating a fully autonomous system.
The robots are already 99% autonomous. They can also navigate obstacles such as blockages, rocky terrain, and snow.
Ahti Heinla, Co-founder and CEO at Starship Technologies, commented that autonomous delivery is not a fantasy of the future but a reality for hundreds of thousands of people each day. “Building a company like Starship takes at least a decade of perfecting the technology, streamlining operations and reducing costs to make last-mile autonomous delivery viable and sustainable at scale. Now we’re ready to take on the world and with ambitions to build a category-dominating company that can change the daily lives of millions of people in thousands of locations worldwide,” he said.
