European ride-hailing firm Bolt is the latest mobility giant to leverage self-driving robots for deliveries.
Bolt signed on the dotted line with Starship Technologies to roll out “thousands of robots delivering food across multiple countries” according to a statement. The companies did not disclose terms of the deal.
A competitor of Uber, Bolt has formulated a major footprint in the on-demand delivery sector since its founding in 2014. Formerly known as Taxify, the company made a name for itself as a ride-hailing service, eventually expanding to offer food and grocery delivery, as well as e-scooter rentals. Today, it serves over 100 million customers in 45 countries and cities, including Europe, Africa, West Asia and Latin America.
Starship’s fleet of over 2,000 autonomous delivery robots has completed 5 million deliveries to date–an industry first.
Meanwhile, Starship, founded in 2014 by former Skype execs, has a fleet of over 2,000 autonomous delivery bots in Estonia, the U.K. and the U.S., and has completed over 5 million commercial deliveries thus far—an industry-first record.
“Both Bolt and Starship have created innovative products which have revolutionized the way people move around and buy and receive goods in cities,” said Jevgeni Kabanov, Bolt’s president.
Stateside, Starship’s service is primarily used by college students on campuses, via its partnership with Grubhub. Ahead of the Bolt collab, Starship and Grubhub announced plans for further expansion into a number of campuses giving more than 170,000 students access to robot delivery in over 25 schools.
By teaming with Bolt, Starship will now offer last-mile delivery in select areas through the Bolt Food app, including residential. The robots use a combination of AI and sensors to travel and navigate obstacles.
In addition, the two companies look to sustainability as a shared goal with Starship’s fleet of zero-emission robots.
“Bolt and Starship share very similar goals of promoting sustainability in local transport. In our case, we offer a convenient and on-demand autonomous delivery service, perfectly aligning with the mission of making cities more eco-friendly,” said Alastair Westgarth, CEO of Starship Technologies.
“We think the synergy with Bolt’s overall portfolio of services will not only help Starship expand to new markets but also provide some fun, fully electric, future-proofed delivery options to the markets Bolt serves,” said Ahti Heinla, co-founder and CTO of Starship.
Starship robots will begin delivering with Bolt Food in Tallinn, Bolt’s home city, later this year, as part of a pilot program, working in tandem with courier partners.
