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Starship Technologies, an Estonia-based startup that was a pioneer in the delivery robotics space, has raised $90 million in funding to further develop its technology and expand into international markets.
- The round was co-led by two previous backers: Plural, a VC with roots in Estonia and London that recently raised a $430 million fund, and Iconical, a London-based firm founded by Skype CEO Janus Friis.
- The round brings Starship’s total capital raised to $230 million.
Starship 101: The startup provides a delivery robot that can transport meals, grocery orders, tools, and corporate documents to customers’ doorsteps.
- They can run for 18 hours on a full charge, and the average delivery takes the same amount of energy as boiling a kettle for a single cup of tea.
- Its robots are now 99% autonomous and can react safely to difficult situations and obstacles, including snow, rocky terrain, and blockages en route.
Traction: Starship has already travelled 11 million miles and made 6 million deliveries across the US, UK, Germany, Estonia, and Finland. The startup’s partners/customers include companies like on-demand transport company Bolt, the grocery chain Co-Op and food services companies like Aramark, Sodexo and Chartwells and Grubhub.
“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,” said Ahti Heinla, co-founder and CEO at Starship Technologies. “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.”
Looking ahead: Heinla says the company will use the new funds to expand into international markets. While doing so, Starship is expanding production of its robots via a manufacturing partnership and plans to continue to invest in its software, charging infrastructure, and logistics services.
Delivery robots: Starship is facing fierce competition from several other delivery robots, such as Cartken, Ottonomy, and Serve Robotics, but Starship was a pioneer in the delivery robot industry, having founded the company over ten years back, and they’ll be hoping they can use the fresh funds to capture market share before the competitors catch-up.
