Starship Secures $50M to Expand Robot Delivery Across U.S. Cities

• Starship Technologies raised $50 million in Series C funding led by Plural to accelerate its U.S. expansion.
• The company has completed over 9 million autonomous deliveries and plans to grow its fleet to 12,000 robots by 2027.

Starship Technologies has secured $50 million in Series C funding to expand its autonomous delivery operations across American cities. The round was led by Plural with participation from Karma.vc, Latitude, Coefficient Capital, SmartCap, and Skaala. Founded in 2014 by Skype co-founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis, the company has now raised over $280 million to date.

Alongside the funding announcement, Starship reported it has completed more than 9 million autonomous deliveries, five times more than all U.S. competitors combined, according to the company. Its robots have traveled over 12 million miles. Starship operates more than 2,700 robots across 270+ locations, with services live in 30+ European cities and 60+ U.S. university campuses. Its platform is integrated with Grubhub, Bolt, Wolt, and Foodora.

The new funding will support deeper penetration into urban U.S. markets, expansion of its robot fleet, and strengthened partnerships with major retailers, according to the company. It plans to scale its fleet to more than 12,000 by 2027. The company has reported it already has achieved profitability at scale and aims to bring sub-30-minute autonomous delivery to millions of American consumers as a new urban logistics standard.

“Starship has quietly built the most successful autonomous technology company in the world,” said Taavet Hinrikus, Partner at Plural, in an official press release. “They're already deployed, already profitable, and already changing how goods move through cities. We’ve doubled down on our investment because the team has proven they can scale globally, and the opportunity in American urban markets is enormous.”

🌀 Tom’s Take:

With funding, proof points, and partnerships, Starship seems ready to scale in the U.S.

Source: Business Wire / Starship Technologies