When it comes to robotics in the restaurant industry, early innovation was focused on food delivery and robotic food delivery.
But delivery robots and drones have taken a back seat recently as restaurants turn to back-of-house automation to save on labor costs: Independent concepts and chains like Colonel, CaliExpress by Flippy, White Castle, Chipotle, and Jack in the Box are all experimenting with kitchen robots.
But food delivery robots are still proving their worth in an industry where food delivery sales continue to grow: In March, sales from major delivery companies like DoorDash increased 8% year over year, according to Bloomberg Second Measure. The robot delivery market is expected to grow from $400 million in 2023 to $1.8 billion by 2028, according to Markets and Markets Research.
Avride is the latest startup to introduce autonomous delivery robots, following companies like Serve Robotics, Cartken, and Starship.
Here we’ll take a closer look at Avride and provide an update on its key competitors.
Avride
Avride develops autonomous delivery robots and self-driving cars.
The Austin, Texas-based startup is developing two products in parallel: self-driving cars and autonomous delivery robots.
“Delivery robots are ready for commercial deployment because they solve an easier problem than cars (sidewalk vs. road), whereas the complexity of the problem and higher safety requirements for cars will take a little longer,” company spokesperson Yulia Shubeiko told Food on Demand.
The autonomous delivery robots are about the size of a suitcase with six wheels, she said. The one deployed in December is big enough to hold six large pizzas and a few bottles of soda. The robots have built-in thermal bags to keep the food at the right temperature. The robots travel at speeds up to five miles per hour and only travel on sidewalks, not roads.
The delivery robot is equipped with LIDAR and camera sensors that allow it to get a 3D image of its surroundings and analyze “the most versatile, safe and efficient way forward,” Shubeiko said. The robot also has ultrasonic sensors that allow it to instantly stop if someone or something suddenly jumps in front of it.
“Everyone wants to test the robot. That’s fine, we’re ready for that,” Shuveiko said.
Another key feature of the Avride bot is its battery power. The robot can run for 10 to 12 hours on a single charge. When it runs out of charge, it doesn’t need to be plugged in for hours to charge. The battery can be easily replaced with a new one in about 30 seconds. The company has installed a wireless charging station at a university in South Korea, one of the few places where Avride bots are deployed for food delivery.
“this [contactless charging is] “It’s really great because the robots will become more autonomous — they won’t need a human to plug them in,” Shuveiko said.
Outside of South Korea, the robots have been deployed in Austin, Texas, and Dubai. In Dubai, Avride has partnered with local food delivery company Talabat. In Austin, Avride has partnered with three restaurants in the city’s Mueller district, which Shuveiko said is an ideal area for robot deliveries because it has a strong pedestrian infrastructure.
“Perfect bike lanes, perfect sidewalks. Beautifully marked crosswalks,” she said of the area.
Shubeiko said local, independent restaurants in Austin see the robots as a good delivery solution because they can’t afford to hire their own delivery vehicles and don’t want to pay the fees associated with third-party delivery services. They make about 20 deliveries a day.
In Austin, the company has partnerships with Colleen’s Kitchen, Rebel Cheese and Xian Sushi and Noodle.
Ashley Flick, owner of Colleen’s Kitchen, said the ordering and delivery process is seamless.
“When an order needs to be delivered, we just press a button, place it on the robot, and it’s done,” Flick says. “This approach has allowed us to meet the demand for deliveries while saving costs. Our deliveries have increased significantly, but as a small business we can’t afford to pay for staff or insurance for deliveries ourselves. Using the robot has been great and has increased our profitability. There is a delivery fee for guests, but it is often less than other services.”
Looking to the future, Avride is exploring new locations for its operations.
“We are looking to expand our footprint in Austin and have already developed plans for several neighborhoods,” Shuveiko said. “We are also in discussions with potential partners across Texas, the U.S. and around the world. We will have more information to share in the coming months.”
Cartken
Robot delivery pioneer Cartken raises $22.5 million.
Cartken, a pioneer in the robotic delivery industry, announced in July that it had raised a total of $22.5 million in funding, with the latest $10 million round led by 468 Capital, a four-year-old technology investment firm focused on backing entrepreneurs with global ambitions.
Cartken’s autonomous delivery robots navigate a variety of environments, including industrial parks, production facilities, university and office campuses, and neighborhoods. The company delivers food to university campuses through a partnership with Grubhub. Cartken is also fully integrated with delivery platforms such as Uber Eats and Grubhub.
Grubhub has partnered with Cartken to provide a robotic delivery service on college campuses.
Cartken recently launched in Tokyo in partnership with Uber Eats and Mitsubishi Electric.
“Since its inception, Kartken has completed hundreds of thousands of deliveries, averaging an astounding 36,000 deliveries per month,” the company said in a statement. “In 2023 alone, these efficiencies have saved employees more than 10,000 hours of transportation time.”
Starship Technologies
In the US, Starship delivery robots are primarily deployed on campuses.
Starship Technologies currently has more than 2,000 robots deployed around the world and plans to increase production this year, the company told Food on Demand.
Starship operates from more than 100 locations across six countries, including the US, UK, Estonia, Germany, Denmark and Finland. In the US, Starship’s main locations are university campuses such as UCLA, Oregon State University, University of Houston and University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
In other parts of the world, robots are making deliveries to neighborhoods.
Starship robots make deliveries from a variety of national restaurant chains, local eateries, and national grocers, including Co-op in the U.K. and S-Group in Finland. Other partners include Grubhub, Aramark, Chartwells, and Sodexo in the U.S., and Bolt in Estonia. Starship offers two delivery methods: direct delivery to customers via the Starship app, and Delivery as a Service (DaaS), where the robots are integrated directly into the partner’s delivery structure.
Grubhub has been partnering with Starship since 2022 and currently provides robot delivery services at 17 campuses across the U.S., including the University of Notre Dame, University of Tennessee, University of Miami, Arizona State University, University of Kentucky, and Southern Methodist University.
“When schools are in session, more than 1,000 orders are fulfilled by the robots each day,” Grubhub said.
Unlike Uber Eats, Grubhub only uses its robots on college campuses.
Starship’s autonomous robots are designed to navigate sidewalks, but the company says they can also climb over curbs, cross roads, and operate in a variety of weather conditions, from the frigid winters of Finland to the scorching summers of Phoenix.
“The sustainable robot can operate for 18 hours on a single charge, and the company is preparing to introduce wireless charging to its entire fleet so that the robot can charge wirelessly and autonomously,” the company said.
Servo Robotics
Serve’s robots deliver food from over 300 restaurants in Los Angeles.
Serve Robotics, formerly a division of Postmates, has been testing autonomous delivery robots in Los Angeles for about six years.
The company has deployed 100 robots through partnerships with Uber Eats and 7-Eleven. Serve’s robots deliver food to more than 300 restaurants in Los Angeles, with orders placed through Uber Eats.
The company plans to deploy up to 2,000 robots on Uber Eats next year, and Uber is also an investor.
“We’re currently in Los Angeles but are looking at new markets next year including Dallas, San Diego and Vancouver,” CEO Ali Kashani told Food on Demand.
Serve Robotics was spun off from Uber in late 2021 after the ride-sharing company acquired Postmates.
Nancy Luna is a contributing writer for Food on Demand. She can be contacted at [email protected]
