Serve Robotics has deployed delivery robots in Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, and Atlanta. | Source: Serve Robotics
Serve Robotics Inc., a developer of sidewalk delivery robots, this month said it has agreed with investors to sell 6,250,000 shares of common stock. The sale could bring in up to $100 million, before deducting placement agent fees and other offering expenses.
The Redwood City, Calif.-based company said it will use the proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital.
Spun off from Uber in 2021, Serve Robotics said it has completed tens of thousands of deliveries for enterprise partners such as Uber Eats and 7-Eleven. The company said that it has scalable multi-year contracts, including an agreement to deploy up to 2,000 delivery robots on the Uber Eats platform across multiple U.S. markets. So far, Serve said it has completed more than 100,000 deliveries.
Earlier this month, the company said it has deployed 1,000 robots, halfway toward its goal of 2,000 AI-powered systems by year’s end.
Serve also announced a multi-year strategic partnership with DoorDash to roll out mobile robots across the U.S. Already, Los Angeles residents ordering from participating merchants through the DoorDash app may have their orders delivered by robots.
While DoorDash is working with third-party developers such as Serve Robotics, it is also developing its own delivery robot.
Serve expands technology with acquisitions
In September, Serve acquired the assets of Phantom Auto Inc. and its subsidiary, Voysys AB, a pioneer in ultra-low-latency video streaming, connectivity, and teleoperation technology. Serve said the acquisition enhances its technology stack to support its rapidly growing fleet of autonomous delivery robots.
It acquired the assets for a cash consideration of about $5.75 million. Serve Robotics was already a customer of Voysys when Phantom Auto went bankrupt last year, and it saw an opportunity to purchase Voysys earlier this year.
Just a month earlier, the company acquired Vayu Robotics, which used large-scale AI models to deploy robots in urban areas. Serve plans to combine its autonomy stack and real‑world sidewalk dataset with Vayu’s expertise in AI foundation models and its scalable simulation-powered data engine.
In addition to the acquisition, Silicon Valley technologist and Vayu’s lead investor, Vinod Khosla, will join Serve’s advisory board to support its mission of bringing robots to cities across the world. Last month, Serve said it was expanding its service to Chicago with Uber Eats.
Robots log millions of deliveries
Starship Technologies has long been a delivery robot leader. Earlier this year, the company announced that its systems had completed more than 8 million autonomous deliveries and traversed over 10 million miles globally.
Another major competitor to Serve Robotics is Coco Robotics, which has completed over 500,000 zero-emission deliveries across major U.S. cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami. It also provides services in Helsinki, its first European market.
In addition, Coco has partnerships with Uber and DoorDash. The company raised $80 million in June to scale its operations.
Other companies are focusing on more specific use cases. For example, Kiwibot has asserted that it is a market leader of robotic deliveries on U.S. college campuses.
Since 2017, the Berkeley, Calif.-based provider has deployed robots across the U.S., Dubai, and Saudi Arabia. It raised $10 million for deliveries as a service (DaaS) in December 2023.
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