Serve is expanding its delivery area in North Hollywood. Source: Serve Robotics
Serve Robotics Inc. has announced that Shake Shack has joined the list of merchants in the Los Angeles area using its autonomous robots. Uber Eats customers will soon be able to get their favorite burgers, shakes, and fries delivered by robots straight to their homes.
The initial delivery area will be in the West Hollywood/Koreatown area of Los Angeles, a region currently serviced by Uber Eats and Serve for other merchants. In Serve’s partnership with Uber Eats, customers can select “robot” as a delivery option directly from the Uber Eats app.
The company has been offering robotic deliveries in Los Angeles since 2022, and it plans to expand its services across the U.S. Serve is using the $40 million from its recent IPO in April to grow its fleet and expand its field support and remote operations teams.
Last month, Serve Robotics announced the closing of a $15 million private placement with a single institutional investor for the purchase and sale of pre-funded warrants to purchase 2.5 million shares of Serve’s common stock, together with warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 2.5 million shares of common stock at an exercise price of $6.00 per share.
Serve Robotics on the road to 2,000 robots
“We are super excited to add Shake Shack to our platform and to the mix of merchants for whom we do deliveries,” said Touraj Parang, president and chief operating officer of Serve Robotics. “And this was made possible through our relationship with Uber Eats.”
“We’ve done tens of thousands of successful deliveries with Uber Eats so far, with more than 300 merchants in our Los Angeles area, and we’re looking forward to expanding that, not just in LA, but across the nation,” he added. “This is one more step in our growth plan to build and deploy 2,000 robots by the end of 2025, as we expand our delivery service footprint across the nation.”
In April, the company signed an agreement with Magna to manufacture its delivery robots at scale.
A Shake Shack employee loads the meal directly into the robot to begin the delivery process. | Credit: Shake Shack
Merchants can easily join the delivery network
For merchants, using the Serve robots starts with joining the Uber Eats delivery network. The Uber Eats app handles all of the customers’ order interactions and manages the selection of a human driver or robot for the delivery option. The app then alerts the restaurant staff when the robot is onsite and ready to be filled with an order.
Onboarding new merchants such as Shake Shack is straightforward. According to Parang, the Serve field-support team simply needs to scope out the merchants’ site and select an appropriate robot queuing area together with site enter/exit paths. Everything else is handled via the Uber Eats app integration.
“We’re thrilled about our collaboration with Serve Robotics and Uber Eats,” said Steph So, senior vice president of digital experience at Shake Shack. “In line with our vision of enlightened hospitality, this partnership highlights our commitment to leveraging innovation to enhance guest experiences both in and out of Shack.”
Uber Eats sends an email to the merchants letting them know that robotic delivery is now enabled for them. Merchants have the option to opt out, but very few do, according to Parang.
“Serve has been advancing their technology for years to provide merchants and consumers with not only a futuristic experience but greater affordability, reliability, and convenience,” said Noah Zych, global head of autonomous mobility and delivery at Uber. “We’re thrilled to take another step forward and give Shake Shack customers in Los Angeles a little more Uber magic through sidewalk robot delivery.”
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