A German robotics startup is partnering up with Uber to bring autonomous deliveries to Japan.
What’s happening:
- Autonomous delivery robotics startup Cartken has raised $10M USD in a new funding round
- The round included notable participation from Mitsubishi Electric and Shell Ventures
The big idea:
- Cartken has designed autonomous delivery robotics that are capable of performing short distance deliveries without any human supervision
- Cartken leverges computer vision and artificial intelligence technology to operate safely in crowded urban spaces
By the numbers:
- Cartken has raised $22.5M USD in venture capital funding since inception
- On average, Cartken completes about 36,000 individual deliveries every single month across the United States, Germany and Denmark
Going deeper:
- Cartken is currently being used by biotechnology, pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing companies across the world to expedite shipments and deliveries without requiring human labour or emissions from vehicles
- Cartken has also recently entered into a new partnership with Uber (NASDAQ: UBER) to leverage their autonomous robotics for food deliveries in Japan
The intrigue:
- Autonomous robotics for short distance deliveries have been on the rise, with Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) backed Serve Robotics (NASDAQ: SERV) previously going public through a SPAC transaction
