How Uber's Robotics Partner Is Reinventing the $310B Food Delivery Industry The company pioneering sidewalk delivery robots.
By Entrepreneur Store Edited by Jason Fell
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Serve's sidewalk delivery robots are rolling down the streets in Los Angeles and San Francisco, with more than 20,000 food deliveries under its belt. The company's next mission? Scaling across the country.
Serve has signed contracts with existing partners to deploy thousands of robots across multiple cities. And that's just the beginning.
Serve's technology is the future of sidewalk delivery, a $310B market opportunity. Here's why they are leading the charge.
Why brands like Uber and Pizza Hut are turning to Serve.
Serve says its delivery robots help reduce costs for vendors, improve the experience for customers, and eliminate emissions caused by car deliveries (a delivery driver circling the same block all day is not great for the ozone layer).
Their delivery robots have had a 99% fulfillment rate and 95% on-time delivery rate across over 20,000 deliveries so far. In comparison, traditional couriers have an on-time delivery rate of just 83%.
On top of being faster, because they aren't stuck in and creating even more traffic, Serve's robots can help cut costs as well. Unlike cars, which are expensive to buy, maintain, and keep gassed up, Serve says its robots are super efficient for short-distance delivery.
That's why companies like UberEats, 7-Eleven, Walmart, and Pizza Hut have partnered with Serve. Serve is helping improve reliability, reducing costs, and helping companies meet net-zero carbon goals.
Serve's zero-emission robots aim to reduce pollution.
Whisking food door to door, Serve Robotics is on a mission to build a more sustainable future. The company aims to take 5% of food deliveries off the road in the next five years, reducing car miles traveled by 1 billion and eliminating 3 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions.
Not only do Serve's fleet of autonomous robots run on electricity, but they also help reduce traffic and congestion in urban centers . Their efficient delivery process is powered by cameras and sensors that allow the robots to safely navigate streets, avoid pedestrians, and obey traffic laws.
The robots are designed to be modular and cost-efficient, allowing Serve Robotics to offer competitive delivery rates while still providing all of those environmental benefits.
Ultimately, they are tackling sustainability from multiple angles. And they're doing it with state of the art technology.
How Serve is innovating delivery.
Serve has come a long way since it launched in 2017 inside Postmates and Uber. Now spun out as a fully independent company, Serve has the potential to transform the entire global delivery industry from the inside out.
With leading technology and resources, Serve's team of veteran tech leaders from companies like DoorDash and Waymo is revolutionizing the way we think about food delivery, providing an easier and better solution for everyone involved.
Serve's robots have achieved level 4 autonomy, which means they can navigate on their own without human supervision in designated areas. This is possible because an advanced suite of sensors allow easy navigation of sidewalk obstacles. And the robot can even use body language to communicate with passing pedestrians.
Serve has already attracted more than $42 million of investment from global giants like Uber and NVIDIA thanks to their team's technical achievements.
Why you should take note.
Short-distance delivery is a rapidly growing market, worth up to $310 billion by 2025. And Serve Robotics is already taking advantage of this growth and making a mark, with plans to expand to several new cities by 2023.
By combining robotics, software engineering, and artificial intelligence, Serve is uniquely positioned to revolutionize the delivery industry and continue to be a leader in its space.
Robots consistently deliver an efficient delivery experience that is faster, safer, more eco-friendly and reliable than traditional modes.
But in addition to the impressive technology at their disposal, they are backed by experienced industry leaders committed to seeing their vision come to life.
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