In order to offer robotic delivery services on college campuses all throughout the United States, Starship Technologies, a maker of autonomous sidewalk delivery robots, has teamed up with food ordering and delivery service Grubhub. At the University of Kentucky, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Wayne State University, Southern Methodist University, and Fairfield University, Starship’s bots already distribute through Grubhub. However, the firms are hoping to add eight or nine more campuses by the end of this year.
Starship already delivers food from dining halls and on-campus restaurants to more than 25 campuses around the nation. The Grubhub agreement represents a shift for Starship toward delivery as a service, with orders placed via the Grubhub app, but robot maintenance and operations still being managed by Starship, according to the chief commercial officer of Starship.
In an interview with TechCrunch, Tuohy said, “We have just launched ‘Delivery by Starship’ with Grubhub and we are in multiple negotiations with potential partners to offer our world-leading robot delivery experience as a B2B delivery-as-a-service solution. Delivery by Starship connects with businesses’ current systems to improve the efficiency and sustainability of food delivery.
Starship was one of the numerous businesses forced to slash employees and leave unprofitable areas this summer. Tuohy told TechCrunch that as Starship’s bots get more autonomous, more campuses are becoming profitable each month. The company may be able to streamline and grow by collaborating with a distribution provider like Grubhub and partnering with college campuses.
He recently worked with Cartken to introduce robotic delivery to Ohio State University. He has a presence in more than 250 of his colleges and universities countrywide. Prior to the start of the Russian war in Ukraine, Grubhub had partnerships with the Russian internet company Yandex at OSU and the University of Arizona.
Spaceship bots, who can number between 15 and 60 and wander the campus, are usually active in the morning and will continue to eat various types of kibble well into the night. the bot can move up to 4 mph, function in snow and rain, and carry the equivalent of three bags of food.