European Uber rival Bolt will deliver food to your door via self-driving robots

Estonian ride-hailing steadfast Bolt says it volition statesman delivering nutrient to people's doors from a fleet of self-driving robots done a concern with robotics steadfast Starship Technologies.

The institution said it would commencement offering online nutrient deliveries successful its location metropolis of Tallinn aboriginal this twelvemonth successful an archetypal rollout of Starship's robots, which are astir the size of a suitcase. 

"We are focused connected providing well-rounded solutions to assistance marque section proscription arsenic sustainable arsenic possible," Markus Villig, laminitis and CEO of Bolt, said successful a connection Wednesday.

"Starship offers a astute and much-loved work that has proven itself implicit the past 5 years and we're excited to present this work to much people."

Bolt, 1 of Europe's astir highly-valued tech companies with a valuation of $8.4 billion, made a sanction for itself challenging Uber successful the U.S. ride-hailing giant's cardinal planetary markets, peculiarly the U.K.

The institution has since expanded into respective different lines of business, including online nutrient and market transportation and e-scooters.

Founded successful 2013 and formerly known arsenic Taxify, Bolt has astir 100 cardinal customers successful 45 countries crossed Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

Bolt has raised implicit $2 billion successful backing to day from investors including Sequoia, World Bank portion IFC, and the European Investment Bank.

Just similar ordering nutrient online from apps successful the emblematic way, Bolt's Starship concern volition let users to get their nutrient delivered from robots astatine the pat of a button.

Once the robot arrives astatine your door, you'll beryllium capable to property a fastener that opens it up and person your meals oregon groceries.

Wednesday's quality marks a large milestone successful reaching commercialized deployment of the exertion astatine scale.

Bolt plans to commencement deliveries successful Tallinn successful the coming months and past rotation the robots retired to further markets astatine a aboriginal constituent successful time.

Starship, headquartered successful San Francisco and co-founded by immoderate of the founders of Skype, already operates a fleet of autonomous transportation robots successful the U.S.

Stateside, the work is chiefly utilized by assemblage students successful concern with the nutrient transportation steadfast Grubhub.

The steadfast has a akin woody successful spot successful the U.K. and different European countries with British grocer Co-op.

Starship, which has raised astir $200 cardinal successful backing to date, is 1 of galore companies investigating the usage of robotics for delivering nutrient and different goods.

In Asia, Chinese companies person been aboriginal to the trend. Meituan, the large nutrient transportation app, was investigating its robots successful offices and hotels arsenic aboriginal arsenic 2019.

Some attempts to marque deliveries utilizing fleets of robots person been deed with setbacks, arsenic wide takeup of the exertion has been limited. 

In the U.S., for example, Amazon ended its tract tests of Scout, a transportation robot that sent tiny packages to customers' homes, successful a bid to chopped down connected costs. 

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