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Starship Technologies

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Starship Technologies, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryRobotics
Logistics
Founded11 June 2014; 10 years ago (2014-06-11) in Tallinn, Estonia
FoundersJanus Friis
Ahti Heinla
Headquarters
San Francisco
,
United States
Areas served
United States
United Kingdom
Germany
Estonia
Finland
Key people
Ahti Heinla (CTO),
Alastair Westgarth (CEO)
ProductsDelivery robots
ServicesLast mile delivery
Websitewww.starship.xyz

Starship Technologies, Inc. is an Estonian company developing autonomous delivery vehicles.[1] The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with engineering operations in Tallinn, Estonia, and Helsinki, Finland.[2] Starship also has offices in London, England; Germany; Washington, DC, US; and Mountain View, California, US.[3]

As of 2024, the company has raised approximately $230 million in equity funding and €50 million in long term loan facilities since being founded in 2014.[4]

History

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Starship Technologies was founded by Skype co-founders Janus Friis and Ahti Heinla.[5] Initially, it was called Project Echo.[2] A core team of the company became the team Kuukulgur, which led by Ahti Heinla had participated in NASA Centennial Challenge by building experimental sample retrieval robots.[2] Starship Technologies OÜ was registered on 11 June 2014 in Tallinn, Estonia.[6] Starship Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation, was registered in San Francisco, United States, on 28 September 2016.[7]

Starship Technologies launched pilot services in 2016, in the US and the UK among other countries, with commercial services launched in 2017.[8] In April 2018, Starship launched its autonomous delivery service in Milton Keynes, England, in partnership with Co-op and Tesco.[9] In March 2020, Starship became the first robot delivery service to operate in a British town center with the rollout of its service in Central Milton Keynes.[10] By November 2020, said Starship, Milton Keynes had the 'world's largest autonomous robot fleet'[11] By March 2023 Starship was delivering in seven British cities.[12]

In January 2019, Starship partnered with Sodexo to launch robot food delivery services at George Mason University in Virginia, US. With a fleet of 25 robots at launch, this was the largest implementation of autonomous robot food delivery services on a university campus at that time.[13][14] In 2019, it expanded its services to six other US universities.[a][15] and in 2020 to two more.[b][16][17][18]

In March 2020, following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Starship made many redundancies. However, half a year later, and after the US universities reopened, it rehired many of the staff.[19][20][21][22]

Deployment

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In October 2021, Starship said that its autonomous delivery robots had completed 2 million deliveries worldwide, with over 100,000 road crossings daily.[23][24] According to the company, it reached 100,000 deliveries in August 2019 and 500,000 deliveries in June 2020.[25]

By January 2022, Starship's autonomous delivery robots had made more than 2.5 million autonomous deliveries, and traveled over 3 million miles globally,[1][26] making an average 10,000 deliveries per day.[1]

By April 2023 their robots had driven over 10,000,000 kilometers[27] and the company additionally announced the start of delivery services in Finland.[28]

Operations

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Starship develops and operates electrically-powered last-mile delivery robots. The robots ride on sidewalks with a maximum speed of 6 kilometres per hour (3.7 mph) (pedestrian speed), can be remotely controlled if autonomous operation fails, and are only used for relatively short-distance local delivery.[8] The robots use feature detection of edges and mapping techniques to determine the suitability of navigable terrain.[29] They weigh 55 pounds (25 kg) unloaded, and can carry up to 20 pounds (9.1 kg) of deliveries.[30] Their average battery life is 18 hours, and the typical robot can travel around 40 km per day.[1] The robots are equipped with a sensor suite that includes cameras, GPS,[31] inertial measurement, ultrasonic sensors, radar, and possibly other sensors[citation needed]. The robots have loudspeakers to communicate with humans they meet. The robots also have optional characters and music to play once the delivery arrives; these are chosen from before the order is placed in the mobile app. The four characters are the default robot character, "Asher," who speaks like a late-teens college student, "Sunshine," a feminine voice with a positive style, and "Harry," a British voice who speaks like a butler. Users order Starship deliveries using the company's iOS and Android applications.[1] Once the robot arrives to make a delivery, the user receives an alert and can unlock the robot through the app once their identity has been verified through biometric authentication technology.[32]

Before operating commercially the service was tested in over 100 cities and 20 countries around the world.[33] The company operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Finland and Estonia. From 2019 Starship has focused mainly on delivery services on college campuses. It has announced plans to expand its service to 100 university campuses in the United States, with the goal of reaching one million students.[34][35] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Starship expanded the number of delivery robots used for grocery in the UK[36][37] and the US to help with the delivery driver shortage.[38][1]

Sustainability

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According to Starship, its technology operates delivery robots that are "powered by zero carbon electricity, with the average delivery for a Starship robot consuming as little energy as boiling the kettle to make a single cup of tea".[39] Starship Technologies worked in conjunction with Milton Keynes Council to conduct a study to review the impact of zero-emissions robots in cities over the course of 31⁄2 years.[39] According to the study report, "Starship’s fleet has prevented 280,000 car journeys, and over 500,000 miles travelled in cars, leading to 137 tons of CO2 saved, and 22 kg of NOx saved during the study period".[39][40]

Corporate matters

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The Starship's original headquarters were established in London but were moved to San Francisco in 2018.[41] Its engineering operations are located in Tallinn, Estonia and in Helsinki, Finland.[2]

In 2014–2018, Allan Martinson served as the chief operating officer of Starship.[2] In 2018, the chief executive officer Ahti Heinla switched to the position of the chief technology officer and Lex Bayer, Airbnb's former head of business development, payments, and Airbnb for business, was hired as the new CEO.[42] Starship hired Alastair Westgarth, former CEO of Google X company, Loon, as their CEO in June 2021.[43]

By 2019, Starship had received US$85 million in venture funding.[34][35] In addition to Janus Friis and Ahti Heinla, other investors include Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk, Skype founding engineer Jaan Tallinn, Morpheus Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Matrix Partners, MetaPlanet Holdings, Daimler AG, Grishin Robotics, ZX Ventures, Playfair Capital and others.[35][42][44]

In January 2022, Starship received a €50 million investment from the European Investment Bank.[1]

In March 2022 the company raised $100 million in investments, bringing total investment raised to $202 million.[45]

In February 2024 the company raised $90 million led by Plural and Iconical, bringing equity funding to $230 million and another €50 million long term loan facilities by the European Investment bank in January of 2022.[46]

Starship also announced a partnership with Veriff in January 2022 to provide authentication and re-verification services for its fleet of autonomous delivery robots in the UK.[47] This partnership makes Starship the first company to create a fully autonomous end-to-end delivery service for age restricted items.[32]

Economically, Starship's robots are considered to be cheaper than human-staffed delivery services such as DoorDash, which uses human-driven vehicles. Starship's robots cost US$5500 in 2018, and it was hoped to reduce this to $2250.[48] Fully-charged they can run for 18 hours.[49][50] However, a 2016 McKinsey report said that bicycles were still the most cost-competitive last-mile delivery method: "If droids do not become significantly cheaper, bike couriers are likely to be the best delivery form for instant delivery in urban areas."[51]

Disadvantages of automated couriers

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Automated delivery services using pedestrian spaces—not restricted to Starship—have several problems in busy cities which are not present in quieter locations. They must avoid pedestrians on busy footways, which may be narrow, and are subject to vandalism, even if cargo is secured against theft. Starship have said "After our robots have been in an area for a while, people get used to them. They become part of the community and residents look out for their well-being", though the robots did sometimes get kicked. They must compete with bicycle couriers for short-distance small deliveries.[51]

In 2022, a video of a Starship robot being run over by a train at a level crossing near James Madison University campus circulated online, highlighting the possibility of robots being stuck in unanticipated obstacles.[52]

Images

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Starship Technologies robots in action
  • A line of Starship Technologies delivery robots at the University of Mississippi in 2021
    A line of Starship Technologies delivery robots at the University of Mississippi in 2021
  • A close up of a Starship delivery robot operating in the winter, with its camera array visible
    A close up of a Starship delivery robot operating in the winter, with its camera array visible
  • Delivery robot of Starship Technologies crossing the Suur-Ameerika street in Tallinn (Spring 2022, video)

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Purdue University in West Lafayette, University of Pittsburgh, James Madison University in Virginia, University of Wisconsin in Madison, University of Houston, and University of Texas at Dallas
  2. ^ University of Mississippi and Bowling Green State University

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Lunden, Ingrid (25 January 2022). "Starship Technologies picks up €50M from the EU's investment arm to expand its fleet of autonomous delivery robots". TechCrunch. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Allan Martinson: the perfect storm for Estonian startups". Enterprise Estonia. December 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  3. ^ "About Us". Starship Technologies. 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  4. ^ Vartabedian, Marc (1 March 2022). "Starship, a Robot Food-Delivery Startup, Nets $100 Million". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  5. ^ Sawers, Paul (31 October 2018). "Starship Technologies launches commercial package delivery service using autonomous robots". VentureBeat. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Starship Technologies OÜ". e-Krediidiinfo (in Estonian). Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Statement and Designation by Foreign Corporation. Starship Technologies, Inc". Alex Padilla, California Secretary of State. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  8. ^ a b Kottasova, Ivana (3 November 2015). "Forget drones, here come delivery robots". CNN Business. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  9. ^ Farrell, Steve (1 April 2019). "Co-op expands robot deliveries to second store". The Grocer. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  10. ^ Ingham, Lucy (16 March 2020). "Robot delivery service comes to first UK town centre". Verdict. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  11. ^ "Milton Keynes now has 'world's largest autonomous robot fleet' as Starship expand further". Starship Technologies (Press release). Retrieved 6 November 2020 – via MKFM.
  12. ^ Hern, Alex (15 March 2023). "Co-op hires delivery droids to drop groceries in Greater Manchester". The Guardian.
  13. ^ "World's Largest Fleet of Delivery Robots on a University Campus Launched by Sodexo and Starship Technologies" (Press release). Sodexo. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  14. ^ Clark, Mary Lee (22 January 2019). "There are robots on campus—here's what you need to know". George Mason University. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  15. ^ Repko, Melissa (6 January 2020). "On University of Texas at Dallas' growing campus, meal-delivering robots make splashy debut". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  16. ^ Dewitt, Emily (6 February 2020). "New Food Delivery Robots Generally Well Accepted After First Week". HottyToddy.com. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  17. ^ Bratton, Michael (20 February 2020). "Robots roam BGSU as part of incoming food delivery service". 13 ABC. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  18. ^ "'Hello, I'm a Starship Delivery Robot' — BGSU starts autonomous service". Sentinel-Tribune. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  19. ^ "Starship Technologies makes redundancies to 'streamline service'". ERR. 28 March 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  20. ^ "Teatmik.ee".
  21. ^ Tuul, Harry (11 June 2020). "Šokk ja solvumine: Starshipi koondatud töötajate rääkimata lugu" [Shock and insult: An untold story of Starship's laid off workers]. Geenius. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  22. ^ Saarmann, Tanel (15 September 2020). "Ahti Heinla Eestis toimuvast: ma ei saa aru, miks väravavaht peaks oma meeskonna ründajale muda näkku loopima" [Ahti Heinla about what is happening in Estonia: I do not understand why the goalkeeper should throw mud at the face of his team's attacker]. Ärileht. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  23. ^ PYMNTS (20 January 2022). "Veriff Collabs With Starship on ID Verification". www.pymnts.com. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  24. ^ "World record: Starship hits 2 million autonomous deliveries". Starship. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  25. ^ Lee, Timothy B. (27 January 2021). "Sidewalk-robot startup celebrates 1 million deliveries". Ars Technica. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  26. ^ Innovates, Dallas (24 January 2022). "Starship Technologies Launches Robot Food Deliveries at SMU » Dallas Innovates". Dallas Innovates. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  27. ^ Zura, Reid (3 April 2023). "Starship Technologies Sets Another World Record with 10 Million Kilometers Driven". Starship Technologies. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  28. ^ "Starship Technologies launches Finland's first robotic food delivery service in Espoo | Enter Espoo". www.enterespoo.fi. 21 April 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  29. ^ Dormehl, Luke (26 February 2020). "Inside the mind of an autonomous delivery robot". Digital Trends. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  30. ^ "Starship at BGSU". BGSU. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  31. ^ "Meet UCI's Newest Employees: The Starship Food Delivery Robots". New University. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  32. ^ a b "Veriff partners with Starship to deliver verification requirements for age-restricted transactions". Help Net Security. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  33. ^ Hawkins, Andrew J. (20 August 2019). "Thousands of autonomous delivery robots are about to descend on US college campuses". The Verge. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  34. ^ a b "Starship Technologies plans campus expansion after $40 million funding win". ERR. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  35. ^ a b c Hamilton, Isobel Asher (20 August 2019). "Starship Technologies, which builds cute robots to deliver bananas to lazy students, has raised another $40 million". Business Insider. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  36. ^ Metz, Cade (20 May 2020). "A City Locks Down to Fight Coronavirus, but Robots Come and Go". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  37. ^ "Robot grocery delivery service expands to Northampton". BBC. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  38. ^ ROWLAND, MARIJKE (29 November 2020). "Out of milk? In Modesto, robots can now deliver groceries right to your doorstep". The Modesto Bee. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  39. ^ a b c Murrer, Sally (8 November 2021). "This is how much energy is saved by our Starship delivery robots here in Milton Keynes". Milton Keynes Citizen. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  40. ^ "Starship flags environmental impact of delivery robots in Milton Keynes". Retail Technology Innovation Hub. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  41. ^ Green, Alisha (7 June 2018). "Why robot maker Starship Tech beamed its HQ down from London to San Francisco". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  42. ^ a b Hamilton, Isobel Asher (7 June 2018). "Robot delivery firm Starship Technologies has hired an Airbnb veteran as its new CEO and raised $25 million". Business Insider. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  43. ^ "Starship Technologies Appoints New CEO". Starship. 1 June 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  44. ^ Shead, Sam (12 January 2017). "Robot delivery company Starship Technologies raised $17.2 million in a round led by Daimler". Business Insider. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  45. ^ "Starship brings in $100 million in last 30 days to expand autonomous delivery in Europe and US". Tech.eu. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  46. ^ Keane, Jonathan. "Robot Delivery Player Starship Raises $90 Million Round". Forbes. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  47. ^ "Veriff partners with Starship to deliver verification requirements for age-restricted transactions". Help Net Security. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  48. ^ Condliffe, Jamie (30 January 2018). "Why sidewalk delivery robots still need safety drivers". MIT Technology Review.
  49. ^ Stock, Kyle (23 December 2021). "Sidewalk Robots Find Foothold on College Campuses". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  50. ^ Vartabedian, Marc (2 March 2022). "Starship, a Robot Food-Delivery Startup, Nets $100 Million". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  51. ^ a b Hsu, Jeremy (19 February 2019). "Out of the Way, Human! Delivery Robots Want a Share of Your Sidewalk". Scientific American.
  52. ^ Mark, DiPietro (15 October 2022). "Starship Technologies Paving Way for Robotics in Food Delivery – The Stillman Exchange". The Stillman Exchange. Seton Hall University. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
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