Why we invested in Starship Technologies?
Last year, news about cute robots struggling with Estonian exceptionally harsh winter went viral several times. These were not some characters from a new Pixar movie — or at least not yet — but food and package delivery robots made by Estonian tech company Starship Technologies. Launched by Skype co-founders, Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis in 2014, Starship is truly the trailblazer in the autonomous vehicle industry.
Starship has sported exponential growth for years — doubling its deliveries every 10 months and reaching 3 million deliveries in total in spring 2022. That’s more than any other autonomous delivery company in the world! Daily, they operate the world’s largest fleet of more than 1,700 autonomous delivery robots. They also hold the industry’s top position in other metrics like kilometres driven, data and more.
In addition to their hometown Tallinn, Estonia, you can see Starship robots trotting along on many US college campuses, as well as cities in Finland and UK. The company plans to double their presence in Finland for the second year in a row and also announced extending its partnership with UK grocery partner Co-op.
Starship essentially invented the delivery robot and since then, their competition has been booming. Business Insider recently called autonomous delivery robots the next big thing in last-mile delivery that offers a more sustainable, flexible and economical alternative to traditional transport.
There are several factors behind Starship’s success. On the one hand, e-commerce soared around the globe due to Covid. The food delivery market especially has been on the forefront, having more than tripled since 2017 and doubled in the US during the pandemic. On the other hand, Starship is the first robot delivery company that has achieved delivery costs lower than the human equivalent. Starship robots also drive on the sidewalks, which means they’re less regulated and easily scalable, further driving down the price.
Clearly, Ahti and Janus know what they’re doing. We have full confidence that Starship is another unicorn in the making and can’t wait to see it revolutionize the last-mile delivery.
