Uber Eats announced a partnership with Coco Robotics to expand autonomous sidewalk delivery in Los Angeles. The partnership extends Coco Robotics’ existing network of hundreds of merchants in the LA area. Uber Eats already has a relationship with sidewalk delivery partner Serve Robotics in the Hollywood area.
Customers who order through Uber Eats in a region served by the robots can select ‘robot’ as the delivery option. Coco Robotics said it has completed over 300,000 zero-emissions deliveries since it was founded in 2020.
Coco Robotics claims to have a fleet of over 1,000 robots deployed in Finland and LA. It said it’s currently operating in LA neighborhoods such as Santa Monica, Venice, West LA, Westwood, West Hollywood, Hollywood, Downtown LA, Koreatown, and University Park. The company is planning to expand across the U.S. and Europe with thousands of additional robots in the coming months.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Uber to expand our services to even more customers,” said Zach Rash, co-founder and CEO of Coco. “With our rapidly growing fleet, we’re in a unique position to bring unprecedented scale to this partnership and deliver the benefits of sustainable and affordable robot delivery to more customers worldwide.”
Urban delivery with sidewalk robots is growing, especially in fair-weather areas like Los Angeles. The robots remain on the sidewalk and out of traffic. Sidewalk robots are also expanding to college campuses, where students can order meals and other items.
“We’re excited to welcome Coco’s sidewalk robots on Uber Eats to enhance the delivery experience for both our merchants and customers,” said Noah Zych, global head of autonomous mobility & delivery at Uber. “As we continue to popularize robot delivery in Los Angeles, our partnership with Coco drives us another step towards a more sustainable and autonomous future for delivery.”
A restaurant worker places food in a robot before initiating the delivery to a customer. | Credit: Coco Robotics
