Starship Technologies, the company that is building a fleet of autonomous delivery robots, has said that it has secured US$17.2 million in seed funding in a round that was led by Daimler.

Other participants in the round included Shasta Ventures, Matrix Partners, ZX Ventures, Morpheus Ventures, Grishin Robotics and Playfair Capital.

“Starship is reinventing the last mile transportation process, allowing convenient and sustainable robotic delivery,” said Ahti Heinla, CEO, Starship Technologies. “This funding further accelerates development of our technologies and enables us to launch pilot programs in several new markets”.

As previously reported by Apex Insight, Starship Technologies has recently entered a partnership with Daimler subsidiary, Mercedes-Benz to help develop and test a so-called Robovan. This is a transportation system that incorporates a specially developed Mercedes Benz van with the Starship robots.

“Starship Technologies and Mercedes-Benz Vans share a strong vision: We both strive to fundamentally change the way we think about the delivery on the last mile,”  said Volker Mornhinweg, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans. “Together, we will make that vision come true and show the potential of robotic delivery devices in a combined holistic transportation system. Starship’s unique technology fits perfectly with our vans.”

Of note, Daimler has been developing its own self driving HGVs and other lorries and is part of a general drive to reduce the manpower levels in the supply chain. As such Starship, that was developed by the inventors of Skype, sits very well within the interests of the automotive giant.
 
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