The Tallinn-founded company that makes autonomous delivery robots Starship Technologies has received €50 million from European Investment Bank (EIB), the lending arm of the European Union (EU) in a quasi-equity facility agreement. The financing is being facilitated via a venture loan and will be used for research and development, including the building of thousands more robots at Starship’s engineering and innovation facility in Tallinn.
The lending arm of the European Union (EU) and one of the largest providers of climate finance, the EIB supports projects that promote the priorities and objectives of the EU.
According to Alastair Westgarth, CEO, Starship Technologies, the EIB backing will enable the company to continue to reshape last-mile delivery and bring the benefits of on-demand delivery and convenience to more people. He said: “As the market leader in autonomous delivery we are constantly looking to innovate and find new ways to improve our service. The additional engineering resources that we will hire in Europe will be another key component in making this possible.”
Talking about the new deal, Thomas Östros, Vice President, EIB said: “Electric vehicles in all shapes and sizes will be part of our future, and can be a key part in the sustainable transport puzzle,” said “Starship’s delivery robots are already proving their worth, and we are glad to support the company so that they can continue to develop their technology and scale-up their production.”
Starship already offers its services in many parts of the EU, UK, and the US in cities, university campuses and industrial campuses, with further expansion planned in the near future. It is able to do L4 deliveries everywhere it operates - entire cities and campuses.
The robots have been operating at L4 since 2018. On a daily basis Starship robots will complete numerous deliveries in a row 100% autonomously, including road crossings. This is why the cost of a Starship delivery is now lower than the human equivalent, which is believed to be a world-first for any robot delivery company, whereas most others are still majority human-controlled and in pilot mode.
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