Video Transcript
It seems as though every tech company has gotten into the robot game, or the automotive sector, or the food industry. Okay, you get it.
As established businesses expand their technological reach, the opportunity for innovative crossover is immense. Take the latest move from mobility company Bolt. Bolt is a French-Estonian ride-hailing firm, most often compared to its U.S.-based rival, Uber.
And with Uber bringing its skill set to the food delivery business, so has Bolt, announcing recently that it would begin updating online ordering services and food delivery. But the service, which will kick off in Bolt’s native city of Tallinn, isn’t coming via your standard delivery driver. Instead, it will leverage autonomous robots courtesy of U.S. company Starship Technologies.
These robots are described as “roughly the size of a suitcase” and can roll down the street on wheels. Once it reaches your door, you can press a button to open the climate-controlled delivery of takeout or groceries.
And if this tiny food-ferrying friend looks familiar, it’s perhaps because Starship has already deployed a fleet in the U.S. in partnership with food ordering app GrubHub.
Bolt is reportedly one of Europe’s highest-valued tech companies, and its foray into robotic food delivery is just another tool in its tool belt. In addition to ride-hailing, Bolt is also in the scooter business.
The experiment with robotic deliveries isn’t the first — Amazon has already abandoned its efforts here in an attempt to cut costs — but perhaps it’s Bolt who finally gets the recipe right.
