Starship says its autonomous delivery robots have now travelled over 200,000 miles – the equivalent of driving around the world more than eight times
Starship Technologies, the world’s leading provider of autonomous delivery services, today announced that it has passed the major milestone of 50,000 commercial deliveries.
The company’s robots have travelled in over 100 cities around the world, operating commercially every day in local neighbourhoods and university and corporate campuses across five different time zones.
Today, Starship celebrates its one year anniversary of operation in Milton Keynes, in the UK, having seen the number of houses served in the town grow by 450 percent in the last year.
Now completing thousands of deliveries per week, Starship’s robots began delivering groceries and items from a Co-op food store in Milton Keynes to residents’ front doors in April 2018. Since then, Starship’s global fleet of robots has not only surpassed 50,000 commercial deliveries, but have now travelled over 200,000 miles across the globe.
Using Starship’s delivery service means residents don’t have to worry about driving to the shop to pick up their groceries, which not only saves them time and provides convenience, but also reduces congestion and pollution.
To date, Starship’s delivery service in Milton Keynes has eliminated tens of thousands of unnecessary car journeys. The most popular items ordered in the last year include milk, bread and chocolate.
The growth in popularity of Starship’s service has also seen the company announce a new partnership with a second Co-op store in Milton Keynes, adding to the delivery service also offered from a Tesco store in the town.
Lex Bayer, CEO of Starship Technologies, says: “Today is a significant milestone for Starship as we celebrate passing 50,000 deliveries with our autonomous robots.
“The popularity of our service continues, and we are delighted to be expanding to additional neighbourhoods and university campuses across the world.
“It has been exciting to see the increase in ‘top up shopping’ by residents in Milton Keynes where they buy groceries on multiple occasions throughout the week now that they have the option of autonomous delivery.”
Chris Conway, head of food digital at the Co-op, says: “This is an exciting time for the Co-op, with innovations and new technologies driving a number of different home delivery schemes.
“It is all about ease, convenience and choice for today’s time-pressed shopper.
“The popularity of our work with Starship is clear to see in Milton Keynes, with children leaving messages and drawings with the robots, and expressions of thanks from members of the community.”
Gillian Bailey, a local resident in Milton Keynes received the 50,000th delivery made by Starship in the town.
She says: “Since the robots came to our neighbourhood last year, they’ve become such a popular and common sight in the community. With my hectic schedule, it’s really convenient to get my groceries delivered by the robot right to my front door while I’m busy with other things around the house.
“Our community feels really lucky to have this service available in our area, and I know many people who use it regularly throughout the week. I’ve already made over 100 orders since Starship first set up shop here and I’ll be making many more.”
This news in the UK follows significant expansion for Starship in the US, where just last month the company brought its autonomous delivery services to Northern Arizona University, following a launch at George Mason University campus in Fairfax, Virginia in January 2019.
