Starship Technologies, the world’s leading provider of autonomous delivery services, is expanding its service to new universities, adding to its existing 50 US campuses.
In addition, the company will expand its wireless charging to 75 percent of its campuses and introduce Starship Marketplace for more ordering options.
The new schools include:
- Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) – service launches this week
- Southeast Missouri State University
- University of New Mexico
- Prairie View A&M University
- California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly)
More schools will be announced throughout the fall semester.
Delivery hours vary by campus and will include a variety of national and local eateries at each university. Students can use funds from their dining program to order robot delivery, making it a seamless option.
Starship now reaches 1.5 million students with dining options from 900 merchants for its on-demand autonomous delivery at US campuses. Globally, Starship has completed nearly 7 million deliveries.
Ryan Greene, executive director of dining and retail at Georgia Tech, says: “We are thrilled to partner with Starship Technologies.
“These innovative delivery solutions will help us continue to prioritize innovation and exceptional service while adapting to our ever-changing community needs.”
Appetite for more
Starship robots have proven to be immensely popular wherever they provide service. Social media pages are devoted to them, and robot selfies are just as popular.
Universities have had to get creative to meet food demand while dealing with staffing shortages. The robots have been a key part of that solution and now Starship is introducing a new way to serve campus communities.
Starship Marketplace expands ordering capabilities to include self-order kiosks and mobile pickup. These options help alleviate staffing shortages and serve more students where they are, without opening additional retail locations.
The mobile pickup option lets students easily choose order pickup or robot delivery. Starship Marketplace accepts several forms of payment, including meal swipes (at select locations), credit/debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay and campus-specific declining balance.
Starship Marketplace will be available on about one-third of campuses where Starship provides services, including Oregon State University, George Mason University, James Madison University, Wichita State University and North Carolina A&T.
More schools will be added throughout the year.
Starship is also continuing to expand its wireless charging, which will be available at the start of the fall semester to 75 percent of its campus locations.
Wireless charging is more efficient and sustainable, as it allows the robots to drive themselves to the nearest charger and put themselves back in delivery mode when they are finished.
Chris Neider, VP of business development at Starship Technologies, says: “Before we started campus services, delivery from campus dining often didn’t exist.
“We’re proud to be one of the reasons that it is now easier and more convenient for students to order food when and where they want it.
“As the staffing challenges continue to stretch campus dining resources, our new Starship Marketplace will add more options for students and make staffing more efficient. Students can order food from a kiosk or pick up their orders when that works better for them.
“Providing more value and listening to what our campus partners want is very important to us. We think the campus communities will love the new additions while still having the option of our very popular robot deliveries.”
Starship Technologies operates commercially on a daily basis around the world. Its zero-emission robots make more than 150,000 road crossings every day and have completed nearly seven million commercial deliveries globally, more than any other autonomous delivery provider.
