Starship Technologies, one of the world’s largest autonomous delivery companies with over 9 million deliveries across seven nations, has announced the successful completion of a $50 million funding round led by Plural.
The company, founded by Skype co-founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis, has now raised more than $280 million in total funding to replicate its success in European cities and US university campuses across American urban markets.
Starship operates at absolute commercial scale with a track record no competitor can match. Having proven autonomous delivery works across multiple European urban markets and US university campuses, the company is now positioned to transform American urban logistics.
With 9 million deliveries completed and robots making 2 autonomous road crossings per second, Starship has amassed an unmatched dataset that continuously improves safety, routing, and reliability.
While competitors run pilot programs, Starship operates a proven logistics network that demonstrates how autonomous delivery works at city scale.
Ahti Heinla, co-founder and CEO of Starship Technologies, says: “Delivery robotics is the next wave of urban logistics, shaping a once-in-a-generation shift in how goods move through cities.
“We own European urban markets, we own US campuses. Now it’s time to replicate this proven success in American cities. Millions of US consumers will soon experience sub-30-minute delivery by Starship robots as the new standard.”
Starship pioneered autonomous delivery in 2014 and has maintained its lead ever since. The company solved the challenges that still block competitors – safety validation, regulatory approval across seven countries, all-weather reliability, and profitability at scale.
Operating at Level 4 autonomy, Starship’s AI technology leadership has enabled it to scale far faster than competitors while maintaining positive gross margins, as autonomous deliveries are significantly more cost-efficient than traditional delivery methods. Starship isn’t racing toward commercial viability; it’s already there.
Starship has not only achieved market leadership through its track record, but is taking visionary steps by integrating with the world’s largest last-mile delivery providers.
The company’s partnerships with Grubhub in the US, alongside European platforms including Bolt, DoorDash’s Wolt and Delivery Hero’s Foodora, position Starship as the autonomous delivery backbone that is powering leading apps.
Taavet Hinrikus, partner at Plural, says: “Starship has quietly built the most successful autonomous technology company in the world.
“They’re already deployed, already profitable, and already changing how goods move through cities. We’ve doubled down on our investment because the team has proven they can scale globally, and the opportunity in American urban markets is enormous.”
The funding round includes participation from Plural, Karma.vc, Latitude, Coefficient Capital, SmartCap (funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU), and Skaala.
The capital will accelerate US market penetration, expand the robot fleet, and strengthen partnerships with major retailers seeking proven autonomous delivery infrastructure.
