Starship Technologies with 90 million US dollars financing round

The latest funding round will be used to further optimize Starship's autonomous delivery robots and expand its sustainable delivery method to global markets.

Talinn, Estonia - Estonian company Starship Technologies has successfully closed a USD 90 million funding round led by Plural and Iconical. This brings the total investment for Starship since its foundation in 2014 to 230 million US dollars. The new funds will be used for global expansion to meet the growing demand for home delivery.

Founded in 2014, Starship Technologies' delivery robots have become a familiar sight on the streets of Europe and the US. With over six million successful deliveries, the company is now a global leader in autonomous delivery services and operates in 80 locations including the US, UK, Germany, Denmark, Estonia and Finland.

The expensive last kilometer

Last mile delivery is considered the most costly and carbon-intensive part of the supply chain. Starship Technologies has focused on this challenge by developing a cost-effective, ethical and sustainable solution for short distance delivery. At a time when demand for fast delivery of food and other goods is increasing, Starship has developed an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to deliver products directly to the customer.

Autonomous delivery is not a science fiction idea from Blade Runner decades in the future.

Ahti Heinla, Co-Founder & CEO Starship Technologies

Each Starship robot can operate for 18 hours on a full charge, with the average energy consumption of a delivery being equivalent to boiling a kettle for a cup of tea. Since launch, Starship's robots have saved almost 1.8 million kilograms of carbon dioxide. By using robots instead of low-wage humans driving through traffic, Starship has developed a more ethical and sustainable way of doing business.

Starship's autonomous technology has continued to evolve over the last 10 years. The robots are 99% autonomous and can safely react to difficult situations and obstacles. Recently, Starship introduced wireless charging for its robots, allowing them to charge autonomously and wirelessly between deliveries.

Starship is the global market leader in autonomous technology, built in Europe.

Taavet Hinrikus, Partner at Plural

Ahti Heinla, co-founder and CEO of Starship Technologies, comments: "Autonomous delivery is not a science fiction idea from Blade Runner decades in the future. Building a company like Starship requires at least a decade to perfect the technology, optimize operations and drive down costs to make last-mile autonomous delivery viable and sustainable at scale."

The new funding round will enable Starship to further leverage advances in AI and machine learning to further develop its technology and infrastructure. International expansion, particularly through Starship's Delivery as a Service (DaaS) product, where robots are integrated into partners' delivery infrastructure, is also a focus.