Robot delivery company Starship Technologies has announced it is partnering with the Co-op supermarket to launch in a second UK town.
Starship Technologies has developed a network of self-driving robots designed to make food deliveries from supermarket partners and restaurants.
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Its fleet of small delivery robots have been operating in UK town Milton Keynes since 2018, as well as a growing number of university campuses in the US.
As of August 2020, the company has completed half a million deliveries, and the robots have now travelled over one million miles.
Today the company announced it is launching for the first time in Northampton, and through a partnership with Co-op, 5,000 households in the town will now be able to arrange grocery deliveries via the Starship Food Delivery app.
Starship Technologies first partnered with the supermarket back in 2018, providing home delivery services in Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas from two stores. This year, a further eight Co-op stores have been added.
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By GlobalDataThe most popular items delivered by robot include milk, eggs, bread, bananas and cucumber.
The company plans to use as many as 300 Starship robots for grocery deliveries by the end of 2021, with ambitions to operate in more towns and cities.
Starship Technologies noted that demand for its robot delivery service has “continued to soar” throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, with delivery numbers in Milton Keynes tripling in recent months.
However, the company, founded in 2014, received criticism earlier in the year after it reportedly made up to half of its employees redundant over Zoom in March and April of this year.
Andrew Curtis, head of UK operations at Starship Technologies, said: “We are thrilled to expand our service in the UK and bring robot delivery to neighbourhoods across Northampton from today. We have been humbled by the fantastic reception to our robots from local communities in Milton Keynes over the last two and a half years.
“This is the next step in our growth ambitions as we look to further roll out our service across the UK in the near future following increasing demand during the pandemic.”
Read More: Starship Technologies delivery robots arrive on Arizona campus.
