Serve Robotics, a maker of robots that deliver food, has raised $30 million while also going public in a reverse merger.
The funding came from existing investors including Uber, which has been using Serve’s sidewalk rovers to make Uber Eats deliveries in some cities. Other contributors were software giant Nvidia and Wavemaker Partners.
San Francisco-based Serve simultaneously merged with the publicly traded Patricia Acquisition Corp., making it a public company. Patricia is changing its name to Serve.
Serve will use the capital to enter new markets as well as fulfill an agreement to deploy 2,000 bots with Uber Eats as demand grows.
“Serve's delivery volume has grown over 30% month-over-month on average for the past 18 months,” said co-founder and CEO Ali Kashani in a statement. “Becoming a public company provides broader access to capital, supporting our continued growth as we ramp up our partnership with the world's largest food delivery platform and expand other enterprise partnerships.”
Serve was created by Postmates in 2018. It was spun off as its own company after Uber acquired Postmates in 2020. Uber has since invested in Serve and has been using its bots for deliveries in LA, Dallas, San Jose and Vancouver.
Serve’s four-wheeled rovers travel on sidewalks and have Level 4 autonomy, meaning they can operate for extended periods without human intervention. Serve says the bots can reduce traffic and pollution and make delivery more efficient and affordable. As of May, more than 200 LA restaurants were offering robot delivery with Uber Eats.
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