Starship Technologies says that its autonomous delivery numbers have quadrupled around the globe since the beginning of the pandemic.
Starship Technologies, an American start-up company developing driverless robots, chose Milton Keynes as its UK base. The city's redway and grid network make it the perfect layout for the robots to navigate around.
Since arriving in Milton Keynes back in 2018, the delivery robots have won over the hearts of many locals, with it becoming the new normal to greet them as they pass.
The company has seen major growth, both in Milton Keynes and beyond, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past year, Starship expanded its UK operations to cover a second town - nearby Northampton.
Back in January, Starship Technologies reached 1 million deliveries, with a 900% increase in deliveries between August 2019 to January 2021.
Prior to the increase, it took the company five years to hit 100,000 deliveries.
Since then, the company has surpassed 1.5 million deliveries and the service is now available to 1 million customers across the globe.
The explosion in popularity is thought to be down to the coronavirus pandemic, with customers being able to get their food shopping delivered completely contact free.
Ahti Heinla, Co-founder and CEO, Starship Technologies said: “This past year has been a game changer for autonomous delivery, moving adoption ahead by years,
“When we launched commercial delivery three years ago, we didn’t expect to be at the point we are today."
He adds: “We marked the significant milestone of one million deliveries in January 2021 and we’ve since surpassed 1.5 million deliveries. These rapid developments have also helped us scale the business, so we can provide a lower cost of delivery than any other option available.
“As well as offering a reliable way to protect vulnerable populations and adhere to social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic, contactless delivery offerings such as our service have also proved to be a vital revenue stream for local businesses.
“In the last 12+ months, we have partnered with 40 independent merchants in Milton Keynes and Northampton, enabling these companies to offer a delivery service to local residents that they didn’t previously provide in order to continue operations.”
Starship deliveries are available in various areas throughout Milton Keynes, with deliveries available from local supermarkets, independant stores and even more recently and exclusively to Milton Keynes, Costa Coffee.
