Key Points
- Serve Robotics partners with Alphabet-owned Wing Aviation for drone-assisted food delivery.
- The pilot program will start in Dallas, extending Serve’s delivery range beyond six miles.
- Serve Robotics has focused its operations in Los Angeles, delivering for companies like Uber Eats and 7-Eleven.
- The partnership combines sidewalk robots with drones to enable 30-minute deliveries.
Serve Robotics, known for its sidewalk food delivery robots, announced a new partnership with Alphabet-owned Wing Aviation to extend its delivery range using drones. The collaboration will begin with a pilot program in Dallas, Texas, marking Serve’s entry into drone-assisted delivery. The initiative will see Serve’s robots collect food from restaurants and transfer it to Wing’s drones for aerial delivery, expanding the operational range to over six miles.
Serve Robotics has focused its operations in Los Angeles, delivering food and groceries for companies like 7-Eleven, Shake Shack, and Uber Eats. Serve aims to achieve 30-minute autonomous deliveries citywide by integrating drones into its delivery process. CEO Ali Kashani emphasized that multi-modal delivery, combining ground-based robots with aerial drones, will significantly expand the company’s delivery reach. “This will allow us to provide faster and more efficient service in densely populated areas,” said Kashani.
While drones have been hailed as the future of package and food delivery, their widespread adoption has been limited by logistical challenges, particularly in urban areas where suitable takeoff and landing spaces are scarce. Serve’s sidewalk robots, on the other hand, are specifically designed to navigate congested city environments, making them a more practical solution for urban deliveries.
Adam Woodworth, CEO of Wing Aviation, noted that the partnership would enable Wing to reach more merchants in high-density areas while supporting Serve’s expanding delivery radius. Wing, which started as a project within Google’s incubator, Google X, has already completed over 400,000 commercial deliveries across three continents, demonstrating its capability to handle large-scale operations.
One key advantage of this partnership is that merchants will not need to adjust their workflows or facilities to accommodate the new robot-to-drone delivery method. Serve’s robotic system seamlessly integrates with Wing’s drone technology, making the process as simple as traditional ground-based delivery methods.
Serve Robotics was spun off from Postmates in 2021, a year after Uber acquired Postmates. With this latest collaboration, Serve looks to broaden its market presence and capitalize on the growing demand for fast, autonomous food delivery services in urban areas.
