Plural leads Starship Technologies's $50M Series C round
Starship Technologies, the undisputed global leader in autonomous delivery with over 9 million deliveries across seven nations, has announced the successful completion of a $50 million funding round led by Plural. The company, founded by Skype co-founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis, has now raised more than $280 million in total funding to replicate its success in European cities and US university campuses across American urban markets.
“Delivery robotics is the next wave of urban logistics, shaping a once-in-a-generation shift in how goods move through cities,” said Ahti Heinla, co-founder and CEO of Starship Technologies. “We own European urban markets, we own US campuses. Now it's time to replicate this proven success in American cities. Millions of US consumers will soon experience sub-30-minute delivery by Starship robots as the new standard.”
The funding round includes participation from EstVCA members Plural, Karma Ventures, SmartCap (funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU), and additionally, Latitude, Coefficient Capital, and Skaala. The capital will accelerate US market penetration, expand the robot fleet, and strengthen partnerships with major retailers seeking proven autonomous delivery infrastructure.
“Starship has quietly built the most successful autonomous technology company in the world,” said Taavet Hinrikus, Partner at Plural. “They're already deployed, already profitable, and already changing how goods move through cities. We’ve doubled down on our investment because the team has proven they can scale globally, and the opportunity in American urban markets is enormous.”
Starship is already working with some of the world’s leading last-mile delivery providers in Europe, including Bolt, Delivery Hero's Foodora, DoorDash's Wolt, and GrubHub in the US. Now that the company is preparing to scale its robot delivery fleet from more than 2,700 today, it’s ready to strengthen and expand its relationship with these partners.
