Initially launched to transport delicacies like burritos, bento, pizza, and pad thai directly to consumers, Cartken’s compact delivery robots quickly made a mark. However, the company’s ambitions extended far beyond just food delivery.
Christian Bersch, co-founder and CEO of Cartken, alongside the original team, envisioned their technology playing a pivotal role in both the bustling streets and the corridors of various indoor facilities like laboratories, industrial spaces, and airports right from the startup’s inception.
Bridging the indoor and outdoor realms might seem like a straightforward task, but Bersch emphasizes the complexity of this challenge. Cartken, with its dedicated workforce of 30, is making significant strides in the niche market within the autonomous vehicle sector.
The startup has captivated investors, securing a total of $22.5 million in funding, with the recent round bringing in $10 million led by 468 Capital, a revelation made first to TechCrunch. Notable contributors include Incubate Fund, LDV Partners, Vela Partners, and strategic investments from major entities like Magna International, Mitsubishi Electric, Shell Ventures, and Volex.
Cartken, born in 2019 by a team of ex-Google engineers from the Bookbot venture, is now actively deploying its robots for deliveries on campuses in cities like Miami, Fairfax, Virginia, and Tokyo, capitalizing on collaborations with Uber Eats, Grubhub, and Mitsubishi Electric, boasting an impressive 36,000 deliveries every month.
The enterprise is expanding into biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and automotive sectors, including collaboration with a German-based factory by ZF. The recent funding is earmarked for broadening its established sidewalk delivery business—which Bersch claims is already profitable—along with facilitating the exploration of new indoor applications.
According to co-founder and COO Anjali Jindal Naik, the demand for robots capable of seamlessly transitioning between indoor and outdoor settings was unexpected, highlighting the unique niche Cartken is filling.
Cartken’s technology utilizes an AI-centric, hardware-agnostic design, eschewing traditional lidar for a camera-based setup bolstered by AI models and algorithmic software for object detection and navigation. This innovative approach allows their robots to function without relying on GPS, making them versatile in both sunlight and rain and navigable among pedestrians and on uneven terrains. This same tech can adapt across various robot sizes and configurations.
Bersch draws parallels between their robots’ capabilities and those of autonomous cars, positioning their technology as advanced compared to standard industry robots. At the ZF factory, for instance, Cartken robots are already enhancing efficiency by transporting parts across the facility, freeing up human workers from mundane tasks and saving over 10,000 hours of labor across the board in biotech, pharmaceutical, chemical, and automotive fields as of 2023.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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