Serve Robotics

Serve Robotics develops autonomous sidewalk delivery robots designed to streamline last-mile logistics. Originally developed as a division within Postmates and later spun out as an independent company, Serve has successfully completed tens of thousands of deliveries in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Their robots operate at Level 4 autonomy, meaning they can navigate sidewalks and avoid obstacles without human intervention, though remote supervisors assist in complex situations like construction detours. Each morning, the bots leave their city depots and position themselves near busy parts of town filled with restaurants, ready to accept jobs from Uber Eats and other partners. Serve’s bots are designed for seamless integration with food delivery platforms, ensuring timely, cost-efficient, and emission-free service for restaurants and retailers. Average delivery time is 18 minutes, and customers receive a notification when the robot arrives, allowing them to press a button to unlock the bot and retrieve their food.

Instead of selling its robots outright, Serve Robotics employs a robots-as-a-service (RaaS) model, providing autonomous delivery as a subscription or per-delivery service. This delivery-as-a-service approach allows businesses to integrate Serve’s robotic fleet without incurring upfront hardware costs. Partners like Uber Eats, 7-Eleven, and Shake Shack pay per completed delivery, aligning costs with actual usage and making robotic delivery scalable. With plans to deploy up to 2,000 robots by the end of 2025, Serve’s model enables businesses to reduce labor expenses, optimize operations, and enhance reliability in last-mile logistics.

“Autonomous delivery should be as accessible as the food being delivered,” says Ali Kashani, co-founder and CEO of Serve Robotics. “By offering delivery as a service, we remove the barriers of ownership, letting businesses focus on growth while we handle the logistics. Our robots don’t call in sick, don’t get stuck in traffic, and don’t require tipping—just reliable, cost-effective service that scales with demand.”