Sam Altman-backed robots raise $80M to deliver your groceries
What's the story
Los Angeles-based start-up Coco Robotics has raised $80 million in a funding round which included angel investors Sam Altman and his brother Max Altman.
The round also saw participation from venture capital firms such as Pelion Venture Partners and Offline Ventures.
With this latest investment, the company's total funding has exceeded $120 million, having raised a $36 million Series A round in 2021.
Innovation
More about the start-up
Coco Robotics, founded by Brad Squicciarini and Zach Rash in 2020, builds zero-emission last-mile delivery robots.
These innovative machines can carry up to 90-liter of groceries or goods and have completed over 500,000 deliveries since their launch in 2020.
The company claims to work with national retailers such as Subway, Wingstop, and Jack in the Box.
Strategic alliance
Partnership with OpenAI
Coco Robotics has also partnered with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
The deal, announced in March, allows Coco to leverage OpenAI's technology while providing real-world data from its robots to help train the AI models.
This strategic alliance highlights the growing intersection of robotics and artificial intelligence in improving last-mile delivery services.