Coco Raises $36M for Last-Mile Robotic Delivery

Coco Secures $36 Million in Series A Funding

Coco, a Los Angeles-based startup specializing in delivery robots, has announced a successful $36 million funding round this week. The Series A investment was spearheaded by Sam Altman, Silicon Valley Bank, and Founders Fund.

Additional participation in the funding came from investors including Sam Nazarian, Ellen Chen, and Mario Del Pero. This latest round brings the total funding received by the company to approximately $43 million.

Addressing Merchant Needs in the Delivery Sector

According to co-founder and CEO Zach Rash, the current delivery service landscape is significantly underperforming in meeting the needs of merchants. He stated, “We have an enormous opportunity to create a better experience for hundreds of thousands of merchants and their customers, today.”

Rash emphasized that Coco is not engaged in exploratory research. Instead, the company is focused on delivering a fully productized solution immediately.

Positioning in a Competitive Market

Originally a spinout from UCLA, and previously known as Cyan Robotics, Coco operates within a highly competitive market. Key players in this space include Starship, Nuro, and Kiwibot, an alumni venture from UC Berkeley.

Unlike some companies pursuing complete autonomy, Coco employs a remote driver system for its robots. This approach is proving to be a more practical solution for many firms.

Growth and Expansion Plans

Founded in February 2020, Coco currently employs 120 individuals. The company intends to significantly expand its workforce, aiming to exceed 1,000 employees by the end of the year.

This growth is being fueled by increased demand for robotic deliveries, a trend accelerated by the ongoing pandemic. The new funding will also be allocated to hardware development and expansion into additional cities.

Performance and Partnerships

Coco reports a 97% on-time delivery rate and a reduction in delivery times of approximately 30% for its clients. While it doesn't have a major partnership like Nuro’s collaboration with Domino’s, Umami Burger, based in California, represents one of its largest partners.

Currently, Coco collaborates with a network of 18 restaurant partners, as listed on its website.

Current Operations and Future Rollout

“We are currently operating in Santa Monica and in five different LA neighborhoods,” a company spokesperson told TechCrunch. “Later this year we are expanding into a number of other major U.S. cities.”

Coco has established partnerships with national restaurant brands, such as SBE (Umami Burger), and is actively scaling operations across numerous locations. The company also serves a diverse range of locally-owned restaurants, including Bangkok West Thai and San Pedro Brewing Company.

Coco has moved beyond the pilot phase and is onboarding dozens of new merchants daily.