Starship Technologies Launches Autonomous Robot Delivery Service in Fairfax City
FAIRFAX CITY, VA and SAN FRANCISCO, CA (April 17, 2020) —Starship Technologies is rolling out its robot food delivery service today in Fairfax City, VA. Tens of thousands of residents can now order contactless delivery from area restaurants including Havabite Eatery, Coyote Grille, Hamrock's Restaurant, The Wine House, High Side, UBAR and Essential Groceries (rebranded Safeway) with more launching soon. The robots are already a familiar sight to many in the community as they have been providing delivery services to George Mason University (GMU) students since January 2019.
Starship’s fleet of over 20 autonomous, on-demand robots deliver daily from 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. The delivery area is bordered by Roberts Rd to the east, Chestnut St to the west, GMU to the south and Fairfax Blvd to the north.
Starship has been expanding quickly to meet the demand for contactless delivery. In the US, Starship has recently launched service in Washington, DC, Tempe, AZ, Mountain View, CA and Irvine, CA. In the UK, the company has expanded its service area in Milton Keynes, where the robots have been delivering food and groceries to local residents since 2018. Starship is continuing its delivery services on multiple college campuses across the U.S. (including GMU) where international and grad students are residing.
Fairfax City is known for embracing new and exciting technologies to help increase services available to residents and businesses. The introduction of Starship’s fleet of robots into Fairfax City during the COVID19 crisis captures the City’s preference for expanding innovative business solutions while connecting businesses directly to residents who can benefit from food delivery services.
To get started, users open the Starship - Food Delivery app (iOS and Android or by visiting www.starship-fairfaxcity.com), choose from a range of their favorite groceries, food and drink items, then drop a pin where they want their delivery to be sent. They can then watch as the robot makes its journey to them, via an interactive map. Once the robot arrives, they receive an alert, and can then meet and unlock it through the app. The delivery usually takes just a matter of minutes, depending on the menu items ordered and the distance the robot must travel. Each robot can carry up to 20 lbs – the equivalent of about three shopping bags of goods.
“Fairfax City officials reached out to us as a way to help connect their residents with local businesses in these unprecedented times,” said Ryan Tuohy, SVP Business Development at Starship Technologies. “There is huge demand for contactless delivery now and our robots are an ideal way for residents to get what they want delivered to their door while supporting local businesses. We are really grateful that we can help now and in the future.”
“I’m thrilled that our City businesses are taking advantage of Starship’s delivery service,” said Christopher Bruno, Fairfax City’s Economic Development Director. “Small businesses and food-based businesses represent a significant and strong component of our City’s economy. These delivery robots are just one more tool for businesses and residents to connect directly with one another during this difficult time. Our City’s businesses continue to be leaders in their industry and I applaud them for taking advantage of this new technology.”
Starship Technologies operates commercially on a daily basis around the world. Its robots have traveled over 500,000 miles, crossed more than 5 million streets and completed more than 100,000 commercial deliveries. The robots use a combination of sophisticated machine learning, artificial intelligence and sensors to travel on sidewalks and navigate around obstacles. The computer vision-based navigation helps the robots to map their environment to the nearest inch. The robots can cross streets, climb curbs, travel at night and operate in both rain and snow. A team of humans can also monitor their progress remotely and can take control at a moment’s notice.
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About Starship Technologies
Starship Technologies is revolutionizing deliveries with autonomous robots. The robots are designed to deliver food, groceries and packages locally in minutes. The delivery robots have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles
and met millions of people across 100 cities around the world. They drive autonomously but are monitored by humans who can take control at any time. Starship was founded by two Skype co-founders, Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis. Former AirBnB executive Lex Bayer is CEO.
