Avride sidewalk bots will begin delivering restaurant orders and groceries in central Tokyo this week via a partnership with e-commerce large Rakuten, the newest industrial enlargement by the Yandex spinout into Northeast Asia.
The Austin-based autonomous car startup is one in every of 4 initiatives below Nebius Group, a Netherlands-based firm previously known as Yandex NV that offered off its Russian companies in 2024 for about $5.2 billion.
Since then, Avride has pressed ahead with its autonomous car know-how growth through its sidewalk bots and self-driving vehicles. And it’s made progress, notably by making offers with massive companies like Uber and now Japan’s Rakuten.
Avride has a small industrial sidewalk supply operation in Seoul, South Korea, and likewise exams its autonomous automobiles — which nonetheless have human security drivers behind the wheel. Last yr, the corporate began going via the prolonged certification course of in Japan in a bid to develop its footprint within the area. Now, with the certification full, Avride is launching industrial operations within the nation. The Japanese launch can be small to begin — simply 10 robots for now, with plans to develop over time.
Meanwhile, Avride is scaling within the United States as properly. Today, the corporate has about 100 sidewalk supply bots in operation at Ohio State University via a partnership with Grubhub.
Last yr, Avride secured a take care of Uber that covers sidewalk supply bots and autonomous vehicles. The multi-year deal is a part of a string of autonomous vehicle-related partnerships that Uber has locked in over the previous yr.
Today, Uber Eats clients in downtown Austin, Dallas, and Jersey City can have their meals delivered through one in every of Avride’s robots. The corporations plan to deliver Avride self-driving vehicles onto the Uber platform in Dallas later this yr.
