Starship Technologies* (FB, Twitter, IG) on Eesti päritolu, kuid San Francisco peakorteriga, globaalne robootika- ja tootearendusettevõte, mille peamine ärisuund hetkel on väikeste robotsõidukitega viimase miili logistika pakkumine ja kaupade lõppkliendini toimetamine. Robotsõidukid on isesõitvad, ehk autonoomselt liikuvad kullerid, millega saab kuni 4 miili/6km raadiuses kaupa vedada.
Ettevõtte robotsõidukite näidised:
Robotites kasutatava tehnoloogia ülevaade:
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Starshipi tehnoloogiaplatvorm:
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Tehnoloogiast saab põhjalikuma ülevaate temaatiliselt Youtube kanalilt Starship Engineering, näiteks 32:30 pikk Starship Technologies Autonomous Delivery Robots.
Ettevõte loodi 2014. aastal endiste Skype taustaga Ahti Heinla ja Janus Friis´ poolt. Praegu on ettevõtte peamine inseneeriakeskus jätkuvalt Eestis. Ettevõte on globaalselt suutnud laieneda sadadesse erinevatesse kohtadesse ja ülikoolide linnakutesse (vt. ka campus´e teemaline reklaamvideo), kus pakub oma teenuseid:
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Ettevõte on senise ajaloo jooksul kaasanud üle $100m USD kapitali ja 2021. aasta alguses täitis ettevõte oma 1 000 000-nda tellimuse:
(allikas, vt. ka sama sündmuse tarbeks filmitud reklaamivideo)
Ettevõte on väga kiires kasvus. 2021 aasta oktoobris täitis ettevõte juba oma 2 000 000-nda autonoomse pakiveo.
Lühiülevaade ettevõtte senisest arengust:
25.jan.2022 on ÄP kajastanud teadet, et Starship laenas Euroopa Investeerimispangalt 50m EUR ja kavatseb lähitulevikus ka täiendava riskikapitali round´i teha. Kaugemas tulevikus on võimalik börsile tulla: Sõjakassat täitnud Starship kavatseb lähiajal ka riskikapitali kaasata
Euroopa Investeerimispangalt 50 miljonit eurot rahastust saanud Starship Technologies kavatseb lähiajal kaasata ka riskikapitali ja hoida senist kurssi ehk kasvatada aasta jooksul tegevusmahtu kolm korda, ütles ettevõtte asutaja Ahti Heinla.
“Tõstame muud raha samamoodi, riskikapitali ka. Kokku tuleb selline traditsiooniline pooleteist aasta runway, mida start-up’id otsivad,” sõnas Heinla. Tema sõnul on börsile minekust veel vara rääkida, sinna läheb veel mõni aasta aega. “Starship on kiire kasvu faasis. Tahaks natuke rohkem asju ära tõestada, enne kui hakata börsi peale mõtlema.”
EIB: Estonia: Starship Technologies agrees €50m funding partnership from the EIB
Funding injection to boost R&D for market leading on-demand robot delivery service
Starship Technologies, the world’s leading provider of autonomous delivery services, has today announced that the company agreed on a €50m quasi-equity facility agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The lending arm of the European Union (EU) and one of the largest providers of climate finance, the EIB supports projects that promote the priorities and objectives of the EU. This financing, which is supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments, has been facilitated via a venture loan, and will be used for research and development, including the building of thousands more robots at Starship’s engineering and innovation facility in Tallinn.
Alastair Westgarth, CEO, Starship Technologies, said: “We’re proud of our European roots as well as the growing team there that remains a vital part of our operations. As the market leader in autonomous delivery we are constantly looking to innovate and find new ways to improve our service. This backing from the EIB will help enable us to continue to reshape last-mile delivery and bring the benefits of on demand delivery and convenience to millions more people. The additional engineering resources that we will hire in Europe will be another key component in making this possible.”
“Electric vehicles in all shapes and sizes will be part of our future, and can be a key part in the sustainable transport puzzle,” said EIB Vice-President Thomas Östros. “Starship’s delivery robots are already proving their worth, and we are glad to support the company so that they can continue to develop their technology and scale-up their production.”
Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said: “This EIB funding for Starship is a great example of how the Investment Plan for Europe can boost innovation in Europe. The additional funding will benefit the development of the company’s autonomous delivery services, thereby further improving services for consumers and contributing to Europe’s ever-growing and vibrant research, technology and innovation ecosystem.”
Starship already offers its services in many parts of the EU, UK and the US in cities, university campuses and industrial campuses, with further expansion planned in the near future. Starship is able to do L4 deliveries everywhere it operates - entire cities and campuses. The robots have been operating at L4 since 2018. On a daily basis Starship robots will complete numerous deliveries in a row 100% autonomously, including road crossings. This is why the cost of a Starship delivery is now lower than the human equivalent, which is believed to be a world first for any robot delivery company, whereas most others are still majority human controlled and in pilot mode.
Starship Technologies operates commercially on a daily basis around the world. Its zero-emission robots make more than 100,000 road crossings every day and have completed more than 2.5 million commercial deliveries and travelled 5 million kms (3 million+ miles) globally, more than any other autonomous delivery provider.
The Starship Food Delivery app is available for download on iOS and Android. To get started, customers choose from a range of their favourite food or drink items, then drop a pin where they want their delivery to be sent. The user can then watch as the robot makes its journey to them, via an interactive map. Once the robot arrives, the customer receives an alert, and can then meet the robot and unlock it through the app.
* Siin ja edaspidi, kasutatud materjale ettevõtte veebilehelt ja promomaterjalidest.