Coco Robotics raised $80 million in a Series B round in June 2025, bringing total funding to over $120 million. The round included participation from Sam Altman, Max Altman, SNR.vc, Pelion Venture Partners, Offline Ventures, Outlander VC, Deepwater Asset Management, and Ryan Graves through Saltwater.

Earlier funding rounds included a $36 million Series A in August 2021, led by Sam Altman with contributions from Founders Fund and Silicon Valley Bank. The company has consistently attracted investment from prominent technology-focused firms.

Coco Robotics produces autonomous sidewalk delivery robots designed to function as remote-controlled coolers on wheels. Each robot includes a 90-liter cargo compartment capable of holding up to four grocery bags or six extra-large pizzas, offering greater capacity than most competing delivery robots.

The robots utilize a combination of front, rear, and side-facing cameras along with LiDAR sensors to generate real-time 3D maps for navigation. They operate at walking speeds of up to 5 mph on sidewalks and can reach up to 15 mph on bike lanes and road shoulders. This enables a service radius of 1-2 miles with delivery windows of approximately 15 minutes.

In complex navigation scenarios, control transitions to remote human operators in under 300 milliseconds. These teleoperators manage multiple robots simultaneously through a video game-style interface, ensuring human oversight while maintaining operational efficiency.

The robots charge overnight at merchant locations or in dedicated storage pods, with a single charge supporting approximately 33 kilometers of operation. Merchants load orders into the locking compartment and dispatch the robot with a button press. Customers receive a phone alert containing a one-time unlock code upon delivery.

Coco operates a B2B2C model by partnering with delivery platforms such as DoorDash and Uber Eats, while also engaging directly with enterprise restaurant chains. The company generates revenue through a per-delivery service fee charged to platforms and hardware-as-a-service subscriptions offered to merchants for dedicated robot access.

This model enables Coco to scale through platform partnerships while securing higher-margin revenue streams from direct merchant relationships. Restaurants using dedicated Coco fleets can brand the robots and manage the delivery process, effectively gaining in-house delivery capabilities at a lower cost than human labor.

Coco's cost structure leverages high robot utilization rates, as vehicles reposition themselves between deliveries instead of remaining idle like traditional micro-mobility devices. A single remote operator can oversee multiple robots simultaneously, improving labor efficiency as AI technology handles an increasing share of autonomous miles.

The company minimizes hardware costs by employing simplified vehicle designs compared to competitors and achieves profitable unit economics on deliveries. Robots are stored at merchant locations overnight, avoiding the charging and maintenance infrastructure expenses that have challenged scooter-sharing companies.

DoorDash and Uber Eats are building multi-modal delivery networks that incorporate human drivers, drones, and multiple robot providers. DoorDash collaborates with Coco and Serve Robotics, while Uber works with Serve, Nuro, Cartken, Avride, and Coco. This diversified approach enables platforms to manage delivery costs on a per-order basis and maintain bargaining power over individual robot vendors.

Coco faces the risk of commoditization, where platforms view robot providers as interchangeable and prioritize cost per delivery. However, Coco's operational reliability and urban deployment capabilities have positioned it as a partner for scaling in dense metropolitan areas.

Starship Technologies operates more than 2,000 robots across six countries, with a strong presence on university campuses, and has completed over 8 million deliveries. Its economies of scale in hardware production and established financing relationships provide cost advantages in specific markets.

Serve Robotics, listed on NASDAQ, has raised $167 million to support a planned 2,000-unit rollout in the US by 2025. Its third-generation robot reduces unit costs by 50%, and the company is pursuing Level-4 autonomy certification to lower teleoperator labor to less than 5% of miles traveled. Serve also holds minority equity investment and exclusivity agreements with Uber in several metropolitan areas.

Large logistics companies are developing in-house autonomous delivery capabilities instead of relying on third-party robot providers. Amazon discontinued its Scout program in 2023 but continues to invest in drone delivery through Prime Air. FedEx and UPS are also testing various autonomous last-mile solutions.

Restaurant chains are assessing whether to develop proprietary delivery fleets or partner with robot companies. Domino's, for example, tested its own delivery robots before partnering with Nuro, highlighting how large customers may internalize these capabilities if the technology becomes commoditized.

Coco is developing higher-capacity robots with multi-temperature compartments to expand its applications beyond hot food delivery into groceries, pharmacy, and small-parcel e-commerce. The chassis platform can be configured to handle multiple orders in a single run, increasing the addressable market from restaurant delivery to the broader urban logistics sector.

The partnership with OpenAI enables Coco to license its navigation and perception AI stack to third-party robot manufacturers, indoor autonomous mobile robots, and light electric vehicles. This AI-as-a-service model offers the potential to generate software revenue without requiring direct hardware ownership.

In addition to platform partnerships, Coco is targeting enterprise retailers and quick-service restaurant chains seeking dedicated delivery fleets. Big-box stores, convenience chains, and pharmacies present high-frequency, low-ticket delivery opportunities within a 3-mile service radius.

The company is also positioned to address B2B micro-fulfillment and returns logistics by deploying fleets at dark stores or nano-warehouses. Same-day reverse logistics for e-commerce returns represents a market segment where traditional parcel carriers charge premiums of 15-20%.

Coco's Helsinki launch serves as a GDPR-compliant European proof of concept, supporting potential expansion into Germany, Benelux, and the UK. Nordic regulatory frameworks, which are generally favorable to pedestrian robots, could increase the addressable population under supportive legislation by up to three times.

In the US, the company plans to expand into Tier-2 metropolitan areas such as Dallas and Houston, where restaurant delivery economics are comparable to Los Angeles but sidewalk congestion is lower. This approach could improve robot utilization rates while maintaining similar per-delivery revenue.

Regulatory constraints: Coco's operations rely on city-specific permits for sidewalk and bike lane access, resulting in regulatory fragmentation that may slow expansion. Changes in local legislation could necessitate expensive operational adjustments or market withdrawals, as demonstrated by micro-mobility companies that have faced abrupt permit revocations.

Platform dependency: A significant portion of Coco's revenue is generated through DoorDash and Uber Eats, which hold substantial influence over pricing and contractual terms. If these platforms choose to vertically integrate delivery capabilities or prioritize competing robot providers, Coco risks losing the order volume essential to its robot utilization economics.

Technology commoditization: As autonomous navigation technology becomes increasingly standardized and hardware costs decrease, the barriers to entry for sidewalk delivery robots could diminish. Competitors with substantial funding or platform companies may replicate Coco's operational model, potentially transforming robot delivery into a low-margin, scale-driven industry.