FILE PHOTO: A Grubhub delivery bag is seen on a bicycle in Brooklyn, New York City, U.S., May 9, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
(Reuters) -Grubhub is expanding its partnership with self-driving technology startup Avride to pilot robot food deliveries in Jersey City, New Jersey, the companies said on Thursday.
Users in the city can place orders through the Grubhub app, operated by Wonder Group, and choose Avride robot delivery if within range.
Customers can order from Wonder's Jersey City location, which houses more than 20 different restaurant concepts and allows users to combine dishes from multiple restaurants into a single order.
Food delivery apps have been implementing pilot programs for robot deliveries to reduce labor costs, speed up services and improve reliability of the process.
Uber Eats and DoorDash partnered with Serve Robotics earlier this year to roll out delivery robots in U.S., while Avride tied up with Uber last year for food deliveries and robotaxis.
Under the partnership, Avride's AI-based self-driving robots will be tested for navigating populated cities and diverse weather conditions. Following the pilot, Grubhub plans to expand robot deliveries to more U.S. markets.
Avride and Grubhub first partnered in January to roll out food delivery robots on college campuses across the United States, with a fleet of 120robots at Ohio State University.
On Wednesday, Avride said it had secured financing of up to $375 million, backed by Uber Technologies, and the Nebius Group.
(Reporting by Anhata Rooprai and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
