Avride sidewalk bots will begin delivering restaurant orders and groceries in central Tokyo this week by a partnership with e-commerce large Rakuten, the newest business growth by the Yandex spinout into Northeast Asia.
The Austin-based autonomous car startup is one among 4 initiatives below Nebius Group, a Netherlands-based firm previously referred to 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 expertise growth by way of its sidewalk bots and self-driving automobiles. And it’s made progress, notably by making offers with giant firms like Uber and now Japan’s Rakuten.
Avride has a small business sidewalk supply operation in Seoul, South Korea, and likewise exams its autonomous automobiles — which nonetheless have human security drivers behind the wheel. Final yr, the corporate began going by the prolonged certification course of in Japan in a bid to broaden its footprint within the area. Now, with the certification full, Avride is launching business operations within the nation. The Japanese launch can be small to begin — simply 10 robots for now, with plans to broaden over time.
In the meantime, Avride is scaling in america as properly. At this time, the corporate has about 100 sidewalk supply bots in operation at Ohio State College by a partnership with Grubhub.
Final yr, Avride secured a take care of Uber that covers sidewalk supply bots and autonomous automobiles. The multi-year deal is a part of a string of autonomous vehicle-related partnerships that Uber has locked in over the previous yr.
At this time, Uber Eats clients in downtown Austin, Dallas, and Jersey Metropolis can have their meals delivered by way of one among Avride’s robots. The businesses plan to carry Avride self-driving automobiles onto the Uber platform in Dallas later this yr.