This week we’ve got big news from tech giants like LG and Amazon, plus important fundraising stats and a very green partnership. Read on!
LG Acquires Majority Stake in Bear Robotics
LG Electronics has taken a majority stake in Bear Robotics. After buying 21% of the company for $60 million last March, LG has now upped its ownership to 51%, giving it majority control. Redwood City, CA-based Bear Robotics makes the Servi and Carti family of tray-wielding robots, popular in restaurants and warehouses.
Amazon Grounds Drone Fleet
Amazon’s drone delivery ambitions have temporarily fallen to earth, with the ecommerce giant suspending deliveries in Texas and Arizona. Two of the company’s MK30 drones crashed in Pendleton, Oregon, with Amazon representatives blaming a software malfunction due to rain. Despite the wet weather, one of the little flying machines managed to light on fire. An Amazon spokesperson claimed the crashes were not the “primary reason” for pausing the program.
Starship Partners with Topanga.io
Delivery robotics leader Starship Technologies and sustainability company Topanga.io have teamed up to introduce reusable packaging for campus food deliveries. The initiative, initially launching at GMU (Starship’s first U.S. campus) allows students to return used packaging to designated drop-off points for cleaning and reuse. As part of the program, Topanga’s ReusePass program will be full integrated with the Starship app. Both Starship and Topanga work with Aramark, giving this partnership plenty of runway to expand.
Foodtech Funding Flat in '2024
New data from DigitalFoodLab shows that funding in the foodtech sector was essentially flat in 2024, down just 6% compared to the year prior, with Europe seeing the biggest drop in funding. Last year’s biggest fundraisers include Zepto, Wonder, Picnic, Rebel Foods, Foodsmart, Rohlik, Oishii, Inari, Monarch Tractor and Flink.
In Other News
Miso Robotics updates Flippy Fry Station. Just Salad launches AI-powered (sure, sure) salad picker. Vietnam’s post office loves warehouse and delivery robots. Amsterdam-based Agurotech raises €2.25 million for data-driven agriculture. Speedy Eats first month of operations going well (Ottomate profiled this autonomous restaurant last April.)