• Coco Robotics, a remote-controlled delivery droid developer, has raised USD 36 million in a Series A funding round led by Sam Altman, Silicon Valley Bank, and Founders Fund, with participation from Sam Nazarian, Ellen Chen, and Mario Del Pero. The round brings the company’s total funds raised close to USD 43 million.

• The company intends to utilize the funds to grow its team to more than 1,000 employees by the end of the year (from the current 120), introduce hardware improvements, and expand geographical coverage.

• It was also reported today that Coco is now operating in five neighborhoods in Los Angeles (including Santa Monica) and currently has 18 partnering restaurants, including California-based Umami Burger.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake : This funding (USD 36 million) is a significant amount for a droid startup. This (plus the additional 7 million raised prior) helps Coco leapfrog to become the 2nd highest funded droid operator, only behind Starship (which has raised USD 99 million thus far). We believe this large funding signals the emergence of a sub-segment within delivery droids that are remote-controlled rather than being autonomous. These remote-controlled droids, in fact, have the potential to reach commercialization faster and ease concerns (such as safety) that state and local governments have towards self-driving robots. In addition to Coco, we note California-based startup Tortoise and Turkish startup Bizero having similar remote-controlled droid units.</ul>