• Coco Robotics, a remote-controlled delivery droid developer, has launched “COCO 1,” an upgraded version of its delivery droid, manufactured in partnership with micromobilty hardware manufacturer Segway. 

• The company plans to build and deploy 1,000 new droids in three cities during Q1 2022. The droids will be first launched across Los Angeles in partnership with local health foods grocery store Erewhon Market. Coco plans to add 1,200 more units by mid-2022 depending on the potential contracts.

• The new droid comes with added functionalities such as increased carrying capacity to hold up to four grocery bags and an improved radius of up to 3 miles (up by almost 2x). The unit is also equipped with multiple cameras and sensors to assist remote pilots.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: The newly manufactured droids will add to Coco Robotics’ current fleet of 100 droids in operation in several cities in California, competing with peers such as Kiwibot, Tortoise, and Serve Robotics , who also have a presence in California, especially in Los Angeles. The news comes just over three months after the company raised USD 36 million in a Series A round, partially to fund the new droids. Furthermore, today’s news marks Segway’s largest manufacturing agreement with a droid startup; but it's not the company’s first engagement in the space. In fact, Segway partnered with Kiwibot to manufacture its droids in April this year, and also operates a separate division— Segway Robotics, which focuses on delivery droids.</ul>