• Cartken, an autonomous delivery droid manufacturer, has partnered with Mitsubishi Electric, the electronic equipment manufacturing company of Mitsubishi, to pilot a small fleet of droids at Aeon Mall Tokonam shopping mall in Japan for indoor and curb-side food delivery. This marks Cartken’s first deployment in Japan.

• The companies plan to commence deliveries later this month and will run through April 2022. Initially, the service will be made available for Starbucks customers, with plans to extend the service to more customers in the future.

• The companies are also looking to establish longer-term product collaborations and are currently considering developing tech to help Cartken’s droids interact with elevators.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: With the news, Cartken now joins FedEx, which launched its delivery droid in Japan in July 2021, and a handful of Japanese companies including Rakuten, ZMP Inc., and Panasonic, who have already deployed sidewalk delivery droid trials in the country. Cartken also has a March 2021 partnership with REEF Technology, an operator of parking facilities and neighborhood hubs, to launch delivery robots in downtown Miami.</ul>