• Coco Robotics, a remote-controlled delivery droid developer, has rolled out its robots in Austin, Texas, with plans to expand coverage to include Dallas, Houston, and Miami in the coming months. This marks the company’s first geographical expansion beyond its home Los Angeles, California.

• The droids were deployed in Austin in partnership with 10 local restaurants including Arpeggio Grill, Bamboo Bistro, Clay Pit, DeSano Pizzeria, Tuk Tuk Thai, and Aviator Pizza, with plans to enter into further partnerships soon.

• Initially, the service will be available in the South Lamar, South Congress, South Austin, Downtown, Northside, North Loop, and Domain neighborhoods of Austin.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: The necessary funds for the expansion were made available to Coco Robotics last August, when it raised USD 36 million in Series A funding, partially for this purpose. Having remotely controlled droids as opposed to autonomous ones would also prove to be a major advantage for the company when it comes to rapid geographic expansion, given they face lesser concerns (such as safety) from state and local government’s perspectives. Other peer startups to have launched droid-based deliveries in cities in Texas include autonomous droid maker Starship Technologies and similar remote-controlled droid operator Tortoise. </ul>