Starship takes flight with $40m

US-based robotic goods delivery fleet operator Starship Technologies completed a $40m series A round yesterday that included Qu Ventures, the VC and entrepreneurship arm of Kyushu University.
TDK Ventures, the corporate venturing fund owned by electronics manufacturer TDK Corporation, also took part in the round, which was led by venture capital fund Morpheus Ventures.
Shasta Ventures, Matrix Partners, Metaplanet Holdings and undisclosed existing and new investors filled out the round.
Founded in 2014, Starship operates a mobile app that lets university students order consumer goods such as food which is then delivered using one of the company’s smart robots. The robots can generally cover a radius of up to three miles and deliver goods within 15 to 30 minutes.
Starship’s robots have so far completed more than 100,000 orders, and the funding will support its launch on 100 university campuses within the next two years, beginning with University of Pittsburgh and Purdue University.
The company had already raised $42.2m in seed funding, including an initial $17.2m close in January 2017 that was led by carmaker Daimler following an existing research and development agreement with Starship.
Shasta Ventures, Matrix Partners and Morpheus Ventures, ZX Ventures, Grishin Robotics and Playfair Capital were also among the participants in the first seed tranche.
Starship added $25m from Matrix Partners, Morpheus Ventures, Nathan Blecharczyk, Jaan Tallinn and Gary Barber in June 2018. MetaPlanet Holdings was also identified as an existing investor in the latest round.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.