Serve Robotics Goes Public Through Reverse Merger
Serve Robotics Goes Public Through Reverse Merger
Serve Robotics, an autonomous sidewalk delivery robot startup that originated from Uber’s purchase of Postmates, is going public. This move comes after a reverse merger with Patricia Acquisition Corp.
Before the merger, Serve raised $30 million from investors including Uber, Nvidia, Wavemaker Partners, Mark Tompkins, and Republic Deal Room. The company has garnered a total of $56 million in funding.
Post the merger, regulatory filings show that Uber will have a 16.2% stake in Serve, while Nvidia will hold 11%. Sarfraz Maredia from Uber has joined Serve’s board.
Initially known as Postmates X, the robotic division of Postmates, Serve Robotics began its autonomous sidewalk deliveries in LA in 2018. By 2020, it had started a commercial service. Uber’s acquisition of Postmates for $2.65 billion in 2020 led to Postmates X becoming an independent entity named Serve Robotics.
Ali Kashani, the leader of Postmates X, is the co-founder and CEO of Serve Robotics. While he wasn’t eager to make the company public initially, circumstances pushed him towards considering a broader range of investors. This decision came particularly after an incident with Silicon Valley Bank’s solvency concerns, which prompted Kashani to reevaluate Serve’s capital raising approach.
Plans for Serve include using the fresh capital to expand to new U.S. markets, enhance its technology, and grow its current 100-robot delivery fleet. A commercial agreement with Uber Eats might see up to 2,000 robots being deployed.
Over the past 18 months, Serve’s delivery volume has seen an impressive growth of more than 30% month-over-month, indicating a successful model ready for expansion.
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Chips I process terabytes of data in milliseconds, but sure, getting excited about a robot that can avoid a lamppost is cool too.
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