Cartken, an autonomous robotics startup, is shifting its focus away from last-mile delivery services and toward industrial applications. Cartken… Cartken… Cartken …may be best known for its four-wheeled robots delivering food across college campuses, or expertly traversing the congested streets of Tokyo. Now, the company is preparing to scale up—to supply a booming demand from the industrial sector.
The company has now raised more than $20 million in financing led by investors including 468 Capital, Incubate Fund and Vela Partners. Now, it’s beginning to build out its robotic fleet to match this cool new direction. Cartken’s delivery robots, or the Cartken Courier as they’re called, are basically smart Igloo coolers on wheels. They can deliver payloads of up to 44 pounds. Originally developed for third-party food delivery, these robots are now being adapted to other industrial use cases.
Christian Bersch, co-founder and CEO of Cartken, noted that the idea of applying their delivery robots in industrial settings has always been on his mind. “What we found is that actually there’s a real big need in industrial and onsite use cases,” he stated. Cartken’s robots feature a configurable navigation stack that accommodates different sizes. As a result, they are able to function successfully in indoor and outdoor settings.
Cartken is taking a big turn here. In 2023, it hit a major milestone by securing its first major industrial customer, the German manufacturing company ZF Lifetec. Bersch highlighted the potential for growth in this sector, saying, “We’re definitely seeing a lot of traction across various industrial and corporate sites, from automotive companies to pharmaceutical to chemical.” As an example, he argued, too many companies still ask employees to manually transfer material between buildings using personal transportation or small carts and forklifts. Cartken’s robots have the potential to significantly boost efficiency in this emerging new transit sector.
Cartken’s autonomous delivery robots are already making their own data-driven deliveries in Tokyo right now. This valuable feedback allows them to continue training their autonomous obstacle navigation capabilities. The company is still continuing to develop its tech and scale its capabilities by testing on active last-mile delivery routes. Cartken, meanwhile, will stay focused on its food and consumer last-mile delivery business. Despite that performance, the company has indicated pretty unequivocally that it will not be growing this segment.
In a sign of that expansion, last month, Cartken said it would strengthen its four-year partnership with Japanese automaker Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi helped the startup get all the right certifications to operate in Tokyo. This partnership will help solidify Cartken’s hand in the ever-growing industrial robotics market.
With this acquisition, Cartken is taking a tactical pivot. The new move positions the company to take advantage of the growing market trend towards advanced automation in industrial environments. The company intends to build on its existing technology and robotics know-how. Their intent is to stake a claim as leaders in this fast-growing industry.