Avride sidewalk robot will be in partnership this week with e-commerce giant Rakuten, Yandex Spinout’s latest business expansion to Northeast Asia, with restaurants and groceries opening this week in central Tokyo.
The Austin-based self-driving car startup is one of four projects led by the Nebius Group, a Dutch company formerly known as Yandex NV Selled Russian business In 2024, about US$5.2 billion.
Since then, Avride has pushed forward its self-driving car technology development through sidewalk robots and self-driving cars. This has made progress, especially through deals with large companies such as Uber and now Japan’s Rakuten.
AVRIDE deliveries on commercial sidewalks are rare Seoul, South Koreaalso tested its self-driving cars, which are still behind the steering wheel. Last year, the company began a lengthy certification process in Japan to expand the region’s footprint. Now, certified, Avride will launch a commercial business in the country. The start of Japan’s launch is small – there are only 10 robots at present and are planned to expand over time.
At the same time, Avride is also expanding in the United States. Today, the company has about 100 sidewalk delivery robots Operated at Ohio State University through a partnership with Grubhub.
Last year, Avride reached a deal with Uber that covers sidewalk delivery robots and self-driving cars. The multi-year deal is part of a series of self-driving car-related partnerships that Uber has locked in over the past year.
Today, Uber’s customers in downtown Austin, Dallas and Jersey City can provide food through a robot at Avride. The company plans to bring Avride self-driving car Enter the Uber platform in Dallas later this year.
