A small robot delivery service has expanded into Austin and hired several executives.
In February, Coco launched a delivery service in Austin, Texas after testing robot delivery in Los Angeles. The company is eying Dallas, Houston and Miami after raising $56 million in a recent round of funding.
The recently hired Sahil Sharma as chief operating officer, Peter Quinn as vice president of revenue and Andrea Lobato as general counsel.
“The current food delivery industry underserves merchants with excessive service fees, inefficient logistics, and driver shortages – a cycle Coco aims to break,” Coco CEO Zach Rash. “With these leaders on board, we have the expertise and skills we need to transform the food delivery experience for merchants in cities everywhere. These individuals are some of the best in the world in their respective domains.”
In 2021, Coco operated in all major LA neighborhoods and established itself in the delivery space. As compared to traditional delivery methods, Coco touts a 30% decrease in time-to-customer and an on-time delivery rate of 97%.
Austin is a good fit for robot delivery. The company is home to Apple, Amazon, Adobe and others.
“We’re excited that Coco is launching their first-ever expansion outside of California and bringing their innovative technology to Austin,” said Roland Peña, senior vice president of global tech and innovation for the Austin Chamber of Commerce. “Coco was founded on the same entrepreneurial spirit that Austin has been embracing for decades. Their dedication to a streamlined service that simultaneously reduces costs increases consistency and helps our businesses connect with customers in a sustainable way fits right into the Austin region’s identity of ingenuity, customer success and business profitability.”
Coco launched in Austin with 10 partners, including Arpeggio Grill, Bamboo Bistro, Clay Pit, DeSano Pizzeria, Tuk Tuk Thai, and Aviator Pizza, This initial launch includes merchants servicing the South Lamar, South Congress, South Austin, Downtown, Northside, North Loop, and Domain neighborhoods.
“We’re excited about the new partnership with Coco this month,” said Jimmy FitzGerald, owner of DeSano Pizzeria Napoletana. “The Coco team has been on the ground getting everything ready to kick it off. Their people have been just fantastic. Our DeSano teams here in Austin are very excited about this new ground-breaking delivery platform at both locations. It’s helping us look at delivery in a whole new way.”
