Serve Robotics, a leading autonomous sidewalk delivery company, has officially announced a partnership with Wing Aviation LLC, an on-demand drone delivery provider, to expand eco-friendly and autonomous food delivery offering, which is a novel solution widely expected to redefine last mile delivery.

Under the agreed terms, select Wing deliveries over the coming months will be picked up by a Serve delivery robot from the restaurant’s curbside and delivered to a Wing drone AutoLoader, situated a few blocks away, for aerial delivery to customers present within a 6 miles radius.

More on the same would reveal how this robot-to-drone delivery will make it possible for merchants to tap into drone delivery, significantly extending the delivery area for sidewalk delivery robots.  All in all, such a partnership marks a significant step towards enabling highly automated delivery as the preferred mode of delivery for the millions of small packages delivered every day around the world.

Talk about the benefits of this collaboration on a slightly deeper level, we begin from the speed aspect, which translates to how Wing drones fly above the gridlock and Serve robots operate exclusively on sidewalks, meaning deliveries can avoid getting caught up in street traffic.

Next up, we have the promise of cost efficiency, considering drones and robots both lower delivery costs for the operator and consumer with no need for tipping.

“At Wing, we have been delivering food and other goods directly to consumers for over five years, completing more than 400,000 commercial deliveries across three continents. We have a proven ability to make deliveries quickly and efficiently,” said Adam Woodworth, CEO at Wing. “Both Wing and Serve offer innovative solutions that are changing the way goods are delivered. Through this pilot partnership, Wing hopes to reach more merchants in highly-congested areas while supporting Serve as it works to expand its delivery radius.”

Another detail worth a mention is rooted in the partnership’s environmentally-conscious nature. Here, both fully-electric, Wing and Serve are expected to reduce vehicle emissions associated with food delivery, all while reducing traffic and congestion. Then, there is the safety angle. You see, by keeping vehicles off the roads, Serve and Wing should be able to cut down rather significantly on traffic accidents.

Rounding up highlights is the pledge to provide convenience. In essence, curbside robotic package pickup allows merchants to access drone delivery without modifying their facilities or installing new equipment.

Spun off from Uber in 2021, Serve Robotics’ rise up the ranks stems from developing advanced, AI-powered, and low-emissions sidewalk delivery robots that aim to make delivery sustainable and economical. The company’s excellence in what it does can also be understood once you consider it has, thus far, completed tens of thousands of deliveries for enterprise partners, such as Uber Eats and 7-Eleven. Not just that, Serve Robotics also has scalable multi-year contracts in place, including a signed agreement to deploy up to 2,000 delivery robots on the Uber Eats platform across multiple U.S. markets.

As for Wing, it is best known for its fleet of lightweight and highly automated delivery drones that can transport small packages directly from businesses to homes and between healthcare providers in no more than a few minutes. A part of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, Wing’s delivery has proven to be safe, sustainable, and easy to integrate into existing delivery and logistics networks.

“We’re excited to partner with Wing to offer a multi-modal delivery experience that expands our market from roughly half of all food deliveries that are within 2 miles of a restaurant, to offering 30 minute autonomous delivery across an entire city,” said Dr. Ali Kashani, CEO and co-founder of Serve Robotics. “Together, Serve and Wing share an ambitious vision for reliable and affordable robotic delivery at scale. Our end-to-end robotic delivery solution will be the most efficient mode for the significant majority of deliveries.”