Grubhub and Starship Technologies team up to bring robot delivery to more colleges

More robots may soon be zooming across college campuses.

Grubhub has teamed up with robotics company Starship Technologies to expand robot food delivery to additional schools.

The companies jointly provide delivery at five campuses, including the University of Kentucky and Wayne State University, but plan to add more campuses later in the year.

“Robot delivery solves the unique challenges of accessing hard-to-reach areas that come from operating on a college campus,” Adam Herbert, senior director of campus partnerships at Grubhub, said in a statement. “With Starship’s robots, students can enjoy a fun, new way to order their favorite meals right to their door—whether that be the library, their dorm, academic hall or another campus building.”

Grubhub, which has a presence at over 250 colleges and universities, previously partnered with Russian company Yandex to provide robot deliveries on U.S. campuses, but that partnership ended following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Last spring, it teamed up with robotics company Cartken for a delivery pilot on Ohio State’s campus.

Starship says its robots can go as fast as 4 miles per hour and carry a weight equivalent to three bags of groceries.

The company last year revealed the menu items that were most popular among college students ordering food for robot delivery, with boneless wings, iced coffee and curly fries topping the list. In addition, Starship found October to be the busiest month for deliveries.