Coco Robotics Secures $80 Million Funding Boost for Last-Mile Delivery Robots

Coco Robotics, a Los Angeles-based startup specializing in last-mile delivery robots, has secured an impressive $80 million in its latest funding round. This substantial investment brings the company’s total funding to over $120 million, marking a significant acceleration since their $36 million Series A round in 2021. The funding round attracted notable investors, including returning angel investors Sam Altman and Max Altman, as well as venture capital firms such as Pelion Venture Partners and Offline Ventures.

Coco Robotics’ Delivery Robots are designed to navigate urban environments, carrying up to 90 liters of goods directly to customers’ doors. Since their debut in 2020, these robots have completed over 500,000 deliveries, demonstrating their operational capability and growing adoption. The company has already established partnerships with several national retailers and food chains, including Subway, Wingstop, and Jack in the Box, integrating their autonomous delivery solution into existing service models.

Sam Altman’s involvement with Coco Robotics extends beyond financial backing. His personal investment underscores his belief in the potential of these Delivery Robots. In March 2025, Coco Robotics announced a partnership with OpenAI, creating a mutually beneficial relationship. Coco leverages OpenAI’s advanced AI capabilities to enhance the intelligence and navigation of its robots, while OpenAI gains access to valuable real-world data collected by Coco’s fleet. This data is crucial for training and improving OpenAI’s AI models, particularly in understanding complex physical environments and interactions, which is a key aspect of advancing AI in robotics.

This partnership highlights a growing trend where robotics companies are integrating sophisticated AI not just for navigation and object recognition, but also for optimizing routes, predicting challenges, and improving overall operational efficiency. The data collected by robots operating in diverse, real-world conditions provides an invaluable feedback loop for AI development, creating a powerful synergy between physical automation and artificial intelligence.

The $80 million injection provides Coco Robotics with significant resources to accelerate its growth and expansion plans. Key benefits of this funding include scaling up the production and deployment of their Delivery Robots to serve more areas and partners, investing further in the AI and hardware capabilities of their robots, potentially enhancing navigation, safety, and carrying capacity, expanding partnerships with more retailers and entering new geographic markets, and refining logistics and support systems to manage a larger fleet of robots effectively.

This funding positions Coco Robotics as a key player in the burgeoning last-mile delivery automation market. The vote of confidence from investors, including a prominent figure like Sam Altman, not only provides capital but also significant validation for the company’s technology and business model.

While the future looks promising, challenges remain for companies deploying Delivery Robots. Navigating regulatory landscapes in different cities and states, ensuring public acceptance and safety on sidewalks, and perfecting autonomous navigation in unpredictable environments are ongoing hurdles. However, the progress made by companies like Coco, evidenced by their half a million deliveries, suggests these challenges are being addressed incrementally.

The successful funding round for Coco Robotics, fueled in part by Sam Altman’s backing and the strategic partnership with OpenAI, underscores the increasing convergence of AI, robotics, and logistics. As these technologies mature, we can expect to see automated delivery solutions become more commonplace, potentially transforming how goods are transported within our communities, offering benefits like reduced emissions and increased efficiency.

In conclusion, Coco Robotics’ $80 million funding round is a significant development in the robotics and AI landscape. It highlights strong investor confidence in autonomous last-mile delivery, validates Coco’s technology and partnerships, and showcases the powerful synergy between cutting-edge AI, exemplified by OpenAI, and real-world robotic applications. With Sam Altman’s continued support and a clear path for expansion, Coco Robotics is poised to play a notable role in shaping the future of urban logistics.