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Image: Uber
Uber is accelerating its push into automated last-mile delivery, announcing that Uber Eats will partner with Starship Technologies to deploy sidewalk robots in the U.K. starting December 2025.
The initial service area will be Leeds and Sheffield, serving customers from select merchants, with further expansion planned across Europe in 2026 and into the U.S. by 2027
At the heart of this rollout is Starship’s six-wheeled, Level 4 autonomous robots, which Uber says can complete deliveries in “under 30 minutes” over distances of up to two miles, according to Bloomberg.
These aren’t prototypes. Starship reports it already has a global fleet of nearly 3,000 robots operating in more than 270 locations.
Uber frames the partnership as a natural next step in its strategy to integrate automation across its ecosystem.
As Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s Global Head of Autonomous, told RTTNEWS: “Together with Starship, we’re bringing this future to life across multiple continents, leveraging Uber’s global scale and Starship’s proven autonomy to deliver efficient and affordable experiences for consumers and merchants everywhere.”
Uber already works with other robotic and autonomous players. In the US, its Eats division uses Serve Robotics sidewalk bots, and earlier this year began working with Avride as well.
The Starship deal underscores Uber’s multi-pronged approach—robotics is not a one-size-fits-all play.
It should be noted that Starship’s robots operate at Level 4 autonomy, meaning they can navigate certain environments without human intervention, according to Yahoo.
For sidewalk delivery, that means handling pedestrian routes, crossings, and other urban obstacles reliably.
The scale, thousands of bots already in service globally, also suggests this isn't just a novelty pilot but a mature, commercially viable platform. By replacing or supplementing human couriers, these robots could help Uber cut delivery costs and reduce its carbon footprint. Robotics offers a way to make frequent, low-distance deliveries more efficient while offloading pressure from traditional gig labour.
This partnership between Uber Eats and Starship isn’t just a novelty; it’s a signal of Uber’s ambition to reengineer last-mile delivery through automation.
By leveraging a mature autonomous robot platform, Uber is betting that sidewalk delivery can scale in a way that’s efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective.
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