When Zach Rash and Brad Squicciarini founded Coco Robotics in early 2020, the timing could hardly have been better. Or worse.
The Los Angeles startup launched just as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, accelerating demand for doorstep food and grocery delivery almost overnight.
The timing created both an opportunity and a challenge. While demand for delivery surged during the pandemic, supply chain disruptions made it difficult for the young company to source reliable components. Coco's early robots were built using mostly off-the-shelf hardware and, according to Rash, "the product was awful."
Rather than spending years on research and development, Rash and his team took a different approach. They started making deliveries almost immediately.
Coco's first customers were L&K Market, a corner store in Santa Monica, and Alfalfa, a restaurant that had recently opened in the neighborhood.
Rash found them the old-fashioned way: by knocking on doors.
"We want to build this with you," he told them.
The pitch was far from risk-free. Restaurant owners care whether orders arrive on time and customers stay happy. Introducing an unproven delivery robot into a busy operation could easily have created more problems than it solved.
Instead, the owners embraced the experiment.
"They loved the opportunity to help us shape it," Rash said.
Their feedback became a blueprint for the company. Rather than building features that engineers found interesting, Coco learned directly from the businesses that were using its robots every day.
Today, Coco operates more than 1,000 delivery robots and works with partners including Uber Eats, DoorDash, Taco Bell and Shake Shack.
For Rash, the lesson was simple: do not build technology in isolation. Build it with the customer standing beside you.
Avride delivery robot at Indiana University. Credits: Avride
Avride: Proving it in Austin
Around Avride's engineering center, the team set up obstacle courses to demonstrate how the robots handled different situations. Uber's team was also shown the machines "from inside out," including how their hardware and autonomous systems were designed for safe operation. Then the demonstrations moved onto public streets.
"The real-world demonstration was the most important," said Yulia Shveyko, head of public affairs at Avride. "Everyone wants to see how our robots operate in this unstructured sidewalk environment."
The demonstrations were part of the process that led to Avride launching its delivery partnership with Uber Eats in November 2025, the Avride’s first major commercial relationship.
"Prior to the actual launch, we were preparing an actual safety plan for Uber to approve," said Roman Nefedov, head of delivery robots at Avride.
Safety was central, but so was efficiency.
“Robots should not only be safe, but they should be efficient,” Shveyko said. “Any food tech company doesn’t want to get into a situation where a robot would take an hour to bring food from the restaurant to a customer.”
Delivering via Uber Eats app. Credits: Avride
Asked what ultimately convinced Uber that Avride was ready, Shveyko pointed not to a single breakthrough, but to having met the platform's requirements.
Shveyko’s advice to other robotics startups looking for their first major customer is simple: "Be honest."
Read the full story about how Coco Robotics and Avride are teaching their robots to survive a city that refuses to behave.
Avride is part of the Nebius group, which owns The Infinite Loop - Ed.
