Nuro, a self-driving delivery startup, is partnering with Domino's to deliver fresh pizzas to select customers around Houston.
Nuro's product fits squarely between the delivery and ecommerce industries that have boomed amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company specializes in developing electric autonomous vehicles that have one purpose: the transportation of products from a storefront to a customer's homes.
While this isn't an entirely novel concept, the California-based startup has been able to claim multiple firsts since the company was founded in 2016. Nuro's second generation vehicle, the R2, is the first autonomous vehicle that's legally allowed to operate without side mirrors or windshields. The R2 is also the first vehicle to have been autonomously driven in states like California, Texas, and Arizona.
Its latest $500 million round in November saw new investors like Baillie Gifford and Fidelity Management and Research, as well as existing investors like Greylock Partners and SoftBank Vision Fund 1.
This is evident in the array of Nuro's partnerships, which include grocery delivery with Kroger and Walmart, prescription deliveries with CVS, and now pizza drop-offs with Domino's Pizza in Houston.
The company previously operated in Houston in partnership with Kroger and CVS with the startup's R2 and first generation vehicle, a self-driving Prius.
The electric self-driving R2 vehicle is reliant on artificial intelligence and an array of equipment to guide it on the streets. This will be the same vehicle shuttling pizzas from Domino's to customers' doorsteps.
It also has audio and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors and radars to help the vehicle better orient itself to its surroundings, according to its maker.
The customers can then track the vehicle's location, and when the order arrives at the destination's curbside, the user will receive a security code to open the cargo holding compartment.
