UPDATE 1-Delivery robot firm Serve Robotics partners with DoorDash to expand reach

(Adds share movement) By Deborah Mary Sophia Oct 9 (Reuters) – Serve Robotics said on Thursday it is partnering with DoorDash to deploy its sidewalk robots to fulfill orders on the food delivery platform, in a move to capture more customers and expand its reach beyond Uber Eats. Shares of the San Francisco-based robotics firm surged more than 25% in mid-day trading, hitting their highest level in eight months. The company said customers ordering via DoorDash from select stores and restaurants in Los Angeles may have their orders delivered by a Serve robot, adding that it plans to expand its DoorDash deliveries across the U.S. Companies have increasingly been adopting automation for last-mile deliveries to reduce labor costs and speed up service times amid strong demand. The tie-up with DoorDash, the top food delivery platform in the country, will help Serve increase the volume of orders available for its robots by tapping into merchants and customers who use DoorDash instead of Uber's food delivery app. So far, Serve has deployed its robots for deliveries solely on Uber Eats, which it partnered with in 2021. "This partnership enables us to go to cities where DoorDash is the dominant player. Now that we have such a significant fleet size, there's a very sizeable supply that we can provide to companies… and we're looking for more demand, so that every minute of every day, the robots have access to more jobs," Serve co-founder and CEO Ali Kashani said in an interview. The tie-up with DoorDash will boost Serve's revenues once it scales up to a level matching the Uber Eats partnership, he added. Serve currently operates in cities including Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and Atlanta through Uber Eats and has completed over 100,000 deliveries from more than 2,500 restaurants. The partnership comes days after DoorDash unveiled its in-house delivery robot, Dot, which can navigate bike lanes, roads and sidewalks. DoorDash has also partnered with Alphabet's Wing for drone deliveries. (Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)

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