Tortoise pivots its delivery robots into mobile smart stores for 10% of sales

Remote-operated sidewalk robots that began delivering goods and are now mobile vending 'smart stores' for retailers.

Selling goods from remote-operated robots parked at stores scales faster than last-mile delivery, and last mile can return later.

About $8M publicly raised, including a $5M venture round in April 2021.

Tortoise began in 2019 rebalancing scooters for shared operators like Spin, then shifted in 2021 to robotic last-mile sidewalk delivery with partners including Albertsons.

Parked outside stores, the delivery robots drew passersby who tried to buy from them. Feedback convinced Tortoise that top-line sales were an easier pitch than delivery savings, and smart stores faced fewer regulatory hurdles, opening New York and Chicago.

In March 2022 Tortoise paused all last-mile deployments, including a national expansion with AxleHire, and prepared to launch up to 30 smart stores in the following months. It had processed over 800 transactions in soft launches and planned to raise money after deployments went live in the second quarter.

Last-mile delivery within a three-mile radius meant constant new edge cases, even with remote control at low speed.

Retailers were more easily sold on new top-line revenue than on delivery savings that were still theoretical.

Smart stores are easier to run through regulators than sidewalk delivery, enabling markets like New York and Chicago that are unfriendly to sidewalk robots.

When customers try to buy from your product in a way you did not design, the unplanned use may be easier to sell: stores paid for new revenue, not theoretical delivery savings.

As of 4 March 2022, Tortoise expected deployments to go live in the second quarter, after which it planned to raise more funds. It had processed over 800 transactions for early customers such as the University of Marysville's dining provider and still saw delivery as the long-term goal.