Goggo and Oxbotica Team to Promote Autonomous Delivery in Europe

Autonomous vehicle firms Goggo Network and Oxbotica have teamed to promote driverless delivery in Europe.

The partnership, announced Wednesday (March 22), will combine U.K.-based Oxbotica’s autonomous driving software with Goggo’s middle- and last-mile delivery operations in a range of sectors, including grocery, food delivery and fast-moving commercial goods (FMCG).

The first phase of the collaboration will see Goggo use Oxbotica’s autonomy software in its home country of Spain.

“The success of these tests will be a key building block for Goggo to include Oxbotica within its wider mobility network across cities in Europe including those in France,” the companies said in a news release.

According to the release, Oxbotica’s software can drive on and off road, in a variety of weather conditions and locations, using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict changes to the environment and learn from previous journeys.

The partnership is happening as a number of European retailers and tech are proceeding with the development of autonomous delivery vehicles, with recent pilots in France and Germany that point “to an evolving landscape and provide a glimpse into the future of European logistics,” as PYMNTS wrote in January.

December saw the Hamburg traffic authority issue Europe’s first permit to Berlin-based startup Vay Technologies to start testing driverless vehicles on public roads, a key milestone on the journey toward self-driving cars.

There’s also another Goggo Network partnership that’s happening in France, where the company is working with French retail chain Carrefour to test autonomous delivery vehicles in the Plateau de Saclay — an area known as the French Silicon Valley.

Oxbotica, meanwhile, announced earlier this year that it had raised $140 million in a Series C funding round to expand the use of its products in the energy and agriculture sectors, as well as private truck yards, airports and mining sites.

The AV company is also working with the automation and robotics company Ocado Group on autonomous goods delivery to help fulfill online retail purchases.

This isn’t to say U.S. companies are shunning automation. Last week, PYMNTS reported that grocery chain Kroger would begin using self-driving box trucks from the autonomous vehicle company Gatik to move products from Kroger’s fulfillment center in Dallas to its stores.

“It’s super important to us that we’re repeatable, we’re on time, and that we deliver that fresh full service that [customers are] looking for,” Mike Baker, head of final mile at Kroger, said in a video announcement. “Through this collaboration with Gatik, we’re able to be quicker in our deliveries and focus more on the customer service side of things, which ultimately leads to happier customers and repeat customers.”