Dive Brief:

• Grubhub has partnered with Kiwibot to provide robot delivery services across college campuses in the U.S., the companies said Thursday. 
• The partnership will start at the University of North Dakota next semester, before appearing at additional campuses. 
• This latest deal builds on Grubhub’s existing relationships with companies, such as Cartken and Starship, that have deployed delivery robots across nearly a dozen college campuses. 

Dive Insight:

Grubhub is partnering with multiple robot delivery companies to offer colleges the ability to pick a partner that best fits their needs, the company said in an email to Restaurant Dive. These deals also ensure that there will be enough robots available to meet demand on campus. 

"When it comes to the campus dining experience, we see robot delivery as a complementary offering to traditional delivery since the robots can navigate hard-to-reach areas on campuses," said Adam Herbert, senior director of campus partnerships at Grubhub.

This partnership expands Kiwibots’ reach as well. Earlier this year, Kiwibot partnered with Sodexo to distribute 1,000 delivery bots across 50 college campuses. Kiwibots can operate in snow and extreme weather conditions and tend to travel at the same pace as a human walking, according to the company. The bots can hold up to 25 pounds, according to the press release. Since the company was founded in 2017 and piloted delivery at University of California, Berkeley, it has made over 200,000 deliveries. 

Students can select robotic delivery from on-campus dining locations via the Grubhub app. Grubhub works with over 250 college campuses across the U.S., giving students the ability to integrate meal plans with their Grubhub accounts and access restaurants on- and off-campus.