Appears inLogistics robots
Funding
$20.0M
Models
1
Overview
Autonomous delivery-robot maker (Oakland CA; founded 2019 by ex-Google engineers) of six-wheeled sidewalk delivery robots (Courier) + a larger industrial Hauler; pivoted growth to industrial robotics (2025).
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- None on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
DEPLOY Intelligence
Market intelligence for physical AI
Analyst-grade signals, competitive tracking, and investment context across the global physical AI landscape. Launching 2026.
Key facts
Product
Pivot
Founders
Robot form factor
Data & sources
Press releases
2
News coverage
1
Web sources
1
4 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Explainers
Plain-language answers to the questions people ask about Cartken, from DEPLOY’s explainer library. Each is written in the language of the question and cross-checked against this registry.
- What is a sidewalk delivery robot?
A sidewalk delivery robot is a small autonomous wheeled vehicle that operates in the sidewalk regulatory regime (not roads) for last-mile delivery of food, packages, and small goods. Per DEPLOY's framework, the cohort enumerates as: Starship Technologies (canonical scaled commercial, multi-country, millions of deliveries) + Coco + Serve Robotics (NASDAQ SERV; Uber Eats partnership) + Kiwibot + Avride + Cartken (hardware-sale; ex-Google founders; Mitsubishi + Uber Eats + Melco ~100-Hauler order) + Ottonomy (RaaS-lease ~$999/mo) + Refraction AI + Delivers AI + (Amazon Scout discontinued Oct 6 2022 + FedEx Roxo paused 2022 + Tortoise shut down 2023 as wind-down record). Business model spectrum: hardware sale (Cartken) vs RaaS-lease (Ottonomy + Refraction) vs captive service (Starship + Delivers AI). State-by-state regulatory variation is the canonical operational gate. Wind-down record is honest editorial signal, not smoothed.
Current leadership (4)
- Christian Bersch Co-founder & CEOIR-verified
- Jonas Witt Co-founder & CTOIR-verified
- Jake Stelman Co-founder & VPIR-verified
- Anjali Jindal Naik Co-founder & COOIR-verified
Founders (4)
- Christian Berschcofounderfounded 2020-01-01
- Jonas Wittcofounderfounded 2020-01-01
- Jake Stelmancofounderfounded 2020-01-01
- Anjali Jindal Naikcofounderfounded 2020-01-01
Safety record
No incidents on record for Cartken.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Recent coverage
Cartken in third-party press
Peer companies
- Amazon4 models
- Avride2 models
- Coco Robotics2 models
- Daxbot2 models
- Kiwibot2 models
- Serve Robotics2 models
Supplied by (1)
Compute / semiconductor
- NVIDIAvia Cartken CourierNVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin (primary autonomy compute; runs 6-camera SLAM pipeline)supplies
Inbound supply edges feeding this company directly or via the models it owns. Same source bar as the outbound view (verified against at least two strong sources).
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- aggregator_estimate
- Lifecycle stage
- growth
- Counterparty risk class
- moderate
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Funding rounds (1)
- Other2026-07-08
$20M(reported)
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 11, 2026
Cartken robots introduction
- Record createdJun 3, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJan 1, 2023
Cartken Courier at Miami, Florida, USA
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedAug 1, 2022
Cartken Courier at New York
Sources (4)
- https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/20/why-cartken-pivoted-its-focus-from-last-mile-delivery-to-industrial-robots/
- https://www.cartken.com/press-release/a-mitsubishi-electric-group-company-expands-partnership-with-cartken-and-orders-nearly-100-autonomous-cartken-hauler-robots-for-industrial-applications
- https://onsite.grubhub.com/blog/how-the-university-of-arizona-uses-grubhub-and-cartken-for-robot-delivery/
- https://www.cartken.com/press-release/cartken-announces-22-5m-in-aggregate-funding-to-advance-ai-based-technology-stack-enabling-autonomous-delivery-robots
Common questions
- What is Cartken?
- Autonomous delivery-robot maker (Oakland CA; founded 2019 by ex-Google engineers) of six-wheeled sidewalk delivery robots (Courier) + a larger industrial Hauler; pivoted growth to industrial robotics (2025).
- What does Cartken make?
- Cartken has 1 robot model on the DEPLOY registry: Cartken Courier (Cartken builds both physical robots and the AI that runs them).
- Is Cartken publicly traded?
- No. Cartken is privately held and not publicly traded, per the DEPLOY registry.
- Who competes with Cartken?
- On the DEPLOY registry, peer companies to Cartken building in the same form factors include Amazon, Avride, Coco Robotics, Daxbot.
- Who is the CEO of Cartken?
- Christian Bersch is the ceo of Cartken, per the DEPLOY registry.
- How can I invest in Cartken?
- Cartken is a private company; its shares are not available on public markets, so retail investors cannot buy the stock today. It has raised $20M in disclosed funding.
- Where is Cartken headquartered?
- Cartken is headquartered in Oakland, California, USA.
- How much funding has Cartken raised?
- Cartken has raised approximately $20M in disclosed funding on record in the DEPLOY registry.
- Who owns Cartken?
- Cartken is privately held and venture-backed ($20M raised); ownership sits with its founders and private investors.
- Where does Cartken operate robots?
- Cartken is a robot manufacturer and does not directly operate deployments on the DEPLOY registry. Its products are deployed by customer operators; see the company page for the verified deployment record.
- Is Cartken a top robotics company?
- On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, funding, hiring, media, safety, and IP signals, Cartken ranks in roughly the top 34% of companies tracked by the registry.
- When was Cartken founded?
- Cartken was founded in 2019.
- Is Cartken safe?
- Cartken has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.
Methodology: Verified · 4 sources (2 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-08
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-08
Sources by quality tier
- 2
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
- 1
- secondary-industry-publication
- Industry publication
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Cartken.Peer companies
- Amazon4 models
- Avride2 models
- Coco Robotics2 models
- Daxbot2 models
- Kiwibot2 models
- Serve Robotics2 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Cartken from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Why Cartken pivoted its focus from last-mile delivery to industrial robots - TechCrunch
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Cartken Hauler autonomous robot launched for material handling - Engineering.com
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Cartken autonomous robot facilitates indoor, outdoor material handling - CompositesWorld
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Robotics startup Cartken raises $22.5M to advance autonomous navigation - Tech.eu
<a href="https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiWkFVX3lxTFBDTUJwNGFRcDFqLXhFWjJhekVSLWFMaTBFT3RmckJjWjFDQmFRXzJ4Rlk4VUpYd0I5RzAwZEdCMFRiMF9zOVdRWDJFRXdZU2ZaTG9vVDRIdFNlZw?oc=5"…
From burritos to biotech: How robotics startup Cartken found its AV niche - TechCrunch
<a…
Uber Eats is launching a delivery service with Cartken’s sidewalk robots in Japan - TechCrunch
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University of Arizona Students Rank #2 for ‘Most Robot Deliveries’ - Tucson Foodie
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University of Arizona offers robotic delivery on campus - Chain Store Age
<a…
Cartken Robots Deliver More Than 50,000 Orders to Students at the University of Arizona - Business Wire
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Uber Eats, Cartken bring autonomous delivery robots to Virginia - Restaurant Dive
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Cartken, Uber Eats begin deliveries in Virginia - The Robot Report
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Uber Eats, Cartken debut autonomous robot delivery in Miami area - Restaurant Dive
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Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/cartken.md
- RSS feed: /companies/cartken/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/1dc678d5-852c-4568-9ace-5814efb7cc4b
- Revision history: /companies/cartken/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Amazon4 models
- Avride2 models
- Coco Robotics2 models
- Daxbot2 models
- Kiwibot2 models
- Serve Robotics2 models
Video
Reality vs attention
Cartken draws attention at the 66th percentile but verifies reality at the 25th percentile among sidewalk robots. Hype Gap +40.6, 1st widest among sidewalk robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 2 verified deployments. Funded with institutional backing on record. Deployment footprint remains limited relative to category peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Jul 18, 2026