PORT raises €14.5M to put robots on its London e-bike delivery hubs

PORT, a London company that runs 24 micro-hubs for delivery couriers, has raised €14.5 million in equity and debt in a round led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Balnord, Tech.eu reported on Nov. 10. The money doubles its total funding to €29 million and pays for its own "AI Driver" software and autonomous delivery vehicles.

PORT is building the robot last. Some of its 3,500 rental e-bikes carry NVIDIA-powered cameras and lidar that record kerbs, cyclists, traffic and drop-off points. PORT says the footage uploads over fibre when a bike returns to a hub and is mined for AI Driver training scenarios. "We believe robotised logistics does not start with the robot; it starts with the infrastructure, operations and data," said founder and chief executive Kamil Suda.

The hubs sit in underground car parks, warehouses and railway arches across London, Birmingham and Manchester, and they cover 92% of the area within a mile of London's Congestion Charge Zone. More than 50,000 riders have registered on PORT's platform, and its cargo bikes have delivered more than 300,000 parcels. Royal Mail already uses those cargo bikes, and the two companies are working on a robotic delivery system. PORT plans a micro-hub in central Paris next, its first site outside the UK.