Rivr (formerly Swiss-Mile) is pioneering General Physical AI by deploying robots in last-mile delivery, giving one human the power of 1,000 robots. By combining artificial neural networks with a wheeled-leg robot design, Rivr enhances efficiency, sustainability, and scalability in urban mobility in last-mile and last-100-yard delivery. Their mission to deploy 1M+ robots lays the foundation for the data flywheel that fuels robotic intelligence.
Following its rebranding, Rivr is already making headlines aims in the logistics industry. It has entered a strategic partnership with Evri, the UK’s largest dedicated parcel delivery company delivering more than 800 million parcels a year. With more than 8,000 employees, Evri has 2,000+ couriers as well as 10,000+ out of home locations and a growing network of state-of-the-art hubs and depots. Through this collaboration with Rivr, Evri will deploy the wheeled-legged robot for last-100-yard parcel deliveries for three months, beginning in Barnsley, South Yorkshire (England). If successful, the robots will be rolled out across the UK in the summer.
The partnership addresses a critical challenge in modern logistics: the last-100-yard bottleneck. Currently, delivery drivers can spend most of their time navigating short distances from their vans to customers' front doors, often managing multiple nearby drop-offs. RIVR’s autonomous robotic companion is designed to streamline this process by handling these final steps, reducing the need for repetitive short-distance walking, alleviating driver fatigue while increasing parcel throughput and efficiency. This solution allows drivers to focus on optimizing package organization for upcoming deliveries and customer interactions.
"With the exponential rise in e-commerce, optimizing last-mile logistics is more important than ever. Our partnership with Evri is a major step toward reimagining parcel delivery with robotics, enabling faster, more cost-effective, and driver-friendly solutions", said Marko Bjelonic, CEO of RIVR.
Founded in 2024 by robotics experts from ETH Zürich, the startup is backed by investors such as Jeff Bezos and HSG.
(Press release/RAN)