Cartken is pivoting hard into industrial robotics after food delivery success. The startup’s four-wheel delivery bots, already running on U.S. campuses and Tokyo streets, are now hauling heavy loads inside factories and labs.
The shift started when German manufacturer ZF Lifetec became Cartken’s first big industrial customer in 2023. Their delivery bot, the Cartken Courier, repurposed to move production samples, quickly became the company’s busiest robot.
Cartken CEO Christian Bersch said the industrial use case showed “real market need” and boosted the startup’s confidence to push beyond food delivery. 
“Our food delivery robot started moving production samples around, and it’s quickly turned into our busiest robot of all,”
Bersch said.“That’s when we said, hey, there’s like real use cases and real market need behind it, and that’s when we started targeting that segment more and more.”
Cartken’s robot AI, trained on years of navigating crowded streets and campuses, was easily adapted for indoor/outdoor factory settings. The bots can dodge obstacles and handle different terrains and weather, thanks to data from Tokyo’s busy streets.
The company raised over $20 million, and recently rolled out new industrial-focused robots: the Cartken Hauler, a beefier load carrier with a 660-pound capacity, plus the Cartken Runner for indoor jobs. They’re also working on a robotic forklift.
Bersch said the AI stack transfers easily between models:
“We have a navigation stack that is parameterizable for different robot sizes,”
he explained.“All the AI and machine learning and training that went into that is like transferring directly to the other robots.”
Cartken is expanding a four-year partnership with Mitsubishi’s Melco Mobility Solutions. Melco just ordered nearly 100 Cartken Hauler robots for use in Japanese factories.
Bersch highlighted broad interest across industries:
“We’re definitely seeing a lot of traction across various industrial and corporate sites, from automotive companies to pharmaceutical to chemical,”
he said.“All these companies typically have people moving stuff from one building to another, whether it’s being by hand, on a cart, or a small forklift, and that is really what we’re targeting.”
Cartken will keep its food delivery business alive but won’t grow it. Instead, they’ll run tests on existing routes while driving industrial robot deployments forward.
Cartken is betting its future on factories, not food.
