Cartken and its diminutive sidewalk delivery robots first rolled into the world with a narrow charter: carrying everything from burritos and bento boxes to pizza and pad thai that last mile to hungry customers.
But the vision — thanks to the startup’s approach to autonomous vehicle technology — was always broader, according to Cartken co-founder and CEO Christian Bersch. From its earliest days, Bersch and the rest of the founding team saw an opportunity for its robots to navigate the outdoor environment of pedestrian-filled sidewalks and the indoor world of factories, labs, industrial buildings and even airports.


