Serve Robotics buys Austin's Diligent, pushing sidewalk delivery into hospitals
The ~$25.7M deal hands Serve the Moxi hospital robot and its first beachhead in indoor mobile manipulation.
AUSTIN — Serve Robotics, the autonomous sidewalk-delivery company spun out of Uber, has acquired Austin-based Diligent Robotics, maker of the Moxi hospital robot. The merger agreement was signed January 19 and closed January 27, at a preliminary purchase price of about $25.7 million including a contingent earnout, with the headline transaction value reported at $29 million in Serve stock plus up to $5.3 million in milestone payments.
Moxi is an autonomous delivery robot that ferries supplies and medications for nurses and hospital staff, deployed across more than 25 facilities — one of the larger commercial fleets of mobile manipulation robots working alongside people. The acquisition marks Serve's first move into indoor environments, mobile manipulation and healthcare, and extends its operational footprint to 44 cities across 14 states.
Why it matters
The deal is a tidy snapshot of where service robotics is consolidating: a publicly traded delivery player buying proven indoor autonomy rather than building it from scratch. For Diligent, founded by roboticists with deep Austin roots, it is an exit into a larger platform amid a brutal capital environment for hardware startups. Investors approved — Serve's stock climbed after the announcement.
The acquisition extends Serve's commercial operations and autonomy platform into indoor and healthcare applications that demand reliability, safety, and an unobtrusive presence.— Serve Robotics, company statement
Reported by Next in Austin. Based on reporting from Serve Robotics.
