Autonomous last-mile delivery fleets expand across major US cities
Starship, Zipline, Serve Robotics, and DoorDash have collectively deployed thousands of autonomous robots and drones for commercial deliveries in over 150 locations.
Supply Chain & Fulfillment News
Warehouse automation and robotics including autonomous fulfillment, micro-fulfillment and store-attached automation, last-mile delivery and orchestration including autonomous delivery, supply-chain visibility, planning and orchestration software including provenance and traceability, freight and cross-border trade technology, reverse logistics and circular supply chain, and cold chain logistics.
GNC Uses Autonomous Drones To Boost Warehouse Inventory Accuracy
GNC deployed Corvus One autonomous drones in its warehouses, achieving 99.9% inventory accuracy and reallocating labor from cycle counting to higher-value tasks while reducing cold-storage exposure.
Happy Returns Launches AI-Powered Return Vision to Combat Fraud
Happy Returns has introduced Return Vision, an AI-driven tool that combines artificial intelligence with physical verification to address returns fraud ahead of the estimated $850 million in post-Christmas 2025 returns.
Shopify Integrates Deliverr For Elastic Warehouse Capacity
Shopify integrated Deliverr into its platform in 2025 to provide merchants with elastic warehouse capacity for more flexible and lower-cost fulfillment.
Agility Robotics' Digit moves 100,000 totes in live GXO facility
Agility Robotics' bipedal humanoid robot, Digit, has moved more than 100,000 totes in a live commercial GXO Logistics facility and is scheduled for deployment at Mercado Libre sites in San Antonio.
Loop raises $95M to unify supply chain data with AI
Supply-chain AI provider Loop has raised a $95M Series C to expand its platform across supplier, trade, compliance, warehouse, procurement, and inbound-logistics data.
Fabric opens two New York micro-fulfillment centers for non-grocery clients
Fabric, a robotic micro-fulfillment startup, opened fulfillment centers in Brooklyn and Long Island City to provide 1-2 hour delivery services to non-grocery clients.
Amazon Logistics deploys 100,000 Rivian electric delivery vehicles
Amazon Logistics is operating 100,000 Rivian electric delivery vehicles alongside renewable-energy-powered fulfillment centers as part of its net-zero logistics initiative.
Warehouse robotics shift from pilots to production scale
Amazon and DHL Supply Chain have moved autonomous mobile robots from pilot programs to production-scale deployment, with Amazon unveiling next-generation hardware for fragile item handling and European expansion.
Coco Robotics scales sidewalk delivery in five US cities
Coco Robotics has expanded its commercial last-mile delivery operations by scaling partnerships with Uber Eats and DoorDash to deploy remotely piloted sidewalk robots for food and grocery delivery in five major US cities.
Uber pilots drone deliveries with Flytrex for Uber Eats
Uber announced a September 2025 partnership with Flytrex to pilot drone deliveries for Uber Eats, leveraging Flytrex's 200,000+ completed US deliveries to build an end-to-end delivery experience.
Amazon hits one million robots; Locus launches autonomous fulfillment system
Amazon deployed its one-millionth robot across 300+ facilities in 2025, while Locus Robotics introduced Locus Array, a fully autonomous system designed to reduce manual labor by up to 90%.
Aurora launches first US driverless Class 8 trucking service
Aurora began operating a fully driverless Class 8 trucking service on public roads between Dallas and Houston in May 2025.
Flexport Acquires Shopify Logistics Operations
Flexport has acquired Shopify's logistics and fulfillment operations, integrating warehousing and e-commerce distribution into its freight-forwarding business.
Freehand raises $75M to automate Fortune 500 supply chain spend
Freehand closed a $75M Series B to scale autonomous AI agents that manage supply-chain spend, freight audits, and vendor negotiations for major enterprise clients.
Lyric raises $43.5M for AI supply chain decision platform
Lyric secured a $43.5M Series B led by Insight Partners to expand its AI-driven supply chain decision-making platform, which has achieved 500% revenue growth and a deployment with Mondelēz International.
OneRail raises $42M to optimize last-mile delivery and inventory
OneRail, a last-mile delivery software platform, raised a $42M Series C in November 2024, bringing its total funding to approximately $109M and projecting profitability for 2025.
DHL Supply Chain Acquires Inmar To Expand Reverse Logistics Network
DHL Supply Chain acquired Inmar Supply Chain Solutions in January 2025 to expand its reverse logistics capabilities for retail e-commerce returns.
DOE offers $12.5M for circular supply chain technologies
The U.S. Department of Energy announced a Circular Supply Chains Accelerator providing up to $12.5 million to commercialize circularity technologies for critical materials, with concept papers due in March 2025.
Also signs DoorDash deal and raises $200M for autonomous delivery
The autonomous-delivery vehicle company spun out of Rivian in March 2025 signed a second major logistics deal with DoorDash and closed a ~$200M Series C led by Greenoaks, bringing total funding to ~$505M.
Grocers Install Automated Micro-Fulfillment Centers In Stores
Major grocery retailers have launched automated micro-fulfillment centers inside physical stores to support same-day delivery operations.
Logistics VC funding drops 90% from 2021 peak
Venture capital investment in logistics fell nearly 90% between 2022 and 2023 from its 2021 peak of $25.6 billion, with software and last-mile segments remaining relatively attractive to investors.
Last-mile delivery startup formation drops to 10 in 2026
Only 10 new last-mile delivery startups were founded in 2026, compared to a historical average of approximately 21 per year.
Corporate venture arms lead last-mile delivery investment
Corporate venture arms have become the dominant investors in last-mile delivery, with top firms in the category having cumulatively deployed over $21.6 billion.
Ahold Delhaize pilots micro-fulfillment center in Philadelphia store
Ahold Delhaize is testing a modular micro-fulfillment center in a Philadelphia GIANT store that uses Swisslog SynQ software and AutoStore robotics to process over 15,000 weekly online orders from in-store space.
Gartner formalizes real-time transportation visibility as distinct market category
Gartner has established real-time transportation visibility as a formal market category, defining the segment by capabilities such as geofencing, multimodal tracking, and automated notifications.
Micro-fulfillment funding concentrates in established players
Capital in the micro-fulfillment sector is flowing to established companies, with Fabric raising $336 million for its Series C round.
Walmart signs $520M deal for automated store delivery systems
Walmart entered a $520 million program with Symbotic in February 2025 to build an automated delivery system for its stores.
Project44 acquires LunaPath.ai to enhance AI-driven supply chain visibility
Project44 has acquired LunaPath.ai to integrate advanced artificial intelligence capabilities for detecting and resolving transportation disruptions across its global shipment network.
Loop Returns raises $65M to expand AI-driven returns operations
Loop Returns has secured a $65M Series B investment to scale its artificial intelligence platform for managing e-commerce returns and launched a pre-purchase cost-hedging product called Offset.
Supply-chain visibility market consolidates around AI and multimodal tracking
The supply-chain visibility sector has matured into a consolidated market with 613 tracked startups, led by Project44 and FourKites competing on predictive analytics and SKU-level tracking.
Walgreens Automates 40% of Prescription Volume via Robotic Micro-Fulfillment
Walgreens operates 11 robotic micro-fulfillment centers that automate 40% of its prescription volume, reducing cost per fill by 13–14% and enabling rapid same-day delivery.
Last-mile delivery funding shifts to proven unit economics
Venture capital investment in last-mile delivery has declined from its 2021 peak, with major funds now prioritizing Series A–C companies that demonstrate delivery costs below two dollars per mile.
Last-mile delivery funding falls below 20% of 2021 peak
Venture capital investment in last-mile delivery has declined to less than 20% of its 2021 peak, with capital shifting toward specialized providers and software-enabled logistics.