Why Serve Robotics Is Acquiring a Hospital Assistant Robot Company

Serve Robotics, the sidewalk delivery robot company backed by Nvidia and Uber, is entering a new business segment with its latest healthcare acquisition.

Los Angeles–based Serve Robotics announced on Tuesday that it is acquiring Diligent Robotics, a startup known for building hospital assistant robots called Moxi. These robots are designed to support hospital staff by handling tasks such as transporting lab samples, medical supplies, and other routine items. As part of the transaction, Diligent’s common stock has been valued at $29 million.

Diligent Robotics was founded in 2017 by Andrea Thomaz and Vivian Chu. Since its founding, the company has raised more than $75 million in venture capital funding, including a $25 million round completed in 2023.

The acquisition represents Serve’s first step beyond its core focus on food delivery. The company’s sidewalk delivery robots were initially developed by food delivery service Postmates in 2017. After Uber acquired Postmates, the robotics initiative continued under Uber’s umbrella before spinning out as an independent company in 2021. Serve later became a public company in April 2024 through a reverse merger.

Serve co-founder and chief executive Ali Kashani does not see the deal as a significant departure from the company’s original vision. While healthcare had not been an explicit area of focus, Kashani said that Diligent’s Moxi robot operates closely with Serve’s broader thesis on last-mile delivery and autonomous robots that can safely navigate spaces shared with people.

“This is a kind of a classic example of a prepared mind meets opportunity,” Kashani said in a recent interview with TechCrunch. “Robots that are moving among people is the broader opportunity for us. Once you solve the problem, which is how to get robots to seamlessly move among people as autonomous machines, then you can bring it to a lot of other environments. We knew that we wanted to do this someday.”

Kashani added that healthcare was not a predetermined target for expansion. Instead, the timing worked well for both companies, as Diligent was seeking to scale its operations while Serve was exploring new opportunities beyond its existing business.

“We love the team; they have very similar DNA to us, which is, rather than building in a lab, they build in real life,” Kashani said. “It just seems like it’s really aligned with our mission.”

Following the acquisition, Diligent Robotics will continue to operate with a significant degree of independence within Serve. According to Kashani, Diligent will leverage Serve’s software and internal tools as it scales its technology, while both companies collaborate and share technical resources.

Kashani emphasised that the move does not represent a pivot away from Serve’s core business, nor does it signal an aggressive acquisition strategy. Serve remains focused on its sidewalk delivery robots, though the company plans to remain open to partnerships or opportunities that align with its long-term goals.

Serve has significantly expanded its robot fleet, growing from about 100 units to more than 2,000 in 2025. The company also entered into a partnership with DoorDash in October to support certain deliveries in Los Angeles.

“Our sidewalk business is what’s fueling everything,” Kashani said. “It’s creating the technology. It’s one of the largest autonomous fleets in the world right now and developing that helps us create everything that we need in other applications.”