Seven Eleven, Newbility Collaborate on 'Autonomous Delivery Robot Service' Project

On the 26th, Seven Eleven signed a business agreement with Newbility, a startup specializing in autonomous driving robot software development, to introduce and commercialize autonomous delivery robot services. (From left) Kyungho Choi, CEO of Seven Eleven, Sangmin Lee, CEO of Newbility.

Agreement Signed for Introduction and Commercialization of Autonomous Delivery Robot Service
Plan to Pilot Operate Outdoor Autonomous Delivery Robot 'NewBee' in Q4, Assuming Commercialization

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] Convenience store Seven Eleven is promoting a near-distance delivery service project utilizing robots.

Seven Eleven announced on the 26th that it signed a business agreement with autonomous driving robot software startup 'Newbility' for the 'introduction and commercialization of autonomous delivery robot service.' The signing ceremony held at Seven Eleven headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, was attended by key officials from both companies, including Choi Kyung-ho, CEO of Seven Eleven, and Lee Sang-min, CEO of Newbility.

Through this agreement, Seven Eleven plans to pilot operate a near-distance delivery service using Newbility's outdoor autonomous delivery robot 'NewBee' within the fourth quarter. The pilot operation will be conducted mainly in residential commercial areas in the metropolitan area, assuming commercialization.

Newbility's delivery robot 'NewBee' is equipped with a camera-based autonomous driving system, demonstrating excellent autonomous driving performance in urban areas while maintaining price competitiveness. Compared to LiDAR-based autonomous driving solutions, Newbility's multi-camera system costs about one-tenth of the development expenses. The company explained that since reducing the cost burden on small business owners is key to robot delivery services, price competitiveness was prioritized from the start.

Another strength is its ability to reliably perform autonomous delivery missions even in complex urban environments or adverse weather conditions such as rain and snow. In urban areas like Gangnam, Seoul, where there are many high-rise buildings, existing GPS-based autonomous driving systems may not work well, and the area is often crowded with pedestrians and bicycles. The NewBee delivery robot integrates not only a multi-camera system but also various sensor technologies to enable accurate location estimation, obstacle recognition, and avoidance in urban settings.

Lee Sang-min, CEO of Newbility, said, "Collaboration with Seven Eleven is the first last-mile robot delivery case attempted in the domestic retail industry and is expected to be a catalyst for the commercialization of robot delivery services. We will continue to ensure that customers frequently encounter the delivery robot NewBee in their daily lives through various collaborative cases."

Choi Kyung-ho, CEO of Seven Eleven, stated, "Newbility is currently the most advanced startup in delivery robot technology in Korea, making it the optimal partner for this project plan. Based on this, we plan to stably establish the next-generation delivery service model for convenience stores, and both companies will further cooperate on innovative activities that can enhance franchisees' operational convenience and profitability."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.