Sept 4 (Reuters) - Avride said on Thursday it is scaling

up the testing of its vehicles in Dallas, as the autonomous

technology startup prepares to launch robotaxis on Uber ( UBER )

.

Autonomous technology companies have been entering into

partnerships with ride-hailing and delivery startups to

commercialize robotic food deliveries.

Avride had announced a broader partnership with Uber ( UBER ) in

October last year and its delivery robots were launched on the

Uber Eats platform in Austin in November which were later

expanded to Dallas and Jersey City.

By the end of the year, Avride's autonomous vehicles will

join the Uber ( UBER ) platform as robotaxis, bringing both the startup's

products to the same platform.

"Soon, Uber ( UBER ) riders will have a new way to move around the

city, marking another step toward making autonomous

transportation part of everyday life," said Sarfraz Maredia,

Uber's ( UBER ) head of autonomous mobility & delivery.

The robotaxi fleet in Dallas will leverage Hyundai Motor's ( HYMLF )

cutting-edge IONIQ 5 EV platform, integrated with

Avride's autonomous driving technology.

Avride partnered with Hyundai to expand its fleet of

robotaxis in March this year, and signed a deal with the South

Korean automaker to jointly develop and operate self-driving

vehicles.

The startup has also collaborated with food delivery company

Grubhub to deploy its robots on college campuses across the

United States.