Oct 9 (Reuters) - Serve Robotics ( SERV ) said on

Thursday it is partnering with DoorDash ( DASH ) to deploy its

sidewalk robots to fulfill orders on the food delivery platform,

in a move to capture more customers and expand its reach beyond

Uber Eats.

The San Francisco-based robotics firm said customers

ordering via DoorDash ( DASH ) from select stores and restaurants in Los

Angeles may have their orders delivered by a Serve robot, adding

that it plans to expand its DoorDash ( DASH ) deliveries across the U.S.

Companies have increasingly been adopting automation for

last-mile deliveries to reduce labor costs and speed up service

times amid strong demand.

The tie-up with DoorDash ( DASH ), the top food delivery platform in

the country, will help Serve increase the volume of orders

available for its robots by tapping into merchants and customers

who use DoorDash ( DASH ) instead of Uber's ( UBER ) food delivery app.

So far, Serve has deployed its robots for deliveries solely

on Uber Eats, which it partnered with in 2021.

"This partnership enables us to go to cities where DoorDash ( DASH )

is the dominant player. Now that we have such a significant

fleet size, there's a very sizeable supply that we can provide

to companies... and we're looking for more demand, so that every

minute of every day, the robots have access to more jobs," Serve

co-founder and CEO Ali Kashani said in an interview.

The tie-up with DoorDash ( DASH ) will boost Serve's revenues once it

scales up to a level matching the Uber Eats partnership, he

added.

Serve currently operates in cities including Los Angeles,

Miami, Chicago and Atlanta through Uber Eats and has completed

over 100,000 deliveries from more than 2,500 restaurants.

The partnership comes days after DoorDash ( DASH ) unveiled its

in-house delivery robot, Dot, which can navigate bike lanes,

roads and sidewalks.

DoorDash ( DASH ) has also partnered with Alphabet's Wing

for drone deliveries.