Expansion builds on a successful Jersey City pilot, scaling AI-powered robot delivery across the city
NEW YORK and AUSTIN, TX (October 21, 2026) – Wonder is expanding its partnership with autonomous technology developer Avride to scale AI-powered robot delivery across Jersey City and Hoboken in New Jersey, Arlington County in Virginia and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The expansion brings autonomous delivery to dozens of additional merchants on the Grubhub marketplace, including at least one Wonder location in each market, with more to be added over time. This marks a significant step toward bringing the technology to dense urban neighborhoods at scale.
The expansion builds on strong momentum from Wonder and Avride’s Jersey City pilot, which launched a year ago in October 2025 and marked the first time Wonder enabled autonomous delivery on its marketplace beyond Grubhub’s college campus operations. Since launch, nearly 20 percent of deliveries from Wonder’s Jersey City location have been completed by robots. The program has demonstrated strong customer adoption and the potential for autonomous delivery to operate reliably at scale in urban markets.
“This expansion reflects our belief that the future of food delivery will be faster, smarter and increasingly powered by technology,” said PJ Poykayil, EVP of Customer Delivery Operations at Wonder. “As we scale our Jersey City pilot and expand to Hoboken, Arlington and Philadelphia, we’re bringing autonomous delivery to more merchants on the Grubhub marketplace – unlocking new efficiencies while creating a more seamless experience for customers.”
Through the expanded partnership, customers ordering from eligible restaurants on the Grubhub marketplace may be assigned a robot for delivery if they opt in and their address falls within the service area. The experience is seamlessly integrated into the Grubhub platform, enabling customers to use the same familiar ordering flow.
For restaurants that opt in, robot delivery offers a simple way to enhance operations without added complexity. By helping streamline pickups and improve efficiency during peak periods, the technology supports a smoother experience for both staff and customers. Restaurants can easily integrate robot delivery with access to training and support. The solution helps restaurants meet evolving consumer expectations while offering a unique, innovative delivery experience at no additional cost.
“Saying yes to Grubhub and Avride was a no-brainer,” said Catherine Willhoit, Co-Founder of The Hive. “As a growing coffee and bakeshop, we’re always looking for ways to give our customers a great experience from our counter to their front door. The robots are easy for our team to use and efficiently deliver our orders, and we'd be lying if we said we weren't slightly excited every time we load an order into their cabins. It's also pretty wild watching our cinnamon rolls and drinks cruise through the streets of Jersey City all on their own."
Wonder and Avride have worked diligently to responsibly introduce and scale autonomous delivery, ensuring the program centers on local standards and community needs. Through ongoing collaboration, the partners have aligned on safety protocols, operating guidelines and thoughtful deployment to integrate the robots seamlessly into existing urban infrastructure. That approach reflects a shared commitment to innovation, accessibility and enhancing the delivery experience for all members of the community.
The robots deployed in this expansion feature Avride’s latest fully autonomous driving technology, designed to navigate complex urban environments with precision. Powered by AI, the robots can make real-time routing decisions, adapt to dynamic sidewalk conditions and operate in varied weather environments completely on their own. Their compact design and agile four-wheel chassis allow for smooth maneuverability – even in dense, high-traffic areas.
"We are excited to build on our successful track record with Wonder as we expand our collaboration with both Wonder and the Grubhub marketplace,” said Dmitry Polishchuk, CEO of Avride. “Our fully autonomous technology, combined with our extensive experience operating delivery robots in dense urban environments, ensures that we can deliver a reliable, seamless service for our partners at scale."
As restaurants increasingly prioritize faster, more efficient and cost-effective delivery solutions, efforts to expand robot delivery will play an increasingly pivotal role in transforming last-mile delivery. Through Grubhub’s campus offering, Wonder and Avride continue to operate on dozens of campuses across the country, including the nation’s largest single-site robot food delivery program at The Ohio State University, with 120 robots completing up to 2,000 deliveries per day.
About Wonder
Wonder is a vertically integrated food technology platform built to make great food more accessible. From recipe development to kitchen robotics and autonomous delivery, Wonder owns mealtime from end to end, bringing a level of consistency, quality and speed to new geographies and at price points unattainable by traditional restaurants and delivery platforms. Wonder offers in-house and chef-created concepts, iconic restaurant brands, local restaurants for delivery nationwide and at-home meal kits in one seamless customer experience, with the aim of becoming the world's first choice for every meal. To learn more, visit the Wonder Newsroom and LinkedIn page.
About Avride
Avride is a U.S.-based autonomous vehicle startup headquartered in Austin, TX, with additional R&D hubs around the world. The company develops and operates both autonomous cars and delivery robots that share technologies and mutually benefit from each other’s advancements — a unique approach in the industry. Since 2017, Avride has been building expertise in autonomous technologies to create solutions that address current needs and anticipate future demands. Today, its delivery robots and robotaxis are actively fulfilling commercial orders in the U.S. and internationally, proving the scalability and reliability of Avride’s technology.