Curbivore Recordings, Uber Launches Returns, Bird + Fastport Honda
Big industry news and must-watch videos from Curbivore 2026
The Curbivore Crew is still basking in the glow of another excellent event. Thank you so much to all the fantastic attendees and partners that made last week so special. But don’t just take my word for it, I’m delighted to hear attendees say things like: “Only at LA’s Curbivore can you dive into the future of transportation and have a robot deliver you a soda.”
If you missed last week’s event, dive into the best fits with our just-released sizzle reel.
We’ve also just released video recordings of all the panels, firesides and speeches from Curbivore 2026:
Resilient Streets, Cities & Mega Events – The Road from Today Until 2028
Beyond the Storefront: Successfully Navigating the On-Demand Era
Meet Dot: DoorDash’s Accelerated Autonomous Local Commerce Solution
Better Wheels, Smarter Apps & Higher Wages: The Future of Gig Work
Keep On Rolling: Electrifying, Scaling & Automating The Vehicles of Tomorrow
BIG NEWS SHARED FROM CURBIVORE’S STAGE
As always, Curbivore saw huge news launched from our main stage.
Uber’s Head of Grocery & Retail Partnerships, Beryl Sanders, launched Returns: a reverse logistics service that’s gone live with partners like Best Buy, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Pet Food Express, Pacsun, and Petco.
Listen in to my conversation with her, digging deep into third party delivery’s evolution from urban niche to worldwide must-have, on the latest edition of the podcast.
We also hosted the official partnership launch for Fastport Honda and Bird + Spin. The iconic micromobility operator will be incorporating those fetching equads into its field operations.
And of course, Curbivore also hosted the official launch for Ridepro Team, plus the U.S. launches of new delivery bots from Neubility and Robotis. Take a look at our fantastic photos from last week to see all the other cutting-edge mobility hardware on display.
Curbivore moves markets as well. We hosted a number of financial analysts, with Roth publishing its updated research on Lyft, Uber, Amazon, Alphabet and DoorDash.
HOT INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP
Finally hopping off the Curbivore stage, we’ve got plenty of industry news to catch you up on…
Coco heads north: Our friends at Coco Robotics have launched their latest market, bringing 20 bots to San Jose, CA. NorCal has been a bit less delivery bot friendly than SoCal, but DoorDash also recently launched its Dot bot in Fremont. (As discussed at Curbivore last week.) Coco is also partnering up with BlindSquare, providing robust data on hazards in the pedestrian right of way to the vision impaired.
Even bigger bots: Meanwhile, indiGOtech is taking its GO Bots to Belgium, as it partners with large retailer Colruyt Group’s Collect&Go service. (Indigo purchased bot-builder Clevon last year.)
Huge fundraising hauls: Slate Auto pulled in another $650M, in a Series C led by TWG Global, in its quest to bring affordable electric pickup trucks to the masses. Mappedin raised $24.5M to better map indoor spaces. Flock Safety is reportedly raising another round, after hauling in $275M last year: there’s always money in spy cameras! Glydways closed on $170M for its closed-route autonomous shuttle system. Overall EV funding sits at $3.57 billion YTD, up a bit YoY.
Not feeling the love in Philadelphia: Uber is fighting a proposal from the City of Philadelphia to add a $1 per ride tax to ridehail trips. The funds would go towards filling gaps in school district funding; I think this one would be an easier sell if the money went towards public transit or city infrastructure. Meanwhile, as predicted, rowdy cheese steak eaters have been beating up Avride’s delivery bots.
Red state transit: Omaha, Nebraska just started laying down rails for its new streetcar system, with a route that’s unfortunately rather duplicative of its sole BRT line. The city’s lofty vision is “Imagine an Omaha where people can park their car, then take the streetcar to shops, restaurants and entertainment venues without moving their vehicle more than once.” (Emphasis mine.) Meanwhile, Atlanta just inaugurated service on its first BRT line, which unfortunately still runs in mixed traffic for much of its route. And Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) is trying to kill a voter-approved light rail project in Austin, candidly noting “Austin is the blueberry in the tomato soup, and obviously the City Council has run amok and needs to be reined in.” Yay partisanship!
A few good links: Auto Marketplace shares its top takeaways from Curbivore 2026. Atoms officially purchases Pronto. Delivery worker Sergio Gustavo Ajche joined by Mamdani and Schumer at deliverista hub ribbon-cutting; here’s how it got built quickly. Quack: Avride squashes duck in Austin… talk about fowl play. No surprise: new research shows its more dangerous to be a pedestrian in areas with low foot traffic, not high. Malfunctioning electric busses leave South Florida transit operators high and dry. Pacific Surfliner adds new commuter-friendly train service. NYC adds protected bike lanes to 72nd Street. Tesla brings its not quite autonomous robotaxi service to Dallas and Houston. Capital offense: Uber ramps up AV spending to $10 billion, while buying new stake in Delivery Hero for €270M. Flytrex launches bigger drones for larger Little Caesars pizzas. NY Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie works to kill Stop Super Speeders bill. U.S. urban growth slows as immigrants stay away. SpaceX and CA Coastal Commission settle lawsuit. Can outdoor boozing reinvigorate California’s shopping districts? How to reinvigorate mid-sized cities’ downtowns. Bonjour hi: four new REM stations open in Montreal on May 18. LA Metro launches RFP for water taxi between San Pedro and Long Beach (can we extend it up to Santa Monica / Venice?)
See you next week!
- Jonah Bliss & The Curbivore Crew