Uber Spinout Serve is Acquiring Health Care Robotics Startup, Diligent

Last mile delivery firm, Serve Robotics on Tuesday announced plans to acquire Diligent Robotics Founded in 2017, Austin-based Diligent has grown into one of the better known robotics startups in the patient-facing healthcare space. 

The company’s Moxi robot has been deployed at 25 hospitals across the U.S., offering assistance to nurses and other health care workers. According to the company, the robot has made 1.25 million deliveries to date. 

Serve, meanwhile, spun out of Uber in 2021. The company currently has 2,000 robots deployed in U.S. markets that have made north of 100,000 deliveries combined. Existing customers include 7-11 and former owner, Uber. 

In a release tied to the news, cofounder and CEO, Andrea L. Thomaz stressed the limited resources at hand when Diligent was founded, just under a decade ago. The firm certainly preceded the current robotics and AI funding boom by several years, as well as a global pandemic that drove worldwide nursing shortages.

“By joining Serve, we can build on the autonomy and AI we’ve deployed across live hospital fleets and scale it faster, enabling more intelligent, capable robots in care environments,” said Thomaz. 

“Together, we’re unlocking the next phase of practical, real-world robotics and advancing a people-plus-robots model that prioritizes human impact.”Serve CEO Ali Kashani is framing the expected acquisition as an opportunity to expand into both indoor deliveries and the healthcare space. Hospitals can often be chaotic, high traffic environments, requiring Diligent to develop a robust autonomous navigation stack. 

The company has focused on other notable innovations, as well, including an arm capable of pressing elevator buttons, so Moxi can operate between floors.

"We’ve proven we can deploy robots safely and reliably at scale in complex urban environments. By extending our platform beyond sidewalks and into hospitals, we’re expanding where our Physical AI can operate, learn, and create value," says Kashani. "Over time, Serve and Moxi will share one autonomy stack, one data flywheel, and one operating system for robots that work alongside people across city sidewalks and critical institutions. This is how autonomy becomes infrastructure.”

Serve will pay out stock valued at $29 million to acquire the company, with a potential added $5.3 million, should undisclosed milestones be met. The deal is expected to close in Q1 of 2026, pending regulatory approval.