Amazon buys RIVR and its delivery robots

(CONNECT) RIVR Technologies is now part of Amazon. This has now been announced by Marko Bjelonic, CEO and co-founder of the Zurich-based company. "This step will accelerate our vision to develop General Physical AI through doorstep delivery and bring robotics and AI closer to real-world use on a large scale," says Bjelonic. "I am incredibly proud of what RIVR has built and even more excited about what we will achieve next at Amazon."

The delivery robot from RIVR, a spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich founded in 2023, is designed for doorstep delivery. It travels on four hoofed legs and resembles a dog in stature. It can drive autonomously to its destination, climb stairs and carry loads of up to 60 kilograms. Its Physical AI combines AI algorithms with sensors, cameras and actuators to enable machines to perceive and interpret their environment and act autonomously.

The young company changed its name from Swiss-Mile to RIVR Technologies in January 2025. RIVR had reported that RIVR, in collaboration with Just Eat Takeaway.com, had started delivering meals in Zurich in August 2025. Until September last year, Swiss Post and Migros Online subjected the delivery robots from RIVR in Regensdorf ZH to a practical test lasting several months.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund had already invested in RIVR Technologies as part of a financing round in 2024. The final takeover should further increase interest in Switzerland as a hub for robotics, speculates startupticker.ch. The Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund has already identified another promising start-up in Switzerland and invested in Algorized. The Lausanne-based start-up's technology enables robots to "see" through visual obstructions, dust and darkness. ce/mm