Old Dominion University adds Starship delivery robots, ordered through Grubhub

Previously

In Part 1, the University of Minnesota's dining operator started a city-approved pilot with Starship robots. Students paid a few dollars a delivery. A council member raised questions about delivery jobs.

August 2025 — Starship's robots have reached another campus. Here's what changed since Part 1 (December 2024), what it costs, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of Aug. 6, 2025)

Fleet: 11 robots, according to the university. (Robotics & Automation News)
Coverage: seven campus eateries, with delivery anywhere on campus. (ODU)
Price to students: a delivery fee paid by credit card, though meal-plan flex points can cover the food. The fee amount is not disclosed. (ODU)
Orders, contract cost and revenue: not disclosed.

What's changed

Minnesota's pilot used Starship's own app. ODU's service runs through Grubhub, which, according to the release, rolled out the service with Starship ahead of the fall semester. Students choose food in the Grubhub app, pick a delivery spot, follow the robot on a map and unlock it on arrival.

The release lists seven eateries: Chick-fil-A and Starbucks at both Webb Center and University Village, plus Panera Bread, Qdoba and Steak 'N Shake. It says ODU is "one of only three universities in Virginia" with the service but doesn't name the other two. Students, faculty and staff can all order.

"We are thrilled to be one of the few universities in the state offering expanded food delivery services on campus," said Shannon Hurt, ODU's assistant vice president for campus life services. "Feedback from students has shown a strong desire for this convenience." She added that the robots could become "a unique and engaging cultural addition to campus life, especially during special events like homecoming."

Meanwhile in Minneapolis

The Minnesota pilot didn't settle the labor question raised in Part 1. In February, the Star Tribune reported that the Minneapolis City Council was considering regulating the robots. It described a fleet of 12, according to Starship, and said a council committee wanted a report by April 9 on the robots' effect on workers. We found no published version of that report. Starship's robots keep spreading campus by campus. What each university decides, about fees, labor and data, shows up mostly in releases like ODU's, not in public contracts.

What the robots do, per the release

The release says Starship's zero-emission robots have traveled millions of miles (ODU). Each robot carries up to 20 pounds, "the equivalent of about three shopping bags of goods," according to the release. The robots cross streets, climb curbs and run at night, in rain and snow. A remote team "can take control at a moment's notice." The release says a delivery "usually takes just a matter of minutes," depending on the order and distance. It gives no average.

What went wrong

Stale company numbers. The release says Starship has made "more than 4 million" deliveries and makes "more than 140,000 road crossings every day." Ten weeks later, Starship's own release said over 9 million deliveries. We have not seen a source for the crossings figure.
No independent account. Every detail here comes from a release written by the university with its vendors. We found no student newspaper or local news report on the launch.
Fees unstated. The release says students pay the delivery fee by card but doesn't give the amount. Because flex points can't cover it, every robot order adds a cost outside the meal plan.
What we don't know yet: what ODU or its dining operator pays, how many orders the robots handle, and how long the contract runs.

Our follow-up question for Old Dominion University

How many deliveries have the robots made, what is the delivery fee, and how long does ODU's agreement with Starship and Grubhub run?

Later developments (added Oct. 2026)

On Oct. 15, 2025, Starship announced a $50 million Series C round led by Plural. It cited over 9 million deliveries and 2,700+ robots. (Starship)
On June 4, 2026, Starship said it would wind down its U.S. campus operations and move robots to city grocery delivery (Part 3). As of Oct. 25, 2026, we found no ODU statement on whether or when service ends there.

Sources

Jonah Grinkewitz, Old Dominion University, “ODU launches robot food delivery service,” Aug. 4, 2025. odu.edu
David Edwards, Robotics & Automation News, “Starship launches robot food delivery service at Old Dominion University,” Aug. 6, 2025. roboticsandautomationnews.com
Starship Technologies, “Starship Technologies Raises $50M Series C to Scale Autonomous Delivery Across U.S. Cities,” Oct. 15, 2025. starship.xyz
Deena Winter, Star Tribune, “Minneapolis City Council eyes regulating delivery robots at U of M,” Feb. 7, 2025. startribune.com
Starship Technologies, “Starship Technologies Doubles Down on Grocery,” June 4, 2026. starship.xyz
Earlier in this series: Part 1. /case/starship-sidewalk-robots-minneapolis

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder