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Thu Huong Le · · 4 min readEx-Grab VN head launches robotics startup
On February 25, 2014, Nguyen Tuan Anh stood alongside Grab co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan to launch GrabTaxi in Vietnam. Now, more than eight years later, the former Grab Vietnam executive is launching Alpha Asimov Robotics, his autonomous vehicle delivery startup.
The company’s goal? To automate and reduce the cost of last-mile delivery, which often contributes a large chunk to shipping fees.
Co-founders Nguyen Tuan Anh (left) and Le Anh Son posing with the startup’s prototype / Photo credit: Alpha Asimov Robotics
One estimation says last-mile delivery makes up 53% of shipping charges. Companies worldwide are also facing higher fuel costs and pressure to increase fees for workers.
See also: As gas prices soar, SEA logistics players brace for impact
But what if robots can be used to offload and support last-mile delivery?
In fact, that’s the idea behind Nguyen’s startup. The concept is not new and definitely not fictional.
Companies like Starship Technologies or Nuro are already doing this in selected cities in Europe and the US. Amazon Scout, the delivery robot of Amazon, can reportedly navigate the sidewalk and deliver parcels to its customers too.
Nguyen says his startup, which offers robots-as-a-service, would first target the food delivery segment. As an example, a pizza restaurant can use the robot to deliver to students on campus. Potentially, the service can be expanded to food delivery platforms as well.
A promising space
Nguyen has the credentials to back up his ideas. He used to work for Yahoo and managed a few other startup projects, but has been most well-known for building Grab’s operations in Vietnam from scratch.
During his years at Grab Vietnam, Nguyen led the country team to win approval for Grab to offer its car services as part of a government pilot program. He also spearheaded GrabBike’s Vietnam launch, which was the first of its kind in the region.
Following his departure from the super app in 2020 and a one-year stint at conglomerate VinGroup, Nguyen is now joining the Grab mafia network – a growing number of influential former Grab employees-turned-entrepreneurs, which Tech in Asia first chronicled here and updated in this analysis.
See also: Ex-Grab Philippines head seizes a generational opportunity with new startup
Having received initial funding from Touchstone Partners, Nguyen’s startup has built a prototype. The simple box-with-wheels robot, he says, can fit five pizzas or 10 bowls of phở (a Vietnamese signature dish).
Not for the faint at heart
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Nguyen Tuan Anh was instrumental in building Grab’s country operations in Vietnam.
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