Amazon is turning wheeled-legged robotics into an automated doorstep delivery layer
A strategic corporate acquisition and prior multi-million dollar seed rounds integrate European wheeled-legged locomotion systems into domestic e-commerce delivery networks.
The 25 Million Dollar Capital Base And Swiss-Mile Rebrand
Amazon acquired RIVR on March 19, 2026, absorbing the Zurich-based wheeled-legged robotics developer into its doorstep delivery automation pipeline. Before the transaction, the startup maintained commercial ties to Amazon through financial participation from the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund and Bezos Expeditions during a 2024 seed round. A 19.8 million euro seed round from Bezos Expeditions and HongShan accompanied a corporate rebranding from Swiss-Mile to RIVR. Total venture capital raised before the acquisition reached 25 million dollars, establishing a private market valuation of 100 million dollars.
The Last 100 Yard Austin Veho Route Run
Austin, Texas, served as the primary deployment site for a last 100 yard e-commerce delivery pilot that commenced on May 27, 2025. Run with logistics carrier Veho, the deployment used wheeled-legged platforms to transfer parcels from standard delivery vehicles directly to residential doorsteps. Supervised operations ran for five hours daily across several weeks using 1 robot platform.
RIVR ONE operates as the primary uncrewed hardware node within the final yard logistics framework. The physical asset carries a maximum structural payload of 30 kg, reaches a peak transit speed of 14 km/h, and delivers 30 km of operational range. The chassis uses active wheels for flat surface travel alongside independent legs to ascend stairs, step over curbs, and park across uneven terrain. Power distribution relies on an internal battery system requiring a recharge window of 3 hours.
RIVR Simulation And Remote Fleet Controls
Parallel GPU clusters execute reinforcement learning loops for onboard neural networks within virtual environments. Real-world supervised learning loops ingest localized camera imagery and active remote intervention telemetry data collected across field runs. Fleet management occurs via global operations software using cloud systems hosted on RIVR servers or legacy IT deployments managed by Amazon.
Marko Bjelonic serves as Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, directing an executive leadership team that includes Software CTO Lorenz Wellhausen, Hardware CTO Giorgio Valsecchi, and Chief Operating Officer Alexander Reske. The core engineering group originally established the company as a technical spin-out from the robotics laboratories of ETH Zurich. Public material does not show acquisition price, active unit delivery volumes, aggregate fleet deployments, site expansion outside the original pilot parameters, autonomy intervention rates, or field performance logs gathered inside Amazon.
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