PORT, the London company that rents e-bikes to delivery couriers from city micro-hubs, has raised €14.5M led by the EBRD and Balnord to build autonomous delivery robots.

The round, announced on 10 November, mixes equity and debt. Existing and new investors also took part. It doubles PORT's total funding to €29M, after an earlier €14.5M across pre-seed and seed.

PORT was founded in 2020 and is led by chief executive Kamil Suda, with Matas Simonavicius as chief technology officer and Dmitri Liberman as chief operating officer.

What does PORT do today?

PORT turns underused city space, such as underground car parks, warehouses and railway arches, into charging and storage hubs. Couriers subscribe to an e-bike and pick it up fully charged near delivery hotspots.

It runs 24 hubs across London, Manchester and Birmingham, covering 52,000 sq ft. In London, the hubs cover 92% of the area within a mile of the Congestion Charge zone.

More than 50,000 couriers have signed up, and the fleet of around 3,500 e-bikes has covered over 50 million km since 2024. Since adding trailers in September 2025, PORT's cargo bikes have delivered more than 300,000 parcels.

How will PORT build delivery robots?

Part of the fleet now carries NVIDIA-powered cameras and lidar. Every shift records real data on kerbs, cyclists and drop-off points across London.

When a bike returns to a hub, it uploads that data over fibre. PORT uses it to train an AI Driver for urban delivery, without running a separate test fleet.

The first robot will target parcel logistics. PORT has not shown the design yet. It is also launching a new robotic delivery system with Royal Mail.

Why does PORT think hubs matter more than robots?

Suda argues that you cannot rewire city logistics without reworking the infrastructure underneath it. In his view, robot hardware and autonomy software will become commodities, and distribution wins.

Ervin Luga, head of venture capital investments at the EBRD, said PORT's working business gives it a strong base for autonomous urban infrastructure and the real-world data layer the sector lacks.

Jack Clarkson, managing director of Out of Home at Royal Mail, said the partnership gives the postal service access to new technology to cut costs and meet sustainability goals.

Where does the money go?

Most of it funds robotics and autonomous systems. The rest goes into the core rental business, including a first hub in central Paris.

PORT has 76 staff across research, product, operations and field teams. The company says each delivery produces about 90% less carbon than a diesel van.

What this means for UK founders

PORT shows a route into robotics that does not start with a robot. It built a working ground business first, then turned that network into a data engine.

That matters in a sector where UK transport startup funding often goes to hardware-first companies that struggle to get real-world miles. It echoes Machenta's record UK robotics seed round, where training data was the core argument.

PORT also joins Bizztor's list of UK robotics companies to watch. The test now is whether its AI Driver can handle London streets well enough for Royal Mail to put parcels on it.