Coco, a company that offers food deliveries by remote-controlled robot, has expanded beyond its home base of Los Angeles for the first time. The service is now available in Austin as it commences a nationwide rollout. Coco plans to bring its robots to Dallas, Houston and Miami in the next few months.

The company says its service, which debuted in 2020, now has hundreds of delivery robots on the streets of LA, covering all of the city's major neighborhoods. Coco claims to reduce costs and deliver food to customers 30 percent faster than traditional methods with an on-time delivery rate of 97 percent. It partnered with 10 Austin restaurants and chains at the outset, and will offer deliveries in the South Lamar, South Congress, South Austin, Downtown, Northside, North Loop and Domain neighborhoods from the jump.

Other robot delivery services — such as Yandex, Serve Robotics (a former division of Postmates) and Nuro — have adopted the self-driving approach. Coco's robots, on the other hand, are controlled by employees who work from home.