Serve Robotics, known for its curbside delivery robots, is branching out from its main focus of automated delivery solutions into restaurant kitchens with the acquisition of ‘Autocado’ technology seen in burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Serve said Thursday it will acquire Vebu, the company behind Autocado, an avocado processing robot that automates the cutting, scooping and removing of avocados. Chipotle has been testing the robot for several quarters and recently deployed the technology to locations in California.

The move will allow Serve to start working in restaurants and expand its reach in the restaurant industry, which it currently only serves through sidewalk robots that deliver food for Uber Eats.

San Francisco-based Serve also plans to sign more partners based on Autocado technology.

“We will definitely look to partner with more customers (restaurants) in the future,” CEO Ali Kashani said in an interview, adding that the company aims to be a “one-stop shop” for restaurant automation technology.

Separately, Serve also reported third-quarter results, where revenues fell more than 50 percent compared to the previous quarter due to a sharp decline in software services revenue. This caused the company’s shares to fall 9 percent in after-hours trading.

Kashani said Serve will more than double the number of restaurants it serves by the end of this year, and that its next-generation delivery robot will help it quickly scale from about 300 locations currently to 750 locations.

Serve reached an agreement with Uber Eats to deploy 2,000 robots by the end of 2025. On Thursday, Serve reported it was ahead of schedule on the initial production and rollout needed to hit the target, with a 23 percent sequential increase in the number of daily active robots. in the third quarter.

Serve, which completed its capital increase of $32.3 million this quarter, did not provide financial details about the Vebu agreement. Following the acquisition, Serve will integrate Vebu as a new business unit.