Two market leaders made a big bet on a small company, but they are far apart now.

The next time you see a food robot on wheels navigating its way across a cracked sidewalk or a challenging pedestrian-heavy crosswalk, look harder. There might be some big backers behind that little rolling automaton trying to get a lamb gyro to a hungry customer a few blocks away.

Nvidia ( NVDA 2.85% ) and Uber ( UBER 0.89% ) were early financial backers of Serve Robotics ( SERV 6.78% ) , a pioneer in delivery robotics . But it's not the only player in this niche, and there are other companies with lofty ambitions hoping to nail the last mile in urban delivery with a fleet of high-tech bots. Serve Robotics generated a mere $1.8 million in revenue for all of last year, and it had

See Full Page