Serve expands into hospitals with Diligent acquisition

Serve Robotics’ $29M deal for Diligent shows hospitals are moving beyond pilots and committing to automation at scale

26 Jan 2026

Hospital robotics is growing up. After years of trials and limited rollouts, healthcare providers are starting to commit real money to automation. Vendors are responding by expanding faster and buying capabilities they cannot afford to build alone.

Serve Robotics’ plan to acquire Diligent Robotics for $29 million in stock, with up to $5.3 million tied to performance, fits that pattern. Expected to close in Q1 2026, the deal pulls Serve beyond its roots in sidewalk delivery and into the day to day operations of hospitals, where staffing gaps and rising workloads are forcing hard decisions.

Diligent is known for Moxi, a hospital assistant robot already working inside U.S. medical centers. Moxi handles routine transport tasks, moving supplies, specimens, and materials between departments. These jobs are not glamorous, but they quietly consume hours of staff time. Offloading them can give nurses and support teams more space to focus on patients.

The acquisition also reflects a shift in what hospitals are asking for. Many no longer want a single robot and a hopeful pilot. They want systems that can scale across buildings, backed by deployment support, maintenance, and predictable performance. In short, they want automation that behaves like infrastructure, not a science project.

Industry watchers describe this as a move toward full stack autonomy. That means owning the hardware, the software, and the operational layer needed to manage fleets, not just a handful of machines. Serve and Diligent both build on NVIDIA processors, a reminder that modern robotics is tightly linked to larger tech ecosystems.

The bar, however, is rising. Hospitals expect reliability, strong security, and compliance with strict privacy rules. Buyers want evidence that robots cut delays, reduce costs, and improve workflows, not just slick demos.

Still, the direction is hard to miss. As hospitals shift from pilots to procurement, robotics companies are consolidating and competing for long term contracts. Serve’s move signals that healthcare robotics is entering a more serious, and more demanding, phase.