Queue, a US startup developing a robotic pharmacy kiosk, secured $12.6 million in seed funding to expand its innovative system designed to dispense common medications quickly and at lower cost. The company plans a wide rollout in early 2027.
- Robotic kiosks dispense 280 common medications via smartphone QR code
- Medications cost 96% less to dispense than traditional pharmacies
- Funding supports product development and expansion with pharmacy partners
What happened
Queue, a company focused on revolutionizing medication dispensing, announced it has raised $12.6 million in seed funding led by AlleyCorp, bringing total funding to $18.6 million including earlier pre-seed rounds. The company unveiled its fully autonomous robotic pharmacy kiosk designed to make medication pickup faster and more convenient by allowing customers to verify prescriptions with a QR code on their phones.
The kiosks support a curated selection of roughly 280 commonly prescribed medications tailored to community needs and capable of reducing dispensing costs by 96% compared to traditional pharmacy models. Queue has deployed working prototypes and secured a contract with a major national pharmacy chain as part of early market validation.
Why it matters
The US pharmacy industry is under significant strain from ongoing labor shortages, with a projected gap in pharmacist availability due to fewer graduates and high staff turnover, especially within independent pharmacy networks. Queue’s automated kiosks provide a dual benefit by extending medication access in underserved or rural locations and relieving workload pressures in existing pharmacies by handling high-volume prescriptions efficiently.
This innovation responds to the growing demand for faster, more accessible pharmaceutical services and integrates AI to monitor inventory and automate refill requests. As pharmacies continue evolving beyond traditional storefronts, solutions like Queue’s can transform patient medication fulfillment and support a market valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
What to watch next
Queue plans to initiate a broad commercial rollout of its robotic pharmacy kiosks starting in January 2027. The company will use its new funding to accelerate product development, expand deployments with current pharmacy partners, and grow its engineering team focused on robotics, hardware, software, and pharmacy operations.
Industry observers will be interested in how quickly Queue can scale operations and integrate with pharmacy workflows amid regulatory environments governing medication dispensing. Adoption by additional pharmacy chains and extension into diverse retail and healthcare settings will be key indicators of impact and market acceptance.