Zach Rash

Rash’s public résumé records founding and leading the UCLA Autonomous Vehicle Team from December 2016, working on campus autonomous fleets and vehicle-network communications.⁠[1]

Rash worked with UCLA’s Smart Grid Energy Research Center and CAEV consortium on reinforcement learning and autonomous navigation. UCLA confirms that research projects he ran with Brad formed Coco’s early basis.⁠[1][2]

His résumé lists a June–September 2018 internship in deep learning and infrastructure engineering at Focal Systems, including computer-vision evaluation and deployment.⁠[1]

Rash co-founded Coco with Brad Squicciarini, taking the CEO role while Brad led technology. The company initially served merchants and customers through short-distance delivery robots.⁠[3][1][4]

Coco completed a $36 million Series A under Rash’s leadership. Its legal counsel described remote piloting, locked compartments and field support as elements of the delivery model.⁠[5]

UCLA hosted alumnus Rash to discuss the path from research to a company, covering customer research, product–market fit, economics, supply chains and regulatory partnerships.⁠[2]

Rash represented Coco in announcing its Los Angeles Uber Eats partnership and subsequent DoorDash expansion in Los Angeles and Chicago.⁠[4][6]

In Coco’s financing announcement, Rash emphasized technology and business economics that work in current operations, with capital supporting AI development and global fleet expansion.⁠[7]

Rash worked with Niantic Spatial on localization, describing joint engineering to improve robot navigation in complex urban environments.⁠[8]

Rash announced the Deliveroo UK partnership, highlighting London’s delivery demand and sharing pavement-hazard data with BlindSquare to assist visually impaired pedestrians.⁠[9]