Zipline has raised $1.5 billion in new funding and expanded its drone delivery partnership with Walmart, moves that push the autonomous logistics company’s valuation to $21.5 billion. The Walmart agreement is a multi-year deal to add 300 drone delivery sites across the United States, a sharp increase from the 21 active sites the two companies currently operate together. Walmart and Zipline have worked together on drone delivery since 2021.
The funding round was led by Paradigm, WCM Investment Management, and Layer Global. Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Uber, Tiger Global, J.P. Morgan, ARK Invest, and Salesforce Ventures also participated. Zipline said it will use the money to expand its U.S. manufacturing facilities and hire more workers as it builds out a nationwide drone delivery network.
Zipline’s delivery system includes its aircraft, launch and landing systems, and logistics software. Its home delivery service relies on Platform 2 drones, which are built to carry up to eight pounds within a 10-mile radius of customers. Larger Platform 1 drones handle long-range deliveries for enterprise, business, and government customers, covering up to 120 miles round trip.
The California-based company was founded in 2014 and began in Africa, delivering blood by autonomous drone in Rwanda before expanding to Ghana and Nigeria. Zipline started U.S. operations in 2020, flying medical equipment and supplies to Novant Health in North Carolina, and signed its first Walmart deal the following year. Its U.S. business gained momentum in 2022, when the Federal Aviation Administration granted Zipline Part 135 air carrier certification, clearing the company to conduct long-range commercial drone deliveries. Zipline has since secured additional partnerships, including one with Uber earlier this year.
Zipline’s drones now deliver food, retail, agricultural, and health products in five African countries, several U.S. cities, and Japan. The company said its share of delivery revenue rose from 10.8% to 34.9% between March and October of this year, and it intends for the new funding to drive that figure higher.
For U.S. customers and retailers, the Walmart expansion points to a broader footprint for drone-based deliveries, while the raise gives Zipline capital to scale domestic manufacturing and staffing. The company’s regulatory clearance and existing commercial relationships position it among the operators seeking to widen drone delivery beyond medical supplies into everyday retail and food orders.
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