Zipline International Inc. raised $1.5 billion at a $21.5 billion post-money valuation, betting that retail and ride-hailing partners will turn drone delivery from a pilot project into a national network.
The round announced Thursday was led by Paradigm, WCM Investment Management and Layer Global. Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity Management & Research, Uber Technologies, Tiger Global, JPMorgan, ARK Invest and Salesforce Ventures were among the participants.
Retail and ride-hail scale
Walmart agreed to a multi-year expansion that will take Zipline from 21 active sites to more than 300. Uber said it is targeting 1 million Zipline-powered deliveries a day by 2029. Zipline said its Dallas market alone has already handled more than 1 million deliveries this year, with a median order arriving in 19 minutes.
The company said the new capital will fund U.S. manufacturing capacity and hiring as it builds out the denser network those partners need. Autonomous delivery has drawn fresh investor interest as regulators clear more urban corridors and retailers look for alternatives to expensive last-mile vans.
A crowded autonomy race
Zipline started by flying medical supplies in Africa and has since pushed into U.S. grocery and convenience delivery. The $21.5 billion valuation puts it among the most richly priced private logistics-technology companies and comes the same week that defense-autonomy rival Shield AI raised money at $28.8 billion to buy a radar maker.
Whether the retail volume materializes will depend on weather reliability, local permitting and the cost per drop. For now, the financing gives Zipline runway to chase the Walmart and Uber targets without returning to the market soon.
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