Drone delivery startup Zipline valued at $21.5 billion in latest funding round
Nov 5 : Zipline said on Thursday it has raised $1.5 billion in its latest funding round, valuing the US drone delivery startup at $21.5 billion post-money, nearly tripling its valuation in about 10 months.
The funding comes as competition in drone delivery intensifies, with companies expanding their delivery networks, although regulatory approvals and community concerns over noise and safety remain barriers to broader adoption.
The round was led by Paradigm, WCM Investment Management, and Layer Global and drew participation from Uber, Tiger Global and J.P. Morgan, among others.
The company plans to use the funding to expand its US manufacturing capacity, hire more workers and develop a nationwide drone delivery network.
Chief Executive Keller Cliffton told Reuters in an interview that Zipline had to develop much of its technology and manufacturing operation itself because there was no established drone-delivery supply chain to draw from.
"None of our customers care about drones. They care about teleportation, and so that meant that we had to do everything necessary on the back end to build this."
Cliffton said regulatory restrictions initially kept Zipline from launching commercially in its home market, prompting the company to begin operations overseas.​‌
"For the first 10 years from when we built the company, operating beyond visual line of sight was illegal in the US," he added. "It's the reason that we launched outside the US for the first eight years of our commercial operations."
Zipline, which operates across four continents, was valued at $7.6 billion when it raised $600 million earlier this year.
In August, the company partnered with Uber to bring autonomous ​drone delivery to Uber Eats customers, with the ride-hailing giant also taking a strategic stake at an undisclosed valuation.
Amazon, meanwhile, also plans to expand its drone-delivery service from 11 locations to about 500 US locales by year-end.
