Drone delivery specialist Zipline has announced a $1.5 billion funding round at a $21.5 billion post-money valuation. The investment was led by Paradigm, WCM Investment Management, and Layer Global, with participation from Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Uber, Tiger Global, J.P. Morgan, ARK Invest, and Salesforce Ventures.
Zipline plans to use the capital to expand its US manufacturing facilities and ramp up hiring as it builds a drone delivery network across the country. In conjunction with its expansion, Walmart and Zipline are collaborating to launch 300 additional sites under a new national multi-year agreement that carries the potential to grow further. Additionally, Uber is targeting one million deliveries a day with Zipline by 2029.
Matt Huang, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Paradigm, stated that Zipline is now one of the largest autonomous robotics companies in the world, operating with scale, safety, and a magical user experience for consumers and merchants. Alan Tu, Portfolio Manager at WCM Investment Management, noted that Zipline has built a team and culture that has been developing cutting-edge drone delivery capabilities for over 10 years, representing a generational improvement in user experience within e-commerce and food delivery.
Anton Levy, Founder and Managing Partner of Layer Global, said Zipline has already brought the future of delivery to the communities it serves and now has the opportunity to reach millions more. Levy added that with partners like Uber and Walmart, along with a repeatable model for entering new markets, Zipline is well positioned to make drone delivery a mainstream part of everyday life.
Also reported by Webrazzi, Unmanned Airspace, DroneXL and DroneLife
