Zipline raises $1.5B to build a nationwide drone delivery network

Walmart and Zipline are working to launch 300 additional sites under a new national multi-year agreement that could grow further[1]. Uber is targeting one million deliveries a day with Zipline by 2029[1]. Zipline says dozens of new businesses join its network weekly, and a cohort of long-tenured restaurants reported Zipline's share of their delivery revenue rising from 10.8% to 34.9% between March and October, with orders described as incremental rather than cannibalising other platforms[1].

Drone delivery is already routine in Zipline metros: more than one million deliveries have been completed in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex alone this year[1]. In October the median Zipline order arrived 19 minutes after checkout, compared with 30+ minutes for traditional delivery, and median bakery orders landed in 10 minutes[1]. Ten years after its first flights, Zipline reports 150 million commercial autonomous miles flown without a safety incident, and says its long-range medical deliveries help save more than 14,000 lives each year across multiple continents[1].

As it scales, Zipline has rolled out sound-optimised dynamic flying, an acoustics upgrade it calls an industry first for quieter, faster and more energy-efficient flights, plus next-generation aircraft designed to fly higher and quieter while carrying heavier orders over longer distances[1]. Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang called Zipline one of the largest autonomous robotics companies operating at scale with a strong consumer and merchant experience[1].

Ground delivery is squeezed by traffic, ageing infrastructure and rising costs. Zipline's pitch is that automated sky routes can widen the radius merchants serve without adding road congestion, and that a $1.5 billion war chest plus Walmart and Uber distribution is how that network goes national[1].