2 hours ago - Economy

Zipline raises $1.5 billion to expand drone delivery

Dan Primack

Illustration of a drone carrying a pizza delivery box — Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

Zipline, a South San Francisco-based drone delivery service, on Thursday announced that it's raised $1.5 billion at a $21.5 billion post-money valuation. It also expanded its Walmart partnership.

Why it matters: Drone delivery may eventually supplant data centers as the target of local community ire against Big Tech, as evidenced by a recent battle between my hometown and Amazon.

Catcvh up quick: Zipline launched with long-range drones that could deliver medical supplies in Africa, including blood to Rwandan hospitals, and since has broadened to include short-range drones that can deliver food and other consumer goods.

Zoom in: Paradigm, WCM Investment Management, and Layer Global led the round, which alsi included investments from Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity, Uber, Tiger Global, JPMorgan, ARK Invest, and Salesforce Ventures.

Zipline and Walmart plan to launch up to 300 new sites, in addition to the 21 in operation today.

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Zipline raises $1.5 billion to expand drone delivery

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