Zipline Raises $1.5 Billion at $21.5 Billion Valuation as Walmart Triples Down

Zipline raised $1.5 billion and now carries a $21.5 billion valuation. The company announced the round alongside a multi-year agreement with Walmart to add 300 drone delivery sites across the United States — a sharp jump from the 21 active sites the two partners operate today.

The two deals, announced Thursday, lift the profile of the autonomous drone delivery and logistics startup and mark its biggest commercial expansion since it entered the U.S. market.

Who put up the money?

Paradigm, WCM Investment Management and Layer Global led the $1.5 billion round. A long list of investors joined: Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Uber, Tiger Global, J.P. Morgan, ARK Invest and Salesforce Ventures.

The presence of Uber is notable. Zipline struck a partnership with the ride-hailing and delivery giant earlier this year, one of several deals it has locked in since clearing its key regulatory hurdle.

What will Zipline do with the cash?

The company plans to expand its U.S. manufacturing facilities and hire more workers. The goal is a nationwide drone delivery network.

Zipline has built a full delivery ecosystem, not just aircraft. Its stack includes the drones themselves, launch and landing systems, and logistics software. That vertical integration is what the new capital will scale.

How did Zipline get here?

The company was founded in 2014 and started in Africa, delivering blood in Rwanda with autonomous drones. It later expanded to Ghana and Nigeria.

The California-based firm began U.S. operations in 2020, ferrying medical equipment and supplies to Novant Health in North Carolina. In 2021, it signed its first drone delivery agreement with Walmart — the relationship Thursday's deal massively expands.

The turning point came in 2022. Zipline received its Part 135 air carrier certification from the Federal Aviation Administration that year, a critical regulatory hurdle that authorized the company to complete long-range commercial drone deliveries.

What do the drones actually carry?

Zipline now delivers food, retail, agricultural and health products in five African countries, several U.S. cities and Japan.

It flies two platforms:

• Platform 2 handles home delivery. These drones carry up to eight pounds and serve customers within a 10-mile radius.
• Platform 1 handles long-range work for enterprise, business and government clients, covering 120 miles round trip.

What do the revenue numbers show?

Zipline said Thursday that its share of delivery revenue grew from 10.8% to 34.9% between March and October of this year. That is a more than threefold increase in seven months.

The company frames the new funding as a way to push that metric higher still. The Walmart expansion gives it the site density to do so: 300 sites spread across the United States would make Zipline's network a mainstream delivery channel rather than a pilot project.

The bet now rests on execution — building the sites, manufacturing the aircraft and converting a $21.5 billion valuation into sustained delivery growth.