Milestones
- Platform 1 begins blood delivery in RwandaOct 2016Complete.
- Platform 2 unveiledMar 2023Complete.
- One million commercial deliveries2024Complete.
- Home delivery with Walmart in Dallas–Fort WorthApr 2025Complete.
- More US citiesNowCurrent milestone.
Most important updates
- 21 Jan 2026
- Apr 2025
- 18 Sep 2023
- Mar 2023
- Oct 2016
Upcoming
- 2026Zipline plans to open home delivery in at least four new US states during 2026 (next)
Current obstacles
- WeatherStrong wind, rain and ice limit flights and reliability.
- Sharing the skyMany drones per city must avoid each other and crewed aircraft under changing FAA rules.
Physics limits
- Every gram of battery competes with a gram of parcelSmall drones carry about as much battery as payload. Batteries store about 40 times less energy per kilo than fuel, so doubling range roughly means halving what the drone can carry.
- Hovering to lower a parcel is the costly partHolding still in the air takes several times the power of wing-borne flight. The rope drop keeps the drone high, but the hover over the yard is still where much of each trip's energy goes.
- Light aircraft are at the mercy of windCruising near 100 km/h, a strong headwind can eat a large share of ground speed, and gusts push light airframes around. Weather, not technology alone, sets how many days drones can fly.
How it works
Dock
Wall chargers
Drones dock on chargers on store walls; staff load packages through a chute into the pod.
Flight
Flying on a wing
It lifts off vertically, flies on its wing, then hovers above the customer's address.
Drop
The pod on a rope
A pod with its own fans drops on a rope, steers onto the drop spot, releases the package and is reeled back up.
Spec sheet
| Spec | Platform 2 (P2) |
|---|---|
| Payload | ~8 lb (3.6 kg)R (reported) |
| Service radius | ~10 milesR (reported) |
| Delivery hover height | ~300 ftR (reported) |
| Total deliveries | 1M+R (reported) |
R reported by the company
Papers & demos
- Mar 2023demoPlatform 2 unveiled with tethered delivery droid (opens cnbc.com)A new design for near-silent, precise delivery to small spaces in busy neighbourhoods.
Update log
Wed 21 Jan
- Minor: BlogCommercial
Apr 2025
- Major: PressCommercial
Mon 18 Sep 2023
- Major: RegulatorRegulatory
Mar 2023
- Major: PressHardware
Oct 2016
- Major: PressCommercial
About Zipline
Zipline
Delivery drones, home delivery
Zipline builds and runs self-flying delivery drones. Its winged Platform 1 has flown medical supplies across Africa since 2016; Platform 2 hovers high over homes and lowers a small pod on a rope for quiet, precise drop-offs in US cities.
- Started delivering blood across Rwanda in 2016 and has made over a million deliveries.
- Platform 2 home delivery launched with Walmart in Dallas–Fort Worth in 2025.
- Raised about $600M in early 2026 at a $7.6B valuation, led by Valor Equity Partners.
- Founded
- 201412 yrs
- Headquarters
- United States
- Status
- Private
- Valuation
- $7.6BprivateMar 2026
- Raised
- $930M2 rounds
- Last round
- Growth round · $600MJan 2026$7.6B post
- Coverage
- 1 program · 6 updateslatest 21 Jan 2026checked 25 Sep
- Lead investors
- Valor Equity Partners
- Customers
- Walmart (opens corporate.walmart.com)Government of Rwanda (opens gov.rw)Government of Ghana
- People
- Keller Rinaudo ClifftonCo-founder and CEOKeenan WyrobekCo-founder