Tech & AI
Zipline Raises $1.5bn at $21.5bn Valuation as Walmart Adds 300 Drone Sites
The autonomous-delivery start-up has nearly tripled its valuation since January, with Uber and Walmart both committing to scale.
HedgeWeekly Tech & AI Desk ·
Zipline, the US drone-delivery company, announced on 5 November that it has raised $1.5bn at a post-money valuation of $21.5bn. Paradigm, WCM Investment Management and Layer Global led the round. Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity, Uber, Tiger Global, J.P. Morgan, ARK Invest and Salesforce Ventures also invested.
The valuation compares with $7.6bn in January, when Zipline raised more than $600m. Alongside the funding, the company signed a multi-year deal with Walmart to add 300 drone-delivery sites, starting with supercenters. The two already run 21 sites in Texas and Arkansas.
Zipline plans to put the capital into US manufacturing and hiring. Its factory near San Francisco International Airport can reportedly produce up to 20,000 aircraft a year, according to Bloomberg. Uber, an investor and partner, is targeting one million Zipline deliveries a day by the end of 2029.
Why it matters: autonomous delivery is one of the first physical uses of AI to attract large late-stage cheques despite a wobbly week for AI shares. For retailers such as Walmart and platforms such as Uber, the economics hinge on whether drone volumes can scale from 21 sites to hundreds. Watch for site-opening pace, per-delivery costs and any regulatory limits on flying beyond the pilot's line of sight.