From the Wall Street Journal, November 5:
Zipline Reaches $21.5 Billion Valuation as Drone Delivery Gains Traction
Startup expands partnership with Walmart to launch 300 additional sites
Zipline notched $1.5 billion in fresh funding, more than doubling the drone startup’s valuation from earlier this year to $21.5 billion.
Chief Executive Keller Cliffton, who co-founded Zipline in 2014, said the company’s skyrocketing valuation is a sign that autonomous delivery has finally gained wider acceptance among both investors and commercial partners.
Cliffton likens it to Waymo’s rapid rise in San Francisco. Drones similarly once felt like science fiction, and are now increasingly seen as the backbone of how cities will function, he said.
“It’s an inflection point,” Cliffton said in an interview. “It sort of happened overnight, and suddenly it’s totally normal.”
Zipline got its start delivering blood and medical supplies in Africa, a part of the business that the company says helps save more than 14,000 lives a year, and which is now growing faster than ever, according to Cliffton.
A newer piece of Zipline’s business, its commercial operations in the U.S., has also taken off. Up until just a few months ago, the company was targeting an eventual increase to one million drone deliveries a day, but now it’s seeing interest from three or four customers who each want to buy that kind of volume, Cliffton said.
“I think people have suddenly realized that teleportation-level logistics, where you can get whatever you need in 10 to 15 minutes, is a really big deal,” Cliffton said.
Among the recent customers are Uber Technologies, which signed a deal with Zipline in August to facilitate drone deliveries for takeout, grocery and retail orders on its Uber Eats platform.
And on Thursday, Walmart said it is expanding its existing partnership with Zipline, with the companies working together to launch 300 additional sites as part of a national multi-year agreement.
Zipline, which had a $7.85 billion valuation earlier this year, said it will use its new capital to keep up with the surging demand. It plans to expand its U.S. manufacturing facilities and ramp up hiring as it looks to build a drone-delivery network that spans nationwide. The company currently operates in three U.S. states—Texas, Arkansas and Ohio—with plans to soon launch in Arizona.
As it scales up, the South San Francisco, Calif., company will also continue to focus on upgrading its technology, Cliffton said.
Zipline recently rolled out new capabilities designed for quieter flying. It is also been working to allow its drones to fly higher, and carry heavier orders over longer distances.
“Zipline is an engineering company at its heart,” Cliffton said. “We focus on improving every single part of the service.”
Other players have also made headway in commercial drone delivery. Alphabet’s Wing unit similarly works with a number of restaurant, retail and healthcare partners, and delivery giant DoorDash is developing its own drones, along with related ground infrastructure and digital systems. Amazon also has its own in-house drone division offering delivery in select markets in the U.S.
....MUCH MORE
Huh, "...teleportation-level logistics"
