Zipline Raises $1.5 Billion at $21.5 Billion Valuation
Drone delivery startup Zipline has raised $1.5 billion at a $21.5 billion valuation and will add 300 new Walmart drone delivery sites across the US.
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giftdetect· the right gift in minutesDrone delivery startup Zipline has raised $1.5 billion, lifting its valuation to $21.5 billion. Paradigm, WCM Investment Management and Layer Global led the round, with Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Uber, Tiger Global, J.P. Morgan, ARK Invest and Salesforce Ventures also participating.
The company plans to use the money to expand its US manufacturing facilities, grow its team and build a nationwide drone delivery network. In January 2026 Zipline raised more than $600 million at a $7.6 billion valuation, and in March it took in another $200 million, so its valuation has roughly tripled within a year.
300 new Walmart sites
Alongside the funding, Zipline announced a significantly expanded partnership with Walmart. Under a new multi-year agreement, the two companies will launch 300 new drone delivery sites across the US. They currently operate 21 active sites together, having started working together in 2021.
From Rwanda to the US
Founded in 2014, Zipline began by carrying blood and medical supplies to hospitals in Rwanda, then expanded to Ghana and Nigeria. Its first US operation came in 2020 in North Carolina, delivering medical supplies for Novant Health. In 2022 it received a Part 135 air carrier certificate from the FAA, clearing a key regulatory hurdle for long-range commercial drone delivery. Today it delivers food, retail, agricultural and health products in five African countries, several US cities and Japan.
Its Platform 2 home-delivery drones carry up to about 3.6 kg within a 10-mile (about 16 km) radius. Platform 1, used for longer enterprise and public-sector deliveries, covers roughly 120 miles (193 km) round trip.
According to Dealroom data, Zipline completed more than one million deliveries in the Dallas-Fort Worth area alone this year, and the median delivery time in October was 19 minutes. The company says it has flown over 150 million commercial autonomous miles without a safety incident, and that it is building a nationwide network in Côte d'Ivoire expected to serve more than 2,200 health facilities and 12 million people.
Rivals such as Amazon's Prime Air and Alphabet's Wing are also increasing their drone investments, which makes the new funding and the Walmart deal central to Zipline's push to scale commercial drone delivery in the US.
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