US autonomous drone delivery and logistics startup Zipline has raised another $200 million, adding to its recent funding round originally announced in January.
“Things have moved a little faster than we expected,” founder and CEO Keller Cliffton said in a video message was published in X which provided a broader update on the company.
The additional funds, which included participation from a crypto investment firm Examplepushed Zipline’s recent Series H round to $800 million. Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Valor Equity Partners and Tiger Global participated in the initial tranche that valued the drone delivery startup at $7.6 billion.
Zipline has developed a drone delivery ecosystem that includes the aircraft, launch and landing systems, and logistics software. The company, founded in 2014, got its start in Africa, where it used its autonomous drones to deliver blood to Rwanda. Zipline has expanded its reach and what its drones are used for in recent years. Today, its drones deliver food, retail, agriculture and health products to five African countries, many cities in the United States and Japan.
The funds are being used to accelerate Zipline’s expansion into at least four US states this year. The company announced Houston, Phoenix and Seattle as new markets.
Zipline has seen significant growth in a home delivery service launched last year in the United States, Cliffton said in the video, noting that delivery volume growth exceeded its forecasts in January and February.
“We really expect to accelerate our growth in the next three months, relative to 2025,” he added. Clifton said the growth is being driven by customers who use the drones multiple times a day and to place larger orders.
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“In the last three weeks, we’ve actually seen the average amount of items per cart increase by more than 20% with customers ordering from Zipline consistently,” he said, adding that in response the company is doubling the number of brands on the app over the next 30 days.
Zipline’s home delivery service uses Zipline’s Platform 2 drones, which are designed to carry up to eight pounds and travel to customers within a 10-mile radius. Platform 1’s larger drones are used for long-range deliveries for businesses, enterprises and governments that can cover 120 miles round trip. The P2 platform launched in Pea Ridge, Arkansas and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with Walmart and more than a dozen restaurant brands.
The startup still plans to expand its services outside the United States. Clifton noted that Zipline just closed a new nationwide contract across Rwanda that will allow it to launch its Platform 2 autonomous drone delivery service in major cities there. Zipline is also opening a third distribution center to help it serve every single hospital and healthcare facility across the country, Cliffton said.
