Drone operator Zipline, which delivers urgent supplies to remote parts of Africa, has raised $250 million in new funding to expand its ‘instant logistics’ model to new markets and new geographies.
The company announced yesterday that it had raised $250 million from new investors Fidelity, Intercorp, Emerging Capital Partners and Reinvent Capital alongside its ongoing support from leading investors Baillie Gifford, Temasek, and Katalyst Ventures.
“With the new funding, we will continue to advance our integrated service, including our autonomy platform, aircraft, fulfilment systems, and operations. The funding will also fuel our continued expansion into new industries and geographies, transforming systems like healthcare and commerce with instant logistics, and strengthen our support of local communities and the partners we work with,” Zipline said.
The company said that since launching drone deliveries in Rwanda in 2016 it has created “the world’s largest automated on-demand delivery service, pioneering a new category of instant logistics”. “We’re incredibly proud of the impact we’ve had on the countries, partners, communities, and people we serve,” it stressed.
Over the past year, Zipline has expanded operations in Africa significantly. It expanded its service in Rwanda to offer the first 24/7 autonomous delivery service in the world, launched large-scale COVID-19 vaccine deliveries in Ghana and signed a partnership with that country’s Ministry of Health to serve four additional distribution centers that will cover 24 million people, 90% of the country’s population. In addition, it signed new partnerships with Nigeria’s Kaduna and Cross River States to deliver medical supplies, including vaccines, blood and medicines.
The company also partnered with Pfizer to design and test an end-to-end delivery solution to safely, efficiently, and equitably deliver all COVID-19 vaccines in countries where Zipline operates.
Elsewhere, Zipline entered Japan through a first-of-its-kind strategic operational partnership with Toyota Group and announced a partnership with Walmart to bring on-demand delivery of health and wellness products to the U.S.
Overall, the company has now surpassed ten million autonomous miles flown, two million vaccine doses distributed and over 150,000 commercial deliveries completed.
