Zipline raises $1.5B in funding to expand drone delivery

Delivery and logistics firm Zipline secured $1.5 billion in funding, achieving a $21.5 billion valuation after the investment. Paradigm, WCM Investment Management, and Layer Global spearheaded the round, while Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity Management and Research Company, and additional investors contributed.

The company operates an autonomous drone delivery service, flying blood, vaccines, and medical supplies to health facilities and delivering medication to patients’ homes. Zipline will use the funds to expand its U.S. manufacturing and workforce nationwide.

Matt Huang, cofounder and managing partner of Paradigm, said, “Zipline is now one of the largest autonomous robotics companies in the world – operating with scale, safety, and a magical user experience for consumers and merchants.” Huang noted that large merchants are partnering with Zipline to use its delivery network.

Zipline has signed agreements with West African countries, including an eight-year deal with Côte d’Ivoire to grow its network from one distribution hub to 10. The company expects to cover 2,200 health facilities and 12 million people in the region. Rwanda also signed an expansion agreement with Zipline to build a nationwide network, enable urban drone delivery and establish an autonomous delivery testing center.

The West African initiative began when Zipline originally launched in the country in 2023. Following a 2025 announcement that it was awarded up to $150 million from the U.S. State Department to expand access to blood, vaccines and medicines across Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda, both countries signed further agreements. Ghana tapped Zipline last year to help maintain access to health supplies amid the disruptions to USAID’s supply chain, which the country’s president publicly announced as contributing to a projected shortfall of approximately $78 million for health programs.