Company
Zipline
American autonomous drone-delivery company (South San Francisco, founded 2014 by Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, Keenan Wyrobek, Ryan Oksenhorn, and Will Hetzler).
- Founded
- 2014
- HQ
- South San Francisco, California, USA
- Status
- private
- Funding
- $600.0M
- Models
- 2
- Deployments
- 4
- Patents
- 7
Verified profile
17
Sources on record
1
Tracked changes
Updated 1 month ago
Last verified change
Overview
American autonomous drone-delivery company (South San Francisco, founded 2014 by Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, Keenan Wyrobek, Ryan Oksenhorn, and Will Hetzler). Began with medical delivery in Rwanda and Ghana and expanded to US commercial and healthcare delivery; surpassed 2 million commercial deliveries and raised over $600M in January 2026 at a $7.6B valuation. Operates under FAA Part 135 air-carrier certification.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 4 deployments on file
- Active incidents
- 1 incident on file
DEPLOY Intelligence
Market intelligence for physical AI
Analyst-grade signals, competitive tracking, and investment context across the global physical AI landscape. Launching 2026.
Models (2)
View all models →Current platform
Zipline Platform 2 (P2)
Zipline's second-generation precision-delivery system: a fixed-wing drone that hovers and lowers a tethered 'droid' to place packages accurately at homes and businesses. Powers the Walmart and US healthcare home-delivery rollouts.
Current platform
Zipline Platform 1 (Zip)
Zipline's fixed-wing long-range delivery drone ('Zip') that air-drops packages by parachute; the workhorse of its Rwanda/Ghana medical-delivery networks and long-range US routes. Millions of deliveries flown.
Relationships
Current leadership (6)
- Keenan Wyrobek Co-founder & CTO / Head of Product & Engineeringsecondary-verified
- Keenan Wyrobek Co-Founder & Head of Product/Engineeringsecondary-verified
- Keller Rinaudo Cliffton Co-founder & CEOsecondary-verified
- Ezra Czyzyk executivesince 2020-01-01secondary-verified
- Okeoma Morant executivesince 2019-01-01secondary-verified
- Keenan Wyrobek Co-Founder, CTO & Product Architectsince 2014-01-01secondary-verified
Founders (5)
- Keller Rinaudo Clifftoncofounderfounded 2014-01-01
- Keenan Wyrobekcofounderfounded 2014-01-01
- Will Hetzlercofounderfounded 2014-01-01no longer at company
- Ryan Oksenhorncofounderfounded 2014-01-01
- Keenan Wyrobekcofounderfounded 2014-01-01
Former / Previously (2)
- Matt Steckman Chief Revenue Officersecondary-verified
- Will Hetzler Co-founder & former COOsecondary-verified
Safety record
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Incidents affecting Zipline (1)
- Zipline delivery drone crashes in Muhanga District, Rwanda (Jul 2019)2019-07-01 · Malfunction
Includes incidents linked directly to this company, to its models, or to deployments of its models or under its operation. Retracted incidents are excluded from this view but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Operated deployments (4)
- Zipline Platform 1 (Zip)Ghana
- Zipline Platform 1 (Zip)Rwanda
- Zipline Platform 2 (P2)United States
- Zipline Platform 2 (P2)Texas
Operator customers (1)
- Zipline4 deployments
Brains developed (1)
- Zipline Autonomy (Acoustic Detect-and-Avoid)foundation-model · production
Recent coverage
Zipline in third-party press
Peer companies
- Anduril Industries7 models
- DJI7 models
- Amazon4 models
- Autel Robotics4 models
- Teledyne FLIR4 models
- AeroVironment3 models
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- growth
- Counterparty risk class
- low
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Partnerships (1)
- Zipline x Wonder with Wonderdeploymentannouncedreported, not operationally verified
Funding rounds (8)
- Series F2026-06-15
$600M(reported)
- Round (2026)2026-01-20
$600M(reported) · $7.6B post
Investors: Valor Equity Partners (lead), Tiger Global Management, Fidelity, Baillie Gifford
- Series F2023-04-01
$330M(reported) · $4.2B post
Investors: Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), GV (Google Ventures) (strategic), Temasek
- Series E2021-01-01
$250M(reported)
Investors: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) (lead), Sequoia Capital
- Series D2019-01-01
$190M(reported)
Investors: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) (lead), Sequoia Capital, GV (Google Ventures)
- Series C2018-01-01
$120M(reported)
- Series B2016-01-01
$25M(reported)
Investors: Visionnaire Ventures (lead), Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
- Series A2014-01-01
$2M(reported)
Regulatory filings (1)
- faa_actionfaa action · us_faacleared
Linked models: Zipline Platform 2 (P2)
Patent estate (7)
- US20240140629A1usptopendingassignee
- US20240017860A1usptopendingassignee
- US20240010336A1usptopendingassignee
- US20240428697A1usptopendingassignee
- USD1091457Susptograntedassignee
- US 10,856,891usptograntedgranted 2020-12-29assignee
- US 11,234,567usptograntedgranted 2022-02-15assignee
Sources (10)
- https://www.zipline.com/newsroom/zipline-surpasses-2-million-deliveries-raises-more-than-600m-to-power-next-phase-of-growth-and-expands-operations-to-houston-and-phoenix
- https://www.zipline.com/about/zipline-fact-sheet
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-20/drone-delivery-startup-zipline-hits-7-6-billion-valuation
- https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/21/zipline-charts-drone-delivery-expansion-with-600m-in-new-funding/
- https://www.therobotreport.com/zipline-raises-over-600m-in-funding-surpasses-2m-commercial-drone-deliveries/
- https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/23/zipline-snaps-up-another-200m-to-fuel-its-drone-delivery-expansion/
- https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/01/21/3222432/0/en/zipline-surpasses-2-million-deliveries-raises-more-than-600m.html
- https://fortune.com/2023/03/22/zipline-ceo-keller-rinaudo-cliffton-logistics-health-care-farmers-walmart/
- https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/26/zipline-begins-us-medical-delivery-with-uav-program-honed-in-africa/
- https://spectrum.ieee.org/in-the-air-with-ziplines-medical-delivery-drones
Common questions
- What is Zipline?
- American autonomous drone-delivery company (South San Francisco, founded 2014 by Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, Keenan Wyrobek, Ryan Oksenhorn, and Will Hetzler). Began with medical delivery in Rwanda and Ghana and expanded to US commercial and healthcare delivery; surpassed 2 million commercial deliveries and raised over $600M in January 2026 at a $7.6B valuation. Operates under FAA Part 135 air-carrier certification.
- Where is Zipline based?
- Zipline is based in South San Francisco, California, USA.
- When was Zipline founded?
- Zipline was founded in 2014.
- What does Zipline make?
- Zipline has 2 robot models on the DEPLOY registry: Zipline Platform 2 (P2), Zipline Platform 1 (Zip) (Zipline builds both physical robots and the AI that runs them).
- Where does Zipline operate robots?
- Zipline operates 4 verified deployments, including at Ghana, Rwanda, United States.
- Are there any incidents involving Zipline?
- 1 active incident involving Zipline is on the DEPLOY registry. Each is a sourced, append-only record; retracted incidents are suppressed from this view.
- Is Zipline safe?
- Zipline has 1 active incident on record in the DEPLOY registry. 1 incident on record. Most recent: Jul 2019. Retracted incidents are excluded from this count.
Methodology: Verified · 10 sources (3 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-03
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-03
Sources by quality tier
- 4
- secondary-industry-publication
- Industry publication
- 3
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
- 1
- secondary-established-publication
- Established publication
- 1
- secondary-trade-publication
- Trade publication
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Zipline.Peer companies
- Anduril Industries7 models
- DJI7 models
- Amazon4 models
- Autel Robotics4 models
- Teledyne FLIR4 models
- AeroVironment3 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Zipline from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Delivery Drone Market worth .65 billion by 2031
Delivery drone industry moving beyond pilot projects. Many organizations including drone delivery in long-term logistics plans.
Drone Delivery Could Cut Pollution. Can Communities Live With the Noise?
Inside Climate News: Electric drones could make small package deliveries cleaner. But communities in Richardson, TX complain about low flights and noise.
BayCare and Zipline to Launch Drone Delivery Service
BayCare announced a partnership with Zipline to build a healthcare drone delivery network in the Tampa Bay area, launching in late 2027 starting in St. Petersburg-Clearwater.
Wonder and Zipline plan drone meal delivery in Texas
Wonder and Zipline are launching drone meal delivery in Texas, highlighting the growing role of drones in commercial food delivery.
Wonder and Zipline Team Up to Bring Drone-Delivered Meals to Texas
Wonder and Zipline partnering for drone meal delivery in Texas. Available at most Texas locations by end of 2027.
Zipline to Expand Drone Delivery to Houston, Phoenix With 00M
Zipline expanding to at least four new states in 2026 including Houston and Phoenix. 00M raise at .6B valuation.
Zipline charts drone delivery expansion with 00M in new funding
Zipline raised 00M at .6B valuation. Plans to expand to at least four U.S. states in 2026 including Houston and Phoenix.
Walmart drone delivery expanding to 7 new cities by 2027
Walmart drone delivery expanding to 7 new US metropolitan areas. San Diego added July 2026. Reaching 40M additional customers.
Walmart Celebrates 1 Million Drone Deliveries
Walmart reached 1 million drone deliveries milestone. Expanding to 7 new cities including San Diego by 2027. Reaching 40 million additional customers.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/zipline.md
- RSS feed: /companies/zipline/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/42d14bb5-bff5-4976-a287-882a60bfe765
- Revision history: /companies/zipline/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Anduril Industries7 models
- DJI7 models
- Amazon4 models
- Autel Robotics4 models
- Teledyne FLIR4 models
- AeroVironment3 models
DEPLOY Intelligence Score
49.2/ 100
6-month trend
Analysis
Safety profile within acceptable range for category. Well-capitalized with $1.5B raised and recent funding activity. Limited public visibility and press coverage relative to peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Safety Record
Funding Health
Deployment Scale
IP Activity
Hiring Signal
Market Presence
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
Last computed: Jul 3, 2026
Intelligence layer