Zipline soars to $7.6 billion valuation on US drone delivery bets

By Pragyan Kalita and Pritam Biswas

Jan 20 (Reuters) – Zipline said on Tuesday that it has raised $600 million in its latest funding round, valuing the U.S. drone delivery startup at $7.6 billion, as investor interest grows in last-mile autonomous delivery.

The round saw participation from several new and existing investors, the company said, including Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Valor Equity Partners and Tiger Global.

Venture funding in the United States has remained resilient, with artificial intelligence continuing to capture the largest share of capital, even as growing interest in hardware startups has provided a steady boost to overall funding.

“Automated logistics has been maturing for more than a decade, and the last year has made it unmistakably clear that when deliveries are faster, cleaner, safer, and cheaper, demand isn’t just high, it grows exponentially,” said Keller Cliffton, CEO and co-founder of Zipline.

Global venture funding in the third quarter of 2025 increased 38% year-over-year to $97 billion, increasing slightly from $92 billion in the second quarter.

Zipline, which counts itself as one of the fastest-growing AI and robotics drone delivery companies in the world, has expanded rapidly across the United States and delivers food, retail and healthcare products directly to customers’ homes.

The San Francisco-based company said its U.S. deliveries have grown by about 15% week-on-week over the past seven months.

Companies such as Zipline say last‑mile deliveries by air reduce some of the risks associated with human delivery, including delays caused by weather or road accidents.

Drone deliveries of medical supplies and vaccines accelerated during the COVID‑19 lockdown as governments and companies sought new ways to reach communities amid restrictions on the movement of goods. 

Zipline competes with Alphabet’s Wing, Amazon’s Prime Air and other startups including Matternet and Flytrex in the fast‑growing drone delivery market, which spans medical logistics and direct‑to‑consumer deliveries.

(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)