U.S. autonomous drone delivery and logistics startup Zipline has secured another $200 million, adding to a recent funding round first announced in January.
“Things have moved a little faster than we expected,” founder and CEO Keller Clifton said in a video message posted on X that provided a broader update on the company.
The additional funds, with participation from crypto investment firm Paradigm, have increased Zipline’s recent Series H round to $800 million. Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Valor Equity Partners, and Tiger Global took part in the initial tranche that valued the drone delivery startup at $7.6 billion.
Zipline has created a drone delivery ecosystem consisting of the aircraft, launch and landing systems, and logistics software. Founded in 2014, the company started in Africa, using its autonomous drones to deliver blood in Rwanda. Zipline has expanded its reach and the applications of its drones over the years. Currently, its drones deliver food, retail, agriculture, and health products in five African countries, several U.S. cities, and Japan.
The funds are being used to speed up Zipline’s expansion to at least four U.S. states this year. The company has announced Houston, Phoenix, and Seattle as new markets.
Zipline has experienced significant growth in its U.S. home delivery service launched last year, Clifton said in the video, noting that delivery volume growth exceeded its forecast in January and February.
“We’re actually expecting to accelerate our growth over the next three months, relative to 2025,” he added. Clifton said the growth was driven by customers’ frequent and larger orders.
“In the last three weeks, we’ve actually seen the average amount of stuff per basket increase by more than 20% with customers ordering all the time from Zipline,” he said, adding that the company is doubling the number of brands on the app over the next 30 days.
Zipline’s home delivery service uses Platform 2 drones, designed to carry up to eight pounds and serve customers within a 10-mile radius. The larger Platform 1 drones are for long-range deliveries for enterprise, business, and government, covering 120 miles round trip. The P2 platform started in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with Walmart, and more than a dozen restaurant brands.
The startup is still focused on expanding services outside the U.S. Clifton mentioned that Zipline has just secured a new national-scale contract in Rwanda, allowing it to launch the Platform 2 autonomous drone delivery service in major cities there. Zipline is also opening a third distribution center to serve every hospital and health facility throughout the country, Clifton said.