[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]
Autonomous drone firm Zipline seeks $1B at $20B valuation
Startup says it can get food orders to a consumer’s home in 30 minutes or less
A Zipline autonomous drone making a delivery. (Zipline Inc.)
Key Takeaways:
- Zipline is in talks to raise about $1 billion at a roughly $20 billion valuation, with Paradigm discussing leading the round.
- The proposed valuation would nearly triple Zipline’s $7.6 billion valuation from a financing round earlier this year.
- Discussions remain early and terms may change, while Tiger Global Management is considering participation, according to people familiar with the situation.
Zipline is in talks to raise around $1 billion in a funding round that would value the drone delivery and logistics startup at roughly $20 billion, nearly tripling its previous valuation.
Venture capital firm Paradigm, which has previously invested in the startup, is in discussions to lead the fundraising effort, according to people familiar with the situation. Prior backer Tiger Global Management is also considering participation in the round, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public.
The discussions are early, and the figures may change, they said.
Zipline and Paradigm declined to comment. Tiger did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Founded in 2014, Zipline was valued at $7.6 billion earlier this year in a financing round aimed at helping the company expand its commercial deployment. The startup’s pitch is that it can get food orders to a consumer’s home in 30 minutes or less, maintaining the freshness of the delivery. It does this by deploying fulfillment software, inventory management, airspace tools and more. The company has delivery services that can work in both rural and urban areas.
In August, Zipline announced a new partnership and investment from Uber Technologies to help the ride-hailing company scale its food delivery services; the funding was at an undisclosed valuation. Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick recently unveiled his own work in the autonomous technology space, a robotics company called Atoms that is focused on food, mining and transportation.
Top investors in Zipline include Valor Equity Partners and Sequoia Capital. The company’s website says that it has made nearly 3 million deliveries across over 140 million miles. Its customers include Chipotle Mexican Grill, Jimmy John’s and Walmart Inc., according to its website.
Written by Natasha Mascarenhas, Edward Ludlow and Hema Parmar
