Zipline

Founded in 2014, its objective was to “use drones to deliver blood and save lives”. It soon became apparent that it could help other supply chains too. 

Zipline's competitive advantage is low-cost precision delivery at scale. It began to develop its capabilities with extensive operations in rural Africa and has now received FAA approval to act as an air carrier, crucially including “beyond visual line of site” of the operator. It is now developing more flexible delivery options and is committed to sustainability and efficiency. Its partners include Walmart, Sweetgreen and the NHS.  

Zipline's growth potential is huge. With the opportunities of long-range B2B and B2C home delivery, Zipline might revolutionise the worldwide logistics of healthcare, food, and quick commerce. Its customers can rely on it to save lives, reduce emissions, improve economics, and provide scale. The scale comes from quickly expanding precision delivery while keeping costs and emissions low. 

Zipline is transforming the way goods move, from powering Rwanda’s national blood delivery network and Ghana’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution, to providing on-demand home delivery for ecommerce, to enabling healthcare providers to bring care directly to U.S. homes.  

Rural Africa was where CEO Keller Rinaudo Cliffton chose to prove both the technology and business model of Zipline. Rwanda combined a challenging medical logistics environment with a government open to innovation. For Rinaudo Cliffton, it proved the perfect environment for the kind of customer-centric development he envisioned when he founded the company.  

The company showcased on this page is part of a diversified portfolio. The commentary should not be taken as advice on an individual stock.