April 2025
Article
4 minutes
Top 10 Private Companies Progress Report: Zipline
Claire Shaw – Portfolio Director
Zipline is the global leader in autonomous delivery and currently operates the largest drone delivery network in the world, covering eight countries across four continents. This is a company transforming the logistics industry by using autonomous drones to deliver medicines, vaccines, food, and other vital products.
Zipline’s operations are rapid, reliable, scalable, and environmentally friendly. It transcends traditional logistics barriers, offering a lifeline to remote and underserved communities. By developing these technologies, Zipline offers a potential to transform global supply chains.
Zipline is the first and only drone delivery service operating at this scale in multiple countries, making a commercial delivery every 70 seconds. The company has flown the longest fully autonomous drone delivery flights in the U.S. without visual observers (41 miles) and regularly flies the longest autonomous distance drone delivery flights in the world without visual observers (130 miles).
Key Facts
Operational Highlights
- In March 2025, Zipline announced it had safely completed over 100 million autonomous miles via 1.4 million commercial drone deliveries.
- During 2024, Zipline signed several new strategic partners in the food and healthcare space as it continues to expand its reach and partnerships, especially in the US. Existing disclosed partnerships include Walmart and Sweetgreen.
- In Africa, Zipline now operates 13 distribution centres across the continent. The company has partnerships with the Rwandan, Nigerian and Ghanian governments to enhance healthcare access and facilities and to date Zipline has delivered 22 million vaccine doses in the region.
- Zipline’s next-gen P2 system achieved its first customer delivery in January 2025 and is now preparing to launch its P-2 services in the Dallas, Texas.
Financial Highlights
- In June 2024, Zipline raised an estimated $350mn in a Series G round, at a pre-money valuation of $5.2bn.
- Scottish Mortgage participated in this funding round by investing an additional $15mn of capital into the business.
EV: Equity Values: the value of a company available to its shareholders. Shown throughout as at 31 December 2024. Logos courtesy of relevant companies. US Dollar.
Risk Factors
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About the author - Claire Shaw
Portfolio Director
Claire Shaw is a portfolio director and plays a prominent role in servicing Scottish Mortgage’s UK shareholder base. Before joining in 2019, she spent over a decade as a fund manager with a focus on managing European equity portfolios for a global client base. With a background in analysing companies and communicating investment ideas, Claire is also responsible for creating engaging content that makes the Scottish Mortgage portfolio accessible to all its shareholders. Beyond that, she works closely with the managers, meeting with portfolio companies and conducting in-depth portfolio discussions with shareholders.
Important information
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