Zipline
Zipline’s $7.6B Bet: The Economics of Delivering Burritos vs. Saving Lives
The Verge’s Tim Stevens stood on a lawn in Rowlett, Texas last year and watched a strange-looking craft clear the trees, hover overhead, and lower a brown paper package on a thin rope. His lunch had arrived by drone. The…
Zipline reaches $7.6 billion valuation as Valor Equity Partners leads $600 million funding round
Watching Zipline’s trajectory from a Rwanda-based medical delivery startup to America’s largest autonomous delivery network has been one of the defining stories in commercial drone aviation. The company just reached a $7.6 billion valuation with a $600 million funding round…
Palantir Co-Founder Leads $11.8M Investment in Nigerian Drone Startup as African Defense Tech Emerges
The same Silicon Valley investors who built Anduril into a $30 billion defense giant are now betting on a different kind of drone company: one founded by two twenty-somethings in Abuja, Nigeria, that manufactures its systems on the African continent…
Wing and Walmart Just Made Drone Delivery a National Reality with 150-Store Expansion
After years of pilot programs and regional rollouts, drone delivery just went national. Wing and Walmart are adding 150 stores to their drone delivery network over the next 12 months, bringing the total to over 270 locations by 2027 and…
Drones to Deliver Blood in Wales Life Saving Trial
Wales is preparing to test a drone delivery system that could quietly change how blood reaches patients in emergencies. The Dragon’s Heart project will use specially commissioned aircraft to transport blood donations by air, replacing road journeys that currently take…
Drones vs Spoiled Vaccines: Rwanda Finds a Fix
In many rural parts of Africa, vaccines face an enemy more dangerous than misinformation or logistics, heat. Nearly one in four doses are thrown away simply because they fall outside the narrow temperature range they need to stay effective, a…
Amazon Prime Air Drone Delivery Operations Slashed in Italy – What Now?
Amazon has halted its plans to run its commercial Prime Air drone delivery operations in Italy, effectively shelving the project after what sounded, on paper, like a very promising start. According to an article from Reuters, Amazon made the layoff…
Japan Is Doing What Countries Only Talk About With Medical Drones
Medical drones are often discussed in glossy presentations and optimistic press releases, but Japan is one of the few countries where the conversation has moved past theory and reportedly into daily operations. While the global medical drone market is projected…
How One Company Cracked The Code to a Hydrogen-Powered Drone
Time Technoplast (Time) is an Indian manufacturing company that just announced its first successful testing of a hydrogen-powered drone that uses their own proprietary hydrogen cylinder and fuel systems. In a December 22nd filing, Time says it successfully developed and…
UK Drone Degree Creates Military Pipeline US Doesn’t Have
I’ve spent years watching the US government debate how to handle its “drone problem” – banning DJI, restricting airspace, creating regulatory hurdles. Meanwhile, Britain just announced it’s doing something radically different: building an entire academic pipeline to train the next…
Walmart Zipline Drone Delivery Launches in Royse City as 17th DFW Location
Walmart and Zipline have launched drone delivery service in Royse City, Texas, adding another suburb to what is quietly becoming America’s largest commercial drone delivery network. The announcement, made Monday, marks the 17th location in the Dallas-Fort Worth region where…
Walmart Drone Delivery Lands In Atlanta
Walmart’s drone delivery service has officially touched down in metro Atlanta. The service brings a new form of speedy convenience to customers who want their items delivered not just fast but airborne. It is something that used to sound like…