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# Walmart will add 300 Zipline sites as the drone service raises $1.5 billion
- URL: https://venture-block.com/zipline-1-5b-walmart-300-drone-sites/
- Published: 2026-11-08T07:07:12.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-08T07:07:12.000Z
- Description: Zipline raised $1.5 billion at a $21.5 billion valuation and said Walmart will add 300 drone delivery sites. The South San Francisco company plans to use the money to expand U.S. manufacturing and hiring.
- Author: Venture Block
- Tags: Funding, Science

Zipline [announced](https://www.zipline.com/newsroom/zipline-raises-1-5-billion-to-build-nationwide-drone-delivery-network?ref=venture-block.com) a $1.5 billion raise on November 5 at a $21.5 billion post-money valuation, and said Walmart will launch 300 additional drone delivery sites under a new multi-year national agreement. The South San Francisco company said it will use the capital to expand its U.S. manufacturing facilities and add staff as it tries to turn a metro-scale service into a nationwide network.

The new valuation is nearly three times the [$7.6 billion](https://www.zipline.com/newsroom/zipline-surpasses-2-million-deliveries-raises-more-than-600m-to-power-next-phase-of-growth-and-expands-operations-to-houston-and-phoenix?ref=venture-block.com) mark Zipline posted in January after raising more than $600 million. Paradigm, WCM Investment Management, and Layer Global led the latest round, with Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Uber, Tiger Global, J.P. Morgan, ARK Invest, and Salesforce Ventures participating. The same week, investors also backed other companies that operate physical autonomous machines, including [Shield](https://venture-block.com/shield-ai-2-5b-echodyne-5-3b-radar-acquisition/) AI's $2.5 billion package and last month's raise at [Bedrock](https://venture-block.com/bedrock-robotics-600m-series-c-autonomous-excavators/) Robotics.

## From about 20 sites to 300 more

Walmart, in its own [release](https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2026/11/walmart-expands-drone-delivery-network-with-zipline?ref=venture-block.com), said the multi-year deal will add 300 Zipline sites nationwide, with room to grow further. The retailer has worked with Zipline since 2021 and said its drone delivery program has completed more than 2 million deliveries. Eligible customers can order tens of thousands of items through the Walmart app or website for arrival in as fast as 30 minutes, dropping into a front yard, backyard, or driveway.

[TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/05/zipline-hits-21-5b-valuation-as-walmart-expands-bet-on-drone-delivery/?ref=venture-block.com) reported that the two companies currently operate 21 active drone delivery sites together, so the new pact would multiply that footprint many times over. Walmart said 90% of people in the United States live within 10 miles of one of its stores, which matches the roughly 10-mile service radius of Zipline's home-delivery aircraft.

Walmart described a two-part delivery in which the aircraft stays high above the ground while a pod carrying the order descends on a tether. "When you can get what you need in 10-30 minutes it takes a huge amount of anxiety out of life," said Keller Cliffton, Zipline's chief executive and co-founder. "Now, with Walmart, we're going to expand this tech to homes throughout the country."

## Two aircraft, and a medical network that came first

Zipline's [fact sheet](https://www.zipline.com/about/zipline-fact-sheet?ref=venture-block.com) lists two platforms. Platform 2, used for home delivery, is rated for an 8-pound payload, a 10-mile service radius (or 24 miles one way), and a 70 mile-per-hour cruise speed, with a tethered handoff from up to 300 feet. Platform 1, built for longer enterprise, business, and government routes, carries about 4 pounds over more than 120 miles round trip at 60 miles per hour and releases packages by parachute from 60 to 80 feet.

The company said more than one million deliveries were made in the Dallas-Fort Worth area alone this year. In October, the median Zipline order arrived 19 minutes after checkout, compared with more than 30 minutes for traditional delivery, and the median bakery order arrived in 10 minutes. Among a group of its longest-tenured restaurant partners, Zipline's share of delivery revenue rose from 10.8% in March to 34.9% in October. Those restaurants saw a 26% increase in delivery gross merchandise value, and Zipline said 80% of that increase came from its orders, which did not reduce demand from other platforms.

Zipline also said Uber is targeting one million deliveries a day with the company by 2029\. The two announced a [partnership](https://www.zipline.com/newsroom/zipline-will-make-1-million-deliveries-per-day-through-new-uber-partnership?ref=venture-block.com) earlier this year to put Zipline flights on Uber Eats, starting in markets where Zipline already flies, such as Dallas and Houston. Uber participated in the new financing as well.

The company started in 2014 and made its first hospital delivery in Rwanda in 2016\. It received FAA [Part 135](https://www.zipline.com/newsroom/zipline-receives-faa-part-135-air-carrier-certification?ref=venture-block.com) air carrier certification in June 2022, which authorized longer-range commercial flights, including beyond visual line of sight. Zipline now says it has flown 150 million commercial autonomous miles without a safety incident, that its long-range medical flights help save more than 14,000 lives each year, and that it is building a nationwide network in Côte d'Ivoire expected to serve more than 2,200 health facilities and 12 million people.

## What the new money is supposed to buy

Zipline is not the only company trying to make drone delivery routine. Alphabet's Wing, Amazon's Prime Air, Flytrex, and DroneUp are also in the market, and Wing has its own Walmart relationship, as [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/21/zipline-charts-drone-delivery-expansion-with-600m-in-new-funding/?ref=venture-block.com) noted when Zipline raised its January round.

The company said it recently rolled out sound-optimized dynamic flying, which it calls an acoustics upgrade meant to make flights quieter, faster, and more energy efficient, and that it has introduced a next-generation aircraft designed to fly higher and quieter while carrying heavier orders over longer distances. It did not publish new payload or range figures for that aircraft.

Zipline did not give a timetable for when the 300 additional Walmart sites will come online. Walmart said the agreement has the potential to grow beyond that number.