Zipline Raises $1.5B at $21.5B Valuation, Adds 300 Walmart Drone Sites

Zipline, the drone delivery company that started out flying blood to hospitals in Rwanda, raised $1.5 billion at a $21.5 billion valuation on November 5, 2026. It also signed a deal with Walmart to add about 300 more drone delivery sites. The money will fund US manufacturing, hiring and a nationwide delivery network. Zipline is betting that drones can become a normal way to get groceries, takeaway food and small retail orders in minutes rather than hours.

What happened?

Zipline’s new round values the South San Francisco company at $21.5 billion after the investment. It was led by Paradigm, WCM Investment Management and Layer Global. Other investors include Uber, Fidelity, Valor Equity Partners, Tiger Global, J.P. Morgan, ARK Invest and Salesforce Ventures.

The jump is steep. In January 2026, Zipline raised more than $600 million at a $7.6 billion valuation in a round led by Valor Equity Partners. The new figure is nearly three times that, less than a year later.

Anton Levy, founder and managing partner of Layer Global, said Zipline “has already brought the future of delivery to the communities it serves.”

What is the new Walmart deal?

Alongside the funding, Zipline and Walmart signed a multiyear agreement covering about 300 additional delivery sites. The two companies have worked together since 2021, when Zipline began delivering from a Walmart store in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, before expanding across the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Zipline said the partnership could extend beyond the 300 new sites. It did not give a launch timeline or say which states will get the service first.

How big is Zipline’s delivery business?

Zipline shared several new figures with the announcement:

• More than one million deliveries in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2026.
• Median delivery time of 19 minutes from checkout in October, and about 10 minutes for low-preparation bakery orders.
• 150 million commercial autonomous miles flown without a safety incident.
• Hundreds of businesses earning revenue through the service, with dozens joining each week.

It also pointed to results with restaurant partners. Between March and October 2026, Zipline’s share of delivery revenue at participating restaurants rose from 10.8% to 34.9%, according to the company. Zipline says these were new sales, not orders taken from other delivery apps, though the figures come from a selected group of partners.

How does Uber fit in?

Uber invested in Zipline and is integrating its drones into Uber Eats, starting in Zipline’s existing markets before expanding to new cities. The two companies have said they are targeting one million drone deliveries a day by the end of 2029. For more on how big platforms are testing new delivery and booking channels, see our report on Uber’s early AI agent bookings.

Why it matters

Last-mile delivery, the final trip from a store to a customer’s door, is one of the most expensive parts of ecommerce. Retailers want cheaper and faster options than vans and couriers for small orders. If Zipline can scale, drones could cut the cost and time of those deliveries.

The deal also shows how competitive the space has become. Walmart works with several drone partners, including Alphabet’s Wing, and Amazon runs its own Prime Air service. Investors are clearly willing to fund the race: Zipline’s round came in the same week as other huge private raises, such as fal’s $1.3 billion Series F.

What are the risks?

Drone delivery still faces hurdles. Large-scale flights beyond a pilot’s line of sight depend on Federal Aviation Administration approvals, and a full national framework is not finished, Dealroom notes. Local opposition is growing too. In Westborough, Massachusetts, residents opposed a proposed Amazon drone facility over noise and safety, and Amazon withdrew its application on October 30 with plans to resubmit.

Zipline says it has introduced technology that adjusts how its aircraft fly to reduce noise, and that its next-generation aircraft will fly higher and more quietly while carrying heavier orders further.

What happens next?

Zipline will use the money to expand manufacturing in the US, hire more staff and build out the delivery infrastructure needed for the new Walmart sites and the Uber Eats rollout. The key test is whether it can keep its safety record and delivery times while scaling from one metro area to hundreds of locations.