A drone operator loads a Walmart package into a Zipline P1 fixed-wing drone for delivery to a customer's home in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, on March 30, 2023.
Bonnie Tomlinson
Drone delivery startup Zipline said Friday that it has reached one million customer deliveries and is looking to partner with restaurants in its next phase of growth.
The San Francisco-based startup designs, builds and operates autonomous delivery drones, working with clients ranging from more than 4,700 hospitals including Cleveland Clinic to major brands such as Walmart And the General National Congress. It has raised more than $500 million to date from investors including Sequoia Capital, a16z, Google Ventures, and is a CNBC Disruptor 50 company.
The company said its zero-emission drones have now flown more than 70 million autonomous commercial miles across four continents and delivered more than 10 million products.
The millionth delivery carried two bags of intravenous fluids from a Zipline distribution center in Ghana to a local health facility.
As the company continues to expand, it will bring on Panera Bread in Seattle, Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, and Jet's Pizza in Detroit.
Zipline Keller CEO Rinaudo Cliffton told CNBC that 70% of the company's deliveries have been made in the past two years, and going forward, the goal is to make 1 million deliveries per day.
“The three areas where the stimulus makes the most sense today are health care, fast-commerce and food, and those are the three main markets we are focusing on,” Rinaudo-Clifton said. “Our goal is to work with the best brands or the best organizations in each of those markets.”
The push toward restaurant partnerships represents a “clear shift,” he said, due to continued growth in interest in instant food delivery. Zipline already delivers food from Walmart to customers.
“We need to start using light, fast, autonomous, zero-emission vehicles,” Rinaudo-Clifton said. “Delivery this way is 10 times faster, less expensive… Compared to traditional delivery apps that most restaurants will work with, we expand the service radius three-fold, which means you (get) actually 10 times as many customers as you can reach.” To it by immediate delivery.”
Zipline deliveries to some Panera locations in Seattle are expected to begin next year, Ron Bellamy, chief operating officer of franchisee Panera, told CNBC. He said delivery continues to grow for his business, even in an inflationary environment. He added that costs with Zipline are expected to be on par with what third-party delivery is now, with the hope of reducing that cost over time.
“I'm encouraged about this, not just even in terms of what I can do for the company, but as a consumer, I think that ultimately, if it's economical, and it delivers a better overall experience, then the consumer will talk,” Bellamy said.
