Zipline (drone delivery)

The company was founded in 2011 as Romotive by Keller Rinaudo. Romotive produced an iPhone-controlled robotic toy called Romo.

In 2014, Romotive shut down[2][3], and the company refocused on delivering medical supplies using drones. Co-founders Keenan Wyrobek and William Hetzler joined at this time.[4]

In 2016, the company signed a deal with the Rwandan government to build a distribution center near Muhanga.[4]

In April 2018, Zipline announced a second-generation drone.[5] This second-generation drone was listed in Time's "Best inventions of 2018" list.[6]

In April 2019, Zipline opened its first of four distribution centers in Ghana to supply 2,500 health facilities.[7]

In May 2019, Zipline raised $190 million on a post-money valuation of $1.2 billion.[8]In September 2019, musician Bono joined the board.[9] "Rural healthcare is a challenge in every country in the world, including in the United States," said Rinaudo. "You now see much bigger and wealthier countries like the US using Rwanda as a role model."[10] Zipline was named to CNBC's 2018 (25th place), 2019 (39th place), and 2020 (7th place)[11] Disruptor 50 list.[12]

In November 2020, Zipline along with other manufacturers started the airworthiness certification with the FAA that would allow their "sparrow" model of plane to fly in America.[13][14]

In February 2021 Zipline announced they were adding Ultra-low temperature freezers to their distribution centers to allow them (from April '21) to deliver temperature sensitive covid-19 vaccines[15]

The company's drones are designed and manufactured in-house.[16] Zipline also builds and operates their own distribution centers that serve as both a drone launch port and a fulfilment operation.[17]

Medical staff at remote hospitals and clinics place orders to Zipline.[18] A Zipline fulfilment operator receives this order and prepares the medical products into a special delivery package with a parachute.[17].

A Zipline flight operator then packs the medical products into a drone and performs pre-flight checks. The drone is then launched into flight with an electric launcher, with an acceleration from 0 to 70 miles per hour (0 to 113 km/h) in 0.33 seconds.[17] The drone then flies autonomously to its delivery site. [17] The drone descends to an altitude of 20–35 metres (66–115 ft) before dropping the package under a paper parachute. The drone then turns around and returns to the Zipline distribution center. A Zipline distribution center can deliver medical supplies reliably anywhere within 80 km (50 mi), even accounting for mountainous terrain and severe weather.

A remote pilot at each Zipline distribution center monitors all drones in flight.[19]

In addition to whole blood, the drones deliver platelets, fresh frozen plasma.[20] The main air traffic control system receives the location data [19] The drone is launched by a supercapacitor-powered electric catapult and lands by catching an arresting gear[21] [22] [23]. A payload can land within a 5 m (16 ft) diameter landing zone. [4] The cost per delivery is the same as previous motorcycle service but more reliable.[24]

The drone cruises at a speed of 101 km/h (63 mph), ensuring deliveries are within 45 minutes.[22] The drone cruises at an altitude of 80–120 metres (260–390 ft) above ground level. The drone can carry up to 1.75 kilograms (3.9 lb) of cargo.[22] Each distribution center is capable of making 500 deliveries per day.[25] Zipline holds the record for the longest-range US-based commercial drone delivery flight of 79 mi (127 km)[26]

The drone features a quickly replaced streamlined battery for rapid turnaround between flights.[17] It has an inner frame constructed out of carbon-fiber and an outer shell made of polystyrene.[17] The wingspan has a length of 12 feet (3.7 m).[17].

The drone features redundancy to achieve single-fault tolerance. It has dual propellers for redundancy and can fly safely with only one operating propeller or motor. In addition to each redundant system, a parachute can be deployed that will bring the drone to the ground if a larger set of faults occur.[27] When the drone comes in contact with the ground, the outer components of the drone are designed to be frangible, breaking to release energy[28] and impact the ground with less force.[29]

As of May 2020, Zipline has raised $225 million.[53]

• Paul Allen[54]
• Andreessen Horowitz[55]
• Baillie Gifford[53]
• Bright Success Capital[53]
• Design to Improve Life Fund[8][56][53]
• Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance[39][42]
• Goldman Sachs[53]
• Google Ventures[55] [53]
• Katalyst Ventures[48][57][53]
• Alfred Lin[54]
• Oakhouse Partners[53]
• The Rise Fund[58][53]
• Ron Conway[48]
• Sequoia Capital[55] [54]
• Stanford University[59][55]
• Subtraction Capital[48]
• Temasek Holdings[53]
• Toyota Tsusho was the first business company investment.[60][53]
• United Parcel Service[42]
• Jerry Yang[54]