Zipline Raises $1.5 Billion at $21.5 Billion Valuation, Adds 300 Walmart Sites
Key Facts
Zipline announced on November 5, 2026, that it had raised $1.5 billion at a post-money valuation of $21.5 billion in a round the company said would support building a national drone-delivery network. At the same time, the company agreed with Walmart to add 300 delivery sites across the United States under a new multiyear agreement. Walmart said the agreement leaves room for further expansion. The announcement combines new funding with an operational step that broadens the partnership between the two companies. Walmart’s announcement did not provide a value for the agreement or a detailed timeline for opening the additional sites.
Zipline said the funds would be used to expand its manufacturing facilities in the United States and increase hiring, alongside building a national delivery network. The investors that led the round included Paradigm, WCM Investment Management and Layer Global, according to the company’s announcement. The announcement also named Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Uber as participants. The industrial and workforce expansion funding is therefore part of the round that raised the valuation to $21.5 billion. The company did not specify in the announcement how much would be allocated to manufacturing and hiring, respectively.
Walmart has worked with Zipline on drone delivery since 2021, and the retailer said its program had completed more than 2 million deliveries as of November 5, 2026. The new agreement follows those deliveries and adds 300 sites to the partnership network. Walmart says eligible customers can order tens of thousands of products available for delivery. The service is available through the Walmart app or website, with orders delivered to customers’ homes. The company said orders can arrive in as little as 30 minutes where the service is available.
Walmart linked the potential reach to its store footprint, saying 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of one of its stores. The figure is part of the company’s presentation of the delivery service, alongside the availability of tens of thousands of eligible products through its app or website. The additional sites agreement covers the United States and allows for the network to expand later, according to Walmart. The company’s statement did not specify how many customers the new expansion would cover or which areas would get the sites. It also did not provide details on when the additional sites would begin operating.
Zipline cited other indicators of service use, saying deliveries in the Dallas–Fort Worth area exceeded 1 million in 2026. It added that the median order arrival time in October was 19 minutes from purchase completion, compared with more than 30 minutes for traditional delivery. Among a group of its longer-standing restaurant partners, Zipline’s share of delivery revenue rose from 10.8% in March to 34.9% in October. The company said the total value of orders delivered in this group increased 26% between the two months, and that 80% of the increase came from Zipline orders. These figures were reported by the company about its operations and partners, alongside its funding and Walmart expansion announcements.
Zipline said it had logged 150 million autonomous commercial miles without a safety incident as of its November 5 announcement. The company cites this figure in describing its operating record, while in January 2026 it announced funding of more than $600 million and a post-round valuation of $7.6 billion. In the January announcement, it said U.S. deliveries had grown by about 15% weekly over the prior seven months. It also announced plans at the time to expand to at least four U.S. states during 2026, with Houston and Phoenix as the initial markets. These figures and plans came from earlier announcements, while the November round and Walmart expansion are the latest developments.
On future partnerships, Zipline said Uber is targeting 1 million deliveries a day with the company by 2029. Zipline announced in August 2026 that their joint operations would begin in markets where it already operates, including Dallas and Houston. Uber’s target sets a publicly announced timeline for the partnership’s expansion, alongside the multiyear Walmart agreement adding 300 sites. Zipline did not specify in its funding announcement when all phases of the Walmart network would be completed or how many sites would operate in each phase. The timeline announced for the joint Uber target therefore remains the specific future date cited in the company’s statements.