It's a bird! It's a plane! Wait, no — it might actually be dinner or your latest online purchase.
Drone delivery service Zipline recently celebrated its one millionth delivery and plans to expand operations to new markets. Just as Amazon revolutionized retail with its two-day Prime delivery services, Zipline is looking to reshape delivery through the use of autonomous drones that can drop packages and food right on your doorstep.
Zipline's drones can be used to deliver many different things. While the company appears set to prioritize restaurant deliveries in its next growth phase, Zipline already works with roughly 4,7000 hospitals. Since drones can fly above traffic and reach hard-to-access places, they're great for making sensitive medical deliveries. Some experts argue that Zipline can make deliveries 10 times faster than conventional delivery methods.
Interestingly enough, Zipline got its start making medical deliveries in Rwanda and Ghana. Drones have proven highly useful for making rapid deliveries in areas with poor road networks and limited access to large healthcare facilities. Their efforts have saved over half a million lives, according to Interesting Engineering. Zipline's one millionth delivery, by the way, consisted of two bags of IV fluids shipped from a distribution center in Ghana to a local health facility.
Zipline has already raised over half a billion of capital. Investors include Sequoia Capital and Google Ventures. Soon, folks living in Detroit will be able to get Jet's Pizza via drones. In Seattle, meanwhile, you can have Panera Bread airlifted to you. Amazon is also working on drone delivery and is already rolling out services in Australia.
