Delivery Drone Startup Zipline Founders: Their Journey To 1 Million Deliveries

Zipline International manufactures delivery drones. The firm has distribution centers in multiple countries, such as Rwanda, Nigeria, Ghana, Japan, and more.

Therefore, let’s find out about the delivery drone startup Zipline founders. We will reveal who they are and their journey to one million deliveries. Stay tuned until the end for every minor detail.

A Short Info About Zipline

Drone Startup Company Zipline Int is an US company founded in March 2024 has headquarters in San Francisco, California.

This innovative drone company has successfully delivered over 800,000 commercial flights. Likewise, they have flown nearly 40 million autonomous miles as per the report of November 2021.

Drones operated by the corporation carry accessories such as blood, platelets, cryoprecipitate, and medical tools such as vaccines, infusions, and others.

Delivery Drone Startup Zipline Founders. Image Credit: Social Media.

Reports showed Zipline’s commercial drones supplied over 75% of Rwanda’s blood supplies in 2019. Similarly, the Ghana branch began using Zipline’s drones to deliver vaccines, blood, and pharmaceuticals.

Furthermore, the company also provides delivery services for non-medical products, such as collaborations with Walmart in 2021 and Sweetgreen, which was announced in 2023.

Delivery Drone Startup Zipline Founders

Keller Rinaudo Cliffton

Cliffton is an American autonomous airplane and robotics entrepreneur. He founded an iPhone-controlled toy robot, Romotive, in 2011. Romotive transformed into Zipline in 2024.

This decision occurred after Keller realized the competition was not other toys but phone apps and Minecraft. As for his educational status, Cliffton is a graduate of Harvard University. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Zipline.

Keenan Wyrobek

The Stanford University graduate has been involved in the robotics industry since 2005. He began his journey with Neato Robotics, and in 2014, he became the co-founder and head of product & engineering.

Delivery Drone Startup Zipline Founders. Image Credit: LinkedIn.

Similarly, since March 2020, Keenan has been sitting as CTO and product architect of Zipline.

Will Hetzler

Hetzler is another delivery drone startup Zipline founders. Alongside co-founding the company, he has worked as a Chief Operating Officer, Special Advisor to the CEO, and Head of US Business Development.

Ryan Oksenhorn

Ryan lives in San Francisco, California, United States of America. As per LinkedIn, he graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a BS in computer science in 2012.

Oksenhorn has played an essential role in Zipline’s success as a co-founder.

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Growth And Innovation – A Decade of Hardship

Zipline has worked effortlessly to create an efficient autonomous delivery system over the past decade.

The zero-emission drones have completed over 70 million commercial autonomous miles over four continents. Thus, it has delivered over 10 million products.

Similarly, one of the co-founders, Cliffton, revealed that nearly seventy percent of the deliveries happened in 2022 and 2023. He further mentioned that the company plans to do over a million deliveries in one day in the future.

Delivery Drone Startup Zipline Founders. Image Credit: LinkedIn.

Moreover, Oksenhorn supported his partner’s statement and shed light on their ten-year-long journey. He said that the company worked hard to reach its current market.

The co-founder also added that he believes in the growth and reliable autonomous delivery of goods and services available to everybody in the next ten years. It will be interesting to see the future capabilities of the company.

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One Million Commercial Drone Deliveries

Autonomous delivery drone startup Zipline recently mentioned reaching the 1 million customer deliveries milestone. It also expects restaurant partnerships in its upcoming phase of growth.

The company has raised over $500 million from multiple investors, such as 16z, Google Ventures, and Sequoia Capital. Thanks to that, Zipline is among the CNBC Disruptor 50 companies.

Delivery Drone Startup Zipline Founders. Image Credit: LinkedIn.

The one-millionth delivery transported two bags of IV fluid from a Zipline distribution center in Ghana to a local health facility.

As the company expands, delivery drone startup Zipline founders mentioned the inclusion of  Panera Bread in Seattle, Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, and Jet’s Pizza in Detroit in the future.