Zipline is the world’s largest commercial drone delivery system. Since the company’s founding in 2014, Zipline’s autonomous electric aircrafts have delivered hundreds of thousands of packages to people around the world. It's planning to complete 1 million deliveries by the end of 2023. Most of the packages the Zips have delivered include vital items like medicine, vaccines and PPE. Zipline's first distribution center opened in Rwanda in 2016 and it has since expanded into Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire, Japan, and the U.S.
Keller Rinaudo Cliffton is Zipline's co-founder and CEO. In today's episode of Leadership Next, Rinaudo Cliffton joins hosts Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt to share why Zipline started with drone delivery to hospitals in Rwanda seven years ago, and how the company has grown. He explains why launching as a business, not a philanthropy, was essential. He also talks about Zipline's partnership with Walmart, delivering to shoppers in Arkansas, and the company's plans for expansion into the consumer delivery market.
Later in the episode, hear from Fortune Senior Writer Jessica Matthews who visited Walmart's drone delivery site in Pea Ridge, AR back in 2021. Matthews tells us more about the state of the drone delivery market, where it’s going and what challenges it's facing.