Uber, Zipline Target 1 Million Daily Drone Deliveries By 2029 — Zipline CEO Keller Cliffton Sees 10X Growth In Instant Delivery Market

Uber Eats customers in participating markets will be able to receive restaurant orders and other items through Zipline’s autonomous drones, potentially within minutes.

• The companies aim to begin their first deployments later this year.
• In an interview with CNBC, Zipline’s co-founder and CEO Keller Rinaudo Cliffton said drone delivery is already cost-competitive with traditional vehicle-based services while offering faster, quieter and cleaner transportation.
• Zipline has delivered over 20 million items across more than 2.7 million trips.

Uber Technologies (UBER) was on investors’ radar on Monday after the company announced a strategic investment in drone-delivery company Zipline as part of a new partnership aimed at expanding autonomous food deliveries across the United States. The investment amount was not disclosed.

At the time of writing, UBER shares were up 0.8%.

Aim For One Million Drone Deliveries Per Day By 2029-End

According to the companies, Uber Eats customers in participating markets will be able to receive restaurant orders and other items through Zipline’s autonomous drones, potentially within minutes. The companies plan to begin their first deployments later this year.

Uber and Zipline aim to reach one million drone deliveries per day by the end of 2029. The partnership will add drones to Uber’s delivery network, which already includes human couriers and sidewalk robots.

Zipline currently operates across four continents and completes a delivery about every 20 seconds. Its network serves more than 5,000 hospitals, while the company has delivered over 20 million items across more than 2.7 million trips.

Zipline said its drones can deliver products in five to 10 minutes while reducing traffic and carbon emissions.

Zipline CEO Sees Instant Delivery Market Expanding More Than Tenfold

In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Zipline’s co-founder and CEO Keller Rinaudo Cliffton said the instant delivery market could grow more than tenfold over the coming years.

“A lot of Zipline’s customers are using the service every single day, and this means that there’s actually an opportunity to grow the size of the instant delivery market more than 10x over the coming years, using robotics and physical AI. You know, and build a service that ultimately saves people time and saves people money,” Cliffton said.

He argued that drone delivery is already cost-competitive with traditional vehicle-based services while offering faster, quieter and cleaner transportation.

“At this point, these kinds of deliveries are not just cost-competitive with doing a delivery using a 4,000-pound gas combustion vehicle. But they’re way faster, they’re more reliable, they’re cleaner and quieter for the neighborhoods that we serve. And frankly, they just result in a better customer experience. I mean, you can kind of imagine, you know, if you were ordering something from either a retailer or from a restaurant, having something delivered in just a couple minutes, the quality of the experience is way, way higher,” he added.

Meanwhile, retail sentiment surrounding UBER on Stocktwits turned ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral’ over the past 24 hours.

Uber shares have declined nearly 8% so far this year.

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