Zipline raises $1.5 billion at a $21.5 billion valuation
The funding
Zipline International, a drone delivery company based in South San Francisco, raised $1.5 billion at a $21.5 billion post-money valuation. Crunchbase News listed it as the second-largest US round of the week of October 31 to November 6, 2026. Paradigm, WCM Investment Management and Layer Global were named as investors. The company said it will use the money to expand US manufacturing, hire more people and build a nationwide delivery network.
Other big rounds the same week
| Company | Amount | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| CesiumAstro | $730 million plus $100 million debt | Space and defense communications; valuation above $4.5 billion |
| Northwood Space | $375 million | Ground infrastructure for satellites |
| Applied Compute | $350 million | Cloud platform to train and run large AI models; valued at $3.25 billion |
| Harbinger | $240 million | Electric trucks, moving into battery storage and defense |
| Traversal | $120 million | AI agents for site reliability engineering; valued at $1 billion |
Physical technology is attracting capital
Most of the largest rounds went to companies that build hardware or operate in the physical world: drones, satellites, trucks and robots. Crunchbase separately noted that construction robotics companies had raised about $1.6 billion so far this year, more than four times the $389 million recorded in all of 2025.
What a $21.5 billion valuation means
A post-money valuation is the price investors implicitly put on the whole company after the new money is added. It reflects expectations of growth more than current profit, and it can change quickly. For delivery drones, the key tests are safety, regulation, the cost of each delivery and how well the company can scale manufacturing and operations across many cities.
What to watch
- How quickly Zipline expands service and whether delivery volumes grow as planned.
- How aviation regulators treat large-scale drone delivery.
- Whether the strong funding for physical technology continues, or slows as interest rates and public markets change.
Our report on Shield AI's $2 billion round covers the largest deal from the same week.
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