Zipline is doubling down on its US drone delivery ambitions, announcing plans to launch services in Austin and Cleveland while bringing in senior executives from Tesla, Waymo, and Uber to help steer its next phase of growth.
The company says the move comes as demand for its delivery platform accelerates. During the first half of 2026 alone, the number of businesses offering delivery through the Zipline app increased 13-fold, signaling growing interest from restaurants, retailers, and healthcare providers looking to add autonomous deliveries.
The expansion follows a milestone year for the California-based drone delivery company. Zipline has now completed more than 2.5 million commercial deliveries worldwide, including one million over the past year. According to the company, roughly 70% of its autonomous flights now take place in the United States.
One of the biggest additions to its US network is healthcare. This month, Zipline plans to launch its first US home prescription delivery service with Cleveland Clinic, starting in the Beachwood suburb outside Cleveland.
Eligible patients will be able to receive certain prescription medications delivered directly to their homes by drone at no additional cost. But prescriptions are only the beginning. Zipline says the partnership is expected to expand over time to include lab sample transport, medically tailored meals, medical supplies, surgical equipment, and materials supporting hospital-at-home programs between Cleveland Clinic facilities.
The company is also preparing to enter Austin, Texas, where customers will be able to order food and retail products from local businesses through the Zipline app. Deliveries are expected to arrive in as little as five minutes, highlighting one of the company’s biggest selling points compared to traditional road-based delivery services.
Zipline says businesses are signing up faster than ever. National chains like Chipotle already offer deliveries through the platform in select markets, alongside local restaurants including Anothai Cuisine in Houston and Amelia’s Cocina Mexicana in Rowlett, Texas.
The momentum appears to be spreading. Food hall operator Wonder recently announced plans to use Zipline at 50 upcoming Texas locations, while Little Caesars is expanding from just five participating stores to 65 locations over the coming months.
To support that rapid growth, Zipline has strengthened its executive bench with three high-profile hires from some of Silicon Valley’s biggest transportation and technology companies.
Sendil Palani joins as chief financial officer after spending 17 years at Tesla, where he most recently served as vice president of finance and helped oversee the automaker’s dramatic global expansion.
Kevin Vosen becomes chief legal officer after nearly seven years leading legal operations at Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous driving company. Most recently, he served as chief administrative and legal officer at agricultural technology startup Ohalo.
Meanwhile, Allen Penn takes over as head of commercial after helping scale Uber from a startup with just 25 employees into a global giant with more than 25,000 workers. He also led Uber’s expansion across Asia and managed global operations for Uber Eats.
The leadership additions come as Zipline believes its technology has moved beyond the pilot phase and into large-scale commercial deployment.
Over the past decade, the company says its autonomous aircraft have flown more than 135 million commercial miles and delivered over 20 million items without a safety incident. Some individual aircraft have now surpassed one million flight miles — far beyond the average lifetime mileage of a typical passenger vehicle in the US.
While Zipline first became known for delivering blood and medical supplies to remote hospitals in Africa, the company has increasingly shifted its focus toward everyday consumer deliveries in the United States. Today, its network serves more than 5,000 hospitals and healthcare facilities worldwide while also delivering food, groceries, retail products, and prescriptions.
With new cities coming online, a rapidly expanding merchant network, and a leadership team packed with veterans from Tesla, Waymo, and Uber, Zipline is making it clear that it sees autonomous drone delivery moving from a niche service to a mainstream part of everyday life.
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