Uber Teams Up With Zipline For Drone Food Deliveries

SAN FRANCISCO —

Uber Technologies is adding drones to its delivery lineup. The company announced Monday that it is partnering with Zipline, a drone delivery startup, and making a strategic investment in it, with the goal of handling 1 million drone deliveries a day by the end of 2029.

The first Uber Eats orders will fly out later this year in Dallas-Fort Worth, where Zipline already operates, according to The Verge. Uber and Zipline plan to expand into dozens of additional U.S. cities after that. Neither company disclosed how much Uber is investing, and Uber declined to give Reuters financial details, according to Channel NewsAsia.

Uber says Zipline's drones can drop an order on a customer's lawn within five to ten minutes. "Truly quick commerce is proving to be an even bigger market than the original food market was," Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi told The Wall Street Journal, according to TechCrunch. "We think this can be an enormous tailwind for the next leg of growth for Eats."

A Crowded Sky Over Fast Food

Zipline, based in San Francisco, has made 2 million deliveries so far and operates on four continents, including Rwanda, Ghana, Japan, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Kenya, according to The Verge. The company got its start in Rwanda in 2016 flying medical supplies to remote areas. In the U.S., its commercial partners already include Walmart and restaurant chains such as Panera, Chipotle and Wendy's, Channel NewsAsia reported. Zipline recently closed an extended Series H funding round of $800 million, pushing its valuation to $7.6 billion.

The Uber deal echoes one it struck last year with another drone company, Flytrex, which also included an investment, according to The Verge and TechCrunch. Uber has taken a similar approach with self-driving cars, lining up multiple partners rather than building its own technology after shutting down its Uber Elevate air taxi unit and its in-house autonomous vehicle group.

Regulators Open the Door

Uber's rivals are moving fast, too. DoorDash launched its own drone program, DoorDash Air, last month after winning approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, The Verge reported. The FAA has proposed new rules to expand drone deliveries following a 2025 order from President Donald Trump, and drone operators are racing to line up deals with grocery chains and retailers for a market one analysis estimates could reach $7.7 billion by 2031, according to The Verge.

Zipline co-founder Keller Cliffton said in a statement reported by TechCrunch that the partnership marks a step toward "a world where getting what you need is as fast and effortless as sending a text, no matter where you are."