Zipline drone
Zipline, a San Francisco Bay-area company that’s using drones to deliver medical supplies such as blood, (and soon, medication and vaccines) to rural areas and in developing countries, has closed a $25 million Series B round, according to Venture Beat. The funding comes at a time when Zipline is expanding its business in Rwanda and preparing to launch in the U.S.
Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital took part in the round, which was led by Visionnaire Ventures, the Venture Beat article said. Subtraction Capital and Yahoo founder Jerry Yang have also invested in the business, according to TechCrunch, which reported that Zipline has raised a total of $43 million to date.
The drone business is planning to launch its drone delivery service in the U.S. next year, as part of a partnership with the White House and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration the Venture Beat article noted.
Zipline has been ramping up its medical drone business in Rwanda. The company signed a one-year partnership with Rwanda’s government to deliver blood for transfusions to the western half of the country and plans to start deliveries in the eastern half of Rwanda by the end of the year.
Earlier this year, the White House disclosed plans to do preliminary missions for drone deliveries of medical supplies in remote areas such as Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay, Nevada, and Washington, including in Indian reservations. Zipline took part in these demonstrations.
A couple of the other drone companies in the medical supply delivery business include Flirtey and Vayu.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Photo: Zipline
