Uber is investing in drone delivery company Zipline to bring autonomous food deliveries to Uber Eats, but the new service will initially skip the company’s African markets. The companies anno
Uber is investing in drone delivery company Zipline to bring autonomous food deliveries to Uber Eats, but the new service will initially skip the company’s African markets.
The companies announced a strategic partnership on Monday, with the first Uber Eats drone deliveries expected to begin in the US later this year. They are targeting one million drone deliveries per day by the end of 2029.
Zipline said its autonomous drones could fulfil Uber Eats orders within five to 10 minutes. The service will first launch in Zipline’s existing US markets before expanding to dozens of additional cities across the country.
The company is also making a strategic investment in Zipline, although the companies did not disclose the value of the investment.
The US-first plan contrasts with Zipline’s existing presence in Africa. The drone company operates across four continents and has built delivery networks in countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Côte d’Ivoire.
Zipline’s African operations have largely focused on healthcare, using autonomous drones to transport medical supplies to health facilities and communities. The company said it has made more than 2.7 million deliveries globally and serves more than 5,000 hospitals and health facilities.
Kenya is particularly relevant to this new partnership because it is an African market where both companies already operate. Uber Eats has an established food delivery business in the country, while Zipline has used its drone network for medical deliveries.
However, neither company has announced plans to extend the new drone service to Kenya or any other African market.
Uber said the partnership is part of its effort to build a hybrid delivery network that combines human couriers, sidewalk robots and drones. The company plans to use the different delivery methods depending on which is best suited to an order.
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For now, the companies are focused on scaling autonomous food delivery in the US. The presence of Zipline’s existing African drone infrastructure, however, gives the partnership a potential link to Uber Eats markets on the continent if the companies eventually decide to expand the service beyond the US.
