Health-tech drone delivery company, Zipline International launched its service in Rwanda just three years ago and has now announced it has officially expanded its operations to Ghana, making it the world’s largest autonomous medical drone delivery service.
Over the last six months, Zipline has expanded from one distribution company in Rwanda delivering blood to 21 hospitals to operating six distribution centers in two countries, delivering more than 170 different vaccines, blood products, and medications to 2,500 health facilities. Its reach now serves nearly 22 million people.
Dedicated to providing instant access to vital medical supplies, Zipline employs aerospace veterans from SpaceX, Google, Boeing and NASA to design and operate its autonomous systems, which can deliver a package within 30 minutes after a health-care worker places an order by text. Zipline’s drones take off and land from its distribution centers.
“So much of the conversation these days is about this growing idea that tech is not benefiting a vast majority of people,” says Zipline CEO, Keller Rinaudo. “We really want to show that the right technology company with the right mission can help every person on the planet.”
Access to vital health products worldwide has historically hampered the ease of supplying medicine from central storage to remotely located patients when and where they need it.
The company is currently working to expand drone delivery services to developed and developing countries across Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Americas throughout 2019.
In addition, Zipline is working closely with North Carolina to launch its medical drone delivery as part of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s UAS Integration Pilot Program.