Zipline adds former Tesla and Waymo executives to C-suite as it scales drone delivery

According to CNBC, South San Francisco startup Zipline is adding former Tesla and Waymo executives to its C-suite and has hired a former Uber executive to lead commercialization as it expands its drone delivery service in the U.S. and internationally. The company said its fully electric autonomous drones have completed more than 2.5 million commercial deliveries, can carry items up to 8 pounds, and are now making about one delivery every 20 seconds, up from one per minute in early 2025; it added that 1 million deliveries occurred in the last 12 months and about 70% of daily delivery volume is in the U.S. Zipline said former Tesla vice president of finance Sendil Palani is joining as chief financial officer this month, and Kevin Vosen is joining as chief legal officer after serving as chief legal officer at Waymo; it also hired former Uber Eats vice president Allen Penn as head of commercialization and markets. Zipline said it has capacity to make 24,000 drones per year at its South San Francisco factory and is starting operations soon in Austin, Houston and Cleveland, where it plans to offer prescription home delivery with Cleveland Clinic this month at no additional cost to start; CEO and co-founder Keller Rinaudo said the company expects its U.S. business to grow by another 15X this year and is targeting many tens of U.S. metros and some new large international markets in 2027.