Drone delivery company Zipline has partnered with Nigeria’s Kaduna, a state in north western Nigeria to enable drone shipment of COVID-19 vaccines.
Kaduna’s collaboration with Zipline, which over the past year has distributed more than 1 million doses of other vaccines in Africa, will also enable blood products, medicines and other vaccines to be delivered on demand.
Read also:Zipline, The Ghana-based Drone Delivery Startup That Saw COVID-19 In Time
Zipline also said it is in talks with Nigeria’s other states.
From Delivering Blood to Delivering Pizza, Drones Have To Inspire New Generations of African Logistics Startups On Last Mile Delivery
According to a research report from Radiant Insight, “Unmanned aerial systems(UAS) markets (mostly dominated by drones) stood at $609 million in 2014. They are also expected to grow to $4.8 billion dollars, worldwide this year. The leading markets for drone use and sales include oil and gas mapping, utility line inspection, package delivery, and agricultural applications.
The American startup which delivers medical supplies, including blood, rabies vaccines and antivenom, to thousands of hard-to-reach health clinics in Rwanda and Ghana achieved a unicorn status in May 2019, having reached $1.2 billion in valuation.
The startup crossed the line in a $190 million new venture funding from top venture capitalists, including Baillie Gifford, The Rise Fund (which is TPG’s global impact fund), Temasek, Alphabet’s investment arm GV and Katalyst Ventures. The funding brought Zipline’s total capital raised to $225 million, before finally putting its market worth at $1.2 billion.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer
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