01 December 2025

The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) today celebrates Zipline's $150 million funding from the U.S. State Department to triple its lifesaving drone delivery network, a milestone that builds on the Foundation's catalytic early support and cements their role in pioneering drone-enabled HIV care across Africa. The award is based on a first-of-its-kind pay-for-performance model, demonstrating how early philanthropic support helped underscore Zipline's growing impact.

From the outset, EJAF was an early supporter of Zipline's entry into Kenya, paving the way for national and international funders to follow and enable the expansion of Zipline's groundbreaking model across the continent. Rwanda is expected to be the first country to expand under this new model, marking the beginning of continent-wide scale that could triple Zipline's network from 5,000 to 15,000 health facilities and reach 100 million people.

Impact Since EJAF's 2023 Support

Kenya and Nigeria at a glance...

• 125,000 people reached with HIV interventions
• 90,000 people reached with prevention tools
• 38,600 adolescents and young adults tested for HIV
• 8,600 at-risk adolescents and young adults initiated on PrEP
• 86,000 antiretrovirals delivered via drone

"From the beginning, the Elton John AIDS Foundation has stood with communities too often left behind, without the healthcare they urgently need and deserve," said Elton John, Founder of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. "Zipline's innovative approach to delivering medical care is exactly the kind of work our Foundation exists to champion. We were their first philanthropic partner in Kenya and have helped them build a network there - and in other countries across Africa - that ensures people living with HIV get access to the treatment they need every single day. By reaching people where they are and harnessing technology to deliver care, our program shows what's possible and gives people everywhere a real chance at a future free from HIV."

The Foundation first supported Zipline in 2023, recognizing the potential of Zipline's drone technology to break down barriers to care. The Foundation was Zipline's first partner in Kenya and has since expanded collaboration to Nigeria, ensuring people living with HIV, particularly young people and LGBTQ+ communities, receive testing, prevention, and treatment services directly in their communities.

"Stigma and discrimination keep too many young people in Sub-Saharan Africa from the care they deserve. For someone like 24-year-old Charles Atieno, our partnership with Zipline is a lifeline," said David Furnish, Chair of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. "Charles can learn his status, access contraceptives, or pick up a self-test kit right where he plays football - without fear, judgment, or a long trip to a clinic. This is exactly why we backed Zipline early. By supporting their entry into Kenya, we helped generate the evidence and confidence that made this major governmental investment possible. Today's milestone shows what happens when innovation meets compassion: young people thrive, and global partners step up."

Independent research shows Zipline's system also strengthens wider health outcomes — from reducing stockouts to cutting maternal mortality - demonstrating how the same innovation improving HIV care has far-reaching impact.

"Years ago, the Foundation made a bold investment in Zipline's game-changing technology because we knew they could deliver testing and treatment to communities that traditional supply chains simply couldn't reach," said Anne Aslett, CEO of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. "Today, we're proud to see our support in their pilot has evolved into a self-sustaining system that will outlast any single grant. Our transformative partnership has created something much bigger than a program - it's built into a legacy that will continue to save thousands of lives. This is our path to an AIDS-free world: funding innovations that become permanent solutions."

"The Elton John AIDS Foundation is an extraordinary philanthropic partner. They backed a simple but radical idea: bring HIV medicines to where people are instead of making them come to you, especially in places where stigma keeps too many away," said Caitlin Burton, CEO of Zipline Africa. "Their early support proved how centralized, on-demand delivery can reach people living with HIV privately, reliably, and cost-effectively - whether that's at home, at work, or on the sidelines of a soccer game. With Zipline's rapid expansion fueled by the U.S. State Department award, there are now dozens of opportunities for donors to follow EJAF's lead - providing catalytic, one-time investments that help African governments solve intractable health challenges and bridge the gap to self-sustainability."

"Imagine ending HIV transmission in a continent. We now have the tools to do it: visionary leaders, medications with 100% effectiveness, and on-demand delivery that can get the right medicine to anyone, anywhere," said Keller Rinaudo Clifton, CEO and Co-Founder of Zipline. "Thanks to bold partners like the U.S. State Department, African governments and the Elton John AIDS Foundation, we're making that dream a reality."

About the Elton John AIDS Foundation

The Elton John AIDS Foundation was established in 1992 and is one of the leading independent AIDS organizations in the world. The Foundation's mission is simple: an end to the AIDS epidemic. The Elton John AIDS Foundation is committed to overcoming the stigma, discrimination and neglect that keep us from ending AIDS. With the mobilization of our network of generous supporters and partners, we fund local experts across four continents to challenge discrimination, prevent infections and provide treatment, as well as informing government strategies to end AIDS.

About Zipline

Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced autonomous delivery service. Today Zipline operates on four continents, makes a delivery somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, and serves more than 5,000 hospitals and health facilities. Zipline's customers include federal and state health systems, health care institutions, restaurants and retailers. With more than 120 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown to date, Zipline is transforming access to healthcare, consumer products, and food. Our customers rely on Zipline to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide new logistics services at scale.

For years Zipline has worked with visionary governments and philanthropic organizations willing to take bold action to improve health outcomes for tens of millions of people. Partners include the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Gates Foundation, Gavi, Pfizer, and The UPS Foundation, which have helped Zipline and its partner governments develop a wealth of empirical evidence that advances our understanding of how improved supply chain performance increases timely treatment and ultimately saves lives. For more information, visit Zipline.com/Africa.

More News on the Zipline Deal

Zipline, an American robotics company that designs, manufactures, and operates the world’s largest autonomous delivery system, today announced a landmark agreement with the U.S. Department of State to expand its life-saving drone delivery service across Africa – a proven and more affordable way to improve health outcomes. At full scale, the partnership could triple the number of hospitals and health facilities Zipline serves (from 5,000  to 15,000) and provide up to 130 million people with instant access to blood and medications. 

Under a new pay-for-performance model — a first-of its kind from the State Department — Zipline will receive up to $150 million to expand its AI and robotics infrastructure that enables African governments to provide 24/7 delivery of essential medical supplies to hospitals and health facilities. As buyers of the service African countries will pay up to $400 million in utilization fees. Funding will be released only when governments sign expansion contracts and commit to pay for ongoing logistics services to ensure long-term sustainability. 

“We started Zipline to build a logistics system that serves all people equally. Today the U.S. government is doubling down on our work, and using our AI, robotics and autonomous logistics system to improve health outcomes,” said Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, CEO and Co-Founder of Zipline. “For years presidents and prime ministers have told me they want the best of what America has to offer: innovation, jobs and 21st century technology to leapfrog into the future. That has always been America’s unique value proposition and today, the State Department is making that happen.”

“This partnership is an example of the innovative, results-driven partnership at the core of the America First foreign assistance agenda. With modest U.S. capital investment support, these five countries will become responsible for maintaining and continuing to invest in a transformative American-built health commodities supply chain network,” said ​​Under Secretary of State for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs and Religious Freedom Jeremy Lewin. “By strategically deploying assistance resources to catalyze private capital, incentivize local buy-in, and champion American businesses, President Trump’s foreign assistance agenda is bringing developing economies into the 21st century and helping America win the race for the technologies of tomorrow at the same time.” 

Scaling Proven Impact Poor logistics hinders the movement of critical goods and services that people need to live and thrive. Zipline’s infrastructure is proven to deliver better health outcomes by solving the root of many public health challenges: slow, unreliable and analog logistics that often leaves blood, medications and supplies out of stock or spoiled. 

Since its first delivery in 2016, Zipline’s autonomous logistics system — designed and manufactured in the U.S. — has completed 1.8 million autonomous deliveries with zero safety incidents. With Zipline, hospitals, health facilities, and community health workers have on-demand access to a world-class pharmacy from nearly any location. Independent research shows its impact:

• Tens of thousands of lives have been saved through on-demand delivery 

• Maternal deaths cut by up to 56% in Zipline-supported health facilities   

• Stockouts of medicine and vaccines reduced by 60% where Zipline delivers 

• Immunization rates increased 13-37 percentage points in areas where Zipline operates 

• Zipline was found to be one of the most cost-effective immunization interventions ever studied, measured in incremental cost-effectiveness ratios 

In some places where Zipline operates in Africa, the average time between when a health facility places an order to when it is delivered is 13 days. Zipline cut that to under 30 minutes for the facilities it serves in the country. 

Since 2016, federal and state ministries of health in Africa have procured and paid for Zipline’s services to achieve health and economic improvements in their countries. This expansion backs these countries’ visions and multiplies the impact of African leaders and their domestic investments. 

The partnership with the State Department signals a new era of commercial diplomacy — one that uses U.S. innovation to drive global health and economic development. This is also the State Department’s first award that uses AI, robotics and autonomous logistics to improve health outcomes. Rwanda is expected to be the first country to sign an agreement under this new model.

“African governments are choosing to invest their own resources in Zipline because it works, and it’s incredible value for money. It solves intractable global health challenges like maternal mortality, malnutrition, and under 5 mortality,” said Caitlin Burton, CEO of Zipline’s Africa business. “This award marks a pivotal moment in foreign aid — the U.S. government is backing Africa’s vision, building the infrastructure Africa wants, and accelerating the adoption of American innovation that’s proven to work and recognized as one of the most cost-effective public health interventions ever studied. It will forever change the trajectory of human health and development in Africa.”

The American financing will support the construction of new Zipline hubs, and will be released only after an African government has committed to expanding Zipline’s operations in their country to meet agreed upon metrics for success. Each Zipline hub is a permanent piece of infrastructure, staffed entirely by local employees, which creates skilled local jobs and drives economic growth. 

"Rwanda and Zipline have been working together for years to harness technology for the good of our people. We have witnessed the extraordinary impact of drone delivery — saving time, saving money, and saving lives,” said Minister Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT and Innovation, Government of Rwanda. “With this partnership, we will now expand to urban delivery, bringing these benefits to even more communities. We thank the U.S. Government for supporting Zipline’s expansion and for joining us in building the foundation for Africa’s future in healthcare and innovation.”  

“With more than 200 million people, Nigeria faces unique challenges and opportunities in delivering healthcare equitably and efficiently. Existing Zipline operations in three Nigerian states have shown how drone delivery can transform access to healthcare — eliminating stockouts, creating new service points even where there is no health facility, driving growth in facility visits and treatment rates, and improving treatment success and health outcomes,” said 

Muhammad Ali Pate, Minister of Health and Social Welfare of Nigeria. “We applaud the U.S. Government’s support for innovations like Zipline that can potentially advance our vision for a healthier, more equitable future for our people and are in discussions to find a sustainable path working together.”

"In Côte d’Ivoire, our priority is to guarantee every citizen rapid, reliable, and equitable access to essential health products.“ Since the launch of Zipline’s operations in our country, we have witnessed the concrete impact of medical drone delivery: shorter supply times, improved availability of vital products, strengthened capacities of our health facilities, and better services delivered to our populations, including those in rural and remote areas. With the expansion of this partnership, we now aim to amplify these results and extend these benefits to an even larger number of communities across the entire territory,” said Pierre Dimba, Minister of Health, Public Hygiene, and Universal Health Coverage of Côte d’Ivoire. “This approach is fully aligned with our vision of a modern, resilient health system capable of innovating to meet tomorrow’s needs. We also welcome the support of the United States Government in advancing this effort, which contributes to strengthening our health sovereignty and building an Ivorian model of excellence in health innovation.” 

Today autonomous logistics reaches less than 1% of the global population. This award comes one step closer to closing that gap, and it’s only the beginning. 

There is a massive opportunity to bring autonomous logistics to billions of people worldwide. This award is designed to be easily replicated by those who work in foreign aid and philanthropy: scale what works, pay for results, and enable countries to thrive long term.

When Zipline made its first delivery in 2016 it was seen as a crazy experiment. Now, the largest government in the world is doubling down on what Zipline is building and with the support of America and Africa, autonomous logistics is becoming the backbone of tomorrow's infrastructure around the world.