Investing in Zipline | How to Buy Pre-IPO Shares

Zipline is a game-changing drone delivery service provider. The company pioneered autonomous drone delivery, utilizing its proprietary software and hardware, including its unique drop-down package deployment system. Today, Zipline leads the charge within the autonomous drone delivery market with millions of packages delivered and clients spanning government, commercial, and health organizations globally.

Zipline has successfully demonstrated the effectiveness and savings that store-to-door drone delivery services can provide. Its success has led both institutional and private investors to back the platform. However, since the company is privately owned, the only way to acquire shares is through the secondary market. Here’s what you need to know.

What is Zipline?

Zipline entered the market in 2011. The company’s founders, Keller Keenan Wyrobek, William Hetzler, Rinaudo Cliffton, Peter Seid, and Phu Nguyen, envisioned their craft delivering everything from local products and food, all the way to life-saving medical supplies. Today, the company is headquartered in San Francisco with active US operations in Arkansas, Texas, and Washington.

Zipline App

In cities where Zipline operates, customers can utilize the application to make delivery requests. The system provides the user with everything they need to order, track, and confirm their delivery status. It features up-to-the-minute data displaying your packages’ locations in route and other vital details about its arrival.

Users can easily order packages for delivery, including picking out the exact delivery locations on the app. This capability is essential in urban environments where being just a few feet off can result in the package ending up on the wrong doorstep. The Zipline approach leverages advanced GPS-powered drones and a custom delivery craft that can automatically adjust to combat wind and other conditions during the delivery descent.

Drone Delivery

The drone delivery systems work directly with the app to provide instant delivery service to the masses. The craft used is built to enable fast flight and hovering. Notably, the main drone will take off with its loaded package and fly directly to the location.

Once there, it will hover at an altitude of 300ft. This strategy ensures that the drone doesn’t disrupt your activities as the sound is drowned out from a distance. The hovering drone will lower the Zip module containing the product onto the selected destination.

المصدر - المصدر Zipline

The Zip module has its own propeller, which allows it to fight any disturbances like high winds to achieve a precise landing.  The Zips are a critical component of the company’s strategy as they protect against the elements, moisture, and other issues. Additionally, they are insulated, enabling them to keep food warm or beverages cool when needed.

Humanitarian Efforts

One of the biggest factors that has set Zipline apart from its competitors is its humanitarian efforts. The company currently has several operations in Africa. Specifically, Ghana, Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, and Côte d’Ivoire utilize Zipline as a critical component of their healthcare system.

The company’s impact is impossible to deny. Since integrating into the local population, the firm has helped to decrease maternal mortality rates by 56%. Additionally, it utilized all locals to run the operation, providing +500 jobs to a diverse group of employees, including 33% women.

جولات التمويل التاريخية

Summary of Zipline Funding:

Total Funding: Zipline secured $900M across 11 funding rounds.

Largest Round: Zipline’s largest funding round secured $330M on April 28, 2023.

Investors: A total of 59 institutional investors and 2 Angel investors back Zipline

Latest Round: The latest funding round raised $330M and was a Series F round held on April 28, 2023.

تفاصيل جولات التمويل

• 5 Early-Stage
• 4 Late-Stage
• 2 Grant

المستثمرون الرئيسيون:

Zipleine secured investments from Katalyst Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, USTDA, Fidelity Investments, ECP, Intercorp, Reinvent Capital, Temasek, Baillie Gifford, The Rise Fund, Goldman Sachs, Oakhouse Partners, Toyota Tsusho, Design to Improve Life, Bright Success Capital, United Parcel Service, Visionnaire Ventures, SV Angel, and Leland Stanford Junior University, and more.

Why Invest in Zipline?

There’s a long list of reasons why investing in Zipline could be the right move for you. For one, the company’s business model is perfectly suited to today’s fast-paced economy. Services like Amazon Prime have proven that consumers are willing and ready to pay for faster delivery of their products.

Zipline spectacularly accomplishes this task, eliminating all the usual delays like traffic, lights, or delivering to remote locations. The app allows people to track their deliveries from shipping to their front door. As such, it enables companies to deliver products to more people, save money, and improve the customer experience.

Competitive

Another reason why investors see Zipline as a smart decision is that it is leading its industry. The company ranks first out of 48 active competitors. Additionally, the company’s drones have hit several impressive milestones. For example, the firm’s delivery drones have successfully flown 119,812,176 miles, completing 1,763,016 deliveries, equaling 19,754,133 items delivered.

Investor support

Zipline has always had strong support from institutional investors. These investors see AI-powered delivery services as the future, and they predict that Zipline has what it takes to remain dominant. Impressively, the firm managed to secure 61 investors, with 59 of those funding the project being institutional firms. This level of support demonstrates strong faith in the company’s business model and practices.

Sustainable

Sustainability is another reason why investors see Zipline as a wise maneuver. The company’s drones are fully electric-powered, meaning they don’t give off any emissions. Additionally, they help to reduce traffic, cut down delivery times, and lower costs for all parties.

Growing Demand for These Services

As e-commerce expands, people’s patience has shrunk. Today, customers want their products delivered faster than ever. Companies like Amazon have already spent millions attempting to create effective drone delivery strategies. However, none have seen the success or offer the advanced capabilities that Zipline provides. As such, it’s likely demand for these services will increase as time progresses.

Funding and Investor data sourced from Tracxn.

1. السوق الثانوية قبل الاكتتاب العام الأولي

Secondary markets are purpose-built exchanges that connect pre-IPO shareholders with potential investors. These marketplaces can offer these assets because they work closely with employees, early-stage investors, and venture capitalists, who are crucial to the company’s pre-IPO growth.

Investing in pre-IPO shares of Zipline could offer strong returns if the company’s valuation increases following its IPO. It’s common for company valuations to increase following an IPO. As such, it makes sense to add pre-IPO shares to your portfolio before the firm announces plans to go public.

Secondary marketplaces have many requirements. Here are some concerns you should be made aware of:

Eligibility: This approach requires you to be an accredited investor, meaning you will have to show at least $1M in liquid assets to qualify for access.

2. شركات الأسهم الخاصة

تحصل شركات الأسهم الخاصة على أسهم ما قبل الطرح العام الأولي خلال جولات الاستثمار. ثم يعرضون هذه الأسهم على المستثمرين المعتمدين ذوي الملاءة المالية العالية بعمولة. والجدير بالذكر أنه من المعروف أن شركات الأسهم الخاصة لديها شروط إضافية، بما في ذلك منع بيع الأسهم لسنوات في بعض الحالات.

3. مبيعات أسهم الموظفين

Many consider employee equity sales as the best way to acquire pre-IPO shares in Zipline. This method of acquiring pre-IPO shares requires you to connect with former employees. It’s common for companies to issue shares as part of an incentive package. Notably, this profit-sharing method has become more popular, leading to more pre-IPO share opportunities for investors.

Private Transactions: There are a lot of hoops you will need to jump through to complete a private pre-IPO transaction, including creating specific legal agreements, conducting valuations, and setting in place any limitations on the transfer of the asset.

السمسرة: سيزيل الوسطاء الكثير من الارتباك من عملية ما قبل الاكتتاب العام الأولي. ويمكن لهؤلاء المحترفين أن يرشدوك خلال كل خطوة، مما يضمن الامتثال الكامل وتجنب الأخطاء الشائعة التي يرتكبها المحترفون غير المدربين.

هناك العديد من المخاطر التي يجب عليك أخذها في الاعتبار قبل الدخول في مجال الاستثمار في أسهم ما قبل الاكتتاب العام الأولي. إليك أهم هذه المخاطر:

مخاطر السيولة

If you are looking for an asset that you can sell right away, pre-IPO shares are not the best option.

These investments can include sales and transfer clauses that prevent the transfer of the asset until certain criteria, such as the IPO’s completion, are met. It’s even common for pre-IPO shares to require you to wait years before gaining the ability to sell your assets.

Finding a Broker

إذا كنت تستوفي المتطلبات وكنت مرتاحًا للمخاطر، فإن العديد من المنصات توفر لك إمكانية الوصول إلى فرص ما قبل الاكتتاب العام الأولي:

فورج جلوبال: واحدة من أكبر أسواق الأسهم الخاصة، تقدم أسهمًا في شركات ناشئة في مراحلها المتأخرة مثل SpaceX وStripe وDatabricks. يبدأ الحد الأدنى عادةً من $100,000.

إيكويتيزن: وهي منصة شهيرة تسمح للمستثمرين المعتمدين بالشراء في الشركات الخاصة بحد أدنى يصل إلى $5,000. وتشمل العروض السابقة شركات مثل Discord وUiPath.

صانع المطر للأوراق المالية: وسيط متكامل الخدمات يساعد في الحصول على مبيعات الأسهم الخاصة والتفاوض بشأنها، بما في ذلك الفرص المتاحة في شركات مثل OpenAI وStripe وPalantir.

هايف: منصة أحدث مع تسعير مباشر للعرض/الطلب لمئات الشركات الخاصة. شفافة ومنخفضة الرسوم، مع حد أدنى يبدأ من $25,000.

مايكرو فنتشرز: توفر إمكانية الوصول الجماعي إلى الشركات في مراحلها المتأخرة من خلال المركبات ذات الأغراض الخاصة (SPVs)، بما في ذلك الاستثمارات السابقة في SpaceX و Instacart.

EquityBee: يسمح للمستثمرين بتمويل تمارين خيارات الأسهم للموظفين في الشركات الناشئة، وغالبًا ما يكون ذلك بتقييمات مخفضة، بحد أدنى يبلغ حوالي $10,000.

التعزيز: سوق رقمي أولاً يعرض الأسعار في الوقت الفعلي لأسهم ما قبل الاكتتاب العام، ويستهدف المستثمرين البارعين في مجال التكنولوجيا ويقدم رسوم معاملات أقل.

شركة StartEngine الخاصة: Launched in late 2023, this platform offers accredited investors access to Regulation D offerings in later-stage, venture-backed companies. In its first nine months, it generated $16.5 million in revenue, with average investments of around $32,000

Important: Always perform thorough due diligence and consult a financial advisor before investing in private company shares.

Valuation of Zipline and Future IPO

There are several factors that enabled Zipline to secure a $4.2B valuation on May 02, 2023. For one, the company continues to attract major institutional investment capital. It has 59 institutional investors and has secured $900M over 11 rounds, with its latest being its largest. This data demonstrates growing positive sentiment for the company and its products.

Additionally, Zipline’s humanitarian efforts have been well documented and shared on social media, raising public awareness and confidence in its drone delivery services. From life-saving medicines to autoparts or even lunch, Zipline delivery services are the fastest and most efficient method.

Those holding Zipline pre-IPO shares seek to capitalize on the company’s market expansion. Every new city that Zipline enters, it restructures how people think of delivery. Consequently, if the company can retain its momentum, it’s likely that it will remain the industry leader moving forward.

Investing in Zipline Pre-IPO Shares | Conclusion

Holding Zipline shares opens the door for future opportunities. The company’s unique delivery service is likely to be integrated into several cities and companies in the coming years. As such, you may find that your product wait times are now only minutes rather than days.

Despite all the positive factors, you still need to consult a financial professional before purchasing any pre-IPO shares. These assets have different restrictions that could limit your ability to trade or sell them. For those who complete their homework and can qualify for Zipline shares, there’s a lot of upside potential.

Learn about Other Pre-IPO Opportunities Now

إخلاء المسؤولية: هذه المقالة هي لأغراض إعلامية فقط ولا تشكل نصيحة مالية أو قانونية أو استثمارية. عادة ما تكون أسهم ما قبل الطرح العام الأولي متاحة فقط للمستثمرين المعتمدين وتنطوي على مخاطر كبيرة. قم دائمًا بإجراء العناية الواجبة الشاملة واستشر مستشارًا ماليًا أو خبيرًا قانونيًا قبل اتخاذ قرارات الاستثمار.