Keller Rinaudo Cliffton

Keller Rinaudo Clifton is a robotics and healthcare innovator who is showing the world how drone technology can be used to save lives. He is the CEO and co-founder of Zipline, the largest commercial autonomous system on earth, which delivers life-saving medical supplies to hospitals and health centers on demand. Zipline was named one of the “50 Most Disruptive Companies in the U.S.” in 2019 and 2020 by CNBC, one of Fortune’s “Impact 20,” called a “visionary project” by the World Health Organization, and dubbed “the new face of the aerospace industry” by The New York Times.

Zipline uses cutting-edge technology to leapfrog the absence of pre-existing infrastructure all over the globe and deliver medical necessities to healthcare professionals and patients in the most remote parts of the world. The company currently operates in parts of Africa and Japan, as well as within multiple U.S. states. A former TED main stage speaker, Keller was named to the 2020 “Bloomberg 50” list, one of the 2019 “TIME 100 Next,” spotlighting rising stars who are shaping the future, one of Fortune’s 2019 and 2021 “40 under 40,” one of Fast Company’s 2017 “Most Creative People in Business,” and made Forbes’ prestigious 2017 “30 Under 30” list in the Consumer Technology category. Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, he discusses how to test solutions quickly to effectively maximize output, how to discover simple solutions to complex problems, emerging as a leader in an industry dominated by monopolies, and what technology and robotics mean for the future of business and government.

The idea for Zipline was born on a trip to Tanzania, when Keller met with a researcher who had compiled a database of doctors across the country who required immediate medical assistance for patients. This assistance typically came in the form of special medicine, blood donations, and other emergency treatments. Keller was astounded by the number of requests and the lack of availability for those supplies to be delivered as needed. Inspired to find a solution, he gradually built a coalition around his vision, raised capital, recruited talent, created innovative delivery vehicles, forged new partnerships with government agencies, and implemented these solutions in extremely remote areas.

Zipline’s groundbreaking partnership with the country of Rwanda will ultimately put all 11 million of the country’s citizens within a 20–30-minute delivery of blood and any essential medical product. Zipline currently delivers more than 65% of the national blood supply of Rwanda. Zipline has also worked closely with the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), UPS, and the Gates Foundation. In 2017, Fast Company named drones being used for good as one of the “12 tech trends that will shape our lives”, and cited Zipline’s work as proof. Zipline has expanded into Ghana, covering 2,000 health facilities and hospitals and facilitating the instant delivery of more than 100 different medical products there. The company has begun providing similar logistics and delivery services in Nigeria and Japan as well. Zipline has also played a significant role in the support of COVID-19 relief efforts, receiving FAA approval to partner with Novant Health to distribute PPE and medical equipment in several U.S. states, as well as the COVAX Initiative to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to those in need. In 2020, Zipline partnered with Walmart to launch the first-of-its kind on-demand drone delivery of health and wellness products in the U.S.

Before founding Zipline, Keller was a software engineer with a special interest in robots and autonomous systems. A graduate of Harvard University, Keller built computers out of RNA and DNA that operate in human cells as molecular doctors and published this research in Nature Biotechnology, becoming one of the youngest first authors in that publication’s history.

Keller currently oversees a team of 150 flight engineers and operators formerly of companies including SpaceX, Boeing, and Google based in the San Francisco Bay Area and Rwanda. Zipline is funded by Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures, Stanford University, Katalyst Ventures, Baillie Gifford, Temasek, Goldman Sachs, and The Rise Fund.

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