Drone delivery has appeared to be the next big thing since 2013 when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos went on 60 Minutes and showed a demo of an Amazon drone delivering a package. While Bezos' hopes haven't come to fruition, one company is making the future a reality in Africa, delivering medical supplies in 30 minutes or less.
In this Backstage Pass interview aired on Jan. 5, Fool contributor Jeremy Bowman discusses with Khaled bin Alwaleed, the CEO and founder of KBW Venutres, a drone delivery company that he's invested in called Zipline.
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Jeremy Bowman: You touched on some of the companies you invested in, Beyond Meat, Square. What are some of your investments that you're most excited about today or what are some of your favorite holdings today?
HRH Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud: That's a great question. [laughs] I keep hearing about it's like choosing between your favorite child, [laughs] but none really. Honestly, for us, we're really excited about so many companies. We've had some blockchain companies like Origin that we're really excited about. They are a key player in the NFT market. We're really excited about that, but companies that really offer sustainable solutions for huge problems that we have in the world are TurtleTree Labs, which is a company that's a cellular agriculture company that specializes in dairy. We've got obviously UPSIDE Foods. Dr. Uma Valeti is a dear friend of mine. I have met with them, I think six years ago or so. I remember investing in this company when nobody really wanted to invest in the company. Lo and behold, at the close of the round that we invested in, I think Bill Gates was an investor in there. Then an announcement was Sir Richard Branson was an investor in there. We're really excited about them investing in companies like that to really see the future and truly the sustainability, but obviously, there are other companies I'm really excited about. Zipline holdings is one of the most important ones that we have, which is a fixed wing drone aircraft that specializes in sending medical supplies to rural areas. For example, we're covering 100 percent of Rwanda. We cover all of Rwanda in 30 minutes or less through different pockets of these areas that we cover and we transport medical supplies. I'm very happy to say there's been an enormous drop in fatalities because of this technology. We're really excited about that, for example. We've opened up the Philippines for them and India for them. That's really one of the ways that we like to invest in the companies. We like to partner with our partners, as opposed to just being a passive investor. We don't take board-seats really. I don't get involved in management or anything, but I do give my two cents worth. If I could open up the market in any way, shape, or form, or if I can use some of my influence so that I can open up the doors and thankfully, knock on a door and thankfully, I'd get it open in one way, shape, or form, then I'd use that to the advantage of one, our companies, and then two, partners. I'm not necessarily an investor in, but I see the benefit of spreading their technology in a certain market.
Jeremy Bowman: Yeah, I saw the video of Zipline doing those deliveries in Rwanda. It's pretty cool when you think of technology and entrepreneurship really making a difference like that with the delivering medical supplies. I didn't realize they did it in just 30 minutes either. It's good stuff.
