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FORTUNE.COM// JA N.1 .19BACK IN 2014Keller Rinaudo met a gradu-
ate student at the Ifakara Health Institute in
Tanzania. The student had built a mobile alert
system for health workers to text emergency
requests for medicine and vaccines. Health
workers made thousands of emergency
requests, which had never before been pos-
sible. Unfortunately, there was no way for the
government to fulfill these requests.
“I realized then that I was looking at a data-
base of death with thousands of names, ad-
dresses, ages, phone numbers,” says Rinaudo.
Having already founded Silicon Valley–
based drone startup Zipline, Rinaudo had
discovered its mission. “Zipline could build the
other half of that system and save the majority
of those people’s lives,” he says.FORGET PIE IN
THE SK Y, DRONES
ARE SAVING LIVES
Drones may one day make your life easier by
delivering pizza, but today—in Rwanda—they
are already playing a vital role in emergency
medical services.By Tom JacksonLab technician
Prosper Uzabakiriho
collects a Zipline
delivery in Rwanda.JASON^ FLORIO—REDUX