Zepto (company)

Zepto
FormerlyKiranaKart
Company typePrivate
IndustryQuick-commerce
FoundedJuly 2021; 3 years ago (2021-07)
Headquarters
Bengaluru
,
India
Number of locations
250 stores (2024)
Key people
  • Aadit Palicha (CEO)
  • Kaivalya Vohra (CTO)
ServicesOnline grocer
RevenueIncrease ₹4,454 crore (US$520 million) (FY24)[1]
Positive decrease ₹−1,248 crore (US$−150 million) (FY24)
Websitezeptonow.com

Zepto is an Indian quick-commerce company headquartered in Bengaluru.[2] It was founded in July 2021 by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra.[3] As of August 2024, the company is valued at over $5 billion[4] and operates over 250 dark-stores across ten metropolitan areas in India.[5]

Zepto's competitors in India's grocery delivery space include Amazon's India unit, Flipkart, Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, and BigBasket.

History

Aadit Palicha started KiranaKart with Kaivalya Vohra in 2020 when they were 17 years old.[6][7] Palicha and Vohra skipped college to start Zepto, instead raising capital from Contrary, which offered to invest if they dropped out of Stanford University.[8][9]

Palicha and Vohra originally branded the company as KiranaKart and focused on facilitating grocery delivery by partnering with local kirana stores, but that approach did not gain traction.[10] They also participated in Y Combinator's accelerator program while building out the first version of the platform.[11]

In 2021, the company rebranded to Zepto and verticalized the operation, building a network of dark stores to fulfill orders. In April 2022, Zepto launched Cafe, a division focused on delivery of coffee and ready-to-eat food.[12] In February 2023, the company launched Bloom, a platform for farmers to manage food production and distribute goods from villages to cities.[13]

Zepto and other major delivery platforms including Zomato, Blinkit, and Swiggy employ over 3 million gig workers. The company began a paid membership program in February 2024,[14] which has over 4 million subscribers as of April 2024.[15]

In 2024, Zepto moved its headquarters from Mumbai to Bengaluru.[2]

Funding

In January 2021, KiranaKart (now Zepto) raised $730,000 in a pre-seed round led by Global Founders Capital, Contrary Capital, 2 AM Ventures, and angel investors.[16]

In October 2021, it raised $60 million from Nexus, Y Combinator, Global Founders Capital, as well as angel investors Lachy Groom, Neeraj Arora and Manik Gupta at $225 million valuation.[17]

In December 2021, the company raised $100 million Series C round led by Y Combinator's Continuity Fund at a valuation of $570 million.[18]

In May 2022, Zepto raised $200 million at $900 million valuation as a part of its Series D round which was again led by Y Combinator's Continuity Fund. Investors including Nexus Venture Partners, Glade Brook Capital and Contrary Capital participated in the new round.[19]

In August 2023, Zepto raised $200 million as part of its Series E round at a $1.4 billion valuation, becoming a unicorn.[20] It raised funds from U.S-based investment firms StepStone Group and Goodwater Capital. Existing backers including Nexus Venture Partners and Glade Brook Capital also participated in the deal.[21][22]

In June 2024, Zepto raised $665 million funding at $3.6 billion valuation as part of its Series F round[23] and $340 million funding at a $5 billion valuation two months later, raising over $1 billion in 2024 and more than $1.5 billion since its inception.[24]

Round Size Valuation Lead Investor(s)
Pre-Seed[16][25] $730,000 $2.5 million Contrary
Series A[17] $60 million $225 million Glade Brook Capital
Series C[18] $100 million $570 million Y Combinator
Series D[19] $200 million $900 million Y Combinator
Series E[21][20] $200 million $1.4 billion StepStone Group
Series F[23] $665 Million $3.6 Billion Glade Brook, Nexus and Stepstone
Follow up round[24] $340 Million $5 Billion General Catalyst

Reception

In April 2022, Anand Mahindra commented that q-commerce delivery is "inhuman" to the delivery workers that Zepto and peers contract to fulfill orders. Aadit Palicha, the co-founder of the company responded that only speeds of less than 15 km/h are necessary to make deliveries.[26][27]

In December 2024, Zepto faced criticism for employing dark patterns in its app, including billing discrepancies and hidden charges.[28][29]

References

  1. ^ "Zepto's FY24 revenue doubles to ₹4,454 crore in its first year as unicorn". Mint. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Zepto to move headquarters to Bengaluru by November 2024 - ET RealEstate". Economic Times. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  3. ^ "Many of Zepto's dark stores now profitable; co announces leadership changes". The Times of India. 2023-05-31. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  4. ^ "Zepto's valuation rockets to $5 billion as investors double down on India's e-commerce boom". Livemint. 2 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Zepto Plans Expansion Into Non-Grocery Delivery, Eyes Bigger Dark Stores". Times Now. 2024-06-17. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  6. ^ "As Indians expect groceries in 10 mins, delivery agents struggle". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  7. ^ "Y Combinator-backed Zepto launches 10-minute food delivery service 'Cafe' in Mumbai". Moneycontrol. 18 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  8. ^ Hernbroth, Megan. "One Silicon Valley venture firm will invest up to $100,000 in startups founded by college students taking a gap year to become entrepreneurs". Business Insider. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  9. ^ "Stanford dropouts raise $60 million for grocery startup Zepto". Yahoo Finance. 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  10. ^ Li, Steven. "They Raised $360 Million After Dropping Out Of Stanford And Built Grocery Delivery App Zepto, Now Worth $900 Million". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  11. ^ Singh, Manish (2021-10-31). "India's Zepto raises $60M for its 10 minute grocery delivery app". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  12. ^ "Zepto unveils 10-minute food delivery service 'Cafe' in Mumbai: All you need to know". Zee News. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  13. ^ "Zepto's engagement programme, Zepto Bloom for farmers launched'". Financialexpress. 2023-02-13. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  14. ^ Saha, Soumyajit (2024-02-29). "Zepto launches membership programme for all users". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  15. ^ "x.com". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  16. ^ a b "How two 19-year-old Stanford dropouts founded Zepto". Business Today. 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  17. ^ a b Singh, Manish (2021-10-31). "India's Zepto raises $60M for its 10 minute grocery delivery app". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  18. ^ a b Singh, Manish (2021-12-20). "Zepto, a 10-minute grocery delivery app in India, raises $100 million". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  19. ^ a b Singh, Manish (2022-05-02). "Zepto, a 10-minute grocery delivery app, raises $200 million". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  20. ^ a b Sriram, M. (2023-08-25). "Zepto raises $200 million at $1.4 billion valuation, becomes first Indian unicorn in nearly a year". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  21. ^ a b Cornish, Chloe (2023-08-25). "India's first 'unicorn' of 2023 boosts tech sector's hopes of funding revival". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  22. ^ Sarkar, Gargi (November 8, 2023). "Quick Commerce Unicorn Zepto Secures Another $31 Mn In Series E Round". inc42.com. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Zepto raises $665 million funding at $3.6 billion valuation to take on Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart". The Economic Times. 2024-06-22. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  24. ^ a b Upadhyay, Harsh (2024-08-29). "Zepto raises $340 Mn at $5 Bn valuation". Entrackr. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  25. ^ "x.com". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  26. ^ "Anand Mahindra | Zepto : Anand Mahindra isn't impressed with 10-min delivery, but gives Zepto boss a 'fair' chance to explain his POV". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  27. ^ Schmall, Emily; Singh, Karan Deep; Loke, Atul (2023-01-04). "Need an Onion? These Indian Apps Will Deliver It in Minutes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  28. ^ "'Totally sneaky and untrustworthy': Zepto faces dark pattern allegations amid growing scrutiny on e-commerce ethics". Business Today. 5 December 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  29. ^ "Dark patterns: Fair play or a tool of mass deception?". The Morning Context. Retrieved 12 January 2025.