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Zepto (company)

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

Zepto
FormerlyKiranaKart
Company typePrivate
IndustryQ-commerce
FoundedJuly 2021; 3 years ago (2021-07)
Headquarters
Mumbai
,
India
Number of locations
250 stores (2024)
Key people
  • Aadit Palicha (CEO)
  • Kaivalya Vohra (CTO)
ServicesOnline grocer
RevenueIncrease ₹2,024 crore (US$240 million) (FY23)[1]
Negative increase ₹−1,272 crore (US$−150 million) (FY23)
Websitezeptonow.com

Zepto competes in India's hyper-competitive grocery delivery space. Rivals in the market include e-commerce giant Amazon's India unit and homegrown competitors such as Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, and conglomerate Tata Group's BigBasket.

History

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Aadit Palicha started KiranaKart with Kaivalya Vohra in 2020 when they were 17 years old.[5][6] Palicha and Vohra skipped college to start Zepto, instead raising capital from Contrary, which offered to invest if they dropped out of Stanford University.[7][8]

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.[9] They also participated in Y Combinator's accelerator program while building out the first version of the platform.[10]

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.[11] In February 2023, the company launched Bloom, a platform for farmers to manage food production and distribute goods from villages to cities.[12]

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,[13] which has over 4 million subscribers as of April 2024.[14]

Funding

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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.[15]

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.[16]

In December 2021, the company raised $100 million Series C round led by Y Combinator's Continuity Fund at a valuation of $570 million.[17]

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.[18]

In August 2023, Zepto raised $200 million as part of its Series E round at a $1.4 billion valuation, becoming a unicorn.[19] 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.[20][21]

In June 2024, Zepto raised $665 million funding at $3.6 billion valuation as part of its Series F round[22] 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.[23]

Round Size Valuation Lead Investor(s)
Pre-Seed[15][24] $730,000 $2.5 million Contrary
Series A[16] $60 million $225 million Glade Brook Capital
Series C[17] $100 million $570 million Y Combinator
Series D[18] $200 million $900 million Y Combinator
Series E[20][19] $200 million $1.4 billion StepStone Group
Series F[22] $665 Million $3.6 Billion Glade Brook, Nexus and Stepstone
Follow up round[23] $340 Million $5 Billion General Catalyst

Reception

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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.[25] In 2023, the New York Times reported that Zepto delivery drivers make $240 per month on average to which Palicha said Zepto's business was built on frequent, fast deliveries.[26]

References

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  1. ^ "Zepto's revenue grows 14X to Rs 2,024 Cr in FY23, losses up by 3X". Entrackr. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ "Zepto's valuation rockets to $5 billion as investors double down on India's e-commerce boom". Livemint. 2 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Zepto Plans Expansion Into Non-Grocery Delivery, Eyes Bigger Dark Stores". Times Now. 2024-06-17. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  5. ^ "As Indians expect groceries in 10 mins, delivery agents struggle". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  6. ^ "Y Combinator-backed Zepto launches 10-minute food delivery service 'Cafe' in Mumbai". Moneycontrol. 18 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ "Stanford dropouts raise $60 million for grocery startup Zepto". Yahoo Finance. 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ Singh, Manish (2021-10-31). "India's Zepto raises $60M for its 10 minute grocery delivery app". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  11. ^ "Zepto unveils 10-minute food delivery service 'Cafe' in Mumbai: All you need to know". Zee News. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  12. ^ "Zepto's engagement programme, Zepto Bloom for farmers launched'". Financialexpress. 2023-02-13. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  13. ^ Saha, Soumyajit (2024-02-29). "Zepto launches membership programme for all users". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  14. ^ "x.com". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  15. ^ a b "How two 19-year-old Stanford dropouts founded Zepto". Business Today. 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  16. ^ a b Singh, Manish (2021-10-31). "India's Zepto raises $60M for its 10 minute grocery delivery app". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  17. ^ a b Singh, Manish (2021-12-20). "Zepto, a 10-minute grocery delivery app in India, raises $100 million". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  18. ^ a b Singh, Manish (2022-05-02). "Zepto, a 10-minute grocery delivery app, raises $200 million". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  19. ^ a b Sriram, M.; 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.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ Sarkar, Gargi (November 8, 2023). "Quick Commerce Unicorn Zepto Secures Another $31 Mn In Series E Round". inc42.com. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  22. ^ 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.
  23. ^ a b Upadhyay, Harsh (2024-08-29). "Zepto raises $340 Mn at $5 Bn valuation". Entrackr. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  24. ^ "x.com". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  25. ^ "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.
  26. ^ 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.
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