Aadit Palicha (front) and Kaivalya Vohra
PHOTO BY MEXY XAVIERZepto, a Mumbai-based quick commerce company, raised $360 million in a follow-on financing round, boosting its valuation to $5 billion, a 39% increase from its previous fundraise barely three months ago.
The funding round was led by U.S. venture capital firm, General Catalyst with Vietnam’s Dragon Fund, and San Francisco-based Epiq Capital joining as new investors. Existing investors such as StepStone, Lightspeed, DST, and Contrary also increased their stakes, Zepto said in a statement late Thursday.
“This is one of our first investments in India following the merger of Venture Highway and General Catalyst,” Neeraj Arora, managing director of General Catalyst said in the statement. “We are thrilled to partner with Zepto, and believe their quick commerce model is setting the standard for the future of e-commerce in India and beyond.”
Zepto raised $665 million in its most recent funding round in June with investments from Avenir, Lightspeed, and Avra. The round, which valued the company at $3.6 billion, also included participation from existing investors such as Glade Brook Capital Partners and Nexus.
“Strengthening our balance sheet is a strategic move, particularly as the company continues to deliver robust growth and operating leverage,” Aadit Palicha, co-founder and CEO at Zepto said in the statement.
Zepto
NurPhoto via Getty ImagesZepto was founded in 2021 by then 19-year olds Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, who gave up places at an undegrad program in computer science at Stanford University to start a grocery delivery service. Zepto’s extensive network of local fulfillment hubs enables the delivery of the company’s diverse catalog of over 10,000 products to customers in just 10 minutes. To support this rapid expansion, Zepto plans to double its number of warehouses, known as “dark stores,” to 700 across India by March 2025.
In May, Zepto reported that it is on track to achieve over $1 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) by the end of the 2025 fiscal year. Additionally, approximately 75% of the company’s warehouse outlets are already generating operating profits. Zepto also noted that its stores now reach profitability within 6 months, a significant improvement from the previous 23-month timeframe.
Palicha, who was featured in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Asia list in 2022 along with co-founder Vohra, stated that Zepto will be “ready to go public relatively soon” if the current momentum continues.
Source link