Jump to content

Zepto (company)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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$510 million) (FY24)[1]
Positive decrease ₹−1,248 crore (US$−140 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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 differential pricing and hidden charges on the final bill.[28][29]

References

[edit]
  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.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zepto_(company)&oldid=1270578890"