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<keyword id="19939134" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Zepto" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Zepto" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Zepto">Zepto</keyword>, a popular quick-commerce platform which rivals Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart, has secured <keyword id="22972597" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="USD-340-million" source="keywords">USD 340 million</keyword> in a follow-on financing round led by <keyword id="20231170" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="General-Catalyst" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="General Catalyst" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="General Catalyst">General Catalyst</keyword>, pushing the Mumbai-based startup's <keyword id="19896943" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="valuation" source="keywords">valuation</keyword> to $5 billion. This fresh infusion of capital comes shortly after Zepto raised $665 million in June 2024, which had then valued the company at $3.6 billion—almost triple its worth from the previous year. The latest round was spearheaded by General Catalyst, with new investors Dragon Fund and Epiq Capital also joining the fray. Existing backers, including <keyword id="22972598" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="StepStone" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="StepStone" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="StepStone">StepStone</keyword>, Lightspeed, DST, and Contrary, have further increased their investments in Zepto. <keyword id="20291499" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aadit-Palicha" source="keywords">Aadit Palicha</keyword>, Co-founder and CEO of Zepto, explained that the decision to pursue this follow-on financing was driven by two key factors. "First, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to bring <keyword id="21957857" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Neeraj-Arora" source="keywords">Neeraj Arora</keyword> from General Catalyst on board as our lead investor. Second, strengthening our balance sheet is a strategic move as we continue to show strong growth and operational efficiency," Palicha said according to PTI. Zepto is rapidly expanding its network of dark stores, which currently stands at 370, according to a report in The Hindu. The company plans to increase this to approximately 700 stores by March 2025, thereby strengthening its presence across the top 20 cities in India. In June, Zepto reported crossing the $1 billion mark in annualized Gross Merchandise Value (GMV). Founded in 2021 by Stanford University dropouts Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Zepto has rapidly grown into a leading player in the quick commerce sector, drawing significant attention from investors and industry watchers alike.

Zepto secures USD 340 million in latest funding round, boosting valuation to USD 5 billion

In 2024, grocery shopping is a thing of the past in India. Delivery platforms like <keyword id="19939135" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swiggy-Instamart" source="keywords">Swiggy Instamart</keyword>, <keyword id="20069203" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Blinkit" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Blinkit" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Blinkit">Blinkit</keyword> and <keyword id="19939134" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zepto" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Zepto" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Zepto">Zepto</keyword> have made life easier for millions of people by delivering regular household items at their doorsteps. Ran out of salt? Order it online. Ran out of flour? Order it online. Need some stationery items for your kid’s school project? It can be delivered too. The list is endless. <h2><keyword id="21384253" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Zepto-CEO" source="keywords">Zepto CEO</keyword> compares it with Zomato</h2> Zepto, which is newer when compared to Swiggy and Blinkit, is a popular choice in many areas. And its CEO and co-founder <keyword id="22736526" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aadit-Palica" source="keywords">Aadit Palica</keyword> feels that the company is in the stage where <keyword id="19904608" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Amazon" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> was in 1990s or early 2000s. While speaking at the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave 2024 on Friday, Palicha drew a bold comparison between his company’s current trajectory and that of Amazon during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He added that with the right execution, Zepto could potentially achieve a valuation between $50 billion and $80 billion, positioning itself as a leader in the global quick commerce sector. With that being said, Palicha is keenly aware that success isn’t guaranteed. “It is largely just execution,” he noted, talking about the importance of flawless operational strategy in turning potential into reality. He also acknowledged the history of companies that had the right ingredients for success but failed to execute, highlighting Zepto’s commitment to staying focused on its core business for the foreseeable future. Over the past year, Zepto has been on an aggressive fundraising streak, securing significant investments that have fuelled its growth. In August 2023, Zepto raised $231 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion, marking its entry into the unicorn club. But that was just the beginning. The startup recently closed another funding round, pulling in $665 million and boosting its valuation to $3.6 billion. The momentum doesn’t stop there. Zepto has attracted further interest from investors, with discussions underway for an additional $250 million in funding. This new round, which could grow to as much as $400 million, is expected to push the company’s valuation to around $4.6 billion. <h2>When Palicha said Zepto will be bigger than D-Mart </h2> This isn’t the first time that Palicha has made a bold prediction about Zepto. Last month, Palicha had said that Zepto would be bigger than D-Mart in the near future. Speaking at the JIIF Foundation Day event in Delhi, Palicha had pointed out that despite D-Mart’s impressive $30 billion valuation, the retail behemoth is currently only 4.5 times larger than Zepto in terms of sales. "D-Mart is a $30 billion company, and they are only 4.5 times our size in sales. If we maintain our current pace, growing 2-3 times each year, we could potentially surpass them in the next 18-24 months," Palicha had said.

Zepto CEO compares his startup to Amazon, says it can be worth 80 billion if things go right

<ul><li>Anti-hangover shots, hoola hoops and Gangajal were some unusual items Indians searched for, to be delivered via <keyword id="16045156" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-grocery-app" source="Orion">online grocery app</keyword>. </li><li>Daily essentials like milk, bread, butter, curd and onion were the most searched items on <keyword id="12437554" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="zepto" source="Orion">Zepto</keyword>. </li><li>The platform got about 120 orders per minute for ice-cream, chips and soft drinks. </li><li>Diapers outsold condoms by over three times, on the platform.</li></ul><keyword id="16045155" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="pyjama-nadas" source="Orion">Pyjama nadas</keyword>, used to fasten Indian-style pants were among the most unusual items that Indians were searching for on Zepto, the quick commerce company said in a report released on Thursday. <keyword id="1285379" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="cowdung" source="Orion">Cowdung</keyword> cakes, Gangajal (holy water), anti-hangover shots, hoola hoops were the other bizarre items that Indians searched for on the app in 2022. While these were exceptions, daily essentials like milk, bread, butter, curd and onion were amongst the top most searched items in 2022, on the app which promises to deliver goods within ten minutes. The most popular items however remained comfort foods like ice-cream and chips. The platform got about 120 orders per minute for ice-cream, chips and soft drinks. And another a hundred orders per minute for juices, salads, and organic foods. A user from Mumbai placed as many as 1,988 orders last year in 2022 — which is the highest number of orders. “2022 has been a thrilling year for Zepto. We are proud to have delivered every customer promise with excellence- be it consistency in delivery times, product and tech experience, the quality of our assortment, and introducing new categories and products that excite and cater to every big or small customer need,” said <keyword id="12778880" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="aadit-palicha" source="Orion">Aadit Palicha</keyword>, co-founder and CEO at Zepto. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="3 diapers sold per every condom" comment="subhead" text="3 diapers sold per every condom">3 diapers sold per every condom</cmsannotation> While groceries continue to be the most ordered category, there’s been a steady growth in home utility, hygiene, self-care and electronics segments as well on Zepto. The platform also discovered a few interesting buying habits of Indians. For instance, the platform sold three diapers for every condom every day. The demand for ice-cream in summers was equivalent to that in winters, and four tons of meat items were sold everyday. “We’re also focussing on making their entire experience – right from placing orders to receiving the deliveries – as seamless as possible. It is humbling to see so many Indian customers make the best use of Zepto’s offerings through orders for all their needs – no matter how distinct,” says Amritansu Nanda, chief marketing officer at Zepto. In 2022, the highest value of a particular order from Noida peaked at over ₹23,000, while a customer from Mumbai cumulatively spent close to ₹9 lakh on Zepto orders throughout the year. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/ajay-devgns-rudra-akshay-kumars-cuttputli-among-most-watched-ott-originals-in-2022/slidelist/96943388.cms">Ajay Devgn’s Rudra, Akshay Kumar’s Cuttputli among most-watched OTT originals in 2022</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/retail-inflation-falls-to-one-year-low-of-5-72-in-december/articleshow/96942600.cms">Retail inflation falls to one year low of 5.72% in December</a>

Pyajama naada to hangover shots among things Indians need in 10 mins, according to Zepto

Quick commerce company <keyword id="19939134" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Zepto" source="keywords">Zepto</keyword> on Friday said it has raised <keyword id="22130274" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="USD-665-million" source="keywords">USD 665 million</keyword> (about Rs 5,560 crore) in the latest funding round that valued the firm at USD 3.6 billion, almost triple than its worth a year back. The massive fundraise comes less than a year after the Mumbai-based startup raised USD 235 million at a valuation of USD 1.4 billion. The funding round saw participation from new investors like Avenir, Lightspeed, and Avra, alongside existing investors Glade Brook, Nexus, and StepStone, Goodwater, and Lachy Groom. "We've gone from 0 to 1 billion-plus in sales, or GMV, in 29 months, that is faster than any other internet company before us... Even on a base of over a billion dollars at this point, we are growing 100 per cent-plus year on year. And that for us is one of the big drivers of this fundraise," Zepto co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha told PTI. Attributing the growth to the performance of the quick commerce firm, the young entrepreneur said, "This is largely because of the input excellence we've built across the supply chain. "Whether it is sourcing excellence, mother hub efficiency, line haul utilisation, or our last mile, the innovation that we've done, or forecasting, we're in this place where even as we've been able to grow, we've been able to drive efficiency to get the business to pretty much close to full operating cash flow positive today." He said the overall business is close to operating at break-even cash flow. Nearly 75 per cent of the company's stores are fully EBITDA positive as of May 2024, he said. "Over the next 12-18 months, although it might fluctuate, but we'll still be pretty close to operating cash flow positive, and the idea is to keep in that direction, get the business to a place where we can list next 9-12 months," he said. Zepto co-founder and CTO <keyword id="12442402" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kaivalya-Vohra" source="Orion">Kaivalya Vohra</keyword> said the firm plans to hire top talent across engineering, product, growth, finance, operations, and category management. "If you are looking for a high growth, high meritocracy and high intensity culture where you can convert hard work and ambition into disproportionate career growth, Zepto is the place for you," he said.

Zepto raises USD 665 million; Valuation nearly triples to USD 3.6 billion

<ul><li>Low ticket size and low margin can never be solved through forced low delivery cost, said <keyword id="2988161" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ashneer-grover" source="Orion">Ashneer Grover</keyword> on 10-minute grocery delivery. </li><li>Hari Menon, the CEO of BigBasket said that consumers never wanted quick delivery, and that it was thrust on them. </li><li>Legacy e-commerce companies who have not generated significant net profit have no authority to make remarks on quick commerce, said Aadit Palicha, the co-founder of Zepto. </li></ul>A war of words has been raging between the heads of quick commerce companies and their non-quick counterparts in the last few weeks. Entrepreneur and startup investor Ashneer Grover too joined in the conversation — insisting that 10-minute quick commerce delivery has no economics. He was commenting on the Blinkit (by Zomato) delivery personnel strike. “Low ticket size and low margin can never be solved through forced low delivery cost,” Grover tweeted summarising Zomato’s Blinkit journey in three steps — 90 Min (bull run) —&gt; Next day (bear run) —&gt; 10 Min (bull run) —&gt; ?? Quick commerce sector has players like Zepto, Reliance-backed Dunzo, Zomato’s Blinkit and Swiggy’s Instamart. While most of them provide 10-minute deliveries, others too offer lightning-fast deliveries of a wide range of groceries — catching the imagination of consumers. However, quick commerce has had its set of detractors, and recently Hari Menon, the chief executive officer (CEO) of BigBasket stirred up the controversy with his comments against quick commerce. While BigBasket has its quick commerce avatar called BigBasketNow, it delivers its groceries in 30 minutes. ‘Qcommerce was thrust on customers’ Grover’s negative opinion on the economics of quick commerce delivery has another backer. Last week at the Sharrp Summit, Menon said that consumers never wanted quick delivery, and that it was thrust on them. A sensible business case involves 15-30 minutes to make a delivery, he added. “Quick commerce has certain dynamics required for unit economics to work, which means you need a high density of orders, it will be cut off at some point. The Bigbasket model will scale, but quick commerce without density doesn't work,” <a href="https://www.cnbctv18.com/business/companies/consumers-never-wanted-10-minute-delivery-says-bigbaskets-co-founder-16394831.htm">Menon said</a>. Menon’s comments had irked Aadit Palicha, the co-founder of Zepto and a Stanford dropout, who started the business during the pandemic when he was 19 years old. He hit back at Menon at the very summit saying that legacy e-commerce companies who have not generated significant net profit have no authority to make remarks on quick commerce’s sustainability. Palicha, who is preparing to take the company public in the next two years,<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/zepto-preps-for-public-listing-in-2-years-brings-in-ramesh-bafna-as-cfo-to-lead-ipo-process/articleshow/99514143.cms"> had told Business Insider India</a> in a recent interview that a large part of his ‘dark stores’ are profitable, and the financial metrics of the company are very strong. Indians take to quick commerce According to Redseer, Indian consumers are taking to quick commerce, and the adoption is much better than in other countries. India has a quick commerce penetration of 13% versus 7% in China and 3% in EU, respectively. The current market size of quick commerce in India is $5.5 billion – and as of now caters to only 1% of the total domestic grocery market. Redseer also says that the total addressable market (TAM) of quick commerce is at $45 billion. “Emerging as one of the fastest growing e-commerce models, quick commerce is fundamentally changing consumer purchase behaviour and the grocery retail market on the whole by providing faster delivery options (in as little as ten minutes) as well as a more convenience-driven shopping experience,” said the Redseer report. Quick commerce players who have set up dark stores that aid quick deliveries, cater to the mid to upper middle-class consumers, and also offer an eclectic mix of products —- in order to stay ahead of the competition from local kiranas. As of now however, around 70% of all quick commerce purchases are top-up orders. Many platforms have informed that milk, eggs and more are the most searched and purchased items for fast deliveries. Stockup purchases like staples and packaged foods are either purchased offline or through online e-commerce. Apart from the time and the economics, the war of words around e-commerce is about average order value (AOV). Many players are trying to push for it by offering free delivery for larger sized orders. A few services like Instamart charge different delivery prices for faster delivery of services. Moreover, the funding winter which has been taking the wind off the sails for most startups has also had its effect on quick commerce players. Moreover, grocery delivery – fast or otherwise – itself is becoming a tougher business to be in. JioMart Express, which offers 90-minute deliveries, has recently shut this service. At the same time last year, fast delivery service Ola Dash folded up. This, however, can be a blessing in disguise, say analysts. “Competitive intensity has slowed down in quick commerce, which gives incumbents room to build scale moats; and the expectation that the life cycle value of the incremental transacting user in quick commerce could be significantly better than in food delivery at the current stage,” says a recent report by JM Financial. When the dust settles on the war of words around quick commerce, it will be incumbent on the existing players to prove their detractors wrong by delivering profitable businesses. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/samosas-versus-burgers-the-great-indian-dilemma/articleshow/99488590.cms">Samosas versus burgers: The Great Indian Dilemma</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/keshub-mahindra-the-man-who-played-in-a-role-in-building-indias-auto-industry/articleshow/99425922.cms">Keshub Mahindra: The man who thought impossible is possible</a>

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Zepto secures USD 340 million in latest funding round, boosting valuation to USD 5 billion

BI India Bureau

Zepto CEO compares his startup to Amazon, says it can be worth 80 billion if things go right

Divyanshi Sharma

Pyajama naada to hangover shots among things Indians need in 10 mins, according to Zepto

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Zepto raises USD 665 million; Valuation nearly triples to USD 3.6 billion

PTI

The Big Fight: Ashneer Grover wades into controversy around 10-minute delivery

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234-year-old company EID Parry is only a tad more valuable than year-old unicorn GlobalBees

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