Zepto (company)

Zepto is an Indian quick-commerce company headquartered in Bengaluru.[1] It was founded in July 2021 by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra.[2] the company is valued at over $5 billion[3] and operates over 250 dark-stores across ten metropolitan areas in India.[4]

History

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]

In 2024, Zepto moved its headquarters from Mumbai to Bengaluru.[1]

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.

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.

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

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.

In August 2023, Zepto raised $200 million as part of its Series E round at a $1.4 billion valuation, becoming a unicorn. 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.[15]

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

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.[25][26]

Since 2024, Zepto has faced criticism for employing dark patterns in its app, including differential pricing and hidden charges on the final bill.[27][28] Zepto has also been criticised for its drip pricing and price gouging practices.[29][30][31]