Zepto raises $350 million in funding from domestic investors; over $1.3 billion raised in just six months

10-minute delivery startup Zepto has raised $350 million in fresh funding, led by Motilal Oswal's Private Wealth Division, marking the largest 100% domestically-backed fundraise in India’s startup ecosystem.

The round also saw participation from Raamdeo Agarwal, the Taparia Family Office, the Mankind Pharma Family Office, the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, the Cello Family Office, the Haldiram Snacks Family Office, Sekhsaria Family Office, the Kalyan Family Office, Happy Forgings Family Office, Mothers Recipe Family Office (Desai Brothers), and HNIs like Abhishek Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, among others.

Over $1.3 billion raised in just six months

This is Zepto's third funding round in the last six months. In late August, the quick commerce giant, which competes with Zomato-owned Blinkit, secured $340 million in a follow-on financing round at a valuation of $5 billion. 

Earlier, in June 2024, the Aadit Palicha-led startup raised $665 million, which boosted its valuation from $1.4 billion to $3.6 billion.

That round was co-led by Glade Brook, Nexus, and StepStone Group. Other significant investors include Avenir, Lightspeed, Avra (a new fund by Anu Hariharan), Goodwater, and Lachy Groom, among others.

Planning to launch IPO next fiscal

In a recent interview with Moneycontrol, CEO Aadit Palicha said that Zepto is gearing up for a public market listing in the next fiscal year (FY26). He also said that the startup would do another pre-IPO round later before launching an IPO. 

“When we started this venture, the risk appetite among domestic investors was limited—especially to trust 18-year-olds with their money. Today, we are humbled to have reached a place in India’s economic growth where we’ve not only fostered that trust but also spearheaded a fundraise of this magnitude, which will hopefully set a precedent for the startups that follow,” Palicha said.

Focused on aggressive expansion

The latest funding comes as Zepto focuses aggressively on expanding its store presence across the country. Notably, the startup plans to use the capital to double the number of its dark stores to 700 by March 2025.

Notably, Zepto serves more than 7 million orders in over 17 cities daily and is on track to record annualized sales of $2 billion, TechCrunch reported, citing the investor presentation. 

Founded in 2021 by Stanford dropouts Kaivalya Vohra and Aadit Palicha, Zepto operates in the highly competitive quick commerce market, delivering groceries, household items, and electronic accessories to urban Indian consumers within minutes.

The startup uses a network of "dark stores"—small warehouses located close to high-demand areas. This allows the three-year-old startup to ensure swift delivery times.

Zepto's market presence

According to an HSBC report, the unicorn had a 28% market share as of January 2024, up from 15% in March 2022. Blinkit had a 40% market share as of January, and Instamart had 32%.

“Motilal Oswal is a strong believer in the future of digital businesses, particularly quick commerce players like Zepto, as potential free cash flow powerhouses. India’s biggest and marquee family office clients of Motilal Oswal Private Wealth share this excitement and have participated in this once-in-a-lifetime journey of value creation,” Ashish Shanker, managing director and chief executive officer of Motilal Oswal Pvt. Wealth, said.

India’s quick-commerce market grew 77% in 2023 to reach $2.8 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV), accounting for 5% of India’s overall e-commerce market, according to consulting firm Redseer.