History
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
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
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]
Since 2024, Zepto has faced criticism for employing dark patterns in its app, including differential pricing and hidden charges on the final bill. [28] [29] Zepto has also been criticised for its drip pricing and price gouging practices. [30] [31] [32]
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₹4,454 crore (US$530 million) (FY24) [1] 
₹−1,248 crore (US$−150 million) (FY24)
