Funding · Commerce & Consumer Brands
Zepto raises $450 million in pre-IPO funding round
By Startup Enthusiast ·
- Date
- Company
- Zepto
- What it does
- Quick commerce grocery delivery platform
- Kind
- Funding
- Amount
- $450M
- Stage
- pre-IPO
- Founded
- 2021
What they do
Zepto operates a quick commerce network delivering groceries from dark stores within minutes
What happened
The company raised $450 million led by CalPERS to reach a net cash position of $900 million
Why it matters
Most stores are already profitable with daily orders reaching 1.7 million across major Indian cities
The details
- Zepto has raised $450 million in a new funding round.
- The investment was led by CalPERS with participation from General Catalyst, Goodwater Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
- This capital injection brings Zepto's net cash position to approximately $900 million post-funding.
- The round is described as largely primary capital at a pre-IPO stage.
- The company reports a daily order volume of around 1.7 million deliveries.
- Management states that most of its stores are already profitable.
About the business
- Zepto functions as a quick commerce platform for grocery and essentials.
- It utilizes a dark store network to enable minute-level deliveries.
- The service covers major Indian cities with rapid fulfillment capabilities.
- Zepto employs batching strategies to pack multiple orders simultaneously.
- Advanced algorithms help identify route overlaps and align delivery windows.
- The company aims to reduce average cost per order to ~₹30.
- Current industry costs range between ₹40-₹50 per order.
- Zepto recently eliminated handling fees and surge charges for customers.
- Orders above ₹99 now receive free delivery services.
The deal
- Type
- funding
Investors
- CalPERS (lead) — California Public Employees' Retirement System leads the round.
- General Catalyst (participated) — Venture capital firm participates in the funding round.
- Goodwater Capital (participated) — Venture capital firm participates in the funding round.
- Lightspeed Venture Partners (participated) — Venture capital firm participates in the funding round.
Founders
- Aadit Palicha, CEO and co-founder
- Kaivalya Vohra, co-founder
About Zepto
- Product
- A rapid-delivery app for groceries and everyday essentials.
- Customers
- Consumers ordering groceries and essentials online.
- How it makes money
- It earns from product margins, delivery fees, and order-value thresholds across its quick-commerce network.
- What sets it apart
- It was built as a quick-commerce native company from day one.
- Operations
- Operates dark-store based 10-minute delivery across multiple Indian cities.
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