News · Commerce & Consumer Brands

Zepto slows store expansion ahead of IPO

By Startup Enthusiast · 12 June 2026

What they do

Zepto runs a quick commerce platform delivering groceries and essentials in minutes

It added only 110 dark stores in FY26, down from 692 in FY25, as it shifts focus to productivity

The company has about 10–11 months of cash runway and is conserving capital for its public listing

Zepto is slowing its dark store (fulfillment center for quick deliveries) expansion as it prepares for an initial public offering (IPO).
In FY26, it added 110 dark stores, bringing its total network to 1,139.
In FY25, it had added 692 dark stores, growing from 337 to 1,029.
By comparison, Blinkit added 942 dark stores in FY26, reaching 2,243 total.
Instamart added 122 dark stores in FY26, ending with 1,143 total.
Zepto processed about 640 million orders in FY26, while Instamart processed 412 million.
Zepto ended FY26 with net cash of about ₹2,970 crore (after lease liabilities) and a free cash outflow of ₹802 crore in Q4 FY26.
At its current spending rate, Zepto has a cash runway of about 3.7 quarters (10–11 months).

Zepto is conserving capital ahead of its IPO, shifting focus from opening new stores to improving productivity at existing ones.
Blinkit (owned by Eternal) is expanding aggressively, while Instamart (owned by Swiggy) has a similar store count to Zepto.
Zepto's stores handle more orders per store than Instamart despite similar store counts.
Eternal (Blinkit parent) ended FY26 with net cash of about ₹13,380 crore, and Swiggy (Instamart parent) with about ₹12,600 crore.

Zepto operates a quick commerce platform that delivers groceries and essentials in minutes.
It fulfills orders from a network of dark stores located near customers.
The company processes hundreds of millions of orders annually.
It competes with Blinkit and Instamart in India's quick commerce market.

Zepto plans to focus on improving productivity at existing dark stores rather than opening new ones.
It is conserving capital ahead of its IPO.

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.