Grocery delivery startup Zepto raises $100Mn in latest funding round

Instant grocery delivery startup, Zepto has reportedly secured $100 million in funding headed by its existing investors Continuity Fund.

As per sources, the firm will leverage the fresh capital to increase coverage, build out different groups, and reinforce its back-end technology. In addition, it plans to extend its team to 1,000-2,000 employees from the current strength of 400. The majority of its employees work in operations.

The Mumbai-based firm is one of the most buzzed startups this year. It has beyond doubled its estimation to $570 million after the funding in just 2 months when it earlier secured $60 million at a valuation of $225 million.

Existing and new investors, including Nexus Venture Partners, Glade Brook Capital, Global Founders Capital, and Contrary Capital, also participated in the round.

Zepto Cofounder, Aadit Palicha said that the firm grows around 200% every month. Since the last round, it has grown 10-times in volume and are planning to increase the volume by 10 times in the coming 2-3 months.

Zepto, founded by Stanford University dropouts Kaivalya Vohra and Aadit Palicha six months ago, promises to deliver groceries in 10 minutes.

Palicha, as a 17-year-old, developed another startup GoPool, a mobile app that helped parents in Dubai find and schedule carpools to school.

Zepto is the youngest firm in the quick commerce space which has witnessed the entry of players like Swiggy and BlinkIt (formerly Grofers) this year.

Recently, Swiggy reserved $700 million for scaling up its ultra-fast commerce platform known as Instamart. The link is in discussions for raising $500 million from rival Zomato. Both the firms have said that they are gaining around a million orders per month.

According to Palicha, Zepto aims to hit $1 billion in sales annually in 4 to 6 quarters. Even though the firm offers fewer discounts, the transaction numbers haven’t been affected.

Source Credit - https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/e-commerce/e-tailing/zepto-gets-100-million-valuation-at-570-million/88402254