Fast-moving consumer goods startup Zepto has raised $340 million in a follow-on funding round led by General Catalyst, with new investors Dragon Fund and Epiq Capital. Previous investors Lightspeed, DST, Contrary, StepStone, and others upped their investments.
Zepto’s valuation increased by almost 40% with this new funding, from $3.6 billion in June—when it raised $665 million in its Series F round—to $5 billion. The company has raised more than $1.5 billion since its founding, more than $1 billion in 2024, and $1.2 billion in the last 12 months.
By March 2025, Zepto wants to have doubled its number of dark stores to 700 and be present in new markets like Nasik, Chandigarh, Vizag, and Ahmedabad. Additionally, the business plans to strengthen its position in current metro areas.
“The rationale behind this follow-on financing was twofold,” said Aadit Palicha, co-founder and CEO of Zepto. “First, the opportunity to bring on a lead investor of Neeraj Arora’s caliber from General Catalyst was one we couldn’t pass up. Second, strengthening our balance sheet is a strategic move, especially as the company continues to deliver robust growth and operating leverage.”
Zepto provides over 10,000 products in a variety of categories to millions of customers in under ten minutes by way of a nationwide network of delivery hubs.
The Mumbai-based company claims that with 140% year-over-year growth and an annualized gross merchandise value of over $1 billion (Rs 8,300 crore), it has almost reached EBITDA positivity. It also states that approximately 75% of its stores are fully EBITDA positive as of May 2024.
Zepto’s revenue increased 14-fold to Rs 2,024 crore in FY23, but its losses increased to Rs 1,272 crore.
With Flipkart’s recent entry and BigBasket’s complete transition to rapid delivery, the quick commerce market is getting more and more competitive. The market leader in e-commerce, Amazon, is also anticipated to enter early in 2019. At the moment, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket from Tata Digital, and Blinkit, owned by Zomato, are the top players in the quick commerce space.
