Zepto is in advanced stages of talks to raise $100 million in new investment, the third time in the past six months as India's leading quick commerce startup looks to attract more domestic investors. , a source familiar with the negotiations told TechCrunch.
The Mumbai-headquartered startup, which delivers groceries and office supplies to customers' doorsteps within 10 minutes across multiple Indian cities, is attracting new investment from Indian family offices and wealthy individuals. .
Asset management giant Motilal Oswal, who previously invested $40 million in Zept, is in charge of deliberating the new funding, the sources said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. Financial services companies have already received commitments for more than half of their allocations, according to another person familiar with the situation.
This new investment values Zepto at a post-money valuation of $5 billion, the same valuation the company was valued at when it recently closed a $340 million funding round in August. Zepto has raised more than $1 billion in the past six months, all of which is in the bank.
Zept plans to go public next year, and this new funding is aimed at expanding the base of domestic investors on the cap table. Zepto's backers include Avra, Lightspeed, Nexus, StepStone Group, YC Continuity, Glade Brook, and Contrary.
Even as quick-commerce startups in many parts of the world are exiting, merging or shutting down, the model is showing bright spots in India. Quick commerce startups are on track to achieve more than $6 billion in revenue this year, according to a TechCrunch analysis.
With the rapid rise of quick commerce that is increasingly shaping consumer behavior in India, many established e-commerce companies, including Flipkart, Myntra and Nykaa, are looking at ways to reduce the time it takes to deliver goods to customers. We are under pressure to explore. .
Shares in D-Mart, which operates one of India's largest brick-and-mortar retail chains, fell this week after the company admitted it was losing some business to quick-commerce startups.
“We believe quick commerce players are expanding cities, categories, SKUs, AOVs, and discounts, creating parallel commerce for customers seeking convenience,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note this week. ” he said.
Zepto (which competes with Zomato-owned BlinkIt, Prosus-backed Swiggy's Instamart and Tata's BigBasket) has significantly increased its annual net run rate in recent months, according to sources and internal documents reviewed by TechCrunch.
TechCrunch previously reported that Zepto co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha told a group of investors in August that the startup expects to grow 150% over the next 12 months. He is said to have said.