Zepto (company)
Indian quick-commerce company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zepto is an Indian quick-commerce company headquartered in Bengaluru.[1] It was founded in July 2021 by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra.[2] As of August 2024,[update] the company is valued at over $5 billion[3] and operates over 250 dark-stores across ten metropolitan areas in India.[4]
 | |
| Formerly | KiranaKart |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Industry | Quick-commerce |
| Founded | July 2021 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, Karnataka , India |
Number of locations | 1000+ stores (2026) |
Key people | |
| Services | Online grocer |
| Revenue |  ₹9,366 crore (US$980 million) (2025) |
 ₹−3,367 crore (US$−350 million) (2024) | |
Number of employees | 16,898 (March 2026) |
| Website | zepto |
History
Aadit Palicha started KiranaKart with Kaivalya Vohra in 2020 when they were 17 years old.[5][6] Palicha and Vohra skipped college to start Zepto, instead raising capital from Contrary, which offered to invest if they dropped out of Stanford University.[7][8]
Palicha and Vohra originally branded the company as KiranaKart and focused on facilitating grocery delivery by partnering with local kirana stores, but that approach did not gain traction.[9] They also participated in Y Combinator's accelerator program while building out the first version of the platform.[10]
In 2021, the company rebranded to Zepto and verticalized the operation, building a network of dark stores to fulfill orders. In April 2022, Zepto launched Cafe, a division focused on delivery of coffee and ready-to-eat food.[11] In February 2023, the company launched Bloom, a platform for farmers to manage food production and distribute goods from villages to cities.[12]
Zepto and other major delivery platforms including Zomato, Blinkit, and Swiggy employ over 3 million gig workers. The company began a paid membership program in February 2024,[13] which has over 4 million subscribers as of April 2024.[14]
In 2024, Zepto moved its headquarters from Mumbai to Bengaluru.[1]
Funding
In January 2021, KiranaKart (now Zepto) raised $730,000 in a pre-seed round led by Contrary Capital, which was the first check into Zepto, at a $2.5 million valuation.[15] Other participants in the pre-seed round included Global Founders Capital, 2 AM Ventures, and angel investors.[16]
In October 2021, it raised $60 million from Nexus, Y Combinator, Global Founders Capital, as well as angel investors Lachy Groom, Neeraj Arora and Manik Gupta at $225 million valuation.[17]
In December 2021, the company raised $100 million Series C round led by Y Combinator's Continuity Fund at a valuation of $570 million.[18]
In May 2022, Zepto raised $200 million at $900 million valuation as a part of its Series D round which was again led by Y Combinator's Continuity Fund. Investors including Nexus Venture Partners, Glade Brook Capital and Contrary Capital participated in the new round.[19]
In August 2023, Zepto raised $200 million as part of its Series E round at a $1.4 billion valuation, becoming a unicorn.[20] It raised funds from U.S-based investment firms StepStone Group and Goodwater Capital. Existing backers including Nexus Venture Partners and Glade Brook Capital also participated in the deal.[21][22]
In June 2024, Zepto raised $665 million funding at $3.6 billion valuation as part of its Series F round[23] and $340 million funding at a $5 billion valuation two months later, raising over $1 billion in 2024 and more than $1.5 billion since its inception.[24]
In October 2025, Zepto raised $450 million in a funding round that valued the company at $7 billion.[25] The round included participation from new and existing investors such as the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), General Catalyst, Goodwater Capital, and Lightspeed.
| Round | Size | Valuation | Lead Investor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Seed[16][26] | $730,000 | $2.5 million | Contrary |
| Series A[17] | $60 million | $225 million | Glade Brook Capital |
| Series C[18] | $100 million | $570 million | Y Combinator |
| Series D[19] | $200 million | $900 million | Y Combinator |
| Series E[21][20] | $200 million | $1.4 billion | StepStone Group |
| Series F[23] | $665 million | $3.6 billion | Glade Brook, Nexus and Stepstone |
| Follow up round[24] | $340 million | $5 billion | General Catalyst |
Reception
In April 2022, Anand Mahindra commented that q-commerce delivery is "inhuman" to the delivery workers that Zepto and peers contract to fulfill orders. Aadit Palicha, the co-founder of the company responded that only speeds of less than 15 km/h are necessary to make deliveries.[27][28]
Since 2024, Zepto has faced criticism for employing dark patterns in its app, including differential pricing and hidden charges on the final bill.[29][30] Zepto has also been criticised for its drip pricing and price gouging practices.[31][32][33]