Zepto In Talks With Investors To Raise Another $400 Mn At $4.6 Bn Valuation: Report

Less than a week after Zepto raised $665 Mn from a clutch of investors at a valuation of $3.6 Bn, the quick commerce major is now looking to raise more funds at a higher valuation.

As per a report by The Information, the Mumbai-based startup is in talks with multiple investors to raise around $400 Mn at a likely valuation of $4.6 Bn.

This would be more than 25% higher than its previous valuation of $3.6 Bn when the startup raised $665 Mn last week from investors such as Glade Brook, Nexus, and Lightspeed among others.

Earlier, Zepto said that it will deploy the funds to double its dark store count to 700 by March 2025 from 350 currently.

Additionally, the company said that its GMV has exceeded $1 Bn, with approximately 75% of its stores achieving full EBITDA positivity as of May 2024. 

Founded in 2021 by Palicha and Vohora, Zepto has grown rapidly on the back of increasing demand for quick 10-minute deliveries. Last year, Zepto became the first unicorn of 2023 after raising $200 Mn in its Series E funding round.

The fundraising spree of Zepto comes at a time when it is planning to reverse flip to India and eyeing a public listing in 2026.

Zepto’s revenue surged 14.3X to INR 2,024.3 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 140.7 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Net loss jumped 3.4X year-on-year to INR 1,272.4 Cr in FY23.

Zepto competes against the likes of Zomato-backed Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart in the quick commerce segment.

The competition in the space is set to intensify further with Walmart-owned Flipkart set to launch quick commerce offerings across Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. Earlier, the ecommerce giant also held talks to acquire a majority stake in Zepto, but the talks fell through. 

Meanwhile, Tata Digital-owned BBnow is also mulling a major investment in the quick commerce space.

As per a report, the Indian quick commerce industry’s gross merchandise value zoomed 77% year-on-year to $2.8 Bn in 2023. 

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