Zepto Kicks Off Discussions With Bankers For Over $450 Mn IPO By Aug 2025

Quick commerce major Zepto has reportedly kicked off “active discussions” with domestic and global merchant bankers for a potential listing on Indian bourses by August 2025. 

The company plans to raise around $450 Mn via a fresh issue of shares. Its initial public offering (IPO) will also comprise an offer for sale (OFS) component, Economic Times reported citing sources. 

As per the report, the quick commerce startup has commenced talks with the likes of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs for the IPO, which would be contingent on the company flipping back to India. 

“The IPO timeline will depend on the flipping back process, but their aspiration is to list by next year…,” a source was quoted as saying. 

Meanwhile, another source told ET that Zepto has been working very closely with Morgan Stanley, adding that the board has told the company to “test the market appetite for an IPO”.

This comes close on the heels of the quick commerce startup raising more than $1 Bn in funding in the past few months. In a span of just one year, the company’s valuation has soared to $5 Bn from $1.4 Bn in June last year. 

Last week, the startup raised $340 Mn in a follow-on financing round from the likes of General Catalyst, Mars Growth Capital and Epiq Capital. Prior to that, it bagged $665 Mn at a valuation of $3.6 Bn in June 2024. 

Founded in 2021 by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Zepto is a quick commerce startup that claims to offer 10-minute deliveries of groceries and other items. 

Inc42 reported that the startup is now also looking to foray into the buy now, pay later segment with the launch of ‘Zepto Postpaid’.

The startup reportedly currently clocks $1.5 Bn in annualised gross sales run rate and aims to log $3.5 Bn in gross sales by December 2025. With 400 dark stores under its kitty currently, it plans to increase the number to 700 by March 2025. 

Zepto competes with the likes of Zomato-owned Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart,Tata-owned BigBasket and recently launched Flipkart Minutes. 

Zepto reported a 14.3X surge in operating revenue to INR 2,024.3 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) as against INR 140.7 Cr in the previous fiscal. Meanwhile, loss soared 3.4X year-on-year (YoY) to INR 1,272.4 Cr during the year under review. 

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