Zepto raises additional $350M, its third funding round in 6 months as it expands rapidly
Zepto, which competes with Instamart and Blinkit, has been steadily ramping up its dark store operations and categories to woo investors.
Quick commerce player Zepto has raised another $350 million in a funding round led exclusively by Motilal Oswal’s Private Wealth division, along with investment from Indian HNIs and family offices.
The round saw participation from Motilal Oswal AMC, Claypond Capital, Raamdeo Agarwal, along with family offices of the Taparias, Mankind Pharma, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, Cello, Haldiram Snacks, Sekhsaria, Kalyan, Happy Forgings, and Mothers Recipe (Desai Brothers).
The round, one of the largest domestic fundraises for a private startup in the country, comes just three months after Zepto closed its extended capital infusion with an investment of $340 million at a $5 billion valuation. This is Zepto’s third round in the last six months.
In June this year, it raised $665 million from new and existing investors, adding Avenir, Lightspeed and Avra to its captable. It currently operates more than 550 dark stores across 17 cities.
The latest round, which takes the total fundraise this year to $1.35 billion, also witnessed participation from celebrities like Abhishek Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
“Motilal Oswal is a strong believer in the future of digital businesses, particularly quick commerce players like Zepto, as potential free cash flow powerhouses, “ noted Ashish Shanker, MD and CEO, Motilal Oswal Private Wealth in a press note.
Earlier this week, Motilal Oswal Financial Services marked its coverage on Swiggy with a neutral rating. The brokerage flagged that Zepto holds a higher market share than Swiggy in the quick commerce segment. Based on Q1 FY25 numbers, Blinkit is leading with a 46% market share, while Zepto and Instamart both hold 29% and 25% market share, respectively.
This comes just days after Zepto announced its plans to roll out Zepto Cafe nationwide as the service exceeded more than Rs 160 crore annualised revenue run-rate, with 15% of the company’s dark store network sustaining at the unit economics level. It expects to build the cafe into a Rs 1,000 crore revenue business by next year by launching more than 100 new cafes every month.
Focus on Cafe services out of its quick commerce arm is in line with Zepto pushing up average order values on the platform, with users ordering small snacks and drinks along with larger grocery orders.
This comes as investors and analysts closely track category mix and average order value across platforms in a space that is seeing traction from larger ecommerce spaces as well as retail giants.
Edited by Kanishk Singh