Zepto secures Rs 400 Cr from Motilal Oswal Financial Services

Its raining money at Zepto, as the quick commerce unicorn closes a Rs 400 crore funding round from Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

"Acquisition is a part of the treasury investment book, executed with the objective of generating sustainable, long-term returns," stated Motilal Oswal in an exchange filing.

This comes after the Aadit Palicha-led comapny raised $350 million in funding round led by Motilal Oswal’s Private Wealth division in November last year.

Zepto's November round also witnessed participation from Indian HNIs, along with family offices of the Taparias, Mankind Pharma, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, Cello, Haldiram Snacks, Sekhsaria, and Kalyan, among others.

The company has been steadily gearing up for its public debut, focusing on unit economics and checking its high cash burn, which is a common industry hazard.

Quick commerce players have also been working to increase their domestic ownership as competetion in the sector forces players to mull inventory-led models for their platforms. According to FDI regulations, investments are permitted in 100% marketplace model but is restricted in the inventory-based model, which requires platforms to own the inventory.

Quick commerce major Blinkit, owned by Eternal, already has plans to shift its dark stores to inventory models over the next few quarters. The Deepinder Goyal-led company had put a cap on its foreign ownership and raised $1 billion through qualified institutional placement (QIP) in November last year.

Intrestingly, about 21% of its QIP was subscribed by various arms of Motilal Oswal’s mutual funds. Other participantrs included ICICI Mutual Fund, HDFC MF, and Kotak.

Swiggy has also been mulling moving to an inventory-led model in the future, its CFO Rahul Bothra had shared during the company's latest earnings call. The Sriharsha Majety-led company has already crossed 40% domestic ownership.

Zepto had also closed its extended capital infusion with an investment of $340 million at a $5 billion valuation around the same time last year. Prior to that, it raised $665 million from new and existing investors, adding Avenir, Lightspeed and Avra to its captable. This would mark Zepto’s fourth round in the since the begining of 2024.

Last month, the IPO-bound company secured Rs 7.5 crore ($0.9 million) in funding from Elcid Investments Ltd., a Mumbai-based NBFC. Last week, digital navigation firm MapmyIndia invested Rs 25 crore in Zepto at a valuation of $6.1 billion to expand the adoption of its mapping and location-based solutions in quick commerce.