BENGALURU: Quick commerce start-up Zepto has raised $350 million in its latest round, which included investments from Indian HNIs, family offices, and leading financial institutions at a flat valuation of $5 billion. The fundraise was led exclusively by Motilal Oswal’s Private Wealth division.
This fundraise also saw participation from family offices and investors such as Motilal Oswal AMC and Raamdeo Agarwal, the Taparia Family Office, Mankind Pharma Family Office, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, Cello Family Office, Haldiram Snacks Family Office, Sekhsaria Family Office, Kalyan Family Office, Happy Forgings Family Office, Mothers Recipe Family Office (Desai Brothers), Abhishek Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar, among others.
Earlier, TNIE reported that Zepto is planning to raise funds by the end of November and that the round will include HNIs and family offices.
Aadit Palicha, chief executive officer and co-founder at Zepto, said, “When we started this venture, the risk appetite among domestic investors was limited—especially to trust 18-year-olds with their money. Today, we are humbled to have reached a place in India’s economic growth where we’ve not only fostered that trust but also spearheaded a fundraise of this magnitude, which will hopefully set a precedent for the startups that follow.”
This funding comes at a time when the country’s economy is accelerating its shift toward domestically driven growth. Founded in 2021 by Stanford University dropouts, Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, this fundraising comes just three months after it raised $340 million.
Zepto, which is ready to go public soon, in July raised $665 million at a $3.6 billion valuation, more than double from its last valuation. Zepto had said in July that in terms of business performance, its GMV has multiplied YoY to a base of $1 billion+, and about 75% of the company’s stores are fully EBITDA positive as of May 2024.
Many quick commerce companies are now investing with an aim to expand its dark stores. While the q-commerce market is projected to grow significantly, RedSeer expects a 15x jump in India alone by 2025.