Zepto, a leading player in India’s quick commerce sector, has secured approximately $450 million (around Rs 4,000 crore) in its latest funding round, per an announcement.
The investment was led by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), a US-based pension fund; along with existing investor General Catalyst, the company announced on Thursday.
This new funding round, consisting mainly of primary capital infusion along with a smaller portion of secondary transactions, is said to have boosted Zepto’s valuation to $7 billion, up from $5 billion last year.
The startup’s existing investors, including names such as Avenir, Avra, Lightspeed, Glade Brook, The Stepstone Group, and Nexus Venture Partners, also participated in the round.
“This financing is a reflection of our team’s execution to grow the business rapidly while consistently building operating leverage. We now have approximately $900 million of net cash in bank and more than well-capitalised for the future,” Aadit Palicha, co-founder and CEO at Zepto, said in a statement.
For Zepto, which competes with Reliance-backed Dunzo, Swiggy’s Instamart, and Zomato-backed Blinkit, this marks the largest round so far since it was founded in 2020.
The company has raised nearly $3 billion to date, with about $2 billion of it secured in just the past 18 months, as it intensifies efforts to capture a leading position in the fast-growing quick commerce market.
Established in 2021 by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Zepto claims to sell over 25,000 products ranging from groceries to electronics, with a promise to deliver in 10 minutes. The company is said to operate over 550 dark stores and process more than 700,000 daily orders.
