Zepto has raised fresh funding, barely two months after its last round of fundraising, lifting the valuation of the quick commerce startup to $5 billion (nearly Rs 42,000 crore), about 40% higher than its last valuation.
The unicorn, which recently moved its headquarters to Bengaluru, on Friday said it has raised $340 million in a funding round led by American venture capital firm General Catalyst.
“The opportunity to bring onboard a lead investor of Neeraj Arora’s calibre from General Catalyst was one we couldn't pass on,” said Zepto Chief Executive Aadit Palicha. “Strengthening our balance sheet is a strategic move, particularly as the company continues to deliver robust growth and operating leverage.”
MUFG and Liquidity Group-backed Dragon Fund, and tech-investment firm Epiq Capital joined as new investors, while existing investors such as StepStone, Lightspeed, DST, and Contrary also increased their stakes
The latest capital raise follows Zepto’s $665 million fundraise co-led by American investment firms Glade Brook, Nexus, and StepStone in June when it was valued at about $3.6 billion.
Zepto entered the unicorn club last year in August when it raised $200 million in Series E funding round led by global asset manager StepStone Group. In about a year since then, the quick commerce startup has seen its valuation rise 5x.
Prior to that, the company had raised about $360 million in funding across multiple funding rounds since its inception. In 2022, It had raised $200 million in its Series D funding round led by American technology startup accelerator Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund at a valuation of $900 million.
Overall, the three-year old startup has raised about $1.5 billion, with quick commerce getting a lot of interest from global and domestic investors alike.
Founded by Kaivalya Vohra and Aadit Palicha, Zepto runs a network of ‘cloud stores’ or micro-warehouses from where it provides the home delivery of groceries and essentials within a few minutes.
The startup pits against the likes of Swiggy’s Instamart and Zomato’s Blinkit, with Flipkart and Amazon also gearing up to enter the segment.
Zepto reported about Rs 2,024 crore of net sales in FY23 and a net loss of Rs 1,273 crore, as per its latest available financials.
