10 minute grocery delivery startup Zepto raises $60 million

Grocery delivery startup Zepto has raised $60 million in its first institutional financing round. The startup has a unique proposition in the rather crowded hyperlocal delivery space — a 10minute guarantee on grocery delivery.

The funding round was led by Glade Brook Capital, the US-based growth equity firm, and included participation from Nexus Venture Partners and Y Combinator, as well as angel investors Lachy Groom, Neeraj Arora, and Manik Gupta. After the round, the young startup is valued at $225 million.

According to the startup, the proceeds from the funding round will be utilized towards expanding its operations and userbase across the country to expand and hire more employees. It currently has 300 employees and plans to quadruple the amount over the next few months. Being in beta mode for the last six months in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi-NCR, it plans to expand to Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, and Kolkata in the next 30 days, expanding to 100 dark stores and servicing around 100 pin codes by the end of 2021.

Founded by Stanford University dropouts Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Zepto claims to deliver groceries to customers in just ten minutes, utilizing its network of dark stores, which are designed and optimized for fast deliveries. This is what helps Zepto carve a niche for itself in a space that is dominated by big players such as Swiggy, Grofers, and BigBasket, who rely on regular grocery stores for inventory.

Zepto’s median delivery time is about eight minutes, which is remarkably good for a fledgling startup. It may become a game-changer in the quick commerce segment in India, which is estimated to touch $300 million by the end of this year and grow to $5 billion by 2025. In fact, about 20 million households are addressable by quick commerce in the country.

Palicha said that Zepto clocked consistent growth of 200% every month “with an unstoppable team, robust product infrastructure, and deep access to institutional capital.”

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