Leading quick-commerce platform, Zepto has raised $340 million in a follow-on financing round at a valuation of $5 billion which comes close on the heels of its previous fundraise in June. General Catalyst led this round, with Dragon Fund, and Epiq Capital coming onboard as new investors. Existing investors such as StepStone, Lightspeed, DST, and Contrary also increased their stakes.
In June, the company raised about $665 million at a valuation of $3.6 billion. It had said that it is looking to go for an IPO in 9-12 months.
“The rationale behind this follow-on financing was two-fold. First, the opportunity to bring onboard a lead investor of Neeraj Arora’s calibre from General Catalyst was one we couldn’t pass on. The second, strengthening our balance sheet is a strategic move, particularly as the company continues to deliver robust growth and operating leverage,” said Aadit Palicha, Co-founder and CEO, Zepto in a statement.
“While these recent financings reflect strong confidence in Zepto’s performance to date, we recognise there is still a lot of execution ahead of us to fulfil our ambition of building a world-class internet company out of India,” he added.
Neeraj Arora, Managing Director of General Catalyst, “This is one of our first investments in India following the merger of Venture Highway and General Catalyst. We are thrilled to partner with Zepto, and believe their quick commerce model is setting the standard for the future of e-commerce in India and beyond.”
370 dark stores
Zepto, which currently has a network of 370 dark stores, aims to grow the count to about 700 by March 2025 strengthening its presence in the top 20 cities. It had said in June that it has crossed the milestone of $1 billion in terms of annualised GMV.
“Dragon Fund’s vision is to back world-class technology companies globally. We are very excited to partner with Zepto and its exceptional team who are defining and building quick commerce in India,” said Ridhi Chaudhary, Chief Investment Officer, Dragon Fund.
“Quick commerce addresses the convenience, variety and value needs of urban India which is a massive opportunity,” said Aakash Tulsani, Managing Director at Dragon Fund.
Market size
According to a report released by Redseer, quick-commerce market size is projected to grow to about $6 billion GMV (gross merchandise value) by FY25 with expected growth rates of 75-85 per cent. This will be on the back of 5 million new Monthly Transacting Users (MTU), it added.