Business

Founded by two 19-year-olds, the Zepto app raises $100 million taking valuation to $570 million

19-year-old entrepreneurs' startup Zepto raises $100 million within 5 months of its launch

December 21, 2021

Zepto, a 10-minute delivery app raises $100mn from Y Combinator, others

Within 5 months of its launch, the Mumbai-based 10-minute delivery app, Zepto announced it has raised $100 million led by Y Combinator, taking its valuation to $570 million by marquee investors of the Indian startup ecosystem.

The Zepto app is founded by the 19-year-olds Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, and it currently delivers 2,500 products in 10 minutes flat. Zepto has been growing incredibly quickly and is tripling its user base every month.

Delivering groceries in 10 minutes is a game-changing experience for customers in the country, and several players are now joining the race.

The company, on December 21, announced that it has raised $100 million in a Series C round led by Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund. New and existing investors, including Glade Brook, Nexus, Breyer Capital, Lachy Groom, Global Founders Capital, Contrary Capital, and others. The round came 45 days after the company announced its $60 million fundraise in November.

Over the past two months, Zepto has expanded beyond Mumbai by launching in Bengaluru, Delhi, Gurgaon, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune (Kolkata to follow), the company said in a statement.

“Investors are consistently choosing to back Zepto because of our best-in-class execution. This is giving us incredible momentum – we’re growing at a phenomenal rate, customers are loving the product experience, our core unit economics are strong, and we have one of the best startup teams in India today,” said Aadit Palicha, Co-Founder and CEO.

“We are excited to double down and lead this round in Zepto. They originally launched with a different model, swiftly pivoted to quick commerce in August 2021, and are now adding 100,000 new customers every week, 60 percent of them women,” said Anu Hariharan from Y Combinator.

In five months, the startup has launched 100 micro-warehouses – each of which has the capacity to do 2,500+ orders a day.

Zepto’s valuation is now nearly double of Google-backed Dunzo, which is among the oldest players in the domain. The company was said to be valued at $300 million in March 2021, when the company raised $8 million.

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