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Zepto gets $450-million funding in run-up to a likely IPO next year
Zepto's $450-million funding round, seen as the final one before an IPO, pegs its valuation at $7 billion versus Swiggy's $11 billion and Eternal's $34 billion.
Zepto Pvt. Ltd. has raised a mammoth round of funding ahead of a likely IPO next year, and amid a market-share battle with Swiggy Ltd.'s Instamart and Blinkit owned by Eternal Ltd.
The company, founded by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, has raised $450 million (about ₹4,000 crore) from new and existing investors, including US-based pension fund California Public Employees' Retirement System, General Catalyst, Goodwater Capital and Lightspeed, according to a statement on Thursday (16 October 2025).
“We now have approximately $900 million of net cash in bank and more than well-capitalised for the future,” CEO Palicha said in the statement.
Zepto valuation
Zepto's latest funding round pegs its valuation at $7 billion, up from $5 billion at its previous fundraising last year. That compares with Eternal Ltd.'s market capitalisation of $34 billion and $11 billion of Swiggy Ltd.
The fundraising comes when India's urban consumers are increasingly opting for online delivery in 10 minutes or less over kirana stores to fulfil their daily needs. India's quick-commerce market is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 15.54% to $11.08 billion by 2030 from $5.38 billion in 2025, according to Statista. That would come from 6.5 crore users and a market penetration of 4.3% by 2030 from 2.7% at present.
Naturally, Zepto would need the firepower to go up against the likes of Swiggy and Eternal—listed companies which have well-entrenched quick-commerce operations in Instamart and Blinkit, respectively.
Zepto IPO plans
To be sure, Zepto's mammoth funding round may just be the final one before it files papers for an initial public offering next year.
According to media reports, Zepto has pushed back its IPO plans by a year to 2026 to focus on achieving profitability first—a rarity among Indian startups. Swiggy has yet to turn a profit and Eternal has seen its net profit plunge 63% in the recently concluded July-September quarter.
According to its latest available financials, Zepto Pvt. Ltd. more than doubled its revenue to ₹4,454 crore in FY24 as against ₹2,026 crore in FY23, while loss narrowed a little to ₹1,249 crore in FY24 from ₹1,272 crore in FY23.
Zepto is now likely to revisit its IPO plans after this funding round closes, as per Business Today, indicating that this may just be the final fundraise before a listing next year.
In January 2025, Zepto did a so-called reverse flip to transfer its domicile to India from Singapore. In April, the company changed its registered name to Zepto Pvt. Ltd. from Kiranakart Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Both the moves are seen as a prep work for an IPO.
