Zepto, snagging $1 billion in 90 days, projects 150% annual growth
Zepto co-founder Aadit Palicha told a group of analysts and investors on Tuesday that the three-year-old Indian delivery startup anticipates growth of 150% in the next 12 months, a remarkable figure suggesting the fast-growing quick commerce market in India is showing no signs of slowing down.
Palicha shared these insights during a call organized by an investment bank. Representatives from several prominent investment firms, including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Temasek, GIC, and Invesco, were among the attendees, according to materials reviewed by TechCrunch.
The spokesperson for the firm declined to comment when reached earlier on Tuesday.
Zepto’s annualized sales run rate recently exceeded $1.5 billion, Palicha told them, adding that a growth rate of approximately 150% would push its sales to more than $3.5 billion. Zepto competes with Zomato’s Blinkit, SoftBank-backed Swiggy Instamart, and BigBasket, all of them wooing customers with their 10-to 15-minute delivery services. BlinkIt’s current run rate stands at about $2 billion.
Quick commerce is rapidly gaining traction in India’s $1.1 trillion unorganized retail market. Zepto, BlinkIt, Swiggy, and Tata-owned BigBasket’s BB Now are collectively on track to clock annual sales exceeding $6 billion, compared to overall e-commerce sales of approximately $50 billion. Online grocer BigBasket, which delivers grocery to customers within a few hours, said Tuesday it is making a complete pivot to quick commerce.
The Indian e-commerce market, dominated by Flipkart and Amazon India, is growing at about 11% to 12% annually, according to industry figures. In contrast, quick commerce has experienced growth of more than 100% in each of the last three years.
Quick commerce firms are “clearly taking share” from larger e-commerce companies, said Rahul Malhotra, an e-commerce analyst at Bernstein. Quick commerce “may account for 40-50% of e-comm (some categories) over the next three years as per our checks, currently accounts for 10-15% of the total e-comm segment,” Elara Capital said in a note.
E-commerce giants are taking note. Flipkart launched its quick commerce offering, called Flipkart Minutes, earlier this month. Amazon India, a long skeptic of the model, is also eyeing launching its own quick commerce service as early as the first quarter next year, Indian newspaper Economic Times reported Wednesday.
Investors on Tuesday’s call questioned Palicha about the potential for quick commerce to expand beyond India’s top dozen or so cities, as these apps currently operate primarily in major urban areas. “Quick commerce is not a Tier 1 phenomenon,” Palicha said. “Our data points clearly to a huge opportunity in tier 2/3, regardless of the market sentiment.”
He also confirmed during the call that Zepto has raised $1 billion in the past 90 days, a war chest he said will allow the firm to more aggressively expand. Zepto counts Nexus Venture Partners, Lightspeed, Avra, YC Continuity, Contrary and StepStone Group among its backers.
TechCrunch had earlier reported that Zepto, now valued at $5 billion, was finalizing a $340 million funding round led by General Catalyst. The startup closed a $665 million funding round in June.
