Ten-minute grocery delivery platform Zepto on Tuesday said it has raised $200 million in a Series D round, at a valuation of around $900 million. The funding round as led by Y Combinator Continuity along with new investor Kaiser Permanente. Notably, Y Combinator Continuity had also led its last funding round less than three months ago. The startup has raised $360 million to date.
Existing investors Nexus Venture Partners, Glade Brook Capital and Lachy Groom have also increased their investments. The capital inflow comes at a time when Swiggy plans to start drone trials for grocery service. Zomato-backed Blinkit, Flipkart and BigBasket too are betting big on quick commerce. With this fund, Zepto plans to grow sustainably across the country.
Zepto offers a 10-minute grocery delivery service mostly focused in metro and Tier-1 cities currently using a network of dark stores. Dark stores are delivery-only stores which allow start-ups to stock up on their own inventory through sourcing tie-ups with wholesalers and brands.
Zepto’s co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha said the company would use these funds to expand into 12-20 cities and hire 1,000 people over the next one year.
In December, Zepto had raised $100 million in a Series C round, which was led by Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund, at a valuation of $570 million, a 2X jump from its earlier valuation.
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“We posted an 800% q-o-q revenue growth, while burn has come down 5X on a per-order basis. Our team achieved this while continuing to delight our customers – we maintained a phenomenal 88-Point NPS and 60% Month-1 Buyer Retention at scale. This unbelievable execution over the past few months has made it clear to investors that Zepto will be one of the winners in Indian q-commerce,” Zepto co-founder & CEO Aadit Palicha said in a statement.
