Mumbai, NFAPost: Online grocery delivery app startup Zepto raised $100 million (Rs 757 crore) in Series C funding from marquee investors to expand its operations across the country.
“We raised $100 million in Series C, with Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund leading the round in which investors like Glade Brook, Nexus, Breyer Capital, Lachy Groom, Global Founders Capital, Contrary Capital participated,” said the city-based company in a statement.
YC Continuity Fund is an investment fund dedicated to supporting founders as they scale their companies. “With additional capital, we will expand coverage in cities across the country and scale teams for all functions, including operations, supply chain, marketing, finance, product, engineering, and human resources,” said the statement.
The new round of funding comes 45 days after the 5-month-old company raised $60 million (Rs 450 crore) in November from investors such as Glade Brook, Nexus and individual investors.
“We offer a 10-minute grocery delivery service in metros and tier-1 cities using a network of cloud stores,” claimed the company in the statement. The startup has rolled out 100 micro warehouses with a capacity to deliver 2,500 orders per day.
The company has recently expanded its operations in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Pune.
“Investors are backing us because of our execution. We’re growing at a fast pace and our customers like the product experience,” said co-founder and chief executive Aadit Palicha.
The company has set up its engineering and product office in Bangalore. Some of its executives and operators are from Flipkart, Uber, Dream11, Pharmeasy, PepperFry, and Amazon.
“Delivering groceries in 10 minutes is a game-changing experience for customers and reflects our strong product-market fit metrics,” said co-founder and chief technology officer Kaivalya Vohra.
Palicha and Vohra dropped out Stanford University in the US and returned to India to set up Zepto. “Our mission is to make 10-minute delivery the new normal,” said the co-founders.
According to Y Combinator Anu Hariharan, Zepto has been able to add 1-lakh customers a week, with 60 per cent of them women.
“The company’s attention to detail on the logistics experience has enabled it to scale in most metros in 5 months. We are confident Zepto will win in this space over the long-term,” added Hariharan.
