From Startup to Success: Zepto's Rapid Rise in 10-Minute Delivery

About Zepto

Zepto founders Aadit Palicha & Kaivalya Vohra founded Zepto in 2021 to offer consumers incredibly quick grocery delivery.
Zepto a Mumbai-based startup is a fast-commerce platform that provides 10-minute grocery delivery services. The company is praised for its ability to supply groceries before the start of the year. In 2021, it collaborated with more than 86 dark store operators throughout 13 regions, resulting in more than one million deliveries. Zepto uses its network of "cloud shops," or micro-warehouses, to quickly deliver orders.
In this blog, we are discussing how two of Stanford’s talents laid the foundation for the comfort of millions.

Zepto - Founders

In April 2021, Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, two 19-year-old school friends who abandoned their studies at Stanford University, co-founded Zepto, a grocery delivery service that is focused on speed of delivery.

Kaivalya Vohra the CTO, founded a start-up called KiranaKart, but then left Stanford and also attended Y Combinator along with Aadit.

Aadit Palicha CEO of Zepto, co-founded KiranaKart and founded his first company when he was only 17. He too left Stanford to concentrate on building Zepto.

As a result, they have transformed Zepto into an authority in the rapidly growing quick commerce market in India.

Zepto - Journey

Zepto's narrative began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zepto originated from the constraints of their dwellings. Groceries and other necessities would arrive in a few days due to an increase in demand for delivery services, leaving a gap for prompt delivery. Zepto was consequently developed using all of this knowledge.

These youngsters worked closely together on numerous initiatives, including a kid-friendly ride-hailing service, before being unexpectedly arrested in their Mumbai homes due to COVID-19 regulations. As the virus spread, grocery delivery local authorities considered important still allowed throughout most of the country, but the two struggled to collect their supplies as the sickness worsened.

Zepto - Mission

Zepto seeks to reduce delivery times, whereas KiranaKart, their first firm, attempted to make delivery of groceries easier for Kiranas.

Zepto Marketing Strategy 

Online grocery delivery is not a novel concept. Already, startups like Blinkit and Dunzo are offering these services. Zepto's 10-minute grocery and other goods delivery service sets it apart from all of its rivals. Zepto is the first company in the grocery delivery market to offer a 10-minute grocery delivery service; you may have heard of Zomato Instant, which delivers meals in 10 minutes.

Although the concept of 10-minute grocery delivery is novel, it was not a simple task to put into practice. Zepto established the idea of the dark store model to keep its promise to deliver groceries within the allotted period. The dark store functions similarly to Zepto's fulfillment center in that it is effective despite being closed to the general public yet sufficient for the fulfillment of orders.
The company uses artificial intelligence to pick, pack, and deliver products quickly and efficiently. A tablet-wielding employee is tasked with picking up and packing orders placed by customers in under sixty seconds. It indicates that your order is being prepared for dispatch at the moment you make the payment. The organization states that their average delivery time is 8 minutes and 40 seconds.

The company delivers its dark store goods within a 3-kilometer radius, and it doesn't charge its delivery boy more for being late. Zepto's USP-its 10-minute delivery allows them to compete with well-funded fast-commerce behemoths like Swiggy, Instamart, and Blinkit.

Zepto - Investors and Funding

Aadit Palicha Net Worth  

According to the IIFL Wealth Harun India Rich List 2022, Aadit Palicha Net Worth is about Rs.1200 crore. 

Kaivalya Vohra Net Worth

Kaivalya Vohra Net Worth is Rs.1000 crore.

Zepto - Challenges

Zepto has had several difficulties, one of which involved allegations of misconduct by investors and founders within the fast commerce delivery firm. Ansh Nanda, an alleged co-founder of the company, said that Nexus Ventures and the other cofounders pressured him to give up his ownership of the company. Nanda pursued this further, filing a formal complaint against Zepto's co-founders and Nexus Ventures partner Suvir Sujan. But the co-founders quickly filed an appeal with the Delhi High Court in response to the same. Zepto is the third firm that Nexus has invested in and where a co-founder has been identified in a Federal Investigation Report. Acko and YoloBus were two further businesses that dealt with earlier.

Zepto - Future Plans

Major Indian cities, such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, and Kolkata, are currently served by Zepto's operations. Zepto intends to be profitable by the year 2024, so in it to do so, it has big ambitions for expanding both its distribution network and the number of its dark stores. Eventually, the company wants to go public, and in the next two to three years, an IPO is planned. Zepto, with a strategy focus on elevated key leaders and ongoing growth, is well-positioned to maintain its position as a major player in the quick-commerce sector.

According to many press sources dated October 9, 2023, Zepto, which was declared the first unicorn of 2023, intends to surpass Rs. 10,000 crore in total sales in the coming months.

Zepto - Competitors

• Swiggy Instamart


• Big Basket


• Blinkit

Zepto - Growth

Zepto made Rs.142.3 crore in sales in FY22, the year it began operations. But in the same fiscal year, the firm also suffered losses totaling Rs.390.3 crore. Zepto started operations in April 2021, and in FY22, their total expenses came to Rs.532.7 crore.

Zepto's fiscal year ended on March 31, 2023, had a 3.35-fold increase in net loss. The fast-commerce company reported a net loss of Rs.1,272.4 crore in the fiscal year 2022-2023 (FY23), a 226% increase from the previous fiscal year's Rs.390.3 crore.

Between FY22 and FY23, operational revenue climbed 14.3x to Rs.2,024.3 crore from Rs.142.3 crore.

Conclusion

Amidst COVID-19, young Zepto founders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra have shown great determination to turn an idea into one of the leading players in India’s quick-commerce market. Additionally, Zepto is up against already well-known brands such as Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket, and Blinkit which also provide fast grocery delivery services. 

The startup faced enormous losses at first but has been on a rapid revenue growth path which is expected to culminate in profitability by the year 2024. While it considers its listing plans through expansion into new territories, Zepto will hold sway over this booming quick commerce segment.