Quick-commerce startup Zepto has raised $200 million funding at a $1.4 billion valuation, according to moneycontrol report.
The Series E round was led by the StepStone Group, a US asset management firm, and included Goodwater Capital and some existing investors. Zepto’s valuation jumped from $900 million in May 2022.
The funding is of particular importance because Zepto is the first unicorn, or startup valued at over $1 billion, to be minted in India this year. Molbio Diagnostics was the last to achieve unicorn status in September 2022.
“The investors we got onboard are high-quality, detail-oriented ones who have seen multiple cycles. Most investors have not seen a through and through cycle like this in India when it comes to technology investing and as a result they are a lot more conservative,” Aadit Palicha, Co-Founder of Zepto, said. “They are a lot less willing to invest in a bear market versus some larger institutional investors, like StepStone, which have been investing for decades. They’ve got the capability to take high-quality contrarian bets in this (bear) market.”
“Both StepStone and Goodwater Capital have invested in operationally intensive retail businesses before… we didn’t find people that specialise in this category in India. That being said, we are very excited to go deeper with India-centric investors. Going forward, Zepto is going to see a lot more India-centric investors,” he added.
Zepto was founded in 2020 during the pandemic and started operations in 2021. In two years, it has raised about $560 million. The large-ticket round, where cheques worth $100
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