Mumbai-based quick commerce startup Zepto, was founded by two Stanford University dropouts, Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, both 19, who quit the coveted computer science program at Stanford University to return to India and get started in quick commerce. This is the second venture of duos who wrapped up their first venture KiranaKart due to the lack of product-market fit. The start-up promises to deliver groceries and daily essentials in 10 minutes. It started its journey from Mumbai and expanded to Bangalore, Delhi and four other cities.
The Genesis of the Idea
The birth of the idea come from the personal experience of the founders where they were operating from home during the pandemic. They observed a quick rise in demand for home-deliveries meant that groceries and other essentials would reach the buyer in a matter of a couple of days, leaving a vacuum for instant delivery. So, Zepto was born with this thought in mind.
The 10-minute delivery
The thought of 10-minute delivery from the business model has become the game-changer. The technology behind the model is incredibly intense and detail-oriented. It needs extremely strong operating and technical discipline to pull off a 10-minute delivery done consistently.
Who are the Backers?
The idea excites the likes of Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund, Glade Brook, Capital Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, Breyer Capital and Silicon Valley investor Lachy Groom and a result raised $60 million in a round. The company would use this money to fuel its growth. The company is expanding across all the major cities. The company has a team size of about 400 members.
Competitors
Zepto is competing against startups like Blinkit (backed by SoftBank), Dunzo (backed by Google), Swiggy ( backed by Naspers ) as well as the likes of Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.-backed Flipkart.
Charging customers for deliveries
The company will implement delivery fees, In Mumbai, the delivery fee is already live and the company is planning to put it across other mature markets
The Road Ahead
In a period of 5 months, the company has launched 100 micro-warehouses-each of which has the capacity to handle over 2,500 order a day–and the company is planning to launch at an even faster rate going forward. According to estimates, Zepto wants to achieve the target of $1 Billion in annual sales over the next four to six quarters. A month and a half from now, the company wants to be at a much larger scale. We will be 3x the number of dark stores in the next 30-40 days.
