Zepto is not the only quick commerce startup in India, and competition is intensifying both domestically and globally. The country’s online grocery market is expected to reach a value of about $24 billion by 2025, according to Redseer.
Zepto
Indian quick-commerce startup Zepto has secretly filed for an initial public offering, according to a public notice issued by the company on Sunday.
The company plans to raise 110 billion rupees ($1.22 billion) in new funding. Zepto was valued at $7 billion in its last funding round in October, according to data from research firm Tracxn.
Zept told CNBC that it filed a draft prospectus confidentially and that the filing was kept private, but did not provide further details.
Intensifying competition
Quick Commerce, which promises delivery in as little as 10 minutes, has become one of the most competitive consumer internet sectors in India.
Despite being an e-commerce giant, Amazon has long offered same-day delivery services in India through Amazon Fresh, but its 15-minute Amazon Now service, launched in June, marked an aggressive move into the crowded space.
The American company owned by Jeff Bezos has launched quick commerce operations in India’s three largest cities: Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.
Sameer Kumar, Amazon India’s country manager, said on December 1 that the company plans to have well over 300 micro-fulfillment centers in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai by the end of the year.
“India’s quick commerce market is currently 10% of the e-commerce market, but in the medium to long term it could account for 40% to 50%,” Karan Taurani, executive vice president at Indian brokerage firm Elara Capital, told CNBC’s Inside India last week.
walmartFlipkart, owned by , also launched its quick commerce service in 2024. Swiggy and Eternal, the Indian food delivery companies that own Zomato and Brinkit, were among the first movers in this space.
Over the past three to five years, several companies have entered India’s quick commerce market and “we’re in a price war” as companies chase large addressable markets, Taurani said.
bubble concerns
The sector continues to attract significant capital. Earlier this month, Swiggy raised Rs 1,000 crore from institutional investors to expand its rapid commerce fulfillment network to include warehouses near congested areas.
But some industry leaders have warned that the pace of spending may not be sustainable.
Brinkit CEO Arvinder Dhindsa reportedly warned of the bubble bursting.
He told Bloomberg that the quick commerce industry relies heavily on “relentless financing” to cover huge losses, and that companies will soon reach a limit to how much they can continue to absorb losses.
Zepto’s losses reportedly widened to Rs 33.67 billion in FY25 from Rs 12.15 billion a year earlier.
Data from LSEG showed that swiggy Net loss for FY25 was Rs 31.17 billion, up from Rs 23.5 billion in the previous year. eternal Net profit for FY25 was reported at Rs 5.27 billion.
“If companies don’t get on the path to profitability, there could be a bubble,” Taurani said.
