Mumbai, Jun 14 (KNN) Mumbai-based quick commerce startup Zepto is raises USD 660 million in a new funding round, valuing the company at USD 3.62 billion, more than doubling its previous USD 1.4 billion valuation from August 2022.

The financing will see participation from new investors including DST Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Avenir Growth, and Anu Hariharan's Avra Capital. Existing backers like StepStone Group, Nexus Venture Partners, and Glade Brook Capital are also reinvesting.

The sizeable fundraise highlights sustained investor appetite in India's burgeoning quick commerce segment driven by online grocery delivery.

The fresh capital will enable Zepto to rapidly scale its network of dark stores across major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and others.

Despite a funding crunch impacting Indian startups since late 2022, the Y Combinator alumni has secured this major round.

Zepto last raised USD 231 million in August 2022 with ambitions to hit USD 1 billion in annualized sales. It competes with larger platforms like Zomato's Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Tata's BigBasket.

Sources indicate the funding could presage an IPO with Zepto eyeing a public listing around a year from now after relocating its domicile back to India from Singapore. The company aims to turn profitable by September 2024 as its cash burn reduces.

While quick commerce has struggled globally, the segment is a USD 5 billion annual opportunity in India according to Goldman Sachs estimates.

Zepto told the bank it does 550,000 orders daily from 340 dark stores with USD 1.2 billion in annualised gross order value.

(KNN Bureau)