Friends since the age of seven, Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra are habitual problem-solvers. Their first startup was a carpooling app for parents. When the pandemic confined families indoors, they began taking grocery orders over WhatsApp and delivering them in an hour across Andheri East in Mumbai.

But as consumer behaviour shifted after the lockdowns, the duo pivoted and founded Zepto in 2021. Zepto entered grocery delivery—a space many called a graveyard for startups—and promised to offer deliveries in under 10 minutes.

Within three years, the company scaled at a pace unheard of among Indian consumer tech startups. With more than 1.5 million daily orders and an estimated annualised Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of $3 billion as of January, Zepto’s valuation has surged to $5 billion.

The secret: ruthless execution and supply chain optimisation. Instead of relying on local kirana stores, the company set up a network of dark stores across urban neighbourhoods.

The duo is now betting on technology to drive Zepto’s next phase of growth. The company, which is looking to go public by early 2026, aims to diversify its revenue stream to improve its profit profile.

As it expands, Zepto’s focus has shifted from rapid growth to long-term sustainability in India’s fiercely competitive retail market.