Aadit Palicha, Kaivalya Vohra
Co-founders, ZeptoAbout
Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra were barely out of their teens when they decided that waiting for groceries was a problem worth solving. But the idea was met with scepticism. Yet, they launched Zepto in 2021. Five years later‚ the company has helped shape not just consumer behaviour but the entire quick commerce segment. “Many models were tested, but in 2020-21, Zepto found a clear product-market fit. We pioneered the delivery hub model, building dense, proximity-led infrastructure that became the industry blueprint‚” says Palicha. Zepto was operating 1,139 dark stores, processing more than 1.75 million daily orders in March. Operating revenue doubled to `22,624 crore in FY26, while total income rose to `23,128 crore; Q4 alone delivered `7,498 crore revenue, up 75% YoY. But total expenditure increased 79% to `29,027 crore, led by procurement costs of `18,199 crore and a sharp rise in delivery and warehousing expenses. Net loss widened 26% to `5,905 crore. For the founder duo, the journey has been less about chasing speed. “From day one, Zepto focussed on strong fundamentals over short-term optimisation. We invested early in scalable fulfilment infrastructure, supply chain control, and technology to deliver speed reliably at scale‚” Palicha says. Now, Zepto has put its public market debut plans on hold to raise around `1,000 crore in a pre-IPO funding round from existing and domestic investors.
