India fast trading startup Zepto It has announced plans for an initial public offering that could be valued at nearly $1 billion, marking one of Y Combinator’s biggest bets on the public markets outside the United States.
The givingMonday’s release offers a rare glimpse into how one of India’s most closely watched startups plans to continue its incredible growth after listing. Zepto’s ad revenue grew more than 151% year-over-year to ₹16.4 billion (about $171 million) in fiscal 2026, outpacing the company’s 104% increase in operating income to ₹115.5 billion (about $2.4 billion).
While grocery delivery remains Zepto’s core business, the faster growth of its advertising arm signals a broader shift in how the startup monetizes — a strategy that initially made Amazon’s marketplace one of the best in the world. profitable advertising businesses by selling visibility to the same merchants competing on their platform.
Founded by 2021 Stanford graduates Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Zepto has become one of India’s fastest-growing startups, competing with Zomato-owned Blinkit and Swiggy’s Instamart in the country’s fiercely competitive e-commerce market. There is also Flipkart, which is backed by Amazon and Walmart they intensified their efforts segment in recent months.
Despite intense competition, Zepto continued to add customers and orders at a rapid clip. The startup processed more than 640 million orders in fiscal year 2026, roughly double the previous year, while the number of annual transaction users rose to about 48 million, according to the draft prospectus. Even as it expanded its network to 1,139 stores, orders per store continued to rise, indicating that demand is growing along with its footprint.
However, this growth comes at a cost. Zepto remains unprofitable, reporting a net loss of ₹59.1 billion (about $617.36 million) in fiscal 2026, compared with ₹47.0 billion (about $492.45 million) a year earlier. The startup acknowledged in its filing that it may continue to suffer losses and may not be able to sustain its historic growth rates, a statement that is standard but underscores the stress faced by venture-backed companies seeking public market investors before reaching profitability.
Zepto plans to raise ₹80.1 billion (about $837.41 million) through a new share issue. The IPO will also include an offer for sale of up to 113.5 million shares by existing investors, including Nexus Venture Partners, Contrary and Razor Ventures, and the final size of the sale will depend on the closing price of the offer. The startup also said it could raise ₹16.02 billion (about $167 million) from investors in a pre-IPO placement before the listing.
The list is set to provide a closely watched result for some of Zepto’s early backers. It was the beginning was valued at 7 billion dollars in the last financing round in October and counts Y Combinator, Lachy Groom, Nexus Venture Partners, StepStone, Glade Brook and Lightspeed among its investors.
Several prominent shareholders, including Y Combinator-affiliated funds Lightspeed, StepStone, Groom and Glade Brook, are not participating in the IPO, preferring to hold onto their stakes as the startup prepares for its market debut. It’s worth pausing: Zepto’s public market valuation remains uncertain, and some mutual funds and family offices that considered the company ahead of the IPO indicated valuations well below the last private round, according to people familiar with the matter.
In April, Zepto’s founders received a summons from India’s anti-money laundering agency, the Enforcement Directorate, seeking information on foreign investments, the company’s share structure and other matters under the country’s foreign exchange laws, the statement said.
Later, two people appeared in front of the agency and submitted the required information and documents. Zepto said it has since received no further information from the regulator, but warned it could not rule out future inquiries, investigations or penalties.
The proposed listing marks the culmination of years of effort to prepare the startup for its domestic market debut. Zepto moved his legal home from Singapore to India last yearlocal public markets are joining a growing number of startups restructuring their holding companies as they become increasingly attractive to tech listings.
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