Zepto IPO: Zepto in talks with investment banks for a possible IPO next year

Fast trade firm Zeptowhich raised nearly $1 billion from private investors in the past three months, has begun active talks with top Wall Street bankers, including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs For an initial public offeringsaid two people familiar with the matter.

The Mumbai-based startup is also known to be in talks with domestic companies. investment banks for a possible listing of shares in August next year.

The IPO is subject to reversal

However, the IPO plan will depend on its return to India, informed people said. Zepto, as ET reported earlier, is in the process of Moving your domicile from Singapore to India Joining a large group of Indian startups that have recently pulled back.

“The IPO timeline will depend on the reversal process, but the aim is to list next year,” one of the people said.BeaterThe parent company of Zepto rival Instamart is also preparing to go public. Later this year, with a $1.25 billion initial public offering.Its other biggest competitor, Blinkit, is owned by Zomato, a publicly traded company since 2021. “Zepto has been working very closely with Morgan Stanley… The board has told the company to test the market appetite for an IPO,” one person said. “They are also in talks with domestic bankers given that there is a broad understanding that the company wants to go public,” the other person said.

According to the sources, the company is looking to raise around $450 million from the sale of new shares. There will also be an offer for sale of shares by existing investors, they said.

A Zepto spokesperson declined to comment, while emails sent to Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley elicited no response as of press time on Friday.

New generation companies like FirstCry and Ola Electric, which recently entered the public market at moderate valuations, have seen their stocks rise after going public.

Fast trading on a streak

Fast-track commerce is the busiest segment within India’s rapidly growing e-commerce sector, driven by rising consumer demand for fast deliveries that is making other players take notice.

Tata-owned BigBasket is shifting to a fast-paced, large-scale model, ET reportedE-commerce firm Flipkart has launched a fast delivery vertical, Minutes, while Amazon is targeting a 2025 launch for its own express service in India.

Rapid growth also attracts investors.

Last week, Zepto raised $340 million from new investors General Catalyst, Mars Growth Capital and Epiq Capital, bringing the total amount of funding to approximately $1 billion in the last two months.

ET earlier reported on Raamdeo Agrawal of Motilal Oswal Financial Services gaining stakes in both Swiggy and ZeptoThe Bollywood superstar’s family office Amitabh Bachchan has also acquired a stake in Bengaluru-based Swiggy.whose Instamart is the market leader in fast commerce.

Zepto currently has an annualized gross sales run rate of $1.5 billion and aims to reach $3.5 billion in gross sales by December 2025. It currently has 400 dark stores in operation. Blinkit had 639 of these micro warehouses at the end of June.Zepto and Blinkit expect to have 700 and 1,000 dark stores by March 2025.

Elara Capital said in a recent note that fast commerce could account for 40-50% of e-commerce in some categories over the next three years, from current levels of 10-15%.

According to a recent report by Nomura, the fast-commerce space is expected to register 100-110% year-over-year growth in gross order value in fiscal year 2026, led by strong dark store additions by enterprises.