On demand grocery delivery firm Zepto preps $650 million funding round to duke it out with Blinkit and Instamart

Indian rapid grocery delivery platform, Zepto, is set to raise $650 million from a combination of existing and new investors, taking its valuation to approximately $3.5 billion.

Leading the funding round are Nexus Venture Partners and StepStone Group, both of whom are existing backers of Zepto.

They are joined by existing investor Glade Brook Capital and newbies including Avenir Growth, Lightspeed Venture Partners, DST Global, and Avra.

Nexus Venture Partners, along with its limited partner StepStone Group, will stump up a significant portion of the $650 million, making this its largest investment to date.

The cash will be largely used to expand Zepto’s presence to new cities and penetrate deeper into existing ones.

Founded by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra during the Covid pandemic, Zepto is one of three primary players in the Indian quick commerce market, the others being Blinkit, owned by Zomato, and Instamart, owned by Swiggy,

It has a presence in Delhi, Chennai, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Wolt

Finnish delivery company, Wolt, has announced the launch of Wolt Capital, a new service promising fast and simple access to additional financing for merchants.

It is partnering with finmid to offer this.

Edward Daka, Product Lead, Banking & Payouts at Wolt, says: “We are always listening to our partners and adapting our services and offerings to meet their needs. Fast and simple access to capital has regularly come up in our talks with merchants.”

“That’s why today, we’re excited to introduce Wolt Capital. This initiative is designed to support the success and growth of merchants, giving them the opportunity to access transparent financing.”