Motilal Oswal and Raamdeo Agrawal, founders of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd (MOFSL), have purchased $50 million in stock as an individual in a fast commercial startup Zepto.
In addition to that, the man added that MOFSL is also preparing to lead the second-tier fundraising round to reach $250 million in Zepto and participated in the participation of Edelweiss, Hero Fincorp and other investors.
It should be clear that shareholders in secondary transactions sell their shares to other existing or new investors and do not inject new capital into the company. Secondary transactions are usually conducted at a discount with major stocks. MoneyControl was the first to report on the development.
Motilal Oswal declined to comment on the deal, while Zepto, Edelweiss and Hero Fincorp did not respond to email inquiries immediately.
Mumbai-based Zepto, who is preparing for the near future listing of the public market, entered the coveted unicorn club in 2023 when it raised $200 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion.
Last year, Zepto received $350 million in funding led by Motilal Oswal’s private wealth division. The fundraising round includes investments from wealthy Indians and local home offices and financial institutions, marking the largest 100% domestic fundraising campaign in the Indian startup ecosystem.
Quick Trading Competition
Over the past year, Zepto has run to date for some of India’s largest funding rounds.
Last August, Zepto received a $340 million valuation of $5 billion in a general catalyst-led funding round. Other new investors, including Dragon Fund and Epiq Capital, also participated in the round, while existing investors such as Stepstone, Lightspeed, DST and Ruthare have added stakes.
The deal comes nearly two months after Zepto raised its largest capital of $665 million, valued at $3.6 billion. It plans to use capital to increase the number of its dark shops or warehouses to 700 by March 2025.
Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra founded Zepto in April 2021, when Covid Curfews made people in big Indian cities accustomed to buying daily staples online.
Zepto competes directly with conference minutes from Swiggy’s Instamart, Zomato’s Blinkit and Flipkart, which in recent years has intensified the demand for instant delivery, increased their dark store network and expanded product range. Groups such as Tata Group, Reliance and Amazon have tried similar business models.
India’s rapid commercial market grew 77% in 2023 to reach USD 2.8 billion in total commodity value, accounting for 5% of India’s overall e-commerce market, according to consulting firm Redseer.
