The US-based pension fund California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) is leading a funding round led by Zepto, a significant player in quick commerce, that has received close to $450 million (about INR 3,955 cr).

Primary transactions made up a significant portion of the round, which included both primary and secondary financing.  Existing investors such as Avenir, Avra, Lightspeed, Glade Brook, the Stepstone Group, and Nexus Venture Partners also participated.

Prior sources informed Inc42 that a principal transaction would account for $350 million to $380 million of the round.

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The rapid commerce startup’s valuation in the fundraising round increased from $5 billion in late 2024 to $7 billion.  In 2024, the unicorn of rapid commerce raised more than $1 billion in new funding.

Zepto cofounder Aadit Palicha stated, “We currently have about $900 million in net cash in the bank and (are) more than well-capitalized for the future.”

Zepto said that despite investing in expansion, it was able to continuously turn “more and more” of its stores profitable and increased order volume by 200% over the previous 18 months.

Notably, Motilal Oswal, MapMyIndia, and Elcid contributed tiny amounts of money to Zepto earlier this year.

The new funding will help Zepto regain market dominance in the rapid commerce space, which is presently dominated by Blinkit.

Zepto has been slowing down, and this development coincides with that.  Zepto Cafe, its meal delivery vertical, closed 45–50 locations due to sourcing problems and a lack of skilled kitchen employees. 

From a peak of one lakh orders per day, order volumes in this area have halved, and marketing initiatives have essentially vanished.

Zepto postponed its preparations for an initial public offering (IPO) earlier this year.  It claimed that a private funding opportunity was the cause of the delay.

In terms of finances, its income increased from INR 4,454 Cr in the previous fiscal year to INR 11,100 Cr in FY25, a 149% increase.  However, the business is still unable to turn a profit.  The firm reported a loss of INR 1,248.64 Cr in the previous fiscal year, while its FY25 bottom line is unavailable.