Aadit Palicha knows what he wants. 

“We have to become the Dmart of the quick-commerce world, providing the best value and assortment,” said the CEO and co-founder of Zepto in mid-October. “And don’t worry about money. We have sufficient money and funding to aim for massive growth,” he added, while speaking at a townhall at the company’s Bengaluru headquarters on Sarjapur road.

Earlier that month, the company raisedMoneycontrolZepto closes $450 million funding from Calpers and existing investors; taking total fundraise close to $2 billion in under two years around $450 million in a funding round led by California Public Employees’ Retirement System, a US-based pension fund, and venture-capital firm General Catalyst, an existing investor. This took Zepto’s total fundraise to around $2 billion in under two years, valuing the company at $7 billion.

The quick-commerce industry has been growing at a CAGR of around 150CareEdgeIndia’s Rapid Delivery Race: Q-Commerce set to Triple by 2028% over the last three years, and Zepto isn’t ready to be left behind. Even if that means pouring boatloads of cash to feed the beast. Its market share is currently around 30%, second only to market leader Blinkit’s 45%. 

Before the fundraise, the priority was all numbers. Growth, top line, and bottom line came before everything else.

Now that the money is in the bank, all eyes are on the company’s IPO scheduled for early 2026. The focus has since shifted to improving the availability of products and bolstering value for customers, according to a category manager at Zepto. 

Part of this is something called “every day low prices” or EDLP. A concept borrowedDMart Annual Report from Dmart, who in turn borrowedIntelligence NodeWhy Walmart’s EDLP Strategy is a Game-changer it from Walmart, it emphasises offering low prices every day rather than in the form of special promotions or discounts. 

“Instead of our earlier Super Saver option [where customers got discounted prices for larger orders], they now get free delivery on all orders above Rs 99—a feature that was supposed to go live next January but was kickstarted this month itself,” said the category manager.