IPO-Bound Zepto Overtakes Instamart, Emerges as India's 2nd Largest Quick Commerce Player

IPO-bound Zepto has overtaken Swiggy Instamart in terms of order and volumes to become the second popular quick commerce in the country, according to a report by Economic Times attributing the latest disclosures in Zepto’s updated red herring draft prospectus (UDRHP).

Zepto’s net order value (NOV) for January-March FY26 stood at Rs 7,591 crore, ahead of Instamart at Rs 5,674 crore but trailing behind Blinkit at Rs 14,386 crore, the report added.

According to Redseer, as mentioned in UDHRP, Zepto was the fastest-growing quick commerce platform in India between FY24 and FY26 among scaled players, with its order volume gaining at a 119.5 per cent CAGR during the period.

Zepto IPO To Raise Rs 8,010 Crore From Fresh Equities

According to UDRHP, the company is planning to raise up to 1,60,20,000 equity

shares of face value Rs 5 each aggregating up to Rs 8,010 crore through the fresh issue. There will be an OFS part too that might take the proposed IPO size between Rs 9,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore.

Dark Store Expansion Strategy

Zepto would utilize the net proceeds from the fresh issue to expand dark store network across existing and new geographies, investing in cloud infrastructure and technology, funding lease rentals for existing dark stores, supporting marketing and business promotion initiatives through its subsidiary Zepto Marketplace Pvt Ltd, and pursuing inorganic growth opportunities and general corporate purposes.

As per UDHRP, dark store network of Zepto expanded from 337 stores in 11 cities in March 2024 to 1,139 stores in 66 cities by March 2026.

Advertising Is Becoming Major Source Of Revenue

In the UDHRP, Zepto stated that advertisements are becoming a major source of revenue these days. The revenue from advertisement jumped from a mere Rs 49.17 crore in FY24 to Rs 651.24 crore in Fy25 and Rs 1,635.73 crore in FY26.

More than 2,468 brand partners used Zepto’s advertising services in FY26, the UDHRP mentioned.

Zepto stated that higher order density is helping reduce delivery costs and improve profitability. Its orders per dark per day increased to RS 1,677 in FY26 from 1,325 in FY24.