Zepto: Two 19-year-olds dropped out of Stanford to build India’s next tech unicorn

Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra are the founders of Zepto, a start-up from India that promises to deliver groceries in less than 10 minutes. The firm is just one of many businesses to join the wave of what’s known as “quick” or “instant” commerce.

The childhood friends founded the business in July 2021 — right in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. Operations started two months later.

Zepto says it’s now adding 100,000 new users daily.

Watch the video to find out how these teenage Stanford dropouts built a $900 million start-up.

#CNBC #StartUp #Entrepreneurs
-----

Facebook:

Instagram:

Twitter:

[sinovicks]

Dropping out of Standford means they already have a good financial back up in life. One can only take risk when they have a strong support system.

[vishnudixit]

I'm sorry but as an Indian who's always ordering groceries online. Speed of delivery is never an issue for most of us. Zepto is just another data collection platform, in a unicorn bubble.

[KOKIwriter]

Kudos to these guys, but I would just make a phone call to my local grocer 5 mins away and get my groceries delivered. As someone said, there are 1000 other areas for innovation. Why everyone is behind delivery of food and groceries. Why NO Innovation in supplying clean water to homes. We can deliver groceries in 10 mins, but NO Water in 10 hours also

[anaysharma]

I saw a zepto delivery boy speeding and jumping the red light, he caused an 45yo mom and her 20yo to fall from thier bike. The mom got lucky, she had hit her head on the road yet she survived, if their bike went any faster then I don't think she would have survived. Also that zepto driver didn't call the ambulance, he escaped the scene.

moral of this story: You won't die of hunger if you don't get your groceries in 10 min but you might just risk the life of another person.

[deepaksrinivasan]

Anyone who ever walked on Indian roads know how rash these Zepto and other quick commerce drivers drive. I would prefer slower delivery if that means more road safety for everyone

[kamesh]

Don't Romanticize dropping out of college... Talk about what they innovated and how skillfully they pitched their idea and raised money. Also ask yourself will they make profits down the line. I personally don't find delivery apps turning profitable anytime in history. Even jiomart is struggling in this sector. People are more inclined towards local kirana shops when it comes to grocery purchases.

Another problem in which these delivery apps fall short is in not creating a loyal customer base for long term. They don't have one year membership plans where one can avail groceries in credit or discounts in products. These VCs and unicorn terminologies are just a fashion fad in the startup ecosystem. I don't find them becoming big successful corporations getting listed in market indexes.

[inkgun]

No complaints. Cheap VC money for these dime a dozen delivery start ups are enabling me to get my grocery in 5 minutes for FREE. No ground breaking innovation, but again no complaints. Well done!

[ishimweetienne]

The kind of people who makes me question what am doing with my life

[nikhilkay]

As an Indian thanks to fastest deliveries on the planet right after China. But we need to focus on manufacturing stuff rather than doing 5 minute deliveries now. This sector is peaked now.

[chrisr]

General consensus of viewers:
A problem that doesn't need to be solved.
Creates toxic brutal working conditions for employees.
Not innovative or disruptive.
VCs hoping for a quick pump and dump.
YAWNS

[binatiwari]

Grocery delivery is not disruptive idea in Indian market. Our grocer delivered groceries 4 decades back and he does it till now. Only difference is his delivery staff came on a bicycle and these start up delivery boy will drive a moped. So they are solving the problem that never really exists. Let's see how long they last.

[fridge_magnet]

It would be another unicorn which will never make a profit. There are a bunch of these quick commerce startups. Everyone is doing a cash burn using VC money. This might work in metro cities where they can set up micro delivery centers in heavily populated areas. As a person who regularly orders from bigbasket, blinkit, dmart ready, swiggy instamart etc . I feel only dmart, Jiomart would make money.

[RAJEEVRANJAN_]

90-95% deliveries in 5-20 mins and average distance from hub to consumer is 1.7 - 2 km.
They would need atleast 5-10 min to package groceries once they get order and it takes atleast around 5 min on bike to cover 2km in India.
Emergency services in India take >1hr on average(speculative) but groceries in 10 mins. Its nice to get serviced that fast but not necessary.
In India there are so many unemployed and poor people and due to emergence of these tech companies they are getting better pay than they would get in a traditional setup. It is essentially these employees that would make these companies sustainable and not just the tech and billion$ valuation. One hopes these companies find a balance between ethical employment practice and riches.

[ANOOPBAL]

USA had this at least 5 years back. They came to US, saw it, and just made an app in India. Nothing groundbreaking.

[KnightlyStudio]

There are at least half a dozen startups in India doing the same thing and no one has turned profitable yet. The latest Zomato-Blinkit case is interesting. But best wishes to these guys anyway.

[anilmenon]

it was cool when they used to deliver in 10 mins ...now it takes around 25-30 mins per delivery at which point its makes more sense to order from swiggy

[bellosanimada]

Aa Really brought home how bad the situation is when the guy at the end expressed gratitude for simply having enough space to stand up inside his shared apartment.

[vitsboy]

Every start-up is a unicorn Make the revenue then the interview 😂

[viralityfactor]

Update: Just like other services that provides grocery or food deliveries under 10 minutes, from last couple of days their "deliver under 10 minute" claim no longer seen in their website or apps. Almost as if it wasn't possible.

[kumarmmohan]

What problem are they solving? Is this really a problem of India?