Zepto, a quick commerce unicorn headquartered in Mumbai, is understood to be eyeing $100 million in a new fundraise—its third in six months. Meanwhile, global venture firm Accel is said to be in talks to lead a funding round of $30-40 million in online pharmacy Truemeds.
Zepto in talks to raise $100m in its third funding in six months
Zepto, a quick commerce startup based in Mumbai, is looking to raise $100 million, per a report by TechCrunch on Thursday. This would mark its third funding round in the last six months, as competition hots up in the bustling quick commerce segment in India.
Asset management firm Motilal Oswal is said to be facilitating the transaction. The financial services firm has already received commitments for more than half of the allocation, stated the TechCrunch report, quoting sources.
Zepto, which competes with Reliance-backed Dunzo, Swiggy’s Instamart, and Zomato-backed Blinkit, was launched by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra who dropped out of Stanford University to grab a share of the fast-growing quick commerce market in India. They are vying for the attention of online shoppers in India’s $1 trillion retail industry, along with giants Amazon.com and Walmart-backed Flipkart.
The startup last raised $340 million in August led by General Catalyst and participation from Dragon Fund (Mars Growth Capital) and Epiq Capital. While these were the new investors, its existing backers such as StepStone, Lightspeed, DST and Contrary also re-upped their stakes in the round. Before that, it had raised $665 million in June.
VC firm Accel in talks to invest in Truemeds
Global venture firm Accel is in talks to lead a funding round of $30-40 million in online pharmacy Truemeds, stated a report by TechCrunch on Thursday. Negotiations are said to be at an advanced stage.
Established by Akshat Nayyar and Kunal Wani in Mumbai, Truemeds offers consultations, ordering, and delivery on its online platform, as it looks to eliminate the need for patients to visit physical pharmacies. It offers subscription-like services for chronic patients and focuses on recommending value alternative brands.
If the current round of negotiations fructify, it could more than double Truemeds’ valuation to $330 million from $132 million last year, the TechCrunch report stated.
Talks of the proposed funding surface at a time when its larger rival Pharmeasy, backed by Prosus Ventures, saw a massive cut in its valuation from $5.6 billion to below $600 million last year.
