IPO-bound Zepto and Groww, two prominent unicorns in India’s startup ecosystem are seeing significant activity ahead of their proposed public listings later this year. Zepto, a leading player in Indian quick-commerce segment, is in talks for a $250 million secondary share sale while the top stockbroker and investment platform Groww is considering a $200 million fundraise, according to the reports.
Both companies are expected to file their draft papers with the marker regulator SEBI in April-May on a route to land on the bourses by year-end if approval process goes smooth.
Zepto’s pre-IPO $250 million secondary sale
Co-founded in 2021 by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Zepto has quickly become one of the top players in the quick-commerce segment backed by aggressive funding and expansion, competing with Zomato’s Blinkit and Swiggy’s Instamart. The company has raised a total of $1.9 billion from 71 investors such as Motilal Oswal, Nexus venture partners, Glade Brook Capital, StepStone group, Lightspeed ventures, Y Combinator and individuals the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Abhishek Bachchan. As of March 2025, Zepto’s valuation is reported to be $5 billion.
Funding details: Zepto is in talks for a secondary sale that would allow current shareholders to sell shares worth as much as $250 million. Employees as well as few current investors will be able to sell their shares at the valuation of around $5 billion but the company wouldn’t be raising any additional funds in the sale. Motilal Oswal Financial Services and Edelweiss Financial Services are in talks to buy shares in the secondary sale, ET reported.
IPO details: Zepto is expecting to raise $800 million to $1 billion through the IPO later this year. The company initially planned to raise around $450 million in mid-2024 but is now looking to raise more. The IPO will include fresh issuance of equity shares as well as an offer-for-sale portion worth in the range of $300-400 million. The company is yet to file a draft red herring prospectus with the SEBI.
Financials: The company posted a revenue of Rs 4,454 crore in FY24, a 120% rise from FY23. Around 89% of the revenue came from the sale of goods and the rest came from services. The net losses decreased to Rs 1,249 crore in FY24 from Rs 1,272 in FY23. The expenses rose 71% year-on-year to Rs 5,747 crore in the same fiscal year.
Groww’s $200 million pre-IPO fundraise
The stockbroker and online investment platform Groww is presently India’s largest broker with a market share of 23.4% and has an active client base of 9.5 million in FY24, ahead of the likes of Zerodha, Angel One, Upstox, 5Paisa and others.
Funding details: Groww is in talks with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and existing investor Tiger Global to raise around $200 million, which would put the company’s valuation at around $6.5 billion, ET reported. The company has raised $393 million in total over the years from investors such as Y Combinator, Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital.
IPO details: Groww is looking to raise over $1 billion from its initial public offering, targeting a valuation of nearly $7-8 billion. The company may file its draft red herring prospectus in April-May, eyeing a listing by year-end. The company already flipped its domicile back to India last year preparing for the IPO in Indian market and has also finalised Kotak Mahindra Capital, JP Morgan, Axis Capital, Citi and Motilal Oswal as its book running lead managers.
Financials: Groww’s stockbroking unit posted a revenue of Rs 2,900 crore in FY24, up from Rs 1,295 crore in FY23.
As both companies gear up to file their draft prospectuses with SEBI in the coming months, Zepto’s secondary share sale indicates focus on maintaining its valuation whereas Groww’s fundraising signifies that it seeks to strengthen its position ahead of the initial public offering.