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Aadit Palicha-led Zepto Ltd on Friday received its approval from the markets regulator for its confidential initial public offering (IPO) papers, setting the stage for the country's first pureplay quick commerce listing.
According to a notification from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the company received observations from the regulator on 8 May, effectively green-lighting the IPO process.
Zepto had filed its IPO papers under the confidential route in December 2025, keeping its business details and operational insights under wraps.
The company aims to file updated draft papers with Sebi in another six to eight weeks, two people aware of the matter told Mint.
An updated prospectus, once filed, will be a public disclosure of the share sale details to investors. It will include financial metrics, risk factors, and operational data. The Economic Times first reported on the timeline for the updated draft paper filing earlier.
Queries emailed to Zepto were not immediately answered.
Mint had reported on 9 March that Zepto's management had initiated preliminary informal talks with domestic mutual funds to gauge institutional interest and secure anchor participation for its upcoming issue.
Domestic institutional investors often provide baseline stability for large-scale public offerings in the Indian market, absorbing significant portions of the qualified institutional buyer (QIB) quota.
The report had added that Zepto plans to formally tap global investors only after the updated offer document is filed and the regulatory review process advances.
Zepto was valued at $7 billion in October 2025 during its $450 million private capital raise led by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. The company's current captable includes major players like General Catalyst, Nexus Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Avenir Growth Capital, and Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
While officials close to Zepto maintained that the company is likely to eye a $7-8 billion valuation for the offer, the Mint report said a bearish sentiment in the country's capital market could impact the valuation.
In 2026, two private equity-backed companies went ahead with their IPOs at valuations lower than their last fundraises, as incoming institutional investors squeezed out private-market valuations.
Fractal Analytics Ltd launched its offer at a 24% markdown from its previous fundraising in July 2025, where it was valued at $2.44 billion.
Aye Finance Ltd, too, launched its IPO at around a $350 million valuation, slightly lower than the company's Series G round in the private market a year ago.
If Zepto's IPO goes through, it will mark one of the shortest journeys from launch to listing in India’s consumer internet market. Founded by Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Zepto has raised large rounds of funding as it spent aggressively to build market share against Eternal-owned Blinkit and Swiggy's Instamart.
In fiscal year 2025, Zepto's revenue jumped 129% year-on-year to ₹9,669 crore, but net loss widened nearly three times to ₹3,367 crore. The financials for FY26 are not publicly available yet.
Agnidev is a business journalist with over two years of reporting experience tracking the intersection of capital, policy, and corporate strategy in India.<br><br>He joined Mint in December 2025, after a stint at NDTV Profit (erstwhile BQ Prime). At Mint, Agnidev focuses on the high-stakes world of the Indian capital market, specialising in mergers and acquisitions, burgeoning IPOs, and the investment banking industry.<br><br>Backed by a rigorous, data-driven approach, Agnidev frequently breaks news on the valuation cycles, deal pipelines and listing strategies of India’s most prominent companies. His reportage offers deep dives into the operational health of market leaders across the corporate landscape, providing readers with a clear-eyed view of institutional growth.<br><br>He has reported on major issues like India's derivatives frenzy, IPO froth, the competitive quick commerce industry, the real-money gaming ban, and has broken investigative stories related to scandals such as IndusInd Bank's accounting manipulation and the Gensol-BluSmart fiasco.<br><br>As a reporter, he brings stories that ultimately affect your stock market investments, and tries to bring clarity and brevity in a field that is often filled with jargon and noise.
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