Zepto Can Be A Flipkart Moment All Over Again, Aim To Grow 10 Fold: Aadit Palicha

Quickcommerce company Zepto aims to grow 10 fold in the near future, said Co-Founder Aadit Palicha. He believes it has a shot at building an exciting company that would add value to the growth of India’s startup ecosystem. 

Palicha was speaking at the NDTV World Summit. “Shanghai today has a larger startup ecosystem by market cap than the entirety of this country, and we don't want that to continue. We want 10-fold growth from here; we don't want to grow 20% a year from here, and that's the excitement and promise of India. So we think if we set the flag for that, it can be like a Flipkart moment all over again,” he said. 

By building an exciting company, Zepto would be able to add value to not just the shareholders and the capital markets, but the startup ecosystem at large. If companies like Zepto and Zomato build large $60-70 billion outcomes that are generating thousands of crores of cash and compounding, then the entire startup ecosystem will spike 5-10 times from here, said Palicha. 

Talking about Zepto’s growth and further expansion, Palicha said, “We've had a pretty interesting journey. In September, we've gone from zero to about 10,000 crore in volume in two and a half years. So the fastest-growing internet company of all time in Indian history, and we're very proud of that. Even on the base of over a billion dollars in upline, we're growing pretty rapidly, even as we speak, expanding into new markets.” 

Zepto in the last 90 days has launched in several new cities, including Nashik, Chandigarh, and Jaipur. The expansion strategy involves analysing e-commerce and food delivery data, population density, and other metrics to prioritise city and micro market launches, he said. 

Interestingly, 22-year-old Palicha said that he is younger than some of the interns in his company, and the average age of employees at Zepto is 29. Commenting on how the age dynamic effects in the workplace, Palicha said that at Zepto, the culture is a blend of methodical execution and aggressive innovation, rooted in a commitment to execution excellence. The leadership team includes experienced executives from top companies, which fosters mutual respect and collaboration. 

“Hopefully we've shown some substance so far, not all the way there yet, but I think the team has a little bit of conviction that maybe Adit has some idea of what he's doing, so they give me that leeway,” he said.