Motilal Oswal & Raamdeo Agrawal Bet Big on Zepto with $100M Personal Investment

According to a media report, Motilal Oswal and Raamdeo Agrawal, co-founders of Motilal Oswal Financial Services, have contributed a combined $100 million to Zepto, a startup in the fast commerce space.

The company, Motilal Oswal, is getting ready to spearhead a $250 million secondary share offering in Zepto in addition to his personal commitments. Hero FinCorp and Edelweiss Financial Services are also anticipated to take part in the round.

The money raised would go towards buying shares from current foreign investors. General Catalyst, Nexus Venture Partners, StepStone Group, Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, and Glade Brook Capital are some of the current foreign investors in Zepto.

The Move is Aligned with Zepto’s Strategy to Increase Domestic Ownership

The action is a component of Zepto's continuous plan to boost domestic ownership. Prior to its anticipated public listing, the company has been actively pursuing its goal of becoming a 75% Indian-owned business.

Zepto wants to adhere to investor and regulatory preferences that support local ownership in strategically significant industries by enabling secondary transactions between foreign and domestic investors. Additionally, this fundraising comes after Motilal Oswal Private Wealth led a $350 million first capital round in November 2024, which kept Zepto's valuation at $5 billion.

High-net-worth individuals and Indian family offices participated in that round. Additionally, it is Raamdeo Agrawal's second investment in Zepto, following his $15 million personal investment in October 2024 and his unannounced August investment.

Traxcn data shows that Zepto has raised $1.95 billion in ten financing rounds to date. Zepto raised $665 million in a Series F investment in June 2024, which was the company's highest funding round to date.

The Present State of the Quick Commerce Industry in India

According to industry data, the rapid commerce business in India has expanded by 280% in the past two years, and the top three companies, Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart, have combined to generate over $1 billion in revenue for FY24.

This occurs as Indian businesses are stepping up their rapid commerce solutions. Amazon India is getting ready to debut its rapid commerce service, Tez, while Myntra recently introduced M-Now for 30-minute- to 2-hour deliveries.

E-commerce and other retail formats are being disrupted by quick commerce, which, according to a recent Bernstein analysis, is expanding more quickly than contemporary retail chains like Reliance Retail, Dmart, and Spencer Retail. This is one of the reasons why consumer platforms are responding to the shift by preparing to deliver a variety of goods outside of groceries in 10–20 minutes.