backed quick commerce startup has launched a 10-minute food delivery service in Mumbai. The new service, called 'Cafe' on the app, is offering quick deliveries on food items including tea, coffee, samosas and croissants.
First reported by Moneycontrol, the new Zepto service seems to have tied up with companies such as , , Gurukripa snacks and Sassy Teaspoon. For the moment, orders under Rs 99 are being delivered for free.
Zepto, founded by 19-year old Stanford dropouts Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra in 2020, had raised $60 million at a $255 million valuation last year from investors including Nilam Ganenthiran of Instacart and Ravi Inukonda of DoorDash.
Zepto has been differentiating itself from the foodtech market by focussing on 10-minute grocery deliveries stored in dark stores within a few kilometres of their destination.
In a conversation earlier today with Anand Mahindra, Palicha even broke down the data behind their model.
He said, "The avg [average] distance of a Zepto delivery is 1.8 km. To travel 1.8 km in 10 minutes, one has to drive at <15 kmph. That’s why Zepto has 3.1x lower accidents on avg [average] compared to a regular biker on the road."
While Zepto is moving from grocery deliveries to food, many of its competitors are moving in the other direction. , Zomato Instant, , and more are looking to replicate Zepto's quick commerce model for grocery deliveries across their markets in India.
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta