Who are Stanford dropout teens from Mumbai who raised $60 Million?

Ground Report | New Delhi: Online grocery Zepto App; With plethora of grocery apps around us like Dunzo, Grofers, etc-, a new name is all over the news, that is 'Zepto'. The 10-Minute Grocery Delivery App, Zepto is founded by two 19-year-old Stanford dropouts, Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra. The company recently announced a fundraise of $60 million led by Glade Brook Capital and others. Zepto promises grocery delivery in 10 minutes (up to 90 percent of orders) through a network of dark stores and micro warehouses.

So who are these geniuses who are all over the news?

Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra are two 19-year-old startup prodigy who have been friends since they were eight years old. They were living in Dubai last year when they were admitted to Stanford University's boasted course, computer science engineering program. After attending online orientation they decided to head to Mumbai instead to be entrepreneurs.

ALSO READ: Who is Shyam Meera Singh, booked for tweeting Tripura is Burning

Palicha, when he was just 17-years-old found his first start up- GoPool. GoPool is a mobile application that helps Dubai parents find and schedule carpools to school. Now, Zepto, formerly known as Kiranacart has achieved an unusual feat in the hyperlocal delivery sector which has not witnessed much early-stage activities in the past five to six years. 

Kaivalya is the Co-founder and CTO and Palicha is the founder and CEO of the company. They don't see their young age as any hurdle. Chetan Mahajan, Founder & CEO, The Mavericks said, “The synergies of our young, dynamic, and agile team match that of Zepto’s, which is looking for aggressive growth riding on the massive Q-commerce wave the country is currently experiencing. We are confident that together we will fuel Zepto’s ambitions of becoming India’s fastest unicorn.”

Online grocery Zepto App

Palicha said, "Grocery delivery is growing at 200% annual rates and 10-minute grocery delivery alone has the potential of breeding a couple of $10 billion dollar startups," he said. "If two 19-year-olds don't have the stamina to conquer this, who does?" This shows the spirit of the startup boom in India and the feat youngsters like Aadit and Kaivalya can achieve.

“We have been ignoring the noise and executing head down for a long time to perfect this model, and our efforts are paying off. Today, we have an unstoppable team, strong product infrastructure, and deep access to institutional capital. are growing by 200% every month continuously,” said Palicha.

ALSO READ: Why Investors showed less enthusiasm for Paytm IPO?

Board members and i-investors alike are upbeat about the company's trajectory. “Accelerated e-commerce is set to change how many stores worldwide. Zepto has emerged as a leader in India, with exponential growth and best-in-class execution. Paul Hudson, CIO, Glad Brook Capital, said, We look forward to partnering as Zepto brings a magical consumer experience across India.

Zepto will compete with several large online grocers such as SoftBank Group Corp.-backed Grofers and Google-backed Dunzo for a slice of the rapid grocery delivery segment, so-called Quick commerce or Q-commerce. Known as a cloud or dark store in the industry, Zepto has a network of micro-warehouses. It aims to grow the game in the neighborhood of Bangalore, Mumbai, and Delhi and deliver it within 10 minutes.

You can connect with Ground Report on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp. For suggestions and writeups mail us at [email protected]