'Zepto's ad vertical sees 5-fold jump in ARR in past year', says co-founder Aadit Palicha
Zepto co-founder Aadit Palicha called for a cultural shift in the ecosystem saying that Indian entrepreneurs celebrate early traction rather than pushing for category-defining outcomes
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Zepto co-founder Aadit Palicha said that the company's advertisement vertical's annualised revenue run-rate (ARR) has grown five-fold in the past year. In a conversation with Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, the Zepto CEO said that the ARR has grown from $40 million to $200 million in the past year.
"If you look at our advertising....we have grown from like a $40 million in ARR in ad revenue last year to just crossing $200 million ARR. The entire relevance engine, bidding, attribution, campaign management, automated keyword suggestions-I think we have build out a really high quality, performance ad stack out of India", Palicha stated.
Further, Palicha took a dig at the Indian startup ecosystem, saying that the founders are less ambitious. Palicha said that the startup ecosystem is post-2001 right now, and added, "People are less ambitious because we had a big reality check in 2022-23. And there is still a lot of fear and lack of ambition in general (in India).
He called for a cultural shift in the ecosystem saying that Indian entrepreneurs celebrate early traction rather than pushing for category-defining outcomes.
"It is very easy to be at $3-4 billion in gross merchandise value. But wouldn't it be much better to go 5x or 6x? In the US, that mindset is taken for granted. Everyone has that there. But in a place like India, it is still germinating," Palicha added.
On Zepto's growth, Palicha said he is on a mission to build a "truly great internet company in India and kick off the internet revolution that should have been much bigger than it is today".
Zepto's gross order value (GOV) has inched closer to $4 billion, up 300% year-on-year growth. The Bengaluru-headquartered firm has reduced its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) burn by 50%.
The company is witnessing a funding spree over the last few years as Initial Public Offering (IPO) talks are in the wind. Zepto raised $1.35 billion in just five months. The company is also in talks with several top mutual fund houses to raise another $3000 million in a secondary round.
Last week, Zepto changed its parent name from Kiranakart Technologies Private Limited to Zepto Private Limited for better brand recall among stakeholders across the board.
The company has also switched its base to India from Singapore.