ISN Exclusive: Ashneer Grover-backed Zippee in talks to raise Rs 25 crore in a fresh funding round

The rapid delivery space is booming in India and companies that are building their startups in that space appear to be benefiting as well. One such company is Zippee, a same-day delivery company.

Based in Delhi, Zippee has raised funds from notable angel investors like Ashneer Grover, Kunal Shah, Peyush Bansal and several others and is now preparing to close a new round of funding.

The company is in final stages of raising Rs 22-25 crore in its largest funding round yet, sources privy to the developments told Indian Startup News (ISN).

The sources added that London-based C&C Alpha, a private equity (PE) investor, is likely to lead the round, and other new and existing investors will also participate.

Zippee will be valued at about Rs 180 crore post the fundraise, up from about Rs 100 crore earlier, sources said. The fresh capital will be used to expand its operations, dark stores and fulfillment capabilities.

The talks are still ongoing, so the final details may change slightly. Zippee founder Madhav Kasturia denied the developments to ISN.

What does Zippee do?

Zippee helps brands, especially direct-to-consumer (D2C) companies, sell more through their own platform. It enables same-day deliveries for e-commerce brands through its next-gen fulfilment platform and network of dark stores across India.

Dark stores became a popular concept after the emergence of quick commerce in India which got customers accustomed to delivery in minutes. These are micro warehouses that are situated in the middle of localities which helps complete deliveries faster.

They are the epicentre of several companies like Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and others, all of which deliver in 10-20 minutes, reducing timelines. In fact, the longer the delivery timeliness, the lesser a customer’s willingness to purchase from the platform.

Large companies like Flipkart, Amazon, Meesho, and more are working on reducing delivery timelines so customers purchase more often and return less frequently.

“Brands connect their online store to our platform in just a few clicks and can kickstart same day delivery in less than 2 days. This approach helps brands significantly improve customer loyalty, fulfillment costs, and return to origins (RTOs) by up to 90%,” Zippee says on its website.

It optimises delivery for over 150 D2C brands, servicing more than 1,100 pin codes across 10 Indian states. This happens through a network of around 150 dark stores, as per company information.

The dark stores are presently concentrated in Tier I cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and others. GIVA, Ultrahuman, Epigamia, Lenskart, Haldiram’s are some of its popular clients.

Who are the founders? 

Zippee was founded by Madhav Kasturia and came into being only in 2021 during the peak of the pandemic, around the time quick commerce also took birth.

Since then it has raised $3.5 million in funding which has come from Mumbai Ventures, influencers like Raj Shamani and Sharan Hegde and around 100 others.