'Total burn for quick commerce firms is Rs 5,000 crore per quarter, Zepto burns more than half of this': Goyal; Zepto CEO responds

Quick commerce companies in India collectively burn around Rs 5,000 crore per quarter, according to Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal.

In an interview with the Economic Times, Goyal noted his firm’s grocery-delivery arm Blinkit accounts for only 2–3% of that figure. He went on to claim that “substantially more than half” of the sector’s total cash burn—over Rs 2,500 crore—is attributed to rival Zepto.

"We think the total burn for all companies in quick commerce is around Rs 5,000 crore per quarter, conservatively speaking. Substantially more than half of this is by Zepto... compared to this, we're burning very low numbers. Last quarter, Blinkit burned around Rs 35 crore per month on an average," Goyal said.

Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha reponds

However, Zepto co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha strongly disputed Goyal’s figures in a LinkedIn post, calling them “verifiably untrue.” He said Zepto’s financial details will become evident once the startup publicly files its statements.

"In an Economic Times article today, Deepinder Goyal - whom I deeply respect as an entrepreneur - made an inaccurate statement about Zepto. His words were that quick commerce was burning 5,000 crore per quarter of which "substantially more than half of this is by Zepto" - implying that we are losing substantially more than 2,500 Crores per quarter," Palicha wrote.

"This statement is verifiably untrue and it will be clear when we publicly file our financial statements. However, I know Deepinder, and I know he has only good intentions; this quote could have been an honest mistake."

Despite the disagreement, Palicha stressed his respect for Goyal, saying he views the Zomato chief—who launched his company when Palicha was five years old—as a role model in India’s startup ecosystem.

"Deepinder started Zomato when I was 5 years old and he has become a role model for the Indian startup ecosystem. I have personally read all of his blogs and it's a privilege to learn from and compete with Zomato," he wrote. 

"Our genuine intention is to build the Indian startup ecosystem together in good-faith, and build a world-class product for the Indian consumer," he added.