Zepto CEO refutes Deepinder Goyal’s claim on losses, calls it ‘verifiably untrue’

Zepto co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha has refuted a claim made by Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal regarding the financial losses of quick commerce firms.

In a LinkedIn post on Tuesday, Palicha called an estimate attributed to Goyal “verifiably untrue” and assured that Zepto’s financial statements would clarify the matter when made public.

The disagreement stems from a report in The Economic Times, in which Goyal estimated that quick commerce firms collectively burn around ₹5,000 crore per quarter. He further suggested that “substantially more than half” of this was attributed to Zepto

, implying the company was losing over ₹2,500 crore per quarter.

Palicha responded, saying, “This statement is verifiably untrue and it will be clear when we publicly file our financial statements.” However, he downplayed any tension, noting his respect for Goyal as a pioneering entrepreneur.

“I know Deepinder, and I know he has only good intentions; this quote could have been taken out of context or said as an honest mistake,” Palicha wrote. He also highlighted Goyal’s impact on India’s startup ecosystem, calling it a “privilege” to learn from and compete with Zomato.

Palicha clarified that Zepto would not comment further to avoid a “public back-and-forth” on the matter.

The exchange between the two startup leaders highlights the ongoing rivalry between Zepto and Blinkit, two of India’s top quick commerce players.

According to Citi’s most recent report, Blinkit currently leads the quick commerce market with an estimated 41% market share, while Zepto is either on par or slightly ahead of Swiggy Instamart, which holds a 23% market share.

A Motilal Oswal report from November 2024 suggested that Zepto had already overtaken Instamart to become the second-largest quick commerce player, holding 29% market share compared to Blinkit’s 46% at the time.

Despite Blinkit’s lead in market share, Zepto is rapidly catching up in terms of Gross Order Value (GOV). In Q2 FY25, Zepto’s GOV surged to $3 billion (around ₹24,500 crore) over the past eight months, nearly matching Blinkit’s annualised GOV of ₹24,528 crore. This suggests Zepto is operating at a larger scale despite having fewer dark stores than Blinkit.

To strengthen their positions, quick commerce firms are aggressively expanding their infrastructure:

• • Blinkit currently operates 1,007 dark stores and aims to scale up to 2,000 stores by December 2025.

• • Zepto has around 750 dark stores and plans to reach 1,200 stores by the end of FY25.

• • Swiggy Instamart, trailing behind, runs 705 dark stores and targets 1,000 stores by March 2025.

Industry analysts believe competition in the space will peak in the next two quarters as firms fulfill their expansion goals. The quick commerce market in India is projected to hit a $9 billion annualised GOV run rate by FY25 and exceed $26 billion by FY28, growing at a CAGR of 73%.

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