Quick commerce unicorn Zepto unlikely to go public in 2026

Quick commerce unicorn Zepto is unlikely to file its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) this year, as it has deferred its IPO plans to 2026, according to people familiar with the development.

The company had been gearing up to file its IPO papers and even selected bankers Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Axis Capital to pursue the listing, according to media reports.

Zepto did not immediately respond to queries sent by YourStory.

The development was first reported by The Moneycontrol.

The company had previously maintained its plans for filing its IPO papers this year, per multiple media reports. It was earlier aiming to file the DRHP by March or April.

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The Bengaluru-based company's Co-founder and CEO, Aadit Palicha, earlier outlined Zepto's IPO plans. "That's our ambition...of course, capital markets may change, but for now we're optimistic if the business continues to perform as well, that we will go public in calendar 2025," he told PTI in December 2024.

In line with its listing plans, the company had also changed its parent name from Kiranakart to Zepto Private Limited, per regulatory filings. Zepto completed its reverse flip from Singapore to India earlier this year.

Palicha said the company’s overall EBITDA and operating cash flow are expected to come within a few hundred basis points of breakeven by the September quarter.

In a LinkedIn post last week, he added that most of Zepto’s dark stores are on track to become fully EBITDA-positive by the next quarter. Palicha also addressed what he described as a smear campaign by a rival CFO in the quick commerce space, and clarified that Zepto’s monthly Gross Order Value (GOV) grew to Rs 2,400 crore in May 2025 from Rs 750 crore in May 2024.