Zepto founder Aadit Palicha alleges smear campaign by rival CFO as quick commerce race heats up

Quick commerce platform Zepto’s cofounder Aadit Palicha has alleged that the chief monetary officer (CFO) of a rival firm is trying to orchestrate a smear marketing campaign towards the startup by circulating false info to its buyers, media, and on social media platforms.

Palicha claimed that the competitor’s CFO had made “wild allegations” with out empirical proof, and even gone to the extent of sharing “false numbers and Excel sheets” with journalists by way of proxy sources.

The manager additionally alleged that bots had been being paid to amplify a detrimental narrative on-line.

“Candidly, this episode is under the stature anticipated of the CFO of a high-quality firm and makes it apparent that they’re beginning to get nervous about how briskly Zepto’s Ebdita is bettering,” he wrote in a LinkedIn publish. He mentioned the corporate is selecting to reply preemptively in case any “inaccurate info” seems within the media or on social media. Palicha shared a number of efficiency indicators aimed toward underscoring its monetary well being and progress momentum:

• Month-to-month gross order worth (GOV) grew from Rs 750 crore in Might 2024 to Rs 2,400 crore in Might 2025, together with advert income and vegatables and fruits bought at retail costs.
• Ebdita improved by 2,000 foundation factors (20 share factors) between January and Might 2025, with cash burn down 65% throughout the identical interval.
• The corporate posted 4–5% month-on-month progress, translating to a 20% GOV bounce from January to Might.
• Zepto expects a majority of its dark stores to be totally Ebdita-positive by the following quarter, with company-level Ebdita and working money stream nearing breakeven.
• The agency claims to have Rs 7,445 crore in web money, reconciled with financial institution statements, providing “a few years of runway.”

He asserted that it isn’t planning any large-scale retailer rationalisation, and as a substitute is ramping up darkish retailer launches. Palicha highlighted Zepto’s finance and compliance practices, saying it has “best-in-class” cost methods, vendor audits, asset verification, and a clear statutory audit file with Huge 4 corporations. He cited previous monetary due diligence workout routines with no materials irregularities.Whereas the id of the rival CFO was not named, the allegations come at a time when competitors in India’s fast commerce sector is intensifying with gamers like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Flipkart Minutes.

Fast commerce sector accounted for over two-third of all e-retail orders in 2024, with its complete market share rising about 5 instances to $6–7 billion from 2022, a March by consultancy agency Bain and ecommerce big Flipkart confirmed.

Regardless of the rising recognition, fast commerce platforms are nonetheless struggling to achieve profitability. The highest three quick supply gamers — Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto — had been collectively burning around Rs 1,300–1,500 crore per month with Zepto accounting for the biggest share, ET had reported in February. Burn price measures how rapidly an organization spends its reserves earlier than producing optimistic money stream.

Amid rising competitors, Flipkart determined to limit the expansion of its quick commerce unit, Flipkart Minutes, to the highest six to eight cities to rein in prices, ET reported earlier this month.