This early investor of Zepto has three other unicorns in his portfolio

Hershel Mehta is not new to the investing or the start-up world, having launched a venture nearly 10 years back before donning the investor hat and betting on entrepreneurs that he believed were in for the long haul. 

Recently, another of many of his early bets was in the news. 

Quick commerce start-up Zepto became the country’s first unicorn in the current calendar year 2023 as it raised $200 million in the latest round of funding that pegged its valuation at $1.4 billion. 

Interestingly, Mehta is one of the earliest investors of Zepto, having invested in the venture in 2020 even before the fast delivery platform secured funding from Y Combinator – an event that typically brings a start-up in the radar of most investors globally. 

“I invested in Zepto Q4 2020 (fourth quarter of calendar year 2020) before YC (Y Combinator). I recognised that the founders were of special quality as the pace and focus is what separated them,” says Mehta who got to know about the founders of Zepto—Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra—through LinkedIn. 

Ask him about the reason for Zepto’s success, and he is quick to respond: “The founders hired incredibly well and their pace/execution is unmatched.” 

Incidentally, being among the first set of investors brings with it certain access and responsibilities as well. 

“As the first investor, we have an open dialogue relationship and I defend them online when they are attacked,” says Mehta, who launched his venture capital firm 2am VC in May 2021 to invest in early-stage start-ups though he also invests through Mehta Ventures Family Office Investments, which is led by well-known angel investor Sanjay Mehta. 

Zepto, however, is not the first unicorn in which Mehta has a stake. His three other bets -- Oyo, Axiom Space and CoinDCX – have already made the cut and entered the unicorn club. 

Initially, Mehta, who believes in betting on strong founders that target big markets like India, was a bit worried about Zepto as the quick commerce space appeared quite crowded. 

“I was worried that the founders were entering into a space that was too crowded but they have outperformed everyone,” he says. 

Founded in 2021 by Stanford drop-outs Palicha and Vohra, Zepto promises delivery of groceries in 10 minutes and competes with SoftBank-funded Swiggy and Blinkit, which are all betting on fast deliveries in the so-called quick commerce sector.