Market Veteran Motilal Oswal, Raamdeo Agrawal invest in IPO-bound Zepto

Stock market veterans Motilal Oswal and Raamdeo Agrawal, founders of Motilal Oswal Financial Services (MOFSL) have invested in Zepto in their personal capacity Both marquee names of Dalal Street have bought shares worth $50 million (nearly Rs 425 crore) each in the quick commerce (QC) unicorn, said a report from Moneycontrol, citing sources.

The secondary share sales, amounting to a total of $100 million, comes at a time when Zepto is increasing domestic ownership to become a firm which is majorly owned by Indian investors, reports said. Oswal and Agrawal have both bought shares from early backers, mostly foreign investors, of Zepto which includes the likes of Rocket Internet, Lachy Groom and the others, it said.

Zepto also lead a secondary sale round to the tune of $250 million, wherein the company may pool-in money from domestic investors including Motilal Oswal (the firm), Edelweiss Hero Fincorp and others to buy shares from its foreign investors to push the domestic ownership.

IPO-bound Zepto is eyeing to increase its domestic shareholding before it goes public. The QC-firm plans to have over 50 per cent of domestic ownership before the launch of its primary offer. Zepto is likely to launch its initial public offering in FY26 or early part of FY27, as per the reports. The transactions value Zepto at $5 billion, unchanged from its previous round.

Zepto shifted its domicile from Singapore to India, and established its headquarters in Bengaluru to align with listing regulations in January this year. Zepto has rebranded its parent company from Kiranakart Technologies Private Limited to Zepto Private Limited aligning with the IPO-strategy. The foodtech unicorn had raised $350 million at a valuation of $5 billion in November 2024.