Zepto Partners With 500 Local Artisans For Festive Season

In a move to support local artisans and bring the traditional handmade products online, quick commerce major Zepto has come up with a collaboration with 50 artisan families. It is bringing hand-crafted earthen Diyas directly to homes across India, aiming at helping to preserve and promote traditional Indian arts.

The start-up has partnered with over 500 artisans to sell a variety of handmade products, including Ganesh and Durga idols, Marapacchi dolls, and Diwali Diyas, through its platform. Traditionally, these artisans rely on roadside stalls or door-to-door sales, to sell their goods.

Through its quick commerce platform, Zepto is enabling these artisans to thrive in a competitive market by making traditional crafts more accessible to consumers across India, as it aims to deliver these handmade products under 15 minutes.

This festive season, when quick commerce is booming and sales are all time high, Zepto is aiming to reach 10x more homes this Diwali than last year.

According to media reports, the company is set to close its latest fundraising round of up to $150 million, backed by local family offices and high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), by the end of this month. Family offices of Manipal Group’s Ranjan Pai, Mankind Pharma’s Ramesh and Rajeev Juneja and Cipla are also reportedly looking to join Zepto’s funding round.

Over the past four months, the company has raised over $1 billion, reaching a valuation of $5 billion after securing $340 million on August 29.

Zepto is reportedly preparing to launch Zepto Postpaid, entering the buy now, pay later (BNPL) space for larger order sizes. The company also announced that its gross merchandise value (GMV) for FY24 has exceeded $1 billion, with around 75% of its stores achieving full EBITDA positivity by May 2024. Zepto is eyeing an IPO within the next few years and is currently in the process of redomiciling to India.

According to reports, Zepto’s parent company, Kiranakart, has already filed an application with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to relocate its holding company from Singapore to India. This move is part of a strategy to achieve majority Indian ownership within the next 12-18 months.