Zepto Founder Kaivalya Vohra – 19 years old Indian entrepreneur on IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List

Zepto Founder Kaivalya Vohra, recently made headlines when he secured a spot on the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List and became the youngest as well as the first teen entrepreneur to feature on the list. Following the exponential success of the grocery delivery platform, at only 19 years of age, Zepto founder secured the 1036th spot.

Table of contents

• About Zepto Founder Kaivalya Vohra
• History of Zepto
• History of Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra
• Business Model of Zepto

IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List for the year 2022 was released on 21 September. A large number of young entrepreneurs made their debut on the list for their unique business ventures that have been performing extremely well. The youngest of the lot was Zepto Founder Kaivalya Vohra.

About Kaivalya Vohra Zepto Co-Founder:

Zepto Founder Kaivalya Vohra is the 19-year-old co-founder and CTO of Zepto, which is a delivery platform. He along with co-founder Aadit Palicha was pursuing a degree in Computer Science from Stanford. However, during the covid pandemic, they decided to drop out of school to pursue their dream of being entrepreneurs. This eventually led to the inception of Zepto.

ZEPTO Founders Kaivalya Vohra and Aadit Palicha are childhood friends who grew up with great entrepreneurial skills as Zepto is not their first venture together. The two have partnered on several business ventures, before finally setting shop with Zepto.

The success of Zepto is evident from the fact that the co-founders are now two of the richest people in India. While Zepto Founder Kaivalya Vohra has a net worth of 1,000 crores and secured the 1036th spot, Zepto Founder Aadit Palicha has a net worth of 1,200 crores and secured the 950th spot on the list. The two have also made it to the Forbes Influential ’30 Under 30′ (Asia list).

History of Zepto:

A few years ago, the two had already started a grocery delivery platform known as KiranaKart. This business venture eventually acted as the foundation stone for Zepto. Further, the Covid pandemic acted as a pivotal point in their lives as it gave them the idea for the formation of Zepto.

The pandemic-induced lockdown period saw the growth of quick commerce, quick being the keyword here. It is a business model where goods and services are delivered within 10-30 minutes of ordering. Also known as on-demand delivery, the concept became popular as it efficiently managed to reduce the impact of supply chain disruptions caused by nationwide covid restrictions.

ZEPTO Founders Kaivalya Vohra and Aadit Palicha monitored the growth of these delivery platforms and noticed a sharp spike in their sales during the pandemic. This was bound to happen as these apps became a necessity for people during the tough times as they could not leave their homes regularly, but needed items of daily use as usual. The realization of the untapped potential of this sector presented an opportunity for these young entrepreneurs to organize the sector on a larger scale. Thus, the rising popularity of quick commerce businesses led to the formation of Zepto and today it has helped revolutionize the quick commerce business model in India.

Also read: Top 5 Entrepreneurs That Have Transformed The Indian Start-Up Ecosystem.

Working of Zepto:

Zepto delivers more than 3000 products including fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products, health and hygiene products, etc. It delivers in less than 10 minutes, claiming that its average delivery time is 8 minutes and 40 seconds. To achieve this feat, the company has a huge network of ‘cloud stores’ or ‘mini-warehouses’ near densely populated neighbourhoods. These warehouses store food and other necessities for the purpose of quicker deliveries.

Recently, Zepto has gone beyond grocery and introduced a cafe offering called ‘Zepto Cafe’. Under this, the customers can now order tea, coffee and other cafe delicacies. At present, this service is only available in select areas of Mumbai.

Established in 2021 and headquartered in Mumbai, Zepto now has a valuation of $900 million. With more than a thousand employees and a presence in 10 major Indian cities, the company is further expanding across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru as well as launching in many more cities. Owing to their effective business model, application of modern technology and the optimum utilization of the warehouse concept for deliveries, they have managed to stay relevant even after the removal of covid curbs and return to normalcy.

Conclusion:

Quick commerce is a business model with infinite growth potential if harnessed properly and Zepto has so far managed to do so. The continued growth of Zepto despite the competition from its rivals such as Dunzo, BlinkIt, etc. is a testament to the fact that the company has managed to create a loyal customer base. Furthermore, the company intends to expand its business and launch operations in other major cities. In June this year, the entrepreneurs also became the youngest start-up founders to be featured in the ‘Hurun India Future Unicorn Index’. This shows that the company has garnered the interest of investors and there is much to look forward to for the two young entrepreneurs.

Also read: Rekha Atri – Founder of iKargos, Transforming India’s Cargo Management Industry.