Zepto Co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha has responded strongly to what he calls a “smear campaign” allegedly initiated by the CFO of a rival quick commerce company. In a LinkedIn post published earlier today, Palicha alleged that the competitor’s executive has been calling investors with unsubstantiated claims about Zepto, distributing false data through backchannels, and using social media bots to tarnish the company’s image.
“This episode is below the stature expected of the CFO of a high-quality company,” wrote Palicha. “It’s obvious they’re getting nervous about how fast Zepto’s EBITDA is improving.”
Palicha used the post to set the record straight on Zepto’s recent business performance, laying out key operational and financial updates:
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GOV Surge: Zepto’s Gross Order Value (GOV) has tripled in a year — from ₹750 crore per month in May 2024 to ₹2,400 crore per month in May 2025. This includes selling prices of fruits and vegetables and ad revenue.
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EBITDA Improvement: The company has improved its EBITDA by over 2,000 basis points from January to May 2025 and reduced its cash burn by around 65% during the same time.
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Growth Maintained: Despite aggressive cost control, Zepto maintained strong momentum with 20% GOV growth over the last five months, averaging 4–5% month-on-month.
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Dark Store Profitability: Zepto expects most of its dark stores to turn EBITDA positive by next quarter and aims for company-wide breakeven proximity in the same period.
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Cash Position: The company claims to have ₹7,700 crore in net cash, fully reconciled with bank statements, giving it “many years of runway.”
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Audit & Controls: Zepto highlighted its compliance record with a Big 4 auditor and asserted its clean financial diligence record.
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Store Expansion: Addressing speculation, Palicha denied any plans for large-scale store rationalisation and instead affirmed continued store launches.
Palicha concluded with a call for ethical competition. “I’m okay with healthy/aggressive competitive talk, but lies are not acceptable,” he stated. “It’s best for all of us to simply focus on execution.”
The post comes amid growing rivalry in India’s hyper-competitive quick commerce space, where companies are under pressure to balance rapid growth with financial sustainability.
