Category: Technology

Quick commerce company Zepto has established a new entity, Zepto Marketplace Private Limited, to streamline its operations prior to its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). 

According to media reports, Zepto Marketplace Private Limited was officially registered on 22 October, 2024.

Currently, the company operates on a business-to-business (B2B) model. Through its Indian subsidiary, Kiranakart Technologies Pvt Ltd, which Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra co-founded, Zepto procures goods from various brands and exclusively sells them to a select group of companies through the Zepto platform.

Kiranakart Technologies operates Zepto to directly source products from brands and distribute them to a select group of companies, including Geddit Convenience, Drogheria Sellers, and Commodum Groceries. These companies are Zepto's licensee firms, who then sell the products on the application through a licensing agreement.
In comparison, competitors such as Blinkit (owned by Zomato) and Swiggy Instamart have adopted a marketplace approach that allows multiple sellers to directly list their products for consumers. It seems that Zepto is also making a similar move by registering Zepto Marketplace Private Limited on 22 October, 2024. This move may indicate a shift away from its current B2B model, bringing it closer in alignment with its publicly listed counterparts Blinkit (owned by Zomato) and Swiggy Instamart.
 
Besides, Zepto is reportedly in the final stages of preparing draft documents for an initial public offering, with plans to file them by March or April. Following approval from Singapore, the quick-commerce firm will be moving its holding entity to India, the Economic Times reported.

The company, headquartered in Bengaluru, is scheduling a board meeting on January 19 to discuss the size of the IPO, select bankers for the issue, and finalise resolutions related to the shift of the holding entity to India.

Zepto initially aimed to secure a minimum of $450 million in funding, although this figure may see adjustments leading up to the submission of the IPO draft papers. Notably, prominent Wall Street firms such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are currently engaged in discussions with Zepto regarding its upcoming IPO. 
Following a successful funding round on 22 November, Zepto amassed $350 million, elevating its total cash reserves to approximately $1.4 billion. This substantial capital infusion positions the company favorably amidst stiff competition from both established players and emerging contenders like Flipkart Minutes in the rapidly expanding market.

Disney has said it has an estimated 157 million global monthly active users watching ad-supported content across its streaming platforms — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.

That number includes 112 million users domestically and is an average per month over the last six months.

While traditional TV outlets have a standard way of measuring ratings and viewership, there is still no industry standard methodology for measuring global streaming advertising audience size, according to CNBC.

The company said that its Disney Advertising unit has “set out to define a globally consistent approach and methodology to estimate ad-supported audience numbers.” It’s providing the update and further insight into its ad-supported streaming business during the annual CES tech conference in Las Vegas, a go-to event for the advertising and media industry.

“Disney sits at the intersection of world class sports and entertainment content, with the most high-value audiences in ad-supported global streaming at scale,” said Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global advertising, in a news release. “We wanted to be the first to offer our industry greater transparency into the methodology used to estimate our engaged global ad-supported monthly active users.”