Zepto's Aadit Palicha accuses rival company's CFO of smear campaign
What's the story
Aadit Palicha, CEO and co-founder of Zepto, has accused a rival company's CFO of running a smear campaign against his firm.
While he didn't disclose the name of the competitor or their CFO, Palicha said he was disappointed with their behavior.
"Candidly, this episode is below the stature expected of the CFO of a high-quality company. It makes it obvious they are starting to get nervous about how fast Zepto's EBITDA is improving," Palicha wrote.
Accusations
Allegations of misinformation and social media manipulation
Palicha alleged that the rival CFO has been reaching out to Zepto's investors with baseless allegations.
He claimed that the CFO has been circulating false financial data about Zepto through journalists and using paid social media bots to spread a negative narrative.
Zepto competes closely with Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart. In the broader landscape, Zepto also counts Flipkart Minutes and BigBasket as rivals.
The company's accusation comes as competition in India's quick commerce sector heats up.
Financial progress
Financial growth amid smear campaign
In response to the allegations, Palicha emphasized Zepto's remarkable financial growth.
The company's gross order value (GOV) has grown from ₹750 crore per month in May 2024 to ₹2,400 crore per month in May 2025.
He also disclosed that Zepto's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) has improved by 20% between January and May 2025.
Future outlook
Cash burn and future plans
Palicha also revealed that Zepto's cash burn has reduced by nearly 65% in the same period.
He said, "We expect to have the vast majority of our dark stores fully EBITDA positive... by next quarter."
Despite the smear campaign, Palicha confirmed that Zepto isn't planning a large-scale rationalization of its stores but is rather accelerating store launches.
Zepto has close to 1,000 dark stores, according to Palicha, roughly on par with competitors Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart.