Zepto founders face ED scrutiny over foreign investments
What's the story
Quick commerce start-up Zepto has revealed that its co-founders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra were summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) earlier this year. The summons was issued on April 8, 2026, and sought information related to foreign investments, audited financial statements since FY21, shareholding patterns, and loans and guarantees. It also requested income tax returns, bank account details as well as details about immovable properties and a note on the company's business model.
Compliance
Founders appeared before ED on multiple occasions
According to Zepto's updated draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed with SEBI, Vohra appeared before the ED on April 17 and April 22. Meanwhile, Palicha appeared on April 20 and May 15. The founders have since provided all requested documents including information about the holding structure, Singapore-to-India scheme of amalgamation, business agreements, and invoices. As per Zepto's filing: "The Company and its founders have not received any further communication in relation to the aforementioned summons."
Market debut
Zepto updates financial performance ahead of IPO
Zepto is planning an IPO to raise ₹8,010 crore through a fresh issue of shares. The company has also updated its financial performance ahead of the listing. For FY26, Zepto reported revenue from operations at ₹22,624 crore, more than double from ₹11,110 crore in the previous year. Its net loss widened to ₹5,905 crore from ₹4,700 crore in FY25.
Business expansion
Regulatory challenges for Zepto
Founded in 2021 by Palicha and Vohra, Zepto has grown into one of India's largest quick commerce companies. The company is up against Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Flipkart Minutes, and Amazon Now. However, it also faces regulatory challenges such as an active CCI probe into predatory pricing and anti-competitive discounting in quick commerce with Zepto named specifically. Notably, the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation had written to SEBI seeking to block quick commerce IPOs over deep discounting practices.