Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha accuses rival company's CFO of smear campaign

New Delhi, May 26 (PTI) Zepto Co-Founder and CEO Aadit Palicha has accused the chief financial officer of a competing company of orchestrating a smear campaign against his quick commerce platform.

In a LinkedIn post on late Sunday, Palicha, not taking names, alleged that the CFO of one of Zepto's competitor firms has been reaching out to Zepto’s investors with unsubstantiated claims, distributing false financial data to journalists, and employing bots to spread negative narratives about Zepto on social media.

"Over the past few days, the CFO of one of our competitors has been trying to build a smear campaign against Zepto.

"Candidly, this episode is below the stature expected of the CFO of a high-quality company, and makes it obvious that they are starting to get nervous about how fast Zepto's EBITDA is improving," Palicha wrote.

Palicha outlined several key financial metrics and operational updates to counter misinformation.

According to him, Zepto’s Gross Order Value (GOV) has increased from approximately Rs 750 crore per month in May 2024 to Rs 2,400 crore per month in May 2025, with the company’s definition of GOV including fruits and vegetables at selling price as well as ad revenue.

Palicha said Zepto has reported a 20 percentage point improvement in EBITDA from January to May 2025, with cash burn reduced by around 65 per cent during the same period.

Zepto has achieved roughly 20 per cent GOV growth from January to May 2025, translating to an average monthly growth rate of 4 per cent to 5 per cent, he said.

Looking ahead, Palicha stated that the vast majority of Zepto’s dark stores are expected to be fully EBITDA positive by next quarter, including all backend and operational costs.

He also projected that the company’s overall EBITDA and operating cash flow would be close to breakeven within the same timeframe.

As of the start of the current quarter, Zepto reportedly holds approximately Rs 7,445 crore in net cash, providing what Palicha described as “many years of runway” given the current burn rate.

Palicha dismissed reports of widespread store closures, stating that Zepto is instead accelerating its store launches.

"My hope is this CFO in question stops this activity. I'm okay with healthy/aggressive competitive talk, but lies are not acceptable. Frankly, these calls from you are only making it clearer to the investor community that we are a strong competitor," Palicha said.

Sources recently told PTI that Zepto has temporarily shut operations in 40 Zepto cafes in certain areas in and around Delhi as it adjusts its supply chain to meet surging demand.

The halt in operations is expected to last only until September while the company addresses its supply chain challenges, sources had said. PTI ANK MR