Zepto’s Teenager Founders Share How They Built An App With A $900M Valuation
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August 12, 2022
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Zepto, an instant grocery delivery startup founded by two teenagers, Kaivalya Vohra and Aadit Palicha, brought their company to a valuation of $900 million in just nine months.
Vohra had “a couple of long conversations” to convince his parents for him to drop out of Stanford for his startup. But pulling them on board wasn’t hard, he added, his parents witnessed how rapidly they grew the business in front of them.
In a recent interview with CNBC Make It, the young founders shared how did they build one of India’s fastest-growing quick commerce apps.
People didn’t take the 19-year-olds seriously due to their age and their “crazy” under-10-minute delivery idea. However, their conviction in their product kept them going and helped them convince investors, senior executives, and government authorities. Zepto’s $200 million in May got it closer to unicorn status.
“If we don’t build it, somebody else will. When you operate with that mentality, everything becomes less intimidating.” Palicha told CNBC.
During the early stages of Zepto, Palicha and Vohra handled all of the company’s customer service inquiries to determine a clear product-market fit. They even brought goods to customers so that they could have a brief conversation and gain valuable insight from them. Palicha claims that they are still doing it in the present day.
Palicha and Vohra had been friends since they were seven. For Vohra, it’s their ability to “hold each other accountable” that brought them this far.
“Kaivalya and I really complement each other’s skill set. He has always been more technically sound than I am, so he’s made a great chief technology officer,” said Palicha.
TomoCredit announced that it had raised $22 million in a Series B funding round, giving it a post-money valuation of $222 million.
It has also secured $100 million in debt financing and has raised $39 million in equity since its launch.
The newly acquired funds will be put to use by the corporation in the form of product line expansion, which may include the provision of mortgages and automobile loans.
Kristy Kim founded TomoCredit in 2019 to help international students get credit. Three and a half years later, the fintech no longer focuses just on immigrants but is now also eyeing domestic students and SMBs that want to “build credit fast”. They received 2.5 million applications over time.
TomoCredit provides users credit limits of up to $30,000. It earns revenue from merchant interchange fees, not consumers. It doesn’t require a credit check, a deposit, or an APR.
According to TechCrunch, the firm doesn’t use FICO scores to underwrite, unlike many other credit offerings. Tomo Score, a “proprietary” underwriting algorithm, identifies “high potential borrowers” without credit scores.
“Our customers are not in financial trouble…Once you identify them and give them a card, they spend a lot and don’t default. Our performance has been great and that gave us and our investors the confidence to scale.” Kim told TechCrunch.
Morgan Stanley’s Next Level Fund and Mastercard participated in the equity portion of the deal including GoldHouse, Asian Hustle Network, and Hyphen Capital, while Silicon Valley Bank provided the debt.
Alice Vilma co-manages Morgan Stanley’s Next Level Fund, which invests in early-stage innovation and tech-enabled enterprises with women or diverse founding teams, said that she was amazed by Kim’s ability to recognize a need as a young female immigrant and create a financial product.
“As a first-generation South Korean immigrant, I wanted to help immigrant communities to reach their American Dream faster with TomoCredit,” Kim told TechCrunch. “It has been wonderful to partner with minority-focused funds who truly understand Tomo’s mission.”
You might have heard a tale similar to this one here and there, but for every family who is now going through this — it feels like the beginning of the end.
What more if your father left your family when you were young and just beginning a new life in a foreign place?
Nevertheless, it is utterly devastating that some even end up questioning themselves, “what have I done wrong or what should I have done right?” But eventually, you’ll come to the conclusion that you should just accept it, keep a positive attitude and figure out how to go on living your life without a father figure.
But what if one day your father knocks on your door and asks if he could come back to your family’s life?
Here’s Ai Nguyen, A Life and Business Breakthrough Coach, who shares a powerful story through her voice and experience of her 80-year-old dad.
The Crucial Memory
Last week, I celebrated my dad’s 80th birthday. It was a deeply healing experience for me. Many of you don’t know this, but my dad left our family for another woman when I was around 6 years old, about a year after we had immigrated from Vietnam over to America. Here we are in a strange new country, and then he left us.
One of the last memories I had at that time was that he took me to the bus stop in the morning for school and told me that he was leaving the family and wasn’t coming back. That was it. I came home from school and he was gone.
For decades, I had blocked out this CRUCIAL memory of the bus stop day. It was brought out again during a healing hypnosis session I had last year. While growing up, he would come and visit our family from Guam every few years to attend any huge celebrations such as family weddings.
Here we are in a strange new country, and then he left us.
-Ai nguyen
The Comeback
But then, about 18 years ago, he asked us if he could come back because he was struggling with his business. He was basically going to be homeless if we didn’t take him in.
This was such a stressful time in my life because we had to learn to build a life without him fully being there and then we had to also learn to accept him as he came back. Long story short, when he came back, even though he stayed, he had lost his power in the family.
We weren’t interested in what he had to say. I wasn’t interested in his opinions. Because, honestly, he lost our respect when he left the family. So, we had never celebrated his birthday.
My dad had to learn how to make peace with himself. He practiced Buddhism, spirituality, and yoga to calm his internal state.
Long story short, when he came back, even though he stayed, he had lost his power in the family.
-Ai nguyen
The Celebration of Birthday and Healing
Fast forward to last week, his birthday party, my husband Dave and I flew back to St. Louis, Missouri to celebrate this with my family. My dad has been asking the family for the past year to do a party for him. He had an inkling that he would die soon and it was important for him to experience this. And so we made tons of food and brought the whole family together.
And there was a moment where I caught him feeling super happy, in front of the colorful walls, getting photos taken by me. Like a child’s smile when they are being acknowledged and celebrated. I caught it in the moment and in the photos.
Ai’s father all smiles for his 80th birthday
And all of a sudden..
A deep level of compassion and forgiveness fell into my body.
(As I am writing this, I am CRYING. Nose dripping, wiping my shirt all over my face type of crying)
I suddenly realized that this man is 80 years old. And now he’s finally being celebrated. My heart felt the pain of living in a body for 80 years and not experiencing the greatest, most loving moments in life.
I felt compassion for the pain of him having to forgive himself for his mistakes. I felt compassion for him, probably realizing he could have done more in his lifetime, but he didn’t get to do so. I felt compassion for him for having to release guilt, shame, and resentment over the years. Because death is near, and he simply wants to be acknowledged.
At that moment, I saw the inner child in him; the child who just wants more praise, love, and attention on this special day. And I wish if I had been quicker in my realization, that I had taken more pictures, to make him laugh, and make it even more of a special day for him.
(A moment of regret showed up for me)
I suddenly realized that this man is 80 years old. And now he’s finally being celebrated. My heart felt the pain of living in a body for 80 years and not experiencing the greatest, most loving moments in life.
-ai nguyen
This was the level of compassion that I had prayed for, and I wasn’t ready to fully receive it for many years until I participated in this birthday party.
I got balloons with his favorite celebration colors: red and gold. (Coincidentally, his outfit matched my balloon colors). Intuitively, I knew what he wanted. If my sister had not asked me to be in charge of the balloons and decorations at the last minute, I would have missed out on seeing the joy and happiness in my dad.
It was as though SPIRIT planned all of this to happen FOR ME.
I share this story with you because I want you to know that we all have the opportunity to experience forgiveness and healing. Be present, be open, and compassionate and spirit will give you powerful insights. Life flies by fast. Always celebrate yourself. Find gratitude and greatness in your reality and everything will shift for you!
Lastly, you have the power to turn your pain into your purpose.
Mega Global Corporation began as a fishing vessel in 1975 and is now one of the Philippines’ most successful canned sardine manufacturers. It has 88 ships, two functioning factories, one under development, and two headquarters.
The company’s founder William Lim said that her wife was from a fishing family and his enthusiasm for fishing sparked his successful business – but his entrepreneurial journey wasn’t easy.
Be a risk-taker
He advised taking calculated risks and anticipating outcomes. “When we came up with advertisements, in three to six months, our sales started to improve slowly. You need to spend to build your brand name so people will have confidence in your product,” he told Esquire.
Good Brand Communication
By learning how to communicate effectively to store owners and consumers about your brand, you will be able to differentiate it from its competitors. “Because nobody knew our brand, supermarket owners did not want to accept our products to be on their shelves,” he told Esquire Magazine, he had to personally visit the stores to convince them for a chance to sell their product.
Adapt to the times
Simply abandoning ineffective old methods, and always taking opportunities to improve.
Remain focused on your vision
Never forget what the goal was when starting and always remember what the company stands for. He added that when it comes to making decisions about the company, these guiding principles will serve as the primary motivation and compass. “If you keep changing your focus, you have less time to succeed. You have to put your heart and mind to your vision and never give up, no matter the odds,” he tells Philstar.
One of the leading groups in the food cart industry in the Philippines, Fruitas Holdings Inc., owned by Chinese-Filipino entrepreneur Lester Yu, has expanded its brand portfolio with the acquisition of Ling Nam, a 72-year-old establishment that operates three locations in Manila, Philippines.
Fruitas’ wholly-owned subsidiary Soykingdom bought 100% of LN Banaue Inc. This firm operates Ling Nam restaurants such Peter K. Fung and Wanton Parlor.
Established in the 1950s, Ling Nam has long served authentic Cantonese noodles, congee, and dim sum. Beef Wanton Noodles, along with various other sizzling and mouth-watering dishes, can be found on the menus of restaurants in Manila’s Banawe and T. Alonzo districts in Quezon City.
Yu’s 25+ brand portfolio is one of the assets to be purchased as part of the acquisition. Soykingdom will pay 60% of the acquisition price when the deal closes. The remaining 40% will be paid till March 2023. The acquisition price is less than 10% of Fruitas’ March 31 assets and book value.
Fruitas had 720 stores across the country as of the end of December 2021, according to Bilyonaryo where they provided customers with fresh fruit shakes and juices, lemonade, coolers, milk tea, desserts, meat-filled pastries, soya-based products, baked goods, and lechon.
