Zepto's unlisted shares have fallen 23% over the past five trading sessions, with the grey market now implying a valuation of under $3.5 billion after the quick-commerce company paused its planned initial public offering and opted for a smaller pre-IPO fundraising instead.

The sharp repricing broadly aligns with the valuation range domestic institutional investors had been discussing before Zepto deferred its IPO. As first reported by Moneycontrol, the company has put its public issue on hold and is instead looking to raise about Rs 1,000 crore through a pre-IPO placement.

Grey market resets expectations

Wholesale quotes for Zepto have declined from around Rs 35 to Rs 27 a share over the past week, according to participants in the unlisted market.

The correction has been swift. About a month ago, the stock was changing hands at around Rs 38 a share. At its peak in December 2025, unlisted shares traded at nearly Rs 68 before easing to around Rs 62 in January 2026, according to unlisted-market trackers. Which means that at the current levels, the stock has lost almost 60% from its peak.

Based on the fully diluted share count of around 1,260 crore shares disclosed in Zepto's updated DRHP, the current wholesale price implies a market capitalisation of roughly Rs 34,000 crore, or about $3.6 billion.

By comparison, the same share count implied a valuation of about $5 billion when the stock traded at Rs 38 last month.

At the December peak, the implied valuation approached $9 billion, although those transactions occurred in a much thinner market and before the company updated its DRHP.

The current wholesale price is also well below Zepto's last primary fundraising.

The DRHP disclosed a weighted average acquisition cost of Rs 37.74 a share for the Series H funding rounds completed in October-November 2025, suggesting secondary market trades are now taking place at a steep discount to the latest primary issue price.

IPO pause narrows valuation gap

The repricing follows Zepto's decision to defer its planned IPO, originally targeted for July, in favour of a smaller pre-IPO fundraising.

Moneycontrol had earlier reported that the company was looking to raise around Rs 1,000 crore at a valuation of roughly $4.5 billion. Existing investors, including Glade Brook, General Catalyst, Goodwater Capital and Nexus Venture Partners, are expected to participate.

The revised fundraising comes after a widening gap emerged between what existing shareholders were seeking and what institutional investors were prepared to pay.

While the asking price from the company was a valuation of around $4.5 billion, domestic institutional investors were stuck at $2.5 to 3 billion.

Lead bankers attempted to defend a valuation closer to $4 to 4.5 billion, while buy-side investors pushed for around $3 billion or lower.

Growth remains strong, losses remain high

The valuation debate comes despite rapid operating growth.

Zepto's revenue from operations more than doubled to Rs 22,623.58 crore in FY26 from Rs 11,109.95 crore a year earlier.

However, net loss widened to Rs 5,905.19 crore from Rs 4,699.71 crore.

Brokerage reports analysing the company's DRHP highlighted the same dilemma confronting investors.

While acknowledging Zepto's industry-leading order density and rapid expansion, analysts noted that the company continues to report materially higher operating losses than peers.

Jefferies estimated Zepto lost around Rs 79 per order in FY26, compared with Blinkit's near break-even economics. JPMorgan similarly said Zepto had the highest EBITDA burn among the three major quick-commerce players despite leading the industry in orders per dark store.

The company operated 1,139 dark stores at the end of FY26 and processed an average of 17.5 lakh orders a day, with total annual orders of 640.18 million. Net Receivables Value stood at Rs 24,815.54 crore, while cash and cash equivalents totalled Rs 5,680.53 crore.