• MapmyIndia invests Rs25 Cr in Zepto, acquiring a 0.049% stake via secondary sale.
• Valuation pegged at Rs51,000 Cr ($5.9B); part of a $250M secondary round ahead of IPO.
• Zepto founders plan Rs 1,500 Cr stake buy via structured debt to boost Indian ownership.

Homegrown digital mapping firm MapmyIndia will invest Rs 25 crore in rapid commerce startup Zepto by taking a 0.049% stake through a secondary deal, recent stock exchange filings indicate. The board of the company has approved the investment in form.

The move comes close on the heels of a similar investment by Mumbai-based NBFC Elcid Investments, which picked up a tiny portion of Zepto for Rs 7.5 crore in the previous month. Both deals are secondary share buys and value Zepto at Rs 51,000 crore (~$5.9 billion).

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The current $250 million secondary round sees private equity firm Motilal Oswal Financial Services offloading shares, with the objective of increasing Indian ownership and simplifying the cap table before Zepto's intended public listing.

Presently, Zepto co-founders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, together with the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) pool, own approximately 28% of the company. The intention is to raise Indian shareholding by another 8–10% prior to making a filing for the IPO.

Besides this, Palicha and Vohra are also negotiating a debt deal of a structured nature to buy around  Rs1,500 crore worth of equity on credit from Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors, domestic family offices, and smaller credit funds.