# Raamdeo Agrawal says Zepto IPO was premature as valuation halves 2026-08-18T11:08:35+00:00 | Business & Economy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Market veteran Raamdeo Agrawal, an investor in Zepto, has called the quick-commerce company's IPO plans "premature" after it delayed its public listing amid valuation concerns. In an interview with The Economic Times, the Motilal Oswal chairman said public markets demand earnings, not growth stories, and that Zepto should have waited until it was profitable or close to it. Zepto had confidentially filed for an Rs 8,010-crore IPO in December 2025 and received Sebi approval in May, but deferred the issue after discussions around pricing it at $2.5-3 billion, less than half the $7 billion valuation at which Calpers invested in October 2025. The Deccan Herald, however, reports that Zepto's core brand promise of 10-minute delivery was effectively removed by a January government order, stripping the company of its key market differentiation. Brokerage CLSA data shows Blinkit's lead over Zepto in weekly active users widened from 1.79 million in early January to 7.7 million by May, while Zepto's paid downloads fell 97% in 2026 after it cut marketing spend. Zepto is now raising roughly Rs 1,000 crore from existing backers at a $4-4.5 billion valuation. Its Sebi approval remains valid until August 21, and founder Aadit Palicha has called the delay a pause of one to two quarters. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The Economic Times frames the Zepto IPO delay as a market-readiness lesson from a respected investor, giving air to Raamdeo Agrawal's view that public markets cannot stomach loss-making growth. The Deccan Herald, adopting a more critical stance, anchors the story to the government's ban on '10-minute delivery' advertising, arguing this stripped Zepto of its sole brand differentiation and directly hurt user growth and valuation. ET downplays the regulatory angle entirely, while DH overstates the causal link between the tagline ban and the IPO collapse, ignoring that Zepto's own prospectus cites deeper structural losses. Investors would be wise to watch August 21: if Zepto does not refile then, the pause becomes a retreat. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 1 pro-government, 1 government-critical - retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com (pro government) Leads with investor Agrawal's call for profitability before IPO, omits regulatory tagline ban - deccanherald.com (government critical) Foregrounds government's 10-minute delivery ban as cause for IPO failure and slowed growth This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-20T06:17:21+00:00. Tags: Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Raamdeo Agrawal, SEBI, Zepto Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/zepto-ipo-was-premature-says-investor-raamdeo-agrawal/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/zepto-ipo-was-premature-says-investor-raamdeo-agrawal/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/