We almost Died ...The biggest mistakes I made were ...: Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha on Silicon Valley Bank crisis

Aadit Palicha, CEO of quick-commerce startup Zepto, shared a stark account of the company’s near-demise during the 2022–2023 funding drought, citing hiring errors and the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse as major threats, according to the Economic Times. In a conversation with Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, Palicha pinpointed flawed recruitment as Zepto’s Achilles’ heel. “The biggest mistakes I made were wrong hires,” he told Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, noting missteps in finance, operations, marketing, and category management that strained the startup’s early years.

The March 2023 SVB collapse, which froze funds for numerous tech firms, hit Zepto hard. “We almost died,” Palicha admitted, recalling the existential crisis when operational funds were trapped in the bank. A WhatsApp poll cited by ET revealed 40 Y Combinator-backed Indian startups had $250,000 to $1 million in SVB, with over 20 holding more than $1 million, amplifying the panic.

Zepto, like many global startups, was hit hard by the sudden collapse of US-based SVB in March 2023. The bank, which held deposits for thousands of tech firms, folded amid a liquidity crunch—freezing access to funds and triggering widespread panic among founders.

In a LinkedIn post, Palicha credited Y Combinator’s support as pivotal to Zepto’s survival and growth. The startup has since rebounded, with ET reporting its annualised gross order value nearing $4 billion -- a 300% year-on-year leap—and FY24 operating revenue of Rs 4,454 crore, up 120% from the prior year.

Palicha said the ordeal reshaped Zepto’s hiring strategy. “The most fundamental input to our company is execution excellence, and the biggest driver of that is high-quality people,” he emphasized, underscoring a new focus on “execution intelligence” in team-building.