Business

India Quick Commerce Timeline 2013–2026: How 10-Minute Delivery Changed the Way India Sho…

Quick commerce is app-based delivery of groceries and essentials in around 10-20 minutes, using small local dark stores instead of one big warehouse. Speed com…

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THE ORIGIN

Grofers Is Founded

Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar launched Grofers in December 2013 as a scheduled online grocery-delivery service — years before instant delivery was technically or co…

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COVID ACCELERATION

COVID-19 Accelerates Online Grocery; Swiggy Instamart Launches

Pandemic lockdowns forced millions of households to order groceries online for the first time. Swiggy launched Instamart in 2020, applying its existing food-delivery rid…

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THE DARK-STORE PIVOT

Zepto Launches, Popularising Dark-Store-Only Delivery

Stanford dropouts Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra founded Zepto in July 2021 after their earlier venture, KiranaKart, showed that relying on third-party kirana stores c…

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THE REBRAND

Grofers Rebrands as Blinkit

On 13 December 2021, Grofers renamed itself Blinkit, pivoting fully from scheduled grocery delivery to dedicated quick commerce under the tagline 'Let's Blink It.'

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THE ACQUISITION

Zomato Acquires Blinkit

Zomato and Blinkit agreed to merge in March 2022; the all-stock deal, valued at about $568 million, completed in June 2022, giving Blinkit access to Zomato's delivery-fl…

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PUBLIC MARKETS ARRIVE

Swiggy Lists; Flipkart Minutes Launches

Flipkart Minutes launched in August 2024. Swiggy's ₹11,327 crore IPO listed on 13 November 2024 at a roughly 7.7% premium, giving public investors their first direct sta…

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ENTRY AND EXIT

Amazon Now Launches; Dunzo Shuts Down

Amazon began piloting Amazon Now in January 2025. The same month, Dunzo — once valued at $775 million — shut down after failing to raise enough funding, leaving Reliance…

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THE RENAME

Zomato Renames Itself Eternal Ltd.

Zomato's board renamed the listed company Eternal Limited, reflecting how central Blinkit had become — the quick-commerce arm generated about 75% of consolidated revenue…

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THE RECKONING

Maharashtra FDA Suspends 14 Dark-Store Licences

On 13 August 2026, Maharashtra's FDA inspected 86 online food establishments and suspended 14 licences across Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart, after a viral video appeared…

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THE MARKET TEST

Zepto Delays Its IPO as Public Investors Price the Sector Cautiously

Blinkit led with about 46% of order share in January 2026, ahead of Instamart (24%) and Zepto (22%). Zepto pushed its planned IPO from mid-2026 to February-May 2027 afte…

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