Zepto is in advanced stages of discussions to raise $100 million in fresh capital, its third fundraise in the past six months, as the country's largest quick commerce startup seeks to attract more local investors to the table, sources familiar with the development said.

The company raises the new funding from Indian family offices and high net worth individuals that delivers grocery items and office stationery to its customers' doorsteps in 10 minutes across multiple Indian cities.

According to people familiar with the matter, Motilal Oswal, the investment giant that invested $40 million in the consumer products e-commerce company Zepto, is running this mandate. Another person, who, like other individuals interviewed, requested anonymity since the matter is private, said the firm already secured commitments for more than half of its allocation.

That takes Zepto's post-money valuation to $5 billion, the amount at which it just closed a $340 million financing round in August. Zepto raised more than $1 billion over the last six months, and all of it remains in its bank.

This newly raised fund will take Zepto public in the next calendar year as it expands its base of domestic investors on the cap table. The firm's backer list includes Avra, Lightspeed, Nexus, StepStone Group, YC Continuity, Glade Brook, and Contrary.

Even as quick-commerce startups are retreating, consolidating, or shutting down in many parts of the world, the model is showing encouraging signs in India. Quick-commerce startups are on track to do a sale of more than $6 billion this year according to TechCrunch's analysis.

Many of the e-commerce incumbents have, therefore, scrambled ways to reduce the time they take to deliver items to their customers, including Flipkart, Myntra, and Nykaa. Already, it has increasingly shaped consumer behavior in India and other countries with the fast rise of quick commerce.

Shares in Dmart, which runs one of India's biggest physical retail chains, fell this week after it announced some losses to quick commerce startups.

"We believe Quick Commerce players are expanding cities, categories, SKUs, AOVs and discounts, and creating parallel commerce for convenience-seeking customers," analysts at Morgan Stanley wrote in a note this week.

Zepto, which competes with Zomato-owned BlinkIt, Prosus-backed Swiggy's Instamart, and Tata's BigBasket has seen its annualised net run rate shoot up substantially in the last couple of months, according to people in the know and an internal document reviewed by TechCrunch.

Zepto co-founder and chief executive Aadit Palicha told a group of investors in August that the startup projects to grow at 150% in the next 12 months, TechCrunch had reported earlier.