‘Quick is not the only reason they exist’: Lightspeed’s Rahul Taneja on the rise of vertical quick commerce

‘Quick is not the only reason they exist’: Lightspeed’s Rahul Taneja on the rise of vertical quick commerce

Speed might be what grabs consumer attention in India’s quick commerce boom — but it’s no longer what holds it. As category-specific platforms in fashion, home services, beauty, and baby care gain momentum, investors are increasingly looking beyond rapid delivery to what truly drives repeat behaviour: curation, reliability, and supply chain control.

It’s a shift Rahul Taneja, Partner at Lightspeed India, sees playing out across the firm’s portfolio. Having backed companies like Zepto in grocery, Slikk in fashion, and Snabbit in home services, Taneja believes the real opportunity isn’t about how fast something arrives — but whether a vertical is ready for tech-led formalisation at scale.

“Quick is the way these platforms unlock the consumer — but it’s not the only reason they exist. Each one is built on solving deeper, long-standing category problems,” Taneja told Moneycontrol.

From mass to vertical

Taneja likened the current wave of vertical quick commerce to earlier chapters of India’s e-commerce evolution — from horizontals like Flipkart and Amazon, to category-specific players like Nykaa, Lenskart, and now niche quick commerce startups focused on solving deeper pain points.

Across sectors — from apparel to domestic services — what’s being unlocked this time is “a huge amount of supply chain innovation,” applied to categories that haven’t traditionally seen it.

Take Snabbit, for instance. The home services platform raised $19 million in May in a round led by Lightspeed, just four months after its $5.5 million Series A. The platform doesn’t just target convenience-seeking users but taps into the widespread need for dependable, high-quality household help.

“It’s not just about people seeking convenience — it’s about people looking for predictable, high-quality supply,” Taneja said.

In fashion, Bengaluru-based Slikk is offering curated apparel delivery within 60 minutes. It raised $10 million in May in a round led by Nexus Venture Partners, with Lightspeed participating.

“Curation really matters in fashion,” Taneja said. “You don’t need to stock 10,000 black T-shirts — you might stock just 200, but the ones that actually cater to your audience.”

The investor lens

In vertical quick commerce, Taneja highlighted that the cost pressure is compounded by the need to build infrastructure from scratch — often in segments that have never been formally organised.

In fact, fashion quick commerce startup Blip recently shut down its operations after it faced funding and execution challenges — a reminder of how difficult the model is to execute.

Still, profitability isn’t expected early on. Instead, Lightspeed focuses on whether the business operates in a large “margin pool” where value can eventually be captured.

“In apparel, there’s about 400 percent margin available in the chain. The question is how much of that can the company appropriate,” he said.

Taneja added that building for complexity is critical. “These are not simple businesses. There’s supply chain innovation involved, and you want to work with founders who can handle that complexity.”

Building infra, not just apps

Unlike larger ecommerce firms that can rely on third-party delivery or warehousing, vertical quick commerce platforms are often forced to build their own backend systems to meet demand and ensure consistency.

Slikk, for instance, had to establish a network of dark stores to deliver apparel at speed — a model that deviates from the mega-warehouse setups of incumbents. Snabbit had to train a pool of household help to offer quality service on demand.

“You could say the pool exists,” Taneja said. “But is it trained? Is it up to your quality standards? Can it work with the right service levels for on-time delivery? No — so you have to build that supply chain yourself.”

TAM expansion and long-term bets

Quick commerce may have started as a service for India’s urban elite, but the market is widening rapidly.

“If you had asked me four years ago what the TAM would be, I’d have said the top 1 percent of India. Clearly, I was wrong — it’s much bigger,” Taneja said.

Estimates vary: Morgan Stanley pegs the TAM at $57 billion by 2030, while Bessemer Venture Partners projects $30 billion by FY30 — up from just $300 million in FY22. Already, over two-thirds of online grocery orders and 10 percent of e-retail spending in India occur on platforms like Zepto, Blinkit, and Instamart, according to a Flipkart–Bain report.

Despite growing excitement around verticals like baby care and beauty, Taneja insists Lightspeed isn’t chasing trends.

“Our opening lens isn’t whether it’s quick or not. We ask: is the category attractive? Can a big business be built here?,” he said.

As for whether speed will continue to be a differentiator, Taneja is clear-eyed. “Today it is. But will that be the case two years from now? I don’t know. The more important factor here is supply chain innovation,” he concluded.

Across categories, the competitive intensity is increasing. While Zepto rivals Eternal’s Blinkit, Swiggy’s Instmart, Tata’s BigBasket, Flipkart Minutes and more, Snabbit competes with Pronto which is lining up fresh capital from General Catalyst, Glade Brook and others.

Slikk is competing with Accel-funded Newme, Knot and others which are in the process of convincing investors that the rapid fashion delivery market is growing