The Indian equities market remained under pressure for the second consecutive week amid the start of the Q2 earnings season. While the broader market saw a decline this week, new-age tech stocks witnessed a positive week. Seventeen of the 28 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage gained in a range of 0.02% to under 15% this week.

NSE Emerge-listed blockchain and IT development startup Yudiz emerged as the biggest gainer this week, with its shares jumping 14.51% to INR 64.70. 

Other gainers this week included fintech major Paytm, Awfis, FirstCry, Zomato, Menhood, IndiaMART InterMESH, among others. 

Interestingly, Nykaa ended the week flat at INR 192. During the week, the beauty ecommerce giant projected its revenue to grow in the “mid-twenties” in Q2 FY25. It also began its foray into the quick commerce segment with the launch of a 10-minute delivery pilot in some parts of Mumbai.

Meanwhile, shares of 10 startups ended the week in the red, dropping in a range of 0.10% to just under 9%. Ola Electric emerged as the biggest loser this week, with its shares falling 8.94% to INR 90.19. Zaggle, TAC Infosec, PB Fintech, Nazara Technologies, Yatra, and MapmyIndia were among the other losers this week.

In the broader market, Sensex ended the week 0.73% lower at 81,381.36 and Nifty 50 fell 0.46% to 24,964.25. 

Geojit Financial Services’ head of research Vinod Nair said that there is a bearish sentiment due to subdued estimates for Q2 earnings. 

“The Indian market is currently in a phase of consolidation due to premium valuations and a subdued outlook for Q2 results. In contrast, FIIs are capitalising on arbitrage opportunities in the Chinese markets, driven by stimulus measures and low valuations,” he added. 

During the week, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept the interest rates unchanged. However, it changed its stance to “Neutral” even as the key focus remains on inflation.

“Looking at the current geopolitical scenario, the RBI had little choice but to remain focused on inflation and balanced growth at the same time. By keeping the repo rates unchanged and shifting from ‘accommodation’ to ‘neutral’, the MPC has taken a very calculated stance and is being watchful,” Bajaj Broking’s managing director Manish Jain said. 

Meanwhile, the initial public offering (IPO) space for new-age tech companies was buzzing with activities this week as well. While Flipkart-backed logistics startup BlackBuck received SEBI’s go ahead for its INR 550 Cr IPO, Inc42 learnt that B2B marketplace unicorn Zetwerk has also initiated initial discussions with investment banker JP Morgan for an IPO. Meanwhile, edtech startup PhysicsWallah roped in Axis Capital, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan as the bankers for its proposed IPO next year. 

Now, let’s take a deeper look at the performance of the new-age tech stocks this week. 

The total market capitalisation of the 28 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage grew to $81.48 Bn at the end of this week from $80.85 Bn last week.

Controversies Hit Ola Electric’s Ride

The share prices of two-wheeler EV major Ola Electric took a hit this week as the company found itself amid controversies and a lot of scrutiny. Ola Electric’s shares ended nearly 9% lower this week, with its market capitalisation falling to $4.72 Bn. 

Ola Electric was in the news this week for: 

• Last Sunday, Ola Electric founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal engaged in a social media spat with comedian Kunal Kamra on the latter’s comments on the after-sales services of the former.
• Following this, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued a show cause notice to Ola Electric for alleged violation of consumer rights, misleading advertisement and unfair trade practices.
• The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) asked the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to verify if the EV maker is honouring warranties and maintaining the requisite service centres.

Despite the issues, brokerages remain bullish on the company. Goldman Sachs has a ‘Buy’ rating on the stock, with a price target of INR 160. BofA Securities also initiated its coverage on the company with a ‘buy’ rating and a price target of INR 145.

Another Strong Week For Paytm

Continuing on the recovery path, shares of Paytm briefly crossed the INR 750 mark this week after many months. The stock ended the week at INR 724.15, up 4.16% week-on-week. With this, its market cap also touched $5.48 Bn.

The upswing came after CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma reiterated the fintech giant’s commitment to its core consumer payments business. Sharma said that Paytm will look to reinvest in the consumer payments business segment. 

“Payments remain our primary business, and the merchant side continues to be strong. However, we lost a significant consumer base due to regulatory constraints. Moving forward, we aim to reinvest in the consumer payments business area,” he said at a CII event on Monday. 

A day after his comments, Paytm shares surged over 15% to INR 753.60 on October 8.

The company’s decision to sell its entertainment ticketing business to Zomato for INR 2,048 Cr is expected to provide it the necessary capital to streamline operations and reinvest resources.

Earlier in October, Paytm also reaffirmed its plans to double down on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). As part of this, it recently announced the appointment of its payments CTO Manmeet Dhody as ‘AI Fellow’ to drive projects related to AI innovation in business. It also elevated senior VP of Technology Deependra Singh Rathore as its new payments CTO. 

EaseMyTrip Mulls Issue Of Bonus Shares 

Shares of travel tech startup EaseMyTrip touched a fresh 52-week low of INR 31.10 during the intraday trading on October 7. However, the stock gained later in the week to end at INR 34.20, a gain of 2.67% from the previous week. Its market capitalisation stood at $0.72 Bn at the end of the week. 

The gains come after the startup said its board will consider an issue of bonus shares on Monday (October 14).

With the announcement, EaseMyTrip ended the downward spiral which began at the end of the last month, when CEO Prashant Pitti divested a significant stake in the startup. On September 25, he sold 16.91 Cr shares for INR 37.22 apiece, 6.73 Cr shares for INR 37.42 per share, and 1 Cr shares for INR 38.28 apiece. With this, his ownership in the travel tech startup declined to around 14%, nearly half of the 28% at the end of the June quarter. 

EaseMyTrip has issued bonus shares twice in the past. In February 2022, the company issued bonus equity shares in a 1:1 ratio. Later, in October 2022, the board approved the issuance of bonus shares in a 3:1 ratio, along with a stock split.

The post New-Age Tech Stocks Gain Despite Decline In Broader Market, Yudiz Biggest Gainer This Week appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Days before Swiggy filed its updated draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI, its founder Sriharsha Majety and some of the investors sold shares worth INR 670 Cr.

On September 20, Swiggy’s cofounder and group CEO Sriharsha Majety sold 6,36,972 equity shares at INR 345 apiece to Torroz Fintech. He further sold 29,695 shares at the same price to Torroz Fintech on September 23. With the two secondary share selloffs, the CEO pocketed INR 23 Cr. 

Besides Majety, Torroz Fintech bought 4,326 Series B compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) for INR 4.62 Lakh apiece from Swiggy’s investor Norwest Ventures Private Limited. The all-cash deal saw the former pay INR 200 Cr to the investment firm. 

According to Torroz Fintech’s website, the company offers curated investment opportunities in diverse financial securities in private markets and other markets. It claims to have an extensive network of private equity, wealth management, family offices, and high net worth investors. 

“Dive into the realm of private markets, where exclusive opportunities await discerning investors,” its website says. The company was founded by 4Sight Global Ventures’ directors Pratik Vaja and Rahul Kurup in 2022. 

Besides Torroz Fintech, Strootaay Unlisted Brokers bought 4.63 Lakh Series B CCPS of Swiggy from venture capital firm Elevation Capital for INR 439.12 Cr on September 11, according to the draft IPO papers. 

Chennai-based Strootaay Unlisted Brokers claims to offer investors a platform to invest in unlisted shares of late stage, pre-IPO companies. 

Meanwhile, another Swiggy investor, Ark India FoodTech Private Investment Trust, also sold 2.1 Lakh equity shares to Moksh Capital Partners 1 for INR 360 apiece on September 23. The total transaction size was INR 7.56 Cr.

Moksha Finance helps startups in securing seed stage funding, connects them with angel investors and venture capital firms, and also helps them go public. It has closed 5 deals in the last one year in varied sectors, according to its website.

The deals provided partial exits to the investors ahead of the IPO amid a high demand for unlisted shares of Swiggy. A number of HNIs and companies have acquired shares of Swiggy before the opening of its public issue. Most recently, angel investing platform BizDateup’s cofounders Jeet Chandan and Meet Jain announced that they picked up stakes in the startup for an undisclosed amount. 

Actor Madhuri Dixit, Amitabh Bachchan’s family office, and companies like Modern Insulators and Hindustan Composites also bought shares of the foodtech major ahead of the IPO.

Swiggy’s IPO will comprise a fresh issue of INR 3,750 Cr and an offer for sale of up to 18.53 Cr equity shares, as per the DRHP. However, the company also secured its shareholders’ nod earlier this month to increase the size of fresh issue to INR 5,000 Cr in the IPO.

CEO Majety will be selling up to 1.74 Mn equity shares in the IPO.

The post Swiggy’s Sriharsha Majety, Investors Sold Shares Worth INR 670 Cr Ahead Of IPO appeared first on Inc42 Media.

After a significant drop in funding trends leading into the month of October, investor sentiment picked up slightly in the second week of the month. Indian startups raised $114 Mn via 22 deals during October 7-12, up 32% from $86.4 Mn raised last week across 16 deals. 

This was the second week when no mega funding rounds materialised. This came after a quarter filled with heightened funding interest. In the third quarter of calendar year 2024, Indian startup funding doubled year-on-year to $3.4 Bn from $1.7 Bn in the same period last year. Late-stage investments surged 115% to surpass the $2.1 Bn mark in the September quarter this year from $984 Mn in Q3 2023. 

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding This Week [Oct  7-12]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• Artificial intelligence (AI)-based robotics startup Haber bagged the biggest cheque this week, securing $38 Mn (INR 317 Cr) by issuing Series C CCPS to venture capitalist (VC) firms Accel India, Beenext Capital, and Creaegis.
• On the back of Haber’s funding round, deeptech toppled enterprise tech to emerge as the investor favourite sector this week. Deeptech startups raised $45.4 Mn across three deals this week.
• However, enterprise tech saw the most number of deals materialise this week. Startups in the sector raised $7.2 Mn across four deals this week. Trailing it were deeptech and cleantech, with both the sectors seeing a similar number of three deals.
• Beenext and Lumikai emerged as the most active investors this week, backing two startups apiece. While Beenext invested in Haber and Nayan Tech, Lumikai backed Framer AI and Deftouch.
• Seed funding picked up this week to $17.8 Mn from $1.9 Mn last week.

Fund Launches This Week

• Lighthouse Canton and Nueva Capital’s joint venture LC Nueva Investment Partners announced the launch of a new fund with a target corpus of INR 150 Cr (nearly $18 Mn), with an additional greenshoe option of INR 100 Cr ($12 Mn).
• Recently listed non-banking financial company (NBFC) Northern Arc announced the launch of its category-II alternative investment fund (AIF) Finserv Fund, with a target corpus of INR 1,500 Cr (around $178.5 Mn).

Updates On Indian Startup IPOs

• Over three months after filing its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), logistics startup BlackBuck received market regulator SEBI’s go ahead for its INR 550 Cr IPO.
• B2B marketplace unicorn Zetwerk has initiated initial discussions with investment banker JP Morgan for its IPO, sources told Inc42 this week. The startup is eyeing a public listing in the next two years.
• Shortly after raising $210 Mn, edtech startup PhysicsWallah has roped in Axis Capital, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan as the bankers for its IPO. 

Other Developments Of The Week

• Fresh to the unicorn club, ride hailing major Rapido is eyeing raising $60 Mn from Prosus in a mix of primary and secondary share sales.
• In a bid to capitalise on the fintech investment boom, offline mobile payments startup ToneTag is looking to bag $50 Mn from investor Iron Pillar and others in a mix of primary and secondary share sale.
• VC firm Z47 (erstwhile known as Matrix Partners) is looking to sell shares of unicorns Ola, OfBusiness, Razorpay, and DailyHunt, cumulatively worth between $150 Mn and $180 Mn.
• Hyperlocal services startup Urban Company is likely to see a $30 Mn secondary transaction with its investor Prosus buying shares from Bessemer Venture Partners.
• The Good Glamm Group announced the complete acquisition of D2C feminine hygiene startup Sirona for INR 450 Cr this week.
• Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Consumer has sought approval from investors to turn into a public entity.

The post From Haber To Urja Mobility – Indian Startups Raised $114 Mn This Week appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Nine months after stepping down as the cofounder of ecommerce platform Dealshare, Sourjyendu Medda is said to have floated a new venture, Sports For Life (SFL). 

Incorporated in March 2024, the sports tech startup aims to create a “lasting impact on India’s sporting culture” by assisting sports academies across India. 

Medda (CEO) has founded SFL, along with former Cartesian employee Arman Tandon (COO) and Khushboo Talukdar. Operating under the aegis of parent entity Jambavan Academy Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru-based SFL counts Whiteboard Capital’s partner Anshu Prasher as its advisor. 

“Sports For Life is dedicated to revitalising India’s sporting culture, aiming to transform the sports landscape at grassroots levels in major cities, with a ripple effect that extends across the nation. Our goal is to redefine how our nation perceives and engages with sports,” SFL’s website reads. 

Meanwhile, the company’s filings with the MCA show that it has raised over INR 9.40 Cr ($1.1 Mn) in its seed funding round. It received the funding in two tranches of INR 4.65 Cr and INR 4.75 Cr in July. 

Investors who backed the startup included venture capital (VC) firms Blume Ventures, Roots Ventures and Kunal Shah’s QED Innovations Lab. It also received backing from Tandon Group’s chairman Manohar Lal Tandon’s family office and others.

Inc42 has reached out to Medda for a comment. This story will be updated based on his response. 

Entrackr was the first to report this development. 

Notably, Medda stepped down from his position as the CEO and cofounder of DealShare in January. Besides Medda, DealShare has also seen the exit of two more cofounders in recent times. 

In November 2023, it was reported that cofounders Vineet Rao and Sankar Bora parted ways with the company. While Medda has floated his new venture, there seems no clarity on Bora’s and Rao’s next course of action. 

Cofounder exits have come at a time when DealShare was said to be clocking hefty losses. The ecommerce platform reported a net loss of INR 502.7 Cr in the fiscal ended March 2023, up 14% YoY. In the same fiscal, its operating revenue grew a mere 5% to 1,963.5 Cr from INR 1,863.5 Cr a year ago. The company is yet to report its financial numbers for FY24.

The post Ex-DealShare Cofounder Floats New Sportstech Startup, Bags $1.1 Mn To Scale Up Sports Academies appeared first on Inc42 Media.

IPO-bound coworking space provider DevX (Dev Accelerator Ltd) turned profitable in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). The startup registered a net profit of INR 43.7 Lakh in FY24 as against a net loss of INR 12.83 Cr in the previous fiscal, according to DevX’s draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). 

The startup turned profitable on the back of a significant increase in its revenue operations. Operating revenue zoomed 55% to INR 108.08 Cr during the year under review from INR 69.91 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Including other income, total income stood at INR 110.73 Cr as against INR 71.36 Cr in FY23.

DevX, which is a subsidiary of listed IT company Dev IT, filed its IPO papers on September 30. Its IPO will comprise solely of a fresh issue of 2.47 Cr equity shares. The shares will be listed on the NSE and the BSE. As per reports, DevX is looking to raise INR 125 Cr from the public issue. 

Founded in 2017 by Parth Shah, Rushit Shah and Umesh Uttamchandani, the startup provides coworking space solutions, managed office spaces, workspace solution offerings, among others. 

It operates coworking spaces in 12 cities, including Delhi NCR, Jaipur, Mumbai, Indore, Ahmedabad, among others. It counts the likes of Zomato, WhiteOak, Tim Hortons, Hitachi, Darwinbox, among others, as its clients. 

DevX plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to open new coworking centres in Mumbai, Gurugram, Noida, Pune, Chennai, GIFT City, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, Goa and Jaipur in the next three years. 

Where Did DevX Spend?

The Ahmedabad-based coworking space provider’s total expenses rose 37% to INR 119.50 Cr in FY24 from INR 87.49 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Here’s a breakdown of the expenses: 

Depreciation & Amortisation: This was the biggest  expense for the startup, with the cost under this head jumping 50% to INR 45 Cr from INR 30 Cr in FY23. 

Cost Of Goods & Services: DevX’s spending under this head declined 15% to INR 20.22 Cr from INR 23.75 Cr in FY23. 

Finance Costs: The startup’s spending in this bucket increased 79% to INR 31 Cr in FY24 from INR 17.28 Cr in FY23.

Employee Benefit Expenses: Employee costs rose 12% to INR 7.53 Cr from INR 6.74 Cr in FY23. Employee costs comprise salaries and wages, gratuity, PF and other expenses.

Other Expenses: The startup’s other expenses, which included rent, legal, repair, postage and telephone expenses, among others, went up 64% to INR 15.74 Cr from INR 9.61 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

The startup’s bid to get listed comes at a time when a number of coworking space providers are making a beeline to the bourses. Besides DevX, Smartworks also filed its DRHP with SEBI earlier in the year. 

Meanwhile, Peak XV Partners-backed Awfis made its public market debut in May this year, listing on the BSE at a premium of 12.8% to the issue price. Since listing, the startup’s share price has surged over 50%.

Last month, Inc42 exclusively reported that IndiQube has also initiated its preparations for IPO. 

The post IPO-Bound DevX Posts INR 44 Lakh Profit In FY24 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Reliance Retail-owned hyperlocal search engine Justdial’s net profit jumped 115% to INR 154.07 Cr in the quarter ended September 30, 2024 (Q2 FY25) from INR 71.79 Cr in the year-ago quarter. 

On a sequential level, Justdial’s profit increased 9% from INR 141.22 Cr in Q1 FY25. 

The growth in operating revenue was subdued in the quarter. Justdial’s revenue from operations stood at INR 284.83 Cr during the quarter under review, up 9.3% from INR 260.61 Cr in Q2 FY24. Sequentially, it grew 1.5% from INR 280.57 Cr in the previous quarter.

However, the company’s total income jumped 25% to INR 398.44 Cr in Q2 FY25 from INR 318.53 Cr in the year-ago quarter, as other income nearly doubled.

The company’s other income for the quarter stood at INR 113.61 Cr, up 96% from INR 57.92 Cr in Q2 FY24.  

Justdial said that the other income in the quarter included fair value gain on financial instruments and profit from sale of investments. While fair value gain stood at INR 99.80 Cr as against INR 50.73 Cr in Q2 FY24, profit on sale of investments stood at INR 6.4 Cr in Q2 FY25 as against INR 1.03 Cr in the year-ago quarter. The company said its deferred revenue stood at INR 515.5 Cr, up 10% year-on-year (YoY). 

“Sequential growth was led by higher MTM (mark to market) gains on treasury portfolio due to decline in bond yields during the quarter,” the company said in a statement.

The company’s EBITDA for the quarter stood at INR 82.1 Cr, up 68% year-on-year (YoY). EBITDA margin increased to 28.8% from the 18.7% in the year-ago quarter. 

Meanwhile, Justdial managed to reduce its expenses in the quarter on a year-on-year basis. Its expenditure stood at INR 216.88 Cr in the quarter, a decline of 4% from INR 226.43 spent in the year-ago quarter. 

In the quarter, it saw its employee benefits go down 5% to INR 174.52 Cr from INR 185.38 Cr in the year-ago quarter. On a sequential basis, the employee expenses went up slightly from INR 172.87 Cr spent in the previous quarter.

The company attributed the growth in EBITDA margin to top line growth and cost efficiencies. 

The total traffic for Justdial in the second quarter of the ongoing fiscal stood at 198 Mn, up 15.3% YoY and 9.3% sequentially. Of this, the company attributed 85.4% of its total traffic coming in from mobile platforms, 11.8% from desktops or personal computers and 2.8% from its voice platforms.

Further, it also witnessed a 15% YoY increase in its active listings in the quarter. The search engine had 46.2 Mn listings on September 30, 2024. Out of the total listings, 30.8 Mn listings were geocoded. 

“Our innovative, integrated marketing campaigns—spanning digital and traditional channels like web, print, social media, physical meetup, and email—have successfully boosted our engagement with vendors. We’re not only achieving new revenue milestones but are also making significant investments in advanced technologies, including AI, to further enhance the value we deliver to both users and businesses,” Justdial’s CGO Shwetank Dixit stated in his comment on the results. 

Shares of Justdial ended today’s trading session 2.96% higher at INR 1307.10 on the BSE.

The post Justdial Q2 Profit Doubles To INR 154 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

D2C brand Bumtum’s parent Millenium Babycares has raised INR 122 Cr ($14.5 Mn) in a private placement round from Pantomath Capital-managed Bharat Value Fund (BVF). 

The investment firm acquired a minority stake in the company. The funds will be used for the expansion of the startup’s manufacturing unit and to solidify its presence in general trade (GT) and export markets.

Commenting on the fundraise, Millenium Babycare founder Ramprakash Beria said, “With this private placement, we are confident that Millennium is well-positioned for a robust growth trajectory. We remain committed to our mission of delivering hygiene care products while expanding our market reach and enhancing value for our stakeholders”.

“At Bharat Value Fund, we believe in backing companies that drive long-term value, and Bumtum’s focus on quality and innovation aligns with our goals. Bumtum, their flagship brand, is well-positioned for rapid market expansion, both in India and internationally…,” said Bharat Value Fund’s chief investment officer (CIO) Madhu Lunawat.

Founded in 2015, Millenium Babycares operates three verticals focussed on baby care, femcare, and adult care products. It sells baby diapers under the “Bumtum” brand and manufactures adult incontinence and femcare products under brand names “Elduro” and “Freeme”, respectively.

The company took the D2C route in 2021 as it began selling its products on ecommerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart. The company also sells its products on its website. 

The startup claims to produce 4 Mn baby diapers, 5 Lakh sanitary napkins, and 1 Lakh adult diapers daily. It also claims to have clocked a revenue of INR 585 Cr in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24). 

In a statement, the investment firm said that the company witnessed a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 53% between FY20 and FY24. Notably, Millennium Babycare’s revenue stood at INR 150 Cr in the fiscal ended March 2023.

The startup has netted fresh capital from Pantomath Capital’s second Category II alternative investment fund (AIF) called BVF. 

In August, Pantomath said that it was eyeing a target corpus of INR 2,000 Cr ($240 Mn) for BVF. It marked the first close of the fund with commitments to the north of INR 1,000 Cr.  

Besides BVF, Pantomath also operates another AIF India Inflection Opportunity Fund, which has so far backed eight entities, including Nurture Well Foods, Vardhman Group, and MKC Agro Fresh.

The post D2C Babycare Brand Bumtum Laps Up INR 122 Cr From Pantomath Capital To Boost Exports appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Two years after acquiring a majority stake in D2C feminine hygiene startup Sirona, content-to-commerce major The Good Glamm Group has now announced the complete acquisition of the startup. 

In a statement, the company said that content-to-commerce finalised the deal at INR 450 Cr ($60 Mn) for the remaining 49.42% stake in the company, giving an all-cash exit to founders Deep and Mohit Bajaj.

Notably, The Good Glamm Group last invested INR 100 Cr in Sirona in December 2021 through primary and secondary investments. This investment was made against a 41.15% stake in Sirona. 

The company later further increased its stake in the femtech startup to 50.58% by the end of FY23 for an undisclosed amount.

Interestingly, both the cofounders stepped down from their active roles in Sirona earlier this year. The latest deal will see the cofounders resign from their respective roles as active directors. 

Besides, per The Good Glamm Group, the transaction will benefit Sirona’s employees through accelerated ESOP vesting. 

“It hasn’t been an easy road—bootstrapping, overcoming fundraising challenges, breaking taboos, and dealing with copycats – we have seen it all. This all-cash acquisition feels like validation for all the hard work,” Deep said. 

Founded in 2015, Sirona sells female hygiene products such as herbal pain relief patches, period stain remover, oxo-biodegradable sanitary napkins and menstrual cups.

The femtech startup is said to have tripled its revenues since 2022. Meanwhile, Sirona is yet to disclose financial results for fiscal 2023-24 (FY24).

In its last financial filing with the MCA, the feminine hygiene startup’s net loss went up 97% to INR 33.10 Cr in FY23 from INR 16.83 Cr a fiscal ago. Operating revenue grew 81% to INR 75.28 Cr during the fiscal under review from INR 41.51 Cr in FY22. 

As for the Good Glamm Group, net losses ballooned to INR 917 Cr in FY23, up 153% from the INR 362.5 Cr it incurred in FY22. The startup’s revenue increased 2.8X in FY23 and operating revenue stood at INR 603 Cr, up 185% YoY. 

The post The Good Glamm Group Buys Out Remaining Stake In Femtech Sirona For INR 450 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Travel tech major OYO-owned startup Innov8 has forayed into the managed office space with the launch of a new vertical for the segment.

Innov8 plans to add 4 Mn square feet of managed office space in India in the coming three years. The startup has allocated an investment of INR 50 Cr towards the development of the new infrastructure. 

In a statement, it said that it will focus on building Grade A buildings, with premium quality infrastructure and amenities. Further, Innov8 plans to build its largest managed office space project in Mumbai as part of the project. 

“By entering the managed office space sector and undertaking this large-scale project in Mumbai, we’re positioning ourselves to meet the evolving needs of businesses in one of India’s most dynamic cities. We’ve had some early success here and we plan to replicate this across markets,” Innov8 founder Ritesh Malik said. 

Founded in 2015 by Malik, Innov8 offers premium coworking space across nine cities – Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and Indore. The startup claims to have over 350 brands, like Swiggy, PhonePe, Jio Saavn, working in its office spaces. 

Innov8 was acquired by OYO in an all-cash deal worth about INR 220 Cr ($31.84 Mn) in 2019. 

The development comes at a time when OYO has been on an expansion spree of its own. Marking one of its biggest acquisitions till date, the travel tech startup acquired the US-based hospitality chains Motel 6 and Studio 6 parent G6 Hospitality for $525 Mn in September. It also acquired Paris-based premium rental homes company Checkmyguest for INR 230 Cr ($27.4 Mn) in a cash and stock deal. 

On the financial front, OYO turned profitable in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24). It posted a profit of INR 229.5 Cr during the year as against a net loss of INR 1,286.5 Cr in FY23. 

Innov8’s expansion into the managed office space comes at a time when multiple players in the coworking and managed office space arena are making a beeline towards the bourses. 

In May, Peak XV Partners-backed Awfis made its debut on the BSE at a premium of 12.8% to the issue price. Following that, Smartworks and DevX filed their draft red herring prospectus with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). 

Another coworking space provider IndiQube has also started its preparation for an IPO. 

Meanwhile, OYO has put its plans to get listed on hold. The startup withdrew its IPO papers in May and plans to refile the papers after it refinances its Term Loan B (TLB).

The post OYO-Owned Innov8 Forays Into Managed Office Space Segment appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Weeks after travel tech startup EaseMyTrip cofounder and CEO Nishant Pitti offloaded a significant amount of his shares, the startup’s board is mulling to undertake a fresh bonus issue of shares. 

In an exchange filing on October 9, EaseMyTrip said that its board of directors will meet on Monday (October 14) to consider and approve the issue of bonus shares.

For the uninitiated, bonus shares are issued by a company for free in proportion to the existing number of shares held by shareholders. 

The development comes at a time when the startup’s shares have been on a downward spiral for the last few weeks. The stock hit a fresh 52-week low of INR 31.10 during the intraday trading on October 7 amid the broader market decline. 

The downward spiral of EaseMyTrip’s shares began on September 25 when Pitti sold 16.91 Cr shares for INR 37.22 apiece, 6.73 Cr shares for INR 37.42 per share, and 1 Cr shares for INR 38.28 apiece. With this, Pitti’s stake in the startup was reduced to about 14% from over 28% at the end of the June quarter. Since then, the startup’s shares have fallen over 16%.

In the past, EaseMyTrip has issued bonus shares twice. In October 2022, the startup’s board approved the issuance of bonus shares in the ratio of 3:1 and a stock split. Before that, the company issued bonus equity shares in the proportion of 1:1 in February 2022.

On the business front, EaseMyTrip has made a number of new announcements in recent months. On September 17, the company announced the acquisition of a 30% stake in Rollins International Private Limited for INR 60 Cr ($7.15 Mn) and a 49% stake in Pflege Home Healthcare Center LLC for INR 30 Cr ($3.5 Mn) to enter the medical tourism space. 

Last month, the company also incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary Easy Green Mobility to foray into electric bus manufacturing. It plans to invest INR 200 Cr for R&D, product development, and setting up a manufacturing plant over the next 2-3 years.

Shares of EaseMyTrip ended today’s trading session 3.52% higher at INR 34.13 on the BSE.

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In the run up to its much-awaited initial public offering, foodtech major Swiggy allotted employee stock options (ESOPs) worth over INR 1,748.41 Cr (over $208.2 Mn) to its founder and group CEO Sriharsha Majety. 

As per the startup’s updated draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed with SEBI, the company allotted 48.56 Mn shares to Majety as part of its Swiggy Employee Stock Option Plan 2024.

The company’s IPO papers mention that the last selling price of its shares was INR 360, when Ark India sold 210K shares for INR 7.56 Cr. On the basis of this price, Majety was awarded shares worth INR 1,753.27 Cr. 

Besides the CEO, the company also awarded ESOPs to other executives. Overall, the company granted 85.35 Mn ESOPs worth over INR 3,072 Cr  (over $365.9 Mn) under ESOP 2024 scheme.

The company said that no options have vested and no options have been exercised. 

Other prominent names that were recipients of the stock options were CFO Rahul Bothra (2.09 Mn), CTO Madhusudhan Rao Subbarao (2.09 Mn), head HR Girish Menon (2.09 Mn), Ashwath Swaminathan (1.39 Mn), CGO and cofounder Phani Kishan Addepalli (2.09 Mn), cofounder Lakshmi Nandan Reddy Obul (2.09 Mn), Swiggy food marketplace CEO Rohit Kapoor (2.37 Mn), and Swiggy Instamart CEO Amitesh Jha (3.24 Mn). 

It is pertinent to mention that Swiggy filed its updated DRHP last month. Swiggy’s public issue was to comprise a fresh issuance of shares worth INR 3,750 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) component of 18.53 Cr equity shares. 

In the run up to its IPO, the foodtech major also received approval from its shareholders to increase the size of the fresh issue in its IPO to INR 5,000 Cr.

The OFS will see Majety selling up to 1.74 Mn equity shares in the IPO. Investors such as Accel, Coatue, Alpha Wave, Elevation, Norwest and Tencent will also sell shares as part of the OFS component. While Accel India IV (Mauritius) Ltd will offload 1.05 Cr shares, Alpha Wave Ventures will dump 55.73 Lakh shares as part of the OFS component. 

The post Swiggy Allots ESOPs Worth INR 1,748 Cr To Founder Sriharsha Majety Pre-IPO appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In the run up to the launch of its District app, Zomato has bolstered its ‘going out’ vertical by roping in BookMyShow’s former live events and IP head Kunal Khambhati. 

Khambhati worked with BookMyShow for over seven years and led live events and intellectual property development for all markets, including India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. He left the company in April, as per his LinkedIn profile. 

Sources close to Zomato confirmed that Khambhati has joined the company. However, Inc42 couldn’t ascertain his designation for the new role.

The Ken was the first to report about him joining Zomato. 

Khambhati will join other senior executives that Zomato recently onboarded to bolster its going out business. In July, the company brought back Rahul Ganjoo and Pradyot Ghate, who left Zomato in 2023. Back then, it was reported that the two executives will helm the going-out business. 

Zomato has been teasing the launch of a new app ‘District’ for the going-out business since August. The app will allow customers to discover and book restaurants and book tickets for movies, sports, live performances, among others.

To take on BookMyShow, the leader in the live events space, Zomato acquired Paytm’s entertainment ticketing business in August for INR 2,048 Cr. 

In a recent interview to Moneycontrol, Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said that the company plans to upgrade stadiums in the country to provide a better experience for the customers in the live events space. 

“We’ll have to (build stadiums) at some point. Otherwise, the song, the artists, the work and experience will not really be worthwhile. We won’t build like a Zomato stadium but we will partner with someone and propose to upgrade the infrastructure and give the stadium a facelift. We can take care of the capex, and in exchange ask for 40 rental free days in a year,” the publication quoted him as saying. 

It is pertinent to mention that the live events space is seeing a strong demand in the country. In fact, Zomato, which was the exclusive ticketing partner for Diljit Dosanjh’s ‘Dil-luminati Tour – India’, saw the tickets for the concert being sold out in minutes and being resold at sky-high prices on ticket reselling platforms after it. The same was the case with BookMyShow, which was the partner for ‘Coldplay: Music Of The Spheres World Tour’.

Shares of Zomato ended Tuesday’s trading session 4.75% higher at INR 279 on the BSE. 

The post Zomato Onboards Former BookMyShow Executive Kunal Khambhati appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Continuing on the path to recovery, shares of fintech major Paytm surged 15.65% to end Tuesday’s (October 8) trading session at INR 753.60. With this, the startup’s market capitalisation also jumped to $5.71 Bn. 

The upswing came a day after the startup’s founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma reiterated Paytm’s focus on doubling down on its core business of consumer payments. 

Speaking at a CII event in Kolkata on Monday, Sharma said that the company will look to reinvest in the consumer payments business area. “Payments remain our primary business, and the merchant side continues to be strong. However, we lost a significant consumer base due to regulatory constraints. Moving forward, we aim to reinvest in the consumer payments business area,” PTI quoted him as saying.

The comments came on the heels of Paytm selling its entertainment ticketing business to Zomato for INR 2,048 Cr in an all-cash deal.

On Monday, Paytm also announced allotting 93,284 equity shares to its employees under Employee Stock Option Scheme 2019 and Employee Stock Option Scheme 2008. 

It is pertinent to note that the shares of Paytm have been on an upswing for the past four weeks. Last week, the stock gained 3.39% to end the week at INR 695.20. 

Earlier this month, Paytm announced its plans to double down on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). As part of this, it appointed its payments CTO Manmeet Dhody as ‘AI Fellow’ to drive its projects related to AI innovation in business. It also elevated senior VP of Technology Deependra Singh Rathore as its new payments CTO. 

Despite the recent bull run, it is pertinent to note that the company’s shares are currently trading over 60% lower than its listing price of INR 1,950. Paytm went public in November 2021. 

Recently, Sharma also expressed regret on his choice of investment bankers for the company’s initial public offering (IPO). “I have been an entrepreneur long enough now. I have a regret of not choosing the correct bankers for the IPO,” Sharma said last month. 

The post Paytm Zooms Over 15% After Vijay Shekhar Sharma Reiterates Focus On Consumer Payments appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Ride-hailing companies Ola and Uber and logistics startup Porter have scored zero points on Fairwork India’s ratings for the working conditions of gig workers. 

The latest edition of Fairwork’s ‘Fairwork India Ratings 2024’ evaluated 11 digital platforms on five principles – fair pay, fair conditions, fair contracts, fair management, fair representation.

The platforms could get a maximum of two points on each principle. The second point was awarded only to the platforms which fulfilled the condition of the first point.

The report said that the platforms do not have documented mechanisms enabling collective expression of the “voices of all workers, ensure that workers’ freedom of association is not inhibited, and have a written statement of willingness to recognise or negotiate with a collective, independent body of workers”.

Besides, the report also highlighted that none of the digital players pay minimum wages enough to allow workers to afford a basic but decent standard of living. 

BigBasket, Swiggy, Zomato, and Urban Company were the top scorers, getting six points each from the maximum 10 points. While Blusmart got five points, Zepto got four. Amazon Flex bagged two points and Flipkart got one point. 

BigBasket also scored the highest points in the previous year’s report. Interestingly, Ola and Porter failed to open their accounts in the previous edition of the rankings as well. 

The development comes at a time when there is a growing debate about the working conditions of gig workers. Worker unions have often cited problems like long working hours and low wages in the past. Besides, the gig workers of a number of platforms have protested over the last few years to demand better working conditions.

As a result, the Centre and state governments have stepped up the efforts to safeguard the interests of gig workers. Recently, the union labour minister directed aggregator platforms like Urban Company, Swiggy, Zomato, Porter, Even Cargo, Amazon, Uber and Ola to onboard all eligible gig workers on the e-Shram Portal within three months.

The post Ola, Uber, Porter Score Zero Points On Fairwork’s Rating For Gig Workers appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Spacetech startup XDLINX Space Labs has raised $7 Mn (about INR 58.8 / Cr) in its seed funding round led by ace investor Ashish Kacholia. The round also saw participation from E2MC, Mana Ventures, and one unnamed family office.

In a statement, the Hyderabad-based startup said it plans to leverage the fresh capital for its first commercial mission and to develop its own satellite. 

“… the funding… will help us to accelerate the manufacturing of next-generation payloads for defence and commercial missions like E-band communications, optical and RF intelligence to building space heritage, operationalisation of satellite bus platforms and expand our global presence in the US and UK,” XDLINX Space Labs’ cofounder and CEO Rupesh Gandupalli said. 

Founded by Gandupalli and Karthik Govindhasamy, XDLINX Space Labs offers end-to-end nano and micro satellite platforms with hosted payloads. It claims to have multiple platforms and launched a software-designed 6U small satellite ‘JANUS-1’ aboard ISRO’s SSLV-D2 rocket in February last year. 

The startup said it is currently working on its next major project ‘Elevation-1’, which will see it launch a miniaturised space-grade E-band payload which is scheduled to be launched aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-12 mission. It claimed that Elevation-1 will be the world’s first commercial mission designed to demonstrate E-band communications with digital modulation.

Besides, the spacetech startup is also building a 150-kg class satellite hosting Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and multi-spectral optical sensors together using its XDSAT-M600 platform. The platform is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter of 2025. 

XDLINX Space Labs also claims to be in final discussions with its customers for building and launching a sub-metre multi-spectral imagery satellite constellation. 

The development comes at a time when India’s spacetech sector is buzzing with activities amid supportive government policies. From opening up the space sector to private entities and liberalising the FDI regime for the sector to announcing new space programmes, the Centre has taken a number of initiatives to promote startups.

As a result, a number of spacetech startups have emerged in the country over the last few years. As per Inc42 data, India is home to over 150 spacetech startups, including notable names like Pixxel, Agnikul, and Skyroot. The country’s spacetech sector is estimated to reach a market size of $77 Bn by 2030. 

The post Spacetech Startup XDLINK Space Labs Raises $7 Mn From Ashish Kacholia, Others appeared first on Inc42 Media.

There was a bloodbath in new-age tech stocks on Monday (October 7) as the decline in the broader market continued in today’s session.

Twenty two out of the 28 stocks under Inc42’s coverage fell in a range of 0.64% to over 8% in today’s session. Ola Electric emerged as the biggest loser, with its shares plummeting 8.3% to end the day at INR 90.82.

It was followed by fintech SaaS startup Zaggle, which fell 8.14% to INR 422.80. The startup announced the appointment of Kotak Mahindra Bank’s consumer banking head Virat Sunil Diwanji as an additional director to its board. 

While Paytm declined 6.27%, Awfis fell 6.13% today. Nazara, Cartrade and FirstCry were among the other major losers today.

Meanwhile, NSE SME listed D2C startup Menhood continued its bull run from last week to emerge as the biggest gainer today. Shares of its parent Macobs Technologies ended today’s trading session at INR 149, up 2.58% from previous close. Go Digit, Nykaa, Honasa, RateGain and Yudiz were the other new-age tech stocks which ended in the green today. 

Overall, the cumulative total market capitalisation of the 28 new-age tech stocks declined $2.3 Bn to stand at $78.52 Bn at the end of today’s session as against $80.85 Bn on October 4 (Friday). 

In the broader market, benchmark indices Sensex fell 0.78% to 81,050 and Nifty50 declined 0.87% to 24,795.75. BSE SmallCap index crashed 3.27% to 54,117.72 and BSE Midcap went down 1.85% to 47,019.08. 

Commenting on today’s market performance, Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP of technical and derivatives research at Asit C. Mehta Investment Intermediates, said, “Nifty started the day flat to positive but remained under pressure after an initial bounce, ultimately closing on a negative note at 24,796. Technically, on the daily chart, the index (Nifty 50) formed a red candle, signalling weakness. However, the index managed to defend the 24,750 level, providing some relief for the bulls.”

“As long as the index holds within the 24,700–24,750 range, a short-term pullback could be possible. However, if Nifty sustains below 24,700, deeper declines could follow,” he added. 

It is pertinent to note that markets were on a downward spiral last week as well. While Sensex slumped 4.5% to 81,688.45 in the previous week, Nifty50 went down 4.4% to 25,014.60.

Rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have kept the investors on tenterhooks. Besides, the stimulus measures announced by China have led to global investors shifting their focus to the Chinese market from the Indian market.

The post New-Age Tech Stocks Lose Over $2.3 Bn In M-Cap In A Day Amid Decline In Broader Market appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In a tumultuous week for the broader Indian market, new-age tech stocks witnessed mixed investor sentiment. Eleven of the 28 stocks under Inc42’s coverage gained in a range of 0.15% to just a little under 13% this week. 

Jaipur-based D2C male grooming brand Menhood emerged as the top gainer this week. Shares of Menhood’s parent Macobs Technologies ended the week at INR 145, up 12.93% from last week.

Other gainers of the week included Paytm, PB Fintech, Go Digit, RateGain, among others. 

Meanwhile, 17 startups ended in the red this week, falling in a range of 0.88% to over 7%. Car marketplace CarTrade emerged as the biggest loser this week, with its shares tanking 7.36% to end the week at INR 907.75.

Delhivery, EaseMyTrip, Nykaa, Awfis, Ola Electric, and Zomato were among the other losers this week.

It is pertinent to note that the market was closed on October 2 on account of Gandhi Jayanti. 

Meanwhile, the week saw the four-week momentum in the broader market coming to a screeching halt. While Sensex fell 4.5% to end the week at 81,688.45, Nifty50 went down 4.4% to 25,014.60.

Escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East triggered a decline in the global markets this week over their impact on fuel prices. Besides, the stimulus measures announced by China led to global investors shifting their focus to the Chinese market from the Indian market.

Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said that the decline in the Indian market was broad based this week. He expects the market to be under pressure for some time. 

“The spike in oil prices due to the mounting tensions in the Middle East may add input cost inflation and thereby impact the earnings visibility of domestic companies. The market is likely to witness a consolidation phase as the expensive valuation and unfavourable macro situation may influence investors to adopt a sell-on-rally strategy,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP of technical and derivatives research at Asit C. Mehta Investment Interrmediates, said that the indices broke their key support base and are indicating fresh weakness, which may lead to further downward movement.

Meanwhile, 41 companies filed their IPO papers in September, the highest ever recorded in a single month, amid the bull run in the broader markets. 

In the startup context, coworking space provider DevX became the latest to file a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). Its public issue will consist solely of a fresh issue of 2.47 Cr equity shares. 

Besides DevX, foodtech major Swiggy, which filed its updated DRHP with SEBI on September 26, got shareholders’ nod this week to increase the size of fresh issue in its IPO to INR 5,000 Cr from INR 3,750 Cr earlier.

Commenting on the IPO trends, Pantomath Financial Services Group’s founder Mahavir Lunawat said, “Increasing number of growth stage businesses shall hit the street. Moreover, we will have a trend of multinationals coming to tap the Indian capital market. Besides, several other market liquidity parameters, notably monthly mutual fund flow has doubled since last quarter and we are getting close to INR 40,000 Cr of money every month. This has fuelled capital market buoyancy phenomenally.”

With that said, let’s take a deeper look at the performance of the new-age tech stocks this week. 

The total market capitalisation of the 28 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage dipped to $80.85 Bn at the end of this week as against $81.69 Bn last week.

Honasa’s UAE Troubles

Shares of Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumers plunged 6.27% to end the week at INR 427.95. With this, its market cap also fell to $1.65 Bn. 

It is pertinent to note that the stock touched an all-time high at INR 546.50 on September 10. 

The primary reason behind the decline in the stock price this week was a ruling by a Dubai court in connection with the company’s dispute with its former UAE distributor RSM General Trading. 

Honasa said on Friday that a Dubai court upheld its order directing attachment of its assets. However, the court rejected the RSM General Trading’s demand to cancel the trading licence of Honasa’s subsidiary Honasa Consumer General Trading LLC. 

The company said that it will appeal against the Dubai court’s latest ruling. Honasa also said that the order will have no financial impact, adding that it is in the process of initiating contempt proceedings against RSM General Trading in the Delhi HC for failing to comply with the court’s previous ruling.  

Despite this, the stock ended over 4% lower on the BSE on Friday.

On Saturday, the company clarified that it does not own any asset in the UAE and its Dubai subsidiary has been exempted from the attachment order. 

CarTrade Continues To Fall 

In its third consecutive week of loss at the bourses, shares of CarTrade saw a big dip this week. The stock crashed 7.36% to end the week at INR 907.75. Besides, its market cap also fell to $510 Mn. 

During the week, Goldman Sachs Asset Management said that it increased its stake in the startup to 7.19% from 5.15% at the end of the June quarter. Goldman Sachs, along with its associated entities, acquired an additional 9.78 Lakh shares of CarTrade via open market transactions, it said in an exchange filing. 

In the previous week, Warburg Pincus exited the startup by divesting its entire 8.64% stake in the auto marketplace for INR 375.1 Cr. Most of the shares were picked up by Mirae Asset Mutual Fund, which bought 30.22 Lakh shares at INR 920 per share. 

It must be mentioned that shares of CarTrade gained 6.02% to touch a 52-week high at INR 1,034.50 on the BSE during the intraday trading on September 25. However, the stock has fallen about 12% from there. 

TAC Infosec Gains On The Back Of International Expansion

Shares of NSE Emerge-listed TAC Infosec ended the week at INR 723, up 10.40% from last week. Its market cap also jumped to $90.16 Mn. 

The startup made multiple acquisition announcements this week. In an exchange filing on September 30, the cybersecurity startup said it acquired US-based CyberSandia with an aim to enhance its regional presence and expand its global operations. CyberSandia holds an exclusive government contract to provide IT services to New Mexico, it said.

Last month, the startup had said that it would acquire CyberSandia for $25,000.

TAC Infosec also announced the acquisition of WOS, a wholly owned subsidiary of TAC Cyber Security Consultancy LLC, based in the UAE. The move is aimed at meeting the growing demand for advanced cybersecurity services in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

“Both developments are part of TAC Security’s consistent growth and focus on innovation in the cybersecurity space. Its ESOF (Enterprise Security in One Framework) platform continues to be adopted by enterprises and governments worldwide to combat evolving cyber threats, enabling the company to lead the way in comprehensive vulnerability management and cybersecurity solutions,” the startup said in a statement. 

The new UAE subsidiary will enable the company to diversify its client base and provide cybersecurity services to cross-border clients throughout the GCC, according to the statement.

Earlier, TAC Infosec said it acquired 590 new customers in the first quarter of FY25, of which 149 clients came from the US. Back then, it said it was looking to bolster its global expansion. 

The post Mixed Week For New-Age Tech Stocks Amid Bloodbath In Broader Market, Menhood Top Gainer This Week appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Investment activity across the Indian startup ecosystem saw a dip this week after bucking upward trends. In the week between September 30 and October 5, startups managed to raise $86.4 Mn via 16 deals, more than 80% drop from $432.2 Mn raised across 24 deals in the preceding week.

It is pertinent to note that the week was sans mega funding and further marks the beginning of festivity in India. 

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [ Sep 30 – Oct 5 ]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• On the back of the week’s top funding round, which saw Mstack raising $40 Mn, entrerprisetech retained its top spot as the most funded sector.
• Ecommerce witnessed the most number of deals materialise this week. Startups in the sector raised $6.7 Mn via 4 deals.
• Seed funding dipped this week, with startups at this level only managing to raise $1.9 Mn as against $44.5 Mn raised last week.

Startup Fund Launches Of This Week

• Angel investment network ThinKuvate marked the first close of its maiden India fund, ThinKuvate India Fund – I, at INR 25 Cr. The firm is targeting a total corpus of INR 100 Cr for the fund.
• Early-stage focused venture capital firm Trillion Dollar Ventures (TDV) floated its second fund with a target corpus of NR 50 Cr ($5.9 Mn). The fund will back 10-12 pre-seed and seed stage startups annually with an average ticket size of INR 1-2 Cr.

Updates On Indian Startup IPOs

• Enroute to its initial public offering (IPO), foodtech major Swiggy received approval from its shareholders to increase the size of the fresh issue in its IPO to INR 5,000 Cr from INR 3,750 Cr earlier.
• Ahmedabad-based coworking space provider DevX filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with market regulator Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) this week. Its proposed IPO will consist solely of a fresh issue of 2.47 Cr equity shares.
• CarDekho is in advanced talks with bankers for a $500 Mn IPO, which it plans to file by March 2025.

Mergers and Acquisitions This Week

• Edtech startup Adda247 has bought placement preparation platform PrepInsta to foray private and public sector jobs test prep space.
• Listed cybersecurity startup TAC Infosec acquired US-based cybersecurity firm CyberSandia to strengthen its presence in the US and expand its global footprint. It also acquired WOS to strengthen its position in the UAE market.
• Fruits and vegetables platform Pluckk acquired D2C nutrition brand Upnourish for $1.4 Mn.
• FirstCry’s rollup startup arm Brainbees’ completely acquired  D2C brand The Butternut Co by investing an additional INR 8 Cr for a 100% stake in the startup.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Angel investment firm BizDateup’s cofounders Jeet Chandan and Meet Jain picked up an undisclosed stake in Swiggy.
• Peak XV Partners pared the size of its $2.85 Bn fund by 16% or $465 Mn more than a year after it split from Silicon Valley-based Sequoia Capital.
• Ratan Tata partially exited broking platform Upstox with 10X returns after the startup concluded a buyback of 5% of Tata’s stake in it.
• Fabless semiconductor startup FermionIC Design is looking to raise $6 Mn in a funding round led by Lucky Investment Managers’ Ashish Kacholia and his associates. The startup has already raked in $2.5 Mn as part of the investment round.
• Belgium-based VC firm Verlinvest is looking to double its annual investment in India in three years. Its managing director and head of Asia Arjun Anand has invested over $110.3 Mn annually in India over the last few years and aims to double this in the next two-three years.

The post From Mstack To Waycool – Indian Startups Raised $86 Mn This Week appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Belgium-based venture capital (VC) firm Verlinvest, which invested in Blue Tokai last month, is looking to double its annual investment in India in three years. 

Verlinvest’s managing director and head of Asia Arjun Anand told Reuters that the VC firm has invested over $110.3 Mn annually in India over the last few years and aims to double this in the next two-three years. Lifestyle and healthcare will be the key focus sectors.

“India is the winning market for Verlinvest in Asia, and we are allocating more resources as returns on investments continue to improve,” Anand was quoted as saying. 

However, he also pointed out challenges in the Indian market, including longer time to exit startups and rupee depreciation, which negatively impacts returns.

Despite this, Anand said that India “offers a much greater growth opportunity and that makes returns attractive”. 

Verlinvest entered India about 15 years ago. The VC firm has backed Indian startups like Purplle, BYJU’S, Lahori Zeera, Wakefit, Veeba, Epigamia, Ferty9, among others. 

Its most recent Indian bet was speciality coffee chain Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters when it led its $35 Mn Series C funding round. 

Besides its startup bets, the Belgian firm also backed early stage VC fund V3 Venture, which launched its India operations in April last year. The fund is eyeing making cumulative investments of 100 Mn euros (about INR 896.5 Cr) in India, Europe, and the US.

The fund, which is helmed by Arjun Vaidya, invests primarily in pre-Series A and Series A rounds in consumer centric brands. Its average ticket size is in the range of $1-$5 Mn. Since inception, V3 Ventures has backed Kuku FM, Eka.care, Entri, Go Zero, Dil Foods. 

Anand’s comments come at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem is seeing renewed investor interest. As per Inc42’s ‘Indian Tech Startup Funding Report, Q3 2024′, the first three quarters of 2024 saw Indian startup funding zoom 20% year-on-year to $8.7 Bn from $7.2 Bn in the corresponding period a year ago. The deal count also grew to 766 deals from 691 deals in 2023.

The post Purplle-Backer Verlinvest To Double Its India Investments appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Doubling down on its artificial intelligence (AI) play, fintech major Paytm said it has appointed its CTO Manmeet Dhody as “AI Fellow” to drive its projects related to AI innovation in business. 

Dhody has been with the company since 2020, joining as CTO-Payments. His over two decade long prior work experience has seen him lead software development for over seven years for ecommerce major Amazon between 2012-2020, serve as the principal development lead for Microsoft, and hold the position of director in US-based software development company Quark. 

Meanwhile, Paytm has elevated senior VP of Technology Deependra Singh Rathore as its new CTO-Payments. Interestingly, Rathore helmed AI-led strategic initiatives and oversaw design and implementation of payment products and services during his ongoing eight-year tenure with the company. 

He joined the company as a senior VP for its associate Paytm Payments Bank in 2016. Before joining Paytm, he worked as an engineering manager for Snapdeal for over a year between 2014-16. Prior to that, he worked for AGNITY and GENBAND. 

Paytm credits him for building its payments technology to provide exhaustive payment solutions to merchants and customers such as online payment gateway, QR payments, card payments.

“As India’s leading tech innovator, we have always championed innovations that drive mobile payments and inclusive financial service distribution to masses. We are excited to see Deependra Singh Rathore step into the role of CTO, and build for financial services in the AI age. We also welcome Manmeet as an AI Fellow, helping accelerate our vision of integrating AI-driven processes across our business operations,” a Paytm spokesperson said. 

This comes about a month after Paytm chief Vijay Shekhar Sharma said that the company is “fully committed” to integrating AI in its core payment business. 

“Some technologies being built are so good, if you fork it out, it could become a standalone business vertical. Risk management options, credit risk, fraud risk, future underwriting of insurance will all be led by AI. The generative AI interaction with financial services will be underwriting,” Sharma said during the company’s 24th annual general meeting on September 12. 

However, it is pertinent to note that the company has also attributed its mass layoff spree to AI adoption. Earlier, sources told Inc42 that Paytm has been adopting AI wherever possible to drive up efficiency since last year, resulting in layoffs. The company has laid off hundreds of employees since 2023.

“For the coming year, while we continue to invest in the merchant sales team, as well as risk and compliance functions, we expect reductions in other employee costs. We expect annualised people cost savings of INR 400 – INR 500 Cr,” Paytm said in its annual report for FY24. 

The post Paytm Fortifies Its AI Play, Appoints Payments CTO Manmeet Dhody As AI Fellow appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In a bid to further strengthen its presence in the Indian market, tech giant Apple has reportedly unveiled plans to open four more retail stores in the country. 

According to a report by Moneycontrol, the iPhone maker is planning to set up the new stores in Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi NCR, and Mumbai. 

The timeline for this expansion is yet to be discerned. As of now, Apple operates two retail stores in India – one in Delhi’s Saket and the other in Mumbai’s BKC. 

“We’re thrilled to build our teams as we plan to open more stores in India because we’re inspired by the creativity and passion of our customers across this country. We can’t wait for them to have even more opportunities to discover and shop for our amazing products and services and connect with our extraordinary, knowledgeable team members,” the publication quoted Apple’s senior VP of retail Deirdre O’Brien as saying. 

Further, the company has also reportedly started the production of the complete range of its latest iPhone16 in India. The tech major launched iPhone 16 last month. 

The company also plans to increase its workforce in the country from its current 3,000 employees. Earlier in August, reports said that Apple’s India ecosystem could potentially employ 6 Lakh workers by the end of the current fiscal year (FY25) directly. 

The development came about a month after it was reported that Tata Electronics is set to launch its second iPhone assembly unit in India. The factory, which will see Tata Electronics commit an INR 6,000 Cr, is expected to be set up in Hosur district in Tamil Nadu. 

The company’s shift of operations to India have seen it establish a significant supply chain in the country. As of now, 1 in 7 iPhones are manufactured in India and Apple is also domestically sourcing components for the phones. Apple aims to manufacture 25% of all its iPhones in India over the next 3-4 years, up from the current 14%.

Apple’s India focus seems to be paying off as the company has realised tremendous gains from its investment in the country. For the June quarter, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company set a revenue record in the country. According to reports, Apple’s annual sales from the country stood at nearly $8 Bn for the 12 months ended March 2024, up 33% from the $6 Bn sales reported in the previous year.

The post Amid Rising Sales, Apple To Open 4 New Retail Stores In India appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Amid the controversy around black marketing of Coldplay’s “Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025”, online ticketing major BookMyShow is mulling the cancellation of tickets bought from ticket selling/ reselling platforms. 

In a statement, a BookMyShow spokesperson said that it is looking to reinforce its position against ticket reselling in India. “We remain vigilant in monitoring such instances of ticket reselling for this tour through black market channels and will continue to share all relevant information with the authorities to ensure appropriate action is taken. BookMyShow is assessing potential cancellation of such tickets that are being sold- unethically,” the spokesperson said. 

The company said that it filed a formal FIR (First Information Report) with the authorities on October 2, a few days after it filed an “initial” complaint with the Mumbai Police. 

In its formal complaint, the company has named ticket scalping platforms such as Viagogo, Stubhub Holdings, along with individuals reselling tickets for the tour across social media platforms. 

“Our stance remains clear and unchanged – BookMyShow vehemently condemns and opposes ticket reselling which is deemed illegal and is punishable by law in India. BookMyShow has no association with any such unauthorised ticket selling/reselling platforms and/or any third party individuals/platforms for the purpose of reselling Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025 in India,” the spokesperson added. 

The statement comes days after it was reported that the company itself is facing a probe in the matter. The Mumbai Police summoned BookMyShow CEO Ashish Hemrajani after lawyer Amit Vyas filed a complaint accusing the company of enabling the black market sale of tickets for the highly anticipated Coldplay concert.

However, Hemrajani skipped appearing before the Police on September 27. Three days later, COO Anil Makhija appeared before the Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW).

“Our authorised representatives and senior management have been available as required by the authorities, ensuring full transparency in sharing all necessary information with the EOW,” the spokesperson said. 

Tickets for the concert went live on the platform on September 22 at 1.30 PM and were sold out within minutes. Ticket prices for the concert ranged between INR 2,500 to INR 12,500 . However, the tickets were later being sold for as much as INR 4 Lakh on the aforementioned reselling platforms.

The tickets for the concert are still live on Viagogo and can cost fans upwards of INR 2 Lakh. 

Given the controversy around the concert, there were speculations that the show might see a last minute cancellation. 

However, BookMyShow clarified that the concert will go as per schedule. “We would also like to clarify that Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025 in India will proceed as planned. Reports contrary to this are factually incorrect,” the spokesperson said. 

BookMyShow’s newest rival Zomato also faced a similar problem for Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-luminati concert in Delhi. Zomato has issued a formal notice to Viagogo for selling tickets without authorisation and filed multiple cyber crime complaints against other scalping or secondary sales sites.

The post BookMyShow Mulling Cancelling Coldplay Concert Tickets Bought From Reselling Platforms appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Tata Sons’ chairman emeritus Ratan Tata has partially exited broking platform Upstox with 10X returns after the startup concluded a buyback of 5% of Tata’s stake in it.

Without disclosing the specifics of the transaction, Upstox, in a statement, said that Tata has registered a “23,000% return on the original investment” made in 2016, based on the startup’s last valuation of $3.5 Bn. 

Tata acquired a 1.33% stake in Upstox when he invested in the startup in 2016.

It is pertinent to mention that Tata has been a prominent investor in Indian startups. Besides Upstox, he counts the likes of Ola, CarDekho, Lenskart, among others, in his portfolio. 

After Tata’s investment, Upstox raised $50 Mn in two more funding rounds from Tiger Global in 2019 and 2021. 

Commenting on the development, Upstox cofounder Kavitha Subramanian said, “We believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to grow their wealth, not just the privileged few. Our mission is to deliver strong returns for all our investors, and we’re proud to say that today we’re able to return part of Mr. Tata’s investment.” 

Upstox’s parent company RKSV Securities was founded by Shrini Viswanath, Raghu Kumar, and Ravi Kumar in 2008. It started off as a proprietary trading firm but subsequently  ventured into retail brokerage with the launch of the Upstox platform in 2012. It currently claims to have a customer base of over 1 Cr Indians. 

Earlier this year, Upstox said it turned profitable in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23). The startup posted a consolidated profit of INR 25 Cr in FY23. Operating revenue jumped 44% to cross the INR 1,000 Cr mark from INR 765.6 Cr in FY22.

In May, Upstox also entered the insurance distribution business. It now offers term, motor, health and personal accident insurance through its platform. 

Upstox competes with the likes of Groww and Zerodha in the country’s burgeoning invest tech space. Both of its aforementioned rivals recently reported their financial numbers for FY24. 

While Groww’s operating revenue jumped 123% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 2,899 Cr, Zerodha clocked a revenue of INR 8,320 Cr during the year under review. While Groww reported a 4X YoY jump in its net profit to INR 297.8 Cr in FY24, Zerodha’s profit zoomed 61% to INR 4,700 Cr.

Upstox is yet to report its financial numbers for the last fiscal year.

The post Ratan Tata Partially Exits Upstox With 10X Returns appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Shares of new-age tech stocks plummeted on Thursday (October 3) as the broader equity market crashed due to rising tensions in the Middle East.

Sensex plunged 2.10% to end today’s trading session at 82,497.10, while Nifty 50 also fell 2.12% to end the day at 25,250.10. 

In line with the decline in benchmark indices, 22 out of the 28 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage ended in the red today, falling in a range of 0.53% to a little under 6%. 

Leading the pack of losers was car marketplace CarTrade, with its shares falling 5.84% to INR 932.15.

It is pertinent to note that new-age tech stocks witnessed a similar decline last week. Nineteen of the 28 stocks under Inc42’s coverage fell in a range of 0.2% to over 16% in the past week. 

Last week’s biggest loser, EaseMyTrip continued its downward journey this week. Shares of the online travel aggregator fell 2.26% to end today’s session at INR 33.25. With this, the travel tech startup is approaching its 52-week low of INR 32.83. 

Last week’s top gainer TBO Tek’s shares also plummeted 3.08% to close today’s session at INR 1,755.

Zomato, Paytm, Ola Electric, Nazara Technologies, PB Fintech, and Delhivery were among the other major new-age tech stocks which ended in the red today.

Meanwhile, Menhood emerged as the biggest gainer among the six startups whose stocks ended in the green today. The D2C men’s grooming brand’s shares zoomed 9.96% to close at INR 138.50. Other gainers of the day were Go Digit, RateGain, Zaggle, TAC Infosec and FirstCry. 

The total market capitalisation of the 28 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage stood at $87.61 Bn at the end of today’s trading. 

Commenting on the broader market crash, Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP of technical and derivatives research at Asit C. Mehta Investment Interrmediates, said that bearish sentiment took over the Indian market in line with the global dip. 

“The domestic benchmark indices opened with a gap-down, in line with global cues. Nifty started the day on a negative note and remained under pressure throughout, ultimately closing negatively at 25,250. Technically, on the daily chart, the index formed a large red candle, signalling further weakness. Moreover, the index has broken its key support base and trend line support at 25,350, indicating fresh weakness,” he said. 

The downward spiral of the market today was triggered by the surge in oil prices due to the escalating tensions in the Middle East. 

The post New-Age Tech Stocks Bleed As Broader Market Crashes, CarTrade Tanks Nearly 6% appeared first on Inc42 Media.