With plans to double its sales over the next three to four years, Reliance Retail, the retail arm of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), continues to be a key driver of the group’s growth. 

Led by Isha Ambani, Reliance Retail operates both online and offline and across diverse verticals, including grocery, electronics, fashion apparel, beauty, footwear, food, jewellery, and lifestyle.

In Q1 FY25, Reliance Retail’s revenue rose 6.6% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 66,260 Cr, even as the numbers reveal a slight sequential dip from INR 67,610 Cr in the previous quarter. 

The company’s digital commerce and new commerce businesses contributed 18% of the total Q1 FY25 revenues, reflecting its efforts to integrate online and offline channels. Despite a 7% sequential decline in profit, Reliance Retail posted a 4.6% increase in net profit year-on-year to INR 2,549 Cr in Q1 FY25.

While grocery and consumer electronics have been key drivers of growth, Reliance Retail seems to have its sharp focus on fashion and lifestyle, too. With an expanding portfolio of brands, including Yousta, Azorte, and Gap, the company is actively scaling its presence in this segment. 

Earlier this year, Reliance Retail signed a licencing agreement with UK-based fast fashion retailer ASOS to bring the brand to India, challenging the dominance Myntra and the ilk in the GenZ space and the emergence of D2C fast fashion brands. 

Notably, the strategy to increase its folio of brands has helped Ajio, the company’s B2C online fashion platform, add nearly 2 Mn new customers in Q1 FY25. In addition, Jio Luxe, its premium luxury segment, now hosts over 700 global brands, making it a leading destination for luxury fashion in India. Not just this, its catalogue for the overall online fashion business has grown more than 20% year-on-year.

However, not all is going as planned. The company is facing headwinds due to a fall in discretionary spending of users in the fashion and lifestyle segments.

Despite this, the president & CEO of Reliance Retail Fashion & Lifestyle, Akhilesh Prasad, told Inc42 that the company will remain focussed on expanding its store count and digital presence to cash in on growth opportunities in India’s evolving retail space.

So, what’s the CEO’s plan when it comes to making a significant leap in the fashion and lifestyle space? More so, what made him recite the theory of “survival of the fittest” in a tête-à-tête with Inc42?

Here are the edited excerpts…

Inc42: The fashion and lifestyle segment has seen noteworthy growth over the past few quarters on the back of the company’s omnichannel strategy and multiple partnerships. What have been the key growth drivers so far, and how do you plan to sustain this momentum?

Akhilesh Prasad: We are part of the Reliance group, therefore we aren’t resource-constrained in any way. However, we may be formula-constrained in the sense that it could take some time to decode what works in the market and what people are looking for. 

What we’ve understood is that consumers are very aware of fashion. They want to consume it if it’s offered at a price point they can afford. Now, we’ve reached some maturity in the range we offer. While we’ve already started adding footwear, we now plan to add categories like beauty and personal care, etc. to provide a complete range of youth offerings. 

Inc42: Ajio has expanded its customer base and catalogue. How do you ensure it continues to stand out in the competitive fashion industry?

Akhilesh Prasad: Competition is crucial for market growth. If there’s no competition, the market will stop growing. So, we welcome competition. Competition is a good metric and does not mean that the industry has saturated in the absence of innovation.

For example, a Fiat car used to be sold in India, and people might say it became competitive when more brands entered the market. Now, we have 25 different brands, but we sell 150 times the number of cars we used to sell back then. 

It’s about survival of the fittest. The market is never a limitation, but what matters is if you’re fit to survive in it. For those who are fit, competition is the best thing. It all boiled down to the mindset — are you a winner, a survivor, or a complainer?

Inc42: Mono-brand websites like Tumi and Pottery Barn are becoming popular. How does this align with Reliance’s overall strategy?

Akhilesh Prasad: Mono-brand websites will be big because they offer digital access to customers who can’t reach physical stores. Direct-to-consumer (D2C) is an individual way of offering products, and specialists will enter the market as D2C brands. It’s going to be a significant play.

Inc42: Reliance has also acquired stakes in brands like Ed-a-Mamma. How do these acquisitions align with your long-term strategy?

Akhilesh Prasad: We play in all segments of the market — mass, economy, mid-premium, and bridge-to-luxury. We acquire brands that add to our offerings in any of these segments. Ed-a-Mamma, for instance, is in the premium and bridge-to-luxury segment and thus serves our cause.

Inc42:  How is Reliance leveraging AI and data analytics to enhance the customer experience in the fashion and lifestyle segment?

Akhilesh Prasad: We are moving towards full automation in fashion. We will use AI for predictive models in designing, speeding up production, and improving logistics. However, human intelligence will still play a crucial role at every stage. 

Inc42: What are your plans for the fashion and lifestyle segment, particularly digital sales platforms, in the next year?

Akhilesh Prasad: Digitally, we cover all PIN codes in the country, so our reach extends to even the remotest of the villages. As for physical stores, no one in India offers a network as extensive as ours. We’ve covered towns, districts, state capitals, A-class cities, mini metro citiess, and metros. We aim to be present in every segment.

For example, we opened our first store in a small town, Guntur, when nobody else had. In 10 years, we now have six stores there. That’s how markets grow.

Inc42: How are new formats like Azorte and Yousta performing, and what are their prospects for future growth?

Akhilesh Prasad: All the formats we’re in will see growth. We have a population of 1.4 Bn people, and the demand within India alone makes us one of the largest markets in the world. 

We’ve segmented the market and are catering to it through both online and offline channels. Our goal is to reach every customer, whether it’s a clerk’s son in a small town or someone in South Bombay. Every customer is important to us.

Inc42: Has the lifestyle and fashion segment seen a turnaround ahead of the festive season, especially the slowdown earlier this year?

Akhilesh Prasad: The festive season has been great. We’ve seen huge growth in Kolkata during Durga Puja. So, how can there be a decline in demand when the festive season is thriving?

It’s not that demand has decreased; it’s more about whether you’re catering to the customer’s changing needs. The market evolves. For example, if you only make luxury jeans, but the market shifts to cargo pants, you’ll think the market is shrinking. But it’s not, it’s just moved on to something else.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post Only The Fittest Will Survive In The Indian Fashion Industry: Reliance Retail’s Akhilesh Prasad appeared first on Inc42 Media.

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.

Insurer Star Health on Saturday (October 12) said that the hacker, who leaked the personal data of its 3 Cr customers, demanded a ransom of $68,000 (INR 57 Lakh) from the company.

In a detailed clarification filed with the BSE, the listed insurer said that the cybersecurity incident came to its notice on August 13 after a hacker under the pseudonym “vladislav rs” demanded the payment in multiple emails addressed to the company’s managing director and CEO Anand Roy.

While the company claims to have not responded to the emails, Star Health said that it reported the cybersecurity breach to all agencies, including the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI), on August 14. 

The company added that it then filed a complaint before Chennai Police Commissioner in connection with the matter. Based on this, an FIR was registered by the cyber crime cell of Tamil Nadu Police on September 23.

It also approached the Madras High Court (HC) in connection with the breach, which directed all third parties, including social media platform Telegram, to disable access to the leaked data. 

This comes close on the heels of reports that the personal data, comprising names, addresses, phone numbers, PAN details, policy nominees and medical history, of over 3 Cr Star Health customers was for sale online.

The hacker, under the alias ‘xenZen’, was selling the entire dataset for $150,000 (about INR 1.26 Cr) and a smaller package of 1 Lakh entries for $10,000 (INR 8.4 Lakh) on a website called “starhealthscam.in”, which was later taken down by Star Health. 

Subsequently, the threat actor created more websites with names such as “starhealthleak.in” and “starhealth.lol”, posting 500 samples of customer data. These two were also eventually taken down. 

Besides, the threat actor has also made the information, which spanned 7.24 terabytes of data, accessible by creating chatbots on Telegram. 

The Chronology Of The Hack

In a detailed clarification on Saturday, Star Health specified the chronology of events in the aftermath of the cybersecurity incident. Here is what it said:

August 13: Hacker demands a ransom of $68,000 in an email addressed to Star Health’s MD and CEO.

August 14: Insurer reports the incident to relevant authorities and its board.

August 22: Hacker sends another email to the company and creates a website called “starhealthscam.in” to sell the data.

August 29: Star Health takes down websites created by the threat actor with the help of various law enforcement agencies.

September 11: Star Health issues the first notice to Telegram to take down the bots. The company claims that the social media platform refused to share the account KYC details or permanently ban the hacker’s accounts despite multiple notices issued in this regard.

September 22: The insurer filed a petition before Madras HC against Cloudflare (which offered certain services to the hacker to host the websites), Telegram and unknown persons represented by the hacker (xenZen) and a person named Ashok Kumar. 

The company seeks permanent injunction over data leaks and misuse of Star Health’s intellectual property.

September 23: Tamil Nadu Cyber Cell registered an FIR in the case under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

September 24: Madras High Court issues ad-interim injunctions restraining anyone from using the Star Health brand and domain names and bans publishing of the leaked data

Since then, the company claims to have roped in an independent expert to undertake a comprehensive forensic probe, which is expected to be completed before October end. Star Health also claims to have taken preventive and proactive measures to “contain the incident” and shore up its IT infrastructure. 

While it remains to be seen what the findings of the investigation throw up, the saga has raised questions over lax cybersecurity guardrails at Indian companies.

The post Star Health Data Leak: Insurer Releases Chronology Of Events appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Buoyed by affordable monthly plans, Reliance’s streaming platform JioCinema crossed the 1.6 Cr paid subscriber mark at the end of September 2024. 

In its quarterly update for the second quarter (Q2) of the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25), Network18 said that the over-the-top (OTT) platform reported a 2X quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth during the period under review.

The company attributed the surge in paid users to affordable monthly subscription plans starting at INR 29 and an “expanding” content catalogue.

“JioCinema continued to be the fastest growing subscription-based OTT platform, crossing 16 Mn paid subscribers with a 2X QoQ growth. Affordable monthly subscription plans of INR 29/month and INR 89/month (family plan) and an expanding content catalogue have helped the growth in subscribers,” Network18 said in a BSE filing.

The company added that digital-first reality shows and international content catalogue were one of the top drivers of subscriber acquisition during the quarter under review. 

“A combination of comprehensive coverage (of Paris Olympics 2024) and a growing interest in non-cricket sports led to high engagement of over 50 mins per day on JioCinema,” added Network18. JioCinema also claims to have become the fastest-growing subscription-based OTT platform in the country in Q2 FY25.

In April this year, the Reliance-owned OTT platform unveiled its INR 29 per month subscription plans, at a steep discount from the industry average of INR 103 per month (Zee5, SonyLiv, Disney+Hotstar premium plan) and INR 358 for Netflix premium plan and Amazon Prime Video.

The healthy growth comes at a time when Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Viacom 18 and The Walt Disney Company are in the process of merging their operations. To be operated under a joint venture (JV) pegged at $8.5 Bn, the merger will create a media juggernaut that will span 117 TV channels and a combined viewership of 75 Cr viewers. 

The merged entity will also include two leading OTT platforms – JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar. 

To bolster its presence, JioCinema has aggressively scaled up operations in the past two years by bagging the rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and signing partnerships to air shows of American studios such as HBO and NBCUniversal.

The post JioCinema Crosses 1.6 Cr Paid Subscriber Milestone In Q2 FY25 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.

The All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF), which represents the distributors of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distributors, has raised concerns over the delivery practices of quick commerce and ecommerce players in India.

The AICPDF has written to the road transport ministry and the health ministry, seeking an inquiry into the use of private vehicles by these companies for commercial deliveries, Business Standard reported.

The Federation pointed out that many quick commerce and ecommerce companies frequently rely on private vehicles for deliveries of food items, which is in violation of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) guidelines.

“These standards are critical to prevent contamination and ensure that consumers receive safe and hygienically-handled food. However, the widespread use of private-owned two-wheelers by delivery personnel raises concerns about the adequacy of these vehicles to maintain the required food safety standards,” the report quoted the AICPDF as saying in its letter to the health ministry.

In its complaint to the road transport ministry, the Federation said that the use of private vehicles raises significant safety concerns. It said that these vehicles may not be sufficiently insured or maintained to meet the standards required for commercial operations. 

However, this is not the first time that the AICPDF has expressed concerns about quick commerce. In August, it wrote to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry seeking a probe into the rapid growth of quick commerce. 

Raising concerns over the compliance of the quick commerce companies with the country’s FDI norms, it urged union minister Piyush Goyal to regulate quick commerce players to protect small retailers. 

Following this, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) referred the complaint to the Competition Commission of India.

While the ecommerce sector has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade in the country, quick commerce has been seeing a rapid rise in popularity over the last 2-3 years, especially in metro cities. This has pitted the likes of ecommerce players like Amazon and Meesho against quick commerce players like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto. 

However, both the sectors are also facing increasing regulatory scrutiny. While quick commerce companies are under the lens for not abiding by the rules mandating display of expiry and best before dates, the ecommerce players are likely to face the heat for flouting dark pattern regulations.

The post Distributors’ Body Flags Use Of Private Vehicles By Ecommerce, Quick Commerce Players appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Contract manufacturing startup Zetwerk plans to invest INR 500 Cr over the next two years to expand its manufacturing capacity for the renewables segment. 

Zetwerk cofounder and chief operating officer Srinath Ramakkrushnan told Economic Times that the startup is looking to expand in the offshore wind segment in the US and Europe.

“We have invested around INR 300 Cr over the last few years. We are looking at investing another INR 500 Cr over the next two years. This will be funded through our balance sheet in a mix of debt and equity,” Ramakkrushnan was quoted as saying.

Citing India’s target to reach 500 gigawatts of solar energy generation capacity by 2030, the cofounder said that Zetwerk sees the solar sector in India and the US as a multi-decade opportunity.

Founded in 2018 by Ramakkrushnan, Amrit Acharya, Rahul Sharma, and Vishal Chaudhary, Zetwerk connects vendors and suppliers with manufacturing companies for procuring industrial machine components

The comments come days after Inc42 reported that Zetwerk commenced preliminary discussions with investment banker JP Morgan and other banks. It is eyeing a public listing in the next two years.

Ahead of the proposed listing, Zetwerk has been aggressively ramping up its manufacturing capacity.

Earlier this year, the startup announced its foray into IT hardware and electric vehicle (EV) component manufacturing. Additionally, it set aside INR 1,000 Cr ($122 Mn) to invest in electronics manufacturing.

Zetwerk became a unicorn in 2021 and was last valued at $2.8 Bn. It has raised a total funding of over $700 Mn till date and counts the likes of Peak XV Partners, Lightspeed, Mars Growth Capital, among others, as its backers.

Zetwerk’s rival Infra.Market is also looking to file its draft IPO papers in December this year. Another competitor, Moglix is eyeing a public listing in the next two years.

The post Zetwerk To Invest INR 500 Cr To Expand Renewables Manufacturing Capacity appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk, which has grabbed global headlines for its weight loss drug Wegovy, has struck partnerships with 10 Indian artificial intelligence (AI) startups to streamline its operations. 

The company’s managing director (MD) for global business services John Dawber told Reuters that it is leveraging tools built by homegrown AI startups for tasks such as summarising documents, extracting insights and checking for editing errors.

Dawber added that “some of these AI tools” are being used across Novo Nordisk’s global operations. However, the report didn’t mention the names of AI startups.

He said that Novo’s medical writers are using AI to reduce the time needed for quality checks on regulatory documents. “It goes from 40 hours per document to about 40 minutes per document,” he added.

The drug maker is also open to partnering with more such AI startups in the country.

As per the report, Dawber expects the company’s Bengaluru centre to emerge as “an almost perfect mirror image” of Novo’s headquarters in Denmark in three years with respect to “handling data central to research and development”.

It is pertinent to note that the centre manages data collected on the safety and efficacy of the company’s drugs, which includes information related to clinical trials and reports of potential side effects.

Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk plans to double down on the number of “global process leaders” based out of India over the next three to four years and increase its headcount in the country by 16% to 5,000 next year.

With the Indian AI ecosystem making rapid strides and attracting the interest of investors, partnerships like Novo Nordisk’s are expected to make way for more such collaborations with global players.

As per an Inc42 report, India is currently home to over 100 generative AI (GenAI) startups that raised over $600 Mn in funding between 2019 and first half (H1) of 2024. Leading from the front are the likes of Ola-owned GenAI unicorn Krutrim and SarvamAI. 

The post Drug Maker Novo Nordisk Working With 10 Indian AI Startups appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The spate of top-level exits continues at venture capital (VC) firm Orios Venture Partners. Now, the ixigo-backer’s chief financial officer (CFO) and chief operations officer (COO) Gaurav Bindal has reportedly quit the firm. 

As per VCCircle, Bindal oversaw fund operations and transaction closure as well as other areas such as finance, legal, compliance and HR at Orios. As per the report, he led the closure of all investment deals since joining the investment firm in 2021. 

Bindal also reportedly handled legal, structuring, regulatory, due diligence, risk assessment, and commercial aspects at Orios. 

An alumnus of Delhi University, Bindal has more than two decades of experience under his belt. Prior to joining Orios, he worked at XSEED Education, ITC Infotech and Ernst & Young.

This is the third major blow to the VC firm in a year. In September last year, Orios’ two managing partners, Anup Jain and Rajeev Suri, quit the company to float their venture. 

Subsequently, their departures led to the delay in the closure of Orios’ third fund. Originally targeted to close at $150 Mn in December 2023, Fund III was delayed for the second time in July this year on account of logistical challenges in onboarding limited partners (LPs) and scheduling constraints. 

Orios Venture Partners is an early-stage VC firm, which counts names such as PharmEasy, MobiKwik, CarDekho, and Vedantu among its portfolio companies. 

Earlier this year, the investment firm returned INR 300 Cr from its first fund to its investors. Launched in 2014, Orios’ Fund I was concluded with a final close at INR 300 Cr in 2015. More recently, the investment major appointed former Omidyar Network India executive Madhav Tandan as a senior partner. 

The churn at Orios comes at a time when early-stage VC and PE firms are witnessing a surge in interest from LPs and other high-net-worth individuals (HNIs). 

Last month, early-stage VC firm z21 Ventures marked the first close of its $40 Mn Fund II at $20 Mn. In the same month, another early-stage backer Capital A launched its Fund II with a target corpus of INR 400 Cr. 

In August, early-stage VC firm Ankur Capital was reportedly looking to raise a target corpus of INR 1,200 Cr for its Fund III. Prior to that, Whiteboard Capital also marked the final close of its second fund at INR 300 Cr against an initial target of INR 150 Cr.

The post Amid Wave Of Top Level Exits At Orios, CFO & COO Gaurav Bindal Calls It Quits appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Foodtech major Zomato on Friday (October 11) said that its independent director Gunjan Soni has stepped down from the company’s board on account of “increased work commitments”.

In a filing with the BSE, the company said that Soni will also cease to be a member of the company’s risk management committee and corporate social responsibility committee.

It is pertinent to note that Soni is the CEO of Southeast Asia-focussed ecommerce platform Zalora. 

“… The need to step down stems from increased professional commitments and was a tough decision. I am grateful for the opportunity to have served on the board and am confident in Zomato’s management team and the company’s future direction…,” said Soni in her resignation letter. 

She added that there were “no material reasons for her resignation other than those mentioned in the resignation letter”.

Commenting on her departure, Zomato cofounder and CEO Deepinder Goyal added, “It was great to partner with Gunjan and a big thanks to her for helping us navigate through the ups and downs of the past few years. On behalf of Zomato, I want to thank Gunjan for her valuable insights and guidance that have been instrumental in our growth…”.

An alumna of XLRI Jamshedpur, she previously helmed Jabong (later acquired by Myntra) and worked with the likes of Star India and McKinsey & Company. 

The development comes at a time when the company appears to be in the middle of a major reshuffle. Just weeks after Zomato’s cofounder and chief people officer (CPO), Akriti Chopra, quit the company to “pursue other interests”. Earlier this month, Zomato roped in BookMyShow’s former live events and IP head Kunal Khambhati to bolster its ‘going out’ vertical. 

This also comes at a time when shares of Zomato are on an upswing. Zomato shares hit an all-time high of INR 298.05 during the intraday on September 23, helped by the company’s increasing profit numbers, rising revenue, strong growth of Blinklit and thumbs up from brokerages. 

Zomato reported a net profit of INR 253 Cr in the first quarter (Q1) of the financial year 2024-25 (FY25) against INR 2 Cr in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, operating revenues jumped 74% to INR 4,206 Cr in the quarter under review against INR 2,416 Cr in Q1 FY24. 

Shares of the company closed 0.85% higher at INR 277.5 on the BSE on Friday (October 11). 

The post Zomato’s Independent Director Gunjan Soni Steps Down Due To Increased Work Commitments appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Following the footsteps of its sister concern Ola Electric, ride-hailing major Ola Consumer has reportedly sped up its public listing plans.

As per The Arc, the mobility major has sought approval from investors to turn into a public entity. The company is also said to be finalising with bankers to handle the public issue. 

Notably, turning into a public company from a private one is the first step towards a public listing.

“They want to leverage the goodwill around the listing of Ola Electric to take the cabs business public. However, that might be hard now, considering Ola Electric’s recent share slide,” a source reportedly said.

Inc42 has reached out to the company for a statement. The story will be updated upon receiving a comment from the company. Besides, the report added that founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal will also continue to helm the operations of Ola Consumer. 

Meanwhile, an internal investor report accessed by The Arc revealed that Ola Consumer clocked a gross order value (GOV) of INR 3,000 Cr in the first quarter (Q1) of the financial year 2024-25 (FY25). 

As per the report, the core mobility vertical, which encompasses the ride-hailing business, contributed 77% to Ola Consumer’s cumulative GOV, or INR 2,300 Cr. Ola Consumer is said to take a 24-28% cut (commission) of the GOV, which forms its revenue. 

The company’s financial services arm accounted for the rest. It offers financial services through its arm, Ola Financial, which offers small-ticket loans and UPI payments.

The company reportedly posted an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) loss of INR 77 Cr in the quarter ended June 2024. 

The internal investor report also outlined that the ride-hailing giant completed 11 Cr customer rides during the quarter under review, translating into 12 Lakh rides every day. 

The company’s plans for an IPO have come to the fore just two months after the company rebranded Ola Cabs to Ola Consumer. In the same month, sister Ola Electric made a muted stock market debut as shares of the electric vehicle (EV) major listed on the BSE at INR 75.99 apiece against its IPO issue price of INR 76. 

ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd, the parent entity of the cab-hailing startup, trimmed its losses by nearly half to INR 772.2 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) against INR 1,522.3 Cr in FY22. Meanwhile, sales jumped 42% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 2,799.3 Cr in the fiscal under review as from INR 1,970.4 Cr in FY22.

The post Ride-Hailing Major Ola Consumer Puts IPO Plans In Speed Lane appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has announced a provisional allocation of satellite spectrum for six months. The move will enable select companies, including Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Jio’s Orbit Connect India, to test-run their satellite services.

An official notification, released on October 10, 2024, details the eligibility criteria, allowing companies with a valid DoT licence and In-Space authorisation to access the spectrum.

Currently, OneWeb and Orbit Connect India have met the requirements to utilise the provisional spectrum. However, competitors like Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper are still awaiting the necessary licences.

Notably, the DoT has emphasised that any data collected during this testing period must be securely stored within India. Licensees are required to ensure the confidentiality of this data and provide detailed information about their server and data centre locations to the department. 

Sharing operational data with external parties is restricted and only allowed under specific circumstances, such as when requested by law enforcement agencies.

Under the terms of the provisional spectrum assignment, the companies are expected to demonstrate compliance with security and technical standards. 

Although they can provide services to users during the testing phase, charging for these services is not permitted. Furthermore, companies can test their offerings with an unlimited number of customers, facilitating thorough assessments of their capabilities.

It is pertinent to note that Reliance Jio received approval from the Indian space regulator to operate satellites in June this year. 

However, further approvals were pending from the DoT to begin operations.

In August, Airtel’s OneWeb claimed to be ready to roll out the satellite broadband service in the country. At that time, parent Bharti Group chairman Sunil Mittal stated that the satellites were constantly orbiting India and that they were “just waiting for a signal from the DoT to light up those SNPs (satellite network portals) for commercial service.”

Few months back, Apple’s satcom partner Globalstar was also mulling to apply for a licence to offer satcom services in India. 

At the heart of all this is the homegrown satcom space, which, as per the government, could be key to delivering internet services to 1.2 Bn Indians by 2025-26.

The post Bharti, Jio Granted Provisional Allocation Of Satcom Spectrum For Test Runs appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Ahead of its much-awaited public listing, Hyundai Motor India’s managing director (MD) Unsoo Kim has said that the Indian EV market is poised for “strong and steady” growth until 2030. 

The automaker’s MD has projected that this growth will likely come on the back of an increased focus from various companies on the local market and robust government support. Further reflecting on the Indian EV market, Kim noted that the country is at an “early stage of electrification”.

“We believe that the Indian EV market is expected to grow strongly and steadily by 2030, mostly led by the government’s strong leadership and many OEMs’ focus on this segment. HMIL has access to global battery technologies, so we are developing an EV ecosystem,” Kim added.

Despite his optimism, data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) indicated a concerning trend in September 2024, with electric car sales dropping by 8% year-on-year (YoY) to 5,874 units. 

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor India Limited’s (HMIL) chief operating officer (COO) Tarun Garg pointed out that the slowdown in the Indian EV market should not be compared with the global EV market, as the latter relatively has a much higher level of EV penetration. 

“We are still at a low level of electrification. There is only one way up,” Garg added. 

For the uninitiated, Hyundai Motor India has announced plans for India’s largest-ever IPO and aims to raise INR 27,870 Cr (around $3.3 Bn). The company’s IPO will comprise solely of an offer for sale (OFS) component of 14.2 Cr shares, which will see parent Hyundai Motor Corporation (HMC) offload its stake.

This will dilute HMC’s stake from 100% to 82.5% initially, and the company has plans to further reduce it to 75% over the next few years to comply with regulatory requirements. 

The development comes at a time when the Indian EV space is witnessing healthy growth on the back of government subsidies and production-linked-incentives (PLIs), as well as a surge in investments. 

The post Hyundai India MD Predicts “Strong & Steady” EV Market Growth Until 2030 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.

D2C men’s grooming startup Menhood’s company secretary and compliance officer, Ankita Soni, has stepped down. 

In a filing with NSE Emerge, the D2C startup said that the resignation came into effect on October 5. Soni, who was appointed in December 2023, oversaw the company’s statutory compliance, among other responsibilities.

As per Menhood’s draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), Soni, before joining Menhood, served as company secretary at consulting firm GACM Technologies, where she advised senior leadership on corporate governance and regulatory matters.

Founded in 2019 by Dushyant Gandotra, Divya Gandotra and Shivam Bhateja, Menhood offers a range of men’s grooming and lifestyle products, including trimmers, intimate perfumes, and moisturisers.

It competes with D2C brands such as The Man Company, Bombay Shaving Company and Beardo. The company went public in July this year, and its IPO was oversubscribed 157.5X. 

The development comes months after FMCG major Emami purchased D2C men’s grooming brand The Man Company in an all-cash deal. Following the completion of the deal, Helios Lifestyle Pvt Ltd, the parent entity of The Man Company, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Emami.

As per an analysis by Inc42, the Indian beauty and personal care market is projected to become a $28 Bn opportunity by 2030, accounting for 7% of the overall ecommerce market.

The post Listed Men’s Grooming Startup Menhood’s Compliance Officer Ankita Soni Quits appeared first on Inc42 Media.

CaratLane founder Mithun Sacheti and brother Siddhartha Sacheti, CEO of Jaipur Gems, have set up an investment firm Finqube Capital Private Limited looking to institutionalise their angel investments, as per sources familiar with the matter.

Registered in Chennai, Finqube will handle the duo’s investments in early and growth stage companies.

As per sources, the two investments by the Sacheti brothers, including their participation in listed gaming giant Nazara’s INR 900 Cr preferential rights issue as well as the investment in Ippopay are from the new firm, which could take on the shape of a family office or a corporate venture fund.

Mithun Sacheti declined to elaborate on Finqube Capital’s plans, and told Inc42 that there are no plans to launch a separate fund at the moment.

However, as per incorporation documents of Finqube Capital Private Limited, the company has been registered as an investment firm for acquisition, investment purposes. It’s not yet clear what structure will be adopted by Finqube.

“This could be a private investment vehicle or a corporate venture fund backed by Jaipur Gems. The brothers are in the process of setting up teams for this firm,” sources close to the Sacheti family said.

It must be noted that Jaipur Gems is the legacy business set up by the Sacheti family in 1974. While the brothers joined this family business initially, Mithun went on to set up CaratLane as a new-age jewellery platform.

Siddhartha’s son Yash Sacheti is closely involved with Finqube and is the primary contact for the entity, as per MCA disclosures. Plus, according to his LinkedIn profile, Yash is currently the head of the Sacheti Family Office.

Notably, Mithun and Siddhartha are both active angel investors in Indian startups. Their portfolio includes investments in Ippopay, Bombay Shirt Company, Nazara and Oro. Besides investing with his brother in these startups, Mithun has separately backed home decor startup Arrivae, cybersecurity SaaS platform Securden, marketing tech startup Paperflite among others.

In February this year, Titan completed its acquisition of CaratLane, which gave Mithun a remarkable exit, netting returns of INR 4,621 Cr for his 27% stake.

Mithun has publicly stated his ambition to become a full time investor and is looking to add to his various investments across fintech, SaaS, gaming, ecommerce and other sectors.  He also said that he is keen on investing in startups in the INR 100 Cr-INR 200 Cr revenue range in the D2C category.

While Finqube Capital is yet to launch officially, Mithun is the general partner at Singularity Growth Ventures, which is backed by Madhusudhan Kela. The CaratLane founder is also an anchor investor or limited partner in early stage fund Xeed Ventures.

Sacheti Brothers Double Down On Investments

It looks like the Sacheti brothers are following the playbook created by Zerodha founders Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath who set up Rainmatter Fund in 2016. Over the past few years, Rainmatter has invested in fintech, climate tech, media and agritech sectors. Rainmatter currently has a corpus of INR 1000 Cr

Besides Rainmatter, Nikhil announced the launch of WTF Fund to invest in entrepreneurs under the age of 25.

While Zerodha was a completely bootstrapped business, the Sacheti brothers have the experience of running a legacy family business for many decades.

“There is a similar trajectory, and Sacheti brothers could very well follow the Kamath brothers. Nithin and Nikhil Kamath were both active angel investors before they formally launched Rainmatter” a fintech founder turned VC manager added.

Modelled as a corporate venture fund, Rainmatter has deployed INR 400 Cr across various portfolio companies, mostly early-stage bets.

Sacheti has often talked about the need for more VCs with an operator or founder mindset as this allows them to take nuanced bets on startups.

Mithun’s exit from CaratLane is one of the largest in the Indian startup ecosystem for a founder, after Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal made a huge windfall from the Walmart acquisition of Flipkart in 2018.

Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal have gone on to become serial investors in many startups after their successful exit from Flipkart. Other entrepreneurs such as Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham have also floated funds. Mathrubootham’s Together Fund largely invests in early stage SaaS startups.

Similar to the Sacheti brothers, Snapdeal founders Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl set up Titan Capital to manage their angel investments, which were being managed separately previously. Titan Capital has gone on to become an institutional VC firm with multiple funds, and has a SEBI-registered AIF licence for its growth-stage fund.

[Edited By Nikhil Subramaniam]

The post Exclusive: CaratLane Founder Mithun Sacheti Sets Up Investment Firm appeared first on Inc42 Media.

India plans to share its expertise in digital public infrastructure (DPI), including systems like Aadhaar and Unified Payments Interface (UPI), with ASEAN nations to explore cross-border collaborations. 

In a joint statement, the two sides said they would explore cooperation in areas like education, healthcare, agriculture, and climate change.

The statement followed the 21st India-ASEAN Summit, during which both sides committed to advancing AI technologies responsibly by developing infrastructure, skills, and risk management frameworks. 

They also discussed partnerships in fintech innovations and digital financial solutions. Both parties also agreed to strengthen cybersecurity cooperation to support the digital economy.

The move is in line with India’s plans to share DPI with countries across the world. 

In July, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) teamed up with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and central banks from four ASEAN nations to launch Project Nexus, a multilateral initiative aimed at facilitating retail cross-border payments. 

Under the initiative, UPI will be linked with the respective fast payment systems (FPS) of Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand to facilitate instant cross-border retail payments.

Last year, the RBI also engaged in discussions with counterparts in the US, Hong Kong, and SWIFT to explore a fast and cost-effective cross-border settlement system using central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

The RBI also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) to conduct joint proof-of-concept and pilot projects for a bilateral CBDC bridge. This initiative aims to facilitate cross-border CBDC transactions for remittances and trade while promoting innovation in financial services.

Notably, in February 2023, India and Singapore linked their real-time payment systems.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has also signed agreements with countries like Peru and Namibia to develop UPI-like payment systems.

The post India To Share Digital Public Infra Expertise With ASEAN Countries appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Maharashtra government has set up an advanced cyber command and control centre in Navi Mumbai in partnership with L&T Technology Services as part of its effort to curb the cybercrimes.

Touted to be India’s first state-level cyber command centre, the facility was inaugurated by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday (October 11).

The centre, set to become fully operational by October 15, is part of the INR 837 Cr Maharashtra cyber security project. The project was approved last year with the aim of curtailing the growing number of fraudulent schemes on social media platforms, such as WhatsApp and Facebook, and preventing other cyber attacks.

“Maharashtra’s digital future is safer with Maha Cyber – Maharashtra Cyber Security Project,”  Fadnavis said in a post on X.

The control and command centre will have over 150 experts working round the clock to register and resolve the complaints of cybercrime victims in a timely manner. Once the complaints have been lodged, emails will be sent to banks to freeze the accounts of victims. 

Maha Cyber Security Command Centre has a dedicated helpline that can be reached 24 hours a day at 14407. Additionally, the government plans to train 5,000 police personnel annually as part of the initiative.

Apart from the dedicated cyber command and control centre, the Maharashtra cyber project will have several other departments such as a technology assisted investigation centre with advanced digital forensics tool, CERT – Maharashtra with AI-based threat intelligence tools, security operations centre and a cyber centre of excellence.

The development comes at a time when a wave of cyber attacks has swept Maharashtra and the country. Earlier this year, cybercrime sleuths reportedly unearthed a syndicate that tricked villagers in Maharashtra’s Nanded and Dharmabad into opening mule accounts. Fraudsters used these accounts to park laundered money, crediting farmers’ accounts with lakhs of rupees every month.

A few years ago, cyber fraudsters hacked many cooperative banks in Maharashtra, wiping out crores of rupees from accounts of a large number of customers. 

However, the menace of cyber crime is not limited to Maharashtra. In a recent report, the Reserve Bank of India said that the number of online frauds in the country surged 334% year-on-year (YoY) to 29,082 in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24).

Further, India-based businesses faced over 3,000 cyber attacks in Q2 2024, second only to Taiwanese firms in the APAC region, according to a report by Check Point Research.

The country reportedly lost INR 177.05 Cr to cyber frauds in FY24, more than double the INR 69.68 Cr it lost in FY23 on account of credit, debit card and internet banking frauds.

However, the Centre has taken several initiatives to clamp down on the rising tide of cyber frauds. For instance, it has disabled over 70 Lakh mobile connections till date, which were obtained through fake or forged documents.

To strengthen the mechanism of preventing cyber attacks, the government has also set up the ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’, which has already helped save more than INR 2,400 Cr from being syphoned off by fraudsters. 

The post Maharashtra Sets Up Cyber Command Centre To Curb Cybercrimes 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.

SaaS startup Toplyne is shutting operations due to its inability to scale and find product-market fit. The startup has decided to return the capital to its investors, cofounder and CEO Rishen Kapoor shared in a LinkedIn post, without elaborating on the quantum of the capital which would be returned.

“After 3.5 years of building Toplyne, we’ve made the tough decision to wind down operations and return capital to our investors. Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t reach the scale or product-market fit we aimed for,” Kapoor said. 

The cofounder said that the startup’s team would be supported in finding new roles. 

Founded in 2021 by Kapoor, Ruchin Kulkarni, and Rohit Khanna, Toplyne offers an AI-powered platform to help product-led companies convert their free users into paid ones. It claims that its AI learns from customer data to generate audiences that can be converted with ads, in-app nudges, email, sales, and more.

Toplyne counts the likes of Canva, Grafana, InVideo, BrowserStack and Gather.Town among its customers. 

The startup has a headcount of 30 and claims to have managed over 25 Mn user data.

In 2022, the startup raised $15 Mn funding from marquee investors like Peak XV and Tiger Global. The round also saw participation from existing investors such as Together Fund, Sequoia India’s Surge and angel investors from Canva, Vercel and Zoominfo.

Before that, it secured $2.5 Mn in a seed funding round from Together Fund and Sequoia Capital’s Surge and angel investors from Freshworks, Zoominfo and Canva.

The development comes at a time when a number of startups have shut over the last couple of years amid the funding winter. As many as 15 startups wound down operations last year. The trend has continued this year as well. 

Just last month, banana cultivation-focussed agritech startup Greenikk and generative AI startup InsurStaq.ai decided to shut their operations. 

Social learning platform Bluelearn, digital health platform Nintee, fintech startup GoldPe, and neo-banking startup Muvin are among the other startups which shut operations this year. 

The post Peak XV-Backed Toplyne Shuts Operations appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked fintechs and banks to make their point of sale (PoS) devices and other payment solutions accessible to persons with disabilities (PwDs).

In a statement, the central bank said that at a time when all sections of the population, including differently abled persons, are increasingly adopting digital payment systems, payment system participants (PSPs) should review their payment systems/ devices in terms of accessibility to PwDs. 

“While selecting potential solutions for the purpose, care should be taken to ensure that the modifications / enhancements do not compromise security aspects of their systems,” it said. 

Additionally, the PSPs have been asked to submit the details of their systems that need to be modified, along with a time bound plan of action for those modifications, within one month from the date of issue of the notice. 

The statement comes after the finance ministry released the “Accessibility Standards and Guidelines for Banking Sector” earlier this year.

The recent update is in line with the RBI’s effort to make fintech space more accessible to the wider population in India. 

For instance, earlier this year, the central bank said it will soon launch a platform to offer credit to rural and small businesses.

Dubbed ‘Unified Lending Interface’, the platform will cater to large unmet demand for credit across various sectors, particularly for agricultural and MSME borrowers.

Earlier this week, the central bank also increased the transaction limit for UPI123Pay and UPI Lite to further increase UPI adoption.

While the transaction limit of UPI123 Pay will be increased to INR 10,000 from the current INR 5,000, the limit for UPI Lite will be increased to INR 1,000 from the current INR 500. 

The developments come at a time when UPI continues to grow by leaps and bounds. In September, the number of UPI transactions surged to 15.04 Bn from 14.96 Bn in the previous month.

Fintech giants PhonePe and GooglePay continue to dominate the UPI market. 

The post Make Pos Devices Accessible To Persons With Disabilities: RBI To Fintechs appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Hospitality unicorn OYO has initiated a major overhaul in its top leadership, promoting five executives across technology, product, strategy, operations and distribution verticals.

To start with, Sonal Sinha has been appointed as the chief operating officer of OYO’s international business, said the company, in a statement.

Sinha joined OYO in 2015 and previously served as chief financial officer for the international business. She is said to be critical to OYO’s success in the US market post the pandemic.

Further, Rachit Srivastava has been elevated to the position of COO of OYO’s vacation homes business in Europe. He will be taking over from Ayush Mathur, who is leaving the company to start his own venture.

Shashank Jain will take over as head of technology and online revenue for the global business. He previously led product development for customer acquisition and retention, and is credited with leading app development for DanCenter and Belvilla, two of OYO’s brands in Europe.

Meanwhile, Pankhuri Sakhuja, who had been overseeing OYO workspaces vertical and hotel acquisition for some overseas markets, will now lead German home listings business Traum and coworking platform Innov8. 

The hospitality major has also announced that Abhinav Sinha, Global COO and chief product officer, will be moving to an advisory role, effective January 2025. Sinha is looking to launch his own startup, as per the company.

Further, OYO has promoted Ashish Bajpai to head of revenue & global OTA. In his current role, Bajpai will lend his expertise in driving OYO’s revenue growth through both direct and indirect channels and increasing the visibility and distribution of the group’s hotels and homes worldwide.

Commenting on the top deck rejig, founder and CEO Agarwal said, “As we pursue our growth objectives, agility and decisive action remain at the core of our strategy. Our leaders are continuously adapting and expanding their roles to stay ahead of the evolving market dynamics and drive our business forward.”

OYO is looking to go public as soon as next year, after shelving its plans twice. The company plans to refile its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI after completing the ongoing refinancing of its $660 Mn Term Loan B.

The company turned profitable in FY24 as it managed to trim its expenses by cutting employee costs and growing its top line. The unicorn posted a net profit of INR 229.5 Cr in FY24 as against a net loss of INR 1,286.5 Cr in the previous financial year.

Going ahead, OYO is looking to expand its premium inventory as well as its international base. 

Last month, OYO acquired G6 Hospitality, the parent entity of Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands, from Blackstone Real Estate for $525 Mn (around INR 4382.72 Cr) in an all-cash transaction.

Besides this, OYO-owned Innov8 has forayed into the office management space mirroring the business models of the likes of publicly-listed Awfis and IPO-bound Smartworks.

The post OYO Rejigs Operations, Tech, Revenue Leadership To Drive International Biz 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.

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