Business-to-business ecommerce solutions provider ElasticRun has nearly doubled its losses in the financial year 2023. The Pune-based unicorn has incurred a net loss of INR 618.82 Cr against a loss of INR 358.59 Cr in FY22, a 72.57% YoY increase.

Meanwhile, the startup’s revenue from operations saw a YoY increase of 24.71% to INR 4,754.86 Cr from INR 3,812.65 Cr in FY22. Further, the total revenue saw a YoY increase of 26.71% to INR 4,851.09 Cr from INR 3,828.24 Cr in the previous fiscal.

Founded in 2016 by Sandeep Deshmukh, Saurabh Nigam and Shitiz Bansal, ElasticRun’s tech platform acts as an extended arm of FMCG companies’ direct distribution networks in rural areas and enables these businesses to reach kirana stores in the hinterland.

The startup generates revenue through its tech platform which acts as an extended arm of FMCG companies’ direct distribution networks in rural areas and enables these businesses to reach kirana stores in the hinterlands of the country. It also offers logistics and warehousing services to these small businesses.

ElasticRun generates the majority of its revenue by selling products. It procures products from FMCG brands and sells them directly to local retail stores in rural areas.

As per its filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, ElasticRun generated revenue of INR 4,383.39 Cr through sales of products in FY22, whereas it earned INR 368.34 Cr through sale of services.

The Expense Breakdown

ElasticRun’s total expenditure surged 30.65% YoY to INR 5,469.91 Cr from INR 4,186.66 Cr in FY22.

Increased employee benefit expenses: The company registered a YOY increase of 71.99% in employee benefits to INR 345.26 Cr from INR 200.74 Cr in FY22.

More than doubled finance costs: The finance costs saw a YoY increase of almost 2X, as it reached INR 8.08 Cr from INR 3.91 Cr in FY22.

Meanwhile, the company’s cash & cash equivalents at the end of March 31, 2023, saw a YoY decrease of 91.33% to 101.45 Cr from INR 1170.57 Cr in FY22.

In February last year, ElasticRun raised $330 Mn in funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. This was the round which marked its entry into the unicorn club. Overall, the unicorn has raised a total funding of $434.8 Mn and also counts Avataar Venture Partners, Prosus Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Innoven Capital and Abu Dhabi’s Chimera Investment, among others, as its investors.

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Hospitality giant OYO reportedly plans to prepay nearly a third of its outstanding term loan B (TLB) via a debt buyback process. 

As per news agency PTI, OYO plans to make payments to the tune of INR 1,620 Cr ($195 Mn) to repurchase 30% of its outstanding TLB. While the repayment of the debt is scheduled for June 2026, the exercise will reportedly be fully funded with cash on the balance sheet and from the cash collateral account.

As per the report, the travel tech major will execute the buyback deal at par value via a public bidding process, which commenced on November 14 and will go on till November 18. In the event bids breach the stipulated amount, OYO will then buy the loan back on a pro-rata basis.

The buyback exercise is expected to reduce OYO’s annual interest liabilities by more than INR 225 Cr. At the end of November 13, OYO’s debt paper reportedly closed at 90 cents on the dollar. 

This comes close on the heels of OYO cofounder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal telling top brass, in an internal email, that OYO was on the way to report its maiden profitable quarter in the second quarter (Q2) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) with a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 16 Cr. 

Curiously, a month ago, the Delhi NCR-based hospitality unicorn was said to be in talks to refinance its $660 Mn TLB with Apollo Management. The loan was taken at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 as the hospitality business came to a standstill the world over. 

In the past, the startup led by Ritesh Agarwal publicly announced that it was operationally profitable in FY23, with an adjusted EBITDA of INR 277 Cr. During the fiscal year, the IPO-bound hospitality unicorn slashed its net losses 34% YoY to INR 1,286.5 Cr against a 14% YoY increase in operating revenue to INR 5,463.9 Cr in FY23. 

The company had also noted that it was well-placed to achieve an adjusted EBITDA of nearly INR 800 Cr in FY24. It is largely on the back of this turnaround that the startup expects to fund the prepayment of TLB. 

Meanwhile, plans are underway for OYO’s much-awaited IPO, which has seen the departure of key executives, including OYO’s India CEO Ankit Gupta and head of OYO Europe Mandar Vaidya. Many key appointments have also been made amid a major management reshuffle at the company. 

Amid all this, Agarwal is all set to join Shark Tank India’s upcoming season as the newest shark.

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Agritech startup DeHaat, which counts Peak XV Partners (formerly known as Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia) and Sofina Ventures as its marquee investors, has acquired the fruit export business of Ahmedabad-based listed fruit export firm Freshtrop Fruits in an all-cash deal. The financial terms of the deal have been kept under wraps.

Under the deal, DeHaat has absorbed Freshtrop’s export network and grading, packing and precooling centres, and manpower, including the top leadership team, into its ecosystem, it said in a statement.

Founded in 1992 by Ashok Motiani and his family, Frestrop exports grapes and other fruits, including pomegranate and mango, from India to countries including the UK and the ones that fall under the European Union, among others. 

Over the last 25 years, the company claims to have continuously invested in innovative technology and operates out of two packhouse facilities in Maharashtra. 

This is DeHaat’s seventh acquisition, and it aims to fully leverage the rapidly growing Indian export market to provide better market access and price discovery to Indian farmers, the statement added.

DeHaat’s cofounder and CEO Shashank Kumar said that this investment aligns with the startup’s vision to not only boost the grape exports from India but also develop research and development capabilities to grow new varieties of grapes, offering improved value propositions to farmers across the western India.

“We established our export business 18 months ago and are today exporting more than 20 agri-produce from India to the Middle East, UK & EU. We see strong synergies around the complementary core competencies between DeHaat & Freshtrop,” Kumar said. 

He added that Freshtrop’s employees, along with the founding family and its external stakeholders will continue to remain actively involved in the business as they were. Meanwhile,   the company will be able to leverage DeHaat’s network and resources for market expansion, technology for the development of new grape varieties and technology-led deeper pre-harvest support for farmers.

Founded in 2012 by Amrendra Singh, Shyam Sundar, Adarsh Srivastav and Shashank Kumar, Patna and Gurugram-based DeHaat offers end-to-end agricultural services to farmers. Its services include the distribution of high-quality agri-inputs, customised farm advisory, access to financial services and market linkages for selling their produce.

Since its inception, the startup claims to have served over 2 Mn farmers across 11 states in India through its digital network of over 11,000 ‘DeHaat Centers’.

The startup said in the statement that it boasts a network of over 1,500 stock-keeping units, delivering over 15,000 orders per day to more than 15 countries. 

Through this partnership, the startup aims to offer its full-stack agri services, including high-quality inputs, personalised advisory, financing, insurance & access, to wider global markets. 

Interestingly, the announcement comes after the startup reported an over 253% YoY rise in its FY22 loss to INR 1,563.9 Cr. Last year, DeHaat secured $60 Mn in a Series E round, which took the total amount raised in the round to $106 Mn.

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Mumbai-based cloud kitchen giant Rebel Foods’ operating revenue crossed the INR 1,000 Cr mark in the financial year ending on March 31, 2023. 

As per the recent financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies, Rebel Foods, the parent company of both Faasos and Behrouz Biryani, reported an operating revenue of INR 1,195.2 Cr in FY23, up 39% from INR 858.6 Cr a fiscal ago. 

Founded in 2011 by Kallol Banerjee and Jaydeep Barman, Rebel Foods is a cloud kitchen startup, which houses popular brands such as Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Ovenstory Pizza,

Mandarin Oak, The Good Bowl, SLAY Coffee, and Sweet Truth. 

The startup’s primary source of income is through the sale of its food items. Including other income, the startup earned a total revenue of INR 1,258.7 Cr in FY23, a 1.3X markup from INR 907.5 Cr it had generated in FY22. Meanwhile, the startup posted a loss of INR 656.5 Cr in FY23, up 23% year-on-year (YoY).

Expenses That Ate Into Rebel Food’s Revenue In FY23?

During the year under review, the startup’s total expenditure rose to INR 1,827 Cr, up 28% from INR 1,428.9 Cr it had spent a year ago. 

Procurement Cost Became The Biggest Contributor: Being a cloud kitchen, Rebel Foods spent most of its money on procuring raw materials. During the period under review, the startup’s procurement cost rose to INR 577.5 Cr from INR 446.4 Cr in FY22. 

Employee Expenses: The startup’s employee benefit expenses, which mostly comprised salaries, increased 34% YoY to INR 405.4 Cr in FY23. In June, Rebel Foods granted employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) to 5,000 employees. The company has 2,743 employees as per its LinkedIn profile. 

Advertising Expenses Rise Mildly: Advertising expenses rose a mere 5% rise to INR 197.9 Cr in FY23 from INR 188.5 Cr in FY22.

Besides, the startup spent INR 163.3 Cr on commissions paid to other selling agents, mainly Swiggy and Zomato. 

On a unit economics level, Rebel Foods spent INR 1.5 to earn every rupee from operations. The startup’s EBITDA margin improved to -37.8% in FY23 from -46.4% in FY22. 

To date, the startup has raised a little over $500 Mn and counts Goldman Sachs, Peak XV Partners, InnoVen Capital, Trifecta Capital, and Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) among its backers. The startup claims that it has over 450 kitchens across 70 cities in the country. The startup primarily competes against the likes of Curefoods, Biriyani By Kilo, Freshmenu, among others. 

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Insurtech major Go Digit General Insurance, which is gearing up for its initial public offering (IPO), has received a show cause notice and multiple advisories from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) last month, the company said in a new addendum to its draft prospectus filed with the Securities And Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The development comes at a time when the company’s IPO is yet to receive final approval from the SEBI even after Go Digit refiled its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) addressing certain concerns that the market regulator had raised earlier.

Go Digit revealed that the show cause notice from IRDAI has alleged non-disclosure of change in the conversion ratio of the CCPS issued by Go Digit Infoworks Services (GDISPL), the parent of Go Digit General Insurance, to FAL Corporation.

FAL Corporation is a part of Canada-based Fairfax Financial Holdings, which is one of the major investors in Go Digit.

“In terms of the Notice, the change in the conversion ratio of 6,300,000 CCPS issued by GDISPL to FAL Corporation, from ‘1 CCPS for 2.324 equity shares’ to ‘2.324 CCPS for each equity share’, which was reflected by way of an amendment to the JV Agreement dated August 11, 2022, is a material change to the information furnished at the time of applying for registration to the IRDAI,” the company’s regulatory disclosure to SEBI said.

As per the notice, Go Digit was expected to provide the details of such change to the IRDAI but it did not furnish the “full particulars”. Hence, IRDAI has also alleged that the startup is in violation of Section 26 of the Insurance Act.

If an adverse order is passed against Go Digit and its officers responsible for the non-compliance, the insurtech unicorn would be slapped with a maximum penalty of INR 1 Lakh for each day during which such failure continues, or INR 1 Cr, whichever is lower, the addendum mentioned.

Besides, IRDAI has also issued certain advisories and cautioned Go Digit on a few aspects.

The advisory notice has been issued for failing to take the insurance regulator’s approval for the change in remuneration of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on the account of the change in ESAR 2018 (employee stock appreciation rights scheme) to ESOP 2018 (employee stock option plans) and for failing to inform IRDAI of the retrospective grant of ESARs prior to the date of grant of the company’s certificate of registration.

“In the event the IRDAI is not satisfied with our responses or we fail to adhere to the advisories and cautions issued by the IRDAI, we may be subject to warnings, show-cause notices and/ or penalties in the future, which would, amongst other things, adversely impact our brand and reputation,” Go Digit said in its regulatory disclosure to SEBI.

Meanwhile, the IRDAI has also cautioned the startup to ensure due care and correct disclosures in the offer documents, of the position in relation to the commission on long-term policies and that acquisition costs incurred in the year, among several other advisories issued.

It is pertinent to note that Go Digit filed its DRHP with the SEBI in August last year. Within months, it also received the IRDAI’s approval to launch the IPO in November last year though SEBI had kept the IPO in ‘abeyance’.

In March this year, the startup refiled the DRHP with the market regulator for its $440 Mn, addressing the latter’s concerns about its ESOPs. 

In the latest filing, Go Digit said its erstwhile Go Digit – Employee Stock Appreciation Rights Plan, 2018 has been amended and changed to ESOP 2018, pursuant to the resolutions passed by the board and shareholders on March 21, 2023 and March 27, 2023, respectively. 

Founded in 2017 by Kamesh Goyal, Go Digit offers insurance policies across verticals including motor vehicle, health, travel, and property. Besides Prem Watsa’s Fairfax, the startup is also backed by prominent names such as Sequoia, cricketer Virat Kohli, and actor Anushka Sharma. 

Go Digit’s IPO comprises a fresh issue of shares worth INR 1,250 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) of 109.45 Mn shares.

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US-based electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla is mulling to double the number of components it imports from India, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, said in a post on social media platform X.

Goyal wrote the post after paying a visit to Tesla’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Fremont, California. “Proud to see the growing importance of Auto component suppliers from India in the Tesla EV supply chain. It is on its way to double its components imports from India.”

He added that he was delighted to see talented Indian engineers and finance professionals working across senior positions and contributing to the growth of the global electric vehicle giant. 

Though at the Tesla plant, Goyal could not meet the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk, the minister is expected to see the latter sometime during this visit to the US. In the meeting, the two sides will discuss Tesla’s plans to set up an Indian factory which will manufacture a $24,000 worth car model, reported Reuters. 

In September Goyal said that Tesla plans to source components worth $1.7 Bn to $1.9 Bn this year from Indian vendors after buying $1 Bn worth of components last year.

In a bid to speed up the process of Tesla’s entry into the Indian market, the government is reportedly planning to expedite the approvals. The government is planning to provide all the necessary clearances to the company by January 2024. 

The development comes at a time when the Indian government is considering tax reduction on the import of fully assembled EVs for up to five years.  

Experts are of the view that this will attract global companies like Tesla and Vinfast, among others, to not only manufacture and assemble EVs in the country but also import fully assembled versions.

The government is reportedly working on an EV policy designed to enable global car manufacturers to import electric vehicles at reduced duty rates, provided they commit to eventually start the manufacturing process in India. However, the policy is yet to be finalised.

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The Indian government is considering the possibility of implementing tax reductions on imported fully assembled electric vehicles (EVs) for a duration of up to five years. This strategic move aims to attract companies such as Tesla to not only sell but also potentially manufacture its electric cars within the country.

The government is formulating an EV policy designed to enable global car manufacturers to import electric vehicles at reduced duty rates, provided they commit to eventually manufacture EVs in India, Bloomberg reported.

However, a final decision on the policy’s outline is yet to be made.

In 2021, Tesla sought a reduction in import duties for its EVs. Tesla was seeking to lower the rates from the existing 70%-100% range to 40%, depending on the import value of its vehicles.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is expected to meet with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal later this week to have discussions about the company’s plans to establish a factory in India. Goyal is currently in San Francisco for ministerial engagements related to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

Tesla is actively pursuing entry into the Indian market, one of the most promising automotive markets globally, driven by the increasing demand for EVs among India’s expanding middle class.

On the other hand, Tesla’s potential investment holds the promise of supporting the government’s agenda to boost manufacturing’s contribution to India’s GDP and simultaneously generate employment opportunities.

Tesla plans to source components worth $1.7 Bn to $1.9 Bn this year from local vendors after buying $1 Bn worth of components last year, Goyal said earlier.

“…Tesla already last year bought $1 Bn of components from all of you sitting here. I have a list of companies who supplied to Tesla. This year their target is nearly $ 1.7 bn or $ 1.9 bn…,” said Minister Goyal.

It was reported earlier that the Indian government is working to expedite approvals for Tesla’s potential entry into the country, with a goal of providing all the necessary clearances by January 2024.

A recent meeting conducted by the Prime Minister’s Office reviewed the upcoming phase of EV manufacturing in India, which includes Tesla’s investment proposal.

India’s growing demand for EVs has garnered interest from both international and local tech firms, as well as emerging startups. Acer, the Taiwanese tech giant, has recently made its foray into the Indian EV market by licensing its brand to eBikeGo, a mobility startup.

Meanwhile, VinFast disclosed intentions to invest between $150 Mn and $200 Mn in India, aiming to establish a completely knocked-down (CKD) assembly unit in the country.

Alongside Tesla, automotive giants such as Audi and Mercedes-Benz are also eagerly positioning themselves to seize opportunities within the burgeoning Indian EV ecosystem.

Overall, total EV registrations in India across categories grew to 1.32 Lakh units in October from 1.28 Lakh units in September. As of now, a total of 12,27,195 EVs have been registered in India in 2023.

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The year was 2015 and Reliance Jio was emerging as a potential game changer. Reliance had tried to become a telecom player in the first 2G wave, even though this proved to be only a limited success. In 2015, Reliance Jio revisited its device-plus-network strategy from 2004, this time for 4G. And this time around, it worked wonders.

The Indian tech ecosystem, as we know it today, would arguably not be possible without Jio’s cheap mobile internet and affordable 4G devices.

Buoyed by this success, Reliance Jio has evolved beyond a mere telecom operator today and Reliance itself is changing from a petrochemical giant to a tech behemoth in so many ways. Alongside Reliance Jio, there’s Reliance Retail with its many massive marketplaces and an array of brands and Jio Financial Services, which is set to disrupt banks and the fintech ecosystem.

With eyes on the hardware manufacturing ecosystem (especially affordable smartphones and mobile devices), the Mukesh Ambani-led company has created a unique stack — from infrastructure and a mobile network to consumer and enterprise services across ecommerce, retail, financial services, entertainment, and most large sectors.

While the ‘Reliance Jio Stack’ is not just about Jio, the moniker fits because everything is centred around Jio and the internet that is powering the machine.

At the same time, however, one cannot ignore the elephant in the room. Today, Jio, Reliance Retail and JFS have become key competitors for major startups and tech companies in India. From enablers to rivals, the role of Reliance has changed just as it has transformed itself. And all of this has happened in less than a decade.

With Mukesh Ambani stepping aside from key companies such as Jio and Reliance Retail to pass on the baton to the next generation, there’s a lot at stake even for Reliance. Akash Ambani and Isha Ambani will lead the company into the next phase, as it looks to cross the 10 Lakh Cr mark for revenue in FY24.

Through conversations with key players in the industry as well as those who have seen the early days of Jio, we were able to piece together a picture of the grander vision of Reliance and Jio, and what it means for startups in the long run.

Reliance Jio did not respond to our questions about the organisational structure and how the various companies work together. 

The Starting Point: Reliance Jio & 4G

It’s no surprise that it all began with 4G. Even though the timing of Reliance’s 4G launch was fortunate, it did not have the 3G baggage of Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and others. It forced players to not just consolidate but focus on retaining subscribers rather than network expansion.

With its deep pockets, Reliance Jio forced many of these players to become 4G first and start again. For India’s internet companies though, Jio’s entry brought a whole generation of users online.

“Anyone who has seen India’s internet ecosystem mature knows that Mukesh Ambani tried this before with CDMA in 2000, but this time around it was a different market altogether. The mobile industry had evolved; consumer internet was changing and businesses were going digital for the first time; it was the right time for 4G,” recalled Elevation Capital partner Mayank Khanduja.

Khanduja, who began taking investment decisions in 2015 as a principal at venture capital firm Elevation Capital (then SAIF Partners), saw first-hand the emergence of the early stage ecosystem, startups that are today unicorns or value creators in the Indian market.

Between 2016 and 2019, Reliance Jio 4G spread like wildfire, and pretty much cast the competition aside. Reliance Jio added 90 Mn subscribers in 2019 to sit at a total of 370 Mn subscribers in just a matter of three years. Today, it commands a huge lead in the market with 439 Mn subscribers as per its FY2023 disclosures.

And somewhere along the way — between 2018 and 2020 — it began pressing home this market share.

The company’s net profit jumped to INR 5,297 Cr in Q2 FY24. Jio Platforms, the umbrella entity created around Jio, had a quarterly revenue of INR 26,875 Cr (roughly $3.3 Bn).

Targeted Acquisitions: Building The Reliance Jio Stack

“One of the things about Reliance is that it saw waves early on and acquired companies to fill those gaps. When these acquisitions happen, they seem small, but they can snowball,” according to an entrepreneur and investor, whose startup was acquired by Reliance (RIL) in 2019.

In 2019, Reliance Industries signed eight acquisition deals, including the likes of retail tech startup Fynd, marketing SaaS platform Haptik, and digitalisation enabler Nowfloats among others.

The acquisitions in 2019 and since form the backbone of Reliance’s growing prowess in the SaaS space.

The entrepreneur quoted above believes there’s no entity like Reliance anywhere in the world. “Amazon has ecommerce and AWS [besides OTT], Microsoft and Google have a huge array of services; Meta has social media power and Apple rules hardware, but Reliance has the capability to enter each of these spaces. And let’s face it, most of them, in India, they have to work with Reliance,” the entrepreneur added.

The acquisitions laid the foundation for what was to come. While RIL was using its years of profits to buy these companies, eventually they moved to a new umbrella entity encompassing all the digital services and products.

The Age Of Jio Platforms 

“Jio gave Reliance the pipeline through which it can feed all these services in the future,” added another Mumbai-based investor, who was a key figure at Jio for nearly six years when Reliance acquired these various startups and raised the funding from marquee names.

After acquiring these companies, the next big challenge was integrating them into one central vision. And this is where Jio Platforms came into the picture.

“The launch of Jio Platforms is not only a corporate structure, but it also was the first step in the transition of leadership from Mukesh Ambani to Akash Ambani. We then saw a similar thing with Reliance Retail and Isha [Ambani], so these new companies are not just an evolution of Reliance but a passing of the baton in many ways,” added the Mumbai-based investor, who did not wish to be named as they are close to the Reliance group.

Set up in late 2019, Jio Platforms was launched to encompass Reliance-owned digital businesses including Reliance Jio which offered the 4G telecom service, and key B2B and B2C apps and products such as JioMeet or JioCloud.

In 2020, Jio Platforms raised nearly $16 Bn from Google, Facebook, General Atlantic, KKR, ADIA, Mubadala, Qualcomm, Intel Capital among others. This fundraising spree not only gave Jio a capital boost, but also got it ready for a future IPO. But most importantly it signalled a new dawn for Jio and other Reliance companies.

Because, soon after, Reliance Retail began its fundraising spree and became a piece of the Reliance Jio Stack as well.

A majority of Jio’s investors lined up to back what is India’s largest retail operator now. Reliance Retail had raised close to $6 Bn in the year from strategic and financial investors, and went on its own spree of acquisitions.

From A Retail Giant…

It would be folly to think that Reliance has only emerged as a retail force in the last few years. In fact, the seeds were sown more than two decades ago with the launch of Reliance Fresh, Reliance Digital and other retail chains.

Reliance Retail also signed exclusivity deals with a host of renowned brands and labels to bring them to India. Reliance also has a grip on the FMCG segment with a number of private labels that leverage not just its own store network but also non-native retail channels.

The below graphic does not include brands such as Marks & Spencer, for which Reliance Retail had a JV which has now been dissolved. 

Interestingly, a number of international brands that may be more popular on other marketplaces are also owned by Reliance Retail in some way or the other.

“The retail scale is mind-boggling. Most people would not know that Reliance has a piece in bringing such brands to India. This allows the company to really get a huge share of the wallet and when it comes to retail, it’s hard to look around and not see a Reliance brand,” according to Ankur Bisen, a senior partner at Technopak.

..To Building An Ecommerce Empire

The ecommerce opportunity presented after Jio’s internet revolution meant that Reliance also had to double down on marketplaces and online-first brands.

Reliance began its ecommerce journey with AJIO in 2016, followed by JioMart in 2020 and added Tira in 2023. It also entered new areas through acquisitions such as epharmacy Netmeds, Urban Ladder, Just Dial, Milkbasket, lingerie maker Clovia and Alia Bhatt’s D2C brand Ed-a-mamma between 2020 and 2023.

For many years, AJIO was the lone horse battling the likes of Myntra, Nykaa, Flipkart and Amazon. Besides this, Reliance put up its brands on marketplaces to get the right revenue mix.

The addition of JioMart and Tira as channels will prove critical for Reliance in the long run because native revenue is any day more profitable than non-native channels.

Analysts believe that having an array of exclusive brands will be advantageous for fashion through AJIO or beauty and personal care through Tira in the long run, since Reliance can create a walled garden effect.

On the horizontal marketplace side, JioMart is expected to face stern competition not just from Tata-owned BigBasket, Amazon or Flipkart, but also quick commerce players that have emerged as real disruptors in the metros.

Talking about the Reliance Jio Stack, Bisen added that when Jio entered telco, it disrupted lives for existing players.

Reliance’s track record in establishing and nurturing new platforms is evident from its experience with AJIO, which it supported for many years. Additionally, its ability to attract the best talent and provide exposure to new platforms gives it a competitive edge. Those watching Reliance expect a similar strategy to be adopted for Tira, which is the latest platform to emerge from Reliance Retail.

The Tira offline store is expected to have technology-enabled features such as virtual try-on rooms, skin analyser, personalisation engines and smart assistance. This is said to be its key differentiation in retail.

“For Tira, a big chunk of revenue will initially go towards marketing and customer acquisition, at least for the first couple of years, as it is a new brand. More than marketing, Reliance will look at discounting more prominently. Reliance will try to give higher discounts compared to other players,” according to Karan Taurani of Elara Advisors.

Reliance’s Media Dominance Growing

It’s hard to believe that JioCinema, a service that did not exist till late 2022, is the biggest OTT platform in India today. With Disney+ Hotstar expected to be acquired by JioCinema, it would also very soon be the biggest streaming platform for live sports in India.

In the past one year, JioCinema has snatched the digital streaming rights for the IPL and other marquee properties from Disney+ Hotstar. JioCinema is today billing itself as the home of Indian cricket, which naturally brings in millions of subscribers.

Analysts now expect JioCinema to turn on the monetisation pipeline. It has already launched a subscription tier and is likely to put IPL 2024 behind a paywall of some kind. In just under eight months after its launch, JioCinema has 221 Mn monthly active users as of June 2023, according to reports.

Of course, beyond OTT and streaming, Reliance has the might and reach of Network18 with its various TV channels and digital publications, as well as production houses for motion pictures, and Mumbai Indians, which has won the IPL five times. These form a key part of the distribution side of the Reliance Jio Stack as well.

They help drive Reliance’s empire of products and services, as was evident during the IPL 2023, when Reliance products such as Tira and AJIO featured heavily during ad breaks.

JioCinema has the potential to become a very cost-effective sales funnel for Reliance platforms in the long run. Reliance can leverage the scale to succeed at formats such as live commerce, which have so far failed to take off due to the lack of vertical integration.

“The Reliance Jio Stack, or whatever you want to call it, is all about unlocking this vertical integration across all segments, unlike ever done before,” says the Mumbai-based investor quoted above.

The Final Frontier: Financial Services

While we expected Reliance to do something about fintech in the long run, the launch of Jio Financial Services this year was still something of a surprise. From payments to insurance to investment tech, JFS is set to disrupt several key fintech segments and pose a significant threat to existing players — both startups as well as legacy BFSI companies.

At launch, JFS is the world’s highest capitalised financial services platform and this safety net is a key to success for Jio’s fintech ambitions.

“The cost of fintech is still very high in India, whether you look at payments or insurance broking or any other service which relies on commissions. Having capital means JFS can be bullish on expansion. It can acquire some customers very easily due to Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail,” according to the founder of a Delhi-based B2B and B2C lending tech startup.

What works out for JFS is the fact that Reliance Jio boasts of over 439 Mn subscribers, while Reliance Retail has close to 250 Mn registered customers and 3 Mn merchants. These will be the anchors for scaling up Jio Financial Services over the next few quarters as it looks to push personal loans and consumer durable loans.

All this makes ominous reading for India’s fintech startups, which have so far banked on Reliance Jio’s internet services as a growth ladder. But now, startups not only have to solve the revenue puzzle that has plagued fintech for long, but also compete with a giant such as JFS, backed by Reliance’s technological prowess, retail network and significant reach across sectors.

As is evident from Reliance’s journey in the past eight years, the company looks to dominate the verticals it enters with a mix of capital-led growth and inorganic acquisitions.

Will we see a similar burst of acquisitions for JFS? It’s very much on the cards given the wider problems in the fintech space. Startups are struggling with revenue growth and JFS could use its deep pockets to acquire some of these ailing startups.

Even established players such as Paytm, Zerodha, Groww, PhonePe, Policybazaar, Lendingkart and others are very likely to see JFS as a challenge in payments, investment broking, insurance and other areas.

Startups have faced regulatory headwinds, a funding winter and Reliance’s mega entry means another massive player to compete with. A potential consolidation wave of fintech startups cannot be ruled out, which brings us to the final point about this “Reliance Jio Stack”.

Reliance Jio’s Big Tech Avatar

By all indications, Reliance is not about to halt its juggernaut any time soon.

Jio Financial Services is only the latest piece of the empire, which may soon include automotives and electric vehicles besides hardware manufacturing. Reliance is essentially aiming to become an everything-tech company.

And for many startups that have so far leaned on Reliance for growth, this is a scary proposition. There are fears about a monopoly in certain segments such as streaming as well as retail, but more ominously, entrepreneurs and other ecosystem stakeholders are worried about potentially having to cede ground to Reliance in other areas as well.

“No one can dispute that Reliance has taken Indian tech to a new place, but at the same time, there needs to be a check on where this is going. We have seen cases in CCI about monopolistic practices of foreign giants like Google or Meta, and the same argument can be extended to Reliance in many areas,” says the Delhi NCR-based entrepreneur and investor quoted first in this story.

Others pointed out that the Future Retail battle with Amazon shows that as Reliance tries to stretch further it will attract more such opposition. The potential Disney+ Hotstar deal will be an acid test for these concerns. Will there be some opposition to the fact that Reliance would pretty much be in a dominant position in the digital media space?

On the JFS front, many fintech founders have raised concerns in the past few weeks. “JFS will earn the fruits of our years of working with regulators and banks to form this foundation we have today,” the Delhi-based lending startup founder added.

Their primary contention is that Reliance gets an unfair advantage of having seen regulations evolve and mature, which are headwinds that fintech founders have fought back. Similar concerns were raised about Reliance Retail using its financial muscle in the Future Retail saga.

There’s little doubt eight years ago, Reliance Jio changed India forever and gave new wings to Indian tech. Today, in late 2023, the clear signs of the Reliance Jio Stack threaten to do it once again. How will it change Indian tech next?

The post The ‘Jio Stack’: The Making Of Reliance’s Digital Empire appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Meta appears to have landed in the crosshairs of enforcement agencies over the viral deepfake video that allegedly featured actor Rashmika Mandanna. 

Delhi Police has directed the social media giant to provide the URL of the account from which the ‘deepfake’ video of Mandanna originated, according to a PTI report. In addition, the city Police has also sought information on users who allegedly shared the fake video on social media platforms. 

“We have written to Meta to access the URL ID of the account from which the video was generated,” an official probing the matter told PTI. 

This comes barely a day after the special cell of Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations Unit registered an FIR in the matter. The report was lodged under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act for flouting norms related to forgery and for harming one’s reputation.

As per the report, a source said that a dedicated team of sleuths has been constituted to look into the matter and that the case could be cracked soon. 

The flurry of developments comes just a day after the Delhi Commission for Women on November 10 sent a notice to local Police seeking action in connection with the deepfake video that went viral online recently. 

The deepfake video featured what looked like Rashmika Mandanna and used generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools to make the synthetic video realistic. The aftermath saw the actor publicly slamming the video while actor Amitabh Bachchan called for action against culprits for generating the fake video

This followed two separate deepfake images making rounds online that involved actor Katrina Kaif and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s daughter Sara Tendulkar. The synthetic images were met with criticism online as users called for a crackdown on those using AI for nefarious reasons. 

Close on the heels of this, Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar also chimed into debate and said that the safety of and security of netizens, especially women, was the centre’s priority. 

Afterwards, the government also issued an advisory to major social media platforms, directing them to flag and remove deepfakes and illicit content within 36 hours after being reported by users. 

While Delhi Police is already probing the matter, Maharashtra Congress has sought the establishment of a government panel that would be tasked with formulating a legal and regulatory framework to curb deepfakes.

In a post on X, the general secretary of Congress’ state unit Sachin Sawant said that a separate machinery is needed to identify deepfakes and expose them.

Curiously, the development comes just a day after it was reported that Meta was looking to mandate advertisers to declare the usage of any digitally altered image or video in their ads. The policy, which will be rolled out globally, is expected to be moderated by a mix of both human and AI fact-checkers.

The post Rashmika Mandanna Deepfake: Delhi Police Seeks Info From Meta Over Video Origins appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Home appliances manufacturer Atomberg Technologies’ loss more than tripled during the financial year ended March 31, 2023. The Navi Mumbai-based startup’s net loss grew 3.5X to INR 138.35 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 39.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Revenue from operations rose 86.59% to INR 645.13 Cr in FY23 from INR 345.74 Cr in FY22. Total revenue, including other income, jumped 81.39% to INR 649.04 Cr from INR 357.8 Cr in FY22.

Founded by IIT Bombay alumni Manoj Meena and Sibabrata Das in 2015, the home appliances startup manufactures energy-efficient, remote and voice-controlled fans and fan accessories. Its product portfolio includes ceiling, pedestal, wall and exhaust fans, mixer grinders and smart locks.

Atomberg earns a majority of its revenue from the sale of products on its own website, ecommerce portals such as Amazon and Flipkart, and offline retail stores.

Expenses Shoot Up 

Atomberg, which has been on an aggressive growth trajectory, saw its total expenses double to INR 787.39 Cr during the year under review from INR 387.01 Cr in FY22.

It must be noted that the startup has been increasing its production capacity and expanding its omnichannel capabilities. For instance, in June 2022, it launched a state-of-the-art manufacturing unit in Bhamboli (Pune) with an investment of INR 25 Cr. This facility is 4X in terms of size compared to its plant in Nerul in Navi Mumbai.

Employee Expenses Zoom: In line with its expansion plans, Atomberg is also looking to strengthen its human resources. This is reflected in its employee costs. The startup’s employee benefit expenses grew 3.4X to INR 137.13 Cr in FY23 from INR 40.11 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Other Major Expenses: Atomberg’s cost of materials consumed rose 69.3% to INR 376.24 Cr during the year under review from INR 222.13 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, finance cost rose to INR 5.58 Cr from INR 1.88 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

On a unit economics level, the startup spent INR 1.22 to earn every rupee from operations in FY23.

EBITDA margin deteriorated to -21.31% in FY23 from -11.3% in FY22.

Earlier, in an interview with Inc42, Atomberg founders said that they were aiming to surpass INR 1,000 Cr mark in total revenue in FY24.

The startup last raised $86 Mn in a Series C round led by Temasek and Steadview Capital along with Trifecta Capital, Jungle Ventures and Inflexor Ventures. Overall, the startup has raised a total funding of $126.5 Mn till date.

The post Home Appliances Startup Atomberg’s FY23 Net Loss Surges 3.5X To INR 138 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Shared electric mobility startup Yulu has elevated chief financial officer (CFO) Anuj Tewari to the role of its newest cofounder. 

With this, Tewari formally joins the existing three-member founding team at the startup comprising chief executive officer (CEO) Amit Gupta, chief technology officer (CTO) Naveen Dachuri, and president of ecosystem partnerships RK Misra.

Commenting on the announcement, Tewari said, “It is a great honour to become a part of Yulu’s founding team. I am humbled as I accept this responsibility and look forward to working with this unstoppable team…”

Amit Gupta, cofounder and CEO, said, “We could not have asked for a better, or more natural, choice than Anuj to join Yulu’s founding team. Over the last three years, his rich experience, uncanny insights, sheer commitment and ‘founder mentality’ have helped Yulu embark on a strong growth trajectory. His presence will be a huge asset as we pursue our ambitious growth targets. On behalf of all the co-founders and the entire Yulu team, I heartily congratulate Anuj on his new role.” 

An alumni of Kanpur’s Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Tewari has a masters degree in business and commerce and is also a chartered accountant. He has nearly two decades of experience under his belt and has had stints with companies such as Barclays Bank, Kipco Asset Management Company and logistics company Agility.

Since joining the electric mobility startup in 2020, Tewari has been instrumental in shaping Yulu’s growth strategy and has led fundraising negotiations for the startup. He also oversees the company’s finances and, as per Yulu, has been the one of the driving forces to put the startup on track to becoming EBITDA-positive by the end of the year.

The elevation comes at a time when the startup has been rapidly scaling up operations. Yulu said it plans to record a 7X-8X year-on-year (YoY) jump in revenue in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). 

It also plans to grow its fleet size by 4X over the course of the next year, and is eyeing a ‘significant share’ of the last mile mobility market in Bengaluru, Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai during the period. 

Founded in 2017 by Gupta, Misra, Dachuri and Hemant Gupta, Yulu operates a fleet of electric two-wheelers that cater to daily commuters and last-mile delivery executives. The startup has so far raised $105 Mn in a mix of debt and equity across multiple rounds and is backed by names such as Bajaj Auto, Blume, Magna and Rocketship.vc.

Yulu’s net loss declined to INR 55.5 Cr in FY22 from INR 61.1 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Operating revenue more than doubled to INR 29 Cr from INR 13.6 Cr in FY21.

The post Shared Mobility Startup Yulu Names CFO Anuj Tewari As New Cofounder appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In significant relief to BYJU’S, the family office of Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai has acquired the $250 Mn debt availed by the edtech giant’s offline coaching arm Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) from Davidson Kempner.

Pai paid out the US-based investor in a bilateral debt transaction, sources close to the edtech giant told Inc42. An entity of Pai purchased all the non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of Davidson Kempner on the NSE Cbrics platform today, the sources added. 

Inc42 couldn’t independently verify the transaction. A BYJU’S spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.

In May, BYJU’S signed a $250 Mn (around INR 2,000 Cr) structured credit deal with Davidson Kempner against Aakash’s cash flow. However, the edtech company has only received INR 800 Cr from the loan. BYJU’S has reportedly used over INR 600 Cr from the facility.

Over the next few months, a breach of the loan term covenant triggered the US-based investor to start talks to return the money. At the same time, Davidson Kempner allegedly restructured Aakash’s board of directors. Though neither party commented on the development, media reports were strife with speculation around Aakash’s future.

BYJU’S and Davidson Kempner started negotiations for a settlement in August this year.

As per the sources quoted above, Pai is also in talks to acquire more stake in Aakash, as has been widely reported in the media over the past few months. Pai and BYJU’S go back nearly a decade, as Pai’s Aarin Capital was one of the first institutional investors in the edtech decacorn. 

According to an ET report, the Manipal Group chairman paid $168 Mn (about INR 1,400 Cr) to acquire the NCDs from Davidson Kempner. This will settle the credit used and the interest incurred on the same.

An overview of AESL’s shareholder distribution portrays BYJU’S parent, Think & Learn Private Limited, as the dominant stakeholder at 40%, followed by BYJU’S CEO Byju Raveendran with a 30% share. The Chaudhry family, the founders of AESL, hold an 18% stake, and Blackstone possesses the remaining 12%.

Ranjan Pai is likely to close ongoing investment talks for AESL once the share-swap agreement between AESL, BYJU’S and Blackstone is settled, which will eventually give him a 25-30% stake in the company. His investment will be in AESL and not Think and Learn.

The development comes at a time when BYJU’S has been looking to stabilise its ship by settling disputes with lenders and selling off US-based assets to focus on the Indian business. The edtech giant is looking to sell two of its US-based subsidiaries, Great Learning and Epic, to raise up to $1 Bn in cash, which it would deploy to repay its debts, including the $1.2 Bn term loan B.

After multiple delays, BYJU’S last week reported select numbers from its standalone financial statement for FY22. The company said its standalone EBITDA loss stood at INR 2,253 Cr in FY22 as against an EBITDA loss of INR 2,406 Cr in FY21. However, it didn’t disclose the net loss and the consolidated numbers.

The post BYJU’S Settles Dispute With Davidson Kempner As Ranjan Pai Acquires Debt appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Imagine Marketing, the parent company of boAt, saw its revenue cross the INR 3,400 Cr mark in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), registering a growth of 20%. 

“While the audio business continued its trajectory towards strong top line and bottom-line growth, the overall profitability got impacted due to investments the company made in seeding the smartwatch category and scaling up the Make in India infrastructure,” the company said in a statement.

The company reported a loss due to these investments, however, it didn’t disclose the loss number. In FY22, it reported a net profit of INR 68.7 Cr.

The D2C unicorn said it will file its detailed financial statements for FY23 with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) today. 

The New Delhi-based D2C electronics brand also claimed that it is on track to cross INR 4,000 Cr gross revenue this year. 

However, it must be noted that in June this year, boAt claimed that its net sales rose to around INR 4,000 Cr (about $500 Mn) in FY23. 

According to Sameer Mehta, cofounder and CEO of boAt, the company’s focus on innovation, technology, and ‘Make in India’, along with the government’s efforts to boost domestic production, has paved the way for its long-term growth and profitability. 

“Our profitability over the last 3 to 4 years is quite strong despite ahead of the curve investments in both wearables and Make in India infrastructure and FY24 will continue to remain strong like previous years. We are also focused and investing on building a strong talent engine in the organisation and have further strengthened our IT capabilities to drive efficiency,” he added.

The following are some of the key factors which worked in boAt’s favour in FY23:

• Growth Across The Board: boAt attributed the rise in its revenue in FY23 to increase in sales of smartwatches, TWS and home audio products. boAt’s revenue from smartwatches grew over 50% year-on-year (YoY) in FY23, while it said TWS and home audio categories saw 35%-40% growth in H1. 
• Launch Of New Products: In the first half of FY23, the company launched over 50 new products, including the ‘Nirvana Ion’ and ‘Airdopes Flex 454 ANC’. The company claimed that both these products collectively reached INR 350 Cr+ in annual run rate in FY23.
• Efficient Utilisation Of boAt Labs: Both Nirvana Ion and Airdopes Flex 454 ANC are made on boAt’s in-house platform developed by a team of over 80 engineers at boAt Labs, the R&D facility of the company. In the last few years, boAt has also made significant investments in ramping up its R&D capabilities.

Founded by Aman Gupta and Mehta in 2015, boAt operates in the larger audio and wearables markets and sells products such as headphones, smart watches and speakers. 

The company began making its products in India in early 2022 and claims to have produced more than 30 Mn units to date in India (over 15 Mn units in FY23). boAt said it is working continuously with Indian EMS vendors to streamline the processes and build a high quality manufacturing ecosystem in India. 

As part of these efforts, it has entered into a joint venture with Dixon Technologies. The company is also investing heavily in new technologies and product development and is looking to further increase its R&D capacity in the coming years.

Speaking during Inc42’s ‘The D2C Summit 4.0’ earlier this year, Gupta said, “Pre-Covid, 0% of our products were made in India. Cut to 2023, and 70% of our products are now made in India.” 

The company has raised a total funding of $177 Mn till date from investors such as Qualcomm Ventures, Warburg Pincus, InnoVen Capital, Navi Technologies, and Fireside Ventures.

The post Aman Gupta’s boAt Clocks INR 3,400+ Cr Revenue In FY23, Smartwatch Sales Grow Over 50% appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Listed matrimonial startup Matrimony.com’s consolidated profit after tax (PAT) rose 6.97% to INR 12.53 Cr during the second quarter of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 11.71 Cr in the year-ago quarter.

On a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, the company’s PAT declined 11.58% from INR 14.17 Cr.

The company, which operates multiple matrimonial brands including BharatMatrimony, CommunityMatrimony and EliteMatrimony, saw its operating revenue rise 5.86% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 121.60 Cr in Q2 FY24. On a QoQ basis, it declined 1.36% from INR 123.28 Cr.

Commenting on the Q2 performance, Matrimony chairman and MD Murugavel Janakiraman said, “Despite Q2 being a seasonal quarter we have shown growth in revenue and profits on a y/y basis. We have launched a transformed BharatMatrimony platform, delivering enhanced user interface and functionality including connecting matches over shared interests. We expect this initiative will add further value to our customers”.

Matchmaking Services Lead Revenue Charge: The listed matrimonial startup saw matchmaking services contributing the most to its top line, as the segment saw a revenue of INR 119.16 Cr during the quarter under review. 

The revenue from matchmaking services climbed 5.95% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 112.47 Cr but declined 1.15% from INR 120.55 Cr reported in the previous quarter.

At the same time, marriage services contributed INR 2.43 Cr to Matrimony.com’s total revenue in Q2 FY24, down 11% from INR 2.73 Cr in Q1 FY24 and 1.67% higher than INR 2.39 Cr in the year-ago quarter (Q2 FY23).

While matchmaking services were a hugely profitable segment for Matrimony.com, marriage services remained largely loss-making. This trend comes down to the mostly fragmented marriage management industry in India, where family and venue staff end up taking the most charge of the celebrations.

Zooming In On Matrimony’s Expenses

Matrimony.com reported a total expenditure of INR 111.58 Cr during Q2 FY24, up marginally from INR 111.23 Cr reported in Q1 FY24 and up 5.73% from INR 105.53 Cr reported during the year-ago quarter.

The biggest cost was advertising and other promotional activities. During Q2 FY24, Matrimony.com spent INR 47.33 Cr on advertising and promotional activities, up 6.96% QoQ from INR 44.25 Cr and up 4.53% YoY from INR 45.28 Cr.

Employee benefits expenses fell 5.49% QoQ to INR 35.60 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 37.67 Cr. On a YoY basis, employee expenses rose 2.06% from INR 36.35 Cr.

Matrimony.com also reported INR 20.53 Cr as ‘other expenses’ during the quarter under review, though it did not provide a breakdown of the same in its filings with the BSE.

The Chennai-based startup also said that it has overhauled the BharatMatrimony platform. “Transformed the BharatMatrimony app and website, delivering an enhanced user interface and functionality,” the startup said. 

Matrimony.com added that the new app and website features a user-friendly dashboard, personalised match listings, daily recommendations, a streamlined mailbox, interactive chat, and detailed profile views.

Shares of the matrimonial startup ended Thursday’s (November 9) session 0.92% lower at INR 572.45 apiece.

The post Matrimony Q2 PAT Rises 7% YoY To INR 12.53 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Auto marketplace CarTrade Technologies reported a 132% year-on-year (YoY) increase in its consolidated profit after tax (PAT) to INR 12.96 Cr in the second quarter (Q2) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). The startup had posted a PAT of INR 5.57 Cr in the year-ago period. 

However, net profit declined 4% from INR 13.51 Cr in Q1 FY24. 

The auto marketplace reported a record revenue of INR 314.33 Cr in the quarter ended September 2023, up 3.57X YoY from INR 87.88 Cr in Q2 FY23. On a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, revenue from operations jumped 3.65X from INR 86.06 Cr in Q1 FY24. 

However, it must be noted that the latest quarter results also include the numbers for OLX India, which CarTrade acquired in August this year. Without OLX numbers, CarTrade’s operating revenue grew 10% YoY to INR 97.06 Cr, while PAT rose 164% to INR 14.74 Cr.

Commenting on the quarterly results, CarTrade cofounder and chairman Vinay Sanghi said, “This has been an important quarter for CarTrade Tech, highlighted by the acquisition and ongoing integration of the OLX India business. Our strategy has involved restructuring the OLX operations to improve our unit economics and ensure that the classifieds business enhances and supports our consumer group business effectively.”

Meanwhile, total expenses, including OLX numbers, jumped 254% to INR 314.74 Cr in Q2 FY24 from INR 88.73 Cr in the year-ago period. 

This was primarily on account of purchase of stock-in-trade and inventory change, which accounted for costs worth INR 182.3 Cr in Q2 FY24 and was missing during the year-ago quarter. 

Employee benefit expenses, including ESOP costs, stood at INR 65.94 Cr during the quarter under review as compared to INR 52.58 Cr in Q2 FY24. Of this, ESOP costs accounted for INR 4.4 Cr, nearly halving from INR 7.96 Cr. ‘Other expenses’ more than doubled to INR 54.49 Cr in Q2 FY24 compared to INR 27.12 Cr in Q2 FY23. 

Founded in 2009 by ex-Mahindra executive Sanghi and former eBay India head Rajan Mehra, CarTrade is an auto marketplace that sells products across all vehicle types and value-added services. The startup operates vertical leaders such as CarTrade, BikeWale, and CarWale, among others.

In a statement, Sanghi said the OLX acquisition has strengthened the company’s position in the market and made the consolidated entity the biggest auto portal, classifieds platform, and auto auction platform in the country. 

“Our platforms together attract around 70 Mn unique visitors each month, of which 90% originate organically. This is a testament to the strength of our brands and our dedication to offer a superior customer experience,” added Sanghi. 

The company also informed the bourses that it will continue to focus and grow the newly-acquired entity’s classified business. Reacting to the recent closure of OLX’s parent entity Sobek Auto India’s C2B business, CarTrade said the decision was taken on account of challenges related to unit economics. The shutting down of the arm, as per the auto marketplace, led to reduction of costs and losses in the consolidated company’s business.

Meanwhile, the company continued to see healthy growth on the operational front. The auto marketplace clocked 7 Cr average monthly unique visitors in Q2 FY24, 90% of which were organic. Of this, Carwale and Bikewale together contributed 3.89 Cr.

The number of auction listings and volume on its Shriram Automall platform declined YoY to 2.97 Lakh and 56,151 respectively in Q2 FY24. The company claims to have more than 350 physical stores, spanning Automalls, abSure, Signature and OLX outlets, across the country. 

Shares of CarTrade closed 3.4% higher at INR 728.75 on the BSE on Thursday (November 9).

The post CarTrade Q2 PAT Jumps 132% YoY To INR 12.96 Cr, Revenue Surges 3.57X appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Dunzo’s many problems are not exactly undercover — From severe cash crunch to multiple rounds of layoffs to strikes by delivery partners, and from the resignations of key board members and cofounder Dalvir Suri to the near-retreat from quick commerce, as we have uncovered in the past few weeks 

Dunzo’s downfall pretty much happened in the ongoing fiscal year (FY24) but the company’s FY23 financials released this week show just how the situation went from bad to worse for the Bengaluru-based startup.

Here’s the bottom line: The startup’s loss surged nearly 4X to INR 1,801 Cr in FY23 and operating revenue stood at a mere INR 226.6 Cr. 

The 8x loss-to-revenue ratio shows just how severe the cash crunch was and why the company does not have funds to even pay employees since July this year. 

However, the poor financial performance also indicates an underlying problem with Dunzo’s operations. The fact is that Dunzo’s expenditure, which is on par with most of the rivals, did not result in the revenue push that others have seen. The inability to generate sufficient revenue despite substantial cash outflow tells us in many ways that while Dunzo had the right idea, the failure was in the execution.

Before we delve into the company’s operations, here’s a snapshot of Dunzo’s FY23: 

• The Reliance Retail-backed startup’s operating revenue rose to INR 226.6 Cr from INR 54.3 Cr in FY22.
• Dunzo’s overall expenses jumped over three-fold to INR 2,054.4 Cr in FY23 
• Dunzo’s procurement expenses surged a staggering 9,079% YoY to INR 174.4 Cr, which is direct spending towards quick commerce 
• The startup’s advertising costs ballooned  381% to INR 309.7 Cr 
• Employee costs increased 2.4X to INR 338 Cr from INR 138.3 Cr in FY22 leading to oversized salary bills which went through mega cuts in FY24
• Dunzo spent INR 367.4 Cr on its delivery agents or runners, again pointing to how its operational scale-up on quick commerce came at a dear cost 

What Led To Dunzo’s Rise In Expense

As we can see, Dunzo’s expenses skyrocketed since FY22 largely because of the expansion of its quick commerce operations under Dunzo Daily.

Dunzo Daily was piloted in Bengaluru and Pune before it came to other major regions such as Delhi NCR, but the competition in this space was also intensifying with the entry of Zepto as well as Swiggy’s Instamart and Zomato-owned Blinkit. 

While Dunzo was more or less like a courier startup till 2020, this changed in 2021 as quick commerce became the biggest use case in metros and Tier 1 cities. Dunzo’s earlier model of picking up individual items from retail stores was not quite as hip as quick commerce. Dunzo was more or less compelled to go the quick commerce way and it had the funds to make a big play. But this also led to hockey stick-like increases in expenses.

Besides the major expenses such as advertising and employee costs, the quick commerce foray meant that Dunzo also had to bear procurement costs. 

This is essentially what Dunzo spent in purchasing grocery and other related items from FMCG brands which were then resold or supplied to the dark store partners.  

The procurement cost would have only grown exponentially as Dunzo launched more and more dark stores, which is the reality of the business model, but where others managed to eke out sustainable unit economics to some degree, Dunzo was well under par.   

In FY22, the startup’s revenue from operation increased merely by 1.1X to INR 54.3 Cr from INR 48.8 Cr. In contrast, Zepto, which only entered the conversation in FY22 outperformed Dunzo in terms of operating revenue. 

Zepto, reported an operating revenue of INR 140 Cr in FY22, almost 2.5X of what Dunzo earned. In FY23, the gulf between Dunzo and other competition only widened.  

In FY23, Dunzo reported INR 227 Cr in revenue compared to Zepto’s INR 2,024 Cr and Blinkit’s INR 724 Cr. While Zepto outspent Dunzo considerably, Blinkit’s FY23 expense of INR 1,826 Cr is still lower than Dunzo. 

Dunzo’s Expenses To Outpace Funding

Given that the revenue needle has not moved as much as some of the competition, Dunzo’s reliance on external funds is very high. Indeed, the startup has only earned around 10% of what it spent. And it has exhausted all the VC money it has raised till date.

From the above numbers, it is quite evident that the startup is only generating minimal revenue after spending so much capital.

Since FY20, the startup has raised total funding of $408 Mn and counts backers such as Reliance Retail, Google, Lightspeed, Lightbox, and Alteria Capital among others. 

Incidentally, the startup went on to raise its biggest round from Reliance Retail in January 2022 to fuel its quick commerce operations. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Retail has a 25.8% stake in the company.

The investment also meant Dunzo became a delivery partner for Reliance’s JioMart, and incidentally the B2B arm or Dunzo For Business is now cofounder Biswas’s biggest focus. Especially. with its consumer-focussed operations and the linked spending in that regard not paying off. 

B2B operations are asset-light since Dunzo would not need to procure products for dark stores plus it does not have to routinely offer high discounts to businesses that use its service. 

The biggest costs for Dunzo under a singular B2B focus would be employee benefits and delivery partner fees, and the heavy spending on consumer-focussed marketing can be trimmed down significantly as well. 

Dunzo declined to comment on whether it will focus purely on B2B deliveries or continue forward with a mix of consumer deliveries and Dunzo For Business.

On the consumer side, Dunzo offers some of the lowest prices for deliveries. When comparing Dunzo to other package delivery startups such as Pidge, Porter, and Swiggy Genie for a 2.5 Km delivery, we found that Dunzo offered the service at INR 79. 

In contrast, Pidge charged INR 140 for the same service and Porter’s price for the same parcel delivery was INR 95. 

Swiggy Genie was the only player that offered a lower price than Dunzo, charging just INR 65. This can be attributed to Swiggy’s substantial funding of $700 Mn in its last funding round, affording the startup to absorb the cost. In contrast, Dunzo, which is already operating at a loss and currently lacks visible funding prospects, continues to maintain the lower pricing strategy despite it not being profitable.

In contrast to the situation at Dunzo, Blinkit and Zepto have sufficient capital to support their expansion efforts and they have made measurable progress on the unit economics front. Blinkit received a capital injection of $568 Mn from Zomato during the acquisition. In Q2FY24 results, Zomato said that Blinkit turned contribution positive for the first time on a quarterly basis.

Zepto, which recently became a unicorn, got another infusion of $31 Mn this week on top of the $200 Mn it raised in August 2023. 

The Tough Question

Even as its one-time quick commerce rivals are growing, Dunzo is left with a huge bill of overdue salaries, vendor payments and more. 

Compounding Dunzo’s challenges, Reliance JioMart, the biggest client of Dunzo For Business, lowered the rates it paid for last-mile deliveries in June 2023. JioMart accounts for 30-40% of its total business and Dunzo’s gross margins on the B2B fell by 50%-75% after the change.

On the B2B delivery front, Dunzo faces challenging competition from well-established players such as Shadowfax, Xpressbees, Pidge, Porter, Shiprocket and others. These startups are capitalising on their existing customer base and delivery infrastructure for last-mile delivery and many have signed up big retail chains as clients. 

More importantly, most of these players have recently secured funding or in advanced talks to raise fresh funding rounds. Further adding to Dunzo’s woes, Zomato initiated trials of B2B logistics services in May this year, whereas Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola introduced Ola Parcel last month in Bengaluru. 

Although Dunzo claims to have secured $45 Mn in debt funding, it’s not clear whether this money has hit the bank. 

In a desperate bid to secure the much-needed funding, Dunzo is said to be cutting its expenditure to $300K from September and will also be reducing its employees headcount to 200. As per LinkedIn, Zepto has an employee headcount of around 3,800 and BlinkIt has around 7,000 employees. 

While the startup’s cofounder Dalvir Suri left, Dunzo’s board members – Ashwin Khasgiwala, group chief of business operations at Reliance Retail, and Rajendra Kamath, finance head at Reliance Retail, and Vaidehi Ravindran, a partner at Lightrock India have also resigned this year.

Dunzo is a shell of the company that it once was. At a time when investors want sustainable models and unit economics before writing cheques, the B2B arm could be the messiah for Dunzo. Will it be enough? 

[Edited by Nikhil Subramaniam]

The post Dunzo’s Quick Commerce Folly appeared first on Inc42 Media.

InCred Holdings Limited, the holding company of fintech startup InCred Financial Services Ltd, has secured commitments worth INR 500 Cr ($60 Mn) in its Series D Funding round. 

The startup said it has received interest from various investors, including a global private equity fund, corporate treasuries, family offices, and UHNIs for the funding round, which will turn it into a unicorn.

The fresh capital will be strategically deployed across InCred’s core business verticals – consumer loans, student loans, and MSME lending.

“This funding commitment marks a significant milestone in our journey and takes us into the ranks of unicorns. With our ‘Risk First’ approach, cutting-edge technology, and class-leading management team, we are well positioned for sustained growth in the business over the years to come,” Bhupinder Singh, founder and group CEO of InCred, said. 

“Our goal is to make InCred a central part of every Indian family’s financial aspirations, in line with the powerful growth seen by the Indian economy, and to eventually list the business unlocking significant value for all our shareholders,” Singh added.

InCred Finance claims to have built a INR 7,500 Cr loan book within six years, and a growth over 50% CAGR over the last three years. 

On completion of the funding round, InCred will become only the second Indian startup to join the unicorn club in 2023. Zepto is the only Indian startup to join the coveted club this year. 

(The story will be updated soon.)

The post InCred Closing $60 Mn Series D Round, To Be Second Unicorn Of 2023 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Delhi government has restricted the entry of app-based taxis, like Ola, Uber from other states into the capital. This decision was made in response to the deteriorating air quality in the city.

As per an ET report, only taxis registered in Delhi will be permitted to enter the city. This measure was implemented following a Supreme Court order, which highlighted the issue of a significant number of taxis from other states entering the capital with just one passenger.

The court also criticised the ‘odd-even’ scheme, which aimed to address air pollution concerns, labeling it as mere ‘optics.’ The court directed the Delhi government to control the entry of vehicles with orange tags into the city.

Delhi’s Transport Minister, Gopal Rai, mentioned in a press conference that the Delhi government is in the process of compiling a report based on two studies evaluating the effectiveness of the ‘odd-even vehicle’ policy in reducing air pollution.

Additionally, the Supreme Court instructed the Delhi government to oversee and prevent the burning of municipal solid waste within the city or in open areas during the period when GRAP IV is in effect.

At the time of reporting, New Delhi’s real-time Air Quality Index (AQI) for PM 2.5 and PM 10 air pollution levels was recorded at 384. The current PM2.5 concentration in New Delhi is 22.5 times higher than the recommended limit provided by the WHO’s 24-hour air quality guidelines. Just last week, the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) breached the 400 mark, reaching 476.

PM2.5 air pollution in New Delhi has been attributed to an estimated 25,000 deaths since January 1, 2021, and has cost the city’s economy approximately $3.7 Bn this year, according to Greenpeace, a non-governmental environmental organisation.

The post Delhi Bans Entry Of Ola, Uber From Other States Amid Worsening Air Quality appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Troubled edtech giant BYJU’S laid off nearly 600 employees from the content and marketing teams in October as part of its ongoing restructuring exercise, sources told Inc42. 

The move impacted the content and video team more than the marketing team as the former division was shut entirely, the sources said, adding that teachers and educators who were part of the content production team were also impacted by the move. 

The layoffs were part of the retrenchment exercise being carried out under the leadership of BYJU’S new India CEO Arjun Mohan. The development follows a report about BYJU’S marketing head Atit Mehta, content head Asheesh Sharma, and heads of other verticals exiting the company. 

A detailed questionnaire on the latest developments sent by Inc42 to BYJU’S remained unanswered till the time of publishing this story.

Last month, Inc42 reported that BYJU’S planned to lay off nearly 3,500-4,000 employees. The layoff numbers were only for Think & Learn Private Ltd, the parent company of BYJU’S, and didn’t include its subsidiaries, sources told Inc42 then.

In a statement, a BYJU’S spokesperson had then said, “We are in the final stages of a business restructuring exercise to simplify operating structures, reduce the cost base and better cash flow management. BYJU’S new India CEO, Arjun Mohan, will be completing this process in the next few weeks and will steer a revamped and sustainable operation ahead.”

BYJU’S Many Troubles

The edtech decacorn is currently fighting on multiple fronts and has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

 It was also involved in a legal battle in the US with the lenders of its $1.2 Bn Term Loan B and is currently in talks to restructure the terms of the loan.

Amid the cash crunch, the company is planning to sell Great Learning and Epic for about $800 Mn-$1 Bn. 

According to a Bloomberg report, BYJU’s is in talks with the US-based private equity fund Joffre Capital to sell Epic for $400 Mn.

Meanwhile, sources told Inc42 that cofounder Byju Raveendran is in talks with the US and India-based edtech firms to sell Great Learning for about $400 Mn.

All this comes at a time when there is still no clarity on BYJU’S financial performance in FY22. After multiple delays and missed deadlines, BYJU’S last week released select numbers for its standalone business for FY22.

In a statement, it said Think and Learn Private Ltd reported an EBITDA loss of INR 2,253 Cr in FY22 as against an EBITDA loss of INR 2,406 Cr in FY21. Total income stood at INR 3,569 Cr as against INR 1,552 Cr in FY21. 

But neither did the statement mention the net loss figure for the standalone business nor did it provide any details about the consolidated financials for the year. The edtech firm’s consolidated net loss surged 1,880% to INR 4,588 Cr in FY21.

However, as per the sources, BYJU’S is in the process of filing its consolidated financials for FY22 with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in the next two weeks.

Mohan’s Attempts To Put The House In Order 

Last month, Inc42 reported that Mohan, who took over as the India CEO of BYJU’S in September this year, is looking to turn around the company’s fortunes by bringing down costs.

As part of this exercise, he ordered an immediate hiring freeze and was said to have zeroed in on senior employees and vertical heads for layoffs. The company also fired employees from sales, HR, finance and tech teams in this exercise. 

“There is a rumour going on in the Bengaluru head office that the company will now be brought down to 2015 levels when it comes to the number of employees, with more focus on junior-level positions,” a source told Inc42 earlier.

However, the company would continue to hire business development associates (BDAs) as it looks to shore up its revenue. 

Meanwhile, Mohan was also said to have ordered a pause on further expansion of BYJU’S offline tuition centres, which were started last year, amid high operational costs and a large number of refund and cancellation requests from students.

While the impact of these changes would only be visible in BYJU’S financial statements for FY24, all eyes are on the edtech’s consolidated FY22 numbers for now. 

The post EXCLUSIVE: BYJU’S Sacks 600 Employees From Content, Marketing Teams In Ongoing Restructuring Exercise appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Fresh off the fire sale, auto spare parts startup GoMechanic, recently acquired by Servizzy, has raised $6 Mn in a strategic funding round led by an undisclosed family office. 

The round also saw participation from other existing investors, including Stride Ventures. 

A company spokesperson told Inc42 that GoMechanic will utilise the fresh capital to expand its footprint to new and uncovered areas across the country. The funding will also be used to venture into new categories and launch different formats of franchisee workshops.

Commenting on the fundraise, the new cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO) Himanshu Arora said, “This achievement serves as a profound vote of confidence towards the company and in the potential of its business model from the investment community, the existing shareholders, Stride Ventures and Lifelong Group, and the startup community.”

In a statement, the company said that its ‘sole purpose’, post acquisition, has been to create transparency and be more cost-effective and efficient. GoMechanic further claimed that, going forward, it is committed to fostering strong customer loyalty and cultivating brand loyalty.

In what is arguably the first insight into the startup’s performance since acquisition, the auto after-sales startup said it has witnessed a 4X jump in revenue under the leadership of new cofounder and chief operating officer (COO) Muskan Kakkar. GoMechanic also claims to be well-poised to double its revenues by the end of the current fiscal year (FY24).

It also claims to have seen ‘exponential growth’ and an ‘increase in engagement and retention’ since the acquisition. Alongside, the startup has also expanded its business lines to include new verticals such as ‘GoMechanic Service Business’, ‘GoMechanic Spares’, and ‘GoMechanic Accessories’. 

The startup has also ventured into the premium services market with ‘GoMechanic LUXE’, offering service centres for luxury cars across the country. While the premium vertical manages over 600 luxury cars a month, GoMechanic Service handles 800 cars per day. 

As per the company, sales of its MILES membership programme per month surged 72% in October 2023 compared to April 2023. It also sells products such as vacuum cleaners, Android car screens and tire inflators on ecommerce platforms now to further spruce up the topline. 

The new fundraise comes eight months after competitor and Lifelong Group’s subsidiary Servizzy acquired the startup in a fire sale in a deal pegged at INR 220 Cr.

Founded in 2016 by Amit Bhasin, Kushal Karwa, Nitin Rana and Rishabh Karwa, GoMechanic landed in trouble earlier this year after cofounder Bhasin publicly admitted to fudging numbers, which led to an investor-led forensic audit into the company.

Recently, the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police registered an FIR against the four original cofounders of the startup and key management personnel (KMP) for alleged fraud and cheating based on a complaint filed by GoMechanic’s key investors in June 2023.

The cofounders are said to have falsified bank statements, inflated revenues, and syphoned off money in a saga that began at the startup’s seed stage in 2017. Amid all these controversies, at least two of GoMechanic’s founders are said to be working on their respective new ventures.

The post GoMechanic 2.0? Auto After-Sales Startup Bags $6 Mn To Expand Footprint, Launch New Products appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Gaming major Nazara Technologies’ consolidated profit after tax (PAT) jumped 53% to INR 24.2 Cr in the September quarter (Q2) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 15.8 Cr in the year-ago quarter, with the esports vertical driving the growth.

The company’s PAT also rose 15.8% from INR 20.9 Cr in Q1 FY24. 

Nazara’s operating revenue grew 13% to INR 297.2 Cr in the reported quarter from INR 263.8 Cr in Q2 FY23. This was almost a 17% jump from INR 254.4 Cr operating revenue the company posted in the June quarter of the current fiscal.

The esports vertical witnessed the highest growth during the quarter, with revenue jumping almost 26% year-on-year (YoY) and 46% sequentially to INR 172 Cr.

On the other hand, the gaming vertical, which includes NODWIN gaming and SportsKeeda, registered a 13.8% YoY rise to INR 104.3 Cr in revenue. However, this was a slight dip on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis.

Meanwhile, the adtech vertical saw a contraction in the September quarter, with revenue dipping 36.5% YoY and 18.4% QoQ to INR 22.5 Cr. 

The company’s EBITDA rose 30% YoY to INR 27.9 Cr in Q2 FY24.

During its Q2 earnings announcement, Nazara reiterated that it is bolstering its acquisition playbook.

Nitish Mittersain, founder, CEO and joint MD of Nazara, said that with a consolidated cash position of around INR 1,300 Cr, Nazara is “exceptionally well-positioned” to seize acquisition opportunities and expedite its growth in the years ahead.

It must be noted that during the reported quarter, Nazara raised a fresh capital of INR 510 Cr from investors including Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath and SBI Mutual Fund.

Recently speaking to Inc42, Mittersain said the gaming company was planning to deploy a large portion of the freshly raised capital for new investments, with some acquisitions, especially in gaming studios.

During its Q2 FY24 earnings, Nazara also announced granting 9,000 employee stock options (ESOPs) under the Nazara Technologies Employee Stock Option Scheme 2023 to the eligible employees of the company. 

The ESOPs have an exercise price of INR 833.35 per option.

Nazara’s Expenses In Q2

The gaming unicorn’s expenses grew 9.7% to INR 288.3 Cr in the reported quarter from INR 262.7 Cr in Q2 FY23.

At INR 84.7 Cr, content, event, and web server expenses accounted for the largest chunk of expenditure.

Meanwhile, the company’s spending towards the purchase of stock in trade more than doubled YoY to INR 69.7 Cr in Q2 FY24.

Nazara’s employee benefit expenses jumped to INR 48.9 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 34.4 Cr in the previous year’s quarter.

However, the company managed to bring down its advertising and business promotion expenses to INR 47.4 Cr in Q2 FY23 from INR 71.3 Cr in the year-ago quarter.

Shares of Nazara ended today’s session marginally lower at INR 831.3 on the BSE.

The post Nazara’s PAT Jumps 53% YoY To INR 24.2 Cr In Q2 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Internet giant Info Edge has written off a total loss of INR 532.25 Cr in Rahul Yadav’s proptech startup 4B Networks in Q2 FY23. Info Edge had invested in the company via its partly owned subsidiary Allcheckdeals India Pvt  Ltd. 

This consists of INR 80.77 Cr for net assets, INR 12.32 Cr for ICD (Inter-corporate deposits)  given and reduced by Non-Controlling Interest payable of INR 2,80.27 Cr, as per Indian accounting standards (IND AS), as mentioned in the filing with Ministry Of Corporate Affairs.

While Info Edge’s cash infusion in the startup stood at INR 288 Cr, the rest is the notional loss from a higher valuation than the startup commanded earlier. The startup had a valuation of INR 719 Cr, mentioned as Goodwill in the MCA filing before Info Edge had to write down its entire investment made through its wholly owned subsidiary ALLcheckdeals India.

The company has cited reasons such as excessive cash burn, prevailing liquidity issues and significant uncertainty towards funding options as the reason for write-off. 

“The Company continues to explore various options in best interest of stakeholders and will re-evaluate such position, if and when underlying assumptions relating to survival and sustainability of investee company,” as mentioned in Info Edge’s Q2 FY23 financial statement.

To be noted, Info Edge had returned to black in the previous quarter after reporting a net loss of INR 503.2 Cr in the March quarter of FY23 amid write-off of investment in Rahul Yadav’s 4B Networks and Bijnis.

The internet giant reported a consolidated net profit of INR 239.7 Cr in the September quarter (Q2) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), a jump of 155.3% from INR 93.9 Cr in the year-ago quarter helped by cost control measures and growth in two verticals – Naukri.com and 99acres.com.

In May 2022, Info Edge acquired a majority stake in 4B Networks, investing INR 137 Cr in the Mumbai-based startup and increasing its stake to 57.16% on a fully diluted basis. Overall, it has invested about INR 280 Cr+ and holds over 65% stake in the company.

4B Networks, which was incorporated in November 2020, is engaged in the business of enabling real estate developers and brokers to communicate with each other and conduct their business via the Broker Network Platform.

In the past few months, several criminal complaints have been filed against Yadav and others at the company. In October this year,  Info Edge also filed a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police against Broker Network founder and former Housing.com cofounder Rahul Yadav over alleged cheating to the tune of INR 288 Cr. 

These are currently being investigated by Mumbai Police as well as other law enforcement authorities (more on these later). An earlier deep dive by Inc42 into Yadav’s fifth startup 4B Networks suggested that the startup is on the brink of collapse. 

The post Info Edge Reports INR 532 Cr Loss On Its Investment In Rahul Yadav’s 4B Networks appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Investech startup INDmoney reported a 7.7% rise in net loss to INR 73.9 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 68.6 Cr reported in the previous fiscal year, hurt by a sharp jump in its employee benefit expenses.

The bottom line was hurt despite INDmoney’s operating revenue almost doubling to INR 40.6 Cr during the year from INR 21.8 Cr in FY22.

Founded by Ashish Kashyap in 2019, INDmoney claims to be a one-stop super finance app for saving and investing. The startup allows users to invest in stocks, mutual funds, IPOs, and fixed deposits. Users can also invest in US stocks through the INDmoney app.

As such, the startup earns operating revenue from the sale of services, which includes income from advisory and distribution services and income from broking activities.

In FY23, INDmoney earned a majority of its revenue from other income, including gain from sale of investments and other non-operating income.

INDMoney’s other income stood at INR 46.7 Cr in FY23 as against INR 19.7 Cr in the previous year.

Overall, the startup’s total revenue jumped 111% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 87.4 Cr in FY23.

INDmoney is backed by marquee investors like Tiger Global, Steadview Capital,  Sixteenth Street Capital, and angels like Lenskart founder Peyush Bansal and influencer and founder of Nearbuy.com, Ankur Warikoo.

The startup competes with the likes of Upstox, Groww, and Zerodha. 

Zooming Into The Expenses

INDmoney’s overall spending grew 1.5X to INR 200 Cr in FY23 from INR 133.4 Cr in the prior fiscal year. 

Employee Costs The Biggest Expense: At INR 111.9 Cr, employee benefit expenses accounted for 56% of the startup’s total expenditure. 

Employee benefit expenses jumped 2.6X YoY from INR 42.3 Cr due to a sharp increase in ESOP costs.

While INDMoney spent INR 58.9 Cr towards salaries and wages, its employee share-based payment (equity settled) jumped over 11X YoY to INR 47.6 Cr in FY23.

Marketing Expenses Decline: INDmoney managed to cut its marketing costs by over one-fourth to INR 41 Cr in the reported year from INR 57 Cr in FY22.

Among other expenses, the startup’s total depreciation, depletion, and amortisation expense grew to INR 5.4 Cr in the reported period from INR 3.7 Cr a year ago. Meanwhile, software, cloud storage, and server charges grew 1.3X YoY to INR 32.1 Cr in FY23.

INDmoney last raised $11 Mn in its Series D funding round in March last year.

The post INDmoney’s FY23 Net Loss Widens To INR 73.9 Cr, Revenue More Than Doubles appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Mumbai-based quick commerce unicorn Zepto raised an additional sum of $31.25 Mn in a Series E funding round from Goodwater Capital, Nexus Venture Partners.

Additionally, angel investors such as Oliver and Lish Jung, and Mangum II LLC also participated in the round, according to the company’s filings with Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).

In August, the quick commerce unicorn Zepto raised $200 Mn in its Series E funding round at a valuation of $1.4 Bn valuation, becoming the first and only unicorn of 2023. The startup kept its plans for the newly raised funds under wraps, yet it disclosed its intention to pursue an initial public offering by 2025.

Founded in 2021 by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohora, Zepto seized the opportunity created by the increased demand for rapid ecommerce delivery during the Covid-19 pandemic. The startup gained attention when it secured $60 Mn in funding in November 2021, with investors including Glade Brook Capital, Nexus, and Y Combinator.

Zepto competes against the likes of Swiggy’s Instamart, Zomato-owned Blinkit, and Reliance-backed Dunzo.

According to industry experts, Zepto may need to raise funds approximately every 12-15 months to accelerate its revenue growth and remain competitive with players like Zomato’s Binkit, and Swiggy’s Instamart, as they benefit from a similar revenue mix advantage.

The recently turned unicorn saw its net loss surge 3.35X during the year ended March 31, 2023. The quick commerce startup reported a net loss of INR 1,272.4 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), an increase of 226% from INR 390.3 Cr in the last financial year, as per the company’s claims.

Its revenue from operations ballooned 14.3X to INR 2,024.3 Cr in FY23 from INR 140.7 Cr in FY22. Total income, including other income, jumped to INR 2,077.6 Cr from INR 142.3 Cr in the last fiscal year.

Zepto is still experiencing increasing losses despite revenue growth which indicates its profit margins will not increase unless a substantial portion of the dark stores becomes profitable or it diversifies into other business verticals.

The post Quick Commerce Unicorn Zepto Secures Another $31 Mn In Series E Round appeared first on Inc42 Media.