TECHNOLOGY
Back in action: VC firms on a fundraising spree after year-long pause
After VC fundraising in 2024 hit a five-year low, several global as well as domestic investment firms, including Accel, Bessemer, among others, have announced large funds this year, spurred on by India’s strong startup IPO pipeline and a recovering funding landscape.
TECHNOLOGY
Rebel Foods to invest $25 million in Wendy’s, double store count to 400 in 3 years: CEO Ankush Grover
The firm has also witnessed a slowdown in food delivery, in line with the overall industry, over the past few months, but is now gradually starting to see demand pick back up due to occasions like Holi, Ramadan and the recent Champions Trophy cricket tournament, Grover said.
TECHNOLOGY
Noise expands globally amid India slowdown; not in a IPO rush, says CEO Gaurav Khatri
Khatri expects international markets to be a big growth driver this year along with deepening penetration in India’s tier 2 and beyond markets
TECHNOLOGY
Flipkart introduces new pricing policy for sellers
As part of the new policy, Flipkart allows sellers to determine a ‘bank settlement price’ for their products. The final listing price is then determined by the platform, after levying discounts, taxes, and other fees.
TECHNOLOGY
From equity splurge to dilution control, startups tighten stock-based grants for top executives, says xto10x report
Startups are shifting from high fixed salaries to performance-linked MSOP grants as investor pressure to control dilution grows, the latest Total Rewards Benchmarking Report says
BUSINESS
Tech leaders in engineering, product, data science earn 80% more; startup CFOs pay linked to fundraising, says xto10x report
CTOs and senior VP-product roles are commanding median fixed salaries of Rs 1.77 crore and Rs 1.72 crore, the latest Total Rewards Benchmarking Report by xto10x says
TECHNOLOGY
Founder stakes in unicorn startups decline amid a challenging funding environment
The median stake that founder groups hold in their unicorn startups has gradually fallen over the last six years to just 13 percent in 2024, down from as much as 24.6 percent in 2018, according to data from Tracxn
TECHNOLOGY
E-commerce sales in India growing in double digits despite consumption slowdown, says IKEA exec
The company has launched e-commerce services in Delhi NCR and nine adjacent markets, marking its foray into north India. It was previously present in 60 cities across south India.
TECHNOLOGY
Irrational exuberance? Quick commerce firms may face challenges in scaling past top markets, per Blume’s Indus Valley report
Quick commerce firms are likely to face hurdles such as a low total addressable market (TAM), tapering growth in monthly transacting users (MTUs), and increased competition from e-commerce players
TECHNOLOGY
Late-stage startup funding lower than 2018 levels, shows Blume report
At $6.6 billion, late-stage funding in 2024 was lower than $7.7 billion in 2018 despite an overall increase in funding, Blume’s Indus Valley Annual Report 2025 has said
TECHNOLOGY
Maha Kumbh 2025: Spiritual startups see record-breaking uptick in sales, new users
Startups, like Sri Mandir, Vama, and AstroYogi, that allowed devotees to tune in to the once-in-12-years event virtually, have witnessed much higher than anticipated demand
TECHNOLOGY
Timing of Flipkart’s Big Billion Days sale impacted growth in Q4, says Walmart CFO John David Rainey
The shift in Flipkart’s sale event resulted in flat growth for Walmart’s overall international revenues. The Bentonville-based retail major’s net sales for this segment in Q4 grew just 0.7 percent YoY to $32.2 billion.
TECHNOLOGY
Meesho's bet on content commerce yielded 14.5 million paying users in 2024 as creator economy delivers
Given the 175 million transacting users on Meesho’s platform in 2024, the content commerce route has resulted in a little over 8 percent user transactions.
TECHNOLOGY
Not facing a slowdown in food delivery, says Rebel Foods co-founder Sagar Kochhar
As per Kochhar, Rebel foods is seeing over 20 percent YoY same-kitchen sales growth, at a time when listed food delivery majors Zomato and Swiggy have reported slowing growth over the past few quarters, amid an ongoing slowdown in consumption.
TECHNOLOGY
B2B e-commerce firm Udaan raises $75 million in funding from M&G, Lightspeed
Founder and CEO Vaibhav Gupta, during a townhall on February 17, said that the company is in advanced discussion to close an additional $25 million in equity funding over the next quarter
TECHNOLOGY
Valentine’s Day 2025: Lovers drive up quick commerce order volumes to record highs
Quick commerce and food delivery platforms witnessed record sales for roses, chocolates, cakes, stuffed toys, and more, as lovers splurged on romance
TECHNOLOGY
Blinkit, Zepto ahead of Swiggy Instamart in quick commerce, says Citi
Blinkit is leading with a 41 percent market share, while Swiggy Instamart may be in the third spot, behind Zepto, with a share of 23 percent
TECHNOLOGY
Quick commerce has grown to 7-8% of business: Mamaearth's Varun Alagh
According to Alagh, quick commerce continues to be the company's fastest growing distribution channel, and has been so for almost a year now
TECHNOLOGY
Nearly 98% of gig workers earn under Rs 5 lakh per annum, shows TeamLease data
NITI Aayog defines gig workers as those who are employed “outside the traditional employer-employee arrangement”. These workers broadly fall into two categories: platform and non-platform-based workers.
TECHNOLOGY
Delivering less? Swiggy, Zomato struggle to keep food delivery momentum going
The food delivery platforms have faced challenges in onboarding new customers and scaling past the top eight cities, combined with an immaterial change in total orders being placed, say analysts, amid an ongoing slowdown in food delivery
TECHNOLOGY
Startup founders urge Sam Altman to make OpenAI more affordable, introduce India specific pricing
The attendees included prominent startup ecosystem figures like Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Unacademy’s Gaurav Munjal, Fractal’s Srikanth Velamakanni, Ixigo’s Aloke Bajpai, HeathifyMe’s Tushar Vashisht, and Aakrit Vaish - advisor to the India AI Mission
TECHNOLOGY
AI in edtech and pre-kindergarten market key focus areas going forward, says GSV Ventures' Michael Moe
AI in edtech can be bigger moment than the internet was 30 years ago as it takes an already great product and makes it even better, Moe said in the interview with Moneycontrol.
TECHNOLOGY
Banking on AI portfolio, enterprise biz to drive near term growth, says Eruditus co-founder Chaitanya Kalipatnapu
The company’s growth plans come hot on the heels of a major funding round
TECHNOLOGY
Startup employees to earn more via ESOPs as companies increase pool
As many as 26 startups announced ESOP buyback programmes in 2024 and the number is expected to go up this year, as more new-age tech firms get ready to make their market debut
