BUSINESS
Zepto’s meat business CEO Chandan Rungta quits, latest in a string of recent exits
Apoorv Pandey, senior vice president, strategy, and Chandresh Dedhia, VP and head of information technology at Zepto, along with other employees who have spent over three years at the startup, have also quit in recent months
BUSINESS
Sauce VC nears close of $80 million in new fund to deepen consumer play
The fundraise comes at a time when venture capital firms have been on a fundraising spree, Moneycontrol had reported earlier.
STARTUP
Swiggy’s Sriharsha Majety takes a swipe at Zepto: ‘Won’t chase volume growth with poor average order values’; Aadit Palicha responds
Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha, in an interview with Moneycontrol, hit back saying Instamart burns more cash per order than Zepto, escalating the face-off between India’s top quick commerce rivals.
STARTUP
Zepto breaches 20 lakh daily orders during Diwali; 40% higher than closest rival: CEO Aadit Palicha
Zepto clocked 2 million, 2.4 million and 2.1 million orders per day from October 18-20. Swiggy's Instamart delivered 1.4 million, 1.6 million and 1.6 million orders each day during the period, making it the the third largest player behind Blinkit and Zepto on an orders per day (OPD) basis, sources told Moneycontrol. Blinkit was the market leader with over 3 million orders.
BUSINESS
Very discontent right now: Peyush Bansal on why there won't be a book on Lenskart and him like Zomato and Deepinder Goyal yet
While he has not decided if he will publish a book, and a name for it yet, Bansal said when he begins to work on the idea, he would title it “Vision for Billion”.
BUSINESS
Consumer companies either become global brands or won't be a brand at all: Lenskart’s Peyush Bansal
Lenskart acquired Owndays in Japan and Stellio in Spain to grow its international presence. The Middle East and regions like Singapore are key to the company’s next phase of growth, says the CEO
BUSINESS
TAM doesn’t matter. I don’t track it, that is an analyst’s job, says Lenskart’s Peyush Bansal
Even if it is Rs 5,000 crore, we can give vision to 50 percent of India and that is a sizable impact to create and so our job is not changing because of that, Peyush Bansal, CEO and co-founder, Lenskart, told Moneycontrol in an interview.
BUSINESS
MC Interview: IPO not an exit event; Being a Promoter has an emotional angle: Lenskart’s Peyush Bansal
In a freewheeling chat with Moneycontrol, Peyush Bansal, CEO and co-founder of the company said it doesn't matter to him what the total addressable market (TAM) is beyond a certain point. "I don't get into this, I don’t track it. I think this is an analyst’s job."
BUSINESS
Dunzo co-founder Kabeer Biswas to leave Flipkart in less than a year since joining
Kunal Gupta, Vice President at Flipkart, will now lead Flipkart Minutes to ensure a seamless continuation of the business and operations. Gupta has been with Flipkart for over a decade.
BUSINESS
Around 300 employees impacted at Zepto amid cost efficiency drive at the quick commerce company
A total of around 1,000 Zepto employees have been impacted since the beginning of the year, sources told Moneycontrol. Zepto is also cutting back its spends on AWS and other software and the company will go "very tight" on hiring.
BUSINESS
Zepto and DMart at the same juncture, CEO Aadit Palicha in employee town hall a day after $450 million fundraise
“We have cracked proximity, but yet to crack value and DMart, the retail giant, has cracked value but not proximity,” Palicha is learnt to have said, per employees Moneycontrol spoke to.
BUSINESS
Quick services startup Snabbit relocates from Mumbai to Bengaluru’s Koramangala to tap tech talent
Snabbit is moving to Bengaluru at a time when industrialists and the state government are at loggerheads over infrastructure issues, traffic woes and other challenges that are crippling the city’s growth.
BUSINESS
Govt leans on quick commerce for real-time price checks after GST rate cuts
Platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy’s Instamart, and Zepto have also been asked by the government to showcase savings made on account of the GST rate cuts, sources said, adding that this strategy is key to ensuring that tax reductions are leading to lower retail prices on a daily basis.
BUSINESS
Lenskart shares touch Rs 510 apiece in grey market, signals $10 billion valuation ahead of IPO
Lenskart is expected to file its red herring prospectus (RHP) in the week of October 22 and plans to list on the stock exchanges no later than November 12, a source told Moneycontrol
BUSINESS
Prosus to buy additional ixigo shares from Peak XV Partners and Elevation Capital to increase stake to 15%
Peak XV Partners will sell about 3 percent to Prosus and Elevation Capital will sell another 2 percent to Prosus, taking Prosus' total holding to 15%, up from 10.1% as of October 10 for a total consideration of around Rs 1,900-2,000 crore, sources told Moneycontrol
BUSINESS
Tough luck? Astrotalk’s $100 million deal with Hornbill Capital comes unstuck over NSFW content flagged during due diligence
"All this is completely baseless as we never signed any term sheet with any investor," Anmol Jain, co-founder, Astrotalk, said in response to Moneycontrol's detailed queries.
BUSINESS
Fidelity-backed VC firm Eight Roads Ventures consolidates Asia investments, lets go of a dozen executives
It is also likely Fidelity, the sole limited partner of Eight Roads Ventures, will become the anchor of fund and ask other LPs to co-invest in the startup, moving away from the original strategy
BUSINESS
SEBI clears Lenskart IPO; eyewear startup to raise Rs 2,150 crore via fresh issue
Among the promoters, Peyush Bansal will offload 2 crore shares, while Neha Bansal, Amit Chaudhary, and Sumeet Kapahi will each sell a smaller stake.
BUSINESS
Zepto nears $450 million funding at $7 billion valuation led by US pension fund Calpers
A bulk of the $450 million, around $350-$380 million will be in primary capital that will go directly into Zepto's coffers. The remaining, $70-100 million, will be in the form of secondary share deals where early investors will sell shares, sources told Moneycontrol.
BUSINESS
California Burrito raises Rs 120 crore from Elevation Capital
The eatery, also backed by Kumar Vembu, the brother of Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu, had engaged with Elevation Capital around 18 months back for a fundraise but negotiations had paused back then. The two parties have now agreed on favourable terms, as per sources.
BUSINESS
Prosus to pump $350 million in Uber rival Rapido; Accel likely to join as investor
As it happens, both Accel and Prosus are key investors in food and grocery delivery platform Swiggy, which just sold its entire stake in Rapido to avoid any conflict of interest.
BUSINESS
Urban Company IPO: SBI MF booster shot, stronger governance, transparency, leaving money on the table make investors lap up shares
Spending time in Mumbai and Gujarat to convince HNIs to invest, detailed roadshows, speaking for long and with clarity all helped UC reach here. Where the share lists remains to be seen, but the grey market premium signals a 50 percent jump which should augur well for the firm.
BUSINESS
WestBridge leads $40 million round in Flipkart-backed FinBox to expand B2B digital lending platform
Of the $40 million, $35 million went directly into the company’s coffers in the form of primary capital and the remaining $5 million was through secondary share sales where early angels exited to make way for new investors.
BUSINESS
Warburg Pincus eyeing exit from IndiaFirst Life Insurance post 2018 bet
Investment bank Barclays has been roped in as an advisor to find a buyer for the PE major’s 26 per cent stake
