BUSINESS
Lenskart's $600 mn funding gives early investors including SoftBank a big exit
In total, across the two rounds, where Lenskart raised $500 million in March and $100 million now, about $450-500 million was in the form of secondary sales in what was understood to be a mega payday for some early backers of the company.
BUSINESS
Acquired at 40% discount, Ustraa says its valuation can increase 6X in 3 years
Ustraa’s Rs 250 crore deal with VLCC also took some by surprise because The Good Glamm Group had put around Rs 490 crore on the table to acquire Ustraa last year, sources told Moneycontrol. The deal did not materialise because of internal reasons, they added.
BUSINESS
Peak XV Partners scores big with 16X return on investment in Go Fashion
It was understood that the entire sum would now go to the revamped Peak XV team, which separated from Sequoia Capital in the United States and ventured out on its own.
TRENDS
MC Exclusive: Bo International’s CEO sues Mensa Brands over breach of contract
Bo International said Mensa’s efforts to develop the Florona brand were insufficient and led to a fall in the revenue-linked consideration payable.
BUSINESS
New food delivery startups mushroom, but pin hopes on ONDC for scale
Undeterred by the many failures in the segment, at least two new players hope to cook up something new.
BUSINESS
Meesho unveils new logo to appeal to wider audience
While other new-age companies are cutting back on marketing spends, Meesho CEO Vidit Aatrey said that the company is being prudent but will not not spending on growth.
BUSINESS
Myntra levies convenience fee, looks to curb returns as it aims for profitability
The move is aimed at placing the company on the path to profitability as capital becomes scarce. Analysts say the fee is unlikely to deter customers from making purchases, and that other players may follow suit.
BUSINESS
Flipkart shuffles roles among top executives
Smrithi Ravichandran, who was earlier the vice president (VP), and head of Grocery, has now been moved to head Mobiles, a key category for the group. This is the second such reshuffle at Flipkart this year.
BUSINESS
Tata 1mg plans rapid offline foray by end of year
The company, which has about 50 stores in Gurugram, Jaipur, Delhi, Noida and Kolkata, is gearing up to expand its brick-and-mortar base to about 200-300 stores by the end of 2023, after setting up shops in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai.
BUSINESS
There is no real ecosystem for deep tech in India: Accel’s Prashanth Prakash
Prakash’s comments come at a time when deep tech innovations in India are on the rise and are attracting investments from venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) firms.
BUSINESS
Majority of Zepto's dark stores operationally profitable now: Co-founder
After FY23’s performance, Zepto was sure that in about 12 months’ time, the company will be at an annualized revenue rate of Rs 10,000 crore, which translates to about Rs 800 crore in monthly revenue
BUSINESS
ONDC limits discounts to Rs 100 in revised incentive structure
Among the several changes being introduced on ONDC, some major ones will likely discourage buyers from using the network.
BUSINESS
Mensa Brands undertakes layoffs
So far, the Tiger Global-backed company has acquired at least 17 companies between October 2021 and December 2022 but has gone slow on its acquisition spree after that.
BUSINESS
LaundryMate raises Rs 50 crore from Blume Founders Fund and others, eyes expansion
The Indian laundry services market is estimated to have a total addressable opportunity of $14 billion by 2025, with about 80 percent of the segment being B2C focused, according to analysts at Redseer.
BUSINESS
Atomberg raises $86 million in funding led by Temasek, Steadview Capital at $400-450 million valuation
Atomberg plans to use the funds to boost manufacturing capabilities, support new product launches, and deepen its presence in offline stores in key regions.
BUSINESS
Swiggy’s outgoing CTO Dale Vaz secures $7-10 million in funding for new wealth-tech startup
This move into the wealth tech sector comes at a time when the retail investor base has been growing rapidly.
BUSINESS
Swiggy Instamart begins cafe services in a bid to increase basket size, margins
Instacafe, Swiggy’s latest pilot, will offer pre-cooked snacks in certain pockets of Bengaluru and Hyderabad, much like Zepto Cafe does in Mumbai.
BUSINESS
Swiggy’s food-delivery biz turns profitable in March, excluding ESOPs, says co-founder & CEO
According to Sriharsha Majety, the company’s quick commerce segment Instamart is on track to become contribution-margin break-even in the next few weeks.
BUSINESS
Top-level exits at Flipkart: Senior executives depart amidst company reshuffling
The senior executives will be leaving Flipkart after serving for at least eight years each.
BUSINESS
Why Puma India is unlikely to sue outgoing MD Abhishek Ganguly as he starts his own sports firm
Though Ganguly’s startup Agilitas Sports is a business in related field, Puma India may not invoke the non-compete clause against him. Historically, most non-competes have favoured employees. In fact, the chances of Puma India tying up with Agilitas later also cannot be ruled out.
BUSINESS
More analysts point to ONDC not being a threat to Zomato and Swiggy duopoly
A higher commission model was especially needed because ONDC cannot keep funding discounts for long nor can it forgo its own commissions for software and network upkeep. A like-for-like comparison shows the current commission rates of food techs and ONDC are similar.
BUSINESS
Zomato rolls out its own UPI offerings with ICICI Bank
The Gurugram-based company said users can now complete orders on the same page using Zomato UPI, without being required to open a separate app to complete payments.
BUSINESS
Amazon notifies sellers of revised fee structure, potentially leading to increased prices
While sellers said most of the price increases would be passed on to customers, they feared that their products would be ranked lower on the list of options that popped up under the ‘similar’ tab, largely because of how Amazon’s algorithms work.
BUSINESS
Outgoing Puma India MD Abhishek Ganguly raises Rs 430 crore for his startup
The fund infusion comes at a time when investors are tightening their purse strings and funds flow into Indian startups has fallen at a record low in 2023, falling over 80 percent quarter on quarter in Q1CY23.
