One quick thing: HCL Tech Q2 net profit jumps 11% to Rs 4,235 crore, beats estimates 

In today’s newsletter: 

• CleverTap plans reverse flip to India  
• Licious takes a bite of My Chicken
• Indian space tech cheers SpaceX's feat

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Big things are brewing in the SaaS world! 

CleverTap, the customer engagement platform backed by Tiger Global, is making waves with its latest plans.

After a blockbuster $105 million Series D funding round last year, which boosted the company’s valuation to over $600 million, the next big step for CleverTap could be a relocation of its headquarters from San Francisco to India.

“Relocating our headquarters aligns with our goal to pursue an IPO in India, subject to market conditions,” CleverTap cofounder Anand Jain said.

CleverTap is in talks with advisors about moving its headquarters to India, sources told us.

CleverTap is joining a growing list of startups opting to 'flip back' to India. 

• Big names like PhonePe, Groww, and Meesho have already made similar moves to capitalise on India’s expanding public markets and the streamlined merger processes 

Recent policy changes by the Indian government have made it easier for companies to make this transition.

Dig deeper

Picture credit: Microsoft Copilot

Sizzle, pop, crackle! What’s cooking? Just Licious cranking up the heat with some juicy offline action!

Temasek-backed meat and seafood home-delivery service platform Licious is set to acquire offline retailer–My Chicken and More–for Rs 150-200 crore.

• The deal will be a mix of cash and equity, featuring an earnout component
  
  
• As part of the deal, founder and CEO S Mahesha will join Licious, bringing along two decades of poultry industry experience

Primarily an online platform, Licious is setting its sights on the offline world to tap into the growing customer base that prefers physical stores for meat purchases.

As part of the offline strategy, Licious is setting its sights on the South Indian market, aiming to build a loyal customer base in key cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad.

• The acquisition will bring My Chicken and More's 22 stores under Licious, helping it reach its goal of 40 stores by the end of the fiscal
  
  
• Bengaluru sales for Licious will jump from Rs 250 crore to Rs 400 crore, contributing nearly 50% of its Rs 800 crore annualised revenue run rate (ARR)

Besides having a strong customer base in South India, My Chicken and More is profitable, with a revenue of Rs 100-110 crore and an EBITDA margin of 2-3%.

India’s meat market is brimming with potential.

• Licious has tapped just 4 million of the 30 million households in its total addressable market (TAM)

The developments come at a time when companies such as Licious, Nandus, Venkys, Zepto, Tata's BigBasket and more are all competing to become the market leader in a crowded space.

• As the top cities show signs of saturation, companies are looking for newer avenues

More meat here

Indian space tech startup founders are over the moon about Elon Musk-owned SpaceX's latest record-breaking feat. 

• They believe this will herald a new era, forever changing space accessibility

In an unprecedented feat, SpaceX successfully caught the first stage of the Super Heavy booster of its Starship rocket using a pair of giant "mechazilla" mechanical arms during the fifth test flight (Watch the video)

• This marks a significant leap in SpaceX's quest to develop fully reusable space vehicles for its ambitious Moon and Mars missions

• Agnikul Cosmos CEO Srinath Ravichandran said, "Orbital Rocketry as we know it has changed...We have now moved on to “rapid reusability” from just “reusability.”

• Skyroot Aerospace CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana believes that this milestone has the potential to boost the reliability of landing, making launches more dependable for regular transportation to space and back. 

• Bellatrix Aerospace co-founder Rohan Ganapathy noted that other countries will soon look to emulate this feat and many other applications will open up globally now.

P.S. India's former junior IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said he is a fanboy of a "limited set" of people, which includes Elon Musk. 

Also, here's a quick timeline of all the key moments in SpaceX's 22-year journey

• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei believes AI can achieve a century of medical advancements in just 10 years. 

• Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das expressed concern that the rapid adoption of AI could lead to concentration risks with limited technology providers and amplify systemic risks, as failures or disruptions may impact the entire financial sector.

It turns out, Zepto sent a message to a customer that well, crossed a line.

Zepto sent a customer named Pallavi Pareek a message, which read, "I miss you, Pallavi, says I-pill Emergency Contraceptive pill," which has sparked outrage and raised concerns about the ethics of digital marketing.

• Pareek, who has two decades of experience advocating for workplace diversity and sexual harassment prevention, called out the company for its "sleazy cheesy" notification.

Zepto quickly apologised, acknowledging the "thoughtless and potentially harmful" nature of the message. 

• Zepto's overly personalised marketing brought back memories of another retailer a decade ago. Remember when Target figured out a woman was pregnant before she knew?

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