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In today’s newsletter:
- HUL snaps up Minimalist for Rs 2,955 crore
- DPDP rules to deliver long-term gains: WEF cyber chief
- Why Razorpay, Cashfree, others are snapping ties with Juspay
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Top 3 stories
HUL snaps up Minimalist for Rs 2,955 crore
Soon, your face serum will come from the same company that manufactures the Dove soap.
Driving the news
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has agreed to acquire a 90.5% stake in Minimalist for Rs 2,995 crore. The deal will be a mix of a secondary component and primary capital.
- The remaining 9.5% stake will be acquired from the founders in two years time
We had first told you about the deal back on January 3.
Big returns
Minimalist’s founders are expected to pocket around Rs 300 crore from the sale, but the windfall doesn’t end there.
- The company’s investors, especially early backers like Peak XV Partners, are set to see impressive returns
Peak XV Partners owns 27.4% of Minimalist, meaning they stand to make Rs 895 crore from their initial Rs 79 crore investment—an impressive 10X return in just 5 years.
All about the numbers
Minimalist has seen its valuation increase from around Rs 630 crore to Rs 3,000 crore in a span of about three years, largely on the back of increasing revenues and a stable profit profile.
- In FY24, Minimalist generated a revenue of Rs 350 crore, an increase of 89 percent from Rs 184 crore clocked in FY23.
- During the same period, it also saw its profit more than double from Rs 5 crore to Rs 11 crore. Minimalist has been profitable for at least four years, data showed
Based on its FY24 numbers, Minimalist has commanded a revenue multiple of about 10X, significantly higher than 4-6X that similar direct-to-consumer (D2C) startups get during similar deals, thanks to its financial discipline.
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DPDP rules to deliver long-term gains: WEF cyber chief
Experts have consistently emphasised the significant compliance challenges posed by the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules since its release for consultation on January 3.
- However, some believe the regulations hold significant promise for India's digital future
Initial pain, long-term gains
Akshay Joshi, the head of the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Cybersecurity, weighed in on the DPDP Rules, drawing a comparison with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
- He said that just as GDPR faced early resistance over compliance, the DPDP Rules are likely to spark similar concerns
However, Joshi believes that these regulations will benefit India in the long run.
Tell me more
Joshi is of the opinion that the rules will be beneficial for India, which despite having a huge number of internet users, lacks when it comes digital literacy
“As India becomes more and more digital, keeping privacy at the centre is imperative,” he said.
More highlights from our WEF Davos coverage:
- Information technology (IT) firms need to reinvent themselves as nascent technologies such as Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative AI (Gen AI), and other future forms are bound to impact the traditional IT services industry, says Francisco D'Souza, co-founder & managing partner of private equity firm Recognize. He also said that the traditional labour arbitrage and offshoring models will only lead to modest industry growth. Dig deeper
- India is in a bright spot and has the potential to emerge as a third major pole globally after the US and China, said Gautam Kumra, Chairman of McKinsey Asia. “India is in a bright spot. The world that has always been bipolar, with the US as the main pole. And now with China – we know what the situation is – India has the potential to be a third pole,” Kumra said. Dig deeper
- The Budget should prioritise measures that spur economic growth within the next three to six months, Bharat Forge joint managing director Amit Kalyani said. Kalyani pointed out that benefits of government schemes such as the production linked incentives (PLIs) for batteries and semiconductors are likely to materialise over a decade but the Budget needs push for immediate growth. "The budget has to create something that drives the economy in the short term," he said. "We need measures that spur the economy in three to six months, not 10 years from now."
- After 13,000 former Cognizant employees rejoined the company in 2024, approximately 10,000 more are waiting to return to the information technology major. “We've built an extraordinary team. I have 13,000 people who have come back into Cognizant, who left Cognizant. And I have 10,000 more who want to come back. So we are a magnet for leadership,” the Teaneck, US-headquartered firm’s chief executive officer Ravi Kumar S said. Find out more
- The India story has continued to grow from strength to strength under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mahindra and Mahindra group CEO and managing director Anish Shah said. "I've been in meetings with various global CEOs. Last year, people were still looking at India and saying, 'How should we play there?' The narrative this year is, we have to play there and we're just going to go there and figure out what we need to do, " Shah said. More on that here
- Gurugram-based green energy company ReNew is on track to expand its renewable energy portfolio to 25 gigawatts (GW) by 2027, Chairman and CEO Sumant Sinha said. "The company has already commissioned 11GW and won another 14GW in auctions, bringing its total portfolio to 24-25 GW, which will be executed over the next three to four years," Sinha said. Go deeper
- Admitting that Mumbai has lost businesses and tech talent to cities such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said developing Navi Mumbai and a “Third Mumbai” is key to offsetting high real estate costs and retaining talent. “We are developing 'Third Mumbai' between Navi Mumbai and Raigad districts, which will be three times bigger than Mumbai. This is a thematic city, which will host 60% of the data centre capacity."
Prefer video? Check out our daily Davos bulletin that brings you the top highlights from Day 2 of the World Economic Forum.
Why Razorpay, Cashfree, others are snapping ties with Juspay
A battle is unfolding in the payments ecosystem as leading gateways Razorpay and Cashfree Payments and fintech decacorn PhonePe are breaking away from third-party payment orchestration platforms (POPs) like Juspay.
What’s changing?
In a decisive move on January 20, Razorpay and Cashfree announced plans to halt integrations with third-party payment orchestration platforms (POPs) like Juspay by March 31, focusing instead on their in-house solutions.
"We will offer payment gateway services directly to our customers, ensuring our latest innovations reach them swiftly and enhance their operations seamlessly," Razorpay's spokesperson told us.
By eliminating external intermediaries, these gateways aim to control the full payment journey, enabling faster innovation, better user experience, and improved margins.
Psst: Some industry insiders suggest that a key reason many PGs are moving away from Juspay is its recent acquisition of a PA license, which could potentially give the company a dominant position in the market.
Implications for merchants and POPs
For merchants, the shift could mean operational challenges, especially for smaller businesses reliant on POPs for flexibility and multi-gateway routing.
- Fintech experts tell us that this will ultimately be the choice of merchants to either move away from direct integrations or to have a payment orchestrator
Meanwhile, Juspay, which claims POPs form 40% of its revenue, insists its other software solutions will keep it steady despite the pivot by major players.
To be sure, Juspay is a prominent player in India's digital payments landscape with considerable technology heft. When NPCI was building a UPI app for itself, it approached Juspay to build BHIM.
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