One quick thing: Meta flags concerns over DPDP Act 

In today’s newsletter:

• MoEngage to reverse flip to India
• Zepto ropes in Airtel's Akhil Gupta to board
• SBI’s tech hiccups hit UPI

P.S.: Introducing the Tech3 Podcast, your daily dose of tech and startup insights. Monday to Friday! Check it out on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

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India’s IPO fever is catching on—and SaaS startups don’t want to miss the ride!

Customer engagement SaaS firm MoEngage is considering relocating its legal headquarters from San Francisco to India, multiple sources told us. 

• The firm which counts Goldman Sachs and B Capital among its investors, is reportedly in early discussions with advisors and bankers about the potential shift

This move is part of a broader trend among Indian SaaS companies opting for a reverse flip. The catalyst? A booming IPO environment in India.

• Unlike the US, where SaaS companies typically need to hit $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) to go public, Indian exchanges are more flexible—with some tech firms exploring listings at just $40–50 million ARR.
  
  
• The government’s removal of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approval requirement in certain cases has cut the transition timeline from over a year to just a few months

Other players like CleverTap, Razorpay, Zepto, and Meesho are also either exploring or have completed the reverse flip.

Find out more

Flush with funds, expanding rapidly, and nearing an initial public offering (IPO), quick commerce unicorn Zepto has added a new board member to its cart.

The company has appointed Bharti Enterprises vice chairman Akhil Gupta as an independent director to its board, we were told.

• Gupta brings with him valuable experience in taking companies public – Bharti Airtel (2002), Bharti Infratel (2012) and Airtel Africa (2019)
  
  
• He is expected to lend his expertise as Zepto prepares for an IPO later this year

Besides Gupta, Zepto co-founders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Avra’s Anu Hariharan, and Nexus Venture Partners’ Suvir Sujan are on Zepto’s board.

Gupta has been appointed at a time when:

• Competition in the quick commerce industry has increased tremendously over the last year
  
  
• Zepto has flipped its domicile back from Singapore to India, and has raised over $1.4 billion in capital over the last eight months

The company is also in talks with several top mutual fund houses to raise another $300 million in a secondary round, as it looks to get more domestic shareholders on its cap table ahead of its IPO.

Gupta’s appointment follows several other executives who have been promoted to senior roles over the last year.

• In July 2024, Zepto promoted Devendra Meel, senior vice president and head of its loyalty programme Pass, to chief business officer
  
  
• In January, former senior vice presidents Nikhil Mittal and Divesh Sawhney were promoted as chief technology officer and chief growth officer, respectively.

During the same period, however, executives like chief marketing officer Amritansu Nanda, chief business officer Viral Jhaveri, VP of finance Ashish Shah, and VP of growth and retention Manik Oberoi, parted ways with the startup.

In a separate boardroom move, Sahil Barua, Founder & CEO of Delhivery, has resigned as Independent Director of Swiggy. 

• The decision comes days after Delhivery acquired rival firm Ecom Express in a firesale to expand operations

Over the past fortnight, UPI experienced three outages. These were isolated incidents, lasting only a few minutes during the day, likely caused by overburdened bank servers.

• But beyond these outages are the “thousand cuts” — everyday payment failures

State Bank of India (SBI) customers face 9 failed transactions for every 1,000 attempts. 

That may not sound like a lot, until you compare it with the top private banks: HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, and Kotak Mahindra all report less than 3 failures per 10,000 transactions. 

• That’s a 30x difference

In March, SBI had the highest failure rate among the top 10 banks in the country.

SBI processes over 3x the number of UPI transactions as HDFC Bank, the second-largest player.

• SBI holds the savings accounts of most customers in the country

• When SBI transactions fail, the impact is widespread

To be sure, SBI’s higher failure rate reflects the heavier load it carries as the country’s largest bank. UPI does not generate revenue, which makes banks hesitant to invest more in infrastructure.

Dig deeper

From poll guarantees to price hikes, Karnataka is witnessing a wave of rising costs. We bring you the A to Z of price hikes across the state.

While the Congress-led Karnataka government faces flak, the opposition BJP and JD(S) continue the blame game. Both parties are now planning separate protests against the price hikes — leaving citizens caught in the middle.

• Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy justified the company's billions of dollars in outlays for AI development, saying the investment was necessary to remain competitive.
  
  
• Singapore-headquartered real estate investment manager SC Capital Partners has emerged as a potential bidder for British data centre group Global Switch. 

Black Mirror is back on Netflix with six fresh standalone tales that'll have you glued to the screen

• Don’t miss Into Infinity, a follow-up to the iconic USS Callister

Craving more? Ncuti Gatwa is back as the Doctor in a new season of Doctor Who!

• Filled with cosmic twists and exciting moments, the new season is set to bring new things for the fans. Watch it on JioHotstar 

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