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In today’s newsletter: 

• Piyush Goyal trains guns at Amazon, e-commerce 
• Titan Capital raises Rs 200 crore fund
• After CEOs, time for CFO changes at top IT firms

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India’s trade minister, Piyush Goyal did not mince words while speaking at an industry event in Delhi earlier today.

While tech titan Amazon has committed to a total investment of $26 billion in India by 2030, Goyal said there is no reason to celebrate. 

“...we forget the underlying story that these billion dollars are not coming for any great service or investment to support the Indian economy. They made a billion-dollar loss in their balance sheet that year (and) they had to fill in that loss,” Goyal said. 

In FY23, Amazon incurred a loss of Rs 4,854 crore, a 33% increase year-on-year.

• Such huge losses are mainly because Amazon follows predatory pricing, Goyal said 

The attacks on Amazon did not end there. 

“They (Amazon) paid Rs 1,000 crore to professionals – I don’t know who these professionals are. I am myself a chartered accountant (CA), I have done law. I would love to know which CAs, professionals, lawyers get Rs 1,000 crore,” Goyal said. 

Also read | Piyush Goyal’s comments on Amazon underlines foreign cos’ aim to create unhealthy, uneven competition: CAIT

Not just Amazon, Goyal posed a question for the wider industry and asked if the industry wants to cause social disruption with predatory pricing.

“I don't see it as (a) matter of pride that half our market may become part of ecommerce network 10 years from now, it is a matter of concern,” the minister said.

The growth of ecommerce is largely coming at the cost of small shop owners.

• Goyal asked where the small mobile stores are and if only Apple or the large retailers will sell mobile phones

Industry experts also said that this was an indirect hint at quick commerce companies and them eating into the share of kiranas.

• They added that all organised retail, including ecommerce and modern retail will have some impact on small retailers and it is unfair to single out individual players

Dig deeper

After betting their personal fortunes on over 200 seed-stage startups, Snapdeal co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal are now opening Titan Capital to external funds.

Titan Capital’s Winners Fund, backed by the Snapdeal co-founders, has successfully closed its Rs 200-crore fundraising target.

• The new fund is backed by prominent family offices and founders
  
  
• Bahl and Bansal will anchor the fund as its largest limited partners

We were the first to report on Titan Capital's Winners Fund on April 26.

Titan Capital has brought on former WestBridge Capital controller Chetan Rana as CFO, along with Shiv Kapoor who joined as Vice President. 

• An additional Rs 100 crore greenshoe option remains on the table, according to investors

This marks the first time the Gurugram-based investors have raised external capital. Until now, the duo has been funding startups from their personal wealth.

• The purpose of raising external funds is to invest in larger follow-on rounds of their existing portfolio companies

• Since 2011, Bahl and Bansal have invested in more than 250 companies, including Urban Company, MamaEarth, OfBusiness, Razorpay, Unicommerce, and Ola Cabs

Dig deeper

2023 witnessed a wave of CEO departures at several leading Indian IT services companies. 

In 2024, this trend has shifted towards chief financial officers (CFOs) as the sector grapples with a challenging business environment.

Over nine new CFOs were appointed across the top IT companies in the past 12 months.

• These companies include Accenture, Cognizant, Wipro, Infosys, HCLTech, LTIMindtree and several others
  
  
• While some of these changes were due to retirement, experts also highlighted the changing nature of the role

According to industry experts, CFOs are now no longer back-office positions.

• They are increasingly involved in strategic decision-making, such as collaborating on major deals, seeking out M&A opportunities, and defending margins

Due to stagnant revenue and cautious consumer demand, IT companies are actively searching for high-performing CFOs to navigate these challenging conditions.

Go deeper

The antagonism between the US and China, and the two countries' expansionist tendencies, means that many nations today are looking elsewhere for their defence purchases. 

According to bureaucrat-turned-VC investor Ajay Kumar, this has created an opportunity for Indian defence tech startups to export their products.

• In an interview with us, he said that India's philosophy of vasudhaiva kutumbakam (the world is a family) in geopolitics may ultimately help the country's defence tech ecosystem scale up

Read the full interview

• Anthropic, an Amazon-backed AI startup, is facing a class action lawsuit in California for allegedly stealing hundreds of copyrighted books to train its AI model.
  
  
• The Indian data centres industry is facing a surge in demand due to AI applications, which is expected to add 500 MW of capacity over the next four years, according to a report.

Have you ever wished for a robot that could help you with everything?

• Well, China’s Unitree Robotics has just unveiled the G1, a groundbreaking humanoid robot that might just make that a reality

Priced at a cool $16,000, the G1 is equipped with with 3-finger hands that can handle delicate tasks, 23 points of movement, and high-tech sensors.

Find out more

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