SBI Mutual Fund is investing INR 410 Cr in Mumbai-based gaming and sports media giant Nazara. In a stock exchange filing, Nazara said that its board has approved the issue of shares worth INR 410 Cr to SBI Mutual Fund, which would include 57,42,296 equity shares with a face value of INR 4 each, at a price of INR 714 per share.

The funds will be invested via three schemes of SBI Mutual Fund, namely SBI MulScap Fund, SBI Magnum Global Fund and SBI Technology Opportunities Fund.

“Making India the gaming nation of the world has been a long-pursued dream for all of us at Nazara. India’s largest domestic mutual fund investing in Nazara is an important milestone for us in this two decade long journey,” Nitish Mittersain, CEO of Nazara Technologies, said.

This comes close on the heels of the announcement of Zerodha founders Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath investing INR 100 Cr in Nazara Technologies.

The company announced its plan to issue 14,00,560 equity shares with a face value of INR 4 each, priced at INR 714 per share to M/s Kamath Associates and M/s NKSquared managed by Kamath brothers.

The gaming giant had secured board approval to raise up to INR 750 Cr and increase its authorised share capital from INR 30 Cr to INR 50 Cr.

In the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), the company reported a consolidated net profit of INR 61.4 Cr, marking a significant increase, while its revenue from operations grew by 75% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 1,091 Crores during the same period.”

The gaming firm’s profit after tax (PAT) rose 31% YoY to INR 20.9 Cr in the first quarter (Q1) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). Nazara’s revenue from operations jumped 14% to INR 254.4 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 223.1 Cr in the year-ago quarter.

Nazara shares were trading at INR 875 at 12:00 pm on BSE.

The post SBI Mutual Fund To Invest INR 410 Cr In Gaming Giant Nazara appeared first on Inc42 Media.

When it comes to exiting a startup, each founder finds themselves in a unique position. However, Prabhkiran Singh, the CEO & cofounder of D2C brand Bewakoof, firmly believe that founders should possess a clear understanding of their priorities when it comes to their startup and whether they align with the company’s board.

“You, as a founder, should have clarity on what you are optimising for to decide on the key value additions you seek in a future deal. It could be financial gain or the commitment to continue building, which would require patient capital,” Singh said.

Singh shared these insights during a panel discussion titled “The BIG Exit – How D2C Brands Can Develop an Exit Strategy” at the fourth edition of Inc42’s D2C Summit 2023. The session was moderated by Angshuman Bhattacharya, National Leader of the Consumer Products & Retail Sector at EY India. Joining Singh on the panel were Pranav Malhotra, the founder of Trunativ; Rishubh Satiya, the CEO & cofounder of Plix; and Mohit Sadaani of The Moms Co.

Incorporated in 2012 by Prabhkiran Singh and Siddharth Munot, the Mumbai-based D2C brand Bewakoof specialises in selling casual wear and accessories, including theme-based clothing, notebooks, and backpacks, through its website.

In December 2022, Aditya Birla Group’s house of brands business, TMRW, invested INR 200 Cr in Bewakoof.

Deliberating upon another aspect of the exit strategy, Singh said that founders must gauge the strategic value of the deal. He added that it is essential to understand whether the acquisition will genuinely benefit the company or if it’s merely a perceived benefit.

Additionally, one must consider the perspective of the D2C platform, assessing whether the other party recognises the valuable skills that the brand brings to the table.

“There must be a willingness to make the acquired entity a corporate brand custodian and delegate authority in key areas or to the founders, as the brand requires independence to thrive,” he added.

During the discussion, Singh emphasised that no founder starts a startup with a pessimistic view of getting acquired. He cited several past partnerships where acquisitions proved highly beneficial to the success of companies such as Flipkart and PhonePe, CaratLane and Tanishq, MakeMyTrip and ibibo, Disney and Pixar, and Facebook and WhatsApp, among others.

He also stressed that some truly transformative and substantial ideas require significant capital. Therefore, a startup must decide whether to pursue this path independently or collaborate with a like-minded company where both parties are mature and can create something meaningful for consumers.

The post Bewakoof’s Founder On The Checkboxes D2C Brand Ticked Before Getting Acquired By TMRW appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Electric vehicle (EV) maker Ola Electric has reportedly signed an agreement to raise $140 in a funding round led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek with participation from other existing investors.

Sources told Livemint that the agreement was inked on Monday (September 4) and the amount would be credited into the EV major’s account within four to five days. As per the report, Temasek will invest $90 Mn while the remaining $50 Mn will be pumped by remaining investors, primarily comprising family offices. 

The round reportedly pegs Ola Electric at a valuation of $5.4 to $5.5 Bn. This is higher than the company’s last funding round in January 2022 when the EV maker raised around $200 Mn from a clutch of investors at a valuation of $5Bn. 

A person familiar with the development told the publication that the capital will give the company more runway and ‘an additional buffer’ as it prepares for its much-touted public listing. 

A source reportedly also said that the EV maker will likely raise another round before the public markets debut. This comes days after reports surfaced that Ola Electric was looking to raise $350 Mn ahead of its initial public offering (IPO) in a round led by Temasek.

The fresh capital will give the company more heft as it lines up more investors for its potential listing early next year. The capital could also be deployed to scale up the production of its recently announced long line-up of electric scooters, bikes and a potential electric car. 

The announcement comes at a time when the EV original equipment manufacturer (OEM) has been grappling with losses. The company saw its net loss surge almost 4X to INR 784.1 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) compared to INR 199.2 Cr in FY21. The numbers are not comparable as the company only began delivering its EV scooters in December 2021. 

The company is yet to disclose its financial numbers for FY23, but, if reports are to be believed, it raked up a loss of INR 1,116 Cr ($136 Mn) against revenue of INR 2,750 Cr ($335 Mn), missing its targets for the fiscal year. 

As Ola Electric lines up investment banks for its purported 2024 IPO, the company has been mired in multiple issues, with losses being the least of its problems. The EV maker’s escooters have been involved in fires while top-level executives have been leaving in droves amid a leadership reshuffle. 

Alongside, expenses continue to pile up as Ola Electric continues to scale up its ambitious plans of setting up factories even as sales numbers dwindle in the aftermath of the FAME-II crisis. On top of that, the company has also fired many employees in the past one year as part of a cost-cutting exercise at the parent company. 

However, Ola Electric seems to be well-placed to capture the growth momentum of the Indian EV space, which has grown steadily lately on the back of higher adoption among the masses and government incentives. 

The post IPO-Bound Ola Electric Bags $140 Mn At $5.4 Bn Valuation From Temasek, Others appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Airtel Payments Bank has partnered with French biometric solutions provider IDEMIA and Nokia parent HMD Global to launch an offline system for facilitating digital rupee payments on feature phones. 

Digital rupee is simply a tokenised digital version of the Indian fiat currency and is issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

In a statement, IDEMIA said the trio will work together to introduce an ‘advanced offline payment system’ over the course of the next few months. The new system will enable users to make payments via CBDCs without being connected to the internet or not having a smartphone. 

“This partnership will work towards further strengthening financial inclusion and digital payments, to make it possible to pay in digital currency even without having a smartphone or being connected to the internet, either temporarily or because of coverage limitations,” the statement said.

The product is currently in design phase and, as per the companies, is the first ‘industry attempt’ to facilitate the use of digital rupee on feature phones through an app interface. 

The new offering will leverage Airtel Payments Bank’s financial solution and IDEMIA’s CBDC stack to build the app, and will be available on Nokia feature phones. 

It will aim to fuel the adoption of CBDCs in the country, promote financial inclusion and address issues associated with facilitating digital transactions in areas with limited connectivity. The app will also enable the players to tap into the growing adoption of digital currencies in the country and acquire a first mover advantage in the arena. 

“… We are confident that once we move from the design phase and launch the solution commercially with all required approvals, it will play a pivotal role in advancing the accessibility of financial services and contribute to India’s transition towards a digitally inclusive economy,” said Prasad Routray, head of corporate business and alliances at Airtel Payments Bank.

Amit Kakatikar, senior vice president of payments solutions at IDEMIA, added that the alliance will provide ‘valuable insights and contributions’ to the evolution of offline retail CBDC systems.

The new system will also enable the trio to roll out the CBDC payments to a wide-range of population, or almost 40 Cr Indian feature phone users. 

The development comes at a time when CBDCs are witnessing rapid adoption in the country. On Wednesday, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that CBDC retail pilot has so far onboarded 1.46 Mn users and 0.31 million merchants at the end of August. A separate news report noted that last month saw 10.83 Cr overall CBDC transactions totalling INR 24,000 Cr. 

It is pertinent to note that retail CBDCs are still in pilot mode and were launched by the central bank in December 2022. 

Earlier this week, the State Bank of India (SBI) also integrated UPI with its digital rupee app to streamline user experience and enhance adoption of the new technology. 

The latest announcement from Airtel Payments Bank also comes as RBI tinkers with a host of novel technologies to spur the adoption of digital payments beyond metros and Tier-I cities. Earlier today, the NPCI launched four new UPI products – Credit Line on UPI, Near Field Communication (NFC)-based offline payments offerings UPI LITE X and Tap & Pay and conversational payments products Hello! UPI and BillPay Connect.

The post Airtel Payments Bank Partners IDEMIA, Nokia To Enable CBDC Payments On Feature Phones appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Update: September 6 | 05:30 PM

The EV startup said in a statement on Wednesday it has raised INR 900 Cr from existing shareholders Hero MotoCorp and GIC through a rights issue.

Ather said it would use the fresh funds to launch new products and expand its charging infrastructure and retail network.

The startup claims to have over 200 retail touchpoints across over 100 cities.

“… We have always believed that this (EV) transition will be led by world class technology and products designed and built in India and this year will be no different with our largest outlay on research and development yet, planned in 2023-24. This round will allow us to expand our product portfolio while expanding our footprint,” Ather CEO and cofounder Tarun Mehta said.

Original Copy: September 4 | 11:20 PM

Bengaluru-based EV startup Ather Energy is raising INR 550 Cr from existing investor Hero MotoCorp. 

Hero MotoCorp, in an exchange filing, said it would invest up to INR 550 Cr in Ather via its rights issue by subscribing to the EV startup’s Series E2 compulsory convertible preference shares.

Hero Motorcorp first invested in the EV startup in 2016 and currently holds a 33.1% stake in it. Its shareholding will further increase following the rights issue, which is expected to close by September 30.

The funding round comes almost 11 months after Ather raised $50 Mn from Caladium Investment. Prior to that, it raised $128 Mn from NIIFL and Hero MotoCorp in May last year as part of its Series E round. 

Overall, the startup has raised a total funding of over $400 Mn till date.

Founded in 2013 by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, Ather is a major player in the Indian two-wheeler EV market. It currently offers two escooters – Ather 450X and Ather 450S.

Ather also claims to have the largest fast-charging network in the country. It has over 1,400+ charging points in over 99 cities, including Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jaipur.

Registrations of Ather’s escooters stood at 6,780 units in August, a marginal rise of 1.6% from 6,671 units in July. Its rival Ola Electric’s registrations declined 10.4% month-on-month to 17,331 units in August but it continued to lead the two-wheeler EV space.

Besides Ola Electric, Ather competes with Ampere, Okinawa, Revolt, TVS, among others.

Ather’s revenue stood at INR 1,806 Cr in FY23, a massive jump from INR 408.5 Cr in FY22, as per Hero MotoCorp’s filing. While the filing didn’t mention profit/loss numbers for FY23, Ather’s net loss rose 47% to INR 344 Cr in FY22.

The post [Update] Ather Energy Raises INR 900 Cr From Hero MotoCorp, GIC appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) on Wednesday said it is acquiring a majority stake in Alia Bhatt’s children’s wear brand Ed-a-Mamma.

In a statement, RRVL said it has signed a joint venture agreement with Ed-a-Mamma to acquire a 51% stake. However, it didn’t disclose the financial details of the deal.

RRVL said it aims to closely collaborate with Bhatt and leverage the management strength of its subsidiary Reliance Brands to spearhead the business.

Founded in 2020, Ed-a-Mamma manufactures and sells kids-wear and maternity-wear products. The startup operates on an omnichannel model, selling across ecommerce platforms, its website, and offline retail chains, including Lifestyle and Shoppers’ Stop.

“With sustainability as its core proposition the brand has garnered acclaim for its meticulous attention to detail, using ethically sourced materials and eco-conscious production processes. This aligns seamlessly with Reliance Brands’ vision of fostering a more responsible future for the fashion industry,” said Isha Ambani, director of Reliance Retail Ventures Limited.

The development comes at a time when Reliance Retail is taking big strides to expand its online retail presence. Recently, the company entered into an agreement with the once-banned Chinese fast fashion brand, Shein, to reintroduce it to the Indian market.

Last month, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries received an investment of INR 8,278 Cr from the Qatar Investment Authority at a pre-money equity valuation of INR 8.3 Lakh Cr.

RRVL’s digital and new commerce businesses, including its fashion ecommerce venture AJIO, contributed 18% to its total revenue in Q1 FY24. The retail arm’s net profit stood at INR 2,448 Cr in Q1, while operating revenue was at INR 62,159 Cr.

RRVL also entered into the beauty and personal care (BPC) space in the country with the recent launch of its brand Tira, posing significant competition to Nykaa.

RRVL has been expanding its portfolio through multiple acquisitions, including those of V Retail and Insight Cosmetics, in the recent past.

The post Reliance Retail Acquires Majority Stake In Alia Bhatt’s Ed-a-Mamma appeared first on Inc42 Media.

As OYO gears up for its anticipated IPO, the company has seen the departure of key executives. Ankit Gupta, OYO’s India CEO, and Mandar Vaidya, the head of OYO Europe, have both opted to leave the hospitality and travel tech unicorn.

“Ankit Gupta and Mandar Vaidya moved on from their roles six months ago (in March 2023). We are proud of their achievements at OYO and are thankful for their leadership,” an OYO spokesperson told Inc42.

The traveltech unicorn elevated Gupta as CEO of India from his position of CEO, Hotels and Homes -India, last year. On the other hand, Vaidya assumed the role of Europe CEO in 2021.

“Both roles were already transitioned 6 months ago to Varun Jain, as COO India, and, Gautam Swaroop, as CEO OYO Vacation Homes, respectively,” the spokesperson added.

Earlier this year, the hospitality unicorn underwent a major management reshuffle, which included assigning additional responsibilities to founder Ritesh Agarwal’s core team. As part of the rejig, OYO International CEO Gautam Swaroop took over allied businesses at OYO, including Weddingz. The company also changed the role of COO Abhinav Sinha to chief product and technology officer.

Late last year, market regulator SEBI asked OYO to refile its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) by updating all relevant sections, such as risk factors, KPIs, and outstanding litigations, after the company submitted its financial results for the first half of FY23 by filing an addendum.

OYO first filed DRHP for IPO in September 2021, initially aiming to raise INR 8,430 Cr ($1.2 Bn). However, it later took the confidential route to pre-file its draft documents and cut the IPO size to $400 Mn – $600 Mn (INR 3,286 Cr – INR 4,929 Cr).

In an internal town hall in July, Oravel Stays Ltd, the parent entity of hospitality chain OYO, claimed that it registered an adjusted EBITDA of about INR 175 Cr in the first quarter of the financial year 2023-2024 (FY24).

“Our Q1 adjusted EBITDA of around INR 175 Cr makes it an exciting start to the year. If you annualise this outcome, it sets us up for INR 700 Cr adjusted EBITDA this financial year, though, in all likelihood, we will achieve or probably surpass our previously stated target of INR 800 Cr,” OYO founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal told the employees.

The post OYO India CEO, Europe Head Step Down Ahead Of IPO appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Meta India head Sandhya Devanathan said that India’s recently enacted Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) law has established a clear framework for tech companies, striking a balance between safeguarding user interests and fostering innovation.

She emphasised that the company “welcomes constructive regulations” and will wait to see the specifics of the rule.

“What DPDP has done is, it has provided a framework for tech companies to operate in and has provided clarity. We are waiting for the rules to get written out. But I would say that this is a great step in balancing user protection with innovations … because that is what will power India techade,” she said.

The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) bill, introduced last year, became law after receiving approval from both houses of the Indian Parliament — Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. President Droupadi Murmu subsequently gave her assent, officially enacting the legislation.

Meta views India as a key market with immense potential driven by its robust macroeconomic growth, well-developed digital infrastructure, and the widespread popularity of its apps, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, Devanathan told news agency PTI.

India is one of Meta’s largest user bases worldwide, with 400 Mn Facebook users, and 326.6 Mn Instagram users.

Addressing concerns that Facebook is losing its appeal among teenagers and young adults in important markets, Devanathan insisted that the platform continues to be relevant and attract a diverse user base across all age groups.

Additionally, she noted a rising trend of small businesses utilising Meta’s platforms and tools to establish their online presence and connect with customers.

She also highlighted that Meta India plays a pivotal role in global innovation efforts for the company, serving as both a testing ground and a development hub for new products. She assured that this investment in India will continue.

Devanathan took over the reins as Head and Vice President of Meta India last year, succeeding Ajit Mohan who had resigned from the company in November 2022.

Devanathan spearheads the company’s India operations and looks at strengthening the strategic relationships with the country’s leading brands, creators, advertisers, and partners to drive Meta’s revenue growth in key channels in India.

In India, Meta, like many other tech and social media giants, has found itself entangled in legal disputes with the government. Presently, it is under investigation by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) regarding WhatsApp’s controversial privacy policy update in 2021.

Recently, Meta announced updates to its policy governing posting content related to sexual exploitation across its platforms following a recommendation from the Oversight Board (OB) based on a 2022 video depicting the sexual assault of a tribal woman in India.

The post Meta India Head Lauds DPDP Law For Providing Tech Cos Clear Guidelines appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL’s) demerged arm Jio Financial Services Limited (JFSL) will be excluded from the NSE indices, including the benchmark Nifty 50, from September 7. 

“In accordance with the index methodology, as JIOFIN has not hit price band on two consecutive trading days on September 4, 2023 and September 5, 2023 at NSE, the index maintenance sub committee (equity) of NSE Indices has decided to exclude JIOFIN from various indices as listed hereunder effective from September 7, 2023,” said NSE in a statement. 

It added that the exclusion shall not be deferred further even if Jio Financial hits the price band on September 6.

Besides Nifty 50, the stock will be removed from Nifty 100, Nifty 200, Nifty 500, Nifty Energy, Nifty India Manufacturing and 13 other indices. RIL spun off Jio Financial as a separate entity in July this year, after which the latter became a publicly listed entity in late August. 

The company had a lacklustre start on the bourses, hitting the lower circuit for five straight sessions before gaining at the fag end of August. However, the stock has pared losses since then. 

Shares of Jio Financial continued their rise on Tuesday as well, gaining 0.73% to end the session at INR 255.30 on the NSE. The stock touched an intraday high of INR 259.7.

Meanwhile, as per Nuvama Alternative Research, Jio Financial’s delisting could reportedly see the sale of nearly 105 Mn shares worth $324 Mn by Nifty passive trackers. The research firm also said that NSE would emulate BSE’s 20% filter even as retail investors await NSE’s price band circular for the stock.

The development comes days after the BSE removed Jio Financial from its indices. However, MSCI and FTSE indices continue to retain Jio Financial without any impact on inflow or outflow.

Amid all this, Jio Financial appears all set to shake up the financial services industry. At the conglomerate’s 46th Annual General Meeting (AGM) last month, chairman Mukesh Ambani unveiled a blueprint of the company saying it will launch products in the payments and insurance segments, apart from its already announced foray into the asset management space. 

Jio Financial will also explore blockchain technology and the central bank digital currency (CBDC) to build new-age products. 

As per the company, Jio Financial became the world’s highest-capitalised financial services platform at the time of its inception before the delisting announcement. 

Be it testing a soundbox for payments or building products in the general insurance and health insurance spaces, Jio Financial has a plethora of offerings up its sleeves and this has sent alarm bells ringing across India’s burgeoning fintech ecosystem. The Reliance Group company will take on startups like Zerodha, Paytm Money, INDMoney and Groww, among others. 

The post After BSE, Jio Financial Services To Be Excluded From NSE Indices appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Mumbai-based interior design startup Flipspaces has raised $4 Mn in its Pre-Series B funding round led by Prashasta Seth, former CEO of IIFL AMC. The funding round, which was a mix of equity and debt, also saw participation from other prominent family groups and funds. 

Flipspaces, which is backed by Carpediem Capital, said it will utilise the fresh capital to expand its operations on the West Coast of the US and strengthen its tech.

Commenting on the development, Kunal Sharma, founder and CEO of Flipspaces, said, “We’ve seen rapid growth in the US market combined with robust India numbers. Leveraging this momentum, our impetus is to enhance our focus on tech to enable processes at scale and double down on building on our supply chain capability to serve a global demand.”

The funding round comes almost two years after the startup raised $2 Mn from Seth and other HNIs. “We have been a profitable business because of strong unit economics and thus, have a long runway with this funding,” Sharma then told Inc42.

Prior to this, the startup raised a debt round of $1.15 Mn from UC Inclusive Credit and Alex Group. It also raised $3.5 Mn in its Series A funding round from Carpediem Capital.

Founded in July 2015 by IIT Bombay alum Sharma, Vikash Anand, and Ankur Munchal, Flipspaces designs interiors and builds projects for commercial spaces. The startup is currently operational in the US and India.

The startup has two offerings – Vizworld and Vizstore. Vizworld is a tech-enabled brand which offers a full stack solution for designing and building commercial spaces, while Vizstore offers a variety of furniture and furnishing products across categories. 

The startup counts Reebok, Oppo, Zeta, Indiqube, among others, as its clients. 

Flipspaces competes against the likes of Livspace, HomeLane, and Bonito Designs. Earlier this year, Design Cafe raised INR 40 Cr in a round led by WestBridge Capital, Mirabilis Investment Trust and Alteria Capital.

According to a Technavio report, India’s online home decor segment is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 10.2% during 2021-26 to reach a size of $3.75 Bn by 2026.

The post Interior Design Startup Flipspaces Raises $4 Mn Funding appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In the ever-evolving landscape of online delivery services, one can trace the journey of early movers and the shifting preferences of consumers over the years. Ankit Nagori, the founder of Curefoods, predicts a fundamental shift in the industry’s future, one that will shape the next million customers.

This shift revolves around the emergence of a new category of consumers – those seeking daily convenience. These individuals will turn to online food delivery and not just for special occasions, according to Nagori.

“I am slowly seeing a change in the industry which indicates that the next million customers will come from that segment where people are seeking convenience, people who are ordering it daily because they don’t want to cook,” Nagori said while speaking at The D2C Summit 2023 organised by Inc42.

While this transformation holds the opportunity of a significant increase in the frequency of food orders on online platforms, the industry must focus on improving the quality of food, packaging, delivery, and overall user experience to cater to this evolving customer base, he added.

Moreover, foodtech giants such as Zomato and Swiggy are also talking about making food ordering a daily habit, Nagori said, adding that brands such as Curefood’s Eatfit are expected to play an important role in this transition.

The online food delivery revolution began with deal seekers – individuals who embraced the discounted meals delivered to their doorstep. Then, in the last five years, the online food delivery industry witnessed a significant shift towards entertainment. Consumers increasingly turned to these platforms for a variety of reasons, from enjoying a movie night to seeing gatherings at home, Nagori said. This change was more catalysed by the pandemic.

Founded in 2020 by Ankit Nagori, Curefoods claims to run more than seven food factories and 150+ multi-brand cloud kitchens to service 200+ locations in 15 cities. Besides Eatfit, the startup houses brands such as CakeZone, Nomad Pizza, Frozen Bottle, and Sharief Bhai, among others.

Earlier this year, Curefoods raised INR 300 Cr (around $37 Mn) in a funding round led by Binny Bansal’s fund Three State Ventures, which invested INR 240 Cr.

The post Why Curefoods’ Founder Believes Convenience Models Will Boost The Indian Foodtech Space appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Reliance Industries Ltd’s telecom arm Jio is reportedly in talks to raise up to $2 Bn in offshore loans, with BNP Paribas acting as lead arranger, to fund its 5G network expansion in the country.

The telecom giant is likely to purchase 5G gear from Swedish telecom giant Ericsson and the loans would be used to fund this purchase, ET reported citing sources. 

Ericsson, in October last year, said its 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) products and solutions will be deployed for Jio’s 5G rollout in India.

BNP Paribas will provide $1.9 Bn-$2 Bn over a nine-month period, during which Akash Ambani-led Jio will pay back Ericsson, BNP and some other banks, the publication said citing a person familiar with the matter.

The report added that the fundraise is happening through a discounted process and the implicit interest rate will be arrived at over the nine-month period.

The development comes after Jio tied up with Swedish export credit agency EKN for a $2.2 Bn loan to finance the equipment and services for its 5G expansion. “The $2.2 Bn cover from EKN will likely reduce Jio’s overall 5G gear funding costs as global lenders and 5G equipment suppliers involved in such a large deal will be more comfortable,” another source was quoted as saying. 

As per reports, Jio has also signed a deal with Nokia worth $1.7 Bn to purchase 5G gear.

Jio is the largest telecom operator in the country, with a market share of 38.35% in the Indian wireless market as of June 30, 2023.

During Reliance’s 46th annual general meeting (AGM), CMD Mukesh Ambani said Jio has surpassed the 450 Mn subscribers mark.

Jio’s 5G rollout is in its advanced stages and the company aims to achieve the nationwide rollout by the end of 2023. The telco’s 5G services are already available in 96% of census towns, Mukesh Ambani said at the AGM last month.

“Today, nearly 85% of the total 5G cells operational in India are in Jio’s Network. At our current pace, we are adding one 5G cell to our network every 10 seconds,” he said, adding that 1 Mn 5G cells are expected to be operational in Jio’s network by December. 

Jio reported a consolidated net profit of INR 5,098 Cr in the Q1 FY24, up 12.5% year-on-year.

The post Jio Looking To Raise $2 Bn In Debt To Fund Nationwide 5G Rollout appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In a bid to further strengthen its position in the soundbox market, fintech giant Paytm has launched a new device, Card Soundbox, to enable card payments.

The Card Soundbox will enable merchants to accept both mobile and card payments across Visa, Mastercard, American Express and RuPay networks with ‘tap and pay’. Merchants will also be able to accept payments through the QR code on the soundbox.

With Paytm Card Soundbox, the company solves two problems for merchants — accepting card payments along with getting instant audio alerts for all payments, the fintech giant said in a statement.

Paytm said that the launch of the new device will transform in-store payments by expanding payment acceptance for merchants by combining Soundbox with NFC or contactless debit and credit card payments with mobile payments.

Paytm Card Soundbox has a built-in ‘tap and pay’ functionality through which merchants can accept card payments up to INR 5,000. The device offers alerts in 11 languages that can be changed by the merchant through Paytm for Business app.

“Paytm has always been at the forefront of innovating for India’s small businesses, solving their payments and financial services problems. Today with Paytm Card Soundbox, we take it to the next level. We have found that merchants and consumers need card acceptance as simply as mobile payments with Paytm QR Code. The launch of Card Soundbox will go a long way in merging the two requirements of merchants – mobile payments and card payments,” Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of Paytm, said.

The number of subscribers for Paytm’s Soundbox and other PoS devices stood at 7.9 Mn, according to its performance update for Q1 FY24, making it one of the largest soundbox companies in the country. While the listed fintech giant was one of the earliest to launch such a device, it is now facing competition from the likes of PhonePe, Google Pay and other payments startups.

Earlier in July, the company launched two new variants of its popular soundbox device – Music Soundbox and Pocket Soundbox. The Music Soundbox enables merchants to play music via Bluetooth while waiting for payments. On the other hand, the Pocket Soundbox is a smaller, slimmer iteration of the original soundbox, which comes with a lanyard to receive payments on the go.

Meanwhile, Paytm said yesterday that Sharma has become the significant beneficial owner (SBO) of the fintech giant after Antfin sold 10.3% of its stake to the CEO’s Resilient Asset Management B.V.

Paytm reported a 44.5% year-on-year (YoY) decline in its consolidated net loss at INR 358.4 Cr in Q1 FY24.

The post Paytm Launches New Soundbox To Enable Card As Well As QR Code Payments appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Embattled streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar received another blow on August 31 with the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI’s) announcement that Viacom18 has won the media rights for the Indian cricket team’s international home matches as well as the domestic matches of the cricket board till 2028. Viacom18 will telecast the matches on Sports18 TV channel while streaming them on its OTT platform JioCinema. Earlier, these rights were with Star India and Disney+ Hotstar, respectively. 

Already reeling under the pressure of dwindling subscribers and loss of IPL media rights, Disney+ Hotstar lost yet another prized possession to the Reliance-backed OTT platform with the BCCI’s announcement. 

Echoing the disquiet was the former director of product management for ads at Disney+ Hotstar, Anurag Verma, who tweeted, “I guess the end of an era, having worked at Hotstar and seen crazy DAUs and MAUs the action will shift to JioCinema. Disney, in any case, was non-committal about Star and Hotstar and probably looking for a buyer. This most likely will be the beginning of the end.”

The warning stood in stark contrast with Star’s legacy, which counts itself as the first TV channel to broadcast matches in vernacular language. It also leveraged this capability to bring cricket to the smartphones of Indians when the streaming boom arrived. 

However, Disney+ Hotstar seems to have hit turbulent waters as JioCinema keeps on poaching its key digital allures one by one. Viacom18 winning the media rights to telecast the Indian cricket team’s matches in India for a sum of INR 5,963 Cr has once again brought attention to the ongoing streaming war in the country, which JioCinema looks set to win. 

Inflicting A Thousand Cuts

While it was initially launched in 2016, JioCinema largely came bundled with a slew of other apps from the Jio universe and was exclusively limited to its users, offering aggregated content. 

Two years later, in 2018, Star Sports India won both digital and television media rights for BCCI matches for a sum of INR 6,138.1 Cr for the next five years. Then, JioCinema decided to bide its time and strike at the opportune moment. 

It finally got this opportunity in 2022. In the past year, Jio mounted a big offensive against Disney+ Hotstar, which began with acquiring the rights to broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2022 in the country. Hot on the heels, JioCinema struck a major blow to the Star-backed streaming giant after it poached the rights of the coveted Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament from the latter. 

JioCinema made its intentions about dominating the OTT space clear by streaming IPL 2023 for free for both Jio as well as non-Jio users. 

Earlier, Disney+ Hotstar banked on the love for cricket in India to fuel its paid subscriber growth, which stood at a record 61.3 Mn at the end of the quarter ended September 2022. This was the last quarter of subscriber addition for the streaming major. 

The loss of the IPL in the cricket-crazy country resulted in an exodus of subscribers from Disney+ Hotstar. Its paid user base dwindled to 40.4 Mn at the beginning of July 2023 – by the time the IPL ended.

After poaching cricket fans, JioCinema set its eyes on another key digital property of Disney+ Hotstar — the premium English content viewers. The conglomerate-backed streaming player then signed back-to-back content partnership deals with HBO and NBCUniversal Media (NBCU) to bring premium English films and TV shows to India.

As a result, Disney+ Hotstar users were left bewildered as popular shows such as Euphoria, Succession, House of the Dragon, Chernobyl, and The Last of Us suddenly moved to JioCinema. 

Then came the final blow. JioCinema finally rebranded itself as a full-fledged premium offering, rolling out a premium ad-free subscription plan for INR 999 per year, supporting up to 4K resolution on four devices. In contrast, Disney+ Hotstar sells its lowest plan at INR 899 a year, which includes ads and supports a max of 1080p resolution and two devices.

Barring the media rights for the International Cricket Council’s (ICC’s) global tournaments in India, Disney+ Hotstar just has Marvel films and TV shows in its kitty, which may not prove to be an attractive hook for users leaving the platform in droves. 

Something For Everyone: The JioCinema Mantra

Over the course of the next year (2024), JioCinema is reportedly expected to stream 16 men’s matches (10 test and 6 T20 international matches) while Disney+ Hotstar may broadcast anywhere between 11 to 14 matches. This provides JioCinema an effective ad opportunity and a potential influx of paid subscribers if it decides to paywall the matches. 

Meanwhile, JioCinema has also complemented its cricket offerings by acquiring media rights pertaining to various games, including the 2024 Paris Olympics, Diamond League, NBA, Global Chess League, and BWF World Championships. 

Alongside, JioCinema also has the might and experience to build the needed digital infrastructure, even though it has faced some glitches in the past. 

On the other hand, Disney+ Hotstar seems to be a bit directionless at the moment. As its parent company weighs selling off the streaming platform or a joint venture, Disney+ Hotstar is streaming Asia Cup 2023 for free. It will also stream the upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup for free on its mobile app to counter JioCinema. 

With few premium English shows up its sleeves, the streaming major could be looking to pitch Marvel shows and films to a wider audience. Alongside, with a huge library of local and vernacular content, Disney+ Hotstar could also be looking to attract eyeballs of ‘Bharat’ (rural India) which still favours ‘desi’ content. 

However, over 100 Indian films and TV shows lined up by JioCinema, which are produced at a cost of INR 2,000 Cr, may well play a spoilsport for Disney+ Hotstar. 

Stage Set For Disruption?

“Basically, Jio has started at the top of the pyramid by signing content partnerships with big American studios, enabling them to acquire premium users who do not mind paying for high-quality English content. From there, JioCinema could come to the bottom of the pyramid and may pump a couple more billion dollars to acquire platforms that cater to Bharat,” IPVerse founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Pallav Bajjuri said on the Reliance-backed platform’s strategy.    

He, however, said that the space will eventually head towards consolidation, where bigger players would pick up smaller platforms. 

Going forward, Bajjuri said the next wave of innovation in the space could come from the streaming of gaming, vernacular content focused at Bharat and higher focus on reality shows. He believes that niche alone won’t be enough for sustenance, and content diversification and innovation would be the key to lead the market going forward. 

JioCinema seems to have understood this. The streaming platform has partnered with South Korean gaming giant KRAFTON India to broadcast the official Battlegrounds Mobile India Series (BGIS) in India, setting its eyes on the niche streaming space.

On top of that, its broadcast of IPL 2023 garnered more than 449 Mn viewers, while the streaming platform recorded ‘record’ revenues during the broadcast of IPL earlier this year. The final of the tournament clocked 32 Mn viewers, and it recorded more than 15,000 Mn video views in the first seven weeks of IPL.

With such impressive numbers and an ever-expanding content library, experts believe that JioCinema is well poised to disrupt the Indian OTT market, which is expected to grow to a size of $12.5 Bn by 2030, in the same way as Reliance’s telecom arm Jio. 

The post OTT Wars: BCCI Media Rights Add Another Weapon To JioCinema’s Arsenal appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Gaming and sports media platform Nazara Technologies’ board has approved the issue of shares worth INR 100 Cr to firms managed by Zerodha founders Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath, the company said in an exchange filing on Monday.

The company plans to issue 14,00,560 equity shares with a face value of INR 4 each, priced at INR 714 per share. The issuance will amount to INR 100 Cr, and shares will be proportionately allotted to M/s Kamath Associates and M/s NKSquared, a partnership firm represented by its partners Nikhil and Nithin Kamath.

“Nazara Technologies Limited, an India-based, diversified gaming and sports media platform today announced that its board has approved preferential allotment of equity shares to raise up to INR 100 Cr, subject to the receipt of approval of the shareholders of the company and such regulatory/statutory authorities as may be applicable,” the company said.

Nazara intends to use the capital to fulfill the funding needs and support the company’s growth initiatives, which may include strategic acquisitions and investments.

“Nikhil Kamath symbolises success in India’s tech arena, and this fundraise holds immense value for us at Nazara as we continue to build a diversified gaming platform in India. Beyond the funds raised, his investment stands as a resounding vote of confidence in Nazara,” Nitish Mittersain, CEO of Nazara Technologies, said.

Nikhil Kamath, partner of Kamath Associates and NKSquared, said, “Gaming in India is poised for strong growth in the years to come and Nazara has built a well-diversified, profitable gaming platform well suited to take advantage of opportunities in the years ahead.”

Last week, reports surfaced that Nikhil Kamath, the founder of Zerodha, was considering increasing his stake in Nazara Technologies to 3.5%. Kamath was in discussions to increase his personal investment in the company.

On August 30, the company announced that it would seek board approval to raise capital via the issuance of equity shares or securities on a preferential basis. In July, the gaming giant also secured the board’s approval to raise up to INR 750 Cr and increase authorised share capital to INR 50 Cr from INR 30 Cr.

Earlier in August, Nazara pumped $500K into an Israeli game developer, Snax Games, to acquire the exclusive rights to publish the latter’s games in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East on a revenue-sharing basis for the next five years. In May, the company said that it would increase its stake in Next Wave Multimedia to nearly 72%

The company’s consolidated net profit jumped to INR 61.4 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), while revenue from operations soared 75% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 1,091 Cr during the period under review.

The post Zerodha Founders To Invest INR 100 Cr In Nazara appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Today, India has more than 50K digital-first brands. Many of these emerging brands are now exploring offline strategies. However, Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, the director & cofounder of Wakefit, believes that in today’s landscape, it’s no longer feasible for D2C brands to have separate online and offline budgets for marketing, distribution or customer acquisition costs.

“Now, it’s about sales and distribution costs, and evaluating the performance of each channel in terms of revenue,” he added.

Ramalingegowda shared his insights during the fourth edition of Inc42’s D2C Summit 2023, as part of a panel discussion featuring Harsh Modi, the cofounder & CEO of Mulmul; Shreedha Singh, the CEO & cofounder of The Ayurveda Company; and Gaurav Khatri of Noise. The session was moderated by Dipanjan Basu, the cofounder & Partner at Fireside Ventures.

The Bengaluru-based D2C furniture and mattress brand was founded in 2016 by Ankit Garg and Ramalingegowda. Initially, Wakefit focussed solely on mattresses until 2018 and then started expanding its product categories.

Presently, Wakefit offers around 500 SKUs across 15-20 sub-categories. Approximately two-thirds of its sales are generated through its website, app, and offline stores, with the remainder coming from online marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart.

In FY22, the company witnessed a substantial increase in total losses, which surged to INR 101.8 Cr compared to INR 37 Cr in FY21.

However, its operating revenue jumped nearly 55% YoY to INR 632.8 Cr in FY22.

In January 2023, the startup secured $40 Mn in a funding round led by Investcorp, with participation from existing investors Sequoia India, Verlinvest, and SIG. This brought Wakefit’s total funding raised to date to $145 Mn.

Ramalingegowda reminisced about Wakefit’s journey to venturing offline, noting that they always believed in establishing themselves as a digital-first brand. They saw online as a means to achieve non-linear growth and greater control over the consumer experience.

“We never had the conviction to go offline until we expanded into furniture. That’s when factors like the rent-to-revenue ratio and ROI period started making sense. When we noticed that at our pilot store, the average order value nearly doubled, and repeat customer behaviour was more prevalent, we realised that customers also craved this offline experience,” he added.

Ramalingegowda emphasised that marketing strategies across online and offline channels are progressively merging, making it challenging to calculate customer acquisition costs (CAC) differently for each channel. This shift underscores the importance of how a brand manages its business across various channels.

He also shared valuable insights and advice for D2C startups, emphasising that entering a new channel involves more than just launching products. It requires a fundamental shift in how a brand approaches product development, packaging, pricing, supply chain, and measuring outcomes.

“It’s not merely about introducing a product; it’s a profound change in how we perceive our business when entering a new channel,” he added.

Furthermore, Ramalingegowda stressed the importance of owning customer relationships and the complete customer experience. This entails engaging with customers who purchase products through various channels, ensuring their needs are met, and addressing any concerns.

“In our philosophy and belief system, it’s about taking care of the customer, regardless of where they make their purchase,” he concluded.

The post Wakefit Cofounder On Why Brands Need To Have Cohesive Online & Offline Go-To-Market Strategy appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Speaking at the fourth edition of Inc42’s The D2C Summit, Ankit Nagori, the founder of Curefoods, said that it is on the back of membership and subscription programmes that their flagship brand Eatfit has a 70% customer retention rate.

“70% of people who subscribe to Eatfit never leave the platform. Either they will continue as subscribers or they move back into the membership programme,” Nagori said.

Nagori explained that while their brand has focussed on subscription services, they have also introduced a membership programme called Food Pass. This decision was based on the understanding that customers may not consume their products 30 times a month.

Subscribers typically consume their products a certain number of times each month, with the platform’s average being seven times a month. To retain customers who fall within the range of seven to 30 times a month to stay engaged, they have introduced the Food Pass programme.

Nagori advocated for adopting membership programmes for D2C brands with high-frequency products. These programmes offer customers a broader engagement experience with added perks such as free shipping and exclusive benefits. For brands like Curefit, where high-frequency consumption exists, membership programmes became the foundation of customer engagement, he added.

On the other hand, subscription programmes, he said, cater to specific use cases or habits. These programmes, though targeting a smaller customer base, tend to foster deep customer engagement and loyalty.

Founded in 2020 by Ankit Nagori, Curefoods claims to run more than seven food factories and 150+ multi-brand cloud kitchens to service 200+ locations in 15 cities. Besides Eatfit, the startup houses brands such as CakeZone, Nomad Pizza, Frozen Bottle, and Sharief Bhai, among others.

Earlier this year, Curefoods raised INR 300 Cr (around $37 Mn) in a funding round led by Binny Bansal’s fund Three State Ventures, which invested INR 240 Cr during the fundraise.

In July, Curefoods made a strategic investment in Hyderabad-based millet startup, Millet Express.

Curefoods recorded INR 89.1 Cr in revenue from operations during the fiscal year ending March 2022, which was the first full operational year for Curefoods.

The post Our Flagship Brand Eatfit Enjoys A Customer Loyalty Rate Of 70%: Curefoods’ Ankit Nagori appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Having secured INR 500 Cr from Warburg Pincus and Malabar Investments last October, Indian D2C electronics giant boAt is not in a rush to go for an initial public offer (IPO), according to cofounder and chief marketing officer (CMO) Aman Gupta.

Gupta said that while the D2C electronics brand will go for a public listing in India, the company does not have any plans to do so in the next couple of years, given that it has already secured the funding.

“There is no urgency [for the IPO]… [Earlier] we had decided to go for an IPO next year, but then we raised funds. We had thought of raising INR 500-900 Cr via the primary [part of the IPO] but then we raised funds from Warburg. So, we have no need for additional funds for the next two to three years,” Gupta said, speaking at Inc42’s ‘The D2C Summit 4.0’.

“We may think about the IPO next year,” Gupta added.

Incidentally, boAt filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in January last year for an INR 2,000 Cr public issue. The IPO received SEBI’s green light in May 2022 and everyone expected the Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta-led brand to go public by the end of the year.

At the time, according to the IPO documents, both founders held 28.26% of the equity share capital on a fully diluted basis, giving them control of the company. However, the shareholding pattern in the company might have changed with the entry of Warburg and Malabar Investments.

Notably, 2022 was a difficult year for tech startup stocks on the bourses, as companies listed in 2021 saw an absolute routing during the year. The likes of Paytm, Zomato and many others recorded all-time lows on the stock market, prompting several startups, including boAt, to defer their IPO plans.

Sharing his long-term ambitions, the Shark Tank judge said the D2C brand is planning to take its revenue to INR 10,000 Cr in the next two to three years and is currently in the process of building a roadmap for the same.

“We did INR 4,000 Cr in revenue this year (FY23), we will do INR 5,000 Cr next year (FY24). While we haven’t planned what we’ll do the year after that, we will become an INR 10,000 Cr company in the next two to three years,” Gupta said at The D2C Summit 4.0.

The post Flush With Funds, No IPO Plans For At Least A Couple Of Years: Aman Gupta appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In the middle of multiple top-level departures, BYJU’S-owned coaching centre chain Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) has reportedly constituted an executive council to appoint a new chief executive officer (CEO).

BYJU’S CEO Byju Raveendran, Group CFO Ajay Goel, Aakash’s chief business officer Anup Kumar Agarwal, and Aakash’s chief human resources officer Sachin Saxena will be part of the council, The Economic Times reported citing an internal note sent by Raveendran to employees. 

This follows the departure of incumbent CEO Abhishek Maheshwari and the impending exit of CFO Vipan Joshi. Sources close to the company told Inc42 that while Maheshwari has exited the company after the completion of his notice period, Joshi is also on his way out of the company. 

As per the ET report, Maheshwari’s exit was formally announced by BYJU’S to the employees on Saturday (September 2).

A BYJU’S spokesperson declined to comment on the story. 

The executive committee will spearhead the company during the transition period and conduct ‘scheduled’ meetings so that the coaching centre chain continues to operate ‘smoothly’.

“The executive committee has been assembled to provide guidance, support, and leadership during this transition period. We are committed to maintaining the excellence and growth that AESL has consistently delivered in terms of both current business operations and future prospects,” Raveendran said in the internal note.

C-Suite Execs Leave In Droves

The development comes in the middle of a series of top-level exits at multiple subsidiaries of the edtech decacorn. Just days ago, it was reported that the chief executive of BYJU’S subsidiary WhiteHat Jr Ananya Tripathi resigned from her position. 

This was preceded by the exit of BYJU’S chief business officer Prathyusha Agarwal, business head of BYJU’S Tuition Centers Himanshu Bajaj and business head for Class 4 to 10 Mukut Deepak in quick succession. 

In August itself, BYJU’S senior vice president for international business, Cherian Thomas, also announced his departure from the company. The company also fired more than 100 employees from the post-sale division last month for performance related issues.

Overall, BYJU’S has laid off more than 5,000 employees since the beginning of last year as it grapples with a funding crunch. As part of its cost-cutting measures, the company has shelved expansion plans and cut down on expenses to extend its runway. 

The edtech major has also been bogged down by a slew of legal and regulatory issues. While it is locked in multiple legal cases with its term B lenders, IPO-bound Aakash is also in the middle of a tussle between its shareholders. Amid ongoing negotiations with New York-based investment fund Davidson Kempner over an INR 2,000 crore credit line, there appears to be a major rejig in the offing at Aakash’s board. 

In a bid to pay Kempner, Aakash also appears to have finalised a $80 Mn cash infusion from Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai to tide over the debt crisis. 

With much at stake, it remains to be seen what the future holds for Aakash as troubles continue to pile up at its parent firm even as the aoching chain prepares for its much-touted public listing. 

The post BYJU’S-Owned Aakash Sets Up Executive Council To Appoint New CEO appeared first on Inc42 Media.

At a time when an increasing number of Indian startups are trying to be in the black, the cofounder of Country Delight, Chakradhar Gade, has said that the dairytech startup is also not far from reaching the profitability milestone.

“We are currently an almost $200 Mn revenue company, and the business is growing at 5-7% month-on-month. We are on the clear path to profitability in the next 8-10 months,” Gade said while speaking at the fourth edition of Inc42’s D2C summit.

Country Delight currently serves 15 cities in India. As shared by Gade, the startup makes almost 10 Mn monthly deliveries to more than 5 Lakh subscribers across the cities it operates in.

During the session, Gade talked about his fascination with the traditional Indian milkman system. The initial hypothesis of Gade and his partner, Nitin Kaushal, centred around the concept of a full-stack business model, where they aimed to own the entire supply chain, from the farm to the customer.

One of the intriguing aspects of their approach was viewing cattle as a non-depreciating asset, as they only multiply over time. This perspective meant they could potentially grow the business without external capital infusion.

According to Gade, the core mission of the startup is to provide superior quality products to customers, cultivate customer loyalty, and add value to people’s lives.

Country Delight began its journey as a bootstrapped venture and dedicated the first 5 to 6 years to laying the foundation. The cofounders focussed on critical elements such as building technology to digitally monitor quality at the source, establishing a reliable supply chain with real-time visibility, and creating a proprietary distribution network capable of scalable operations.

Founded in 2013 by Chakradhar Gade and Nitin Kaushal, Country Delight follows a subscription-based model where it sources milk from farmers and delivers it to customers. It also supplies bread, ghee, other dairy products, and fruits and vegetables.

Since its inception, the startup has raised more than $158 Mn and is currently valued at over $600 Mn. It counts Orios Venture Partners, Elevation Capital, and Temasek among its investors.

Country Delight’s net loss increased 6.5X to INR 186.4 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) from INR 28.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year due to a sharp increase in its expenses. The Delhi NCR-based startup’s revenue from operations rose 1.6X to INR 542.6 Cr in FY22 from INR 320.7 Cr in FY21.

The post Country Delight To Become Profitable In The Next 8-10 Months: Cofounder Chakradhar Gade appeared first on Inc42 Media.

At a time when companies and the Indian government are looking at ramping up domestic manufacturing, boAt cofounder and chief marketing officer Aman Gupta has said that 70% of the audio device giant’s products are made in India as of 2023.

“Pre-Covid, 0% of our products were made in India. Cut to 2023, and 70% of our products are now made in India,” said Gupta during Inc42’s ‘The D2C Summit 4.0’.

The cofounder was in a conversation with The Moms Co cofounder Mohit Sadaani during a session titled ‘The Rhythm Of Success – How boAt Scaled To Become A $1.4 Bn Audio & Wearable Brand’.

Talking about the manufacturing ecosystem when boAt was in its initial stages, Gupta said there was no support for building audio products in India at that time. Consequently, boAt founders Gupta and Sameer Mehta had to set up a product team based in China to manufacture and import products.

However, Gupta said that the situation is rapidly changing now.

“If you look at how the government is opening up the semiconductor industry in India, how it is pushing efforts on separate parts… Right now, not everything is made in India but, like I always say, Rome was not built in a day. India will take time and everyone’s making efforts,” said Gupta on the outlook for manufacturing in India.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic and the border faceoff between India and China since 2020, boAt has been working on setting up manufacturing facilities in India to bring speed and agility to its supply chain, Gupta said.

Earlier this year, the boAt CMO took to X (then Twitter) to announce that the wearables unicorn manufactured 1 Cr products in India in 2022. This number has reached 1.5 Cr as of June 2023, Gupta said. 

boAt manufactures its products in India in partnership with players like Dixon.

In June this year, the D2C electronics brand said its net sales rose to around INR 4,000 Cr (about $500 Mn) during the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), representing a growth of about 39% from INR 2,872.9 Cr in FY22.

Founded in 2015 by Gupta and Mehta, boAt operates in the larger audio and wearables markets and sells products such as headphones, smart watches and speakers. Last year, the startup put its proposed INR 2,000 Cr initial public offering (IPO) on hold and raised INR 500 Cr in funding.

The post 70% Of boAt Products Are Now Made In India: Cofounder Aman Gupta appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Emphasising the substantial opportunities in both brand creation and platform-focused business, Adwaita Nayar, the cofounder of Nykaa and CEO of Nykaa Fashion, said that it is a really good time to build brands in the beauty and fashion space.

“We are really bullish on the kind of consumption and the kind of growth that these businesses and verticals are going to see,” Nayar said while speaking at Inc42’s fourth edition of the D2C summit.

Discussing the potential and opportunities within the Indian market, specifically in the context of D2C brands and identifying gaps in the brand ecosystem, Nayar added that there is a significant opportunity in India due to a lack of options in various product categories such as women’s fashion.

Nykaa itself is building private label brands across its fashion and beauty categories, which the company is very bullish about, Nayar added.

“We don’t actually like to call them private labels internally, we call them owned brands because private labels typically have the connotation of being cheaper and sort of undercutting on price. We are trying to identify gaps in the ecosystem. And then we’re trying to create beautiful brands in those spaces. We have entirely different teams that work on this very high focus on creativity, design quality, coming up with the positioning and coming up with the gaps,” she said.

Nykaa currently has 20 ‘owned brands’ across fashion and beauty segments. The beauty and fashion ecommerce giant sells owned brands not only on its own platforms but also on other platforms and offline channels, with some brands performing well outside their primary platforms.

In addition, Nayar said she sees a significant opportunity in the realm of teen-focussed fashion. She frequently discusses this potential with her team and believes that while Nykaa may cater to some teenagers, there remains a substantial opportunity for someone to establish a dedicated platform and a collection of brands tailored specifically for teens.

Nykaa’s net profit jumped 8.2% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 5.4 Cr in the first quarter of FY24. The Falguni Nayar-led startup’s operating revenue jumped to INR 1,421.8 Cr in Q1 FY24 from INR 1,148.4 Cr in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

Beauty and personal care (BPC) vertical’s GMV grew 24% YoY to INR 1,850.8 Cr in the quarter under review. It also rose 13.6% on a QoQ basis. The GMV of Nykaa’s fashion vertical rose 12% YoY to INR 653.7 Cr in Q1 FY24. However, on a QoQ basis, it declined from INR 664.1 Cr.

The post These Are Great Times To Build Brands In The Beauty & Fashion Space: Nykaa’s Adwaita Nayar appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Financial services major IIFL Finance has claimed that it has never lent any money to edtech giant BYJU’s, despite the latter stating so in its financials for the fiscal year 2020-21 (FY21). IIFL issued a clarification calling the mention an error on BYJU’S part.

“It has come to our notice that Think & Learn Private Limited (“BYJU’S”) has erroneously stated IIFL Finance Limited as Lender in their Audited Standalone and Consolidated Financial Statements for the period ended March 31, 2021,” said IIFL Finance in a filing with the BSE.

According to IIFL Finance, the edtech giant has mentioned it as a lender to the tune of INR 440.77 Cr in its audited financial statements for FY21. For its part, BYJU’S has admitted that the inclusion of IIFL was ‘inadvertent’ and has sent a letter dated August 23, 2023, to the lending company.

“We further confirm that IIFL Finance Limited has not lent any money to BYJU’S and this was an error in their audited financial statements,” the company added.

The edtech giant is struggling with two different sets of lenders – the Term Loan B (TLB) lenders and Davidson Kempner – for settlements on a cumulative lending amount of $1.45 Bn.

In some relief to BYJU’S, the company’s TLB lenders have agreed to delay their ongoing legal battle in US courts until October 6. This postponement is likely to allow both parties time to negotiate an out-of-court settlement.

BYJU’S had filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court to stop the TLB lenders from accelerating the closure of its $1.2 Bn loan. The lenders contended that BYJU’S had violated multiple covenants, including submitting financial statements for FY22, which have been delayed for several quarters. The lenders consequently demanded expedited loan repayment.

Over the past few months, both parties have been locked in negotiations regarding new repayment terms and a restructuring of the loan, including upfront payments of $200 Mn and 12-13% interest, with a restructured tenure of 3-5 years.

Besides this, the edtech giant is locked in battle with Davidson Kempner, another of its lenders. BYJU’s and DK are in negotiations to settle a dispute over the breach of a loan covenant by Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), the edtech giant’s offline test prep arm.

BYJU’S has offered to repay this loan along with the full interest, but the lender is seeking interest on the entire amount for one to two years. BYJU’S cofounder and CEO Byju Raveendran has instead proposed interest pertaining to one quarter.

Talks between the two companies are centred on the exact payout and a formal proposal is expected this week by the two parties.

On the sidelines, Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai is said to have finalised an $80 Mn investment in Aakash, which could be utilised to repay Davidson Kempner, with Pai receiving shares in Aakash in exchange.

The post Never Lent Any Money To BYJU’S, Claims IIFL Finance appeared first on Inc42 Media.

India’s thriving D2C landscape has garnered significant interest from investors, entrepreneurs, and corporations alike. However, according to Prashanth Aluru, the cofounder & CEO of TMRW – House of Brands, the term D2C is more closely associated with digital-first brands. 

Elaborating his viewpoint during the fourth edition of Inc42’s virtual D2C Summit 2023, he said that to tap into the broader ecommerce opportunity in India, D2C brands must focus on being digital-first.

“As a D2C brand, you could be selling on marketplaces, your websites, or eventually adopting an omnichannel approach. However, fundamentally, you are a new-age brand catering to a new-age consumer,” Aluru said.

The Aditya Birla Group ventured into the realm of house of brands with TMRW in June 2022, with plans to build a portfolio of fashion and lifestyle brands by acquiring and incubating over 30 brands in the next three years. Their current portfolio includes names such as Berrylush, Bewakoof, Juneberry, Natilene, Nauti Nati, Nobero, Urbano, and Veirdo.

At a time when many D2C brands are enthusiastic about expanding offline and some are questioning the online demand, Aluru believes in ‘being digital first’. 

He acknowledged that ecosystems experience cycles of challenges and opportunities. While growth may appear slower compared to the Covid-19 era, the macro opportunity lies in building a new-age brand that starts as digital-first and gradually expands its presence offline and into omnichannel.

He stated, “There is still immense potential in the digital realm, so there’s no need to rush into the offline space, especially considering the complexities of scaling up offline operations from 10 to under 300 stores, which is an entirely different challenge.”

Furthermore, as a digital-first brand, the approach to offline expansion should differ from traditional brands like Louis Philippe or Allen. 

Aluru further stressed the importance of integration between the two channels, where one channel complements the other.

Understanding the consumer and ensuring a seamless experience across channels is essential. A digitally native consumer expects innovation in physical stores, such as having a complete catalogue available or offering an infinite aisle experience.

For D2C offline brands expanding into marketplaces, focussing on the products consumers prefer offline is key. 

“For instance, if you identify a best-seller in D2C, how can you bring it to the offline space or on platforms like Myntra or Amazon more efficiently? This is where we see the channel’s capability,” Aluru explained.

He reiterated that a brand can leverage multiple channels, but they all must be unified and seamless.

Aluru concluded the session by highlighting lessons learned from global and Indian examples, such as Lenskart, CaratLane, and Firstcry, which began as digital-first brands and have successfully demonstrated what an omnichannel presence should look like in the digital age.

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