The ongoing trade tensions between the US and China have put Indian telecom companies in the crosshairs.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued a fresh directive to all major telcos – including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, BSNL – seeking details about Chinese gear deployed in their networks, ET Telecom reported.

The move comes as the Centre seeks to track the usage of China-made equipment in India’s telecom and space sectors to ward off potential security threats.

While India has excluded Chinese telecom equipment and technology vendors such as Huawei and ZTE from participating in its 5G rollout, their equipment is still widely used in 2G, 3G and 4G infrastructure, particularly in the core, wireless and optical fiber networks of telecom giants—Airtel, Vi and BSNL.

Why India Wants To Build China-Free Wireless Infrastructure

Under existing telecom policies, Chinese companies are prohibited from securing fresh contracts for network expansion or setting up new telecom infrastructure in India. They can only service existing equipment, which includes replacing or upgrading old gear.

In 2021, the DoT amended the Unified Access Service Licence in 2021 to stop telcos from procuring telecom network equipment from untrustworthy vendors. As per amended rules, only those vendors who have obtained a ‘trusted source’ tag are eligible to supply gear in India. 

While foreign companies such as Sweden-based Ericsson, Finland-based Nokia and Korea’s Samsung have secured necessary security clearances to bid for deals, Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE have not been approved as ‘trusted sources.’

The trusted sources regime is part of the Centre’s broader plans to reduce India’s dependence on Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers. As per data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), between 2022 and 2023, 38% of India’s imported networking and telecom equipment originated from China. 

India is not the only country skeptical of China’s involvement in critical sectors, including telecom. Countries like the US and the UK have also shut out China from their 5G infrastructure due to security concerns.

It is important to note that the Indian government launched the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for Telecom and Networking Products and for Large Scale Electronic Manufacturing of Electronics in 2021. As of July 2024, the scheme attracted investments worth INR 3,400 Cr and the telecom equipment production in the country surpassed the INR 50,000 Cr mark.

On top of this, the DoT launched its ‘Digital Intelligence Platform’ (DIP) last year for real-time intelligence sharing, information exchange and coordination among telcos, law enforcement agencies, banks, social media platforms and other stakeholders.

Other Sectors To Adopt ‘Trusted Source’ Regime

Reports surfaced last year that the union government was considering extending the scope of the ‘trusted sources’ regime to Internet of Things (IoT) amid rising concerns over the use of Chinese-origin components in India.

The Centre also amended the ‘Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirement of Compulsory Registration) Order, 2021’, adding CCTV cameras to the list of goods requiring compulsory registration.

The order covers a wide range of electronic products, including laptops, tablets, mobile phones, digital cameras, and more.

The post Centre Asks Jio, Airtel, Vi For Chinese Equipment Details appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Banking on the growing demand for fast food and beverage deliveries, foodtech platform Swiggy has now launched its quick food delivery app SNACC in Noida and Gurugram.

Earlier this year, SNACC was rolled out to serve select pincodes in Bengaluru, delivering quick bites, beverages and meals in 15 minutes.

On its home page, the SNACC app displays a comment saying “ We’re still expanding,” when a user tries to add an address from any other city.

Via SNACC app, Swiggy claims to deliver a wide range of products  across food and beverages, including snacks, breakfast specials, tea, coffee cold beverages, dessert and fruit bowls, among others. 

“After a great response in Bengaluru, we have now launched our services in Noida and Gurugram- corporate hubs with a large urban population, especially youth. We are confident that we will soon emerge as the go-to app for customers in the two cities. We will continue to add more offerings to our app in the coming times,” said Satheesh Raman, business head of SNACC.

(The story will be updated soon)

The post Swiggy Expands Its 15-Minute Food Delivery To Noida, Gurugram appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Apple India’s contract manufacturer Foxconn is reportedly planning to build a new facility in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida, as part of its expansion strategy in the country.

An ET report said that the iPhone manufacturer is eyeing 300 acres of land along the Yamuna Express Way in Greater Noida for the plant as this will be its first ever facility in North India.

The report further said that the discussions with the state government are at an initial stage and the company is yet to decide on the products in its new facility and the customers it will cater to.

Inc42 has reached out to Foxconn for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on the response.

It is pertinent to note that Foxconn and homegrown IT services major HCL’s joint venture secured a land in Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) region in Delhi NCR for its outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) facility.

Foxconn is planning to purchase the land for the new facility in the same area.

The new facility is speculated to be slightly bigger than the company’s upcoming facility in Bengaluru for which it acquired 300 acres of land near the airport. The company has committed an investment of about INR 25,000 Cr for the said facility and is projected to have a production capacity of 20 Mn smartphones annually.

The Bengaluru plant will be the company’s second largest unit in India and second largest in the world.

The development comes at a time when Foxconn is on an expansion in India and is also looking to double down on its iPhone manufacturing efforts. Once the company’s Bengaluru unit marks its completion, it would push its annual iPhone manufacturing capacity in India from 12 Mn to about 25 Mn to 30 Mn in 2025.

Also, the Foxconn-HCL JV is also in talks with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Taiwanese construction engineering company CTCI to anchor its OSAT facility in UP. Besides, the company is looking to push its battery manufacturing efforts in the country and is in talks with the Tamil Nadu government to set up a 200 acres manufacturing unit in the state.

This comes amid the world dealing with the US tariff uncertainty. The contract manufacturer may look to diversify its operations and find other geographical alternatives for smooth operations. However, President Donald Trump’s administration has recently lowered imposed counter tarrif on imports of certain categories of products which includes semiconductor equipment, smartphones, flat panel displays, computers and laptops among others for countries like China, Vietnam, Taiwan and India among others. These relief measures have been taken on a temporary basis.

But some US officials have told the media that the federal government plans to launch a national security investigation into semiconductors which could lead to other new tariffs in future.

The post Foxconn Eyeing 300 Acres In UP For First Plant In North India: Report appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Karnataka government is reportedly planning to introduce a differential fee on app-based aggregators to fund welfare programs for gig workers.

An ET report said that these platforms will pay the fee in the range of 1% to 5%, based on the commission paid to gig workers, with higher rates for platforms generating higher revenues. 

This initiative is part of the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill 2024, which aims to provide social security, occupational health, safety, and grievance redressal mechanisms for gig workers.

The report further said that the state government plans to enact the Bill through an ordinance route. 

Once approved by the Governor, these rules will be framed and placed in the public domain for stakeholder feedback before implementation.

“We will give a month’s time for stakeholders to give their suggestions. We will study and incorporate necessary suggestions,” an official was quoted as saying in the report.

Reportedly, the levy will take at least six months to be rolled out after rules are finalised, and a software system for payment verification will be developed. 

It is pertinent to note that Bengaluru alone has around 2 Lakh gig workers, making the need for such protections in this rapidly growing sector. 

Karnataka’s initiative follows Rajasthan’s landmark law passed in July 2023, which was the first in India to introduce social security measures for gig workers. 

Reportedly, Telangana has also collected a copy of Karnataka’s draft to explore a similar law in the state.

The Centre is also doubling down on initiatives around the welfare of the gig workers. For instance, in the Budget 2025, the government mandated registering gig workers on the e-Shram portal, following which at least 70,000 gig workers have reportedly been registered with the e-Shram portal.

Meanwhile, the central government is also planning to introduce a comprehensive social security scheme for platform-based gig workers. Moreover, the union government is also planning to introduce a pension scheme, requiring platform aggregators to contribute 2% of each worker’s income.

The post Karnataka Govt Planning Differential Fee On Apps To Fund Gig Workers appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Mumbai-based luggage brand uppercase has roped in Indian cricketer Jasprit Bumrah as its investor.

Although the startup did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but its cofounder and managing director Sudip Ghose told Inc42 that the investment comes as a separate bridge funding round.

ET reported the development first.

“As a part of this expanded partnership, Bumrah will take an active role in product development. He wants to design a backpack and a gym bag which is exclusively needed for sports,” Ghose said.

The startup plans to launch this new product line in the next 3-5 months. The design process has already been started, with Ghose adding that it typically takes 2-5 months, from design to iterations, to launch the product.

Founded in 2021 by Ghose, Uday Sodhi, Arnob Mondal Kumar, Shivaprasad Eregowda, Nidhi Rajora and Dheeraj Goyal, uppercase designs and manufactures eco-friendly travel gear including hard luggage, backpacks, duffel bags, and office satchels. 

The company’s products are global recycling standards (GRS) certified.

In August last year, the startup raised $9 Mn in its Series B funding round led by Accel, along with investors, including Sixth Sense Ventures and Enam Holdings promoter Akash Bhansali.

The company  claims to currently sell through 1,600 points of sale across India and aims to expand to 4,000 points in the coming years. It targets a revenue of INR 250 Cr by 2026 and plans to break even by FY27.

uppercase competes with established players like VIP Industries, Samsonite, and Safari Industries, as well as newer D2C brands such as Mokobara, Nasher Miles, EUME, and ICON.

(The story will be updated)

The post Luggage Brand uppercase Ropes In Jasprit Bumrah As Investor appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Delhi government’s second phase of Electric Vehicle Policy, which is expected to be enforced soon, will reportedly generate 20,000 new employment opportunities, ranging from running charging stations to taking care of battery recycling.

The policy also aims to set up battery collection centres, while building a wide network of charging and swappable battery stations in the capital.

Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa told PTI that the scheme will focus on transitioning mass categories vehicles including two-wheelers, three-wheelers, buses, and good carriers into EVs.

Delhi EV policy 2.0, to be formally notified after getting clearance from the Centre, aims to transition the city to electric mobility by phasing out fossil fuel vehicles, including a potential ban on new petrol two-wheelers registrations and a ban on new fossil fuel three-wheelers registrations.

The policy also proposes setting up 13,200 public charging stations and mandates electrification of public transport fleets. 

Under this policy, the capital is also planning to offer a purchase subsidy of up to INR 30,000 for buying EV two-wheelers. As per the draft policy proposal, EV two-wheeler buyers will get an incentive of INR 10,000 per kWh (up to INR 30,000). Besides, an additional INR 10,000 may be offered for scrapping petrol two-wheelers that are over 12-years old.  

Furthermore, the draft proposes first 10,000 women with valid driving licences to be eligible for subsidy, calculated at INR 12,000 per kWh and capped at INR 36,000.

For electric three-wheelers, a subsidy of INR 10,000 per kWh is expected, capped at INR 45,000. With this policy, the government also aims to reduce dependency on CNG autorickshaws by providing scrapping incentives up to INR 20,000 and a replacement incentive of INR 1 Lakh for CNG three-wheelers completing 10 years during the policy period.

While the Delhi government is pushing incentives to increase EV adoption in the national capital, it is also proposing a ban on registration of non-EVs in the near future. If the policy materialises, there will be a potential ban on registration of petrol two-wheelers, starting August 15, 2026. The policy also proposes stopping registrations of fossil fuel-run three-wheelers from August 15 this year. 

As per Vahan data, Delhi’s EV numbers are skyrocketing with 85,285 EVs registered in 2024 against 73,683 units in 2023. 

States Pushing For Rapid EV Adoption 

While Delhi is hopping on the EV wave in the country to reduce pollution in the region, other states, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, among others, are also pushing EV adoption in their respective regions.

For instance, Karnataka is mulling to provide incentives of up to 25% on capital investments by EV manufacturers and drop road tax and registration charges for hybrid vehicles to promote clean mobility.

During the budget speech for 2025-26, Gujarat finance minister Kanubhai Desai proposed offering a rebate of 5% on motor vehicle tax on “fully-battery” operated EVs. 

Besides, Maharashtra recently approved a proposal allowing EV bike taxis to operate in the state.

The post Delhi EV Policy 2.0 Likely To Generate 20K Jobs appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Deeptech surveillance startup Optimized Electrotech has raised $6 Mn (around INR Cr) in a Series A funding round co-led by Blume Ventures and Mela Ventures. 

The round also saw participation from existing investors, including Venture Catalysts, 100Unicorns and Rajiv Dadlani Group, along with participation from the startups’ cofounder and MD himself Sandeep Shah.

The startup plans to use the fresh capital to accelerate development of AI-powered imaging payloads and high-speed space surveillance systems as well as to expand into overseas markets.

“This funding will help us strengthen our R&D capabilities, build next-gen tech, and extend our reach across critical sectors in India and beyond,” Shah said.

He also told Inc42 that the company is planning to launch a dedicated subsidiary focused on the space tech segment. To support its growth, he aims to raise $5 Mn over the next six months, primarily through strategic investments from semiconductor companies.

Founded in 2017 by Shah, Anil Yekkala, Dharin Shah, Kuldeep Saxena, and Purvi Shah, Optimized Electrotech offers surveillance solutions by building electro-optic imaging systems for defence, aerospace and border security use cases. 

It claims that its indigenously designed and developed AI-driven surveillance platforms allow governments, defence services, paramilitary forces and mining corporations to respond to threats such as unauthorised drone attacks.

It competes against the likes of Bharat Electronics and Tata Advanced Systems, among others, in the multi-spectral imaging category. 

On the financial front, Shah told Inc42 that the company saw a decline in revenue for the year ending March 31, 2025 (FY25) to INR 3 Cr from 4.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year.  Adding to this, its bottomline loss also widened to INR 8 Cr in the year under consideration from INR 5.7 Cr in FY24.

This comes at the heart of deptech startups gaining significant traction from both venture capitalists and the government due to their potential for innovations and longterm growth.

In 2024, the Indian deeptech sector saw a notable increase in deal activity, with $460 Mn raised across 78 deals. Meanwhile, the only startup to have entered the coveted unicorn club this year is also a deeptech startup Netradyne. 

More recently, union minister Piyush Goyal urged the Indian startup ecosystem to move beyond low-value ventures such as food delivery and quick commerce, and instead focus on high-impact areas like semiconductors, robotics, and deep-tech. 

He emphasised that deeptech is crucial for enhancing India’s global competitiveness, while also citing China’s deeptech innovations like Deepseek, as a benchmark.

Also, policymakers are advocating giving this space a high-octane boost in the form of a fund of funds for startups. 

Additionally, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget 2025 speech, proposed setting up a new FoF for startups with a corpus of INR 10,000 Cr. 

Besides, an additional INR 10,000 Cr was allocated to the SIDBI FoF for startups, bringing the total corpus to INR 20,000 Cr.

The post Surveillance Startup Optimized Electrotech Bags $6 Mn appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Fintech unicorn CRED is looking to raise $100-200 Mn in a new funding round that would value the Kunal Shah-led startup at $4 Bn post-money, a considerable decrease from its $6.4 Bn valuation set in 2022, as per Economic Times.

The Bengaluru-based startup is in talks with existing investors, including Singapore sovereign fund GIC, Peak XV Partners, Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital and QED Innovation Labs to raise fresh capital.

It is important to note that CRED last raised $140 Mn in its Series F funding round led by GIC in 2022. The round valued the company at $6.4 Bn.

Inc42 has asked for a comment from the company on why it is taking a valuation haircut of almost $2.5 Bn in the new round. The story will be updated based on the response.

As per the report, the fresh funding will ensure that CRED remains well-capitalised to execute the next phase of its growth journey amid increased revenue and reduced cash burn. The fintech giant is eyeing profitability and is likely to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in the next two years. 

CRED saw its operating revenue swell by a whopping 71% to INR 2,397 Cr in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 1,400 Cr in the fiscal prior. Despite growth in the top line, CRED’s net loss surged 22% to INR 1,644 Cr during the year from INR 1,347 Cr in FY23.

CRED Presses The Pedal On Super App Ambitions

The brainchild of Shah, CRED started in 2017 as a credit card bill payments platform. However, it has taken a super app path over the past few years as it broadens its fintech ambitions. 

CRED now caters to UPI payments, billing for utilities, vehicle management, travel experiences, among others. Last year, it also acquired investech platform Kuvera to take on the likes of Zerodha, Groww and PhonePe.

In February, the company launched CRED Cash+, a loan against mutual funds product for its customers, a move that pitted it against companies like Jio Financial Services, BharatPe, smallcase and Bajaj Finserv.

Earlier, it was also reported that CRED was mulling to infuse INR 550 Cr in its non-banking finance company (NBFC) Newtap Finance Pvt Ltd. Incorporated in 2021, NFPL is an NBFC that offers short-term personal loans to CRED users.

CRED is not alone in the supper app race. With a burgeoning pool of digital consumers, companies like PhonePe, Groww, Jio Financial Services, Flipkart, among others, have also decided to take a stab at developing an all-in-one app.

Besides CRED, the likes of Groww, PhonePe and BharatPe, are also looking to join the startup IPO party. Groww is reportedly planning to file draft papers for its $1 Bn+ IPO in April-May and is eyeing a public listing by the end of FY26. Meanwhile, PhonePe has also begun preparations for its IPO.

The post CRED Looks To Raise Up To $200 Mn With Steep Cut In Valuation appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Enterprisetech startup Uniqus Consultech is reportedly in advanced discussions with a clutch of new and existing investors to secure fresh capital.

An ET report, citing sources, said that the company is seeking to raise up to $20 Mn (around INR 172.2 Cr) in its Series C funding round at a valuation of $200-250 Mn.

Uniqus is currently in talks with WestBridge, Accel, Norwest, Lightspeed, Bessemer Venture Partners and Peak XV, along with existing investors such as Nexus Venture Partners and Sorin Investments, the report added.

Founded in 2022 by Jamil Khatri and Sandip Khetan, Uniqus specialises in ESG and accounting and reporting consulting.

The startup claims to be operational across eight cities in the US, India and the Middle East with over 500 employees. 

Currently, it caters to more than 200 clients and has also launched an AI assistant for financial reporting and ESG.

Other than Nexus and Sorin, Uniqus is backed by UST and a clutch of angel investors worldwide. 

Inc42 has reached out to Khatri for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on his response.

ET report further said that the startup was valued $100 Mn following its last funding round.

Last year, Uniqus bagged $10 Mn in its Series B funding round to capitalise on its growth as well as scaling up existing solutions and technology.

This comes at a time when the enterprisetech market is projected to net funds to the tune of $2.3 Bn+ in 2025, as per Inc42 data.

During the first quarter of this year, early stage startups, including Singulr AI secured $10 Mn and Gyaan AI (now MaxIQ) raised $7.8 Mn, reflecting the investors’ growing interest in the enterprise tech and SaaS startups. 

According to the Inc42 Funding Report 2024, the Indian enterprise tech sector raised over $1.8 Bn across 167+ deals last year.

The post Uniqus In Talks To Raise $20 Mn In Fresh Funding Round appeared first on Inc42 Media.

With new updates on tariff and counter tariffs coming almost on a daily basis, the last week was one of the most volatile weeks for the Indian equity market in recent times. 

After plunging sharply on Monday, the Indian market regained some of the lost ground over the rest of the week. The week had only four trading days, as the stock markets were closed on Thursday on the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti. 

Despite the recovery after Monday’s (April 7) decline, a majority of new-age tech stocks remained under pressure this week. Nineteen out of the 32 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage fell in a range of 0.44% to under 9% this week. 

FirstCry parent Brainbees Solutions took the biggest dent this week, with its shares plunging 8.51% to end Friday’s (April 11) trading session at INR 326.90.

The company’s shares, along with 9 other new-age tech stocks, touched an all-time low of INR 301 on Monday. 

Among the list of losers, shares of CarTrade saw intense volatility. After ending Monday’s session down over 12%, the company’s shares surged over 11% during the intraday trade on Friday. Yet, the company’s shares ended the week 7.90% lower from last Friday’s close at INR 1,536.85. 

Meanwhile, shares of Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric crashed 4.29% this week to end at INR 50.19. Amid growing regulatory troubles, the company’s shares touched an all-time low at INR 45.55 this week. 

Addressing reports about it counting sales of vehicles for which deliveries weren’t started in its February numbers, Ola Electric said this week that the sales numbers were based on paid and confirmed orders, not “preliminary bookings”. Later in the week, it rolled out the first set of Roadster X motorcycles from its factory in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri. 

Swiggy, TBO Tek, Honasa Consumer, Fino Payments Bank, ideaForge, Go Digit, ixigo, were among the other losers this week. 

Meanwhile, 13 new-age tech stocks ended the week in the green, gaining in a range of 0.46% to over 9%. The top gainer this week was EaseMyTrip, with its shares gaining 9.17% to end at INR 13.09. The  gains came after the company’s shares also touched a fresh 52-week low of INR 10.71 on Monday. 

Yesterday, the online travel aggregator said that its board approved the allotment of 12.57 Cr equity shares on a preferential basis for a non-cash consideration for acquisition of stakes in various companies.

The list of gainers this week also featured new-age tech companies with the biggest market cap – Eternal, Paytm, PB Fintech. 

As a result, the total market cap of the 32 new-age tech companies went up marginally to $74.78 Bn from last week’s $74.75 Bn.

Now, let’s take a deeper look at what happened in the broader market last week. 

Tariff Troubles Hit Sentiment 

Tariff and counter tariff imposition announcements by China and the US resulted in mood swings in the global equities markets this week.

While the Indian market began the week on a bearish note, sentiment improved significantly in the subsequent sessions after US President Donald Trump deferred imposition of tariffs on all countries, except China, for 90 days. 

Further, the RBI cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6% this week. On Friday, the central bank also announced that it will purchase government securities worth INR 40,000 Cr on April 17, marking its third open market operation (OMO) purchase of gilts. A significant improvement in Indian rupee value and a weakening dollar also led to an improvement in market sentiment. 

Yet, Sensex and Nifty 50 ended the week in the red, both declining 0.3% from last Friday’s close to end at 75,157.26 and 22,828.55, respectively. 

However, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling in the Indian market. FIIs have sold equities worth INR 31,988 Cr in the month of April so far, taking their total selling in the equity market in 2025 to INR 1.62 Lakh Cr. 

“A clear pattern in FPI strategy will emerge only after the ongoing chaos dies down. In the medium term, FIIs are likely to turn buyers in India since both the US and China are heading for an inevitable slowdown as a result of the ongoing trade war. Even in an unfavourable global scenario, India can grow by 6% in FY26,” said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments. 

Moving forward, the US-China trade war, the outcome of the ongoing bilateral trade negotiations between India and the US, and the ongoing earnings season would decide the market trends in the following. 

With that said, let’s dive into the performance of a couple of new-age tech stocks this week.

Delhivery Confident About Ecom Express Acquisition

Last week, Delhivery announced the acquisition of rival Ecom Express for INR 1,407 Cr, about 20% of its last private valuation.

Following this, the stock gained 5% on Monday. However, it declined significantly during the rest of the week. The company’s shares ended the week at INR 246.85, down 4.41% from the previous week. With this, its market cap stood at $2.14 Bn, down about 5% from last week’s $2.25 Bn. 

A potential reason driving the bear sentiment was investor skepticism over Delhivery’s integration of Ecom Express.

Delhivery’s $200 Mn acquisition of partial truck load (PTL) logistics platform SpotOn Logistics in 2021 caused significant integration challenges. 

However, Delhivery clarified on Friday that the Ecom Express acquisition poses “significantly” lower risks compared to its acquisition of SpotOn.

It added that no new technology integrations will have to be “created or changed” as part of the deal as there is a near total overlap (nearly 100% in customer count and 95% in terms of revenue) between Delhivery and Ecom Express. 

Nykaa’s Strong Q4 Projections

Last Sunday (April 6), beauty and personal care major Nykaa gave a strong business update for Q4. Nykaa said that its net revenue grew in the low to mid-20% range year-on-year (YoY) in the March quarter. 

“Nykaa’s full financial year FY25 revenue growth is estimated to be at similar levels in mid twenties, indicating consistent growth across all quarters of FY25,” the company said.

The company added that the beauty vertical remained the key growth driver, with its gross merchandise value (GMV) projected to grow in the low 30% range, significantly ahead of industry benchmarks, in Q4. 

On the back of these projections, Nykaa’s shares gained 1.58% from last week to close at INR 179.65. 

The post New-Age Tech Stocks See Bearish Sentiment Amid Volatile Market, FirstCry Biggest Loser appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Messaging platform WhatsApp faced a massive outage today which left users from India and other countries unable to send messages. 

As per DownDetector, users started reporting issues with accessing WhatsApp around 4:30 PM but the issue was resolved around 6 PM. However, the platform became unresponsive again around 7 PM. By 8:16 PM, the outage peaked as many as 2,815 users reported issues with the messaging app on the tracking website. 

87% of the users reported issues with “sending messages”, while 10% flagged issues with the app itself. 

The company has so far not issued any clarification on the matter. However, as per Meta’s dashboard for business products, WhatsApp Business API did face “low disruptions” on April 12, which impacted sending of messages for users of the B2B offering. 

However, the social media giant said that a fix was deployed and the issue was mitigated around 8:40 PM IST. 

Meanwhile, many users took to social media platform X to raise their concerns over service issues while using the messaging platform. One user cited issues with uploading status, while  another flagged “getting a red exclamation mark on sending messages”. Complaints with the messaging app also included chat freezing and glitching on iOS and persistent problems with transferring and restoring backups. 

The interruption at WhatsApp came barely hours after the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), too, was hit by a massive outage. While UPI was restored around 3:39 PM, there seems to be no clarity on what caused the outage. 

This also comes close on the heels of a global outage at social media platform X in March and at workplace communication platform Slack in February this year. 

Notably, this is not the first time that Meta has witnessed technical issues in recent months. In December 2024, Meta-owned social media platforms – Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram – faced a widespread outage across India. 

Prior to that in November and March last year, WhatsApp went down for several users across the country. 

The post WhatsApp Hit By Outage, Users Unable To Send Messages appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Months after announcing acquisitions of businesses in erstwhile uncharted territories, online travel aggregator (OTA) EaseMyTrip’s (EMT) board has approved the allotment of 12.57 Cr equity shares to Jeewani Hospitality, Rollins International, Pfledge Home Health Care Center, and Planet education promoters Gagandeep Singh and Sanket Champaklal Shah on a preferential basis for a non-cash consideration for acquisition of stakes in the companies.

In an exchange filing, EaseMyTrip said that the allotted 12.57 Cr equity shares are worth INR 229.03 Cr, a premium of about 40% considering the closing price of the company’s shares of INR 13.09 yesterday on the BSE. Following the allotment, the allottees will cumulatively hold 3.42% stake in the OTA.

All of the aforementioned acquisitions are part of EaseMyTrip’s bid to expand into newer business segments to charge up its top line.

On December 8, the company sought the approval of its shareholders to allot 12.84 Cr shares to the aforementioned parties at a price of INR 18.22 apiece. 

Of these, 27.44 Lakh were to be allotted for a cash consideration of INR 5 Cr to actress Jacqueline Fernandez, who became its brand ambassador in August 2024. The remaining allotment was to take place for a non-cash consideration.

As per the company’s postal ballot notice, the promoters and promoter group stake in the company will reduce to 48.62% from the erstwhile 50.38% following the allotment of the shares.

Here’s a brief on the contours on the equity allotments made by EaseMyTrip today:

— Jeewani Hospitality was allotted 5.48 Cr shares worth INR 100 Cr. In February 2024, the travel tech major announced an investment of INR 100 Cr for a 50% stake in Jeewani Hospitality Private Limited, a part of the Jeewani Group. The company then shared plans to build a new five-star hotel in the city of Ayodhya with the new acquisition. Jeewani got 1.49% stake in the OTA. 

— Healthtech Rollins International was allotted 3.29 Cr shares worth INR 60 Cr. In September, EMT announced the acquisition of a 30% stake in Singapore-based Rollins International via an equity share swap. Rollins is a subsidiary of RHA Holding and operates multiple healthcare related brands like clinic chain brand The Wellness Co, healthy food brand PureFoods, among others. Rollins will own 0.90% stake in the OTA. 

— EMT allotted 54.88 Lakh equity shares worth INR 10 Cr to Dubai-based healthtech company Pflege Home Health Care Center. In September, the company picked up 49% stake in Pflege Home Health for INR 30 Cr. Pflege facilitates medical tourism, providing services for patients seeking treatment abroad. Pflege will own 0.15% stake in the OTA. 

— Besides allotting shares to Pflege, EMT also allotted 1.09 Cr shares worth INR 19.83 Cr to the Dubai-based company’s selling shareholder Bhisham Sheoran. This is part of the INR 20 Cr share purchase from the healthtech company’s stakeholders. Sheoran will hold a 0.30% stake in EMT post the allotment.

— The company allotted 1.08 Cr shares worth INR 19.60 Cr apiece to the promoters of Planet Education’s – Gagandeep Singh and Sanket Shah. EaseMyTrip announced the acquisition of a 49% stake in the Australia-based study abroad consultant services provider in November. With this stake acquisition, the company has set its sights on the international study tourism segment. Both allottees will own 0.29% stake in EMT.

EMT has continued on its path to expand into new business segments this year as well. Last month, it announced plans to foray into the charter aviation sector with the acquisition of a 49% stake in Big Charter Pvt Ltd. 

Amid the expansion spree, the company’s profitability took a hit in Q2 and Q3 of FY25.

In Q3, the travel tech company’s PAT crashed nearly 26% to INR 34.02 Cr from INR 45.68 Cr in the year-ago quarter. Operating revenue slid 6% to INR 150.56 Cr in the December quarter from INR 160.78 Cr in the same quarter last year. 

Shares of EaseMyTrip ended Friday’s session 8.09 % higher from the previous close on the BSE. 

The post EaseMyTrip Allots 12.57 Cr Shares For Various Acquisitions appeared first on Inc42 Media.

IPO-bound fintech company PhonePe maintained its leadership position in the UPI market in March, processing 864.7 Cr, or 47.25% of the total UPI transactions. On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, this was a 0.28% decline in market share from 765.6 Cr transactions.

The value of transactions handled by PhonePe stood at INR 12.57 Lakh Cr during the month. In terms of transaction value, the Walmart-backed fintech player contributed 50.74% to the total UPI transaction volume in March 2025.

Following its lead was Google Pay, which notched up 36.04% of the total UPI transactions while accounting for 34.98% of the total UPI value. In absolute numbers, Google Pay handled 659.6 Cr transactions worth INR 8.66 Lakh Cr in March.  

Overall, UPI transactions in the country reached a record high of 18.30 Bn in March after falling 5% to 16.11 Bn in February. 

March’s transactions accounted for a total amount of INR 24.77 Lakh Cr, a 12.8% month-on-month (MoM) surge against transactions worth INR 21.96 Lakh Cr in February.

Listed fintech major Paytm grabbed the third spot yet again. It processed 122.1 Cr transactions in March, about 6.67% of the total volume. The value of these transactions was INR 1.32 Lakh Cr, or 5.36% of the total volume.

In March, Sachin Bansal-led Navi processed 32.4 Cr transactions with a total value of INR 18,018.65 Cr. While super.money handled 17.17 Cr transactions with a total value of INR 5,933.08 Cr.

However, Kunal Shah-led CRED continued to lose its market share in the month, with its position tumbling from 6th in February to 7th in March. It processed 14.4 Cr transactions in March, and the value of these transactions was INR 55,091.22 Cr

P2M Transactions On UPI Surpass 1,100 Cr Mark In March

Person to merchant (P2M) transactions on UPI rose nearly 14% to 1146.1 Cr in March. P2M UPI transaction volume stood at INR 6.70 Lakh Cr during the month, up 13.6% from 5.90 Lakh Cr.

Meanwhile, person to person transactions processed by UPI jumped 13.27% to 684 Cr from 604 Cr in the previous month. 

In terms of transaction volume, P2P accounted for 72.93% of the total UPI transactions in March, whereas P2M transactions accounted for the remainder 27.06%.

The data also sheds light on category-wise transactions. While groceries, supermarkets, restaurants and telecommunications services were high transacting categories, utilities, electric, gas, water and sanitary, debt collection agencies, package shops, beer, wine and liquor were tagged under medium transacting categories.

What Else Is Happening In The UPI Ecosystem?

Just a few days ago, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed the National Payments Corporation (NPCI) to revise transaction limits for person-to-merchant (P2M) payments on the UPI to accommodate higher-value transactions in select merchant categories.

Besides, there are proposals for bringing back the merchant discount rate (MDR) in the payment industry, after it was withdrawn in the FY22 Budget to promote digital payments.

Meanwhile, the Centre recently approved an ‘incentive scheme’ with an outlay of INR 1,500 Cr, aimed at promoting low-value BHIM-UPI transactions among small merchants. 

The post PhonePe, Google Pay Continue To Lead UPI In March appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani believes that building enterprise AI at scale is challenging and takes time to mature, but the most difficult task is implementing AI in the public sector.

Speaking at the Carnegie Global Technology Summit 2025 yesterday, Nilekani said that adopting AI is relatively easier in the consumer space, but at an enterprise level, companies are putting their brand behind an AI-powered offering and even minor errors can affect their image.

He further noted that one of the reasons enterprise AI is progressing slowly is the absence of guardrails to prevent machine errors in operations.

“If the enterprise provides AI at scale and that AI even has 2% error in the way it answers, then that affects the brand itself. That’s one of the reasons why it’s taking so long, because we don’t have the guardrails to ensure that we have absolutely no machine error in these things,” Nilekani said. 

He added that as the expectations from AI are huge, people don’t want even the slightest mistake. 

While speaking about implementing AI in the public sector, he said that the public sector has structural consents, it has ministries, departments, everybody is territorial and data is not always shared. 

“If data is the lifeblood of AI, we have to find a way to bring all of it together, irrespective of which part of the government it comes from,” he added. 

He further underscored that the public sector requires clear commitments and no scope for blowbacks. 

Nilekani in his address also stated that the hype levels for AI are unprecedented, but in reality there are challenges in building AI at scale. It is pertinent to note that building AI at scale is crucial to make it available for the mass. 

Besides, he said that India has also witnessed a balance move from global tech companies to homegrown tech startups backed by venture capital firms. He hailed startups like Meesho, PhonePe, PhysicsWallah, Zepto, Rapido and Urban Company for making strides in their respective sectors. 

A month ago, Nilekani said that India will be home to more than 10 Lakh startups by 2035. 

He added that while the Indian economy grows at 8%, the number of startups in the country would grow by a 20% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) and reach the 10 Lakh mark in the next decade. 

He further said that initial public offerings (IPOs) would also fuel the rise of the Indian startup ecosystem. 

The enterprise software landscape is being transformed by adoption of AI and the rise of new use cases driven by changing consumer behavior. As a result, a slew of startups integrating generative AI and new-age tech advancements in their offerings have gained traction from investors.

Earlier this year, enterprise AI startup Atomicwork raised $25 Mn in a Series A funding round co-led by Khosla Ventures and its existing investor Z47 Partners.

After that, another such startups Singulr AI bagged $10 Mn in a seed funding round co-led by Nexus Venture Partners and Dell Technologies Capital. 

It is pertinent to note that Generative AI (GenAI) in India is on track for an exponential growth with projections estimating a market value of over $17 Bn by 2030.

The GenAI startups have collectively raised more than $1.2 Bn in total funding since 2020, as per Inc42’s report.

The post Building Enterprise AI Is Challenging, Takes Time To Mature: Nandan Nilekani appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Joining the ‘Desh Wapsi’ brigade, customer engagement platform MoEngage is reportedly looking to shift its base to India from San Francisco.

The Goldman Sachs-backed startup is in discussions with a host of advisors and bankers about the potential move, Moneycontrol reported.

“Several SaaS companies are looking to shift base to India as it is much easier to go for an IPO here. MoEngage is in the very initial stages of shifting base to India,” a source was quoted as saying in the report.

Inc42 has reached out to MoEngage cofounder and chief executive Raviteja Dodda for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on the response.

Founded in 2014 by Dodda and Yashwanth Kumar, MoEngage helps consumer brands amplify and scale customer engagement, and it has been providing its services from startups to global enterprises.

Since its inception, the company has raised $207.38 Mn in total funding till date and counts Eight Roads Ventures, Exfinity Venture Partners, Helion Venture Partners and Matrix Partners India among its investors.

This comes at a time when a majority of startups based outside the country have started a counter-trend, known as ‘reverse flipping’, as they look to capitalise on the boom in India’s economy, access to a bigger pool of investors, better initial public offering (IPO) prospects and favourable government policies.

The headquarters’ shift is evidently a step closer to a potential public listing in India, where investors are going all-in for tech-led businesses.

Notably, ecommerce giant Flipkart, fintech unicorn Razorpay, quick commerce unicorn Zepto and fintech company Pine Labs are eyeing a ‘desh wapsi’ in 2025 ahead of their eventual public listings.

Only a day ago, fintech major Pine Labs secured the final approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to merge its Indian and Singapore entities.

The post ‘Desh Wapsi’: MoEngage Looks To Move Domicile To India appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Digital transactions were impacted today due to a widespread Unified Payments Interface (UPI) outage with several users reporting problems in the instant payment interface.

As per DownDetector, a platform that monitors service disruptions based on users’ report, a large number of users flagged the issues with UPI around 11:26 AM.

Further, the outage peaked around 12:54 PM, when more than 2,387 users reported issues on the platform. 

While 81% of the complaints were related to payments, 17% complained of funds transfer and a meager 2% issues related to purchases.

As per social media platform X, many users faced difficulties while making payments on third-party platforms like Paytm and Google Pay, among others. 

“UPI is down again today, all payments are getting failed. At least there should be prior intimation sent in case of planned outage,” a user said. 

However, the service restored functionality as of 3:39 PM, as reports on the downdetector displayed a decline in reports.

Confirming the status on the social media platform X, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said, “NPCI is currently facing intermittent technical issues, leading to partial UPI transaction declines. We are working to resolve the issue, and will keep you updated.”

But, the NPCI is yet to address about resolving the outage.

This was the sixth major outage for UPI in the past year.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed the NPCI to revise transaction limits for person-to-merchant (P2M) payments on the UPI, earlier this week.

To note, UPI transactions in the country reached a record high of 18.30 Bn in March after falling 5% to 16.11 Bn in February. March’s transactions accounted for a total amount of INR 24.77 Lakh Cr, a 12.8% month-on-month (MoM) surge against transactions worth INR 21.96 Lakh Cr in February.

IPO-bound fintech company PhonePe maintained its leadership position in the UPI market in March, processing 864.7 Cr, or 47.25% of the total UPI transactions, followed by Google Pay, which notched up 36.04% of the total UPI transactions, accounting for 34.98% of the total UPI value.

Additionally, the Centre also approved an ‘incentive scheme’ with an outlay of INR 1,500 Cr recently, to promote low-value BHIM-UPI transactions among small merchants. 

The post UPI Down For Several Users Across Country appeared first on Inc42 Media.

With around eight startups solidifying their public listing plans, multiple new fund launches and consolidation activities, the Indian startup ecosystem was buzzing with activity in the second week of April. 

Amid all this, investment activity in the world’s third largest startup ecosystem also went up a notch.

Between April 7 and 12, Indian startups cumulatively raised $195.1 Mn across 20 deals, marking a 35% surge from the $144.4 Mn raised by 22 startups in the preceding week. 

With that, here’s a recap of what happened over the past week in the Indian startup ecosystem. 

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [ Apr 7 – Apr 12 ]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• The week’s largest funding round saw fintech major Juspay raising $60 Mn in its  Series D round led by Kalaari Capital. While the valuation at which the funding round was materialised is yet to be discerned, reports suggest that the round catapulted the startup into the unicorn club. 
• Juspay’s fundraise, along with Easebuzz’s $30 Mn round, ensured that fintech remained the investor favourite segment this week as it has over the past few weeks.
• While fintech remained the most funded sector this week, ecommerce saw the greatest number of eight deals materialise during the week. Startups, including Mosaic Wellness and Noise, among others, raised $66 Mn this week. 
• The most active investors this week were Accel and 100Unicorns, backing two startups apiece. 
• Five startups at the seed stage raised $10.1 Mn this week, down slightly from the $11 Mn raised by seven startups at this stage last week. 

Startup IPO Developments This Week

• SEBI announced the approval of the INR 1,000 Cr IPO of jewellery startup BlueStone and INR 1,450 Cr IPO of NBFC Aye Finance this week.
• Taking its second stab at the bourses, bOAt’s parent Imagine Marketing filed its IPO papers via the confidential filing route this week.
• Enroute to the bourses, fintech major Pine Labs got NCLT’s final approval to reverse flip to India. With this, the startup will be merging its Singapore entity with its Indian entity.
• Amid the ongoing market volatility, EV major Ather Energy is mulling to trim its IPO size from $400 Mn to $350 Mn. Some of its shareholders are likely to cut their stake sales.
• Urban Company’s board approved raising up to INR 528 Cr (about $60 Mn) via a fresh issue in its IPO. The startup’s total IPO size, including the offer for sale component, could go up to INR 3,000 Cr. 
• Peak XV-backed Turtlemint is said to be in talks with bankers to launch a $200-250 Mn IPO within this year.

Fund Updates This Week

• US-based VC firm Expert Dojo launched its third global fund with a target corpus of $100 Mn this week and plans to invest about $15 Mn in Indian startups.
• Asha Ventures secured a commitment of $10 Mn from the British International Investment for its maiden fund.
• InCred Capital’s investment arm InCred Alternatives announced the final close of its maiden private equity fund, InCred Growth Partners Fund-I (IGPF-I), with commitments exceeding INR 575 Cr this week. 
• Neo Asset Management marked the first close of its second private credit fund at INR 2,000 Cr. 

Updates On Startup M&As

• In an announcement on Saturday last week, Delhivery announced the proposed acquisition of rival Ecom Express for $165 Mn.
• Aurionpro announced the acquisition of Fintra Software to enhance its transaction banking offerings this week.
• IndiGo parent InterGlobe Aviation and French hospitality major Accor will soon be picking up a majority stake in hotel chain startup Treebo.
• IPO-bound PhysicsWallah is evaluating seven to eight entities in the UPSC preparation space to strike a buyout deal.

The post From Juspay To Noise — Indian Startups Raised $195 Mn This Week appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Logistics major Delhivery has said that its INR 1,407 Cr acquisition of Ecom Express will help it improve scale and shore up profitability. 

In an exchange filing, Delhivery said that the deal poses “significantly” lower risks compared to its acquisition of partial truck load (PTL) logistics platform SpotOn Logistics in 2021. 

This clarification follows Delhivery last week announcing that it would acquire a 99.4% stake in Ecom Express for INR 1,407 Cr in an all-cash deal. Described as one of the biggest consolidation moves in the B2C third party surface (3PL) logistics segment, the deal had triggered some concerns about its impact on the listed company’s books.

However, citing its rationale for the “lower risks”, the listed logistics major said that no new technology integrations will have to be “created or changed” as part of the deal as there is a near total overlap (nearly 100% in customer count and 95% in terms of revenue) between Delhivery and Ecom Express. 

“Both companies have serviced these customers over several years and all customer-facing business processes… are equivalent or similar in all key respects. Customers are also deeply integrated with Delhivery systems already and will be able to seamlessly route erstwhile Ecom Express volumes into Delhivery’s network,” Delhivery said. 

It added that it can easily accommodate Ecom Express’ parcel volumes and total tonnage carried due to the relatively smaller scale of the acquired startup. 

Giving numbers, Delhivery said that Ecom Express’ volumes are nearly 40% of its express parcel volumes and less than 20% of its total tonnage carried, while SpotOn’s PTL volumes were twice the size of Delhivery’s PTL business at the time of acquisition.

Delhivery also noted that “no new technology development or deployment” will be required to retain a “significant portion” of Ecom Express’ network infrastructure, and the acquisition will involve “very limited integration complexity”.

With regards to challenges related to subsuming Ecom Express’ employees, Delhivery said that its rate of attrition provides “sufficient opportunity” to absorb “qualified operating staff” from the acquired company. 

The Scale & Profitability Factor 

Assuaging investor fears, the logistics unicorn said that the acquisition will help the company improve its overall profitability, scale up its operations and reduce costs.

Explaining the rationale behind the consolidation move, Delhivery said that incremental express parcel volumes flowing into the company following integration with Ecom Express will boost its bottom line. 

“The incremental volumes that we expect to accrue will further improve utilisation of our network assets and improve overall profitability upon completion of integration. We expect revenue from the acquisition will be retained at Delhivery’s high incremental gross margins. Profitability will also be expanded through reduction of overlapping network assets and central overhead costs,” it said. 

As per the filing, Ecom Express’ operating revenue stood at just INR 1,912 Cr in the first nine months of FY25 as against INR 2,609 Cr in the entire FY24. Ecom Express reported a net loss of INR 398 Cr during the nine-month period as compared to INR 215 Cr loss reported in FY24.

The Sahil Barua-led company said that of the total loss, INR 215 Cr was on account of “non-cash loss on fair valuation of financial liability carried at fair value” due to the accounting treatment of compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) in accordance with Ind AS 109 (Indian accounting standards). Adjusted for this, Ecom Express’ net loss stood at INR 184 Cr in 9M FY25.

However, Delhivery shrugged off any major impact on its bottom line due to the mounting losses of Ecom Express. The company expects “retained revenue” post completion of the deal to generate “substantially higher” incremental EBITDA margins compared to Ecom Express’ standalone service EBITDA margins due to Delhivery’s “more efficient cost structure”.

“Further, network footprint and corporate overheads will be rationalised to a level appropriate for the combined business. We therefore expect incremental profits from the retained revenue to substantially offset the temporary costs of network and overheads rationalisation,” added Delhivery. 

The post Ecom Express’ Acquisition To Boost Profitability, Poses Lower Risks: Delhivery appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Online travel aggregator (OTA) Yatra has appointed Anuj Kumar Sethi as the company’s interim CFO. The appointment comes almost a month after its former group CFO Rohan Mittal resigned from the company. 

In an exchange filing today, Yatra said that Mittal’s last working day was April 10. 

The new interim CFO took over the C-suite office today and will continue to hold the position till Yatra finds a new group CFO. Prior to this, Sethi was serving as the company’s principal financial officer and principal accounting officer. 

Yatra said that Sethi has been working with the company for more than a decade, while also serving as the CFO for Yatra previously. While much isn’t known about his professional history, the OTA disclosed that he was associated with Airfreight Ltd in his earlier stint.

The prior CFO Mittal departed from the organisation after about a three-year stint with the company. As per his LinkedIn profile, he helmed the company’s India IPO in September 2023 as well as facilitated a private funding round for Yatra in late-2022. Before his tenure at Yatra, he served as the CFO of logistics unicorn Rivigo 

“After careful consideration, I have made the decision to resign from the post of Group CFO at the company. This decision is a personal one as I wish to explore new opportunities,” his resignation letter dated March 10 read. 

The shake up in Yatra’s top deck comes in the run up to its disclosure for Q4 FY25. In Q3 FY25, it reported a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of INR 10 Cr as against a PAT of INR 1.05 Cr in the year-ago quarter.

The healthy uptick in came as operating revenue zoomed 113% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 235.25 Cr. Sequentially, operating revenue fell by a marginal 0.4% from INR 236.40 Cr.

Its gross air bookings in the quarter stood at INR 1,382.8 Cr, down 14% from INR 1,609.6 Cr in the year-ago quarter. The company saw a 40% increase in corporate customer base during the quarter.

Founded in 2006 by Dhruv Shringi, Manish Amin and Sabina Chopra, Yatra offers information, pricing, availability, and booking facilities for domestic and international air travel, domestic and international hotel bookings, holiday packages, buses, trains, in-city activities, inter-city and point-to-point cabs, homestays and cruises.

Unlike its competitors EaseMyTrip, ixigo and MakeMyTrip, which focus on B2C customers, Yatra targets B2E and B2B2C customers.

Shares of Yatra ended today’s trading session 0.49% lower at INR 78.58 on the BSE.

The post Yatra Appoints Anuj Kumar Sethi As Interim CFO appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In an effort to accelerate EV adoption and improve the air quality in Delhi, the state government is considering offering a purchase subsidy of up to INR 30,000 for buying two-wheeler EVs under its upcoming Electric Vehicle Policy 2.0.

Citing officials and a draft policy document, PTI reported that the proposal, which is still under government consideration, proposes an incentive of INR 10,000 per kWh (up to INR 30,000) on two-wheeler EVs for all buyers. An additional INR 10,000 may be offered for scrapping petrol two-wheelers that are over 12 years old. 

The report also said that the first 10,000 women holding a valid driving licence will be eligible for subsidy calculated at INR 12,000 per kWh and capped at INR 36,000.

For electric three-wheelers, including autorickshaws and goods carriers in the L5M category, a subsidy of INR 10,000 per kWh is expected, capped at INR 45,000. 

Also, scrapping incentives of up to INR 20,000 may be provided for old CNG autorickshaws.

Notably, for CNG autorickshaws that complete 10 years during the policy period, a replacement incentive of INR 1 Lakh is also proposed for their mandatory replacement.

The draft policy recommends banning new CNG autorickshaw registrations from August 15, 2025. Registrations of only electric autorickshaws will be allowed after it. 

For electric goods carriers, the report claimed that incentives will go up to INR 45,000 for three-wheelers and INR 75,000 for four-wheelers, valid for three years. Price caps are set at INR 4.5 Lakh for L5M and INR 12.5 Lakh for N category vehicles.

Delhi’s Push For Full EV Transition With Policy 2.0

The upcoming Electric Vehicle Policy 2.0 is part of Delhi’s broader push to aggressively phase out fossil fuel vehicles and make EVs mainstream in the capital.

The policy, which has reportedly received in-principle approval from Delhi’s transport minister Pankaj Kumar Singh, proposes several strong measures. Among them is a potential ban on registration of petrol two-wheelers, starting August 2026. The policy also proposes stopping registrations of fossil fuel-run three-wheelers from August this year.

The government also aims to electrify the fleets of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Jal Board (DJB) completely by 2027. 

It proposes setting up 13,200 public charging points, ensuring a charging station at every 5 kms. 

The policy has set an ambitious registration target of 95% of all new vehicles by 2027 being electric. The target is 98% for 2030.

The policy is likely to be cleared by the Delhi cabinet soon. The state government recently extended the time period of the current EV policy by 15 days from its expiration date of March 31.

The developments come at a time when EV adoption is already on the rise in Delhi. According to Vahan data, 85,285 EVs were registered in 2024 in the national capital as against 73,683 units in 2023. 

Delhi’s new policy also aligns with the Centre’s INR 10,900 Cr PM E-DRIVE scheme and is part of a larger trend, with states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu also launching their own clean mobility initiatives.

Notably, the Tamil Nadu government recently proposed a new scheme under which 2,000 gig workers will receive a subsidy of INR 20,000 each for purchasing new two-wheeler EVs.

The post Delhi EV Policy: Govt Plans INR 30,000 Subsidy For Purchasing 2-Wheelers appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Quick commerce major Zepto has appointed Akhil Gupta, vice chairman of Bharti Enterprises, the parent entity of Bharti Airtel, as an independent director to its board, as it prepares for an initial public offering (IPO).

Currently, Zepto’s board includes cofounders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, alongside Avra founder Anu Hariharan and Nexus Venture Partners’ cofounder and managing director Suvir Sujan.

Gupta, who has led public listings of Bharti Airtel (2002), Bharti Infratel (2012) and Airtel Africa (2019), is expected to share his expertise with Zepto.

As vice chairman, he has led the formation of various partnerships for Bharti with international operators such as British Telecom, Telecom Italia, Singapore Telecom and Vodafone. 

Additionally, he also brought onboard leading financial investors like Warburg Pincus, Temasek, KKR, Qatar Foundation Endowment, AIF and Sequoia, among many other private equity funds. 

This also comes at the heart of Zepto elevating several executives to senior roles in recent years, as part of its effort to consolidate its leadership team.

For instance, last year, the company promoted its senior vice president and head of loyalty programme Pass, Devendra Meel to the role of chief business officer. 

Prior to that, former senior vice presidents Nikhil Mittal and Divesh Sawhney were promoted as chief technology officer and chief growth officer, respectively.

Recently, cofounder Paalicha claimed that Zepto is getting close to $4 Bn in annualised gross order value (GOV) and also reduced cash burn.

“We have reduced EBITDA (excluding ESOPs) and operating cash flow (OCF) burn by 50% even as we grew meaningfully during the last three months,” he said.

He further added that the company’s newly launched dark stores are also on track to achieve breakeven in EBITDA.

Zepto has already set the IPO ball rolling with its reverse flipping in January. On the financial front, its net loss remained flat in FY24 at INR 1,248.64 Cr, a slight decrease from INR 1,271.84 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

However, the company has been making strides in terms of revenue growth as its consolidated revenue more than doubled to INR 4,454.52 Cr in FY24 from INR 2,025.70 Cr in the previous fiscal year, driven by the rising popularity of quick commerce. 

Zepto also seems to be doubling down on its efforts to strengthen its user base while also diversifying offerings. 

Just a few days ago, Zepto introduced ‘Zepto Daily’ at a nominal INR 1 entry fee for select customers. It also replaced its subscription service ‘Zepto Pass.’

Moreover, Zepto also incorporated a new entity, Zepto Marketplace Private Limited, to switch to a marketplace model from its erstwhile B2B2C structure. 

It last raised $350 Mn in a round led by Motilal Oswal’s private wealth division at the same valuation in November 2024. Meanwhile, reports also surfaced that Zepto was planning to raise a debt of $100-150 Mn to buy shares from existing investors.

The post IPO-Bound Zepto Appoints Airtel’s Akhil Gupta To Its Board appeared first on Inc42 Media.

US-based early and growth stage VC firm Expert Dojo has launched its third global fund with a target corpus of $100 Mn. Of this, it plans to invest about $15 Mn in Indian startups.

In a statement, the firm said that it will invest the amount in 20-25 early stage Indian startups in FY26. While the fund is sector agnostic, it will focus on startups operating in fintech, B2B, SaaS, and AI sectors. 

Expert Dojo will invest $50,000 to $1 Mn in each startup and also provide mentorship and market network, it added.

Furthermore, the VC firm said it plans to invest an additional $30 Mn in Indian startups over the next 2-3 years. 

Founded in 2014, Expert Dojo is a California-based global VC firm. Besides capital, it claims to provide guidance assistance to founders in the technology space.

Commenting on the fund launch, Expert Dojo general partner Ashutosh Kumar Jha said, “… We’re building more than a portfolio, we’re building an India-US innovation corridor that opens doors for Indian startups to scale globally. From Bengaluru to Boston, from Delhi to Dubai, we want our founders to think and build borderlessly.”

In an interaction with Inc42 last month, Jha said that Expert Dojo has around 300 startups in its portfolio, of which 30 are Indian. It counts Indian startups like BHIVE, Zippee, Mugafi, Cloudworx, among others, in its portfolio.

The VC firm said it has also opened an office in Bengaluru to cater to its focus on India. The office will serve as a hub for deal flow, founder support, and ecosystem collaboration, it added.

Uptick In Fund Launches For Indian Startups 

After the long funding winter, the ice seems to be finally breaking as a number of new funds have been launched for Indian startups in recent months. The likes of Antler, Z47 and Accel recently launched funds for Indian startups. 

In January this year, US-based VC firm Accel raised $650 Mn from 131 undisclosed investors for its eighth India fund. The company counts the likes of Moneyview, Flipkart, Swiggy and Moglix among its unicorns portfolio.

Last month, US-based Bessemer Venture Partners closed its second India-focussed fund at $350 Mn (INR 3,052.3 Cr) to support early stage startups.

As per Inc42 data, funds worth over $3.2 Bn were launched in Q1 2025 to back Indian startups.

The post Expert Dojo Launches Third Global Fund, To Invest $15 Mn In Indian Startups appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Logistics major Delhivery’s founder and CEO Sahil Barua has resigned from the position of Swiggy’s independent director, citing increased professional commitments. 

In an exchange filing, Swiggy said Barua will be stepping down from the company’s board after the close of business hours on April 11. 

“… Due to my increased professional commitments in my role as the Chief Executive Officer of Delhivery Limited, I find myself unable to dedicate the necessary time and attention required to fulfill my responsibilities as an independent director on your board. I believe it would be in the best interest of the company for me to step down and allow someone who can devote the requisite time and focus to take on this responsibility,” said Barua in his resignation letter.

The filing added that there are no material reasons for Barua’s resignation other than those mentioned in his resignation letter. 

The development comes almost a week after Delhivery announced that it would acquire 99.4% stake in its rival Ecom Express for INR 1,407 Cr. 

Barua joined Swiggy’s board in February 2023 as the company was preparing for its IPO. 

“Sahil was one of the first independent members of Swiggy’s board, and has played a meaningful role in the company’s journey as we’ve scaled and transitioned into the public markets,” said Anand Kripalu, chairperson of Swiggy’s board. 

Swiggy went public in November last year, listing at the price of INR 412 on the BSE, a premium of 5.6% over the IPO price of INR 390. 

However, the stock has been under selling pressure following its listing amid the broader decline in the Indian stock market. Besides, the slowdown in food delivery growth and rising cash burn due to rapid expansion and rising competition in the quick commerce segment has also hurt Swiggy.

In the third quarter of the financial year ended March 2025 (Q3 FY25), the company’s consolidated net loss widened 39.1% to INR 799 Cr from INR 574.4 Cr in the year-ago quarter. However, operating revenue rose about 31% to INR 3,993.1 Cr from INR 3,048.6 Cr in Q3 FY24.

Shares of Swiggy ended today’s trading session 2.02% lower at INR 332.7 on the BSE. 

The post Delhivery Founder Sahil Barua Quits Swiggy’s Board appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Supermarket retailer More Retail is planning to launch its initial public offering (IPO) next year as it looks to expand its network of supermarket stores in India.

More Retail’s managing director Vinod Nambiar told Reuters that the company is planning to double its store count in five years as more shoppers in India now choose supermarkets and online platforms for groceries.

Currently, the Mumbai-based company has a total of 775 stores across India.

More Retail operates under a hybrid model, combining both online and offline formats. While its supermarkets focus on a wide selection of groceries and daily essentials, hypermarkets include non-food items like electronics and clothing.

Nambiar further said that the company’s hybrid stores, which serve both as physical outlets and fulfillment centres for Amazon Fresh, have higher margins than standalone brick-and-mortar setups.

In line with this strategy, the company is fostering its partnerships with Amazon’s grocery delivery service, Amazon Fresh, and plans to add more than 500 stores across roughly 160 cities over the next 18 months.

Reportedly, the company’s gross sales for the fiscal year 2025 were nearly INR 5,000 Cr ($580.11 Mn), an 11% rise from the previous year’s sales. 

More Retail, initially part of the Aditya Birla Group, was later sold to investors led by Samara Capital and Amazon in 2019. 

For FY24, its standalone operating revenue declined 8% to INR 4,148.6 Cr from INR 4,506.6 Cr in FY23. Its net loss also narrowed to INR 532 Cr in FY24, only a marginal improvement from INR 550 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

More Retail also offers delivery services through its app and is now exploring slotted deliveries to further drive its growth. This model, which allows customers to choose specific time slots for receiving their orders, contrasts with the quick commerce approach that has rapidly reshaped urban shopping habits.

Quick commerce players like Zepto, Swiggy’s Instamart, and Zomato’s Blinkit have seen remarkable growth, collectively reporting over $1 Bn in revenue in FY24. Industry reports suggest that India’s quick commerce sector has experienced a 280% surge in sales over the past two years. 

While Zepto is gearing up for IPO this year, Zomato and Swiggy are already listed entities.

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