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.

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.

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.

Amid the ongoing global AI race, India must focus on building a ‘sovereign AI’ ecosystem to ensure autonomy over its data, Sarvam AI cofounder Vivek Raghavan has said. 

With GenAI increasingly penetrating diverse sectors, there is an urgent need for sovereign AI, Raghavan said today at Inc42’s ‘The GenAI Summit 2025’.

“… We have always wanted to think of the concept of sovereign AI … how do you control your own data, your own models and your own compute?” Sarvam AI’s cofounder said.

Founded in 2023 by Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar, Sarvam AI claims to have launched India’s first open source foundational small language model, Sarvam 2B, with a focus on Indic languages. The startup claims that Sarvam 2B is trained with 4 Tn tokens and performs better than Meta’s Llama in Indian languages. 

Notably, Sarvam AI is among the startups that have submitted proposals to the Centre to build India’s own foundational large language model (LLM).

In December 2023, the Bengaluru-based startup raised $41 Mn (around INR 342 Cr) in its Series A funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, in participation with Peak XV Partners and Khosla Ventures.

Raghavan’s comments come amid rising calls in the country for a sovereign AI. Last month, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekharan said it is imperative for India to focus on sovereign AI capabilities to avoid “digital colonialism”.

The US currently has a near hegemony in the global AI market with its deep-pocketed Silicon Valley titans such as OpenAI, Meta and Google. However, China is emerging as a threat with its DeepSeek, an AI model which is said to have been built at a fraction of cost and using much far less computing power than its US counterparts.

On the other hand, India is behind its peers and is yet to develop an LLM that can compete with the likes of OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 3.5, DeepSeek-r1, and others. 

Bracing up for the AI challenge, India is looking to build a domestic LLM under the INR 10,370 Cr IndiaAI Mission.

The Centre has received more than 180 proposals to build foundational AI models, including applications from local AI startups such as Sarvam AI, CoRover and Ola’s Krutrim. The government has also selected 10 companies that will supply 18,693 graphics processing units or GPUs — high end chips needed to develop machine learning tools that can go into developing a foundational model. 

India is home to more than 200 GenAI startups that raised more than $1.2 Bn in funding between 2020 and 2024. 

Overall, the Indian AI ecosystem is projected to become a $17 Bn market opportunity by 2030.

The post Sarvam AI Cofounder Vivek Raghavan Bats For ‘Sovereign AI’ appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Ola Electric is staring at strict regulatory action after the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company allegedly counted bookings of electric scooters and motorcycles that have not even been rolled out yet in its February sales to inflate its market share.

In a letter to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways dated March 21, Ola Electric said that its February sales figures included customer bookings for 10,866 Gen3 escooters and 1,395 Roadster X motorcycles, Bloomberg reported.

Ola has not even rolled out Roadster motorcycles yet, while it kicked off deliveries of Gen3 escooters last month. 

These two categories accounted for nearly half of 25,207 “confirmed orders” in February. Consequently, the ministry wrote to Ola on March 31, seeking clarification on its monthly sales, as per the report.

Ola Electric did not respond to Inc42 queries on the development till press time.

It must be noted that Ola claimed to have sold 25,000 vehicles in February, but only 8,600 vehicles were registered, as per data from the Vahan Portal. The company had previously described it as a “clear case of temporary backlog” caused due to negotiations with its vendors that are responsible for vehicle registrations.

In a statement released on April 1, Ola Electric said it had “nearly cleared” its February backlog and expected to clear the remaining backlog for the Feb-March period by the end of this month.

The ministry has reportedly asked Ola to revise the February 2025 sales data and include only those vehicles that were invoiced that month. It also warned the company of “adverse action” if it failed to respond within seven days of issuing the letter.

Although the Centre has not launched a formal probe into Ola over the matter yet, it may assess if the company ran afoul of any local laws or misreported its sales, as per the report.

Ola Neck Deep In Regulatory Trouble

This is the latest blow to Ola Electric, which is already facing regulatory scrutiny for allegedly operating stores lacking trade certificates. 

Amid discrepancies between the company’s reported sales figures and actual vehicle registrations in February, Maharashtra RTO officials reportedly conducted a state-wide inspection of Ola showrooms last month and seized dozens of vehicles due to compliance violations.

The crackdown is just not limited to Maharashtra. Ola Electric is said to have shut down all its showrooms in Punjab, seemingly to avoid government heat over trade certification violations. Meanwhile, some reports suggested that RTO officials in Madhya Pradesh sent notices to Ola for allegedly selling unregistered escooters without valid trade certificates.

The EV maker is also being probed by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) over allegations of delays in providing service and deliveries, defective vehicle sales, and other customer complaints.

The Hype And Hubris Of Ola Electric

In its FY25 investor presentation released April 1, Ola Electric reiterated that it reduced its monthly cash burn by INR 90 Cr on the back of cost-cutting initiatives and expected to achieve EBITDA breakeven in the automotive segment in Q1 FY26.

To its credit, the company managed to retain its top spot in the electric two-wheeler segment in FY25 with 344K registrations and 30% market share despite cut-throat competition from the likes of Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor. 

However, it is important to note that Ola Electric’s market share has been on a steady decline since the second half of FY25. In fact, its share in the EV two-wheeler market shrank to 12% in February 2025 before improving somewhat to 18% in March 2025.

This adds to Ola’s existing troubles, the biggest of which probably being mounting losses. The electric mobility company saw its consolidated net loss balloon 50% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 564 Cr in Q3 FY25, while operating revenue declined 19% YoY to INR 1,045 Cr.

With Ola grappling with problems on multiple fronts, its shares have experienced a sharp decline. The stock tanked over 13% in early trading hours today to hit a record low of INR 45.55 apiece on the BSE. However, it recovered some losses to end the day 3.05% lower at INR 50.83. 

The post Ola Electric Counted Unlaunched Models In February Sales: Report appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Maharashtra government has ordered Swiggy to pay INR 7.59 Cr in back taxes for alleged violation of professional tax deduction from employees salary.

The Office of the Profession Tax Officer in Pune sent a tax demand order to Swiggy on April 4, the company said in an exchange filing.

Tax authorities alleged that the foodtech major “violated” provisions pertaining to deduction of ‘Profession Tax’ from the employees salary under the Maharashtra State Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings & Employments Act, 1975.

Swiggy plans to challenge the tax authorities as it believes it has strong arguments against the tax demand order.

At 9:58 AM, shares of Swiggy were trading 5.71% lower at INR 317.95 apiece on the BSE.

Tax Troubles Put Swiggy In Distress

Swiggy has received several other tax notices from various GST authorities across the country, the biggest of which was INR 500 Cr GST demand pertaining to allegedly unpaid tax on delivery fees collected by the platform as its revenue.

It is important to note that in January 2022, the Centre added ‘restaurant services’ and cloud kitchens under the purview of Section 9(5) of the CGST Act, 2017, which led to the likes of Swiggy and Zomato paying 5% GST on ‘restaurant services’ they offer.

Earlier this month, Swiggy was slapped with a tax demand order of INR 158 Cr from the Income Tax department for allegedly wrongfully availing deductions for “cancellation charges paid to merchants”. 

What’s Been Happening At Swiggy? 

Swiggy’s tax woes come against the backdrop of the foodtech major’s efforts to improve its bottom line and turn profitable. The Sriharsha Majety-led company has been aggressively expanding into newer segments. Most recently, it forayed into the B2B restaurant supply chain segment with Assure, pitting itself against Zomato’s Hyperpure vertical.

Swiggy has also been doubling down on its quick commerce business Instamart. In March, the company said that Instamart has expanded its services to 32 new cities so far in 2025, taking its pan-India presence to over 100 cities.

In a bid to scale its revenue, the company also launched 15-minute food delivery service under SNACC, concierge services under ‘Rare Life’ and services marketplace Yello. Last year, it also launched Swiggy Scenes to strengthen its events ticketing play. 

Recently, BofA Securities downgraded Swiggy’s stock to ‘underperform’ from its previous ‘buy’ rating, citing concerns over further slowdown in the food delivery segment and rising losses in the quick commerce segment.

Swiggy saw its consolidated net loss widen 39.1% to INR 799 Cr in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25) from INR 574.4 Cr in the year-ago quarter. The degrowth in the bottom line came despite its operating revenue growing nearly 31% to INR 3,993.1 Cr during the quarter from INR 3,048.6 Cr in Q3 FY24. 

The post Swiggy Gets Tax Demand Of INR 7.6 Cr From Maharashtra Govt appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Update | April 5, 12:55 AM

A couple of weeks after announcing its plans to infuse INR 146 Cr in its ecommerce roll up business Globalbees, FirstCry on Friday (April 4) said it has transferred the first tranche of the capital to the tune of INR 73 Cr in its subsidiary. 

In an exchange filing, FirstCry said that Globalbees allotted 2,220 Series C2 compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) to the company at a face value of INR 5 each and  at a premium of INR 3.28 Lakh apiece. 

With this, FirstCry’s shareholding in Globalbees has increased to 51.12% from 50.73% earlier.

“As part of Series C2 CCPS issuance, Globalbees, a material subsidiary of the company, has allotted total of 3,041 Series C2 CCPS for an aggregate consideration of INR 1,00,00,32,850 (INR 100 Cr) … to its existing shareholders with whom the above said Series C2 share subscription agreement has been executed,” the filing said. 

Original | March 26, 10:38 AM

Omnichannel kidswear brand FirstCry will invest INR 146 Cr (about $17 Mn) in its ecommerce roll up business Globalbees Brands Private Limited.

The investment will be made by way of subscription to preference shares of Globalbees in one or more tranches over the next 12 months, FirstCry’s parent Brainbees said in an exchange filing.

Globalbees, the house of brands subsidiary of FirstCry, operates as a brand aggregator, acquiring, managing and scaling a portfolio of D2C brands across categories such as personal care, home care, fashion and lifestyle.

It competes with the likes of Mensa Brands, Upscalio, Evenflow among others in the wider house of brands category, as well as vertical-specific players as well such as 10Club Homes for home decor and interiors, Nykaa with its beauty products or TMRW with its focus on fashion and lifestyle. 

Additionally, the Supam Maheshwari-led unicorn will invest about INR 21 Cr (about $2.4 Mn) in its wholly-owned foreign subsidiary Firstcry Management DWC LLC, UAE (FC Management), as per the company’s exchange filing. The proceeds will be used to set up stores and warehouses in Saudi Arabia.

Following the announcement, shares of FirstCry slipped nearly 5% during the intraday trading today to hit an all-time low of INR 355.20 apiece on the BSE.

Behind FirstCry’s Diversification Push: After building an empire around its core kids and mother care segment, FirstCry is expanding into broader consumer categories with an eye on achieving profitability. 

Soon after the INR 4,194 Cr IPO last year, GlobalBees increased its stake in consumer appliances brands Frootle and Wellspire, spending more than INR 106 Cr in two all-cash transactions. 

It also infused an additional INR 8 Cr in the D2C brand The Butternut Co, and purchased additional stake in Solarista Renewables, the company behind the ‘The Clownfish’ brand, for INR 5.88 Cr. 

The diversification into new consumer segments has allowed FirstCry to scale its revenue. The company reported a revenue of  2,216.58 Cr in Q3 FY25, out of which INR 422.3 Cr came from its roll up business.

On the back of growth in its top line, FirstCry managed to trim its consolidated net loss by nearly 70% year-on-year to INR 14.8 Cr during the December quarter.

The post [Update] FirstCry Invests INR 73 Cr In Globalbees appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Fintech major Paytm today launched an upgraded version of its soundbox device, which features a built-in digital screen for instant visual payment alerts.

Dubbed the ‘Mahakumbh Soundbox’, the 4G-enabled device was unveiled by founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma on the second day of the Startup Mahakumbh event.

In a statement, the fintech company said that the device allows merchants to receive instant payment alerts on a digital screen as opposed to the previous soundboxes that only provided instant audio payment confirmation.

“As pioneers of Soundbox technology, we introduced instant payment confirmations … With our new Made-in-India Display Soundbox, we are taking it a step further …,” Sharma said.

The MahaKumbh Soundbox comes with a 3-watt speaker for audio alerts, a battery life of 10 days, and supports 11 languages.

Why Is Paytm Going All Out On Soundbox?

Soundbox is a significant revenue driver for Paytm. In its investor presentation for the December 2024 quarter (Q3), Paytm said it witnessed more than 5 Lakh soundbox activations during the quarter, taking the total tally to 1.17 Cr.

Paytm has also been refurbishing inactive soundboxes and redeploying them to improve margins and rake in higher revenue per merchant. 

The fintech major has also been monetising the offering by launching advertising services on soundboxes. In the company’s Q2 FY25 earnings call, Sharma had said that Paytm was running audio ads from brands such as Meesho, Coca Cola, Mondelez and Dabur on the device.

Paytm’s Profitability Gamble

The launch of the new soundbox comes at a time when the company has turned its focus on turning profitable. Founder Sharma has reiterated several times over the past few months that Paytm is on track to clock a profit in Q1 FY26. 

To achieve this, the company has turned its attention to its core offering – digital payments – and is experimenting with other products too. 

Earlier this year, markets regulator SEBI granted approval to the company’s investment tech arm Paytm Money to act as a research analyst. Motilal Oswal believes this could pave the way for Paytm to diversify into the wealth management space, potentially unlocking a new “fee-based” revenue stream.

The company has also been looking to apply for a payment aggregator licence, following the Centre approving its proposal to invest INR 50 Cr in its payments arm, Paytm Payment Services Limited (PPSL), in August last year. 

The company managed to trim its consolidated net loss by 6% to INR 208.5 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 221.7 Cr in the year-ago quarter. However, operating revenue also declined 36% to INR 1,827.8 Cr during the quarter from INR 2,850.5 Cr in Q3 FY24.

The post Paytm Launches New Soundbox To Offer Visual Payment Alerts appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Recyclers in India have collected 2,570.26 metric tonnes of lithium-ion waste batteries generated from electric vehicles (EVs) in the last three years, Union Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Singh was responding to a question by MP Renuka Chowdhury, who asked details on the total battery waste generated from lithium-ion batteries used in EVs across the country. However, the minister did not disclose this data.

In his written response to another query in Rajya Sabha, the minister said that India generated 17.78 Lakh metric tonnes of electronic waste in the fiscal year 2023-24, up 10.5% from 16.09 Lakh metric tonnes in the previous fiscal year. 

Overall, e-waste generated over the last three years in the country stood at 49.88 Lakh metric tonnes, he said.

The minister said that improper disposal of waste batteries can cause contamination of soil and water. 

The Dead Battery Dilemma

Amid the Centre’s push for electrification and decarbonisation of mobility, total EV registrations, across categories, jumped 22% to 20.46 Lakh units in FY25 from 16.83 Lakh units in the previous fiscal year. Electric two-wheelers accounted for 56% of all EV registrations in FY25.

While adoption of EVs is on the rise in India, batteries powering these vehicles pose a unique problem. Unlike the internal combustion engine (ICE) that can be rebuilt, an EV battery will inevitably degrade and will need to be replaced.

As per NITI Aayog estimates, India will have a cumulative stock of 600 GWh of lithium-ion batteries by 2030. Of this, about 128 GWh will be available for recycling, with 46% (59 GWh) estimated to be coming from EVs alone.

Most of today’s electric vehicles use lithium-ion batteries, which rely on rare earth minerals such as cobalt, lithium and nickel. However, extracting these minerals from their ores is expensive and can cause environmental pollution.

Centre’s EV Push For Sustainability 

To ensure environmentally sound management of waste batteries, the Centre notified the Battery Waste Management rules in August 2022. These rules apply to all types of batteries, including EV batteries, portable batteries, automotive batteries and industrial batteries.

They follow the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principle, which mandates producers, including importers, of batteries to procure, recycle or refurbish waste batteries. EPR prohibits disposal of waste batteries in landfills and its incineration.

In an effort to boost domestic manufacturing in sunrise sectors, the Centre introduced the Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) in 2020. Under the initiative, the government provides sops for manufacturing electronic goods that comprise the downstream value chain of electronic products which includes an e-waste recycling facility for extraction of metals from electronic components.

Amid the government’s push for EVs, through schemes like PM E-DRIVE, FAME and PLI, with EV sales estimated to account for 35% of all vehicle sales, India is expected to reduce its carbon emissions by 4 Bn tonnes by 2030.

The post Over 2,500 Metric Tonnes Of EV Battery Waste Collected In Last 3 Years: Govt appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Indian manufacturing ecosystem needs a big push to weather the US tariff storm, according to Accel partner Prashanth Prakash.

“The biggest push has to come in manufacturing and this is abundantly clear given the current geopolitical situation,” Prakash said at the Startup Mahakumbh 2025 event today.

The comments came against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump slapping a 26% reciprocal tariff on imports from India. The move has stoked fears of a market downturn, higher inflation and slower growth in the US and the rest of the world, including India.

The US has smacked all trading partners with reciprocal tariffs. The Trump administration has announced two sets of tariffs. First, a base tariff of 10% against all countries, a sharp increase from 2.5% earlier. Then, it has also announced country-specific tariffs, based on estimates of how much duties those countries levy on US goods. 

However, Prakash sees the reciprocal tariffs as an “opportunity” and not a crisis. “We have seen the US implement tariffs on countries like India. This is not a crisis but an opportunity. A lot of the existing supply chain is about to be disrupted and as a result, India can step up and fill the gaps wherever they may be,” the Accel partner said.

The Case For India Becoming A Global Manufacturing Gub

India aims to become a $10 Tn economy over the next decade. To achieve this vision, the country would need to boost domestic manufacturing in sectors such as semiconductors, EVs, defence tech, climate tech, among others.

“India has the talent, data and a massive consumer economy, but we need to bring in patient capital to back long-term innovation and research to supplement the opening up of the manufacturing sector,” Prakash said.

At the Startup Mahakumbh, Peak XV Partners MD Rajan Anandan also described deeptech as the final frontier for the Indian startup ecosystem. While deeptech is still at a nascent stage in India, Anandan expressed confidence that the country would establish itself as a leader in the sector on the back of  the availability of a vast talent pool, fast-growing economy, and favourable government policies.

The government has indeed taken a number of measures in recent years to enhance domestic manufacturing capabilities, including launch of PLI schemes, Make In India, Skill India, Indian Semiconductor Mission, IndiaAI Mission, among others. 

In the budget this year, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced that the Centre would explore setting up a “fund of funds” for the deeptech sector.

The government’s initiatives have resulted in India attracting a number of global giants, such as Google, Apple, Samsung, among others, to set up manufacturing plants in India.

Despite all these, the growth in manufacturing has largely been stagnant. As of 2023, manufacturing contributed only 17% to India’s GDP and 12% to employment. To handle these challenges, there is a need to facilitate access to capital, improvements in infrastructure, and simplify labour laws to make the most of the country’s demographic dividend.

The post US Tariffs An Opportunity, Manufacturing Needs Big Push: Accel’s Prashanth Prakash appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric is piloting a new service dubbed ‘Hyper Delivery’ that will see the company offer same day registration and delivery of its escooters.

Ola Electric is initially piloting the service in Bengaluru and will scale it up across India during this quarter in a phased manner, it said in a statement. 

The move is a continuation of the company’s strategic decision to “leverage AI for automation and move its vehicle registration process in-house”.

“Ola Electric has implemented AI to automate the majority of the steps in a registration process, thereby enabling it to eliminate the middlemen associated with the typical registration process. This has enabled the company to introduce the initiative of #HyperDelivery,” the company said.

Shares of Ola Electric ended today’s trading session almost flat at INR 54.06 on the BSE.

What Is Behind The New Initiative?

Ola Electric was the de facto leader in the Indian two-wheeler EV space in FY25, having clocked 3.44 Lakh vehicle registration and a 30% market share during the fiscal. However, cracks started to emerge towards the end of the fiscal. 

Amid mounting competition from legacy automotive players Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor, the EV giant’s market share withered to 12% in February and then improved somewhat to 18% in March 2025. However, the dip was not unexpected. 

In February, Ola Electric informed the bourses that it was witnessing delays in EV registrations due to its ongoing negotiations with registration agencies. Part of the company’s larger plan to curb losses and strengthen margins, the negotiations went south as one of the vendors, Rosmerta Digital Services, filed an insolvency petition against subsidiary Ola Electric Technologies for unpaid dues. 

Acting quickly, the EV maker settled the case and has now lined up plans to deploy AI to move the registration process in-house. On the back of this, Ola Electric now plans to clear the backlog by April-end.

The latest move will also help the company address complaints about allegations of delays in providing service and deliveries. 

However, the Aggarwal-led company has also been grappling with multiple other issues, with the biggest one probably being mounting losses. 

Ola Electric’s Strategy To Improve Bottom Line

The company’s path to profitability will be built on three pillars – product portfolio expansion, sales & network expansion and automation, it said in an investor presentation on Tuesday (April 1).

It must be noted that the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company added over 3,200 stores to its existing EV distribution network in December, taking the total tally to 4,000. 

In the presentation, the EV maker said that this has helped it bring down its service turnaround time by around 56% in the last few months. While it took the company 2.5 days on an average to resolve service requests in September 2024, this improved to 1.1 days in January-February 2025, it said.

The company expects its vehicle inventory will decrease to 20 days in the June quarter of the ongoing fiscal year (Q1 FY26) from 35 days in Q4 FY25. It also projected that its delivery time would reduce to 3-4 days in Q1 FY26 from 12 days in Q4 FY25.

It is pertinent to mention that Ola Electric forayed into the ebike market with the launch of Roadster X series in February. Prior to that, it also unveiled the Gen 3 portfolio of its Ola S1 scooters.

Last year, reports surfaced that Ola Electric was working on an electric three-wheeler, potentially named ‘Raahi’, with plans to launch it in 2026. In the presentation, the company said that its product map for Q2 FY26 and beyond includes the launch of three-wheeler passenger and cargo vehicles.

Recently, the EV maker’s board also approved an infusion of INR 199 Cr in its battery manufacturing subsidiary Ola Cell Technologies.

On the back of all these, the company is looking to improve its bottom line and turn profitable. In Q3 FY25, Ola Electric’s net loss widened 50% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 564 Cr. Meanwhile, operating revenue declined 19% YoY to INR 1,045 Cr during the quarter.

The post Ola Electric Piloting Same Day Registration & Delivery Of EVs appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Coworking space provider DevX (Dev Accelerator Ltd) has refiled its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) after capital markets regulator SEBI returned its IPO papers in February this year.

In the updated DRHP, the company has increased the fresh issue size to up to 2.75 Cr equity shares from 2.47 Cr shares earlier. There will be no offer for sale (OFS), as was the case earlier.

The Ahmedabad-based startup first filed its DRHP with SEBI in September last year. However, SEBI returned the draft papers without specifying any reasons for it.

Founded by Parth Shah, Rushit Shah and Umesh Uttamchandani in 2017, DevX provides coworking space solutions, managed office spaces, workspace solution offerings, among others.

DevX competes against Awfis, which made its public market debut last year, and the likes of IndiQube and Smartworks, which are on their way to list on bourses soon.

According to the updated DRHP, the managed office space provider aims to spend INR 87.9 Cr out of the fresh issue proceeds for fit-outs in the proposed centres, while INR 40 Cr will be earmarked for repayment of debt.

As of January 31, 2025, DevX operated 25 centres spanning 11 cities, including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Gandhinagar, Indore, Jaipur, Rajkot and Vadodara. As part of its growth strategy, the startup plans to solidify its presence in existing markets as well as enter new markets, it said in a statement.

DevX may also undertake a pre-IPO placement to raise capital from private investors before going public, it said in the statement. However, it didn’t specify the quantum of the round.

The startup last raised $7 Mn (INR 58 Cr) in a mix of debt and equity in February last year. It is backed by Kalpesh Harakhchand Gala, Unmaj Corporation, Bidiwala Family Office, among others.

DevX Posts INR 38 Lakh Profit In H1 FY25

The startup clocked a net profit of INR 38.4 Lakh in the first six months of the fiscal year 2024-25 (H1 FY25). Its operating revenue stood at INR 59.4 Cr in the six-months ended September 2024.

It must be noted that the coworking space provider turned profitable in FY24. It had posted a net profit of INR 43.7 Cr in FY24 as against a loss of INR 12.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

DevX saw its operating revenue jump 55% to INR 108.1 Cr in the year ended March 2024  from INR 69.9 Cr in FY23.

The post Coworking Space Provider DevX Refiles DRHP, Increases Fresh Issue Size appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Walmart-owned ecommerce giant Flipkart, through its Singapore holding company, has infused INR 3,248.9 Cr (around $379 Mn) in its marketplace arm, Flipkart Internet, according to filings sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

Flipkart’s board approved the allotment of 4,70,772 Class A equity shares at an issue price of INR 69,014.17 each on a rights basis to raise the sum from Flipkart Marketplace Private Limited, Singapore. 

It is pertinent to mention that this is an internal cash transfer and not fresh funding at a parent level. 

However, this is the third major fund infusion received by Flipkart Internet from its Singapore-based parent company in the last one year or so. In January 2024, the company received $111 Mn. The same year, the Singapore parent injected another $170 into the marketplace entity in two tranches.

Flipkart’s marketplace arm saw its revenue jump 21% year-on-year to INR 17,907.3 Cr in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24), while its losses narrowed 41% YoY to INR 2,358 Cr.

Flipkart Internet generates income through seller commissions and advertising. The advertising earnings surpassed its marketplace fees in FY24, as per the company’s financial report. 

Flipkart Vs Amazon Vs Meesho: The IPO Race Begins

Founded in 2007 by Sachin and Binny Bansal, Flipkart is India’s largest and most-funded ecommerce company. It operates through multiple entities in India, including Myntra (fashion), Flipkart Internet (ecommerce marketplace), eKart (logistics), Flipkart Health+ (healthtech), cleartrip (travel tech), Flipkart Wholesale (online B2B marketplace), among others.

In March last year, the ecommerce giant reportedly pocketed $1 Bn in funding from Walmart and tech giant Google.

The poster child of India’s consumer internet story, Flipkart has now set its sights on going public. The Bengaluru-based online retailer is reportedly planning to float an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 12-15 months and has received internal approval to shift its domicile back to India.

As it looks to tap the public markets, the company’s focus is on achieving profitability at the Group level as most of its subsidiaries (except Mnytra) are running losses. In an effort to improve its bottom line, the company has expanded into new verticals, including quick commerce with Flipkart Minutes and fintech with super.money.

It must be noted that Flipkart’s rivals Amazon and Meesho are also gearing for mega IPOs. As per reports, Amazon is looking to spin off its India entity to list it on exchanges here, while Meesho has enlisted bankers to advise it on its potential $1 Bn IPO, which is expected to be launched by the end of 2025.

The post Flipkart Singapore Parent Infuses INR 3,249 Cr In Marketplace Arm appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In a strategic move ahead of Meesho’s highly-anticipated initial public offering (IPO), its cofounders Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal have exercised a significant number of employee stock options.

Meesho’s board passed a resolution on March 31 to allot 20,65,211 equity shares at a face value of INR 1 each to Aatrey and 6,59,323 shares to Barnwal, as per its regulatory filings accessed by Inc42.

The cofounders were allotted the stock options under Fashnear Technologies Private Limited Employee Stock Option Plan, 2024 (ESOP 2024 Plan). Upon the completion of the vesting period, they exercised their right to convert them into equity shares.

Responding to Inc42’s queries on the development, Meesho said that the shares are not new grants but part of the pre-existing ESOP pool. However, it did not disclose the value of these equity shares.

The development was first reported by Entrackr.

It must be noted that Meesho announced an ESOP buyback programme worth INR 200 Cr  (about $25 Mn) last year, its largest till date, benefiting nearly 1,700 former and current employees. Prior to that, the ecommerce unicorn bought back shares worth $11.5 Mn via three other buyback programmes.

Founded in 2015 by Aatrey and Barnwal, Meesho started as a social ecommerce startup. However, it transitioned to a marketplace model in 2022 to take on heavyweights like Flipkart and Amazon.

While Flipkart and Amazon are more popular in Tier-I cities, Meesho targets customers in Tier-II, III and beyond cities with unbranded products like cosmetics and clothing. The startup earns more than 80% of its revenue from these cities. 

Interestingly, Meesho does not charge commission fees on its platform and instead relies on advertising and marketing income from sellers. 

It narrowed its net loss 82% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 304.9 Cr in FY24, while operating revenue grew about 33% YoY to INR 7,614.9 Cr. 

Meesho’s Public Listing Plans 

Meesho is among the growing list of new-age tech companies looking to ride the startup IPO wave. In its H1 FY25 disclosures, Dutch investor Prosus said last year that Meesho was among the potential IPO candidates from its Indian portfolio, along with BlueStone, PayU and Urban Company.

Meesho is planning to raise $1 Bn through its IPO. As part of its public listing plans, the ecommerce unicorn roped in Morgan Stanley, Kotak Mahindra Capital and Citi as advisers for its IPO last month.

Ahead of its IPO, the ecommerce giant also pocketed $250 Mn to $270 Mn funding from the likes of Tiger Global, Think Investments, and Mars Growth Capital.

Startup IPOs lit up Dalal Street last year, with 13 new-age tech companies going public and raising a whopping INR 29,000+ Cr via their IPOs. This IPO mania is expected to continue this year as well, with more than 20 startups, including Physics Wallah, Ola Consumer, boAt, BlueStone, Ather Energy, ArisInfra, and IndiQube, expected to go public.

The post Meesho Cofounders Exercise ESOPs Ahead Of IPO appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Franchisee-led quick commerce startup Apna Mart reported a near 2X jump in its standalone operating revenue in the financial year 2023-24. Its revenue from operations zoomed 85% to INR 59.4 Cr in FY24 from INR 32.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year, as per its filings accessed from Tofler.

Founded in 2022 by Abhishek Singh and Chetan Garg, Apna Mart provides 15-minute grocery and retail delivery services in Tier II & III cities. It competes against the likes of Zomato-owned Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and IPO-bound Zepto in the quick commerce market.

Apna Mart sells daily essentials, personal and pet care products, beverages and electronics via its brick and mortar stores and app. 

Including other income of INR 3.6 Cr, the Bengaluru-based startup racked up INR 63 Cr in total revenue during the fiscal year ended March 2024.

However, the growth in the top line came at the cost of its bottom line. Apna Mart’s net loss surged 52% to INR 33.1 Cr during the year under review from INR 21.8 Cr in FY23.

EBITDA loss also surged 47% to INR 31.5 Cr from an EBITDA loss of INR 21.5 Cr in FY23.

It must be noted that unlike Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto that have adopted a dark store model for their quick commerce operations, Apna Mart leverages its franchise outlets for operational efficiency.

The startup claims to have an offline presence in 14 cities, including Ranchi, Bhilai, Raipur, Asansol and Kolkata.

Where Did Apna Mart Spend In FY24?

While Apna Mart’s overall expenses shot up 78% to INR 96 Cr in FY24 from INR 54 Cr in the previous fiscal year, the increase in revenue still outpaced the surge in expenditure.

Procurement Costs: Since Apna Mart is essentially a marketplace, its biggest expense was procurement of goods. The spending under this head jumped 85% to INR 58.4 Cr during the year under review from INR 31.6 Cr in FY23.

Employee Costs: The startup spent INR 16.7 Cr towards employee benefit expenses during the year ended March 2024, a jump over 83% from INR 9.1 Cr spent a year ago.

Other Expenses: The spending under this head rose 48% to INR 19.3 Cr in FY24. Of this, Apna Mart spent INR 3.4 Cr on advertisement and publicity and INR 2.4 Cr on logistics and packaging fee.

It is pertinent to note that Apna Mart is raising INR 214 Cr (about $25 Mn) in a funding round led by Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum. The round will also see Accel India join Apna Mart’s cap table. Of the total funding, INR 176 Cr will be equity and the rest will be debt.

Prior to this, it raised about $15 Mn in funding from investors such as Peak XV Partners, Sparrow Capital, Alteria Capital, 2am VC, among others.

Apna Mart’s latest fundraise comes amid rising competitive intensity in India’s rapidly growing quick commerce sector. Several quick delivery startups have sprung up in the space in recent months, including the likes of Swish, Zing, and Snabbit. These startups are targeting sectors outside the traditional grocery delivery category that quick commerce popularised.

These new-age tech companies, attempting to carve out a niche for themselves in the already crowded space, are also scooping up funds from notable investors. In March, 10-minute food delivery startup Swish raised $14 Mn in its Series A funding round from investors, including Accel. Prior to that, Snabbit, which offers on-demand services by trained personnel under 15 minutes, secured $5.5 Mn (around INR 47.6 Cr) in its Series A funding round led by Elevation Capital.

The post Apna Mart’s Revenue Surges 85% To INR 59 Cr In FY24 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the proposals of 360 ONE and Claypond Capital to jointly purchase stakes in healthtech unicorn PharmEasy parent API Holdings.

However, there is no clarity on the deal terms, including size and amount.

Under the proposed transaction, 360 ONE aims to acquire certain class B compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS B) of API Holdings from existing shareholder, MEMG Family Office LLP, the regulator said in its order yesterday.

The competition watchdog has also greenlit the proposal of Claypond Capital, the family investment office of Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai, to acquire certain CCPS B of API Holdings from MEMG Family Office LLP.

It must be noted that following PharmEasy’s $216 Mn funding round last year, Ranjan Pai held an estimated 12% stake in the company.

PharmEasy Caught In Financial Turmoil

Founded in 2015 by Dharmil Sheth and Dhaval Shah, PharmEasy started its journey as an online medicine delivery startup. In 2020, the startup merged with pharmaceutical distribution company Ascent Health to form API Holdings, with Harsh Parekh, Siddharth Shah, and Hardik Dedhia joining as cofounders.

Amid a funding crunch, PharmEasy borrowed $300 Mn from Goldman Sachs in 2023 but struggled to repay the loan. In 2021, it also took a debt for a majority stake acquisition in Thyrocare for $600 Mn. 

While the online pharmacy major managed to secure fresh capital last year, it came at a steep discount. In April 2024, PharmEasy raised $216 Mn from Ranjan Pai’s Manipal Education and Medical Group and other existing investors such as Prosus, Temasek, among others. The round valued the company at around $700 Mn, a 90% markdown from its all-time-high price tag of $5.6 Bn.

The valuation cut didn’t stop there. Reports surfaced last year that Janus Henderon, which is an investor in PharmEasy, had further slashed the valuation of the company to $458 Mn.

The company’s financial challenges emerged after it pulled back its public listing plans after filing a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for INR 6,250 Cr initial public offering (IPO). 

Earlier this year, 4 out of 5 cofounders of PharmEasy stepped down from their executive roles. This comes amid reports that PharmEasy is planning to float its IPO this year.

PharmEasy’s consolidated net loss halved to INR 2,531.1 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 5,202.5 Cr in FY23. However, its operating revenue also declined 14.75% to INR 5,664.2 Cr in FY24 from INR 6,643.9 Cr in FY23.

The post CCI Clears 360 ONE, Ranjan Pai’s Stake Acquisition In PharmEasy appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Electric two-wheeler registrations spiked above the 1 Lakh mark in March for the first time in four months, fuelled by aggressive growth of key players like Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor and Ola Electric.

As per Vahan data as on April 1, 2025, registrations of electric two-wheelers in the country zoomed over 70% to 1.30 Lakh units last month from 76,572 units in February. 

Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor surpassed Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric yet again in terms of escooter sales in March, continuing their dominance in the segment.

Bajaj Auto topped the charts, with registrations of its Chetak escooters surging nearly 62% to 34,863 units last month from 21,537 units sold in February. However, its market share shrank to under 27% in March from 28% in February.

With a market share of a little over 23%, TVS Motor retained its second spot in the electric two-wheeler segment. Its escooter registrations stood at 30,454 units in March, up 61% from 18,911 units in the previous month. 

Ola Electric saw registrations of its EV two-wheelers skyrocket 171% to 23,430 units last month from 8,653 units in February. As a result, its market share improved to 18% in March from 11% held in the previous month.

It must be noted that Ola Electric’s EV sales took a beating in the latter half of the fiscal year ended March 2025 (FY25) amid heightened competition from Bajaj and TVS. 

However, in an investor presentation released yesterday, Ola Electric said it maintained its leadership position in the electric two-wheeler segment in FY25 with a 30% market share and registration of 3.44 Lakh units. 

Overall, electric two-wheeler registrations in the country climbed more than 21% to 11.49 Lakh units in FY25 from 9.48 Lakh units in the previous fiscal year, as per Vahan data.

It is pertinent to mention that Ola Electric claimed in February that it sold over 25,000 units, but the registration of its vehicles on the Vahan portal was temporarily disrupted due to its negotiations with its registration vendor.

In a statement yesterday, the company said that its daily registration volumes and backlog clearance are steadily improving. “We have nearly cleared the February backlog and expect to complete the remaining February–March registrations in April 2025,” it added.

Top OEMs See Rise In EV Registrations 

Besides the top three players, others like Ather Energy, Greaves and Pure EV also saw a rise in their two-wheeler registrations last month. 

IPO-bound Ather’s escooter registrations stood at 15,446 last month, up 29% from 11,944 EVs registered in February. However, its market share declined to under 12% in March from 15.6% in the previous month despite the uptick in registrations. 

It is pertinent to mention that market regulator SEBI greenlit Ather Energy’s draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for INR 3,100 Cr+ IPO in January. As per reports, the EV manufacturer is eyeing a valuation of $1.2 Bn for its IPO, which is expected to be launched in April.

Hero MotoCorp, an emerging player in the space, saw its market share climb to a little over 6% in March with 7,977 EV units registered during the month. Meanwhile, Greaves, under its flagship brand Ampere, saw registrations zoom 51% to 5,663 EV units in March from 3,729 units registered in February.

Similarly, the likes of IPO-bound Pur Energy (Pure EV), Lectrix, Kinetic Green Energy, Revolt and Oben Electric also saw registrations of their two-wheeler EVs rise last month, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Two-Wheelers Driving EV Adoption In India

This comes at a time when the competition in the two-wheeler EV market is intensifying and the likes of Bajaj, TVS and Ola Electric are making all efforts to gain, or at least, retain their market share. 

These players have launched a number of new models in recent months at competitive price points. For instance, Ola Electric forayed into the electric motorcycle market with the launch of Roadster X series, which comes at an introductory price of INR 84,999. Last month, the EV manufacturer also kicked off deliveries of its Gen 3 portfolio of Ola S1 escooters. On the other hand, Bajaj Auto rolled out new EV models of its iconic Chetak scooter.

Besides, smaller players are also entering new segments. For instance, high-end ebike maker Ultraviolette forayed into the escooter market with the launch of ‘Tesseract’ last month.

Amid all these, the total EV registrations in the country, across categories, shot up nearly 44% to 2.11 Lakh units in March from 1.47 Lakh units in the month prior. 

For the entire fiscal year 2024-25, total EV registrations rose 22% to 20.46 Lakh units from 16.83 Lakh units in FY24. This implies that electric two-wheelers accounted for 56% of all EV registrations in FY25. 

The post EV 2-Wheeler Registrations Cross 1 Lakh Mark In March, Bajaj & TVS Motor Continue Dominance appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Tiger Global-backed used-car marketplace unicorn Spinny has reportedly raised $131 Mn (about INR 1,121 Cr) in a round led by US-based Accel Leaders Fund. 

The round, which was a combination of primary and secondary transactions, also saw participation from Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum. The car-reselling startup was valued between $1.7 Bn to $1.8 Bn on a post-money basis, the Economic Times reported.

This is a flat valuation compared to its previous $1.8 Bn valuation in December 2021, when the startup joined the unicorn club after raising $283 Mn in a round led by Abu Dhabi-based ADQ, Tiger Global and Avenir Growth.

While $107 Mn was primary investment in the latest funding round, the remaining was for secondary shares and buyback of employee stock options (ESOPs). 

Accel and Fundamentum have pumped in about $52 Mn in primary capital in Spinny so far, as per the startup’s MCA filings accessed by Inc42. The second tranche of the primary capital portion is likely to come through by April-end.

Existing investors Tiger Global, Elevation Capital and General Catalyst are also expected to participate in the round.

Spinny is likely to deploy the proceeds from the fundraise towards expansion of its newly-launched non-banking financial arm, the report said.

The move is aimed at diversifying into lending and ancillary services. It would also allow the used-car retailing platform to improve its gross margins and unlock new revenue streams.

Inc42’s queries sent to Spinny cofounder and CEO Niraj Singh didn’t elicit any response till the time of publishing this article.

In November last year, Singh said that the startup was eyeing a 35% to 40% revenue growth in the fiscal year ended March 2025 (FY25), with ancillary services such as lending expected to grow their share in the business.

Spinny managed to narrow its net loss by 28% to INR 590 Cr in FY24 from INR 819.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Revenue from operations rose 14.2% to INR 3,725 Cr during the year from INR 3,259.7 Cr in FY23. 

Used-Car Selling Startups On Funding & Expansion Spree 

This comes at a time when the demand for pre-owned cars is on the rise in the country. Sales of used cars surpassed new cars in 2024, with 54.12 Lakh units sold versus 41.63 Lakh new cars, as per a report by Cars24.

As a result, startups in the space are seeing increased investor interest. For instance, Cars24 raised INR 250 Cr from its Singapore-based parent entity Global Car Group Limited last July. In March 2025, IPO-bound Droom raised $3 Mn in a round co-led by India Accelerator and Finvolve.

Meanwhile, CarDekho is also gearing up for its potential $500 Mn initial public offering (IPO).

The startups in the segment are also expanding into new verticals to boost their revenues. 

Last month, Cars24 made its entry into the “new cars” market with the launch of a new aggregator platform for dealerships and OEMs. The move aligns with its broader strategy to streamline the car buying process by bringing everything under a single super app.

Prior to that, the startup also rolled out a discovery platform ‘Cars24 Driving School’ to find nearby driving schools on its app.

Spinny and CarDekho have also adopted a similar strategy and expanded into new verticals. 

The post Spinny Raises $131 Mn To Expand NBFC Arm: Report appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Florintree Enterprise LLP offloaded over 20.18 Lakh shares of ideaForge, or about 4.7% of the stake in the drone tech company, through a mix of bulk and block deals.

The size of the deals amount to an aggregate of INR 69.62 Cr, as per NSE data.

Florintree divested 10,09,221 shares of ideaForge via a block deal yesterday. The floor price for the deal was set at INR 344.95 per share, representing a 0.6% discount to the stock’s last close.

In a separate bulk deal, it dumped an additional 10,09,221 shares of the drone manufacturer at INR 344.95 per share. 

The shares that flooded the market were lapped up by Blue Diamond Properties.

This follows a significant transaction that took place on Thursday (March 27), when Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund sold over 3.1 Lakh shares of ideaForge in a bulk deal worth INR 10.67 Cr.

ideaForge IPO And The Journey So Far

Founded in 2007 by Ankit Mehta, Rahul Singh and Ashish Bhat, ideaForge manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones, catering to sectors such as defence, agriculture, and enterprise, among others.

Its product portfolio comprises drones such as Switch, Netra V4+ and the Q Series, which can be used for surveillance, mapping and industrial inspection.

ideaForge made a bumper stock market debut in 2023, with its shares listing at 1,305.10 on the BSE, a premium of 94.21% against the issue price of INR 672. Almost two years later, the drone manufacturer is gripped by uncertainties.

After continuous degrowth in its bottom line since the December quarter of the last fiscal (Q3 FY24), the drone tech company once again slipped into the red in Q2 FY25. Its losses ballooned 42% quarter-on-quarter to INR 24.02 Cr in Q3 FY25. Operating revenue also slumped 53% to INR 17.61 Cr on a sequential basis.

According to ideaForge CEO Mehta, the company’s top line and bottom line were impacted due to low government spending and the “tedious and time straining” contract allocation process. 

ideaForge shares have suffered due to weak earnings. The stock has tanked nearly 50% over the past one year, while the year-to-date performance shows a 45% drop. Over the last six months, the stock is down 51% and the three-month decline stands at 40%. 

Share of ideaForge closed 0.60% higher at INR 346.30 apiece on the BSE yesterday.

The post Florintree Dumps ideaForge Shares Worth INR 70 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Listed gaming major Nazara has divested its entire 71.54% stake in Sports Unity, the company behind the multi-player quiz game ‘Qunami’, for INR 7.15 Lakh.

Nazara had purchased a controlling stake in Delhi NCR-based mobile game developer Sports Unity Private Limited (SUPL) for INR 7.5 Cr in 2019.

In an exchange filing, Nazara stated that it entered into a share purchase agreement with its subsidiary Sports Unity and Shyamal Mehta for the sale and transfer of a 71.54% stake in SUPL.

With the completion of the deal, SUPL is no longer a subsidiary of Nazara Technologies, effective March 25. 

SUPL does not have any business operations and had a negative net worth of INR 0.45 Cr at the end of March 2024 (FY24), the filing showed.

This comes just days after Nazara obtained the board’s nod to sell its 94.85% stake in its subsidiary Open Play to Moonshine Technologies, the parent of online poker platform Pokerbaazi, for INR 104.33 Cr.

Nazara’s Big M&A Push To Drive Revenue Growth: Nazara has been on an expansion spree lately, acquiring gaming studios and real-money gaming platforms both within and outside India.

Over the past year or so, Nazara has invested in companies such as Fusebox Games, Pokerbaazi, Paperboat, STAN, Ninja Global, Freaks 4U and Circle of Games. 

In an exclusive interaction with Inc42 last month, Nazara CEO Nitish Mittersain said these strategic acquisitions will help the company scale its revenue and improve its operating margins.

The company’s organic growth strategy involves expanding the publishing business through acquisition of more IPs, investing in new content for Kiddopia and storytelling unit Love Island and Big Brother, scaling esports arm NODWIN Gaming and strengthening ad-tech business Datawrkz.

Nazara is eyeing to clock an EBITDA of INR 300 Cr in the fiscal year 2026-27 (FY27).

The gaming major reported its highest-ever quarterly operating revenue at INR 544.7 Cr in the December quarter (Q3) of the ongoing fiscal year (FY25), a 67% jump from INR 320.4 Cr in the year-ago quarter.

However, the growth in top line came at the cost of its bottom line. Nazara’s consolidated net profit declined 53.5% to INR 13.7 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 29.5 Cr in Q3 FY24.

At 2:42 PM, shares of Nazara were trading 0.08% lower at INR 954.70 apiece on the BSE.

The post Nazara Offloads Entire 72% Stake In Sports Unity appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Fintech SaaS company Zaggle has acquired an additional 12.34% stake in digital payments service provider Mobileware Technologies for INR 7.25 Cr.

In a statement, Zaggle said it acquired 4,622 equity shares for INR 7.25 Cr from the promoters of Mobileware, representing a 12.34% stake in the company on a fully diluted basis.

With this acquisition, Zaggle’s total shareholding in Mobileware has increased to 38.34%. The spend management company had acquired a 26% stake in Mobileware Technologies (now known as ‘86400’) for INR 15.6 Cr in September last year. 

Founded in 2010, 86400 provides digital banking and fintech solutions. The company helps banks and financial institutions improve their digital services, especially in rural and urban areas. 

86400 has an API banking platform named TransXT (known as ‘Bank In A Box’) with which it facilitates digital transactions and provides its payment services to more than 80 banks and 20 fintech companies. 

Under the partnership, Zaggle aims to tap Mobileware’s infrastructure and expertise to enhance its payment solutions. 

Mobileware’s UPI switch solutions, available both on-premises and in the cloud, will enable Zaggle to develop and co-create new use cases for clients, including solutions for lending, credit, and card management services.

Zaggle Eyes Strategic Acquisitions To Expand Offerings: Founded in 2011 by Raj Narayanam, Zaggle provides a spend management and corporate employee benefits platform. Its offerings help businesses automate their accounts and issue prepaid cards. Its portfolio of SaaS products also includes tax and payroll software. 

In December last year, Zaggle raised INR 594.84 Cr in its first qualified institutional placement (QIP) round with an eye on expanding its offerings through strategic investments and acquisitions. Back then, sources told Inc42 that the company was looking to make three more investments and acquisitions by March 2025. In its Q3 FY25 investor presentation, Zaggle’s founder had also hinted the same.

“For FY25, we are confident of achieving 58-63% growth in our top line. We are also evaluating inorganic growth opportunities to expedite this growth and the discussions are at advanced stages,” Narayanam then said. 

It must be noted that Zaggle acquired an additional 53.32% stake in Span Across IT Solutions for INR 320.3 Cr in the quarter ended December 2024 (Q3 FY25). The fintech SaaS company said this led to a gain of INR 2.3 Cr in its top line during the quarter.

Zaggle’s consolidated net profit jumped 30% to INR 19.74 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 15.22 Cr in the year-ago quarter. Operating revenue zoomed 69% to INR 336.89 Cr in the reported period from INR 199.51 Cr in Q3 FY24.

Shares of Zaggle ended 4.94% lower at INR 327.10 apiece on the BSE today.

The post Zaggle Raises Stake In Mobileware With INR 7.25 Cr Investment appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Fintech unicorn BharatPe posted a consolidated net loss of INR 149 Cr and achieved breakeven on an adjusted EBITDA level in the first nine months of FY25 (9M FY25), ratings agency India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said.

In a statement to Inc42, a BharatPe spokesperson said the company has been EBITDA positive for the past nine months and is on track to achieve full-year EBITDA profitability in 2025.

BharatPe clocked revenue of INR 1787.7 Cr in 9M FY25, surpassing INR 1534.4 Cr revenue  it recorded during FY24, they said.

In January, BharatPe CEO Nalin Negi had said that the company was eyeing EBITDA profitability in FY25 ahead of its planned initial public offering (IPO).

The fintech major had reported a net loss of INR 492 Cr and INR 927 Cr in FY24 and FY23, respectively.

At the same time, BharatPe’s non-banking finance company (NBFC) arm Trillion Loans Fintech is demonstrating stability in terms of profitability. BharatPe acquired a 51% stake in Trillion Loans in 2023 and raised its shareholding to 62.3% as of January 31, 2025. It aims to acquire a 100% stake in the subsidiary in the next three years.

Trillion Loans reported a profit of INR 29.7 Cr in 9M FY25 as against INR 36.5 Cr in FY24, as per BharatPe’s provisional consolidated financial statements seen by Ind-Ra. The non-banking lending company had reported a loss of INR 15.3 Cr in FY23.

Trillion Loans Gets BBB+ Rating: Ind-Ra assigned ‘BBB+’ rating with a stable outlook to Trillion Loans’ bank loans worth INR 250 Cr, underlining that being a subsidiary of BharatPe gives the NBFC a competitive advantage.

BharatPe, via its lending service provider BharatPe Money, offers term loans to its merchants. It performs a preliminary assessment of merchants’ cash flows using QR code transaction data and other relevant parameters.

This assessment helps determine the creditworthiness of the merchants. Qualified leads (merchants deemed creditworthy) are then passed on to Trillion Loans.

This means Trillion Loans receives pre-qualified loan leads with a “sharp underwriting.” As BharatPe already does a significant portion of the credit risk assessment, it reduces Trillion Loans workload and potential losses. The creditworthiness analysis is based on actual cash flows, providing a more accurate picture of the merchants’ financial health, the agency said.

Ind-Ra also noted that Trillion Loans has grown its loan book significantly in the last three years since BharatPe acquired a controlling stake in the Mumbai-based NBFC in 2023. Trillion Loans’ loan book surged nearly 2X to INR 1154.5 Cr in 9M FY25 from INR 869.5 Cr in FY24 and INR 653.3 Cr in FY23.

BharatPe’s Super App Play: BharatPe, founded in 2018, launched India’s first UPI interoperable QR code, the first zero MDR payment acceptance service. In 2020, it also launched India’s only zero MDR card acceptance terminals.

Since then, it has forayed into several segments such as Buy Now Pay Later, wealthtech (Invest BharatPe). It has an ecommerce section on its platform, while it also offers UPI payments, bill payments and credit card repayment options. The startup also provides unsecured personal loans of up to INR 15 Lakh via NBFC partners such as L&T Finance, CASHe, and True Credit.

It has joined the super app race with all these offerings, following in the footsteps of PhonePe, CRED, Groww, Jio Financial Services, Google Play and Flipkart.

BharatPe is among the growing list of new-age tech companies that are looking to go public as they look to capitalise on India’s economic boom, access to a deeper pool of investors and better IPO prospects in the country.

According to CEO Negi, BharatPe is eyeing an IPO in the next 18-24 months. Fintech major PhonePe has also kicked off preparations for its IPO, though the timeline and issue size are unknown.

This comes at a time when India has emerged as a hotbed for new-age tech IPOs. Thirteen new-age tech ventures, including the likes of Swiggy, Ola Electric, Awfis and MobiKwik, made their stock market debut last year and cumulatively raised INR 29,000 Cr+ via their IPOs.

The IPO boom is expected to continue this year, with a number of new-age tech companies like Zepto, Smartworks, DevX, BlueStone and Ola Consumer expected to go public.

Editors Note: The article has been updated with a statement from a BharatPe Spokesperson.

The post BharatPe Achieves Adjusted EBITDA Breakeven In Apr-Dec FY25 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Franchisee-driven quick commerce startup Apna Mart is looking to raise INR 214.3 Cr (around $25 Mn) in a funding round led by Nandan Nilekani-led Fundamentum Partnership.

Existing investors, including Peak XV Partners and Sparrow Capital, will also participate in the funding round, with Accel India joining Apna Mart’s cap table.

The transaction will be a mix of equity and debt. While INR 176.3 Cr will be in the form of equity infusion into the company, the rest will be debt. 

Fundamentum Partnership will lead the round with INR 84 Cr investment, followed by Accel India VII (Mauritius) Limited at INR 61 Cr and Peak XV Partners at INR 17.4 Cr. Sparrow Capital, Disruptors Capital and Alteria Capital will inject the remaining funds.

Apna Mart plans to use the proceeds to meet its general corporate requirements, as per filings sourced from the Registrar of Companies.

The development was first reported by Entrackr.

Founded in 2022 by Abhishek Singh and Chetan Garg, Apna Mart delivers groceries in under 15 minutes in Tier II and III cities. It competes against Zomato-owned Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and IPO-bound Zepto, which currently dominate the quick commerce market.

Apna Mart leverages its franchise outlets for quick deliveries of daily essentials, electric appliances, personal care products, beverages, stationery, among others.

This is in stark contrast to the approach taken by the likes of Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto, which have embraced a dark store model for their quick commerce operations.

As per data intelligence platform Tracxn, Apna Mart has raised $40 Mn in total funding till date. 

Rising Quick Commerce Competition: The latest fundraise by Apna Mart comes amid rising competitive intensity in India’s rapidly growing quick commerce sector. Amid growing popularity of 15-minute deliveries, several quick commerce startups are now seen cropping up in the sector and moving beyond just grocery delivery.

These include companies like Snabbit, Topmate, Swish, Zing and FirstClub, among others. Urban Company is the latest to jump on the quick commerce bandwagon with its 15-minute maid booking service – Insta Help. 

Investors are also showing strong interest in the sector. Quick commerce unicorn Zepto raised over $1 Bn in funding in 2024 alone. Earlier this month, Delhi NCR-based Swish raised $14 Mn from investors, including Accel, to scale its 10-minute food delivery offering.

And this is not without reason. Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto clocked sales worth nearly $1 Bn last year. These companies are also charting a path of profitability. Blinkit is expected to achieve breakeven by Q3 FY26, while Instamart will hit adjusted EBITDA breakeven by Q1 FY28, as per brokerage firm Bernstein.

As per a report by Deloitte, the Indian quick commerce market is poised to become a $40 Bn opportunity by 2030. 

Apna Mart Crosses INR 60 Cr Revenue In FY24: Apna Mart’s operating revenue jumped 84% to INR 59.4 Cr in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 32.2 Cr in FY23. Including other income of INR 3.6 Cr, total revenue stood at INR 63 Cr during the year ended March 2024.

However, the growth in top line came at the cost of its bottom line. Apna Mart’s net loss surged 52% to 33.1 Cr during the year under review from INR 21.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year, as per filings sourced from Tofler.

In line with the surge in sales, Apna Mart’s overall expenses shot up 78% to INR 96 Cr in the reported period from INR 54 Cr in the fiscal prior.

Procurement costs emerged as the biggest expense head for Apna Mart. The spending under this bucket surged 85% to INR 58.5 Cr in FY24 from INR 31.6 Cr in FY23.

Total cash and cash equivalents stood at INR 1 Cr at the end of March 2024 as compared to INR 1.8 Cr at the end of March 2023.

The post Apna Mart To Raise $25 Mn As 15-Minute Delivery Race Heats Up appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Healthtech startup Dozee, backed by Prime Venture Partners, 3one4 Capital, among others, has raised INR 71.5 Cr (about $8.3 Mn) in a mix of equity and debt, sources told Inc42.

As per the startup’s MCA filings, Temasek Trust’s impact-first investment vehicle C3H infused INR 6.3 Cr in the form of equity in the Bengaluru-based startup. Meanwhile, INR 58.5 Cr was infused as debt by Stockhausen International Pte Ltd.

The remaining capital came from undisclosed strategic investors.

The fresh capital will help the startup accelerate its global expansion and strengthen R&D efforts to enhance critical patient care monitoring, a company spokesperson told Inc42 in a statement.

Founded in 2015 by Mudit Dandwate and Gaurav Parchani, Dozee sells contactless patient monitoring systems that allow clinical staff of hospitals to remotely monitor vital signs of those under treatment, including heart rate, respiration rate, blood pressure and temperature.

It also sells an early warning system that alerts doctors about clinical deterioration in patients’ health. 

The startup competes with the likes of Zyla Health, Fix Health, Zivov and Cardiac Design Labs in India.

Dozee last raised $6 Mn funding in its Series A2 round from 3one4 Capital, Prime Venture Partners, YourNest VC, State Bank of India, among others, in 2023. With the close of the latest round, the healthtech startup has raised close to $20 Mn in multiple rounds till date.

Struggling to grow its business in India, Dozee has expanded to international markets, including the US, the UAE and Africa. The sources cited above said that the startup is looking to foray into new international markets and also broaden its product portfolio in the coming days.

The company spokesperson said that Dozee is on track to achieve profitability in India and is currently hiring across multiple departments such as data science, product and marketing.

It must be noted that the Bengaluru-based healthtech startup fired about 40 employees last year to contain losses.

A Look At Dozee’s Financial Numbers: Dozee managed to narrow its net loss by 19% to INR 68 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 84.4 Cr posted in the previous fiscal, as its cash burn declined. 

Revenue from operations zoomed 148% to INR 5.2 Cr during the year under review from INR 2.1 Cr in FY23. Including other income of INR 1.3 Cr, Dozee’s total revenue stood at INR 6.5 Cr in FY24.

Even as its top line grew, total expenditure declined 15% to INR 74.5 Cr during the year ended March 2024 from INR 87.9 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Employee costs continued to be the biggest expense head for the healthtech startup. However, the spending under this head declined 12% to INR 47 Cr in the reported period from INR 53.3 Cr in FY23.

The post Exclusive: Healthtech Startup Dozee Raises $8 Mn To Accelerate Global Expansion appeared first on Inc42 Media.