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Colgate Turns To Bombay Shaving Company To Fix Palmolive’s D2C Play

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 09:24:08 +0000

Colgate-Palmolive India has partnered with D2C startup Bombay Shaving Company to drive the D2C and ecommerce business of its personal care brand Palmolive, as the FMCG major looks to revive the underperforming brand.

Under the partnership, Bombay Shaving Company will manage Palmolive’s consumer-facing advertising and customer relationships across D2C and ecommerce channels.

Colgate-Palmolive will continue to oversee Palmolive’s modern and general trade business, traditional advertising, product innovation, quality, and supply chain.

“Our learning has actually been that the flywheel of a D2C brand is slightly different from the flywheel of the kind of brand that we are used to doing,” Colgate-Palmolive India MD and CEO Prabha Narasimhan said at the company’s investor day.

“We did try it on our own and honestly, I don’t think we were best in class,” she added.

A Digital Fix For Palmolive

Palmolive has emerged as a weak spot in Colgate-Palmolive India’s portfolio, with Narasimhan describing personal care as an “area of disappointment” and acknowledging that the company had “not done a great job with Palmolive”.

While Palmolive leads the premium handwash segment, Narasimhan said the category remains relatively small and offers significant headroom for growth.

Colgate-Palmolive is looking to tap Bombay Shaving Company’s digital-first capabilities to address this gap. Narasimhan said the FMCG company did not understand the D2C “flywheel” as well as its partner and was looking to learn from the latter.

The partnership has shown “early green shoots”, she said, while cautioning that it remains at a nascent stage.

The two companies already share a strategic relationship. Colgate-Palmolive Asia Pacific acquired a 14% stake in Bombay Shaving Company for ₹18 Cr in 2018.

It is pertinent to note that Bombay Shaving Company’s parent, Visage Lines Personal Care, claimed adjusted EBITDA profitability in FY26, as its operating revenue jumped 139% to ₹634.7 Cr and net loss narrowed 97.4% to ₹9 Cr.

The partnership comes as Colgate-Palmolive increases its focus on digital channels. Around 50%-60% of its advertising and promotional spending now goes towards digital, according to Narasimhan.

Colgate-Palmolive is also prepared to absorb some near-term pressure on margins as it increases advertising expenditure and prioritises expansion. “We intend to drive growth ahead of profitability as we go forward,” Narasimhan said.

Notably, ecommerce and quick commerce are emerging as important discovery and distribution channels for premium products, including in markets beyond India’s largest cities.

According to Inc42’s The Next Big Wave In Indian Ecommerce, Report 2026, India’s D2C GMV is expected to grow from $65 Bn in 2026 to $310 Bn by 2031, registering a 37% CAGR.

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Rezolv Bags $12.5 Mn To Expand AI-Powered Lending Suite

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 07:24:30 +0000

AI-powered lending tech startup Rezolv has raised $12.5 Mn (about ₹115 Cr) in a Series A funding round led by Norwest. Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India and existing investor 3one4 Capital also participated in the round.

The Mumbai-based startup plans to deploy the fresh capital to strengthen its AI capabilities across the lending lifecycle, including sales, risk assessment, underwriting and collections.

“At Rezolv, we are transforming debt collections by combining AI, intelligence and a comprehensive platform to improve recovery rates, reduce costs and boost productivity. This investment will help us bolster these capabilities and further strengthen our proposition for the lending ecosystem,” cofounder Sonali Jindal said.

Founded in 2024 by former Kissht cofounders Jindal and Karan Mehta, Rezolv offers an AI-powered platform that helps banks, NBFCs, and other lenders manage and automate their lending and debt-collection workflows.

Mehta and Jindal previously served as Kissht’s CTO and COO, respectively. They stepped down from their operational positions at the digital lending company in September 2024 after nine-year stints.

Rezolv’s platform allows lenders to manage debt-collection workflows from pre-delinquency to loan write-offs across digital communication, calling, field visits, and legal action. The startup also offers AI voice agents that support 11 Indian languages and can be used for sales, welcome calls, customer support, and collections.

The startup claims to have onboarded more than 22 banks and NBFCs, including AU Small Finance Bank, ICICI Bank, Poonawalla Fincorp, Bajaj Auto Credit and Five-Star Business Finance.

It also claims to support collections across more than 12 Mn loan accounts in India.

The latest investment comes more than a year after Rezolv raised $3.5 Mn in a seed funding round led by 3one4 Capital. The Series A funding takes its total funding raised to $16 Mn.

Rezolv competes primarily with debt-collection technology startups such as Credgenics and DPDzero. The broader segment has attracted investor interest as banks and NBFCs increasingly turn to automation and AI-powered tools to manage large loan portfolios and reduce collection costs.

Last year, DPDzero raised $7 Mn to develop multilingual AI agents and expand its debt-collection platform for financial institutions.

The post Rezolv Bags $12.5 Mn To Expand AI-Powered Lending Suite appeared first on Inc42 Media.

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Razorpay Launches AI Foundation Model Vulcan To Expedite Digital Payments

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 05:24:31 +0000

Razorpay has launched a transformer-based AI foundation model Vulcan built to expedite digital payments. The IPO-bound startup claims that the model can make every digital payment more reliable and safer by scoring routes in real-time and flagging fraud that becomes visible across multiple merchants after it is in production.

Built with NVIDIA and AWS technology, Vulcan combines Razorpay’s payments data with NVIDIA’s accelerated computing and AWS’ cloud infrastructure.

Vulcan is a proprietary, ground-up model, with both its architecture and training data owned by Razorpay. The startup frames it not as an LLM, which understands text, but as a system that learns the movement of the money.

The model learns from the entire payments ecosystem’s data points and keeps improving with every transaction it processes, instead of solving one narrow problem at a time.

The startup claims that Vulcan is trained on approximately 3 Tn data points across 4 Bn payments and learns from roughly 3,000 signals per transaction. With this, it understands the complex movement of the financial journey at scale.

Razorpay reports early results from deploying Vulcan’s components on live transactions. According to the company, the model has delivered:

An 8-10% improvement in payment success rates
An 8X increase in international card frauds detected and stopped
A 5X rise in fraudulent or disputed transactions identified, without adding to the number of alerts
40% more shoppers seeing their preferred UPI app at checkout, helping complete an additional 1-2 lakh purchases every month

“Every payment teaches the system something that makes the next payment better. That’s what makes this feel less like a product launch, and more like the starting point for how payments in India keep getting better on their own, for years to come,” CEO Harshil Mathur said.

While Razorpay claims to be the first Indian player to introduce this offering, global incumbent Stripe also has previously launched a payments foundation model to analyse payments patterns, trained on tens of billions of transactions, to learn and boost performance and help its customers grow revenue.

The launch builds on Razorpay’s wider AI strategy, which saw the company include ChatGPT-native storefronts for merchants and an Agent Studio platform. The startup now claims now in use by about 200 businesses

The announcement comes at a time when Razorpay is firming up to go public on the Indian bourses. The startup took the confidential route to file its draft IPO papers in June. The fintech unicorn’s public offer size is expected to be in the range of $600-700 Mn and could value it in a range of $5-6 Bn, lower than its last private valuation of $7.5 Bn.

Founded in 2014 by Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar, Razorpay offers a full-stack payments and financial services platform, offering payment acceptance, disbursals, lending and business banking solutions. It has raised over $800 Mn in private equity since inception from the likes of Y Combinator, Tiger Global Management, Ribbit Capital, Lightspeed, among others.

The post Razorpay Launches AI Foundation Model Vulcan To Expedite Digital Payments appeared first on Inc42 Media.

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Ecommerce Giants Woo Sellers With AI, Jar’s Troubles & More

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 04:24:20 +0000

Will Sellers Embrace AI Blitz?

The AI war in the Indian ecommerce space is now moving into the seller realm. Online marketplaces are using AI tools to automate catalogues, forecast demand, improve advertising and retain sellers. But why are marketplaces building AI stacks to woo sellers?

Retention With AI: The AI-led strategy could become a new growth lever as customer acquisition costs rise and competition for online shoppers intensifies. By improving catalogue quality, product discovery, pricing and fulfilment decisions, marketplaces hope to increase seller efficiency and, ultimately, platform revenues.

Ecommerce’s AI Blitz: As part of this, Amazon India has launched an AI-powered assistant, which allows sellers to use plain English or Hinglish to manage onboarding, catalogue creation, inventory, business insights and international expansion. Then, there is Meesho’s AI system, which now handles up to 3 Lakh seller calls a day, supports onboarding, catalogue creation and participation in sales events.

There is also Flipkart, which operates an AI-ready commerce platform to help retailers with demand forecasting, pricing intelligence and trend analysis.

The Question Of Returns: While sellers are bullish on AI, they also caution that the technology should only remain a copilot. For many, brand identity, customer empathy and product quality cannot be reduced to clicks or conversions. Adoption also remains uneven as pricing and discounts continue to drive purchases.

As marketplaces strip out human intervention in ad allocations, can AI adoption truly level the playing field for smaller merchants? Let’s find out…

From The Editor’s Desk

Jar’s Legal Troubles

The Karnataka HC has quashed three Sessions Court orders, which directed the release of gold and silver and defreezing of bank accounts linked to the wealthtech startup.
The HC ruled that the Police do not need permission from a Magistrate to debit-freeze a bank account as a preventive measure. The Court also noted that the absence of direct supervision for digital gold does not put such transactions beyond criminal law.
Earlier this year, Karnataka CID searched premises linked to Jar as part of a probe into potential violations related to the platform’s gold business. Subsequently, the startup approached a Sessions Court, which ruled in favour of Jar.

Corpus Labs Eyes Funding

Former Peak XV Partners analyst Saksham Mittal’s wealthtech startup is in talks to raise pre-seed funding from Stellaris Venture Partners. There is no clarity on the size and terms of the round.
Corpus is still in stealth mode and its website went live recently. Corpus offers a financial analysis platform for reviewing a user’s mutual fund portfolio. However, the startup does not allow customers to execute investments or other transactions via its platform.
Corpus is entering the crowded Indian wealthtech market, which is projected to become a $95 Bn opportunity by FY30 on the back of a new generation of digital-first investors.

Atomberg Gears Up For IPO

The consumer appliance startup’s board last week passed a special resolution to raise up to ₹450 Cr via its proposed public issue. The proposed IPO will comprise a combination of fresh issue os shares and an OFS component.
Additionally, the startup’s board also approved raising up to ₹90 Cr via a pre-IPO placement. This amount will be reduced from the fresh issue if the listing materialises. This comes weeks after Atomberg turned into a public entity.
Founded in 2012, Atomberg sells a range of appliances such as fans, mixer grinders, water purifiers, among others. Having raised $126 Mn to date, the startup clocked a top line of ₹958.4 Cr in FY25 against a net loss of ₹117 Cr.

July’s UPI Rundown

PhonePe and Google Pay continued their UPI dominance in July. While the former processed 1,086 Cr transactions worth ₹14.4 Lakh Cr, the latter recorded 765 Cr transactions totalling ₹10 Lakh Cr. However, both marginally lost market share in July.
Sachin Bansal-led Navi saw its market share further improving to 4% from 3.7% in June, while Paytm, Flipkart’s super.money, WhatsApp and CRED retained their June market shares.
Overall, UPI processed 2.366 Cr transactions in July, up 4% from 2,272 Cr in the preceding month. Meanwhile, the total transaction value rose 3% month-on-month to ₹29.88 Lakh Cr during the month under review.

Flipkart Hits A Marketing Snag

The ecommerce major has invited the ire of netizens after it used the visual language of newspaper obituaries to promote the final day of its Freedom Sale. The creative quickly triggered criticism, with many calling it insensitive and inappropriate.
While some industry insiders questioned whether dark humour would move consumers toward interest and purchase, others described the campaign as elementary subversion and weaker than Flipkart’s earlier unconventional campaigns.
From YesMadam’s fake employee resignation narrative to the Poonam Pandey cervical cancer stunt, similar marketing campaigns show the trade-off clearly. While controversy can deliver reach quickly, it can sometimes overpower the cause, product or brand.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

How Farm Watt Is Building India’s Biomass Supply Chain

India burns millions of tonnes of crop residue every year while bioenergy plants struggle to secure consistent feedstock. Farm Watt Innovations is building the missing bridge between farms and fuel by aggregating waste and supplying plants with a reliable biomass stream.

Turning Waste Into Stock: Founded in 2023, Farm Watt operates at the intersection of agriculture and renewable energy. It collects crop residue that might otherwise be burned, then converts it into usable biomass for compressed biogas (CBG) and other bioenergy facilities.

The Aggregation Layer: Farm Watt runs decentralised biomass hubs where crop residue is collected, baled, stored, quality-checked and transported. Its network currently spans 15 hubs across six states, with plans to expand into Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

A Circular Play: The startup is not limiting itself to CBG feedstock. It plans to expand into bio-pellets and biochar, while eventually developing its own portfolio of CBG and bioenergy plants. This could allow Farm Watt to capture more value across the biomass chain instead of remaining only an aggregator.

Going forward, the IAN-backed startup plans to scale its aggregator network, enhance its tech stack and ramp up hiring. So, can Farm Watt turn India’s crop-residue problem into fuel?

Infographic Of The Day

Aman Gupta’s latest bet, OFF/BEAT, already has people curious. But beyond the viral curiosity lies a much bigger story: Gupta’s growing investment empire built across some of India’s most exciting startups…

The post Ecommerce Giants Woo Sellers With AI, Jar’s Troubles & More appeared first on Inc42 Media.

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PhysicsWallah Jumps 9.5% After Q1 Results, JPMorgan & JM Financial Upgrade Rating

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 10:24:29 +0000

Shares of edtech company Physics Wallah rallied as much as 9.5% to an intraday high of ₹128.35 apiece on the BSE today after JPMorgan and JM Financial upgraded their ratings for the stock following the company’s Q1 FY27 results.

The stock later pared some gains and was trading 5.6% higher at ₹123.85 around 11:44 IST. Its market capitalisation stood at around ₹35,883.9 Cr (about $3.7 Bn).

JPMorgan upgraded PhysicsWallah to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’, retaining its target price of ₹148. The target implies an upside of over 26% from the stock’s previous close of ₹117.20.

The brokerage said PhysicsWallah’s Q1 performance exceeded its expectations despite disruption from the NEET exam cycle. It also highlighted the company’s decision to retain its guidance of around 30% revenue growth in FY27 and divest its NBFC arm, FinZ Finance, to sharpen its focus on the core education business.

Meanwhile, JM Financial upgraded PhysicsWallah to ‘Buy’ from ‘Add’, while retaining its June 2027 target price of ₹140. The target implies an upside of nearly 20% from the previous close.

JM Financial said the company delivered a decent quarter despite the NEET-related disruption and that its underlying business fundamentals remained intact. It added that the stock’s correction of more than 20% from its recent highs had made its risk-reward profile more favourable.

Revenue Crosses ₹1,000 Cr

PhysicsWallah’s operating revenue grew 24.4% to ₹1,054 Cr in Q1 FY27 from ₹847.1 Cr in the year-ago quarter. On a sequential basis, revenue increased 14.7% from ₹918.8 Cr in Q4 FY26.

The edtech major’s net loss narrowed 30.5% to ₹88.3 Cr from ₹127 Cr, although it widened 27.8% QoQ. Total expenses rose 18% YoY to ₹1,247 Cr.

PhysicsWallah posted an EBITDA of ₹52 Cr during the quarter, compared with an EBITDA loss of ₹21 Cr in Q1 FY26. Its EBITDA margin improved to 4.9% from a negative 2.5%.

Adjusted EBITDA jumped more than fivefold to ₹135 Cr from ₹26 Cr, while the adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 12.9% from 3.1%.

Online revenue grew 33% YoY to ₹549 Cr, with online transacting users rising 2.4% to 21.5 Lakh. Average collection per user increased 9.7% to ₹4,311. Meanwhile, revenue from the K-12 and early-learning segment surged 88% YoY to ₹105 Cr, while enrolments grew 41% to 7.8 Lakh.

The postponement and re-examination of NEET UG disrupted Physics Wallah’s usual admission cycle, resulting in a 28% decline in online NEET collections during Q1. However, collections rebounded after the NEET results were announced, rising 51% YoY between July 1 and August 13.

Physics Wallah cofounder Prateek Maheshwari said the company expects to achieve group-level PAT profitability in Q3 FY27. “We are very confident that we will achieve net-level PAT profitability in Q3,” he said, noting that Q3 is typically the company’s strongest quarter.

The company also reported an exceptional impact of around ₹42 Cr from the fair-value remeasurement of financial instruments linked to Sarrthi IAS. In July, Physics Wallah acquired an additional 11% stake in Sarrthi IAS for ₹71.81 Cr, taking its holding in the UPSC coaching institute to 51%.

The post PhysicsWallah Jumps 9.5% After Q1 Results, JPMorgan & JM Financial Upgrade Rating appeared first on Inc42 Media.

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Zaggle Plunges 20% To Hit Lower Circuit After Q1 Profit Slump

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 08:24:34 +0000

Shares of fintech SaaS company Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services plunged 20% during the intraday trading today to ₹160.45 apiece, hitting their lower circuit and a 52-week low after the company reported a sharp decline in its profit in the June quarter.

The stock remained locked at the lower circuit, taking Zaggle’s market capitalisation to ₹2,157.3 Cr ($225.6 Mn).

Today’s decline extended the stock’s recent slide. Shares of Zaggle have fallen 54% so far this year and 21.3% over the past five trading sessions.

Following the results, brokerage Equirus retained its ‘LONG’ rating on Zaggle but cut its target price to ₹350 from ₹455, citing slower growth in the company’s core business and near-term margin pressure from the integration of DICE Enterprises. It also lowered its FY27 earnings estimate by 21%, expecting the acquisition to weigh on profitability in the near term.

Zaggle’s consolidated net profit fell 33% to ₹17.5 Cr in the first quarter of FY27 from ₹26.1 Cr a year earlier. Sequentially, profit declined 57%. Operating revenue rose 28% YoY to ₹423.3 Cr but fell 32% from the preceding quarter.

Profitability also weakened during the quarter. The company’s adjusted EBITDA rose 4% YoY to ₹34.7 Cr, but the corresponding margin narrowed to 8.2% from 10.1%.

Reported EBITDA increased just 1.3% YoY to ₹30.9 Cr, while the margin contracted to 7.3% from 9.2%.

Zaggle attributed much of the pressure to costs associated with DICE Enterprises, an enterprise spend-management startup whose assets and intellectual property it acquired for ₹68 Cr in May.

Revenue from DICE contracts is expected to begin contributing from the second quarter, with a fuller impact likely from Q3.

Zaggle also incurred costs related to integrating Zagg.Money, the consumer credit card business it acquired from Rio.Money. Higher employee expenses and the transfer of previously capitalised costs to the profit and loss statement also weighed on profitability.

Despite the weak quarter, Zaggle retained its revenue-growth target of about 40% for FY27. The company expects the DICE acquisition and increased deployment of AI across its platforms to support growth as it integrates its newer businesses.

“Q1 FY27 marks an important inflection point for Zaggle as we move from a decade of profitable growth into a phase of transformation through consolidation,” founder and executive chairman Raj P Narayanam said.

During the quarter, Zaggle also invested ₹8 Cr to acquire a 20% stake in Unobanc as it looks to expand its capabilities in cross-border payments, forex cards, and remittances.

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The RDI Fund Row, PM’s I-Day Address & More

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 04:24:30 +0000

India’s Deeptech Fund Hits A Hurdle

India’s ₹1 Lakh Cr RDI fund promised to unlock patient capital for deeptech startups. However, its maiden allocation has sparked concerns of opaque processes.

The allegations follow a report that emerged earlier in August which found that 15 out of the 22 companies selected in the first round shared investment ties with seven members of the selection panel. The beneficiaries, including Ather, Agnikul, Dhruva Space and others, received ₹1,377 Cr of the total ₹2,192 Cr disbursed capital.

Responding to allegations of conflicts of interest, the government said that conflicted members disclosed their interests and had zero involvement in evaluating or approving the proposals.

The Network Effect Concern: The bigger concern among critics is if disclosures and recusals are adequate protection against such conflicts of interest, when active industry participants help allocate public money. Hence, many are seeking an independent review of the first round.

Many deeptech founders we spoke to also alleged that the application process was not communicated widely, adding that the first-come, first-serve policy may have favoured startups already connected to the ecosystem.

The Transparency Question: Emerging fund managers also raised concerns over RDI’s fund-of-funds scheme. Although the guidelines allow newer AIFs to apply, some investors said that the first cohort appeared to have favoured experienced managers with larger networks and stronger fundraising records.

The Next Test: The upcoming test for the RDI fund hinges on whether subsequent allocations can demonstrate transparent, non-concentrated bets. Greater disclosure of interests, evaluation criteria and allocation decisions could help restore confidence, while independent oversight may strengthen credibility.

Stakeholders in the startup ecosystem believe the upcoming allocations need to support emerging managers and early-stage deeptech ventures, rather than reinforce existing capital hierarchies.

With ₹1 Lakh Cr and countless other startups at stake, why is the RDI Fund suddenly in the middle of a major controversy? Let’s find out…

From The Editor’s Desk

PM Modi’s I-Day Address

Addressing the nation on the occasion of India’s 80th Independence day, PM Narendra Modi said that over 1 Cr young people will be trained in AI skills over the next year. The programme will be centred on three priorities: cost, quality and skill.
PM Modi also announced that the government will leverage India’s digital public infrastructure to offer free online coaching to aspirants preparing for competitive examinations.
The PM also said that production has begun at three semiconductor plants in the country. He also expects another seven to eight facilities to become operational over the next one to two years.

Weekly Funding Takes A Hit

Indian startups cumulatively managed to raise $139.5 Mn last week, down 44% from $274.4 Mn raised in the preceding week. Deal count also took a hit and nearly halved week-on-week to 12.
On the back of Yulu’s $93 Mn fundraise, cleantech emerged as the most funded sector last week. Advanced hardware and technology saw the highest deal activity last week, with three startups in the space bagging $9.2 Mn.
Early-stage funding also picked up pace last week as five seed stage startups raised around $14 Mn. Meanwhile, Lightspeed India, Finvolve and Peak XV Partners emerged as the most active investors last week, backing two startups each.

Mixed Week For Startup Stocks

Of the 60 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage, 30 ended last week in the green. The remaining 29 declined between 0.5% and 14%. Meanwhile, Meesho ended the week on a flat note.
While Turtlemint and E2E gained the most last week, Veefin and ideaForge emerged as the major losers. The combined m-cap of the 61 listed startups, including recently listed LEAP India, stood at $162.73 Bn as against $151.98 Bn in the preceding week.
With the Q1 FY27 earnings season now largely over, investors are expected to turn their attention to global monetary policy, crude oil prices and geopolitical developments as market cues this week.

EaseMyTrip’s Subdued Q1

The online travel aggregator slipped into the red in Q1 FY27, posting a net loss of ₹11.7 Cr compared to a net profit of ₹44 Lakh in the year-ago period. The loss comes despite the OTA’s operating revenue jumping 18.4% YoY to ₹134.7 Cr.
Largely to blame for the travel tech platform’s losses was expenses zooming nearly 30% YoY to ₹152.7 Cr in Q1 FY27. What also played a spoilsport was the revenues from trains, buses and other services taking a big hit during the quarter.
On the operational front, EMT claimed that its gross booking revenue grew 14.8% YoY to ₹2,371 Cr in Q1 FY27, while quarterly hotel night bookings almost doubled YoY to 6.47 Lakh.

Ola Electric’s Energy Frontier

Bolstering its energy stack, the EV maker has launched three battery energy storage systems: the residential Ola Shakti Gen 2, the commercial and industrial Shakti Rack and the utility-scale Mahashakti platform.
Powered by Ola Electric’s in-house 4680 Bharat cell, Shakti Gen 2 will be offered in 4.6 kWh/3 kW and 9.2 kWh/6 kW configurations and will be priced at ₹99,000 and ₹1.75 Lakh, respectively. Deliveries scheduled to begin in November this year.
Ola Electric is attempting to build a second revenue engine with energy storage as its EV business continues to remain under pressure. The BESS push could also improve utilisation of its Gigafactory and help spread manufacturing investments.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

How DUSQ Is Guiding Indians Back To A Good Night’s Sleep

India ranks as the second most sleep-deprived country globally. While wearables do offer general trends on nightly rest, they report the damage only after waking. To solve this, DUSQ is combining neuroscience, hardware and AI to improve sleep quality in real time.

DUSQ’s Sleep Science: Founded in 2023, DUSQ is building what it calls a sleep regulation platform. Instead of simply scoring sleep quality, its behind-the-ear device monitors physiological signals through the night and aims to intervene when the body begins shifting into a disrupted state.

The Closed-Loop Stack: The startup’s 12-gram wearable uses signals such as electrodermal activity, heart-rate variability, respiratory rate and other autonomic markers to identify sleep fragmentation. It then adapts its response using non-invasive vagus and vestibular nerve stimulation, with the goal of guiding users back towards deeper sleep before they fully wake.

Eye On The Prize: DUSQ claims to have become the fastest Indian healthtech company to cross $1 Mn on Kickstarter, after launching its US campaign in June 2026. It is now preparing for a broader US rollout, positioning itself at the intersection of consumer healthtech and neurotechnology. So, can DUSQ actively improve the night sleep rather than just measure it?

Infographic Of The Day

From AI astrologers to quick prasad deliveries, India’s spiritual ecosystem is quietly going digital. Behind it is a $70 Bn+ market where startups are reimagining how millions of Indians practise their faith. Here is all about it…

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RDI Fund Row: Deeptech Investors Seek More Transparency, Independent Oversight

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 16 Aug 2026 12:24:32 +0000

For India’s deeptech sector, the government’s deeptech-focused ₹1 Lakh Cr Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) fund was supposed to be a game changer. But ironically, instead of becoming a watershed moment for a patient-capital-starved sector, the fund’s first major allocation has raised several eyebrows over alleged links between its beneficiaries and members of its investment committee (IC).

The debate follows an Indian Express report that found 15 of the 22 companies that received ₹2,192 Cr in the first round had investment links with seven members of the 12-member IC.

These 15 companies, including Tejas Networks, Ather Energy, Agnikul Cosmos, Dhruva Space and BigEndian Semiconductors, accounted for more than ₹1,377 Cr, or roughly 62% of the amount approved in the round. The IC members have said that their interests were disclosed and that they recused themselves where required. The government has also maintained that there was no violation of the prescribed conflict-of-interest framework.

Inc42 reached out to the seven investors named in the report. Two of the investors declined to comment, highlighting that the claims of ‘conflict of interest’ have already been refuted by the government. The others are yet to respond.

Meanwhile, we also spoke with several deeptech investors, fund managers and other ecosystem players on the issue. A common concern that ran amok was that the fund’s current architecture could end up favouring a select few well-established, deep-pocketed ventures, making it harder for new players to compete.

The fund is designed as a two-tier structure, with the ₹1 Lakh Cr corpus housed in a special purpose fund under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), while implementation is routed through second-level fund managers such as the Technology Development Board (TDB), AIFs, DFIs, NBFCs and research organisations.

Under the RDI framework, startups are eligible to receive funding if they qualify as Eligible Technology Entities (ETEs). These can be companies, partnerships or LLPs registered in India and engaged in developing RDI-intensive technologies at technology readiness level (TRL) 4 or above.

TDB’s eligibility criteria also require such entities to have their principal operations and registered global headquarters in India and be under the control of resident Indian citizens. The scheme is focused on sunrise and strategic areas including deeptech, AI, biotechnology, space, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, energy and climate technologies.

The first round under scrutiny was governed by TDB’s 12-member IC comprising industry and technology professionals, with the TDB secretary Rajesh Pathak acting as a non-voting government representative, who evaluated applications from 124 private companies and cleared ₹2,192 Cr for 22 ventures.

As per the government, the selection was merit-based, and conflicted members had “zero involvement” in the evaluation or sanction of the relevant proposals.

Nevertheless, the ‘conflict of interest’ disclosures have prompted investors to question whether prior disclosure and recusal alone are enough when industry participants are involved in allocating public capital.

The Network Effect

One emerging concern is that the government-backed fund could unintentionally favour established investors and companies that have strong relationships within the ecosystem.

A Bengaluru-based deeptech fund manager, speaking on condition of anonymity, alleged that the application process for the RDI fund was anything but transparent, with no formal announcement or callouts done for the ecosystem, leading many startups in his portfolio to miss out on the deadline to apply.

This is especially important as the applications were processed on a first-come, first-served basis, making the first cohort concentrated within companies plugged well into the deeptech ecosystem. The second cohort of 13 companies reportedly had only one company with an IC-member link.

One founder, who has been building his startup in the robotics space for around a decade with TRL 9, said nobody in his circle of deeptech entrepreneurs knew that the application process had even started. He highlighted that the funds were critical for his future projects, which often take years to be commercially viable and need consistent backing to become successful.

Similar concerns are being raised about the RDI’s FoF (fund of funds), which will disburse capital to eligible AIFs. Emerging managers are questioning whether they can compete on the strength of their investment thesis and track record alone when older funds have deeper pockets and stronger networks.

Multiple fund managers Inc42 spoke with also highlighted how their applications for the FoF were not considered for the first cohort due to their purported nascency. While the guidelines encouraged emerging fund managers to apply for the FoF, they were told internally that only experienced managers were being considered for the first cohort.

The government says there is no minimum fund size requirement for AIFs seeking RDI capital, and both early-stage and growth-stage funds can apply as long as their investment thesis aligns with the RDI framework. Fund managers are evaluated on factors including the experience and track record of their investment teams, ability to manage technology investments and risks, successful exits and scale-ups, ability to raise third-party capital, and the quality of their investment committee, advisory board and compliance systems.

One Mumbai-based investor pointed to the difficulty of raising capital for newer funds due to apprehension from private sector investors, which makes the RDI fund even more critical. It acts not just as a source of capital but also as a signal that could bring more institutional backing.

If that critical access is concentrated among established players, investors fear it could reinforce the existing hierarchy rather than create a wider pool of capital for early-stage and emerging deeptech funds.

Separating Expertise From Influence

The sharpest criticism is around the idea that disclosure and recusal alone can eliminate conflicts when other active industry participants are also involved in decisions on public capital.

The founding partner of a New Delhi-based early stage fund argued that an IC member may formally step away from a particular decision but still influence the broader committee through relationships, prior knowledge or informal interactions.

In his view, someone who is simultaneously an active participant in the investment ecosystem and part of a committee allocating public money is effectively sitting on both sides of the table.

Their preferred model is therefore a structural separation: active investors could help the government formulate policy, define evaluation frameworks and provide technical or commercial inputs but should not participate in final decisions on capital deployment.

The government, however, has defended the existing model on the grounds that deeptech evaluation requires specialised expertise. According to its latest clarification, the framework was specifically designed to retain industry expertise while managing conflicts through disclosure, recusal, independent expert evaluation and supermajority approval. Members declaring a conflict are required to stay out of both discussions and voting on the concerned proposal.

The Push For Greater Transparency

For now, transparency is appearing to be a more immediate fix toward bringing trust back to the initiative. There are calls for the government to disclose the interests declared by IC members, the companies from which members recused themselves, the evaluation methodology and, where possible, the reasons behind allocation decisions.

Industry participants argue that such disclosures would make it easier for the wider ecosystem to understand why one company was selected over another.

One Mumbai-based emerging fund manager at a deeptech-focused AIF said an independent review of the allocation process could also help restore confidence, particularly if it establishes whether the prescribed safeguards were actually followed in every conflicted case.

This is important because the RDI Fund is designed to provide currently scarce patient, long-term financing for high-risk technologies at higher technology-readiness levels, while also using the fund-of-funds route to bring more private capital into deeptech.

However, some investors now fear that the controversy could have a chilling effect on the very ecosystem the RDI Fund was created to strengthen.

If founders believe access to public capital depends heavily on existing networks, they may become less willing to engage with government-backed programmes. For emerging fund managers, the concern is that a system designed to broaden the pool of capital could instead strengthen the incumbents.

One investor said the immediate damage could be to trust in the institution, rather than to any individual allocation.

That matters because deeptech already operates on unusually long timelines. Companies developing semiconductors, space systems, robotics, advanced materials or biotech platforms can spend years moving from laboratory validation to commercial scale. The RDI Fund was created precisely because conventional private capital may not be willing to carry that risk for long enough.

A broader first cohort, with smaller allocations across more companies, could have allowed the government to support a larger pool of technologies and create more opportunities for new players, opined an investor.

The Road Ahead For RDI

The consensus among the investors is that the RDI Fund is too important to be undermined by doubts over its governance.

Their preferred model broadly involves greater disclosure, independent oversight, a clearer evaluation methodology, stronger separation between policy advice and allocation decisions, and a more transparent pathway for emerging fund managers and startups.

The government says the fund already operates through a rule-based system involving independent experts, conflict disclosures, recusals and supermajority approvals. It also says public funding is linked to specific technology projects and matching private investment, rather than being a blanket financial benefit to companies.

For investors, the focus now shifts to how these safeguards are implemented in subsequent rounds, and whether the process becomes more transparent and accessible to a wider pool of deeptech startups and fund managers.

This week, 13 more companies recommended by the TBD in the second cohort are expected to receive final approval from the government. It is yet to be seen whether the pool has diversified beyond IC-linked companies in this cohort, especially as the government has maintained that no conflict-of-interest violation took place because prescribed safeguards were followed, and has not announced any overhaul in the existing process.

Meanwhile, the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, another second-level fund manager for biotechnology and allied areas, launched its first national RDI call in February 2026. Investors expect the BIRAC cohort, along with FoF allocations, to put greater emphasis on documentation, disclosures and demonstrating that the rules were followed.

As one investor put it, the RDI Fund needs to ensure that public capital is not only allocated fairly, but is seen to be allocated fairly. With ₹1 Lakh Cr eventually at stake, that distinction could determine whether the scheme becomes a genuine catalyst for India’s deeptech ecosystem or a government funding programme that founders and investors approach with caution.

The post RDI Fund Row: Deeptech Investors Seek More Transparency, Independent Oversight appeared first on Inc42 Media.

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Ola Electric Unveils Three New Energy Storage Products

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 16 Aug 2026 01:24:19 +0000

With an eye on bolstering its energy solutions business, electric vehicle (EV) maker Ola Electric yesterday announced the launch of three new battery energy storage systems (BESSs).

The new product lineup includes the second generation of its residential battery storage system Ola Shakti, industry-focused BESS called Shakti Rack and Mahashakti that will cater to utility-scale energy storage requirements.

“… The product portfolio leverages the company’s integrated capabilities across battery cells, battery packs and energy storage systems, further expanding and further strengthens its energy solutions portfolio,” Ola Electric informed the exchanges.

For context, a BESS uses rechargeable batteries to store electricity and release it later when needed. It can also store extra energy from solar or wind sources.

All three products will cater to domestic clients, added the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

The company said that Ola Shakti Gen 2 can operate household appliances such as fans and freezers. As per its website, the residential-focused BESS will be available in two configurations – battery capacity of 4.6 kWh with a power of 3 kW, and 9.2 kWh battery with a power of 6kW. However, both platforms offer a power backup of 1.5 hours on full load.

Powered by its in-house 4680 Bharat lithium-ion cell, Ola Electric has, for now, priced the 3 kW variant at ₹99,000, while the 6 kW will start selling at nearly ₹1.75 Lakhs. Deliveries for both devices will begin starting November 2026.

Secondly, the EV maker also rolled out AC (alternative current) and DC (direct current) racks for commercial and industrial customers.

As per its website, the Shakti AC rack will come with an energy capacity of 73 kWh, an inverter power of 18-50 kW and a 415 Volt three-phase AC output. Powered by air-cooled thermal management, the AC rack is expected to hit the stores by March 2027. It is designed for commercial loads that need three‑phase AC backup and peak-shaving.

On the other hand, Shakti DC is a modular battery cabinet designed for commercial applications that operate on DC power. The platform features a battery capacity of 38-77 kWh per rack on a voltage of 48 Volts. As per Ola Electric, this too is expected to go for sale by March 2027.

Meanwhile, Ola Electric also launched its utility-scale BESS platform, Mahashakti, designed for large commercial and industrial applications such as assembly lines, grid infrastructure and data centres. Alongside, the EV maker also unveiled Mahashakti Rack, the modular building block inside the containerised Mahashakti system.

Mahashakti rack boasts a battery capacity of 257 kWh per rack, with a power of up to 125 kW and a DC bus voltage of 1331.2 Volts. Four of these racks can be combined (including a power conversion system) to build a single Mahashakti container, which can deliver a claimed battery capacity of 6.26 MWh and 2.5 MW power.

The lithium-iron phosphate (LFP)-powered Mahashakti system can be deployed from a single 6.26 MWh container to bigger GWh-scale plants.

This comes nearly a year after Ola Electric unveiled its first residential BESS solution, Ola Shakti, in October 2025. The latest Independence Day launch appears to be the second generation of this platform.

With the new business, the EV maker is looking to shore up its revenue and increase the utilisation of its Gigafactory. The integration of 4680 Bharat Cells in its energy products could further help the company increase the usage of its in-house manufactured cells.

This comes as Ola Electric continues to lose market share to legacy giants like TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto as well new-age players such as Ather. Its market share in the electric two-wheeler space stood at 8.4% in Q1 FY27, albeit an improvement from 5.1% in Q4 FY26.

The weak sales also continue to weigh heavily on the EV maker’s financial standing. Ola Electric’s operating revenue declined 45% to ₹455 Cr in Q1 FY27 from ₹828 Cr in the year ago quarter. However, it also managed to narrow its net loss by 22% to ₹336 Cr in the quarter under review from ₹428 Cr in Q1 FY26.

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From Yulu To Discovered Materials — Indian Startups Raised $140 Mn This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 04:24:27 +0000

Indian startup funding activity remained muted in the second week of August, even as astrology platform AstroTalk joined the unicorn club to become India’s 133rd unicorn.

Between August 10 and 14, twelve startups raised a combined $139.5 Mn, marking a 44% decline from the $274.4 Mn raised by 22 startups in the previous week.

The week’s funding activity was largely driven by Yulu’s $93 Mn Series C round, which accounted for a significant share of the total capital raised in the week leading up to India’s Independence Day on August 15.

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Aug 10 – 14 ]

Date	Name	Sector	Subsector	Business Model	Funding Round Size	Funding Round Type	Investors	Lead Investor
12 Aug 2026	Yulu	Clean Tech	Electric Vehicles	B2C	$93 Mn*	Series C	GEF Capital Partners	GEF Capital Partners
13 Aug 2026	Centricity	Fintech	Wealth Tech	B2C	$29 Mn*	–	SMBC Asia Rising Fund, Lightspeed India Partners, Burman Family Office, RAAY Investments, Kuldeep Rathi Family Office, Stride Ventures, Innoven Capital	SMBC Asia Rising Fund
11 Aug 2026	Discovered Materials	Advanced Hardware & Technology	Semiconductors	B2B	$9 Mn	Seed	Lightspeed India Partners, Y Combinator, Peak XV Partners, Paul Graham (angel), Gokul Rajaram (angel), Thariq Shihipar (angel)	Lightspeed India Partners
13 Aug 2026	Scrubsy	Ecommerce	D2C	B2C	$3 Mn	Seed	V3 Ventures	V3 Ventures
11 Aug 2026	Ayati Devices	Health Tech	Healthcare Devices	B2B	$1.6 Mn	Pre-Series A	Inflexor Ventures	Inflexor Ventures
12 Aug 2026	Wippi	AI	Application Layer	B2C	$1.2 Mn	Seed	12 Flags, Warmup Ventures, Ventana Ventures, Ruvento Ventures	12 Flags
12 Aug 2026	Lane	Consumer Services	–	B2C	$891K	–	Kae Capital, DeVC, Antler India, Panthera Peak	Kae Capital
11 Aug 2026	Vecton AI	AI	Application Layer	B2B	$629K	Pre-Seed	Zeropearl VC	Zeropearl VC
11 Aug 2026	FreightFox	Logistics	Logistics SaaS	B2B	$524K	Pre-Series A	HighLeaf	HighLeaf
13 Aug 2026	Invisel	Ecommerce	D2C	B2C	$420K	–	IAN Group, BeyondSeed, FAAD Capital	IAN Group
12 Aug 2026	Quarkitech	Advanced Hardware & Technology	–	B2B, B2G	$210K	Pre-Seed	Artha Access (Artha Venture Fund II), Finvolve	Artha Access
13 Aug 2026	KshatraLabs	Advanced Hardware & Technology	Defence Tech	B2B, B2G	–	–	Finvolve, India Accelerator	Finvolve, India Accelerator
	Source: Inc42 *Mix of equity and debt

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

Cleantech led India’s startup funding activity at a sectoral level for the second consecutive week, at the behest of Yulu’s $93 Mn raise.
The round alone accounted for nearly 67% of the $139.5 Mn investment netted by Indian startups this week.
Fintech followed as the second-most funded sector, with startups raising $29 Mn, led by wealthtech platform Centricity’s $29 Mn round.
Advanced hardware and technology recorded the highest deal activity, with three funding rounds across segments including semiconductors and defence tech. Startups in the sector raised a combined $9.2 Mn during the week.
Lightspeed India Partners, Finvolve and Peak XV Partners emerged as the most active investors this week, backing two startups apiece.
Early-stage funding also picked up pace. Five seed stage startups raised around $14 Mn during the week, an 82% increase from the $7.7 Mn raised across five deals in the previous week.
Meanwhile, Delhi NCR-based astrology platform AstroTalk entered India’s unicorn club at a valuation exceeding $1 Bn valuation. The valuation was attained at the behest of an ESOP buyback transaction, Inc42 learnt.

Startup Fund Updates Of The Week

Mirae Asset Venture Investments India marked the first close of its ₹1,800 Cr fund at ₹1,125 Cr. The fund will back Series B to Series D startups across consumer tech, AI, SaaS, deeptech, advanced manufacturing and consumer discretionary.
Accel has raised $550 Mn for its ninth India-focused fund as it looks to ramp up investments in AI, deeptech and other emerging sectors.
AUM Ventures marked the first close of its ₹750 Cr India Innovation Fund at ₹225 Cr. The fund will invest primarily at the pre-seed and seed stages across deeptech and frontier technology startups.
Bluehill.VC marked the final close of its maiden ₹400 Cr frontier tech fund, including a ₹50 Cr greenshoe option.

Startup M&A Updates Of The Week

Spacetech startup GalaxEye has acquired Bengaluru-based spacecraft engineering startup StarOps to strengthen its in-house satellite engineering and development capabilities.
Healthtech startup Redcliffe Labs has completed the acquisition of Pune-based diagnostics chain Megavision Diagnostics Centre in a deal valued at around ₹40 Cr.

Startup IPO Developments This Week

Shares of LEAP India made D-Street debut at ₹166 apiece, a 4.4% premium to the IPO price of ₹159. The company’s IPO was oversubscribed 8.38X, receiving bids for 96.32 Cr shares against 11.49 Cr shares on offer.
Shiprocket’s ₹1,617.5 Cr IPO received overwhelming investor interest, closing with an oversubscription of 99.38X. The company’s listing is tentatively scheduled for August 19.
Table Space filed its DRHP with SEBI for an IPO comprising a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹800 Cr and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 6.55 Cr equity shares.
Fintech unicorn Navi is reportedly planning to file its DRHP for an IPO as early as December, with the proposed issue estimated at around ₹3,000 Cr.
Building materials unicorn Infra.Market is exploring a reverse-listing on the bourses via Shalimar Paints. The listed paints company is considering acquiring equity shares and CCPS of Infra.Market’s parent Hella Infra Market through a proposed share swap.
B2B manufacturing startup Zetwerk filed its updated DRHP (UDRHP) with SEBI for its proposed IPO. The issue comprises a fresh share sale of ₹2,600 Cr and an OFS of up to 9.6 Cr equity shares.

Other Developments Of The Week

Tiger Global Management has exited digital entertainment startup The Viral Fever (TVF) in a deal valuing the company at $22 Mn, down 73% from its peak valuation of $82 Mn in 2019.
Listed traveltech company ixigo is set to sell a 17.39% stake in electric intercity bus startup Fresh Bus to Twelve Stone LLP for ₹36.6 Cr. Its stake will fall from 25.66% to 8.27%.
Inc42 has learnt that former Dyson India MD Ankit Jain is building a stealth-mode premium consumer appliances startup, which has raised pre-seed funding from Singapore-based BEENEXT. Besides, AI health companion startup August AI is also in talks to raise around $4 Mn from VC firm Peak XV Partners.
Stepping up investments in US-based AI startups, VC firm Peak XV Partners led a $45 Mn Series B funding round of San Francisco-based AI code testing startup Blacksmith.

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Atomberg To Form JV With Voltas To Manufacture AC Compressors

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 21:24:32 +0000

IPO-bound consumer appliances startup Atomberg has joined hands with Tata-owned Voltas to manufacture compressors for room air conditioners (ACs) in India.

In a statement, Voltas said that it has signed a binding term sheet with Atomberg’s B2B subsidiary, Atomberg Innovation Private Limited (AIPL), to form a joint venture (JV) to develop, manufacture and supply room AC compressors and other allied parts.

“The proposed joint venture is intended to undertake the development, manufacturing, and supply of air conditioner compressors, with a strong emphasis on high energy efficiency, operational reliability, cost competitiveness, and progressive localisation,” said Voltas in a statement.

The partnership will look to leverage Voltas’ 30,000 touch points and expertise in areas such as manufacturing, product and supply chain. On the other hand, Atomberg Innovation will bring to the table its capabilities in compressor technology, engineering and product design.

In a statement, Voltas also said that it will be the anchor customer of the JV and will provide a “stable demand base”. The AC manufacturer also added that the venture will have the flexibility to supply compressors to other customers, “enabling broader market participation, scale, and long-term competitiveness”.

“Atomberg has developed deep-tech capabilities in efficient motors, control drives and advance engineering. This partnership gives us the opportunity to combine our technology strengths with Voltas’ extensive air conditioning expertise, manufacturing capability and market scale…,” said Atomberg cofounder Manoj Meena.

The JV is still subject to the completion of due diligence and receipt of applicable approvals from relevant authorities.

Founded in 2012 by IIT Bombay alumni Meena and Sibabrata Das, Atomberg initially operated on a B2B model and sold energy-efficient BLDC fans. It entered the consumer market in 2016. Today, it sells a range of appliances such as mixer grinders, water purifiers, and small appliances via offline retailers, online marketplaces and its own website.

It entered the B2B manufacturing business via AIPL in March this year to build motors and controllers for home appliances.

Backed by the likes of Inflexor Ventures, Trifecta Capital Advisors, Steadview Capital and Temasek, atomberg has raised nearly $126.5 Mn to date.

On the financial front, the appliance startup managed to narrow its net losses by 41% YoY to ₹117 Cr in FY25, while operating revenue rose over 20% YoY to ₹958.4 Cr during the fiscal under review.

The partnership comes as Atomberg is looking to list on the bourses. Last month, the startup took its first step towards an IPO after it converted into a public entity.

It is looking to raise ₹1,500 Cr to ₹2,000 Cr ($165 Mn to $220 Mn) via its public offering, which will comprise both fresh issue of shares (25-35%) and an offer for sale (OFS) by existing investors.

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Maharashtra FDA Suspends Licences of 14 Dark Stores Of Blinkit, Zepto & Instamart

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 19:24:22 +0000

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reportedly suspended the licences of 14 “food business establishments” linked to quick commerce platforms Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart.

As per news agency PTI, the licences were suspended after a state-wide inspection drive uncovered widespread food safety and hygiene violations at multiple dark stores.

In total, the Maharashtra FDA reportedly inspected 86 dark stores selling and delivering food through online platforms. Five establishments, each of Zepto and Blinkit, and two others linked to Swiggy Instamart had their licences suspended.

In addition to the 14 licence suspensions, the regulator also issued 60 improvement notices and ordered the temporary stoppage of operations at one facility.

The clampdown comes as Maharashtra FDA has tightened its noose around quick commerce platforms and eateries across the state. Earlier this week, the licence of a Blinkit facility in Mumbai’s Malad West was suspended after officials discovered an extensive cockroach infestation and several other food-safety violations during an inspection.

A day later, Karnataka’s Food Safety and Drug Administration Department also sealed a major Zepto warehouse in Bengaluru’s Hoskote. The department also flagged unhygienic conditions and food safety violations at the facility.

However, this is not the first time that these platforms have come under scrutiny. Maharashtra authorities had raided Zepto and Blinkit’s dark stores last year, while Telangana officials had also raided a Blinkit warehouse in 2024.

As if this was not enough, the government informed the Parliament yesterday that more than 5.1 Lakh complaints were registered against ecommerce and quick commerce platforms on the National Consumer Helpline in 2025. Of this, 5,774 complaints were registered against Zepto, while Blinkit clocked 5,102 complaints.

The crackdown comes as quick commerce giants continue to aggressively expand their dark store networks. As of June 2026, Blinkit operated 2,443 active dark stores across 300 cities, while Swiggy Instamart’s network comprised 1,171 dark stores across 131 cities. Meanwhile, Zepto had 1,139 dark stores across 66 cities at the end of March 2026.

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LEAP India Shares List At 4.4% Premium To Issue Price Of ₹159

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 06:24:35 +0000

Shares of LEAP India made their stock market debut on the BSE and NSE today, listing at a premium of about 4.4% to the issue price of ₹159. The stock got listed at ₹166 on the BSE and ₹155.90 on the NSE.

The company’s market capitalisation stood at ₹7,011.1 Cr (about $735 Mn).

At 10:05 IST, the stock was trading down over 4% from the listing price at ₹157.5 on the BSE.

LEAP India had set a price band of ₹151 to ₹159 for the issue, seeking a valuation of ₹7,004.5 Cr (about $735 Mn).

The logistics tech company’s public issue comprised a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹480 Cr and an offer for sale of up to ₹2,000 Cr. Around ₹360 Cr from the fresh issue will be used to repay or prepay certain borrowings, while the remaining proceeds will be deployed for general corporate purposes.

The company’s IPO was oversubscribed 8.38X, with investors bidding for 96.32 Cr shares against the 11.49 Cr shares on offer.

Founded in 2013 by Mathew, LEAP India offers supply chain solutions spanning equipment pooling, returnable packaging, inventory management and movement, transportation, and repair and maintenance. It serves customers across sectors such as FMCG, beverages, ecommerce, automotive and retail.

The company said it served more than 1,000 customers as of the end of FY26, including Coca-Cola, Marico, Panasonic, Haier and Daikin. During the fiscal, the food and beverages segment accounted for more than a quarter of its business, followed by automotive and ecommerce.

LEAP India’s core business revolves around leasing supply chain assets and equipment to enterprises. As of the end of FY26, it had 14.7 Mn assets, comprising 8.98 Mn pallets and 5.71 Mn containers. The company supports its operations through a network of more than 29 warehouses and service centres, along with over 10,100 customer touchpoints.

On the financial front, LEAP India reported a 66% jump in net profit to ₹62.3 Cr in FY26 from ₹37.5 Cr in the previous year. Operating revenue zoomed 56.4% to ₹729.5 Cr from ₹466.5 Cr in FY25. Including other income of ₹17.8 Cr, total income during the period under review stood at ₹747.3 Cr.

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Razorpay’s ChatGPT Gambit, Snapchat’s Next Big Quest & More

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 03:24:30 +0000

Razorpay Wants To Put Indian Brands Inside ChatGPT

As ChatGPT and other AI assistants move from answering questions to recommending products and facilitating purchases, Indian payments companies are racing to build the scaffolding for this new commerce layer. Razorpay is betting on this shift and ChatGPT commerce as the next big battleground.

What’s The Plan? The fintech giant is working with OpenAI and NPCI to help merchants create ChatGPT-native storefronts, sync product catalogues and enable checkout using UPI capabilities such as UPI Circle and UPI Reserve Pay. It is working with around 50 brands and several ecommerce marketplaces experimenting with agentic commerce. The company claims its technology can reduce the time required for a Shopify merchant to set up a ChatGPT storefront from 10 weeks to around 30 minutes.

What’s In It For Merchants? With traditional digital acquisition getting expensive, AI commerce offers merchants a potential new route to access customers. Razorpay is using that pull to bring merchants onto its AI stack. However, the bigger bet is building a broader commerce infrastructure layer across AI agents and platforms. The challenge for now is figuring out how Razorpay eventually makes money from it.

There’s A Catch? Consumers may be comfortable asking ChatGPT what to buy, but handing an AI assistant the power to complete a transaction is a different proposition. This is where Razorpay is seeing an opportunity. The company says its architecture keeps payment credentials away from AI models and requires user consent, but winning that trust at scale could determine how quickly agentic commerce takes off.

As of now, it appears that ChatGPT is unlikely to replace ecommerce apps and marketplaces anytime soon. However, it could very well become a new layer for product discovery and shopping. Amid the current scheme of things, will Indian consumers trust AI assistants enough to make purchases through them? While that is a story for another day, here’s all about Razorpay’s ChatGPT commerce bet…

From The Editor’s Desk

Nazara’s Bluetile Battle

Nazara is acquiring Bluetile and BestPlay for $303 Mn, with $214 Mn still due by April 2027 as the company prepares for a CEO transition.
The deal comes as Nazara invests across multiple studios, while Bluetile prioritises revenue growth and user acquisition over near-term profitability.
Investors now face three key questions: how Nazara funds the remaining payout, whether Bluetile can expand margins, and when the broader portfolio generates meaningful cash.

Honasa Posts A Bumper Q1

Mamaearth parent’s Q1 FY27 profit more than doubled to ₹90.5 Cr, while revenue rose 27% YoY to ₹755.9 Cr, marking its strongest quarter yet.
Growth was broad-based, with focus categories up over 35%, younger brands growing more than 40%, and The Derma Co crossing a ₹1,000 Cr annualised sales run rate.
Honasa is doubling down on its “House of Brands” strategy, expanding offline distribution and acquiring newer brands to reduce dependence on Mamaearth.

Zetwerk Inches Closer To IPO

The B2B manufacturing giant has filed its updated DRHP with SEBI for a public issue, which will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth ₹2,600 Cr and an OFS component of 9.6 Cr equity shares.
Founded in 2018, Zetwerk operates a full-stack manufacturing platform catering to clients across sectors such as industrial components, electronics and consumer hardware. It claims to operate 20 facilities globally and has raised $700 Mn to date.
The startup’s revenue from operations zoomed 40% YoY to ₹15,900 Cr in FY26, while net losses soared 333% YoY to 1,606.1 Cr. Losses widened due to ₹1,250 Cr provision related to the discontinued civil infrastructure business and other accounting charges.

Snapchat’s Next Big Quest

Snapchat is moving beyond Gen Z discovery, aiming to influence purchase consideration as users increasingly seek friends’ opinions and social validation before buying.
Snap’s India advertiser base has grown sharply, but the bigger challenge is converting that expansion into meaningful, measurable and repeatable advertising revenue.
AI, performance advertising and Chat are becoming key growth levers, but Snap must prove they deliver stronger conversions, efficiency and ROI.

Awfis Profit More Than Doubles

Awfis’ Q1 FY27 profit jumped 140% YoY to ₹24 Cr, while revenue grew 27% to ₹424.9 Cr as EBITDA rose 28%.
The coworking firm added seven centres and 5,000+ seats, taking its network to 251 centres and 170K seats across 18 cities.
GCC demand and Awfis Transform are emerging as key growth drivers, with 100+ GCC clients contributing 24% of rental revenue and Transform winning ₹200 Cr+ mandates.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

Inside Carvve’s Tech-Led Marketplace For Car Accessories

India’s car accessories market is fragmented, crowded and often difficult to trust. Owners face inconsistent product quality, unclear pricing, weak warranties and inconvenient workshop visits. Carvve is trying to solve this problem with its one-stop-shop car platform.

An Integrated Experience: Born in Delhi’s Karol Bagh accessories market, Carvve is building a curated online marketplace for car upgrades. Customers can browse interior, exterior, audio, electronics and performance products, select accessories suited to their vehicle and book installation at home or at a workshop of their choice.

Visualising The Upgrade: A key part of Carvve’s tech stack is its 3D visualisation layer. Before buying, users can preview how an accessory may look on their car, understand the total cost and review installation details. This is designed to make a traditionally offline process more transparent and reduce uncertainty around fit, appearance and pricing.

More Than A Marketplace: Carvve is positioning itself as an integrated experience rather than a product catalogue. Its services include professional doorstep installation, warranty-backed offerings, and post-installation support. It is eyeing a piece of the Indian automotive aftermarket, which is projected to become a $22.6 Bn opportunity by 2033.

As car owners seek personalisation and convenience, can Carvve upgrade India’s informal car accessories market into a tech-savvy experience?

Infographic Of The Day

With 1,048 Cr transactions in July, PhonePe accounted for nearly half of all transactions among India’s top five UPI apps, staying comfortably ahead of Google Pay, Paytm and Navi. Here is all about who commanded the UPI ecosystem in July…

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Rapido Bags Karnataka Cab Aggregator Licence Till 2031

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 21:24:32 +0000

Mobility unicorn Rapido has secured the cab aggregator licence from the Karnataka State Transport Authority.

Granted under the Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2016, the licence will enable Rapido to operate four-wheeler ride-hailing services in the state till August 2031.

“This development gives us the opportunity to strengthen our cab offering within a formal regulatory framework, while continuing to work closely with the Government of Karnataka and the Transport Department to support safe, reliable and accessible mobility for commuters,” said cofounder Pavan Guntupalli.

The bike taxi giant offers its services across 21 cities in Karnataka, including Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad, and Belagavi. The platform claims to have onboarded over 3 Lakh captains across Karnataka and claims to be serving over 2 Cr registered customers in the state.

Separately, Rapido said that it has been inducted into the state government’s Urban Mobility Mission. The initiative focuses on strengthening multi-modal transport infrastructure, improving first- and last-mile connectivity, and integrating technology across the state’s transit systems.

Despite the outreach, the platform’s core bike taxi offering appears to be facing heat from local authorities. Just a few days ago, the Karnataka government informed the Supreme Court that bike taxis raised concerns around passenger safety, insurance coverage and women’s safety.

The arguments came as the SC was hearing the state government’s appeal against a January 2026 ruling by the Karnataka HC, which reversed the state government’s attempt to ban bike taxis.

Founded in 2015 by Guntupalli, Aravind Sanka, and Rishikesh SR, Rapido operates a ride-hailing platform. Initially starting as a bike taxi platform, it has since ventured into categories like metro ticket bookings as well as flight, hotel, bus and train bookings.

Most notably, it recently also launched a zero-commission food delivery platform, Ownly, positioning it as an alternative to incumbents like Swiggy and Eternal-owned Zomato. Ownly is scaling up at a time when restaurant owners are getting increasingly vocal about how delivery platforms’ business models are squeezing their own economics.

In May, it raised $240 Mn in a round led by existing backer Prosus with participation from WestBridge Capital, Accel and others. The startup has raised total funding of $1.5 Bn to date from investors like Accel, WestBridge Capital, and Nexus Venture Partners.

On the financial front, Rapido narrowed its loss by 30.3% to ₹258.4 Cr in FY25 from ₹370.7 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, its top line rose 44.2% to ₹934.4 Cr from ₹648 Cr in FY24

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Zetwerk Files UDRHP For ₹2,600 Cr IPO

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 19:24:42 +0000

Months after the markets regulator cleared its confidential IPO filing, B2B manufacturing startup Zetwerk has now filed its updated draft red herring prospectus (UDRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

As per its UDRHP, Zetwerk’s public issue comprises a fresh issue of shares worth ₹2,600 Cr and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component of up to 9.6 Cr equity shares.

The OFS component will see early backers, including Peak XV Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Kae Capital, among others offload parts of their stake in the contract manufacturer. The startup’s promoters Amrit Acharya and Srinath Ramakkrushnan will also sell 1.4 Cr equity shares each.

The startup will utilise almost 69% of its fresh issue, around ₹1,800 Cr, to repay or prepay certain borrowings. This is expected to change Zetwerk’s interest burden and earnings profile.

On the financial front, Zetwerk revenue from operations zoomed over 40% to ₹15,913.3 Cr in FY26 from ₹11,300 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Of this, approximately ₹9,300 Cr came from manufacturing, while the remainder from its ecosystem/raw-material business.

The manufacturing giant also saw its net loss climb 333% to ₹1,606.1 Cr during the fiscal under review from ₹370.7 Cr in FY25. The unicorn’s loss deepened largely due to a ₹450 Cr provision related to the discontinued civil infrastructure business and around ₹800 Cr accounting charge related to the founders increasing their ownership from 15% to about 20%.

(This story will be updated soon)

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IPO-Bound Infra.Market Eyes Reverse Listing Via Shalimar Paints In ₹10,440 Cr Share Swap

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 07:24:32 +0000

Building materials unicorn Infra.Market is exploring a reverse-listing route through Shalimar Paints, with the listed paints company considering acquiring equity shares and CCPS of Infra.Market parent Hella Infra Market Ltd through a proposed ₹10,439.91 Cr share swap.

Under the proposal, Infra.Market’s existing shareholders would transfer their equity shares and CCPS of Hella Infra Market to Shalimar Paints. In return, they would receive equity shares and CCPS of the listed paints company based on a swap ratio determined through independent valuation reports.

If the transaction goes through, Hella Infra Market may become an unlisted material subsidiary of Shalimar Paints.

The proposal could effectively bring Infra.Market’s business under an existing listed structure, giving the unicorn an alternative route to the public markets. Shalimar Paints described the proposed transaction as paving the way for a “listed building materials platform”.

“This is a rare opportunity to bring a business of Infra.Market’s scale and ambition into the public markets through a company with Shalimar’s legacy and governance framework,” Shalimar Paints said in a statement.

The board has been asked to consider approving the transaction in principle and convening an extraordinary general meeting to seek the requisite shareholder approvals, the statement added.

The development comes nearly seven months after Infra.Market received SEBI’s approval for a potential IPO.

(The story will be updated soon)

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Astrotalk’s Unicorn Leap, Shiprocket IPO Day 1 & More

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 04:24:11 +0000

India Welcomes Its 133rd Unicorn

Astrotalk has become India’s 133rd unicorn. The startup entered the coveted club after an ESOP buyback valued the platform at $1 Bn. The milestone comes as Astrotalk looks to complement its booming consultation and ecommerce businesses with offline retail and overseas expansion.

The Unicorn Unlock: Unlike many startups that achieve billion-dollar valuations via big-ticket infusions, Astrotalk unlocked its unicorn tag via an internal ESOP liquidity event funded entirely through its operating profits. Over 100 employees participated in the share repurchase at an undisclosed price point.

Inside Astrotalk’s Scale: The ESOP buyback sheds a spotlight on the growing scale of the startup, which last raised capital two years ago at a $300 Mn valuation. Astrotalk claims to have so far served more than 4 Cr users across India and four other countries. Its operating revenue nearly doubled YoY to ₹1,176 Cr in FY25, while net profit rose 2.5X to ₹250 Cr, underscoring strong scale and profitability.

The Ecommerce Engine: To diversify beyond consultations, the platform is now also monetising users by selling items such as gemstones and other religious accessories. The ecommerce vertical, Astrotalk Store, began scaling commercially in January 2025 and generated more than ₹140 Cr in operating revenue during its first year. Since then, the vertical has crossed an ARR of ₹300 Cr, creating a second growth engine for the startup.

The Offline Expansion: Astrotalk is now preparing to take its ecommerce business beyond the digital channel. The startup plans to open its first experiential store in Delhi NCR, while scouting larger-format locations in other cities. It is also developing an international ecommerce website, beginning with the US, to serve the Indian diaspora. The challenge will be converting cultural familiarity into repeat purchases and lasting global brand equity.

As the spiritual tech giant looks to explore ecommerce and offline expansion to sustain its momentum, here is all about Astrotalk entering the coveted unicorn club…

From The Editor’s Desk

Shiprocket IPO Day 1

The logistics unicorn’s public issue was subscribed 97% on the first day of bidding, receiving bids for 9.15 Cr equity shares against 9.44 Cr shares on offer.
Retail investors and NIIs remained bullish on the public issue, oversubscribing their quota by 3.34X and 1.23X, respectively. QIBs showed muted interest and subscribed their portion by a mere 2% on the first day.
Shiprocket’s ₹1,617 Cr IPO comprises a fresh issue of shares worth ₹885.5 Cr and an OFS component of ₹732 Cr. At the upper end of its ₹92 to ₹97 price band, the IPO values the startup at about ₹7,000 Cr.

Yulu Bags $93 Mn

The electric mobility startup has raised about ₹888 Cr in its Series C round led by GEF Capital Partners to launch a new e-scooter, quadruple its active fleet to 2 Lakh EVs over the next two years, expand its service network and deepen partnerships.
Founded in 2017, Yulu offers shared electric two-wheelers for urban commuting and last-mile delivery across 20 cities. It claims to facilitate 7.5 Lakh deliveries every day and has raised $228 Mn to date.
The startup reported an operating revenue of ₹237 Cr in FY25 against a net loss of ₹126 Cr. It claims to have remained EBITDA positive since April 2025. Yulu aims to go for an IPO in the next few years after improving profitability.

Uber’s Expansion Spree

The ride-hailing major plans to expand its bike taxi service, Uber Bike, to 100 cities in India. Currently, the service is operational in 18 states and one union territory.
Overall, Uber claims to be present in more than 220 Indian cities and is extensively looking to deepen its reach in smaller towns while strengthening its position in the country’s two-wheeler mobility market.
The expansion comes months after Uber infused about ₹2,921 Cr in its India business amid competitive pressure. Bike taxis were popularised by rival Rapido, which is now present in 400 cities and currently holds nearly 60% market share in the segment.

Lenskart’s Q1 Profit Soars

The omnichannel eyewear giant’s consolidated net profit surged 273% YoY to ₹228 Cr in Q1 FY27 on the back of rising revenues, improving margins, a modest step up in average selling price and strong operational performance.
Meanwhile, operating revenue jumped 43% YoY to ₹2,714 Cr during the quarter, while total expenses also jumped 35% YoY to ₹2,483.5 Cr in Q1 FY27.
Separately, Lenskart’s board also cleared an infusion of ₹10.6 Cr in its Singapore-based JV, expanding OWNDAYS to the Republic of Korea with an investment of ₹20 Cr, and setting up a new step-down subsidiary in China.

Cursor’s India Push

The US-based AI coding major is all set to open its first office in India by the end of this calendar year. This comes as Cursor has also begun hiring for on-site roles like AI deployment, partnership management and field engineering in Bengaluru.
Cursor is doubling down on India as its user base in the country has more than tripled to 3 Mn over the past year. To woo developers, the AI coding company last month unveiled a new India-only subscription plan, Cursor Start, priced at ₹649 per month.
Cursor is not the only AI juggernaut ramping its presence in India. In the past year, both OpenAI and Anthropic have opened dedicated offices in the country and rolled out India-specific pricing for local users.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

How SwishX Is Fixing Pharma’s Messy Workflows

Pharmaceutical companies still run critical commercial workflows on spreadsheets, fragmented systems and manual approvals. This slows tenders, hospital contracts, doctor engagement and distribution decisions. SwishX wants to fix this with its agentic AI stack for the medtech space.

The Pharma Pivot: Founded in 2024, SwishX initially operated in the device leasing space, but the founders later pivoted the business to pharma SaaS. The Bengaluru-based startup is now building an industry-specific intelligence layer for pharmaceutical companies, starting with sales, tenders, hospital contracts and distribution.

SwishX’s Four Engines: SwishX’s platform is organised around four products. Tender IQ identifies relevant government tenders and automates the process. Contract IQ automates hospital negotiations and approvals, while Marketing IQ converts pharma literature into short-form content for healthcare professionals. Channel IQ helps companies manage fragmented retailer and distributor networks.

Why Vertical AI? SwishX uses large language models from Anthropic alongside specialised tools such as Cartesia. The startup claims that it has trained its systems on more than 70,000 Indian pharma tenders and builds customer-specific intelligence inside sandboxed workspaces. Verified sources, human review and compliance controls are central to its approach.

Healthy Early Traction: SwishX claims to have crossed $1 Mn in ARR, works with leading pharmaceutical companies and expects to reach $5 Mn in contracted ARR and more than 100 enterprise customers by FY27. It is already expanding into Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, with longer-term plans to enter other emerging markets. So, can SwishX become the operating system for global pharma?

Infographic Of The Day

In the past seven years, Pixxel has managed to put six satellites into Earth’s orbit, raised $96 Mn, landed NASA as a customer, and is now gearing up to launch its next-generation of Honeybee satellites. Here is all about the startup that started as a college project…

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SEBI Issues Show Cause Notice To Paytm Over 2023 Disclosure

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 22:24:40 +0000

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a show cause notice (SCN) to the key managerial personnel (KMP) of fintech major Paytm over alleged violations of disclosure norms.

In a filing with the exchanges, the fintech giant said that the notice, dated August 11, pertains to the timing of an announcement in December 2023. The company also said that the SCN questions the classification of the announcement as an unpublished price sensitive information.

“… We wish to inform you that the Company’s Key Managerial Personnel… have received a (an) SCN… from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) regarding the timing of disclosure of certain information and its classification as unpublished price sensitive information, concerning the Company’s Corporate Announcement dated December 06, 2023,” read the filing.

Paytm said that it is reviewing the notice and will respond to the markets regulator within the required two-week window. It also sees the matter as having no financial impact on the company’s business.

The SEBI notice has asked Paytm’s executive(s) to explain the timing of its December 2023 disclosure, which shared an update on the company’s loan distribution business then. At the time, the fintech giant had said that it would scale down small-ticket loans of less than INR 50,000, which then predominantly comprised its postpaid loan business.

“… in line with its continued focus on driving a healthy portfolio, the company has recalibrated the portfolio origination of less than ₹50,000, which is prominently the postpaid loan product and will now be a smaller part of its loan distribution business going forward,” Paytm said then.

Following the announcement, Paytm plunged almost 19% on a single-day to a seven-month low on the BSE. Right after this, brokerage firms, including Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and JM Financial, cut their price target for Paytm.

While there appears no clarity on what allegation is SEBI probing with regards to Paytm’s KMP, the market regulator, in simple terms, is likely probing whether the fintech major failed to disclose a material event on time and whether it properly assessed the market impact of the move.

The notice, which was also issued under the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015, will also potentially pave the way for a probe into whether Paytm properly identified an important piece of information, kept this information confidential and ensured adequate insider-trading controls in place.

The development comes at a time when Paytm shares are in rally mode. Buoyed by healthy Q1 FY27 results and the Centre mulling a potential MDR on select UPI transactions, the stock has soared more than 19.6% in the past month and is up 23.6% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis.

On the financial front, Paytm reported a 79% jump in consolidated net profit to ₹220 Cr in Q1 FY27 compared with ₹123 Cr in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, revenue from operations grew 28% YoY to ₹2,448 Cr during the quarter.

Shares of Paytm closed Wednesday’s trading session 0.16% lower at ₹1,605.5 on the BSE.

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5.1 Lakh Complaints Filed Against Ecommerce Platforms In 2025: Govt

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 21:24:39 +0000

More than 5.1 Lakh complaints were registered against ecommerce and quick commerce platforms on the National Consumer Helpline in 2025, the government informed the Parliament. This is a near 14% jump from 4.4 Lakh complaints registered against online marketplaces in 2024.

In a written reply before the Lok Sabha, minister of state (MoS) for consumer affairs, BL Verma, said that the majority of the complaints (1.3 Lakhs) were registered against Flipkart, followed by Amazon (91,248) and Meesho (29,284).

Consumers also filed 25,384 complaints against fashion ecommerce giant Myntra and 19,895 against Reliance-owned Netmeds. Quick commerce platforms Zepto and Blinkit also saw 5,774 and 5,102 complaints registered against them, respectively. Over 3,400 complaints were also filed against beauty ecommerce major Nykaa.

Of the total 5.1 Lakh complaints, a majority (79,818) pertained to non-delivery of products and delivery of wrong products (75,426). 61,056 consumers also complained over replacement of products or non-disbursal of refunds, while 60,969 moved the helpline to flag delivery of defective or damaged products.

The complaints against online marketplaces on NCH also flagged product delays, customer service issues, missing orders, and sale of counterfeit products.

The MoS added that NCH has disposed of all complaints received on the portal in 2025.

Under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, all ecommerce players are required to appoint a grievance officer and acknowledge any consumer complaint within 48 hours and redress it within one month.

MoS Verma also informed the Parliament that the helpline has facilitated refunds worth ₹91 Cr to consumers between April 2025 and June 2026. He also noted that the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed penalties totalling nearly ₹1.1 Cr on 47 ecommerce platforms to date.

The comments come amid the ongoing regulatory crackdown on quick commerce platforms, eateries and restaurants over violations related to food safety norms.

Earlier this week, Karnataka’s Food Safety Division sealed a warehouse of Zepto in Bengaluru’s Hoskote. During the drive, officials discovered multiple statutory breaches, including non-compliant product labelling, misbranding, and unhygienic food storage and handling conditions.

Prior to this, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration also suspended the food licence of a Blinkit facility in Mumbai’s Malad West after an inspection uncovered an extensive cockroach infestation and several food-safety violations.

Last year too, the Maharashtra FDA had also revoked the food business licence of a Blinkit dark store in Pune’s Balewadi, while Zepto’s warehouse in Mumbai’s Dharavi was also shut down over food safety violations.

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Shiprocket IPO Subscribed 35% On Day 1; Retail, Employee Quotas Fully Booked

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 07:24:38 +0000

Ecommerce enabler Shiprocket’s IPO was subscribed 0.35X within the first few hours of bidding today, led by demand from retail investors and employees.

As of 11:57 IST, investors had placed bids for 3.29 Cr shares against the 9.44 Cr shares on offer, according to exchange data.

The portion reserved for retail investors was subscribed 1.35X, with bids for 2.33 Cr shares against the 1.73 Cr shares available for the category.

The employee portion was subscribed 2.48X after receiving bids for 2.98 Lakh shares against the 1.20 Lakh shares reserved for employees.

Meanwhile, non-institutional investors (NIIs) placed bids for 92.30 Lakh shares against the 2.60 Cr shares on offer, translating into a subscription of 0.35X.

Within the NII category, the portion reserved for investors bidding for more than ₹10 Lakh was subscribed 0.18X. The portion for investors bidding between ₹2 Lakh and ₹10 Lakh was booked 0.70X.

Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) showed negligible interest during the early hours of bidding, placing bids for only 8,624 shares against the 5.10 Cr shares available for the category.

Shiprocket’s ₹1,617 Cr IPO will close on Friday (August 14). The company has set a price band of ₹92 to ₹97 per share, valuing the company at about ₹7,000 Cr (about $733 Mn) at the upper end of the band.

The IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth up to ₹885.5 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to ₹732 Cr. Notably, the company cut the issue size by about 30% compared to the ₹1,100 Cr fresh issue and the ₹1,242 Cr OFS proposed in its updated DRHP.

As part of the OFS, cofounders Saahil Goel, Gautam Kapoor and Vishesh Khurana will pare their stakes. PE firm Lightrock will be the biggest selling shareholder, offloading shares worth about ₹272 Cr.

Yesterday, Shiprocket raised ₹727.4 Cr from anchor investors including domestic mutual funds like HDFC Mutual Fund, Nippon Life, Kotak Mahindra, among others, insurance companies, and pension funds like ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, Tata AIG Life Insurance, Axis Max Life Insurance, and Edelweiss Life Insurance. The anchor round also saw participation from Goldman Sachs, New York State Teachers Retirement System, PGIM, Societe Generale, and more.

The Delhi NCR-based company plans to use the proceeds from the fresh issue to strengthen its technology infrastructure, fund marketing initiatives, pursue potential acquisitions, repay debt and meet other general corporate expenses.

Prior to the IPO, Shiprocket raised a total of $420 Mn in funding from investors like Razorpay, PayPal Ventures, Info Edge Ventures, Temasek, among others. It became India’s 106th unicorn in 2022 after raising $33.5 Mn at a valuation of $1.2 Bn.

On the financial front, Shiprocket’s net loss grew nearly 7% to ₹79.2 Cr in FY26 from ₹74.5 Cr in the previous fiscal. Operating revenue increased 24% to ₹2,024 Cr from ₹1,632 Cr in FY25.

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Ola Electric Eyes Up To ₹7,240 Cr Battery Cell PLI Incentives After Timeline Revision

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 06:24:37 +0000

The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has revised the timelines under the advanced chemistry cell (ACC) PLI scheme for Ola Electric’s battery subsidiary, Ola Cell Technologies Pvt Ltd (OCT).

The revision gives the company a five-year incentive window through CY2031 for its 20 GWh allocation under the scheme, potentially allowing it to claim cumulative incentives of up to ₹7,240 Cr, Ola Electric said in an exchange filing.

The actual payouts will depend on the company meeting the applicable conditions under the PLI scheme.

Ola Electric said the incentives would be disbursed quarterly over the next five years, starting from December quarter of 2026. The government’s decision effectively extends the company’s original timelines by two years.

Ola Electric currently has 2.5 GWh of installed cell-manufacturing capacity, while another 3.5 GWh is under installation. It expects to reach 6 GWh by the end of the September quarter, ahead of the revised December 2026 deadline for the first capacity milestone.

“The revised timeline is more than an extension. It transforms the economics of our cell business by converting an earlier milestone overhang into a five-year, quarterly PLI opportunity of up to ₹7,240 Cr,” Ola Electric founder and CMD Bhavish Aggarwal said.

He added that the company had not included PLI incentives in its business projections after missing the original timelines.

Ola Electric’s Provision Reversal In Q1

The revised timelines assume significance as Ola Electric recently reversed a ₹57 Cr provision for liquidated damages related to delays in meeting investment milestones under the ACC PLI scheme in Q1 FY27.

OCT had received a notice from the IFCI, which serves as the project management agency for the ACC PLI scheme, in March 2025 over the delays. Ola Electric subsequently provided ₹57 Cr towards the potential liability as of March 31, 2026, besides furnishing an unconditional bank guarantee of ₹125 Cr.

During the June quarter, OCT sought an extension of the milestones and a waiver of the liquidated damages from MHI. Ola Electric said it was confident of receiving approval and subsequently wrote back the entire ₹57 Cr provision.

However, the company’s auditor, in its note for Q1 FY27, highlighted that Ola Electric reversed the ₹57 Cr provision without receiving the government’s approval for an extension or waiver. This helped it reduce its loss in the June quarter.

Ola Electric reported a 22% decline in consolidated net loss to ₹336 Cr in Q1 FY27 from ₹428 Cr a year earlier. The loss narrowed 33% QoQ from ₹500 Cr.

Operating revenue fell 45% YoY to ₹455 Cr, while rising 72% QoQ. Orders nearly doubled QoQ to 44,000 units, with registrations increasing 97% QoQ. Its E2W market share rose to 8.4% from 5.1%.

The company is now gearing up to launch the Gen 2 platform of its residential battery energy storage system (BESS) Shakti with LFP cells on August 15. On the same day, it will also unveil its utility-scale BESS platform Mahashakti.

Shares of Ola Electric were trading 0.43% higher at ₹39.81 apiece on the BSE at 11:20 IST.

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Yulu Bags $93 Mn To Scale EV Fleet, Enter Full-Size Electric Scooter Segment

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 05:24:39 +0000

Electric mobility service provider Yulu has raised $93 Mn (about ₹887.5 Cr) in its Series C funding round led by GEF Capital Partners as it looks to expand its fleet and enter the full-size electric two-wheeler segment.

The round comprised $63 Mn in equity and $30 Mn in debt.

The Bengaluru-based startup plans to use the fresh capital to quadruple its active fleet to 2 Lakh EVs over the next two years. It will also expand its service-hub network and deepen partnerships with enterprise customers.

As part of its expansion, Yulu plans to launch Yulu Express, a full-size, high-payload electric scooter designed for ecommerce logistics, bike taxis and express parcel delivery.

Founded in 2017 by Amit Gupta, Naveen Dachuri, Anuj Tewari, and RK Misra, the electric mobility-as-a-service startup offers shared electric two-wheelers for urban commuting and last-mile delivery across 12 metros and eight franchise-operated regional markets.

The startup builds low-speed electric scooters for short distance intercity commute. Its escooters, found at Yulu stations built across cities, can be rented through the Yulu app.

Yulu has expanded its business model in recent years to include gig workers across platforms like Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, Blinkit, which now contribute to a bulk of its revenue. A delivery worker or service professional can sign up for weekly and monthly subscription plans, which can range from ₹1,200 to ₹7,300, and ride a Yulu scooter for 400 Km to 3,600 Km, depending on their subscription.

It claimed that its fleet clocks 2.5 Mn kilometres and facilitates over 7.5 Lakh doorstep deliveries daily.

(The story will be updated soon)

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Table Space All Set For IPO, Watermarking AI & More

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:24:04 +0000

Table Space’s ₹800 Cr IPO

Table Space is back in the market with its IPO ambitions. The managed workspace provider has filed its DRHP with SEBI for an IPO, which will comprise both fresh issue and an OFS component. But what does Table Space’s public market play look like?

The IPO Book: The startup’s public issue comprises a fresh issue of shares worth ₹800 Cr and an OFS of 6.55 Cr shares. The biggest backer, Hillhouse Investments, will sell 4.9 Cr shares, while founder Karan Chopra and co-CEO Kunal Mehra will chip in smaller lots of around 13.1 Lakh and 1 Cr shares, respectively. The company is also mulling a pre-IPO round of ₹160 Cr.

The Number Game: The managed workspace provider’s FY26 numbers revealed the familiar new-age tech pattern: robust top line growth paired with stubborn losses.

Here is a quick look at Table Space’s FY26 numbers:

Operating revenue zoomed 66% YoY to ₹2,262 Cr
Net loss narrowed 74% YoY to ₹402 Cr
Total expenses soared 55% YoY to ₹2,383 Cr
Normalised EBITDA stood at ₹453.8 Cr, up from ₹202.3 Cr in FY25

Enterprise-Grade Scale: Table Space enters the IPO race with strong demand, marquee clientele and a growing managed workspace portfolio. Its revenue growth and sharply narrower losses in FY26 provide a stronger public-market narrative, while plans to use IPO proceeds for debt reduction and acquisitions could further appeal to public market investors.

Bumpy Ride Ahead? Despite improving revenues, Table Space remains loss-making and carries a heavy cost structure. Its leasing model also requires significant upfront capital and exposes the business to occupancy, rental and demand cycles. As a result, the IPO-bound startup will likely face scrutiny over cash flows and its long march to profitability, even as many of its peers already operate in the black.

With the ball now in SEBI’s court, which will scrutinise the managed workspace provider’s IPO documents, here’s a sneak peek into Table Space’s DRHP.

From The Editor’s Desk

Anthropic To Watermark Content

Anthropic has committed to watermarking all content across Claude products, including APIs, Code, Cowork and enterprise deployments. Most Claude models in the European Union began carrying the watermark last week.
The system will operate across two layers. While invisible, machine-readable watermarks will be embedded in Claude-generated text generated, digitally-signed provenance metadata will be attached to files such as PNG, JPG and SVG.
The rollout arrives as India is mulling tighter obligations for AI platforms to label deepfakes and AI-generated material. The proposed framework also contemplates visible or audible labels and permanent metadata where technically feasible.

Porter’s FY26 Snapshot

The logistics unicorn’s net profit zoomed 314% YoY to ₹229 Cr in FY26 on the back of operating revenue surging 54% YoY to ₹6,650 Cr during the fiscal. However, expenses also continued to bite, rising 52% YoY to ₹6,505 Cr.
Founded in 2014, Porter offers B2C and B2B logistic services, including movement of goods, packers and movers service for relocation, and intercity courier services. It derives the majority of its revenues from MSMEs and small-scale manufacturers.
The startup claims to serve over 30 Lakh customers every month across 35 Indian cities, including 20 Lakh MSMEs and 3 Lakh driver-partners. It plans to increase its footprint to 50 cities by 2030, while expanding its SME pool to 1 Cr.

LEAP India’s IPO Oversubscribed

The logistics tech company’s public issue closed with an oversubscription of 8.38X, receiving bids for 96.3 Cr shares as against 11.5 Cr shares on offer.
Qualified institutional buyers led the charts, subscribing their portion 16.84X. Meanwhile, NIIs and retail investors also poured healthy interest and subscribed their quotas 12.6X and 1.7X, respectively.
The public issue comprised a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹480 Cr and an offer for sale of up to ₹2,000 Cr. At the upper end of its ₹151 to ₹159 price band, the IPO values the company at ₹7,004.5 Cr. LEAP India shares will not hit the bourses on August 14.

Discovered Materials Bags $9 Mn

The AI-powered materials discovery startup has raised about ₹86 Cr in a seed round led by Lightspeed India Partners to expand its team and laboratory infrastructure and scale its AI agents for materials research.
Founded in 2026, Discovered Materials is building AI agents to automate parts of the materials discovery process for chips, including simulation, synthesis and experimental validation. It has been incubated at Y Combinator.
The funding comes amid growing investor interest in startups developing vertical AI agents for industry-specific workflows. The space is being driven by a massive local engineering pool and growing enterprise demand for automation and efficiency.

Blinkit & Zepto Under Scrutiny

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has suspended the food licence of a Blinkit facility in Mumbai’s Malad West after an inspection uncovered a cockroach infestation and several food-safety violations.
The inspection, conducted on August 7, found “extremely unhygienic” conditions, improper food storage, inadequate cleaning of the cold-storage area and expired, damaged or tampered packaged food products.
Karnataka’s Food Safety Division has also sealed a major warehouse of Zepto in Bengaluru’s Hoskote. During the inspection, officials found non-compliant product labelling, misbranding, and unhygienic food storage and handling conditions.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

Inside GoCodeo’s Agentic Stack For Coding

AI-led coding is increasingly becoming the norm. But full-stack software development involves much more: structuring projects, testing code, fixing bugs and shipping reliable releases. GoCodeo is building an AI coding agent that works across this full loop.

Prompt To Production: Founded in 2023, GoCodeo is designed to help developers build, test and deploy software from within VS Code. Its agent can work across project setup, code generation, debugging, testing and deployment, positioning the startup as more than a standalone code suggestion tool.

Agent-Driven Environment: GoCodeo integrates with Git for repository initialisation as well as commits and pull requests, while its TEST workflow generates unit tests and helps diagnose failures. The platform also supports multiple programming languages and more than 25 frameworks, and also offers integrations with tools such as GitHub, Notion, Stripe and Supabase via MCP agents.

GoCodeo also pitches context-aware, autonomous actions inside the integrated development environment, and has open-sourced a full-stack SaaS builder framework.

A Growing Ecosystem: GoCodeo claims to have more than 25,000 developers on its platform and counts Google for Startups and NSRCEL among its ecosystem supporters. The startup is eyeing a piece of the growing Indian enterprise AI market, which is projected to become a $71 Bn opportunity by 2030. So, can GoCodeo become the go-to platform to ship software?

Infographic Of The Day

Nails are no longer an afterthought and India’s D2C brands are finally catching up to that math. Here is all about a shelf full of brands that are betting that your nails deserve the same attention as your skin and hair…

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LEAP India IPO: Issue Subscribed 1.71X On Day 3 So Far

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 10:24:13 +0000

Logistics tech company LEAP India’s IPO got completely subscribed in the early hours of trade on the final day of bidding. As of 13:27 IST, investors have placed bids for 19.64 Cr shares against 11.50 Cr shares on offer, translating to an oversubscription of 1.71X.

Interest from non institutional investors (NIIs) picked up significantly on the final day of bidding, with these investors oversubscribing their quota by 3.33X. These investors have placed bids for 8.20 Cr shares against 2.46 Cr shares allocated for them.

Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) continued to remain bullish on the public float on the final day. As of now, QIBs have oversubscribed their quota by 1.90X, placing bids for 6.25 Cr shares against the 3.28 Cr shares earmarked for them. In this category, foreign investors led the charge with foreign institutional investors placing bids for 4.47 Cr shares.

Retail investors are yet to subscribe their quota completely, placing bids for 5.14 Cr shares against the 5.75 Cr reserved for them. This translates to a 90% subscription of their quota.

Meanwhile, there has been a heightened interest from the company’s employees, who have already placed bids for 4.99 Lakh shares against 82,781 reserved for them. This category has seen an oversubscription of 6.03X.

With this, LEAP India will tentatively make its public markets debut on NSE and BSE on August 14 (Friday).

The logistics tech company’s public issue comprises a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹480 Cr and an offer for sale of up to ₹2,000 Cr. At the upper end of the price band, the IPO values the company at ₹7,004.5 Cr (about $735 Mn).

Around ₹360 Cr from the fresh issue will be used to repay or prepay certain borrowings, while the remaining proceeds will be deployed for general corporate purposes.

LEAP India reported a 66% jump in net profit to ₹62.3 Cr in FY26 from ₹37.5 Cr in the previous year. Operating revenue zoomed 56% to ₹729.5 Cr in the year under review, from ₹466.5 Cr in FY25.

Founded in 2013 by Mathew, LEAP India provides supply chain solutions, including equipment pooling, returnable packaging, inventory management and movement, transportation, as well as repair and maintenance services.

The company caters to customers across industries such as FMCG, food and beverages, ecommerce, automotive and retail. In FY26, it served more than 1,000 customers, including Coca-Cola, Marico, Panasonic, Haier and Daikin.

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