Podcasts about blinkit

In today's Tech3 from Moneycontrol, we break down how Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart are dominating India's quick commerce race with over 4 million daily orders. Swiggy shuts down its Genie service, while TCS slashes variable pay and delays hikes for senior staff. In the EV world, TVS edges past Ola in April sales. Plus, YouTube tests a two-person Premium plan in India.

Right now, it feels like Blinkit and Zepto are everywhere. In Delhi, where I live, it's as if people's days are incomplete without ordering one thing or the other through these apps. Delivering groceries and shampoos in ten minutes is one thing, but now, quick commerce is expanding. In March, Zepto announced that it's going to join Blinkit and Swiggy and also begin delivering...iPhones. But, who's buying? In this episode, we'll learn about the rapid expansion of India's quick commerce industry. From selling groceries in the pandemic, now, quick commerce apps even sell iPhones. How the hell did we get here?

India's biggest quick-commerce apps, Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy, have become prime real estate not just for regular FMCG brands but also for financial services, stock-trading apps, and even real-money gaming platforms. The top three players are already making Rs 3 to 3,500 crore rupees  in annual ad revenue. And that, dear listeners, is about half of what Amazon India made from ads in FY24, despite having way more users.In today's episode, host Snigdha Sharma speaks to The Ken reporter Gaurav Bagur about how quick commerce apps have become the new battleground for India's ad money and our attention span.Tune in.Question for listeners: Think of the times when you're on your phone everyday and tell us three instances where no one is trying to sell you anything. You can send in your answers to our Whatsapp number 8971108379. Also, if you have any questions for Gaurav, you can send them on the same number as a voice note or a text message.Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India's first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

To get your dose of daily business news, tune into Mint Top of the Morning on Mint Podcasts available on all audio streaming platforms. https://open.spotify.com/show/7x8Nv1RlOKyMV5IftIJwP1?si=bf5ecbaedd8f4ddc This is Nelson John, and I'll bring you the top business and tech stories, let's get started.  Zepto Bets Big on Cold Chain for Fresh Produce Quick commerce is fast, but fresh produce needs better logistics. Zepto is doubling down on cold chain infrastructure to improve margins and quality. CEO Aadit Palicha is actively seeking cold supply chain experts to enhance operations. The company has partnered with Transport Corporation of India to expand storage in the South. Fruits and vegetables account for 8-10% of quick commerce sales but face 15% wastage due to India's fragmented cold chain. The market is projected to grow from $14.5 billion (2023) to $53 billion (2032). Zepto's private-label meat brand, Relish, leveraged cold logistics to hit ₹150 crore ARR in six months. Zomato Lays Off 600 Employees Amid Automation Push Zomato has reportedly laid off 600 customer support employees in a bid to cut costs as growth slows. The layoffs follow AI-driven automation in customer service and financial pressures at its quick commerce arm, Blinkit. Employees claim they were dismissed without notice periods or clear explanations, while Zomato cites performance issues. On Reddit, ex-employees shared grievances, with one alleging termination for being late by 28 minutes over three months. Despite the layoffs, Zomato's stock closed 0.84% higher at ₹203.20. Aditya Birla Exits Paper Business, Sells to ITC for ₹3,500 Crore Aditya Birla Real Estate Ltd (ABREL) is exiting the paper sector, selling Century Pulp and Paper to ITC Ltd for ₹3,500 crore. The deal surpassed estimates, with Nomura valuing it at 18x EV/EBITDA for FY25. ABREL's paper segment has struggled, with revenue falling 5.5% YoY in FY24 and margins shrinking by 410 basis points. The sale will help reduce net debt (₹4,300 crore) to near-zero, boosting ABREL's real estate expansion. However, significant cash flow from projects like Niyaara will only materialize from FY27 onwards. ABREL's stock is down 21% in 2025, and investors await Q4 results and the Niyaara Phase 3 launch in FY26. CAG Report Flags Revenue Losses, Weak Oversight in Telecom & Digital Infra The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has raised alarms over governance failures in telecom, electronics, and postal services: • Telecom: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) failed to recover ₹2,463.67 crore from telcos due to delayed audits. BSNL lost ₹1,757.76 crore by failing to bill Reliance Jio for technology use. • Electronics Manufacturing: Under M-SIPS, only ₹2,136 crore was disbursed from ₹36,991 crore in committed investments, causing policy instability for investors. • Digital Infrastructure: The ₹6,548-crore National Knowledge Network for research institutions was flagged for poor bandwidth utilization and cybersecurity gaps. • Postal Services: GST mismanagement and irregular promotions resulted in ₹17.22 crore in tax losses. The findings expose execution flaws in India's push for digital self-reliance. Shapoorji Pallonji Faces Insolvency Plea Over Unpaid ₹2.72 Crore The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)-Mumbai has issued a notice to Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Pvt. Ltd (SPCPL) over an insolvency plea filed by Chennai-based Intertouch Metal Buildings Pvt. Ltd. The roofing firm alleges unpaid dues for work on Port Blair's Veer Savarkar International Airport. SPCPL must respond within seven days, with the next hearing on April 24. This isn't SPCPL's first insolvency dispute. In October 2024, NCLT dismissed a similar plea by KBC Infrastructure, ruling that insolvency laws cannot be used as a debt recovery tool. As legal proceedings unfold, all eyes are on Shapoorji Pallonji's response and whether the case progresses to full-fledged insolvency.

Today, we have with us Kiran Shah, the mastermind behind Go-Zero, India's fastest-growing guilt-free ice cream brand. Coming from a family with over 50 years of experience in the ice cream business, Kiran took a bold step to revolutionize the industry with zero sugar, low-calorie, and high-protein ice creams.Despite strong competition from legacy brands like Naturals and Amul, Kiran's strategic approach, smart marketing, and innovation have helped Go-Zero carve out a ₹66 crore empire in a short span. From securing investment on Shark Tank India to scaling his brand through modern retail channels like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy, his journey is a true inspiration for entrepreneurs.

To get your dose of daily business news, tune into Mint Top of the Morning on Mint Podcasts available on all audio streaming platforms. https://open.spotify.com/show/7x8Nv1RlOKyMV5IftIJwP1?si=bf5ecbaedd8f4ddc This is Nelson John, and I'll bring you the top business and tech stories, let's get started.  Markets Rally as Nifty Erases Losses Just weeks ago, Nifty was deep in the red. Now, it's wiped out its losses for the year, riding a six-day rally that has made India one of the world's best-performing markets this month. On Monday, Nifty surged 1.32% to 23,658, while Sensex rose 1.4% to 77,984. HDFC Bank, Reliance, SBI, and ICICI Bank led the charge. “The correction's done—we could be heading toward record highs,” says veteran investor Ramesh Damani. Foreign investors are returning, pumping in over ₹8,000 crore in two days. However, some experts remain cautious, citing global trade tensions and volatility. Sebi Eases Investment Rules, Boosts Transparency India's market regulator, Sebi, has revamped investment rules, doubling the disclosure threshold for foreign investors from ₹25,000 crore to ₹50,000 crore, allowing alternative investment funds to take more risks, and easing fee collection restrictions for advisors. The move, led by new chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey, gives investors greater flexibility while maintaining oversight. Sebi has also set up a high-level committee to address conflicts of interest and strengthen governance, signaling a push for a more transparent and investor-friendly market. Quick Commerce Becomes a Lifeline for Consumer Brands For early-stage consumer brands, quick commerce is no longer just an add-on—it's becoming their biggest sales channel. Startups like Sweet Karam Coffee and Wholsum Foods (Slurrp Farm) are restructuring supply chains to meet Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart's rapid delivery demands. Sweet Karam Coffee, for instance, shifted to regional hubs, leading to a sixfold revenue surge, with 50% of sales now coming from quick commerce. Investors like Fireside Ventures see this as their fastest-growing segment. However, challenges such as high marketing costs, limited shelf space, and operational complexities could threaten long-term profitability. Car Insurance Discounts Come at a Hidden Cost The car insurance market has transformed into a game of deep discounts and costly add-ons. Insurers lure customers with up to 80% premium cuts but recover profits by charging separately for essentials like zero depreciation, roadside assistance, and preferred garages. Some policies, especially for commercial vehicles, are issued at 95-99% discounts, distorting true pricing. While insurers claim add-ons offer flexibility, experts warn that the actual cost of insurance is now buried under multiple layers—leading to confusion and higher consumer expenses. Lentils at the Center of India-US Trade Tensions A new 10% import duty on pulses has put lentils at the heart of India-US trade talks. The US wants yellow lentils to be classified separately from red masoor to avoid the tax. Currently, both fall under the same harmonized system of nomenclature (HSN) code. India is considering duty-free US pulse imports, even as Washington prepares retaliatory tariffs on Indian goods next month. However, changing HSN classifications is a lengthy process. Despite rising domestic production, India still relies on imports, with Canada and Australia supplying the bulk of lentils. The fate of yellow lentils remains uncertain, keeping pulses a key issue in India's global trade strategy.

Blinkit, a quick commerce company was recently in the news after it announced the launch of its 10-minute ambulance service, to be rolled out, beginning in Gurugaon and with plans to expand to other cities over two years. The launch, while praised in some quarters and criticised in others has thrown into focus a larger question: why does India not have a national emergency service helpline and an adequate number of ambulances to cater to its population? Considering that we are a country with one of the highest road traffic accidents in the world and a growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, this critical aspect of medical care seems to be neglected: emergency services at present are provided by private hospitals, at a cost, by emerging services such as Blinkit, also at a cost, and when provided by the government are uneven and fragmented across the country. What are the issues around emergency services in India? Do we have adequate numbers of vehicles for our population and an equal number of trained paramedics and driver? Do we need a framework to regulate this sector? Guest: Rama Baru, retired professor of social medicine and community health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Jude Francis Weston

Both Zomato and Swiggy have been aggressively focusing on the 10-minute grocery delivery space for a while now. Quick commerce. But what sent both of them into a spiral was when Zepto, the joker in the quick commerce pack, started delivering snacks in 10-minutes through Zepto Cafe, a separate app. Suddenly, quick commerce wasn't enough. Quick food was up for play too.Swiggy launched Snacc soon after, and Blinkit followed suit with Bistro. Both were also separate apps.But this move to disrupt themselves to avoid getting disrupted has drawn a lot of flak from the restaurant partners listed on their platforms. Because a marketplace can only be neutral when it does not participate in it.And it is not like Zomato and Swiggy haven't tried a hand at this before. Both platforms previously ran their cloud kitchen verticals, Zomato Infrastructure Services and Swiggy Access, respectively, which they had to close down or sell.They then turned their attention to delivering food and building up efficiencies to deliver it faster. But when Zepto Cafe came in the picture in December with their pitch as a separate app, both Zomato and Swiggy jumped back and opened that chapter again. Only this time, they added that they would deliver it in 10 minutes and said they were not trying to build a private label to compete with the restaurants listed on their platforms. They made it clear both Bistro and SNACC are separate apps which don't use any of the data collected by Zomato and Swiggy to date.But what do the restaurants listed on the platform have to say about this?Hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan got into what all of this means for restaurants in one of the most uninhibited, probing and also the longest episodes of Two by Two we've recorded to date.To capture the restaurateurs' perspective, we have three guests who have experience working with both of the companies.Joining the hosts for the discussion are Gaurav Saria, founder of Infinitea, India's first exclusive chain of tearooms and stores; Thomas Fenn, co-founder of Mahabelly and joint secretary at NRAI; and Ramchander Raman, former President of Cafe Coffee Day and co-founder and COO of Nucleus Kitchens.Welcome to episode 26 of Two by Two. Tune in to listen to an exciting discussion.–Additional reading:The Zomato-Swiggy cartel: Bistro and Snacc further threaten the restaurant businessZomato, Swiggy gave up on selling their own food. Then came along Zepto Cafe“There's an app for that”–Swiggy, Zepto, and Blinkit–What you just listened to is the first 30 minutes of a 2-hour-long conversation. If you want to listen and get early access to the full episode, consider becoming a Premium subscriber to The Ken, which, in addition to Two by Two, will also give you access to our long-form stories, Premiums newsletters and visual stories. Or if you just want to listen to Two by Two for now, for iOS users, we have enabled Premium subscription on Apple Podcasts.This episode of Two by Two was researched and produced by Hari Krishna. Rajiv CN, our resident sound engineer, mixed and mastered this episode.If you liked this episode of Two by Two, please share it with your friends and family who would be interested in listening to the episode. And if you have more thoughts on the discussion, we'd love to hear your arguments as well. You can write to us at twobytwo@the-ken.com

We're excited to host Dr. Aditi Surie, a Senior Consultant at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) and a leading researcher on digital labour platforms, worker well-being, and livelihoods in India.At IIHS, Dr. Surie leads the academic and policy research portfolio on technology and society, focusing on how digital platforms shape work, employment, and economic opportunities, especially in the Global South. Since 2015, she has conducted extensive sectoral studies on gig and platform workers, analyzing their working conditions, risks, and experiences with platform design.Her research provides crucial insights into employment in India's fast-growing platform economy, covering workers across delivery, ride-hailing, home services, and other digital labour platforms.Beyond research, she is actively involved in policy discussions on labour rights, digital governance, and platform regulation, collaborating with academics, policymakers, and civil society organizations.Her co-edited book, Platformization and Informality (2023), brings together scholars to develop Global South-specific frameworks for understanding the quality and regulation of platform work.In this episode, Dr. Surie takes us deep into the Platform Economy, examining how companies like Urban Company, Swiggy, Blinkit, and BluSmart generate employment and what that means for workers' rights, job security, and economic inclusion.‘In Solidarity' is the SEWA Cooperative Federation Podcast, dedicated to unpacking critical themes around women's economic empowerment and the challenges facing women-run enterprises.Tune in!

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Thursday, February 13, 2025. This is Nelson John, let's get started. Amid India-China geopolitical tensions, China's Fosun Pharmaceutical is in discussions with three global private equity firms to sell its majority stake in the Hyderabad-based Gland Pharma. Fosun currently owns about 51% of Gland Pharma, after initially acquiring a 74% stake for $1.2 billion. They have hired investment banks Morgan Stanley and UBS to assist with the sale. Global private equity firms Blackstone, Brookfield, and Warburg Pincus are interested in buying this stake, valuing the company at nearly $3 billion. Gland Pharma, founded in 1978, specializes in making generic injectable medicines and serves nearly 90 countries, focusing on India and the U.S. markets. In the December quarter, the company reported revenues of ₹1,384 crore and a profit after tax of ₹204.7 crore.The potential sale is expected to trigger an open offer to Gland Pharma's shareholders, with the buyers aiming to own between 60-65% of the company after the transaction. In a major step toward strengthening digital payment security, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed additional factor authentication (AFA) for international card-not-present (CNP) transactions. This means Indian consumers will have an extra layer of security when making payments to foreign merchants—just like they already do for domestic transactions.Now you may wonder what prompted this move by the RBI?It's primarily due to Rising Fraud Cases in international transactions involving unauthorized charges on foreign websites with minimal authentication. Now adding AFA will ensure stronger security standards that safeguard Indian cardholders against such risks.   US-based industrial and aerospace giant Honeywell and Greenko founders-led AM Green signed an agreement on Wednesday to collaborate on manufacturing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in India from biofuels, including ethanol, methanol, and green hydrogen. Under this agreement, Honeywell's cutting-edge technology will be leveraged to produce SAF from renewable sources, aligning with global efforts to transition toward greener energy solutions. AM Green, a company backed by the founders of renewable energy giant Greenko, will focus on production and scaling operations in India, catering to both domestic and international markets.The companies will assess the feasibility of making SAF in India to reduce the country's oil import dependence, helping shipping companies adopt the low-emission fuel, and aiding aviation companies to meet International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines for low-carbon fuel replacements. The global aviation industry is under increasing pressure to cut carbon emissions, and SAF has emerged as a key solution. This partnership strengthens India's role in the green energy revolution, supporting global decarbonization goals while reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Over two dozen Indian startups are expected to go public in the coming months, including big names like Groww, Lenskart, and Zepto, which could see billion-dollar IPOs. Smaller companies like Ather Energy, BoAt, Bluestone, Infra.market, PhysicsWallah, PayU, and Pine Labs are also gearing up for their stock market debuts. This is a jump from last year when only 13 startups, including Swiggy, Ola Electric, and FirstCry, went public. However, market conditions are getting tougher. Investment bankers say startups might need to adjust their IPO sizes and valuations due to recent global economic shifts. The US stock market has been hit hard after President Donald Trump announced new tariffs, leading to uncertainty in global equity markets. India's Nifty 50 index is down 12.5% from its peak last September, with foreign investors selling off shares. Amid tough market conditions and lock-in expiries those looking to invest in upcoming IPOs could also be staring at losses in the short term      At the Maha Kumbh Mela, India's largest spiritual gathering, several startups are seizing the opportunity to engage with the vast influx of pilgrims. Zomato-owned Blinkit has set up a temporary store offering ritual-related items and other essentials. Swiggy's Instamart has established a stall near the Triveni Sangam to serve attendees. PhonePe, in collaboration with ICICI Lombard General Insurance, is providing affordable travel insurance plans tailored for Kumbh visitors. Chai Point has deployed around 175 personnel and 18-20 mini stations, utilizing brewing bots capable of producing 15 liters of tea every 12 minutes, resulting in daily sales of approximately 160,000 cups reports Peiyamvada C. Now these initiatives not only cater to the immediate needs of pilgrims but also serve as strategic moves for brand visibility and customer acquisition. By adjusting pricing and packaging, these startups aim to connect with a broader audience beyond their typical urban clientele, gathering valuable insights for future expansions.

Zomato's Rebranding explained !! | ep: 441 | Tamil podcast | delivery app | blinkit

Both Zomato and Swiggy have been aggressively focusing on the 10-minute grocery delivery space for a while now. Quick commerce. But what sent both of them into a spiral was when Zepto, the joker in the quick commerce pack, started delivering snacks in 10-minutes through Zepto Cafe, a separate app. Suddenly, quick commerce wasn't enough. Quick food was up for play too.Swiggy launched Snacc soon after, and Blinkit followed suit with Bistro. Both were also separate apps.But this move to disrupt themselves to avoid getting disrupted has drawn a lot of flak from the restaurant partners listed on their platforms. Because a marketplace can only be neutral when it does not participate in it.And it is not like Zomato and Swiggy haven't tried a hand at this before. Both platforms previously ran their cloud kitchen verticals, Zomato Infrastructure Services and Swiggy Access, respectively, which they had to close down or sell.They then turned their attention to delivering food and building up efficiencies to deliver it faster. But when Zepto Cafe came in the picture in December with their pitch as a separate app, both Zomato and Swiggy jumped back and opened that chapter again. Only this time, they added that they would deliver it in 10 minutes and said they were not trying to build a private label to compete with the restaurants listed on their platforms. They made it clear both Bistro and SNACC are separate apps which don't use any of the data collected by Zomato and Swiggy to date.But what do the restaurants listed on the platform have to say about this?Hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan got into what all of this means for restaurants in one of the most uninhibited, probing and also the longest episodes of Two by Two we've recorded to date.To capture the restaurateurs' perspective, we have three guests who have experience working with both of the companies.Joining the hosts for the discussion are Gaurav Saria, founder of Infinitea, India's first exclusive chain of tearooms and stores; Thomas Fenn, co-founder of Mahabelly and joint secretary at NRAI; and Ramchander Raman, former President of Cafe Coffee Day and co-founder and COO of Nucleus Kitchens.Welcome to episode 26 of Two by Two. Tune in to listen to an exciting discussion.–Additional reading:The Zomato-Swiggy cartel: Bistro and Snacc further threaten the restaurant businessZomato, Swiggy gave up on selling their own food. Then came along Zepto Cafe“There's an app for that”–Swiggy, Zepto, and Blinkit–What you just listened to is a short part of a 2-hour long conversation. If you want to listen and get early access to the full episode, consider becoming a Premium subscriber to The Ken, which in addition to Two by Two, will also give you access to our long-form stories, Premiums newsletters and visual stories. Or if you just want to listen to Two by Two for now, for iOS users, we have enabled Premium subscription on Apple Podcasts.This episode of Two by Two was researched and produced by Hari Krishna. Rajiv CN, our resident sound engineer, mixed and mastered this episode.If you liked this episode of Two by Two, please share it with your friends and family who would be interested in listening to the episode. And if you have more thoughts on the discussion, we'd love to hear your arguments as well. You can write to us at twobytwo@the-ken.com

FROM THE ARCHIVES (This episode was first published July 1, 2024)The Economic Times reported yesterday that Zepto, the quick-commerce startup, is in talks to increase the size of its initial public offering to $800 million-$1 billion. Zepto earlier planned to raise $450 million through the issue.  Even when it entered the quick commerce scene for the first time in 2021, Zepto was a disruptor. Now, it is the third largest company in the market after Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart. Last year, it secured its biggest funding ever at a US$3.6 billion valuation, mainly from its existing investors.Venture Intelligence, a data provider told The Ken that the US$660 million funding was the largest bet made by VCs in Indian startups in 2024. What did Zepto do to get all this attention from investors?Tune in.Also listen to:Daybreak: Why we date, marry, or breakup with Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, Zepto & BigBasket

 Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Thursday, January 23, 2025. This is Nelson John, let's get started. Geopolitics is reshaping global tech strategies, with the US's Stargate Project a prime example. Spearheaded by President Trump, this initiative involves a consortium including OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and MGX committing $500 billion to develop AI data centres across the US. This move aims to bolster America's AI infrastructure, create 100,000 jobs, and enhance its competitive edge against China in AI technologies. China, despite trailing behind the U.S. in AI, continues its rapid advancement, highlighted by innovations such as DeepSeek's new open-source AI model. This model promises to deliver high-level AI functionalities at a fraction of the cost of current leading technologies, posing a direct challenge to America's dominance. India is also not far behind, and is aggressively expanding its AI infrastructure. New initiatives and investments, such as Microsoft's $3 billion expansion and major semiconductor projects, are set to significantly boost India's capabilities in AI and chip manufacturing, aiming to make it a pivotal player in the global tech landscape. So, will the Stargate Project help the US trump China? Leslie D'Monte explains. The division of real estate magnate Mangal Prabhat Lodha's empire aimed to prevent family conflict but has led to a legal battle between his sons Abhishek and Abhinandan Lodha. Despite an initial settlement that divided the business, including a payout to Abhinandan, disagreements over the use of the Lodha name have surfaced. Abhishek's company, Macrotech Developers, has sued to stop Abhinandan's business from using the name, claiming it confuses customers and dilutes the brand. This dispute has become public, hampering Macrotech's stock and highlighting the complexities of family business transitions and brand management. Nehal Chaliawala and Varun Sood take a deep dive into the conflict in the Lodha family. UPI Circle, a feature on the BHIM app, allows a primary user to authorize a secondary user to handle transactions from their bank account. This setup is ideal for helping those who may struggle with digital payments, and offers both full and partial delegation options. In full delegation, secondary users can process transactions up to ₹15,000 per day without further approval. Partial delegation, however, requires the primary user's confirmation for each transaction, adding a layer of security. The service is available through the BHIM app, and is supported by major banks such as SBI, HDFC, and ICICI, but it's not yet live on the most popular UPI platforms such as PhonePe or Google Pay. The rapid expansion of quick commerce in India has led to a surge in demand for dark store workers, vital for operations of businesses such as Zomato's Blinkit and Swiggy's Instamart. These workers are essential for picking, packing, and loading goods quickly to meet the quick-delivery promises. With Zomato planning to double its dark stores and Zepto aiming for significant growth, the sector sees high churn rates and competition for workers, pushing companies to offer better salaries and incentives. Industry specialists note that dark store workers typically earn between ₹15,000-18,000 a month, with potential bonuses that could add another ₹6,000. However, attrition rates are around 12-15% a month – much higher than in other sectors. This high turnover means companies such as Zepto and Blinkit could see their entire workforce change over the course of a year, which drives up hiring costs, Mansi Verma reports. The upcoming Union Budget for FY26 may include financial support for green hydrogen initiatives targeting major polluting industries such as steel, cement and power. This move is being considered to speed up the adoption of green technologies, which has been slower than expected because of high costs. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has proposed incentives for adopting green hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization, and storage, recognizing that fiscal support is crucial to meet India's energy transition goals. Currently, under the ₹19,700 crore National Green Hydrogen Mission, the government provides ₹17,490 crore for green hydrogen and electrolyzer production under the SIGHT scheme, Rituraj Baruah reports. The goal is to produce 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030, leveraging India's renewable energy capabilities to make it a significant player in the global market.

A couple years ago, quick commerce platforms were the place to be for up and coming brands across the country. Just a little sliver of real estate on a rapid delivery app was enough to put them on the map. But now, many of these brands are very quickly realising that success on a Blinkit or a Zepto is a double edged sword. With it comes high commissions, marketing fees, and the constant pressure to never run out of inventory. Some brands have now had enough. How did it get here? The Ken reporter Nuha Bubere explains.Tune in.  Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Text us and tell us what you thought of the episode!Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India's first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

2024 was the year of the 10-minute delivery. We think we didn't need it but the likes of Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, and Blinkit proved us wrong. While other companies were struggling to find funding, these quick-commerce companies were raising billions of dollars and reporting double-digit, sometimes even triple-digit annual growth rates.In December, Zomato's quick-commerce subsidiary, Blinkit made a strategic move in the rapidly growing quick food delivery market space. It launched ‘Bistro', a platform that will deliver food and beverages within 10 minutes. Interestingly, this was just a day after its competitor Zepto introduced the Zepto Cafe. Swiggy too already has a 10-minute food delivery service called Bolt, and unlike the others, it is inside their original app. Is this just another indulgence or has quick commerce reached a point where players are so paranoid that they're trying to hold on to customers who think that a food delivery that takes 40 minutes is too slow? Tune in.Also, listen to: Why we date, marry, or breakup with Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, Zepto & BigBasketTell us what you thought of this episode. You can text us your feedback on WhatsApp at +918971108379Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India's first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

10-Minute Ambulance Service by Blinkit !! | ep: 420 | Tamil podcast | blinkit | ambulance

What changed in tech this year? From the rise of Gen AI to the game-changing speed of quick commerce, 2024 was packed with rapid shifts in the tech world. Innovations that came out of nowhere quickly became part of our daily lives—redefining the way we shop, work, and manage our health. We dive into how AI-powered tools have become everyday essentials, the rise of 10-minute deliveries, and how health tech is now in the hands of millions. Plus, we take a closer look at how telecom woes continue, and why 5G adoption is still evolving. Join hosts Leslie D'Monte and Shouvik Das as they explore the key tech trends that shaped 2024 and set the stage for an even bigger 2025. Tune in to find out what stood out this year and what's ahead for tech.

Featuring in this episode are: Ajit Chouhan (U Mumba Kabaddi Player)  Aditya Joshi (Team Sports Katta) https://x.com/aditya1387 वडिल ट्रक ड्रायव्हर म्हणून देशभर प्रवास करत असताना चौहान कुटुंबीय अजित ४-५ वर्षांचा असताना वाराणसीमधून पुण्यामध्ये येऊन स्थिरावले. ट्रक चालवून पाय दुखायला लागल्यामुळे डांगे चौकामध्ये भाजी विकायचा व्यवसाय चालू केला. अर्थात त्यामध्ये अजितची आई, अजित सगळचे सहभागी झाले. कबड्डीमध्ये सुरूवातीला दुखापत होऊ शकते म्हणून घरच्यांचा विरोध होता. पण सरांनी गुणवत्ता हेरली आणि अजितची कबड्डी सुरू राहीली. पण दहावीनंतर आपल्या गरजा भागवायच्या तर घरची परिस्थीती नसल्यामुळे सगळ्या गोष्टी स्वत: करणं भाग होतं. त्यामुळे मोठ्या लग्नसमारंभात काम करायला जाणं, बिल्डिंगच्या साईटवर कामं करणं अशा सगळ्या गोष्टी कबड्डीचा सराव चालू ठेवून करत होता. ब्लिंकिटमध्ये डिलिव्हरी बॉयचं कामदेखील केलं. त्याचं ऑफिस बालेवाडीत होतं. त्याच बालेवाडी मैदानात आता प्रो. कबड्डीमध्ये यु मुंबाचा तो हुकमी एक्का आहे. पहिल्याच सीझनमध्ये खेळण्याची संधी मिळाली आणि त्याने संघाला पुढे नेलं आहे. त्याची जबरदस्त स्टोरी त्याने स्पोर्ट्स कट्टाच्या आदित्य जोशीला उलगडून सांगितली आहे.  Ajit Chauhan's story is undoubtedly inspirational. His life is a perfect example of struggle, hard work, and determination. The sacrifices made by his family, his father working as a truck driver, starting a vegetable-selling business to meet the family's daily needs, and at the same time, nurturing his passion for kabaddi with unwavering dedication — all of these aspects highlight Ajit's persistence and resilience. Though his journey into kabaddi began with opposition from his family, his coach recognized his potential and gave him the opportunity to pursue the sport. Given the financial struggles at home, Ajit had to take up various odd jobs to support his family, but he never let go of his kabaddi training. Even while working as a delivery boy for Blinkit, he prioritized his kabaddi practice. It was this hard work and determination that led to his breakthrough in Pro Kabaddi. As a key player for U Mumba, he made an impact in the very first season, helping the team advance. His relentless effort, the sacrifices made for his family, and his deep love for kabaddi all contributed to his success. Ajit Chauhan's life is a remarkable example of perseverance, selflessness, and staying committed to one's goals. His journey is a true inspiration to anyone who faces challenges but refuses to give up. He has spoken in detail about his journey with Sports Katta's Aditya Joshi Follow us on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsKattaMarathi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportskattamarathi Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SportsKattaMarathi Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sports_Katta Email : barachkaahi@gmail.com

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Thursday, December 19, 2024. This is Nelson John, let's get started. Adar Poonawalla's recent dive into Bollywood, in which he snagged a 50% stake in Karan Johar's Dharma Productions for a cool ₹1,000 crore, isn't just a one-off. It hints at a bigger potential shift across Bollywood. Poonawalla, known best for producing vaccines, teaming up with a giant like Dharma Productions could just set off a trend. Industry insiders weren't taken aback by this development, as Dharma had been actively seeking fresh funding amid a string of less-than-stellar box office returns and cooling interest from streaming platforms. Before Poonawalla stepped in, giants such as Saregama and Reliance Industries were also in the running, highlighting the attractiveness of film studios as potential investment opportunities for diverse business conglomerates. This move could encourage more such strategic investments, writes Lata Jha. It could also reshape how Bollywood studios align themselves with broader business interests, potentially leading to a wave of revitalisation that could impact content creation, distribution and marketing strategies across the industry.Despite allegations of anti-competitive practices by Zepto, Instamart and Blinkit, the Competition Commission of India is unlikely to launch an investigation into quick commerce companies. Sources told Dhirendra Kumar and Gireesh Chandra Prasad that the information provided to CCI didn't convince them there was any anti-competitive behaviour that warranted further examination. This booming sector, projected to hit $6 billion in sales by 2024, seems too competitive and beneficial to consumers for the CCI to take action on its own. Meanwhile, concerns persist among traditional retailers, represented by the All-India Consumer Products Distributors Federation. They claim the platforms' allegedly predatory pricing and inadequate enforcement of FDI rules could threaten traditional retailers, and are urging a closer look to prevent potential monopolistic outcomes.Sebi's tightening of rules in India's F&O market aims to cool intense retail trading driven by expectations of quick profits and the gamification tactics of brokerages. Measures such as increasing index contract sizes to ₹15-20 lakh and adding a steep 14% loss margin for contract sales on expiry days kicked in on November 20. More rules such as upfront collection of option premiums by brokerages are expected to take effect in February 2025. For retail investors, these higher barriers mean trading in F&O will require more money and a deeper understanding of the markets—essentially pushing out those looking for quick, easy profits. Brokerages, particularly discount ones such as Zerodha and Angel One, could take a hit to their bottom lines as reduced volumes will force them to rethink pricing or diversify their services. Abhinanda Saha takes a look at this new era in India's F&O market. In India, companies are stepping up their game on diversity hiring for roles ranging from software development to mechanical engineering. They're not just looking to fill positions – they're trying to show they're progressive and uphold strong corporate governance. From big names such as Robert Bosch GmbH and IBM Corp to Noida's Coforge Ltd, there's a growing trend of including people from diverse backgrounds, including those who are differently abled. For example, over at R.V. College of Engineering in Bengaluru, they've already recruited 26 students under diversity categories this year. This push towards diversity isn't just about doing good; it's also about looking good, reports Jas Bardia. Companies are increasingly aware that strong diversity practices boost their brand and appeal to investors who value robust environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. This is in stark contrast to the US, where some big companies and universities are pulling back on their diversity initiatives, wary of running afoul of anti-discrimination laws.TVS Credit is in talks to buy Avendus Capital from KKR, aiming to boost its financial services, sources told Ranjani Raghavan. It's considering funding the purchase through internal accruals and may consider debt later. KKR, which invested $120 million in Avendus in 2015, appointed Rothschild after Nomura withdrew from facilitating the sale. Avendus, known for its strong investment banking and startup advisory services, could be valued between $500 and $700 million for a 70% stake. Serious bidders include Mizuho and Carlyle, but a final decision is likely to be pushed to January owing to the holidays. A successful bid could significantly expand TVS's financial-sector footprint, adding investment banking and asset management to its portfolio.

Category managers have shifted from routine e-commerce roles to powerful decision-makers in quick commerce. They now manage the limited shelf space in dark stores and decide which products get visibility on platforms like Instamart, Zepto, and Blinkit. Naturally, brands are aggressively courting them, with over 30,000 requests every month for just 150 slots. From hosting parties to taking them out for drinks, brands are pulling out all the stops. Meanwhile, category managers are urging brands to invest more in ads and marketing to stay competitive.Tune in.Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India's first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two here

It has been about four months since Minutes, Flipkart's all new quick-commerce service was launched in Bangalore. But Flipkart isn't doing e-commerce the old fashioned way. It's not taking on the likes of Blinkit or Swiggy Instamart directly by promising speedy grocery deliveries. Instead, its big focus is electronics. It is a space that quick-commerce giants like Blinkit, Swiggy and Zepto – have all dipped their toes in. But Flipkart wants to take things to the next level. Like one Flipkart manager told The Ken, the company is trying to increase the width rather than the depth of the electronics category. The idea is to give more options to customers, but in limited quantities. But while it may not be taking on Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart directly, Flipkart does have another major challenger – Croma, India's second-largest electronics retailer. And courtesy a partnership with Big Basket, Croma is also getting into the quick commerce business. However, building the capability to deliver large electronics, that too in volume, is not an easy task. So how do they plan to do it? Tune.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two hereDaybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Text us and tell us what you thought of the episode!Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India's first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two here

In today's podcast, we're taking a deep dive into a massive shift that's happening in India's retail landscape. Over 200Ks kirana stores have shut down in 2024 alone, unable to withstand the rapid rise of platforms like Blinkit, Zepto, and Dunzo. We will uncover the key reasons, and how can Kirana stores survive in this cut throat market, despite thin margins.

Zomato planning to raise 8,500 crore rupees again. This comes just three years after its grand IPO where it had raised almost the same amount. The company's stock prices have doubled in the last ten months. Interestingly, this fundraise is going to be through a qualified investment placement or QIP when a listed company raises capital from domestic markets without the need to submit any pre-issue filings to market regulators. Only qualified institutional investors are allowed to participate in this kind of a fundraise. All this just as rival Swiggy is prepping for its IPO. And the quick-commerce trio—Blinkit, Instamart, and Zepto are gearing up to expand beyond the metros and into smaller cities. Plus new, deep-pocketed companies like Reliance Retail and Flipkart are also joining into the race. In a letter to shareholders, founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal wrote that the fundraise is intended to ensure a “level playing field with competitors who continue to raise additional capital” and to “strengthen its balance sheet”. There was no mention of how the funds would be used.At first, this seems like Zomato declaring war in the quick-commerce space. Some analysts believe it could be a move to show the market that it has a balance sheet that is the “strongest of all.But is that all there is to it?Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Text us and tell us what you thought of the episode!Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India's first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Friday, October 25, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started.Qatar's Nebras Power was supposed to acquire up to a 49 per cent stake in Aditya Birla Group's renewable energy business for about $400 million, but the deal has been put on hold due to a valuation mismatch. Utpal Bhaskar reports that challenges such as competitive returns and execution risks in the Indian market continue to be concerns for investors. The Aditya Birla Group company is still seeing interest from Alberta Investment Management and BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners.India's startups aren't complying with certain rules. The Central Consumer Protection Authority has issued notices to 11 e-commerce companies including Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy and Meesho for violating declaration rules. These violations include failing to display product manufacturing and expiry dates, among other packaging and labelling norms. Soumya Gupta writes that the CCPA took this action after users complained about receiving perishable items close to or after their expiry dates.After a long and contentious battle, the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India has approved the Burman family's proposed acquisition of Religare, reports Anirudh Laskar. This nod marks a significant step towards the Burmans' takeover of Religare. Only approvals from the banking and market regulators are now pending. Despite initial resistance from Religare's management, the Burman family, which owns Dabur India, aims to solidify its ownership through an open offer of more than 3,400 crore rupees.In a surprising turn of events, 60 out of 100 private equity and venture capital executives in India failed a mandatory exam set by the National Institute of Securities Management (NISM), under directives from SEBI. This exam, which is crucial for maintaining registration, has stirred concerns within the sector. Critics argue that the exam's content, which spans various fund types—venture capital, private equity and public markets—is disproportionately focused on public markets, and does not reflect the practical differences between these fund categories. Sneha Shah and Ranjani Raghavan report on the embarrassing situation India's PE and VC sector is staring at. Last year, Ecom Express found itself at a crossroads, searching for new leadership after the health-related departure of its co-founder and CEO, T.A. Krishnan. With growth stalling, the company turned to Ajay Chitkara, a veteran of the telecom industry, to inject new life into its operations. Chitkara, known for his successful stint at Airtel, took the reins at a tough time and now faces a daunting task: steering Ecom Express towards profitability and a successful IPO. The company has reduced its losses, but sustaining growth remains a challenge, especially with new players such as Valmo shaking up the logistics market. Mint's startups editor Ranjani Raghavan tackles the question of whether Ecom Express's IPO can succeed when Delhivery's stock has failed to deliver.  SUBJECT/Title: Why finance pros at PE, VC funds are flunking Sebi exam  Pre-head: IRDA approves Burmans' Religare takeover; CCPA issues notice to quick commerce startups Qatar's Nebras deal with Aditya Birla Group's green arm on holdWhy are e-tailers on notice for legal metrology?IRDA gives Burman family green signal for Religaree takeover  Can Ecom Express's IPO succeed when Delhivery's stock has failed to deliver?Why finance pros at PE, VC funds are flunking Sebi exam

In today's episode, we look at 3 big stories: - Zomato's Big Shift: Blinkit and Beyond - Something's Brewing in the Silver Market- The Global Economy in 2024 – Outlook & Risks- TidbitsWe also send out a crisp and short daily newsletter for The Daily Brief. Put your email here and we'll make you smart every day: https://thedailybriefing.substack.com/You can also listen to this episode in Hindi: https://the-daily-brief-hindi.simplecast.com/Note: This content is for informational purposes only. None of the stocks, brands, or products mentioned are recommendations or endorsements.

First, we talk to Indian Express' Damini Nath about the second version of the Swachh Bharat Mission, which is called Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0. It focuses on making cities garbage free under which its main target is clearing legacy landfills.Next, Indian Express' Divya A talks to us about Overseas Citizens of India or OCI cardholders. Some of the OCI cardholders had recently raised a concern regarding the rules and regulations that they need to follow on their visits to India. She explains who all fall under the ambit of OCI, its benefits, restrictions and more. (7:15)And in the end, we talk about how quick commerce sites like Zomato, Blinkit, Swiggy and Myntra use AI for enhancing consumer experience. (18:50)Hosted, written and produced by Niharika NandaEdited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

India's biggest quick commerce players — Blinkit, Instamart, and Zepto — are on a mission. They are frantically hunting for properties they can convert into dark stores. Dark stores are an integral part of any quick commerce strategy. Especially now, that the lines between quick commerce and e-commerce are very quickly blurring. People aren't just ordering pantry staples anymore. They are also placing orders for high value goods like headphones and full blown air conditioners. So, dark stores have to cater to these evolving needs. And things are even more heated now that Walmart-backed Flipkart and Amazon have entered the quick commerce race.All that hype adds up to a mad dash for real estate, especially in tier-2 cities like Lucknow and Jaipur in north India and Nagpur in central India. And the unlikely winners in all of this are property owners and local brokers. Tune in. Why do women freeze their eggs? Take the survey here.Don't forget to send us your recommendation for this Thursday's Unwind segment. The theme is “your favourite murder mystery.” Send them to us on WhatsApp as a voice note or as a text message. The number is +9189711-08379. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India's first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

We have unlocked the full and unedited subscriber version of episode four which we released on August 15 for Premium subscribers of The Ken and on Apple Podcasts. Now you can stream it wherever you listen to your podcasts for free for a few weeks.The Swiggy of 2024 is a shadow of its former self. Boxed in by younger, nimbler and hungrier competitors from all sides, it has been defending itself for so long that it seems to have forgotten how to play offense. It wasn't always like this. Swiggy used to define innovation, product chops and “Bengaluru cool”. In many ways it pioneered food delivery in 2014 after pivoting from a courier service.Zomato, originally a restaurant discovery company, got into food delivery a year after Swiggy. It may have started as a late follower, but today Zomato's market share in the food delivery space is estimated at 56-57% by Goldman Sachs, with Swiggy in second place.Then there's quick commerce. In 2020 Swiggy was the first to launch a quick commerce grocery business, which we now know as Instamart. Zomato meanwhile bought Blinkit and rapidly integrated and scaled it across India. Once again, it would go on to beat Swiggy in market share. Blinkit is estimated to have a 46% market share, followed by Swiggy at number 2. Underpinning all of Swiggy's business were its apps and products, long considered the gold standard of user experience and design. They were slick, intuitive, fast, and fun.But Swiggy's apps today are a haphazard and constantly changing collection of sub-products, menu items, offers and distinct sections.How did it come to this?This week on Two by Two, hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan discuss Swiggy with Arnav Gupta, the Director of Engineering at Jio Cinema, and Deepak Shenoy – the co-founder and CEO of Capitalmind*.Arnav, who used to lead product and engineering for Zomato's consumer apps, explains how product and teams work within a food delivery company. Deepak runs a company handling 2000 crores worth of investments and is a great expert on how the public markets work. He breaks down exactly what the market wants and needs from Swiggy, and what it needs to do to succeed once it goes public.Additional Reading:Swiggy is at the mercy of Zomato for its IPOSwiggy and Timidity 1,500 stories about India's complex relationships with Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, Zepto, and Bigbasket*Both Rohin and Praveen are investors with Capitalmind.This episode of Two by Two was produced by Anushka Mukherjee. Hari Krishna is our lead writer and researcher and our resident sound engineer Rajiv C N is our audio producer.What did you think of the episode? Write to us at twobytwo@the-ken.com with your opinions and suggestions.

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Wednesday, August 28, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started.The Indian equities markets edged just slightly upwards on Tuesday. Sensex increased by 0.03 percent, while Nifty was up by 0.02 percent.Getting a US visa seems to be getting more difficult by the day. But if you have some money in your bank account, the process might be easier. Neil Borate writes that the US investor visa programme, known as the EB-5, allows individuals to obtain a green card. The programme means that one needs to invest in a US-based project that leads directly to the creation of at least 10 jobs. Neil outlines this process and speaks to immigration experts to find out the fine print of this deal.For many kirana stores, quick commerce has proven to be a bit of a death knell. Foot traffic in these mom-and-pop shops has dwindled. Whatever customers that do walk in, rarely want big, heavy items. Suneera Tandon spoke to owners of small grocery stores, who reported dips of 20 percent in their business. Quick commerce players like Zepto, Dunzo, BlinkIt, and Instamart are now becoming direct distributors for major FMCG companies. While this phenomenon is restricted largely to major metro cities, smaller retail stores are increasingly feeling threatened, Suneera writes. Will the government intervene?After suffering through the effects of the Hindenburg Research report in early 2023, the Adani Group is focusing on improving its financial health. The Gautam Adani-led Group is reducing debt and contemplating selling stakes in certain entities. While it still has plans for expansion, the group is cautiously balancing its debt. Mayur Bhalerao and Niti Kiran report that debt growth slowed to 6 percent in 2023-24. That included a significant shift from domestic bank debt to bonds—from 86 percent to 15 percent.The Bureau of Indian Standards, or BIS, is an important body that ensures standardised products for the Indian consumer. BIS is used to certify items like children's toys, LPG cylinders, electronics, and even cement. Soon, it could be used to certify... artificial intelligence, reports Dhirendra Kumar. The Indian government has decided to start certifying, and to some extent standardising, generative AI. Gen AI finds usage in areas such as healthcare, finance, and education. Regulating it will help prevent unintended consequences that might have far-ranging impact, Dhirendra notes.In almost every sport, backups exist — those who can play in a pinch in case of an injury, usually. But that's not restricted to just sports: IT companies have their version of a substitute bench, too. These employees are on the sidelines, waiting to be deployed on a project. But need for continuity and poor interviews lead to many employees being on the bench for extended periods of time. Clients sometimes interview employees before choosing them for a project. Jas Bardia reports that IT companies are now culling those on the bench for more than a month or two. As demand for IT services is falling, growth slows as well, leading to IT companies taking such decisions.

This is the eighth weekly brief. We publish a new episode every day to help you understand the biggest stories in the Indian markets. But we understand that you may be busy and don't have the time to listen to the daily episodes. So don't worry; we've got you covered.In this episode:1. Trade wars2. The private sector is hot for India again3. The past present and future of the Indian economy4. Is India open for business?5. Will Zomato pull another Blinkit?You can also watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ICNa2s-sb3AWe also send out a crisp and short daily newsletter for The Daily Brief. Put your email here and we'll make you smart every day: https://thedailybriefing.substack.com/ 

In today's episode, we look at 3 big stories: - What will it take for Electric vehicles to go mainstream in India? - Will Zomato pull another Blinkit? - Does Piyush Goyal hate Amazon? We also send out a crisp and short daily newsletter for The Daily Brief. Put your email here and we'll make you smart every day: https://thedailybriefing.substack.com/ If you prefer video: https://www.youtube.com/@marketsbyzerodha

In this episode of The Summit Chasers Podcast, we're joined by Konstantin Ristl, a physicist and mathematician turned entrepreneur, who shares his insights into leveraging AI for sales outreach and growing a business. From co-founding the online learning platform Blinkit to pioneering his latest venture, Highstack.io, Konstantin's journey is packed with valuable lessons for entrepreneurs.We dive deep into how Konstantin's passion for solving riddles led him to transition from academia to entrepreneurship, building a successful company from scratch without outside capital. He shares the challenges of bootstrapping, the pivotal moments that defined Blinkit's growth, and the rigorous hands-on approach he took, like personally converting videos in the early days.Now, with Highstack.io, Konstantin is transforming the sales landscape by using AI to build high-intent buyer lists, dramatically increasing the effectiveness of sales outreach. We discuss the common misconceptions about using AI in sales, the importance of maintaining a human touch, and how AI can be a powerful tool when used correctly.Tune in to learn from Konstantin's unique blend of scientific rigor and entrepreneurial spirit, and discover actionable strategies to enhance your business using AI. Whether you're scaling a startup or looking to optimize your sales processes, this episode is full of insights you won't want to miss.

In today's episode for 19th August 2024, we look at the global monkey trade and see how Sri Lanka is adopting a rather unconventional approach to tackle a growing problems. We also have a special Bonus episode from Finshots TV where we talk about Quick commerce companies like Zepto, Blinkit, Instamart and others making headlines every week with new fundraises and newer product offerings. Subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@finshotstv

(You're listening to the 30-min version of Episode 5, Two by Two. Our full conversation can be accessed by premium subscribers on The Ken's iOS and android app. But if you're not a subscriber, you can now listen to our full episode, 30 days before anyone else, on Apple Podcasts with a monthly subscription!)The Swiggy of 2024 is a shadow of its former self. Boxed in by younger, nimbler and hungrier competitors from all sides, it has been defending itself for so long that it seems to have forgotten how to play offense. It wasn't always like this. Swiggy used to define innovation, product chops and “Bengaluru cool”. In many ways it pioneered food delivery in 2014 after pivoting from a courier service. Zomato, originally a restaurant discovery company, got into food delivery a year after Swiggy. It may have started as a late follower, but today Zomato's market share in the food delivery space is estimated at 56-57% by Goldman Sachs, with Swiggy in second place. Then there's quick commerce. In 2020 Swiggy was the first to launch a quick commerce grocery business, which we now know as Instamart. Zomato meanwhile bought Blinkit and rapidly integrated and scaled it across India. Once again, it would go on to beat Swiggy in market share. Blinkit is estimated to have a 46% market share, followed by Swiggy at number 2. Underpinning all of Swiggy's business were its apps and products, long considered the gold standard of user experience and design. They were slick, intuitive, fast, and fun. But Swiggy's apps today are a haphazard and constantly changing collection of sub-products, menu items, offers and distinct sections. How did it come to this?This week on Two by Two, hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan discuss Swiggy with Arnav Gupta, the Director of Engineering at Jio Cinema, and Deepak Shenoy – the co-founder and CEO of Capitalmind*. Arnav, who used to lead product and engineering for Zomato's consumer apps, explains how product and teams work within a food delivery company. Deepak runs a company handling 2000 crores worth of investments and is a great expert on how the public markets work. He breaks down exactly what the market wants and needs from Swiggy, and what it needs to do to succeed once it goes public.Additional Reading:Swiggy is at the mercy of Zomato for its IPOSwiggy and Timidity 1,500 stories about India's complex relationships with Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, Zepto, and Bigbasket* Both Rohin and Praveen are minor investors with Capitalmind.---P.S. We're hiring! Our podcast team is looking for an audio journalist and a podcast producer. Apply here.---This episode of Two by Two was produced by Anushka Mukherjee. Hari Krishna is our lead writer and researcher and our resident sound engineer Rajiv C N is our audio producer.What did you think of the episode? Write to us at twobytwo@the-ken.com with your opinions and suggestions.

With Swiggy set to go public soon, the quick commerce space in India is starting to look more and more like  a wrestling match. Going to head to head against Swiggy is the only listed quick commerce platform in the country, its arch rival Zomato.Both companies are doing exactly the same thing but somehow Zomato managed to leave Swiggy far behind. Swiggy's  market share has dropped considerably in the last few years both in quick commerce and food delivery.  Now, not only is Zomato listed, its share prices have been going through the roof and Blinkit has become the jewel in its crown. So does Swiggy, the OG of food delivery in India, stand a chance? To find out, hosts Snigdha and Rahel invite The Ken's Deputy Editor Seetharaman G to the studio.Tune in.P.S. – Check out the first episode of the latest addition to our podcast slate, Two by Two, where the speakers discuss the rivalry between Flipkart and Phonepe, on Spotify, Apple or YouTube!Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India's first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

When it entered the quick commerce scene for the first time in 2021, Zepto was a disruptor. Now, it is the third largest company in the market after Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart. Recently, it secured its biggest funding ever at a US$3.6 billion valuation, mainly from its existing investors.Venture Intelligence, a data provider told The Ken that the US$660 million funding is largest bet made by VCs in Indian startups this year. And now, The Ken's sources say that Zepto is planning to raise another round from “top-tier global VCs” at a US$5 billion valuation.What did Zepto do to get all this attention from investors?Tune in.Also listen to:Daybreak: Why we date, marry, or breakup with Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, Zepto & BigBasketTFTY: How to get people to listen to you when you have no authority or title?

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Tuesday, June 18, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:We have no market updates for you today, as the markets were shut on the occasion of Bakri Eid on Monday.Looking for a new property? You might soon be buying from insurance giant LIC. Anirudh Laskar reports that the Life Insurance Corporation of India is looking to sell some plots and commercial buildings. LIC is India's third-largest landlord, and hopes to net at least 6 billion dollars from these transactions. It has properties in marquee areas such as Delhi's Connaught Place and Kolkata's Chittaranjan Avenue. Since these have been with LIC for decades, a sale valuation of the properties will need to be carried out. Anirudh writes that ascertaining the value of these properties seems to be the biggest hurdle for LIC. Additionally, some of these properties are part of litigations against LIC, complicating the sale process.Last week, financial services company 360 One announced its acquisition of ET Money, a direct investment platform. Neil Borate writes that it's a puzzling transaction. Just FYI, 360 One was earlier known as IIFL Wealth. But now that ET Money, a mutual fund investment platform, will come under the ownership of a mutual fund, the operations get murky. ET Money might be incentivised to sell the products of its parent company but the markets regulator Sebi prevents such cross-selling or preferential treatment. ET Money also has a paid feature named Genius, an advisory service used by more than 75,000 people. How will this new acquisition play out under Sebi's regulations? ET Money's founders have maintained that no such conflicts will occur, Neil writes.When the pandemic set in, most industries came to a standstill, and took a while to get back on track. But the logistics sector wasn't one of them. In fact, with everyone stuck at home, more deliveries took place, propelling logistics to another level. Mahindra Logistics, a third-party logistics provider, was a beneficiary of the boom. The company now rakes in an annual revenue of more than Rs 5,000 crore. By FY26, it wants to double that figure. Madhurima Nandy writes that Mahindra's logistics arm is expanding at a dizzying pace to accomplish that. But it has also started a worrying trend: Mahindra Logistics has recorded a net loss for the first time since it listed on the markets in 2017. E-commerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart, and Meesho have beefed up their own logistical arms. How will Mahindra Logistics achieve its targets while maintaining profitability? Madhurima explores the possible answers.Ever since Jet Airways and Go First shut down, flight ticket prices have skyrocketed. But the new civil aviation minister has vowed to control these prices. Is this even possible? Anu Sharma explains that the Indian aviation market is quite seasonal. Fares aren't established or regulated by the central government. But the aviation regulator has a unit that monitors airfares on certain routes to not charge beyond a certain range of prices. The government already had regulated an upper and lower limit on airfares during covid — Anu writes that it might resort to the same measures if prices get out of control during the current peak summer season, when leisure travel is at its highest.The genesis of quick commerce in India was rapid: First there was Zepto. Swiggy's Instamart followed suit. Grofers turned into Blinkit after Zomato acquired it. Dunzo was forced to adapt. Others such as Big Basket also sped up their processes. But a couple of years later, we have a new entrant: Flipkart is ready to roll out its quick commerce arm, reports Suneera Tandon. Flipkart's quick commerce venture would be available in select metro cities in the next few weeks. The company will offer home appliances in addition to groceries. Will Flipkart be able to catch up to its established rivals? To find out, you might want to be ready to download yet another app.We'd love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Let us know by writing to us at feedback@livemint.com. You may send us feedback, tips or anything that you feel we should be covering from your vantage point in the world of business and finance. Show notes:LIC mega sale: Insurer to sell land, buildings to raise up to $7 billionET Money's acquisition by 360 ONE: Should you be worried or excited? After slipping into the red, can Mahindra Logistics execute a U turn? Mint Explainer: Can airfares be regulated? Flipkart's q-commerce entry weeks away, will take on Zepto, Blinkit, Instamart 

Zomato, the food delivery giant is all set to infuse more than $35 million into Blinkit. But not too long ago, Blinkit, the grocery delivery platform that was formerly known as Grofers, was on the verge of dying. It was the first year of the pandemic and the demand for quick commerce was at its peak. Grofers wanted to join the bandwagon but it didnt have the money.A year later in June 2021, it got its shot in the arm with a $120 Mn infusion from Zomato. A year later, in 2022, Zomato decided to go all the way in and acquired Blinkit for nearly $600 million. It was not been all smooth sailing even after that.But somehow, Blinkit has managed to crack the quick commerce market and become a leader.  How?Tune in.*This episode was first published on March 6, 2024Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India's first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Dhruv Arora is the Founder and CEO of Syfe, Asia's leading holistic digital wealth management platform empowering people to build their wealth for a better future. Built on the pillars of access, advice and affordability, Syfe caters to the different wealth needs of individuals with diversified proprietary portfolios, cash management solutions and brokerage. Syfe has grown quickly since launching in 2019, with nearly 5% of adult Singaporeans using the platform to achieve their financial goals.Licensed and operational in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia, Syfe has customers from 60+ countries. The company has raised $52M and is backed by leading global investors including Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures, Unbound, and partners from DST.Before starting Syfe, Dhruv was part of the early core team that built Grofers (now Blinkit)—a Softbank and Sequoia-backed e-commerce company acquired by Zomato for US$570M—where he led the Product, Growth and Consumer verticals.Topics:[00:00:02] – Dhruv's Childhood and Interests[00:09:35] – Career Path Discovery in Finance[00:11:06] – Navigating Career Challenges in Finance[00:19:04] – Investing Journey and Career Transition[00:27:34] – Career Transition and Entrepreneurship Exploration[00:31:35] – Startup Growth, Transition, and Learning[00:39:47] – Entrepreneur's Journey to Starting SAIF[00:48:33] – Navigating Startup Challenges and Employee Retention[00:56:22] – Finding Purpose Through Work and GrowthLike the show? Subscribe to the BackScoop newsletter to stay updated with the latest news in Southeast Asian startups in minutes: backscoop.com.Visit BackScoop's social media pages and show your support!BackScoop (Linkedin): https://www.linkedin.com/company/backscoop/BackScoop (Twitter): https://twitter.com/BackScoopHQBackScoop (Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/BackScoopBackScoop (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/backscoopVisit Amanda Cua's social media pages:Amanda (Linkedin): https://ph.linkedin.com/in/amanda-cuaAmanda (Twitter): https://twitter.com/itsAmandaCuaVisit Dhruv Arora's social media pages:Dhruv (Linkedin): https://www.linkedin.com/in/arora-dhruv/Syfe (Website): https://www.syfe.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's special Friday episode, The Ken's Praveen Gopal Krishnan (aka PGK) joins hosts Snigdha and Rahel to talk about India's complicated relationship with 10 minute delivery apps. They talk about how these apps are shaping our economy and society at large, and more importantly how we, as users, are shaping them.Why do we pick a particular app, what makes us switch to another one and what makes us abandon them all together?PGK asked his readers just that in a recent survey he carried out in his weekly newsletter, The Nutgraf. You can check it out here.You can also check out the Bangalore floods edition Snigdha mentioned, here.Listen to Kabir Biswas talk about Dunzo and the quick delivery business on First Principles.If you're curious about the time everyone except Zepto assumed quick commerce was dying, click here.P.S Tell us what you thought of this episode. a) Was the subject interesting enough for you? b) Did you enjoy the conversation? You can write to us at podcasts@the-ken.com.Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India's first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Thanks to Swiggy and Blinkit, it's gotten to a point where getting everything – from your groceries to a literal water cooler – delivered to your doorstep within minutes has become pretty routine. Something we expect. But there is so much going on behind the scenes to make that delivery possible. Like one executive told The Ken, it's a combination of solid logistics and precise inventory management.Pulling that off with just groceries that you can easily throw into a carrier and strap on to a bike is one thing. But then you go and add things like water coolers, mixer grinders, even iPhones to the mix. It sounds like a logistical nightmare. But it's a nightmare that quick commerce apps like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto have dived headfirst into. They are becoming everything stores, almost like ‘mini Amazons'. And with that, the very nature of quick commerce is changing. 

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Wednesday, May 22, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started.Indian benchmark indices climbed off the day's high to close on a mixed note on Tuesday. Sensex fell marginally by 52 points to end the day 0.07 percent below its previous close while Nifty rose 27 points to close 0.12 per cent higher.  India's IPO market is heating up and could be on track to set a new record in FY25. The apparent surge in enthusiasm seems to defy the usual election-season jitters. Just two months into the financial year, new share offerings valued at more than Rs 50,000 crore are already in the pipeline. This figure is fast approaching the nearly Rs 62,000 crore that 76 companies raised through mainboard IPOs in FY24. Well-known companies such as Ola Electric Mobility, Swiggy, and NSDL are among those that have filed for IPOs with the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and with heavy hitters like Tata Capital and Hexaware Technologies also expected to join the fray, the buzz is undeniable. Mint's Dipti Sharma and Ranjani Raghavan spoke to market experts who are particularly bullish on the IPO scene. They predict the number and size of IPOs in FY25 could double those of the previous year. Munish Aggarwal of Equirus echoed this optimism and suggested that barring any major volatility, issuances could top ₹1.5 trillion this year—a milestone previously achieved only in FY22. The growing IPO market isn't just about raising more funds; it's a testament to the maturing of India's primary markets.The expanding real estate market has seen a distinct shift in dynamics that has particularly affected the availability and sales of affordable housing. Over the past five years, there's been a noticeable decline in the sale of homes priced ₹40 lakh or less in top Indian cities, even as the overall property sector has seen a recovery. The share of affordable housing in total home sales dropped dramatically from 38% in 2019 to just 19% by 2023, with a slight increase to 20% in early 2024. This trend is mirrored in the supply of new budget housing projects, which plummeted from 40% to 18% over the same period. Conversely, the luxury housing segment has thrived during this period. Benefiting from the real estate upcycle post-pandemic, luxury homes have seen an increase in both supply and sales. So, is there a way the affordable housing market could see a recovery? In which cities is this trend most visible? And has the government decided to step in? Mint's Madhurima Nandy tackles these questions in today's Mint Primer.Just days after the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, Norway's Norges Bank, blacklisted its ports business, Gautam Adani's conglomerate is setting up a $3 billion fund to enhance its global ports capacity significantly. The Adani Group aims to create a strong presence in the crucial international trade corridor linking India with Europe through Central and West Asia, two company insiders told Mint's senior editor Anirudh Laskar. The move is part of a strategic push to capitalise on the increasing export demands for commodities such as iron-ore and coal from India.The plan includes a substantial 25-30% increase in international port capacity over the next two years, primarily through acquisitions. The expansion will see Adani's current container-handling capacity increase from about 600 million metric tons a year to 800 million. Have you ever wondered how India's polling stations have evolved since Independence? In the latest instalment of Mint's election data series, Nandita Venkatesan looks at the math around India's polling stations. As India's population has grown, the number of polling stations has skyrocketed from just over 200,000 in the 1960s to one million in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The average number of voters per station has declined, however, from more than 1,000 per booth in the 1960s to 879 in 2019, thanks to efforts to make voting less of a hassle. But here's where it gets interesting — not all polling stations are under the same pressure. In 2019, places in Kerala, Bihar and Rajasthan recorded the highest number of voters per station, while those in northeastern states such as Manipur, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh had among the fewest voters each. Click the link in the show notes to read the full story, illustrated with charts and an interactive map prepared by Nandita and her team. E-commerce major Flipkart is feeling the heat from quick-commerce companies such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto. Having started by delivering groceries, these platforms now offer everything from electronics to personal care items, encroaching on Flipkart's turf. They've mastered the art of ultra-fast delivery, delivering products in 15-20 minutes from dark stores and reshaping consumer expectations in the process. The rise of quick commerce has been nothing short of explosive. Their gross merchandise value (GMV) jumped from just $0.1 billion in 2020 to $2.8 billion by 2023. The business taps the increasing need for instant gratification — a trend that Flipkart has previously tried to capture, albeit with little success.Owned by Walmart, Flipkart pioneered online shopping in India but has stumbled in the quick-commerce race. Initiatives such as Flipkart Nearby and Flipkart Quick were bogged down by logistical snags and inventory issues that made speedy delivery impossible. Now, it seems Flipkart is gearing up for another shot at quick commerce, fearing it could lose more ground to these nimble competitors. Mint's startup correspondent Samikdha Goel examines the company's quick-commerce FOMO in today's Long Story.We'd love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Let us know by writing to us at feedback@livemint.com. You may send us feedback, tips or anything that you feel we should be covering from your vantage point in the world of business and finance. Show notes:IPO rush sets up India's equity market for another record yearMint Primer: Budget homes are in coma. Can they be revived?Adani group plans to invest $3 billion to boost international ports businessHow many polling stations does it take to conduct India's elections?Flipkart has FOMO? Zepto and Blinkit are changing the e-commerce giant

Goldman Sachs said in a report late Thursday that Indian food delivery giant Zomato's quick commerce arm Blinkit is now more valuable than its core food delivery business, as per the bank's sum-of-the-parts analysis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Goldman Sachs said in a report late Thursday that Indian food delivery giant Zomato's quick commerce arm Blinkit is now more valuable than its core food delivery business, as per the bank's sum-of-the-parts analysis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy's Instamart seem to have alarmed the e-commerce OGs Amazon and Flipkart as quick commerce is not just about onions and tomatoes now. There's a lot more added to the cart! While shopping for groceries, you can also add jewellery, cosmetics, clothing, and toys to your basket. And all this in just under 15 minutes. So, can quick commerce take on the e-commerce behemoths? Mugdha Variyar and Shabori Das discuss with Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha. Also listen in for analysis from Devangshu Dutta, Founder, Third Eyesight Retail Consultant. Tune in to The Morning Brief podcast! If you like this episode from Mugdha Variyar, check out her other interesting episodes on Everyone Wants a Piece of Ranjan Pai, The ABCs of Building AI in India, The IPO Bazaar: Should You Shop or Drop?, Explained: Why dark patterns are under the surveillance spotlight?, COP28: Another cop or another cop-out?, and more! If you like this episode from Shabori Das, check out her other interesting episodes on Decoding Doom Spending and Loud Budgeting, The Highs And The Lows of Energy Drinks, The Commerce of Concerts: All Play No Profits?, Rewriting India's Toy Story, What cheap fast fashion actually costs, and more! You can follow Mugdha Variyar on social media: Twitter and Linkedin You can follow Shabori Das on social media: Twitter & Linkedin Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief' on ET Play, The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Google Podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A few years ago, Blinkit, the grocery delivery platform that was formerly known as Grofers, was on the verge of dying. It was the first year of the pandemic and the demand for quick commerce was at its peak. Grofers wanted to join the bandwagon but it didnt have the money.A year later in June 2021, it got its shot in the arm with a $120 Mn infusion from Zomato. Next thing we knew, Grofers had become Blinkit and also a unicorn company. And then in 2022, Zomato decided to go all the way in and acquired Blinkit for nearly 600 millions dollars. However, it was not been all smooth sailing after that.But somehow, Blinkit has managed to crack the quick commerce market and now, Blinkit is leading in terms of gross merchandise value (GMV). It currently boasts of close to a 40% share.  How?Tune in.

Shreya Priyam Roy opens up with hilarious stories about stand-up comedy, UPSC, Bihar, Delhi life, and a lot more. #storieswithrusty #standupcomedy #vedantrusty __ In this episode: 00:00 // Intro 1:11 // Oliver twist, literature, and anya kahaniya 3:08 // Bihar stereotypes that Shreya carried from Patna 3:57 // Paise kaha gawaiye? 5:24 // Vedant's college day 7:00 // 200 real currency dilemma 7:45 // Going abroad and currency experience 8:41 // Shreya college experience post 50 hazaar 9:48 // IAS aur jaan pehchan 10:23 // Is Shreya getting blackmailed for comedy? 11:05 // 12th fail ka reaction? 11:30 // UPSC aspirants and art role in society 13:18 // Comedy ka keeda 13:54 // Why study history? 15:06 // English and Shakespeare 15:51 // Shreya's first open mic experience & IIT Kanpur 21:38 // Being on stage ka nasha 22:55 // Vedant's experience with theatre stage 25:10 // What's more exciting? Small crowd or huge crowd or comicstan 27:22 // Tours experience and excitement 33:03 // Shreya's extended characters 35:40 // Ab bus yehi karna hai to comicstan 40:25 // Middleditch &Schwartz 41:10 // Accent ka sach 43:25 // Comics & Community 44:30 // Blinkit experience for Vedant and Shreya 46:50 // Shreya ke shauks 49:10 // Hierarchy in comedy space 51:35 // Difference between Delhi and Gurgaon clubs 52:35 // Censorship and OTT comedy 54:15 // How Shreya prepares for different open mics 56:29 // Why mockumentary? 1:00:00 // How to deal with creative blocks? 1:03:33 // What shifts Shreya brought in her shows? 1:05:15 // Online content creation challenges 1:06:25 // Nostalgia, gratitude and what's next 1:11:15 // Toxic comments and how Vedant and Shreya deal with it 1:13:13 // Temptation Island and Tv 1:17:10 // Youtube and content 1:19:41 // Premium subscription addiction 1:21:09 // Shreya and Big Boss 1:23:37 // Theatre and Mumbai trip 1:27:16 // Art and food 1:34:05 // Shreya's travelling plans 1:34:24 // Topic selection for female comedians 1:41:00 // Enjoying fun content 1:41:38 // What Shreya do for fun? 1:42:51 // Ancient India and Harappan culture 1:45:25 // Quora, Reddit and Bollywood gossip 1:46:55 // How does Shreya deal with rude people? 1:47:07 // Hosting dinners and parties 1:49:10 // Freedom vs health 1:51:40 // Birthday on 1st January 1:54:56 // Award and Reality shows 1:57:19 // Competition of stand-up show 1:57: 42 // Wrap up and Pav Bhaji __ // Let's Connect If you're the Instagram type, https://instagram.com/storieswithrusty If you're the Twitter type, https://twitter.com/rustystories

Happy Valentine's Day to all the lovebirds out there, as well as the businesses making the most of the romantic buzz. Per the Economic Times, many luxury hotels in Rajasthan are booked out. Meanwhile, quick commerce company Blinkit is on a mission to become the go-to online app for romantic gifts, offering everything from chocolate boxes and rose bouquets to freshly baked cakes. Join us in today's episode as we delve into how businesses are going above and beyond to cater to the needs of lovebirds this season. In other news, Punjabis are reconsidering the Canadian dream. The Signal Daily is produced in association with IVM.The episode was researched, written, and produced by Anup Semwal and ManaswiniEdited by Venkat AnanthMastered and mixed by Manas and Nirvaan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BlinkIt's attempts to deliver everything, the implications of the coaching institute directive https://www.livemint.com/market/stock-market-news/relief-finally-sebi-lifts-the-fpi-disclosure-overhang-on-market-11706105484691.html https://www.livemint.com/industry/gift-city-may-witness-a-jobs-boom-hint-gccs-11706105589985.html https://www.livemint.com/education/news/mint-primer-why-indias-runaway-coaching-centres-need-regulating-11706105546807.html https://www.livemint.com/money/decoding-the-rationale-of-equal-weight-investing-11706105642374.html https://www.livemint.com/companies/from-cabbage-to-caps-inside-blinkit-s-game-plan-to-deliver-anything-11706097770489.html

Join us as we talk to Varun Khurana, the Founder of Otipy about their story. Varun completed his B.Tech. in Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Delhi in 2001. Following this, he held the position of a lead engineer at a network appliance company. Subsequently, he established Wirkle Technologies, which was later acquired by Location Labs. Afterward, Varun held the role of Head of the India Development Centre at Location Labs. He then co-established MyGreenbox, which got acquired by Grofers, now known as Blinkit, and subsequently served as Grofers' CTO. Additionally, he is the founder and CEO of Crofarm. Finally, in 2020, he founded Otipy.

Some of the world's richest tech moguls like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Peter Thiel, are betting big on nuclear fusion! A recent survey by the Fusion Industry Association found that funding for nuclear fusion research has skyrocketed to $4.8 billion in 2022! But why? Listen in to know more! In other news, amid ongoing protests against Blinkit's new payment structure, more than thousand delivery agents working with the company have now jumped ship . What was the reason? Tune in to The Signal Daily!  You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android, iOS or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at https://ivmpodcasts.com/. Do follow IVM Podcasts on social media. We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram. Follow the show across platforms: Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts,  Amazon Prime Music.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1) Blinkitला मोठा धक्का! 1 हजार कर्मचाऱ्यांनी सोडली कंपनी; काय आहे कारण? 2) सचिन बॅटिंगला उतरला तर अमेरिकेचं 5 टक्के उत्पादन घटायचं; ओबामांनी सांगितलेला किस्सा! 3) औरंगाबाद नामांतर वादावर हायकोर्टाचे महत्त्वाचे निर्देश! 4) "नरेंद्र मोदी स्वतंत्र भारतातले सर्वात पुरोगामी व धर्मनिरपेक्ष पंतप्रधान" 5) दक्षिण आफ्रिकेतून आणलेल्या आणखी एका चित्त्याचा मृत्यू 6) खेल खतम, पैसा हजम? बिगबी इलॉन मस्कवर पुन्हा भडकले... अलाहाबादी शैलीतच झापलं 7) भाजप खासदार ब्रीजभूषण यांच्या अडचणी वाढणार! कुस्तीपटूंची सुप्रीम कोर्टात धाव 8) मविआचं अस्तित्व धोक्यात? शरद पवारांच्या वक्तव्यावर मुख्यमंत्र्यांचं सूचक विधान  स्क्रीप्ट अँड रिसर्च - अमित उजागरे

The Blinkit delivery workers' strike that began last week has brought the spotlight back on the delivery personnel crisis in India. Just last year in July, Swiggy's delivery partners in Bangalore too had gone on strike. Their issues range from wages to the lack of basic employee benefits.With an IPO scheduled for 2024 and its 1000 plus crore rupee investment in the bike-taxi company Rapido, the stakes were high for the food delivery platform. It had to find a solution and it had to be soon. So, it came up with a plan.It gave its delivery personnel the option to double as bike-taxis during non-peak hours. This was to incentivise them for doing more work in a day and also retain them during peak hours. But can a food delivery rider deliver meals and also ferry people? Tune in to find out.(Edit note: Earlier, we mistakenly said Swiggy's investment in Rapido was 100 crore rupees instead of 1000 crore rupees. The error is deeply regretted)

In this episode, Manmeet and Sejal dive into the journey of Blinkit since 2013 till now, when the company is owned by Zomato. Through different instances and theories, the episode unwraps the goodness of the e-commerce platform, Blinkit with its costs and impact overall.

In this episode, Varun & Suchita start by talking about the ongoing Women's IPL, F1 streaming which was on Hotstar but this season, it will be on the independent app; What is an overpaid CEO, Razorpay's profits, Ashneer Grover's CricPe, Blinkit's new venture, and more. They deep dive into the Indus Valley Report by Blume Ventures, YouTube's agenda for 2023, and Curated Marketplaces.  The articles referred were as follows: Blume Ventures' Indus Valley reportYouTube's 2023 Agenda  Suchita Recommends an Article written by her on Medium. Varun Recommends a food item: Delight Food's Gongura Pickle Varun & Suchita also answer a few listener questions on the show. Do share yours on the below-mentioned handles. You can follow Varun Duggirala on Twitter & Instagram You can follow Suchita Salwan on Twitter & Instagram  Check out video episodes on the Think Fast YouTube Channel. Find the show across audio streaming apps:Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | JioSaavn | Gaana | Amazon Music Do follow IVM Podcasts on social media.We are @ivmpodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcasts App on Android or iOS.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to #101th episode of The Startup Operator Roundup. The Roundup is our weekly views on the news from the Indian Startup Ecosystem. ------------------------------------- Connect with Us: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup ------------------------------------- Topics:00:00 Opening Comments02:34 SEBI vs FinFluencers06:17 MeiTY's new Grievance redressal portal08:18 Blinkit's new foray09:08 Sequoia Surge 8th cohort11:05 Nexus Venture Partners' new fund12:56 Ashneer Grover's CrickPe14:00 Talk of the Town Talk of the Town tweet: https://twitter.com/roshanpateI/status/1630254932069695499?s=20 If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode!

Elon Musk's third ‘Master Plan' for Tesla was a bit of a letdown for investors. So, Musk revealed that the company is going full throttle on its mission to eliminate the use of fossil fuels and promote sustainable energy worldwide. But, there was no sign of a new car.  In other news, Blinkit is all set to challenge Urban Company in the app-based at-home services sector. Do you think it will succeed?  Tune in to The Signal Daily to know more on both stories!  You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android, iOS or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at https://ivmpodcasts.com/. Do follow IVM Podcasts on social media. We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram. Follow the show across platforms: Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts,  Amazon Prime Music. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An online grocery shopper was in for a rude shock when he received a live rat trapped in his loaf of bread. Naturally the lads take them to the cleaners. Also, plenty of speculation about what could have possibly happened, no solutions on this episode, but a fun new poll is here. Do jump in! Here'a link to the whole fiasco + Music credit - Simon D'Souza + Write to us - hello@farfromfact.in + Follow us https://www.instagram.com/farfromfact/ Paypal paypal.me/farfromfact

Hi, thanks for stopping by! You're listening to #TheBarbershopWithShantanuS2: #RaisersEdge. In today's episode, we have a one-on-one conversation with Albinder Dhindsa, founder of Blinkit, fka Grofers. Stay tuned till the end of the episode to know how he came up with the idea of 10-minute deliveries, and how it became a category-defining business, the Zomato acquisition, how Blinkit has changed habits for thousands of Indians, and much more!_____________________________________________________ APPLY NOW We are looking for early stage stage companies with: - Amazing Founders - Operating in large markets - Are post revenue - TBWS will put in the first or second institutional cheque! Email us about you and your start-up on barbershop@bombayshavingcompany.com. _____________________________________________________ ABOUT OUR CHANNEL My name is Shantanu and I am the founder of Bombay Shaving Company and Bombae. I LOVE entrepreneurship. Personally, I would rate myself as an average (at best) entrepreneur, but I love great ones. The BarberShop with Shantanu S2: Raiser's Edge goes beyond our conversations from S1 on our podcast to tangible help. With the help of our sponsors at BSC and Bombae we have put together a season which brings together a corpus of 50+ equity seekers looking to support 20+ start-ups in their growth and success. We will be releasing an episode every Friday at 9 pm. Tune in and hope you enjoy. :) _____________________________________________________

The Indian Grocery market was at 396 Billion Indian Rupees in 2022. Over 95% of Indian grocery stores are made up of Kiranas or small grocery stores. While supermarkets account for about 4% of total grocery shares, online groceries are not even near one percent. Which stands as a huge potential market for companies like BigBasket, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, JioMart, and Dunzo to scale.Zepto pioneered 10 min grocery delivery In India. It's a phenomenon that took India by storm. And this is a unique Indian offering. Nowhere in the world has 10 min delivery been pioneered and scaled like in India.And there are very few businesses born once in a decade that change consumer behavior permanently. Flipkart pioneered e-commerce in India, BigBasket pioneered grocery in India delivered in 3-4 days and Zepto has pioneered grocery delivered in 10 mins. In this episode, we have Aadit Palicha, Founder & CEO, Zepto sharing his journey so far with us.During the conversation, Aadit also mentioned about his first startup, moving back to India during Covid, dropping out of Stanford, and starting Zepto.Notes - 00:00 - Intro01:36 - The life story of Aadit before starting Zepto02:36 - First startup at age 1608:18 - Dropping out of Stanford10:21 - First round of funding from Y-combinator and Nexus12:30 - Growth & Challenges in Zepto's journey so far17:35 - Is grocery a big enough category to build a large enough business? 20:54 - Is it possible to become profitable in this space? 25:50 - Headwinds in their business28:46 - Going public in India at $10 Bn34:00 - Where does 99%+ of his learnings come from?37:45 - Avoid taking a hit on culture as you scale Also, try out a 30-day free trial of Zoho Payroll, and simplify your Payroll journey as an entrepreneur! https://zoho.to/zoho-payroll

Join us as we talk to Manish Jethani, the Founder of Hevodata about their story. Manish Jethani hails from a small town in India called Shahdol. He finished his graduation from IIT Roorkee and ventured straight into entrepreneurship. Prior to starting Hevodata Manish also founded SpoonJoy which was later acquired by Grofers (now Blinkit). In addition to being an entrepreneur, Jethani has also worked in product management for companies such as Grofers and FashionandYou.com. About Hevodata: Hevo is an end-to-end data pipeline platform that enables businesses to easily pull data from all their sources to the warehouse, run transformations for analytics, and deliver operational intelligence to business tools. For more visit - https://ajuniorvc.com/podcast/

00:00 - Intro 00:30 - What's going wrong? 03:33 - Blinkit Deal 06:33 - Why are restaurants unhappy? 08:33 - What does Zomato have to say? When Zomato went public last year, it was considered as the biggest startup IPO in the Indian market. Its valuation was just around $5 Billion before going public, and they were targeting a valuation of over $8 Billion post IPO. And that did happen, honestly. Zomato's IPO was super-successful. Their investors made 65% gains on listing day itself. Overall, the IPO was oversubscribed by 38 times. But a year since, Zomato's stock price is down more than 50% from their listing price and there is question that can Zomato become profitable ever? Zomato's acquisition of Blinkit came with a lot of confusion and panic for investors, and following the acquisition, Zomato lost 25 percent of its value in just 4 days. Zomato acquired Blinkit as this acquisition was considered a natural extension of Zomato's core business, food delivery and that it will also bring synergies, increase the addressable market and the potential profit pool and also make the business more defensible. But Zomato paid a massive 3000 crores on top of Blinkit's actual value. More than 1100 crores was the loan given by Zomato to Blinkit and 1800 crore Rs is what Zomato will be spending on Blinkit to cover it's losses in next few years. This changed the sentiment among public for Zomato and the company has struggled on stock market ever since. Another issue for Zomato is that their core business of food delivery doesn't seem sustainable. If we take a look at Zomato's competitors on global scale, none of the companies have made profits from delivering food alone and that is one of the reasons why Zomato is now eyeing grocery delivery and other sectors to expand into. And lastly, restaurants aren't really happy with Zomato as well. Here's a quote directly from Jubilant, the parent company of Domino's: “In case of an increase in commission rates, Jubilant will consider shifting more of its businesses from online restaurant platforms to the in-house ordering system." Zomato now is focusing heavily on profitability. The company's CEO Deepinder Goyal has said categorically that they're gonna be focusing on profitability moving forward. This is a huge pivot for them, because up until very recently they were pretty comfortable burning through tons of money, but now Deepinder has actually speculated that their core business might be profitable in about a year. These potential profits are also intended to be stable, and long-term - this isn't a one-year strategy, this is Zomato attempting to permanently be in the black. Their strategy here involves 3 key business lines: food delivery, quick commerce through Blinkit, and Hyperpure, and in case you're not familiar with Hyperpure, this is actually a potentially game-changing business for Zomato. It's a platform whereby Zomato provides fresh, hygienic, high quality ingredients to restaurants, and it's growing pretty fast. It will be very interesting to track Zomato's story from hereon and see wheather it can turn around things for itself?

In this video, we take a look at top 10 startups based out of the city of Pune. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Intro 1:30 Noccarc Robotics 2:37 EventBeep 3:33 Pariksha 4:29 Bamboo India 5:27 Repos Energy 6:48 Haber 7:56 RoadBounce 8:56 Fittr 9:55 Moonshine 10:48 Biddano 1. Noccarc Robotics: Noccarc invented a solar panel cleaning machine that doesn't use water and is fully automated. They were off to a really great start as a company - they raised a $1.6 million seed round from the Indian Angel Network. 2. EventBeep: The goal here is for this app, Beep, to be a student's all-in-one app: students can also see nearby events, they can get notifications from the college they're attending, participate in live quizzes, get a student credit card and exclusive cashbacks, find out about workshops and sporting events, and just generally feel more connected with their college and friends. 3. Pariksha: India's largest vernacular edtech platform, and the name of the company is actually the Hindi word for exam, and what sets Pariksha apart from other edtech startups is their focus on vernacular exams. They actually focuses on another customer segment, the kids who don't have a lot of money, who come from smaller towns, have a harder time sourcing these prep materials, AND aren't fluent in languages like English or Hindi. 4. Bamboo India: Bamboo India is disrupting this 500 crore rupee market in a big way - they've already sold upwards of 4 million toothbrushes to customers in 18 countries, and are currently manufacturing upwards of 50,000 new bamboo toothbrushes every single day in their Pune manufacturing plant. 5. Repos Energy: I can describe their startup is that, just like Zomato and Swiggy deliver food, and Zepto and Blinkit deliver groceries, Repos Energy delivers fuel, and they got off to a great start: in 2019 Ratan Tata agreed to invest an undisclosed amount into the startup as an angel investor, and also became a strategic partner - Repos has now tie up with Tata Motors to make and market fuel trucks with built-in pumps. 6. Haber: Haber built a robot, eLIXA, which is able to collect data using a variety of different sensors, and then it's able to react to that data in real-time using AI and machine learning - another way of putting it is that eLIXA is to the manufacturing industry what autonomous vehicles are to the automotive industry, but unlike modern autonomous cars which typically still need to have a driver present in case the AI makes a mistake, eLIXA is completely automated, there's no human intervention required whatsoever. 7. RoadBounce: The RoadBounce app records the quality of the road in real time. Now this is nice and all, but how does RoadBounce actually generate revenue? Well, as I mentioned earlier, it's primarily a B2G company, business to government. By purchasing the data that RoadBounce collects, contractors and government agencies can make data-driven decisions as they build or repair roads. 8. Fittr: Fittr makes you fitter - they do this with their app's free diet and training tips, and some premium paid features like personalised guidance, customised fitness and nutrition plans, and weekly check-ups from the company's in-house coaches. 9. Moonshine: Moonshine Meadery, there actually aren't any mead brands in Asia, let alone India, so it is a very new type of drink for this market, but in spite of that, they were able to raise a seed round in September of 2018. They tried to raise more capital on Shark Tank India, and while they did get offers from the investors on that show, nobody could agree on a valuation so these deals all fell through. 10. Biddano: Biddano acts as a middle-man between medical supply distributors and the pharmacies and hospitals that wanna buy these medical supplies.

This week in Indian Startup News, Instant Grocery Delivery startups extend their delivery time, Byju's losses pile up, ONDC beta testing to begin soon, Lido learning files for bankruptcy. 00:00 Introduction 00:30 Instant Grocery Delivery startups extend their delivery time 03:33 Byju's losses pile up 04:30 Bird's Eye Segment 06:13 ONDC beta testing to begin soon 06:38 Lido learning files for bankruptcy 06:50 Sponsored Segment 08:15 BWM Update Instant Grocery Delivery startups extend their delivery time: Zepto, Dunzo, Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart are now testing pilots for late night deliveries. These pilots are only available for selected markets in cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Pune, Mumbai and Chennai. They are doing this mainly because Indian customers tend to stay up late, and when they stay up late, they tend to order snacks and other eatables in the night. This would give extra business to these companies. Byju's losses pile up: Byju's, world's biggest ed-tech company, has posted their financials a couple of days ago after delaying it for almost an year; and it's not looking good. They reported a loss of 576 million dollars in FY21 from 29 million dollars in FY20, that's a massive increase of 1,880% or 19.8X. Company's total revenue declined by 3.3% from 315 million dollars to 305 million dollars. The main reason for this loss is acquisitions and marketing. 1/4th of the losses are because of WhiteHat Jr, a code learning platform which Byju's acquired back in 2021, which reported a loss of 212 million dollars alone. Funding this week: This week at least 10 Indian Startups raised more than $1 Million, in total raising $143.8 Mn. Yulu raised $82 Million Agritech startup Akshayakalpa raised $15 Mn Deeptech startups raised $21 Million ONDC beta testing to begin soon: ONDC beta testing will begin at the end of September. The beta testing is likely to take place in Bengaluru, said ONDC CEO. Lido learning files for bankruptcy: Lido Learning has filed for bankruptcy! Lido failed to pay off debts payable to its ex-employees, customers, vendors, lenders and sundry creditors.

A small industry of sorts seems to have popped up which is thriving on layoffs now -- such is the scale of people being fired from startups. There are start-ups which are now helping companies in smooth lay-offs, making it less painfull for the employees. So why did things come to such a pass?    Sceptics have for long been questioning the deep-discounting, high cash burn and growth-at -all cost models of Indian start-ups. But there was no stopping for them. Now, the recent funding slowdown and market scrutiny appears to have enforced some discipline among them. On the first of August, Zomato reported a consolidated loss of 186 crore rupees for the quarter ended 30th of June. Thus, the online food delivery platform's losses have narrowed 48 per cent from the previous quarter's figure of about Rs 360 crore. And how did Zomato achieve this? CEO Deepinder Goyal said that over the past few months, Zomato's focus on profitability has sharpened amid the change in market context and it is allocating resources with a long-term view on sustainable growth and profits.     This goal comes along with sweeping changes. Having internally rebranded itself as ‘Eternal', Zomato plans to move to a structure where it would have multiple CEOs running each of its businesses, which are Zomato, Blinkit, Hyperpure, and Feeding India. While key details are still missing, this appears to be an attempt to set up a corporate umbrella structure, where the parent company is able to diversify revenue streams and derive larger profits from multiple subsidiaries.   On the similar lines, Swiggy downsized its cloud kitchens and laid off 900 employees citing its focus on growth and profitability. This year, Swiggy is introducing new private labels in the food business segment. While it is launching new cloud kitchens for these brands, it is also rationalising costs and seeking optimisation. In fact, Swiggy is reportedly being very cost conscious with this exercise. In December last year, Swiggy co-founder and CEO Sriharsha Majety said that the first Covid lockdown forced the company to make hard choices, which accelerated it along the path to profitability. In fact, he said that Swiggy's contribution margin was healthier than pre-covid levels. He added that the food delivery category would turn profitable in the next two to three years. In July, One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, presented the annual report for FY22 for the first time as a public-listed company. It said that the company's aim was to achieve operating profitability by the second quarter of FY23. At that time, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder and CEO of Paytm, had said that there had been rapid growth in payments and a significant scale-up in the lending and payment devices businesses.   Clearly, these three large start-ups, along with select other names, have at the very least reoriented their priorities towards profitability. But, what are the drivers of this transition and the challenges involved? According to Karan Taurani, SVP, Elara Capital, most start-ups realise cash-burn alone will not bring multiples. They have thus taken a conscious step towards profitability. Sustaining profit along with growth will be the challenge. Level of market fragmentation key determinant for profitability. Higher outgo from customer's end inevitable. Customer consumption patterns will be impacted.  According to Taurani, dominant start-ups in highly consolidated industry segments like food tech and e-commerce are best placed for pursuing profitability without significantly sacrificing growth. Finally, there is increasing regulatory scrutiny of internet companies, which is both a motivating factor for start-ups to pursue profitability with renewed vigour and a hurdle that will have to be overcome during that journey.

We begin the episode by gossiping about Sushmita Sen & Lalit Modi, like everyone else is doing, online & offline (Guilty, right!) Further, Varun & Suchita discuss layoffs at Microsoft & hiring Freeze at Google, Evan Williams quitting as the CEO of Medium, VCs tightening their pockets and India's 104th unicorn, Airtel in talks to acquire Gaana, Blinkit and Zomato's impending collaboration, and Unacademy's Performance Marketing strategy. Lots happened in the world and in the week's top stories, Varun & Suchita discuss Ultrahuman and fellow bio-hacking tools with reference to the Indian Market, the pros and cons of Family Offices, Travel accessories featuring Mokobara, and Impulsive Commerce highlighting a SF based app named 'Wish'.Varun Recommends eating Curd Rice with Chilly Chicken while Suchita recommends a book: 'How Brands Grow' by Byron Sharp.Varun & Suchita also answer a few listener questions on the show. Do share yours on the below-mentioned handles. You can follow Varun Duggirala on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/varunduggi and on Instagram at https://instagram.com/varunduggiYou can follow Suchita Salwan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/suchitasalwan and on Instagram at https://instagram.com/suchitasalwanCheck out video episodes on the Think Fast YouTube Channel.Find the show across audio streaming apps:Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | JioSaavn | Gaana | Amazon MusicDo follow IVM Podcasts on social media. We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcasts App on Android or iOS.

Google's parent Alphabet will slow the pace of hiring and investments through 2023, responding to the global economic slowdown, CEO Sundar Pichai said in an email to employees on Tuesday, CNBC reports. HCL Technologies reported its services business grew strongly in its fiscal first quarter, joining TCS in signalling customers continue to invest in the move to the cloud. And Lightspeed announced a half-a-billion-dollar fund close for India and south-east Asia. Notes: Google's parent Alphabet will slow the pace of hiring and investments through 2023, CEO Sundar Pichai said in an email to employees on Tuesday, CNBC reports. “Like all companies, we're not immune to economic headwinds,” Pichai wrote in the memo, which was seen by CNBC. “We need to be more entrepreneurial working with greater urgency, sharper focus, and more hunger than we've shown on sunnier days,” Pichai wrote, according to CNBC. Pichai said in the letter that the company hired 10,000 employees in the second quarter. And “because of the hiring progress achieved so far this year, we'll be slowing the pace of hiring for the rest of the year, while still supporting our most important opportunities,” he wrote. “For the balance of 2022 and 2023, the company will focus on hiring on engineering, technical and other critical roles,” Pichai wrote, according to CNBC. HCL Technologies, yesterday, reported fiscal first-quarter revenues of $3.025 billion, a 15.6 percent increase year over year in constant currency, and 2.7 percent over the previous quarter. Noida-based HCL Tech, India's third-biggest IT services company, joins larger rival TCS in signalling customers are continuing to invest in moving more IT to the cloud, which is helping India's biggest software services companies win larger orders. The company's main services business, which contributes the bulk of its revenues and profits, rose strongly at 19 percent year over year. “Our services business continues to have robust growth momentum … driven by our digital engineering and digital application services with cloud adoption being a horizontal theme across all services and verticals,” CEO C Vijayakumar said in a press release. The company's new orders grew by 23.4 percent with a good mix of large and mid-sized deals and its pipeline remains near a record high, he added. Lightspeed yesterday announced the closing of a $500 million early-stage fund, the LSIP Fund IV, for India and Southeast Asia as part of its global $7 billion fundraise bringing its total capital under management to about $18 billion. Lightspeed has been investing in Indian startups since 2007, and in addition to the fourth fund, it invests in growth-stage companies from its Select and Opportunity funds. Lightspeed's investments in this region include Indian Energy Exchange, Oyo, Byju's, Grab, Acko, Razorpay, Udaan, Sharechat and Innovaccer. Wheelocity, a supply chain network provider for fresh produce, has raised $12 million in series A funding led by Lightspeed. The round, a mix of equity and venture debt, also saw participation from Anicut Capital and other investors, according to a press release. Wheelocity was started in September 2021 by Selvam VMS, Senthil and Cdr. Amresh. Its customers include Swiggy's Instamart, Ninjacart, Dunzo and Blinkit. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds

This week in Indian Startup News, Zomato's acquisition of Blinkit - A disaster or long term bet, BYJU's owned Whitehat Jr and Toppr fire 650+ people and Ola Shuts Used Cars And Quick Commerce Business. In Founder Spotlight, we have the founder and CEO of Unacademy, Gaurav Munjal, who recently opened first offline center in Kota and is now becoming hot favorite for students in offline space. In Funding news we have, Arzoo, Solv, Battery Smart and 10 other Indian startups raise more than $1 Million. 00:00 Introduction 00:06 Zomato's acquisition of Blinkit 02:58 Founder Spotlight 05:20 Funding Analysis 06:33 Sponsored Segment 08:16 BYJU's owned Whitehat Jr and Toppr fire 650+ people 09:25 Ola Shuts Used Cars And Quick Commerce Business Zomato's acquisition of Blinkit: Last week, Zomato had finally concluded its acquisition of quick commerce startup Blinkit and in less than four days of this acquisition, Zomato's share has fallen more than 21% which means that more than 13,000 Crore Rs of Zomato's market value has been wiped off. This seems a bad decision in the short term as Blinkit is a loss making company but Zomato realized that food delivery and grocery delivery have a lot of synergies as both are hyperlocal businesses and the company already has a fleet of delivery people. And that's why they are thinking of this as a long term bet. Founder Spotlight - Gaurav Munjal: This week we have Co-founder and CEO of Unacademy, Gaurav Munjal, and the reason for him to feature here is the aggressive strategy he along with his team is taking at Unacademy to disrupt the offline coaching space in India, and especially in a city called Kota. Gaurav is known for killing off the competition by acquiring them or bleeding them dry by poaching the talent and this is exactly what is happening in Kota right now. More than 40 teachers from Allen have already joined Unacademy and this battle is heating up. Funding this week: This week saw at least 13 Indian startups raising more than $314 Million. B2B Marketplaces - Arzoo raised $70 Million Fintech startups - Progcap raised $40 Million EV startups - Battery Smart raised $25 Mn Real Estate - PropShare raised $50 Million BYJU's owned Whitehat Jr and Toppr fire 650+ people: BYJU's owned Whitehat Jr and Toppr have laid off 300 and 350+ employees respectively. Company has termed these lay offs as ‘business restructuring' and according to Inc42, sales and marketing team were the worst affected. Edtech wasn't the only sector that saw layoffs, as B2B Ecommerce Unicorn Udaan has also laid off around 180 employees to cut costs. Another startup called Nova Benefits, which is a Bengaluru-based insurtech startup, has also laid off around 70 employees. Ola Shuts Used Cars And Quick Commerce Business: Bhavish Aggarwal led Ola has decided to shut down its used car division Ola Cars and its quick commerce business, Ola Dash. The company will now focus on its electric vehicles and mobility businesses from here on. According to the company, they are reassessing their priorities at this point and it seems quick commerce isn't their priority as of now. Company will be using the lessons it learnt from it's Ola Cars business for making go to market strategy for Ola Electric.

While Varun is enjoying his stay in London, Amit joins Suchita on this week's episode of Think Fast. They begin by discussing the Roe V Wade judgment, Uber's struggles, RBI's recent mandates with respect to BNPL, and give us an update on some recent acquisitions. Suchita recollects a recent article by Shephali Bhatt that talks about recent stats in the Influencer Economy space and why they might not be accurate, the Creator Economy and new trends in the same, and how Facebook might be working towards a TikTok style Algorithm. Amit tells us about the new laws in the TelCo space and the recent Zomato-BlinkIt merger.Check out the episode with Shephali Bhatt here.Amit Recommends 'Hustle', a Basketball film starring Adam Sandler.Suchita Recommends 'Dave Chappelle: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor'.Varun & Suchita also answer a few listener questions on the show. Do share yours on the below-mentioned handles. You can follow Varun Duggirala on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/varunduggi and on Instagram at https://instagram.com/varunduggiYou can follow Suchita Salwan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/suchitasalwan and on Instagram at https://instagram.com/suchitasalwanCheck out video episodes on the Think Fast YouTube Channel.(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbtHHMZ_01TyL3kXhJV4Ddg)You can follow IVM Podcasts on social media. We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcasts App on Android or iOS.

Zomato has acquired Blinkit, a struggling 10-minute grocery delivery startup, in a $568.1 million all-stock deal as the loss-making food delivery firm looks to broaden its offerings at a time when its shares are trading far below last year's debut price.

Zomato has acquired Blinkit, a struggling 10-minute grocery delivery startup, in a $568.1 million all-stock deal as the loss-making food delivery firm looks to broaden its offerings at a time when its shares are trading far below last year's debut price.

Top startups news to follow this week: 1. Startups keep laying off swaths of employees as the downturn continues - TechCrunch 2. With biotech in retreat, Third Rock Ventures raises $1B for life sciences investing 3. Raleigh diagnostics startup Gemelli Biotech closes $19M Series A – investors include Carolina Angel Network 4. Zomato acquires Blinkit for $568 million in instant-grocery delivery push 5. AI-Powered Hong Kong Biotech Startup Raises $60 Million From Top VCs Including B Capital, Qiming - Forbes 6. Security-as-code startup JIT comes out of stealth with $38.5M in seed funding 7. Amsterdam cyber startup Hadrian closes €10.5M Seed for a platform that simulates hacker attacks, TechCrunch reports 8. Cybersecurity startup RevealSecurity raises $23M for global expansion 9. EuraTechnologies raises €24 million to back deep tech startups and open 10 incubators in Eastern Europe 10. London-based Stotles secures €6.1 million to streamline how businesses and governments work together Read more https://hyetechminds.com/ Sign up for Startup Monday Newsletter subscribepage.com/n5x5l8 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hyetechminds/message

If you're a startup enthusiasts, its highly likely that you would have read or atleast heard about the book - Saying No to Jugaad: The Making of Bigbasket by by T. N. Hari & M. S. Subramanian.In today's episode we have Hari Menon, BigBasket's founder sharing the his experience in the Indian Ecommerce Ecosystem over the last two decades. In May 2021, Tata Digital invested $375 Mn in BigBasket. They have also recently launched their quick commerce vertical called BBNow and will now compete alongside the existing players such as Swiggy, Blinkit, Zepto and Dunzo.During the episode, catch Hari talking about his learning from his first venture, his thoughts on the current market and the investment slowdown, and much more. Notes - 02:20 - Building India's online grocery market in the last two decades14:37 - Starting BigBasket at the age of 5021:16 - Dividing equity between the founders21:42 - Mistakes & Biases which got carried from his first venture24:15 - Becoming a part of Tata Group and growing bigger27:16 - Top learnings and observations from Tata Group29:30 - His thoughts on “10-minute delivery”33:14 - Any similar patterns between June 2022 and 1999 boom and bust?35:14 - Business which are not building a profitable model will suffer the most38:22 - Indian Startup Ecosystem in the next 5-10 years40:20 - Framework to identify large opportunities: Scale & Profitability42:36 - Culture at BigBasket which keeps people from moving out46:45 - Growing with the business as CEO

Recently, 10-min deliveries companies like Blinkit and Zepto introduced new terms that has now led to the gamification of the quick commerce industry. These terms are forcing delivery agents to work harder and ride faster, but for significantly less money. In this episode, Indian Express' Soumyarendra Barik joins host Shashank Bhargava to discuss what these new terms are forcing delivery agents to do, the conditions under which they have to work, and how the current Venture Capitalist culture is a part of this problem.

Last fortnight, Zomato acquired Blinkit, hot on the heels of Swiggy shutting down SuprDaily and Zepto raising a $200M round as the quick commerce market twisted and turned. For more details - https://ajuniorvc.com/quick-commerce-10-minutes-blinkit-swiggy-zomato-zepto-unicorn/

India's central government is planning to create an appeals body where people can complain against social media posts, instead of having to go to the courts, according to a press release on Monday by the country's ministry of electronics and information technology. The appeals body will be called the ‘Grievance Appellate Committee'. Users will have the option to appeal against the grievance redressal process of the intermediaries before this new appellate body, according to the press release. ‘Intermediaries' refers to companies such as Google, Meta and Twitter, which own and operate platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Apple started its annual worldwide developer conference, or WWDC, yesterday and announced a brand new MacBook Air, new software for the iPhone, iPad and watch, and a new 13-inch MacBook Pro laptop and also a buy-now-pay-later service on Apple Pay. The laptops run on Apple's own M-series chips, including the new M2 processor, all of which are said to offer longer battery life than the previous models that used Intel's chips. The new software includes iOS 16, iPadOS 16, MacOS Ventura and WatchOS 9. iOS 16 will be available around September, for iPhone 8 and higher models. Zomato's board will likely meet on June 17 to clear a proposal to acquire the quick delivery startup Blinkit, formerly the online groceries venture Grofers, almost two years after the two first discussed a potential deal, Economic Times reports. Under the proposal, Blinkit's shareholders are expected to get about a 10 percent stake in Zomato. Blinkit's largest investor, SoftBank Vision Fund, will get close to a 4 percent stake in the loss-making food delivery company that went public last year. Blinkit's investors may have to compulsorily hold Zomato's shares for at least six months, according to ET. Solid Power, a US-based battery technologies startup, is a step closer to commercialising its solid-state batteries, TechCrunch reports. The company has opened up a new facility that will turn out what are called ‘B-samples' of 60Ah and 100Ah cells. B-samples are close-to-commercial products. Solid Power is aiming to deliver the B-samples in the first half of 2024, and according to the company's timetable, a commercial solid-state battery that is ready to go into an EV could be available as early as 2028, according to TechCrunch. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds

In this video, we take a look at India's journey to 100 unicorns, from it's first ever startup unicorn in 2011, in the form of inMobi, to neobanking startup Open becoming 100th unicorn in 2022. The term 'unicorn' was created by American VC and entrepreneur Aileen Lee in 2013, she took all of the U.S.-based software companies that were started in or before 2003 and had achieved a valuation of $1 billion through public or private market investors, and put them in a club: the Unicorn Club. In India's case, it's unicorn journey started in 2011, when InMobi, a company that was founded in 2007, became a unicorn. Following this, Flipkart became a unicorn in 2012, Mu Sigma in 2014 and then Ola in 2014. Snapdeal also became a unicorn in 2014, but they have since exited from this club due to their valuation falling below $1 Billion. Companies like Quikr, Hike and Shopclues also fall in this category. Then we have companies who have been since acquired and also bags the question that should they be counted as unicorn today? Flipkart is an example here, which was acquired by Walmart. Then you have startups like Billdesk, which was bought by PayU, PhonePe getting acquired by Flipkart and BigBasket, which became a unicorn in 2019 and were acquired by Tata Digital in 2021. All this while, India's unicorn growth was pretty slow but steady till 2017, when Jio launched its 4G services, and this brought a mobile internet revolution in the country. From 1 unicorn in 2017, India saw 10 unicorns in 2018: B2C unicorns included Swiggy, OYO, BYJU'S, Policybazaar, Paytm Mall, and Phonepe, and B2B unicorns included Rivigo, Freshworks, Billdesk, and Udaan, which was the fastest company to become a unicorn at the time - it took them just 26 months. Then, in 2019, things slowed down a bit, with just 7 unicorns that year: in the B2C category were Ola Electric, Lenskart, Dream11, Delhivery, and BigBasket, and in the B2B category were Incertis and Druva. In 2020, COVID increased people's reliance upon the internet, and host of Indian e-commerce startups like Firstcry, Cars24, and Nykaa became unicorns. Facilitating these online payments resulted in fintech companies like Razorpay and Pine Labs also achieving unicorn status. B2C startups like Verse Innovation (Dailyhunt), ed-tech startup Unacademy, fintech startup Zerodha, and SaaS startup like Zenoti and Postman also became unicorn in the same year. 2020, was followed by an even bigger year in terms of unicorns in 2021, when 44 Indian companies became unicorns. This year saw 11 E-commerce startups (Spinny, OfBusiness, Moglix, Mensa, Meesho, Mamaearth, Licious, Infra.Market, Good Glam Group, GlobalBees, Droom), 11 Fintech startups (Zeta, Slice, Mobikwik, Groww, Digit, CRED, Coinswitch Kuber, CoinDCX, Chargebee, BharatPe and Acko) becoming unicorns. Then we have 5 enterprisetech and SaaS startups (Mindtickle, MapmyIndia, Gupshup, BrowserStack, Apna), 4 health startups (Cure.fit, Innovaccer, Pharmeasy, Pristyn Care), 4 consumer service startups (Blinkit, CarDekho, Rebel Foods, Urban Company), and 3 edtech startups (Eruditus, Vedantu and Upgrad) also becoming unicorns. Other 2021 unicorn categories include Media and Entertainment startups MPL and sharechat, Logistics startup Blackbuck, Traveltech startup Easemytrip , Real Estate startup Nobroker, and Manufacturing startup Zetwork. Talking about where where these startups coming from, they were all from tier 1 cities. Bangalore is leading this list with 39 unicorns, NCR region with 32 unicorns, mumbai with 16, Pune with 6, Chennai with 5 and Hyderabad with 2. Now we are halfway in 2022 and we have already produced and now it seems that by 2025, India will have upwards of 250 unicorns. So that will be exciting to watch and we will continue to track all of this in our upcoming episodes.

On Monday, Zomato announced a pilot project to deliver food in just 10 minutes. It will kick off in Gurugram from next month. People on social media slammed the move alleging that it will put the lives of their delivery partners in danger, as they will rush to meet the target. Congress MP Karti Chidambaram was also quick to criticize the move, calling it a “ten-minute long gamble with a gig worker's life”. The Lok Sabha MP had recently asked the government to regulate gig economy companies like Swiggy, Zomato, Uber, Ola and Blinkit and protect riders who work for them. Zomato, on its part, stressed ​​that it would not pressure its drivers to deliver food faster.  The plight of gig workers who deliver food, drive cabs and provide professional services for app-based platforms has come to the fore in recent times as they increasingly dot the Indian roads. So who are these gig workers and what is the gig economy? A gig worker is a person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of the traditional employer-employee relationship. The gig economy encompasses freelancers, online platform workers, self-employed, on-call workers, and other temporary contractual workers.  Gig workers get the flexibility to work for several employers at the same time. A gig economy can benefit employees as well as companies. While workers can choose the projects they want to be associated with, companies can manage costs by adjusting their flexible workforce based on the demand. The rise of the gig economy is driven by the emergence of tech-enabled platforms, demand for flexible work arrangements and focus on skills. According to a 2019 report by the India Staffing Federation, India is the fifth largest in flexi-staffing globally, after the US, China, Brazil and Japan. While the gig economy is prevalent among blue-collar jobs in India the demand for gig workers in white-collar jobs such as project-specific consultants, salespeople, web designers, content writers and software developers is also emerging.  Gig workers work on various compensation models, such as fixed-fee that is decided during the contract initiation, time and effort, actual unit of work delivered, and quality of outcome or a combination of these. India is currently estimated to have more than 15 million freelance workers engaged in projects in different fields of the gig economy.  The gig economy can serve up to 90 million jobs in the non-farm sectors in India with a potential to add 1.25% to the GDP over the "long term", a report by consultancy firm BCG said. It also states that gig workers are relatively younger and less educated compared to non-gig workers. They typically work for limited hours in a day, with 61% of gig workers working less than eight hours a day, versus only 11% of non-gig workers. Watch video

Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal pulled a surprise on Monday when he announced a pilot project to deliver food items in just ten minutes. The announcement divided the social media. Those in favour said that they will now get their French fries and burgers before they go soggy. And soft drinks before they lose the sting. While another section alleged that this rush will endanger the life of delivery partners. It also gave birth to a barrage of memes. With one of them saying that he wanted his food delivered even before it was ordered. The criticism forced the Zomato CEO to come forward with another round of clarification. The first one had come with Monday's announcement itself. CEO Goyal claimed that Zomato does not force riders to deliver food faster. In fact, he claimed that delivery partners are not even told about the promised time of delivery and that time optimization does not happen on the road. Goyal said that the riders are neither penalised for late deliveries, nor incentivised for on-time deliveries. He also claimed that 10-minute deliveries would lead to lesser time spent on the road per order. Concerns, however, remain. Zomato meanwhile expects that prices for customers will come down by 50% without affecting the incomes for restaurants and delivery partners. CEO Deepinder Goyal said this new category is borne out of customer preferences as they are increasingly seeking quicker answers to their needs. He said that sorting restaurants by fastest delivery time is one of the most used features on the Zomato app. How does the company plan to execute this? Let us find out. The 10-minute food delivery service, called Zomato Instant, will rely on a dense network of food finishing stations that will be located at certain high-demand customer neighbourhoods. These stations will house 20 to 30 best-selling, standardised menu items from various restaurants based on hyperlocal preferences and demand that can be dispatched in two minutes.  The backlash will not deter the startup from piloting Zomato Instant with four stations in Haryana's Gurugram from next month. Zomato believes that its experience of delivering 1.35 billion orders across India will help it innovate and stay ahead of the competition. Ultrafast grocery delivery from the likes of Blinkit and Zepto became all the rage last year. And Zomato wants to replicate this with food delivery. It will be arguably the first in the world to try out this model.  Zomato explained that its in-station robotics will ensure that the food is hot and fresh at the time it is picked by the delivery partner.  We will soon know how it manages to balance its business objectives with the safety of delivery executives and quality of food.

In this episode of Think Fast, Suchita is joined by Amit Doshi, Founder of IVM Podcasts. They discuss the recent developments in the quick commerce industry in India, especially when Zomato & Blinkit are eying a merger and try to bring in some examples from abroad to see how are they faring; Trell was under some trouble recently with its investors and basis that there was going to be downsizing, they discuss these happenings and how CEOs should manage such situations; SEBI drafting new rules for IPOs and how positively or negatively will they affect; Mumbai's new climate action plan, No Coding Software like Webflow and much more. For the Deep-Dive segment, Amit tells us about the rise in Audio apps, the evolution of audio content, and what the future looks like. Amit Recommends: Book: Once Upon A Time In HollywoodSuchita Recommends: Show: WeCrashedFind Amit on Instagram & TwitterYou can follow Varun Duggirala on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/varunduggi and on Instagram at https://instagram.com/varunduggiYou can follow Suchita Salwan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/suchitasalwan and on Instagram at https://instagram.com/suchitasalwanYou can follow IVM Podcasts on social media. We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcasts App on Android or iOS.

Aaj k episode me baat karenge Zomato k latest 10-min food delivery promise k baare main.Blinkit k saath huye merger k baad ye feature kya hoga krantikaari?Janne k liye sunte rahiye aaj ka episode.Namastey India!

Online food-delivery platform Zomato is set to take over Blinkit -- which had pioneered the 10-minute grocery delivery as Grofers. And it looks like a win-win deal for both. It marks Zomato's foray into e-grocery space, where its rival Swiggy is already there. And the pact will also give a leg up to Blinkit which is struggling to raise funds and has shuttered over 50 warehouses recently and laid off hundreds of employees.  Meanwhile, there is another acquisition which is in the news for a while now. The takeover of Air India by Tata group. The airline is now in the midst of an overhaul. Last week, Natarajan Chandrasekaran was appointed its chairman, about a fortnight after former Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci declined to be CEO over a row on his political links. Even if the appointment of Chandrasekaran -- who is already heading the mighty Tata Sons -- is a stopgap arrangement, it will give the airline a leg up ahead of resumption of international flights later this week. So, how his on-boarding and that of some other independent directors will help the airline? After the skies, let us see what is happening on Dalal Street. Markets staged a strong rebound last week, buoyed by a rally in global equities and a dip in commodity prices. The week also saw the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates after a gap of four years. This week, investors will watch out global macros as the UK is slated to release their retail inflation data on March 23. US President Biden is also expected to meet European leaders at the NATO conference on March 24 to discuss ways of punishing Russia.  Not just the markets, but the dissemination of correct information has also suffered in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Both sides have been using manipulated media to further their interests. Recently, deep-fake videos of presidents of both sides hit social media. In one video, Russian President Vladimir Putin was purportedly seen declaring peace. While in the older one, the Ukrainian president was talking of surrendering to Russia. But this is not something new. Let's understand what deepfake is and more in this episode of the podcast. Watch video

Less than a year after investing $100 million in Blinkit for a 9.3% stake, Zomato is reportedly in talks to merge with the online grocery company in an all-stock deal. Blinkit shareholders will get a 10% stake in Zomato A Business Standard report said that Blinkit would be valued at around $750-800 million dollars, which is much lower than the unicorn status it had achieved last August with the funding round where Zomato participated. Blinkit is going through a severe cash crunch, bringing the unsustainability of the quick commerce model into focus even as competition is increasing in this space. This has prompted Zomato to extend a $150 million loan to Blinkit to support its capital requirements in the near term. The loan amount is in line with Zomato's stated intent of investing up to $400 million in quick commerce in India over the next two years. Formerly called Grofers, the start-up rebranded into Blinkit in December as it pivoted to 10- minute grocery delivery, entering the quick commerce segment. So, what is behind Zomato's plan to acquire Blinkit? Zomato has become a strategic investor in the hyper-local e-commerce segment and has picked up stakes in smaller start-ups. While Zomato says its core food-related businesses that include food delivery, dining-out and B2 supplies unit Hyperpure will remain its key focus, it wants to invest in building the ecosystem around the food delivery business so that the cost of running a better food delivery business goes down with time. In the past year, it has made cash investments worth $225 million in Blinkit, Shiprocket and Magicpin towards its objective of building out quick e-commerce in India. However, Zomato is still a loss-making company. While its Average Order Value has increased over the last three years to Rs 400, in Zomato's own words, the food delivery business is only showing early signs of maturity. Its contribution margin as a percentage of the Gross Order Value is 1.1%, although this is an improvement from negative 15% in 2019. Zomato estimated that a 5% contribution margin in its food delivery business at the current scale can ensure break-even at the EBITDA level. Moreover, Zomato will continue to fund the growth in its core food businesses till they become profitable. ​​Zomato has previously said it stands ready to infuse additional capital into the hyperlocal e- commerce companies in which it has taken minority interest, and consolidate its stake, leading to a potential merger in the future. However, the quick timeframe between Zomato's first investment in Blinkit and the potential merger has raised eyebrows. This could also mark the beginning of the consolidation in India's ultrafast grocery delivery space. Watch video

Zomato is looking to merge with Blinkit, formerly known as Grofers, as it looks to up its game in the very rapidly growing quick commerce sector. Who will this deal benefit? What does this mean for the investors, quick commerce, and food tech? Ratna Bhushan decodes the deal and sector dynamics with Jaspal Sabharwal, Co-founder, TagTaste Foods, Samir Kuckreja, Founder & CEO, Tasanaya Hospitality, and Tarush Bhalla, Senior Assistant Editor, ET. Credits - CNBC-TV18

This week in Indian startup news, Navi Technologies files for Rs 3,350 crore IPO, Trell to lay-off half of its workforce, Infra.Market under investigation for allegedly not paying their taxes, and Clear acquires Xpedize. In funding news, Amagi raises $95 million to become a unicorn, Byju's raises $800 million, Licious raises $150 million and Blinkit raises $100 million. Navi Technologies files for Rs 3,350 crore IPO: Navi Technologies has filed for a Rs 3,350 crore IPO. Back in 2020, Navi had applied for a universal banking licence to achieve their banking dreams. But it's been over two years but RBI has still not granted them a universal banking licence. In the midst of this, Navi Technologies failed to secure funding from SoftBank. And in order to keep their banking dreams alive, Navi Technologies has no option but to go public at a time when the global stock markets are taking a hit. However, the fintech startup is counting on its strong financials to make its IPO a success. Trell to lay-off half of its workforce: Social commerce platform Trell is looking to let go of 300 of their employees out of the total workforce of 700 people (500 of whom are full-time employees). While this six-year-old startup has raised a total of $61.9 million - they raised a $45 million round less than a year ago - valuing them at $120 million. Since last year there have been multiple reports of Trell being in talks with Amazon to raise anywhere between $50-80 million. But those talks seem to have fallen through after reports of a probe being conducted by EY India into alleged financial irregularities in the startup. It seems now that Trell is left with no choice but to let go of their employees in order to survive. Infra.Market under investigation for allegedly not paying their taxes: According to an ET report, income tax authorities have raided B2B construction materials marketplace Infra.Market's offices in multiple cities and founders' homes were reported to be raided as well. It is said that Infra.Market is being investigated for not paying their taxes as well as some fake invoices. However, this news comes at a bad time as the company is reportedly looking to close $450 million at a $4 billion valuation. Clear acquires Xpedize: Clear (previously known as ClearTax) has acquired supply chain financing platform Xpedize in a deal which is estimated to be worth ₹100 crore. This is Clear's second acquisition after acquiring B2B payments platform Ybanq in July last year. With this acquisition, Clear will be rebranding Xpedize to Clear Invoice Discounting to offer financing solutions to 1.1 million SMEs that use their platform. Amagi raises $95 million to become a unicorn: SaaS-based media technology startup Amagi has raised $95 million in a round led by Accel at a $1 billion valuation making them India's 12th unicorn of 2022. Byju's raises $800 million: Edtech giant Byju's has raised $800 million in a round led by its founder Byju Raveendran – taking his family's ownership into the $22 billion edtech behemoth. Licious raises $150 million: D2C meat and seafood brand Licious has raised $150 million in a round led by Amansa Capital at a $1.6 billion valuation to launch new product categories and invest in strategic acquisitions to expand their reach. Blinkit raises $100 million: 10-minute grocery delivery startup Blinkit has raised $100 million from Zomato – which is expected to be a part of a larger $400 million funding round. There are talks that Zomato will be buying out Blinkit to get into the instant delivery business.

On this episode, we have two interesting stories lined up! For starters, Starbucks is going green, the coffee chain is planning to replace disposable cups with reusable ones. And for our main story we talk about the inevitable merger: Zomato planning to take over Blinkit. Listen to Farheen Khan decode why it's a win-win situation for both the companies.

In today's episode for 14th March 2022, we talk about quick-commerce and see how BlinkIt is racing against time — for groceries and money

Wipro and Pandorum Technologies, a biotechnology company working in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, have teamed up to develop technologies that shorten time-to-market and maximise patient outcomes during R&D and clinical trials of regenerative medicine; Walmart Global Tech and IIT Madras will collaborate on research, and continued education for Walmart associates; And Blinkit raises money from Zomato, ET reports. Wipro and Pandorum Technologies, a biotechnology company working in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, have teamed up to develop technologies that shorten time-to-market and maximise patient outcomes during R&D and clinical trials of regenerative medicine, India's fourth biggest IT services company said in a press release yesterday. Walmart Global Tech is partnering Indian Institute of Technology Madras to accelerate research in new areas of technology, provide Walmart associates with continuing education and collaborate on projects for Corporate Social Responsibility for their India operations, the retail giant said in a press release. IITM students and WGT associates will work on research projects together, facilitated by the Centre for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (IC&SR) at IITM. Blinkit (formerly Grofers), has closed an additional $100 million in financing as a part of its ongoing fundraise, Economic Times reports. The funds are being raised through convertible notes from Zomato, which will later be converted into equity, according to ET. This is a part of a larger $400-million funding Blinkit is looking to raise from Zomato and other investors, which is expected to close in the next two quarters, according to ET. Ninjacart, an agri-platform provider, has acquired Tecxprt, a company with expertise in integrating cloud software. Ninjacart didn't provide any financial details. Ambee, an environmental intelligence company that supplies hyperlocal environmental data in real-time, has launched ‘SmartFarming Data', a new offering that brings data science techniques to farmers and agribusinesses to improve the health of their farms. ‘SmartFarming Data' by Ambee will help farmers understand their farms better, mitigate the impact of climate change on agriculture, take measures to monitor and mitigate soil degradation, and increase agricultural productivity using environmental data, according to a press release. Loco, a game streaming startup, has raised $42 million as it looks to build what it has described to some investors as “Twitch for India,” TechCrunch reports. The startup — run by Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh, who previously co-founded content platform Pocket Aces — has raised about $51 million to date. Pocket Aces acquired Loco in 2018. Kuku FM, an audio content platform provider, has secured Series B funding of $19.5 million led by South Korean gaming giant KRAFTON, according to a press release. The round also saw participation from its existing investors including 3one4 Capital, Vertex Ventures, and India Quotient, with Founder Bank Capital and Verlinvest joining as new investors. Mentor Match, an ed-tech startup, has raised $1 million in its pre-seed round of funding from Sapient Fund a US-based seed-stage venture fund led by Karthik Sundaram, according to a press release. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds

First, Indian Express' Deeptiman Tiwary joins host Shashank Bhargava to talk about the bizarre case of the former NSE CEO Chitra Ramkrishna and a mysterious ‘yogi', and why the CBI is now investigating her.Next, Indian Express' Pranav Mukul explains how companies like Blinkit and Zepto are managing to deliver groceries in 10 mins (11:15).And in the end, we take a quick look at why some coverage of the war in Ukraine is being described as racist (22:18).

This week in Indian startup news, Delhi becomes India's new startup capital, Ashneer Grover probed for financial fraud, Budget 2022: startup tax holiday extended and LTCG surcharge capped at 15%, Ola rebrands quick grocery delivery business as Ola Dash, and Curefoods acquires Maverix. In funding news, Dealshare raises $165 million to become a unicorn, Moglix raises $250 million, Chargebee raises $250 million and Scaler Academy raises $55 million. Delhi becomes India's new startup capital: According to the Economic Survey 2021-22, Delhi is now the new startup capital of India - taking the title away from Bengaluru. Between April 2019 and December 2021 - while Bengaluru added 4,514 new startups, Delhi on the other hand added over 5,000 startups. Ashneer Grover probed for financial fraud: Days after BharatPe's Ashneer Grover went on a ‘voluntary leave', not only did his wife Madhuri Jain Grover (who also works at BharatPe) also went on a leave and BharatPe also announced an independent audit of the company's internal processes and systems. According to media reports, both Ashneer and his wife are being investigated for financial fraud at BharatPe. Ashneer is already facing a hard time in the media for the leaked audio clip controversy, but allegations of financial fraud could have serious consequences for not just Ashneer but for India's startup ecosystem. Ashneer has hired a legal firm and is looking to safeguard his reputation and interests at BharatPe. Budget 2022: Startup tax holiday extended and LTCG surcharge capped at 15%: While there wasn't much talk about startups in general in the latest budget, there are a few positives for Indian startups. First of all, startups that were incorporated between 1st April 2016 and 31st March 2022 - were eligible for a tax holiday - meaning they don't have to pay any tax on profits for three consecutive years out of the first ten years of their operations. Due to the whole covid situation, this period has been increased by one more year until 31st March 2023. Secondly - investors, startup founders and employees will now have to pay less tax on their startup investments as the long-term capital gain (LTCG) surcharge is now capped at 15%. Ola rebrands quick grocery delivery business as Ola Dash: Just like Gofers rebranded themselves as Blinkit to focus on instant grocery delivery, Ola's latest grocery delivery business called Ola Store is now renamed as Ola Dash to focus on instant grocery as well. They already have a presence in nine cities with a network of 200 dark stores – which they are now planning to increase to 500 across 20 cities in the next six months. Curefoods acquires Maverix: Cloud kitchen startup Curefoods has acquired another cloud kitchen startup called Maverix Platforms - making Curefoods the second-largest cloud kitchen in the country with 125 kitchens across 12 cities. Dealshare raises $165 million to become a unicorn: Social commerce platform Dealshare has raised $165 million in a round led by Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Global at a $1.4 billion valuation – making them India's fifth unicorn of 2022. Moglix raises $250 million: Moglix, which is a B2B marketplace for industrial products, has raised $250 million in a round led by Alpha Wave Global – more than doubling their valuation from $1 billion to $2.6 billion in just eight months. Chargebee raises $250 million: SaaS-based subscription management platform Chargebee has raised $250 million in a round led by Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital – raising their valuation from $1.4 billion to $3.5 billion in nine months. Scaler Academy raises $55 million: Upskilling platform for college students and working professionals Scaler Academy has raised $55 million in a round led by Lightrock India at a $710 million valuation.

Bengaluru-based food-tech platform Swiggy announced on Monday a $700 million investment from marquee investors, almost doubling its valuation to $10.7 billion. On the other hand, the market capitalisation of Swiggy's rival Zomato has plummeted in the last few trading sessions to close at $9.6 billion on Monday. So clearly, Swiggy's valuation has surpassed that of its main rival Zomato which went public last July. With this, Swiggy has turned a decacorn, a term that refers to startups valued at more than $10 billion. Startups that have attained this status include Flipkart, BYJU's, Paytm and OYO. The gross order value of the company's core food-delivery business has nearly doubled in the last year, Swiggy said, adding the latest fundraise will allow it to accelerate growth on its core platform of food delivery segment in addition to making investments in Instamart. Instamart is Swiggy's quick commerce grocery service, which is set to reach an annualised gross merchandise value (GMV) run rate of $1 billion in the next three quarters. Swiggy recently said that it plans to invest $700 million in Instamart, which took just 17 months to hit the same level of GMV that Swiggy's food delivery business achieved in 40 months.  With hyper-local delivery becoming all the rage, Swiggy is sharpening its focus on Instamart which has expanded to 19 cities in the past few months.   However, quick grocery delivery is a capital intensive business and companies in India have only started to build out the infrastructure to cater to the large population. That is why the new round of funding came just six months after it raised a mammoth $1.25 billion last July, underscoring the capital required to expand its grocery delivery business.  Behind the fast grocery delivery of these companies are dark stores. A dark store typically caters to a radius of 2-km and the likes of Dunzo, Instamart, Blinkit and Zepto currently have 20-30 such micro-fulfilment centres in the top 10 cities where their 10-20-minute delivery services are operational. Swiggy has gone beyond grocery with Genie, its pickup and drop service that is now present across 68 cities while its meat delivery service and daily grocery service Supr Daily is present across all major Indian cities. While startups are eager to jump on the quick commerce bandwagon in search of the next big market opportunity, the category is yet to prove its sustainability in the long term. Watch video

Pandemic left lakhs of people jobless in the last two years. But, at the same time, it also generated lakhs of jobs in some sectors, including in the gig industry. We now get our food and other essentials within 15 minutes of ordering. What started out as a necessity has now become a convenience. Grofers rebranded to Blinkit and pivoted to instant commerce. Zepto bagged $100 million and Dunzo raised funding from Reliance Industries. And now, Swiggy has turned a decacorn. It is planning to go big on quick commerce. Find out how Swiggy doubled its valuation in just six months. Pandemic threw a set of challenges which companies had never confronted before. It led to a marked shift in the way they worked. After Swiggy and the gig industry, let us now see how the IT sector dealt with these challenges? In an interview with Surajeet Das Gupta, Accenture's senior managing director and lead for India business Piyush Singh shared his company's experience and more. After Accenture, let us now turn our focus to Indian stock markets, which finally saw some upward momentum after several days of losses. The US Fed's signal that it would begin raising rates as soon as this March is the main reason behind the stock markets' volatile start to the year. And while the US Fed may not begin hiking rates just yet, the central bank is expected to maintain a path to tighter policy this year. Delve into what the markets expect the Fed to deliver later tonight, and outlook for Indian equities in the near-term. Experts believe that the upcoming Union budget will offer some respite to the bourses spooked by US Fed uncertainty and rising crude oil prices. Money bill is the most crucial part of any Union budget. It comes under the Finance Bill and tells us about the taxation and government spending. Know about Money Bill and more in this episode of the podcast.  Watch video

Aaj k episode me baat karenge hyper-local app wars k baare main aur dekhenge BlinkIt k naye 10 min guaranteed delivery ka asar kaisa ho raha hai baaki players par.Mota bhai ne bhi laga diy hain Dunzo main paise.Kya hoga delivery ka future? Janenge aaj k episode par.Sunte rahiye Namastey India!

2021 has been a pretty incredible year for India's startup ecosystem - with everything that's happened in the year let's take a look at the 10 biggest highlights of India's startup ecosystem in our 2021 Rewind video. Younger Indian startups acquiring older companies: We witnessed this really interesting phenomenon where young startup companies were acquiring traditional businesses that'd been around for decades. For example, 5-year-old stock trading unicorn Groww acquired the mutual funds business of India Bulls, a 21-year-old company, for ₹175 Crore. We also saw India's only online pharmacy unicorn Pharmeasy acquiring a majority stake in India's largest diagnostic solutions provider Thyrocare, which is 25 years old, in a deal worth ₹4,546 crore. Byju's acquisition spree worth $2.5 billion: In 2021, Byju's took their acquisition spree to new heights by pouring in $2.5 billion to acquire 10 companies including the $1 billion acquisition of the offline coaching institute Aakash. Crypto unicorns are born despite the uncertainty: Despite all the uncertainty that surrounds India's crypto industry, we saw CoinDCX and CoinSwitch becoming India's first and second crypto unicorns respectively. Another great example of the crypto revolution in India is Polygon - a layer 2 protocol for building and connecting Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks which began its journey in India. Skyroot Aerospace prepares for space launch: Skyroot Aerospace, the first Indian startup to successfully test a rocket engine last year, in 2020, and this year they set another record too, becoming the first Indian startup to successfully test a cryogenic rocket engine, taking India one step closer to launching privately-built rockets into space the same way American companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are in the United States. Byju's edtech, lawsuit and controversy: Byju's was shrouded in controversies throughout the year bringing into focus their alleged unethical practices and the $2.6 million lawsuit that was filed against Pradeep Poonia. Ola Electric's grand EV plans for India: They announced their S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters back on India's Independence Day, and started taking orders in October. During the first two days of this booking period, Ola received orders worth Rs 1,100 crore - that's more than 80,000 scooters! Ola single-handedly tripled the size of India's electric two-wheeler market, and on top of that, they started work on what was supposed to be the world's largest electric scooter factory before Simple Energy announced that they were gonna build an even bigger one. Superfast grocery delivery takes the front seat: Thanks to two 19-year-old Stanford dropouts building a startup called Zepto, 10-minute grocery delivery is becoming more and more commonplace in India's metros. Following Zepto's lead, Grofers, which has been around since 2013, rebranded themselves to Blinkit, ensuring that everyone knew they were as serious about super fast delivery as Zepto, and these kinds of high-speed deliveries are also happening now with Swiggy Instamart, too. Mensa Brands - India's fastest unicorn: The Thrasio-style D2C house of brands - Mensa Brands became the fastest Indian startup to join the unicorn club, entering the club in just six months. Nykaa's IPO: Nykaa's IPO was arguably the most successful startup IPO of 2021. Anyone who got an allotment in this IPO saw their investment double when Nykaa hit the stock market, and it also made Falguni Nayar, the nayika of Nykaa, India's wealthiest self-made woman. Zomato - the startup that kicked off the IPO craze: Zomato was the first Indian startup to IPO in 2021 and also became the first-ever Indian unicorn to IPO.

This week in Indian startup news, Blinkit temporarily shuts down 18 locations, Urban Company sues women partners for protesting, Byju's in talks to go public via SPAC, Snapdeal files for IPO to raise Rs 1,250 crore and Cult.fit acquires four fitness equipment brands. In funding news, Cars24 raises $400 million, Razorpay raises $375 million, OfBusiness raises $325 million, Bizongo raises $110 million and Zepto raises $100 million. Blinkit temporarily shuts down 18 locations: Last week, Grofers rebranded themselves as Blinkit to reflect their pivot to 10-minute grocery delivery. With the pivot to Blinkit, the startup has announced that they are temporarily shutting down operations in 18 cities where they are unable to serve their customers in 10 minutes. Urban Company sues women partners for protesting: Urban Company, which offers home services to their customers, has filed a lawsuit against their own women gig workers for protesting against their ‘minimum guarantee plan'. After failing to remove them from the premises, the company filed a lawsuit against the protestors calling their actions ‘illegal' and ‘unlawful'. Byju's in talks to go public via SPAC: According to a Bloomberg report, India's most valuable startup Byju's is in talks with Churchill Capital to go public via SPAC or a blank cheque company in the US at a valuation of over $45 billion. If the deal goes through, it will be the biggest SPAC deal - overtaking Singapore's super app Grab. Byju's is also considering listing in India after they've listed in the US. Snapdeal files for IPO to raise Rs 1,250 crore: Snapdeal, an e-commerce platform now focused on tier 2 and beyond users, has filed for an IPO in a bid to raise ₹1,250 crore. Snapdeal was once a unicorn before it crashed and burned in a bid to out-compete Flipkart and Amazon - both of which are rich in cash. While Snapdeal on the other hand has failed to raise funds from investors since 2019. So going public might have been their only option to raise some cash. Cult.fit acquires four fitness equipment brands: Health and fitness startup Cult.fit has acquired three at-home fitness equipment brands - RPM Fitness, Fitkit and Onefitplus. And also an outdoor fitness brand called Urban Terrain - which makes bicycles. These acquisitions will enable Cult.fit to strengthen their at-home fitness product offerings and also create an umbrella brand for D2C fitness brands - riding the at-home fitness trend kicked by the pandemic and the growth of D2C brands in India. Cars24 raises $400 million: Cars24, an online platform for buying and selling used cars, has raised $400 million in a round led by Alpha Wave Global at a $3.3 billion valuation – raising their valuation almost 2X in just three months from $1.84 billion. Razorpay raises $375 million: Payment gateway provider for SMEs and large enterprises Razorpay has raised $375 million in a round led by Lone Pine Capital, Alkeon Capital and TCV at $7.5 billion valuation – making them India's most valuable fintech startup. OfBusiness raises $325 million: B2B commerce platform OfBusiness, which helps businesses in procuring raw materials like steel, cement, chemicals and leather, has raised $325 million in a round led by Alpha Wave Global, Tiger Global Management and SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 at a $5 billion valuation. Bizongo raises $110 million: B2B packaging solutions provider Bizongo has raised $110 million in a round led by Tiger Global Management at a $600 million valuation to help digitize their entire vendor ecosystem. Zepto raises $100 million: 10-minute grocery delivery startup by two 19-year-old Stanford dropouts – Zepto has raised $100 million in a round led by Y Combinator's Continuity Fund at a $570 million valuation.

Vom Anfang meiner Selbstständigkeit bis heute habe ich bereits sehr viel Geld in persönliche Beratungen, Coachings und Sparrings in unterschiedlichen Bereichen des Marketings gesteckt. Häufig lief der Prozess vom Kennenlernen über die Zusammenarbeit ähnlich ab. Gerade in der Begleitung zeigt sich, wie erfolgreich eine Social Media Beratung ist – und genau hier lassen viele Unternehmen, Berater, Coaches, Trainer und Experten meiner Erfahrung nach Zufriedenheits- und Erfolgspunkte auf der Stecke. Der Kunde bewertet den Erfolg einer Zusammenarbeit auch im Prozess.