Also in this letter:
■ Co-branded cards under pressure
■ The broadcasting bill is withdrawn
■ Manhattan Associates’ plans in India
Ather enters the unicorn market with $71 million from the government’s IFRS
From Bangalore Ather Energy has become the fourth unicorn to be created in India this year, after closing a Rs 600 crore ($71 million) funding round from existing investor, the National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF), at a post-investment valuation of $1.3 billion.
Increase in valuation: India’s sovereign wealth fund first invested in Ather in May 2022. Although it was valued at $740-750 million at the time, Ather’s largest backer, Hero Motocorp invested Rs 124 crore in the company in a secondary transaction in June at an inferred valuation of $671 million (Rs 5,636 crore).
Read also: Ola Electric shares surge 20% to hit highest level on second day after listing
Mobility heats up: Ather’s rival Ola Electric goes public on public markets on Friday. Since then, it has reached the upper circuit in two consecutive sessions, earning a profit from the market. capitalization of 5.7 billion dollars on the Boston Stock Exchange as of Monday, compared to the last private day $5.4 billion valuation.
In July, Rapido closed a financing of 120 million dollars from WestBridge Capital at a unicorn valuation, while Namma Yatri raised its inaugural funding of $11 million for a valuation of $55 million.
Wider bet: Ather, that Recently started delivering its new Rizta family scooter, A third one is planned to open Manufacturing plant in Aurangabad, Maharashtrabringing it closer to the core family scooter markets in the western and northern states of India.
The company’s flagship 450 series of scooters operates in the high-performance scooter segment, and this is its first foray into the much larger family segment dominated by Ola.
Ather, with a 9% market share in the electric scooter market as of July, lags behind Bajaj Auto, TVS and Ola Electric with 16%, 18% and 39% market share, respectively.
Read also: Ather Energy FY24 losses widen by over 22%, revenue flat
E-commerce logistics companies look to take advantage of the wave of fast deliveries
Third-party logistics companies operating in the e-commerce and hyperlocal segments are Jumping on the fast delivery bandwagon to grab a slice of the pie of ever-increasing order volumes.
Driving the news: Warburg Pincus-backed Ecom Express, Flipkart-backed Shadowfax and Tiger Global-backed Loadshare are rolling out or have already launched services for brands and merchants to make faster same-day deliveries.
Quick trend: The development came shortly after Delhivery, India’s largest third-party e-commerce logistics company, announced its plan to open a shared network of dark stores for brands and retailers to offer same-city delivery within two to four hours.
Rapid growth: According to retail analytics firm Datum Intelligence, India’s fast-trade market is expected to reach nearly $7 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) by 2025, up from $5 billion currently, representing a growth of nearly 35%. Nearly half of this is expected to come from grocery products.
Read also: ETtech In-Depth: Fast Trading Is Diversifying Rapidly. It Won’t Be Easy
The industry speaks: “We have been developing these capabilities for a while. Since there is a big enough market now, it makes sense to enter this space as well,” said a senior executive at one of the companies mentioned above. Another CEO of a large supply chain company said that in the coming months, all sizes and scales of delivery companies will play a role in fast commerce, given the demand from brands and consumers.
Read also: E-commerce and logistics companies are preparing to offer a spectacular holiday season
Heavy rains and waterlogging affect express commerce, food delivery and restaurants in northern India
Heavy rains and flooding have Fast-trade and food delivery platforms were severely affected across northern India, leading to order cancellations and non-deliveries in hundreds of postal codes, even as restaurant chains and entertainment centres, particularly in Delhi-NCR, reported significantly lower footfall over the weekend.
Fintech startups face bleak outlook for credit cards
The slowdown in the Indian credit card market is expected to intensify in the coming quarters, which increasing the pain for fintech startups operating in this space.
What’s happening: Major card issuers like SBI Card have taken a number of measures to be more selective in onboarding new customers.
“Multiple measures have been taken based on portfolio diagnostics, branch information and triggers. These include refinement in new account onboarding, reduction in limits, restrictions on cross-selling and early blocking based on spending triggers, enhancements in dashboards and enrichment of predictive models for portfolio management, customer payment assistance programmes and expansion of collections infrastructure,” said Abhijit Chakravorty, CEO, SBI Card.
Read also: Mobile wallet transactions are on a slippery slope as UPI rises
Zoom in: Many fintech startups have built their business models around co-branded credit cards. Companies like One Card, Jupiter, Paisabazaar and the like depend on the growth of the credit card market for their business operations.
Lenders like Federal Bank and South Indian Bank, which were bullish on co-branded cards, have exited the market due to regulatory constraints. Small Finance Bank of Australiawhich is also aggressive in credit cards, has forecast stable card growth in FY25.
Read also: RBI’s diktat to banks and credit card companies is set to put an end to long-term integrations
Background: India’s unsecured credit market has been facing a slowdown. Credit card issuers are facing a rise in their cost of funds and a surge in defaults. Startups find it difficult to forge new partnerships Nowadays, banks are trying to push cards secured or backed by fixed deposits.
Read also: Top fintechs reach out to NBFCs for secured credit partnerships
Other featured stories from our reporters
Centre likely to withdraw and review draft bill on broadcasting services: sources: The draft The Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill 2024 is withdrawn And the handful of industry stakeholders who received a copy of the draft are being asked to return the physical document without any comment, several sources familiar with the developments told us.
Bengaluru’s largest software sales center, Manhattan Associates: CEO: Bengaluru has become the largest hub for supply chain software vendor Manhattan Associates. outgrowing the company’s Atlanta headquarterssaid Eddie Capel, president and chief executive of the Nasdaq-listed company.
Ki Mobility’s myTVS to launch AI-based diagnostic platform: Ki mobility myTVS to launch AI-based diagnostic platform Later this week, a service will be offered to the after-sales segment that can help customers monitor the status of their vehicle and assist technicians at service centers.
Cars24 introduces a super app for ancillary services to monetize its user base: Seeking to monetize the consumer base it has acquired through its used car sales business, the SoftBank-backed firm Cars24 has launched a super app that consolidates ancillary servicessuch as vehicle repairs, financing, on-demand driver bookings, insurance payments, FASTag distribution and service history records, said co-founder and chief marketing officer Gajendra Jangid.
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