Also in this letter:
■ Incentives under Semicon’s mission
■ Titan Capital Rs 200 crore fund
■ Lead Group revenue in FY24 increased by 25%
Zomato acquires Paytm’s ticketing business for Rs 2,048 crore
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO of Paytm and Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato
One 97 Communications, which operates Paytm sells its entertainment and ticketing business to Zomato for Rs 2,048 crore in an all-cash deal, the company said in a late stock exchange filing.
Details: Paytm, which has been BookMyShow’s closest competitor since 2017, will divest its ‘Ticketnew’ platform, which sells movie tickets, as well as its ‘Insider’ platform, which manages tickets for live events. However, the show ticketing business will be available on Paytm’s app for a transition period of up to 12 months.
We first reported on June 16. that Zomato is looking to acquire Paytm’s movie and events booking unit.
Focus on the payments business: Paytm built its movie ticketing business in-house and acquired Insider and TicketNew between 2017 and 2018. The company is now exiting these businesses to focus on its core payments and financial services operations. Following an order issued in February by the Reserve Bank of India to liquidate its banking unit.
Zomato’s ticketing strategy: For Zomato, the move is in line with its efforts to expand its non-core businesses, which include restaurant reservation services and an event management and ticketing unit.
The major food delivery company has wanted to make events and entertainment its fourth pillar. Food ordering, Blinkit and Hyperpure are the other three verticals.
CEO’s Speech: Zomato’s successful acquisition of Noida-based Paytm’s event and movie ticketing business, It depends on a smooth transition from the client, and the cultural integration of the new team with the existing organization, said the Gurgaon-based company’s founder and CEO, Deepinder Goyal.
Bluestone closes Rs 900 crore pre-IPO round at $970 million valuation
Gaurav Singh Kushwaha, Founder and CEO of Bluestone
Jewelry retailer Bluestone has closed a Rs 900 crore funding — in a combination of primary and secondary share sales.
Meet the Investors: Peak XV Partners, Prosus, Steadview Capital, Think Investments and Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan’s family investment office Pratithi Investments participated in the round, sources told us.
This round more than doubles the company’s valuation to $970 million, or Rs 8,100 crore. Reported the $100 million round on May 29 and later wrote about the transaction details on June 18.
Financing details: “Of the total funding round, Rs 600 crore was earmarked for primary capital infusion, while the rest is for secondary share sale. Prosus has contributed around Rs 350 crore, while Peak and Steadview have invested over Rs 200 crore each,” the sources said.
Kalaari Capital sold part of its stake in the company, raising around Rs 300 crore.
IPO in process: The Accel-backed company is now all set to file its preliminary IPO papers this calendar year. Bluestone is estimated to have closed FY24 with Rs 1,200 crore of revenue and Rs 3 crore of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda).
The new capital will be used to boost the company’s aggressive expansion plan. It currently has around 220 stores and plans to double that number to 400 in the next 12-18 months.
Government to focus on compound semiconductors and silicon photonics in ISM 2.0
The government is likely to maintain the Financial incentives for semiconductor chip packaging units at least This is part of the second phase of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), we were told by informed sources.
Driving the news: Much of the funding and incentives planned in the second phase of the program will be devoted to attracting more compound semiconductor and silicon photonics manufacturing companies to the country, they said.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) believes that once major players in the space set up their projects in India, it will be easier for the country to attract other major players in the semiconductor ecosystem, including outsourced assembly and test (OSAT) and assembly, test, marking and packaging (ATMP) companies.
Quick summary: Currently, the central government is offering an incentive of 50% of the project cost for both chip manufacturing and packaging units, on an equal basis. The state governments where these units are being set up are offering additional incentives in the form of tax exemptions and reduced water and electricity tariffs, among others.
So far, India has four ISM-approved semiconductor units: one chip manufacturing unit in Dholera, Gujarat, and three chip packaging units (two in Sanand, Gujarat, and one in Morigaon, Assam). The cumulative proposed investment in these units is Rs 1.48 trillion.
Other featured stories from our reporters
Kunal Bahl (left) and Rohit Bansal
Titan Capital closes Rs 200 crore fund: Early-stage investor Titan Capital, founded by Snapdeal co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, has raised Rs 200 crore for its new fund, through The firm will double its investment in its current portfolio companies. Bahl and Bansal are the cornerstones of the Titan Capital Winners Fund as its largest limited partners or backers.
Lead Group achieves positive EBITDA in Q1 FY25; revenues up 25% in FY24: Unicorn of educational technology Lead Group reported a 25% increase in revenue, reaching Rs 370 crore for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024. The company on Wednesday said it achieved earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) positivity in the first quarter of FY25 and is on track to achieve Ebitda breakeven for the full fiscal year 2024-25.
Chiratae Ventures presents the third cohort of the seed investment program: Local venture capital firm Chiratae Ventures announced on Wednesday the Launch of the third cohort of its flagship seed investment programSonic Chiratae.
Fintech startup TransBnk secures $4 million in funding: Fintech startup TransBnk has raised $4 million (approximately Rs 340 crore) in a funding round. The funding round is led by 8i Ventures, which has previously backed fintech companies such as M2P, Slice and Eazebuzz. This is the Mumbai-based company’s first major institutional funding since it raised $1 million in June 2023.
Global Picks We’re Reading
■ CrowdStrike denounces “shady” attacks by rivals after global IT service outage (FOOT)
■ What AI can do in healthcare and what it should never do (WSJ newspaper)
■ An AWS configuration issue could expose thousands of web applications (With cable)
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