Delhi-NCR-based electric mobility startup BluSmart has raised $24 Mn (INR 200 Cr) in a fresh equity funding round, which saw participation and over-subscription from its existing investors, founders and leadership team.

The startup will use the capital to build large-scale EV charging superhubs enabling the expansion of its electric ride-hailing service.

Founded in 2019, BluSmart offers EV ride-hailing services and charging infrastructure across Delhi NCR, Bengaluru and other megacities in India. The startup currently operates over 5,500 EVs and aims to increase the fleet size to 8,000 across Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru by next year.

The company claims to have completed more than 10 Mn rides so far, travelling more than 330 Mn zero-carbon Kms in the process.

BluSmart also owns and operates over 4,000 EV chargers, across its 34 EV charging superhubs.

“It has been a landmark year for BluSmart with great achievements like the historic milestone of completion of 10 million electric trips and key industry recognitions. We will continue to expand our brand promise of zero ride denials, on-time service and clean mobility to more geographies,” said Anmol Singh Jaggi, cofounder and CEO of BluSmart.

Tushar Garg, CEO of BluSmart Charging business said that EV Charging Infrastructure is the biggest bottleneck for large-scale EV adoption and is also the single largest opportunity.
“Cities have challenges with finite prime locations and a lack of adequate power load. BluSmart is building large EV charging superhubs at prime locations across Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru,” he added.

In April this year, BluSmart raised $42 Mn in a funding round. The startup counts Alteria Capital, BlackSoil, Stride Ventures, Mumbai Angels, BP Ventures and LetsVenture among its investors.

The startup competes with the likes of BOLT, Ather Energy, Cell Propulsion, CHARGE+ZONE and Chargeup in the electric mobility space.

Indian EV startups offer services such as sustainable mobility, energy infrastructure, commercial mobility and battery management system, among others, to the general masses and enterprises. Besides, they are also helping reduce carbon emissions and offering a cheaper alternative to fossil fuels. As a result, the space has been gaining a lot of traction from the investors.

The post BluSmart Nets $24 Mn In Fresh Funding To Build EV Charging Superhubs appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Reiterating her stance on 28% GST on the online gaming sector, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday (December 19) said that the valuation rules for levying the tax on entry level bets are prospective in nature. 

“28% is the tax and as to who it will apply to and on whom the incidence will fall is clearly explained…The valuation rule to exclude winnings is prospective. So, I hope there is no confusion on that,” said Sitharaman during a discussion on the CGST (Second Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha.

The FM made the comments in response  to a query from Biju Janata Dal Member of Parliament (MP) Sarmistha Sethi.

Citing an example, the FM said that if a user places a bet of INR 1,000, a GST of 28% would be levied. However, if the user wins INR 300 and then places another bet of INR 1,300, including the winning amount, then the GST would not be levied on the INR 300 winning amount which has been redeployed.

On the other hand, if a user loses the original INR 1,000 amount and places a new bet, then the new amount would be considered a fresh bet and would attract 28% GST.

At the centre of this row is the GST Council’s decision, in August this year, that said that 28% GST is applicable on online gaming. 

Eventually, the government notified amendments in law and the new changes came into effect on October 1. But the bone of contention appears to be the tug of war over the supposed retrospective effect of the rule. 

Since the promulgation of the new law pertaining to GST on online gaming, enforcement agencies have sent a flurry of notices to online gaming platforms for alleged tax evasion. 

The Centre recently informed the Parliament that the Directorate General of GST Intelligence has issued notices to the tune of INR 1.12 Lakh Cr to multiple online gaming companies for alleged short payment of taxes.

Meanwhile, the 28% GST has triggered an adverse domino effect on the homegrown ecosystem. When the new tax was levied, industry stakeholders had warned that the move could lead to job losses and put a spanner in the works for the budding ecosystem. 

Since then, startups such as Fantok, Quizzy, OWN have temporarily shut operations while big names such Mobile Premier League and Hike have laid off employees in droves. There have also been a barrage of legal cases filed by online gaming firms such as Games24x7 and Head Digital Works challenging the respective GST notices issued to them by the enforcement agencies. 

The regulatory flux has also resulted in the drying up of capital for online gaming firms, leading to layoffs and shutting down of ailing verticals to extend runway and conserve cash. Amid the tussle, the Indian government is mulling extending an olive branch to the ecosystem and is considering setting up a Group of Ministers (GoM) to address issues related to the industry.

The post Valuation Rules For Levying 28% GST On Online Gaming Prospective In Nature: FM Sitharaman appeared first on Inc42 Media.

At an event in Delhi in June this year, the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, was asked if a young team of Indian engineers, loaded with $10 Mn, could build an LLM model similar to that of OpenAI. 

Responding to the question, Altman said that it would be “hopeless to compete with ‘us’ (OpenAI) on training foundation models [and] you shouldn’t try”.

Altman’s comments triggered an immediate backlash and stirred discontent among the Indian tech community. 

While the comment of OpenAI’s reinstated CEO is now history, it has started a catalytic reaction of sorts, as a wave of Indian founders is now seen floating projects dedicated to building foundational LLMs for India and the world.

It is imperative to mention that right after Altman’s infamous remarks, Sridhar Vembu, the founder of Zoho, announced plans to create a proprietary LLM with capabilities encompassing summarization, paraphrasing, and adaptability to novel tasks. Meanwhile, Tech Mahindra is working on Project Indus, an open-source Indic language-based LLM. Similarly, numerous AI startups, including Sarvam AI, SoketLabs, CoRover.ai, are actively engaged in developing LLM models with a focus on the Indic languages.

Adding to this wave of AI-centric innovation, Bhavish Aggarwal, the founder of Ola, has launched an AI company, Krutrim, which claims to have its focus set on constructing foundational LLMs for such languages.

As of now, Krutrim is proficient in understanding and processing up to 22 Indic languages with the ability to write and speak in 10 languages, as per Aggarwal. 

At a time when the LLM fight seems to be intensifying worldwide and in India, Aggarwal-led Krutrim wants to be a step ahead in the AI game. It aspires to develop the entire cloud infrastructure and silicon chips, excluding the fabrication aspect. 

Before we delve into Krutrim’s DNA, let’s understand the startup’s ownership and funding status.

Krutrim SI Designs operates as an independent entity and pursues funding autonomously. It has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from investors, including Aggarwal.  

Although Aggarwal did not disclose its existing shareholding status, he confirmed that the company has already raised some funding. As per reports, the newly incorporated AI startup had raised $24 Mn in debt from Matrix Partners in October this year.

Meanwhile, sources close to the company informed Inc42 that Krutrim was in the process of securing another round of funds, with the announcement expected before March 2024.

Now, let’s steal a glance at the core of Krutrim’s DNA and understand how it could be the answer to the GPTs of the world in India.

Krutrim Wants To Build An India-Centric AI

Serial entrepreneur Aggarwal, who founded Ola Cabs in 2010 and Ola Electric in 2017, asserted that many popular international LLMs lack true representation of the Indian context and data.  

“If they genuinely want to adhere to the democratic values, they must ensure that the data is representative of the population scale. About 20% of the data in these models should be Indian, reflecting democratic values. Unfortunately, this is not the case, leading to outputs that present a caricature of India, even in something as basic as an Indian woman’s saree,” Aggarwal said.

At Krutrim, the intention is to build multimodal models, particularly image generation models. “While we are not there yet, we initially focussed on text and language models. We are actively seeking partnerships within the ecosystem to bring our models to the market and collaborate in creating Indian data sources for these other modalities,” Aggarwal added.

Additionally, Aggarwal emphasised that most Western AI solutions not only lack accuracy in the Indian context but are also prohibitively expensive. Krutrim aims to address these challenges by developing full-stack AI solutions.

The startup is set to accomplish several ambitious goals, encompassing foundational LLMs, AI cloud infrastructure, and the in-house development and manufacturing of AI-optimised silicon chips.

The head of strategy at Ola Electric, Ravi Jain, emphasised that the company is actively designing and developing in-house technologies such as a submersion cooling system for cloud infrastructure and chip designs. 

“Krutrim’s innovations will simplify and streamline everyday interactions across various socio-economic strata in India. For instance, tasks like reserving a table could become more straightforward. In the future, Krutrim aims to manage extensive customer support for emerging startups and businesses, providing real-time information and aiding in product selection, thereby impacting even rural economies significantly,” Jain said.

The base LLM of Krutrim is trained on an impressive 2 Tn tokens, representing the largest dataset of Indian data used in training to date, according to Jain. 

He added that Krutrim is designed to strike the right balance between performance and price, making it suitable for powering a variety of day-to-day applications. Additionally, the company is developing Krutrim Pro, a large multimodal model with advanced problem-solving and task execution capabilities, slated for launch in the next quarter.

Krutrim is set to be available in beta version as an API for enterprises and developers starting January 2024, facilitating the creation of AI-driven assistants capable of conversing in multiple Indian languages. Krutrim Pro is anticipated to be available in Q4 FY 2024.

Aggarwal envisions Krutrim’s superior linguistic skills as a valuable tool across diverse domains, ranging from education to business communications. The platform incorporates the latest techniques in safe AI to mitigate inappropriate responses. 

It is also actively working on developing AI infrastructure, including indigenous data centres, server computing, edge computing, and supercomputers, with production scheduled for mid-2024 for prototypes and a rollout production roadmap by the end of 2025.

An early access programme is currently underway, until January 2024, with a simple sign-up page on the website. The open release is scheduled for January 2024, and open APIs will be accessible to all developers by February 2024. Ola plans to integrate Krutrim across its group companies for sales, service, support, and other operational processes.

Krutrim: The Ethical AI?

The startup has been launched at a time when cases of misinformation and deepfakes are on the rise, with GenAI at the centre of the ruckus. 

Aggarwal emphasised that the current safety debates around AI are heavily influenced by Western concepts. While Krutrim is being designed with safety in mind, he asserted that “the approach to safety will be grounded in an Indian perspective.”

The table below provides a comparative overview of how ChatGPT and Krutrim approach ethical considerations and biases. However, before that, it is worth noting that Krutim is yet to be launched in beta mode while ChatGPT is fully functional. Also, we are using the specs of ChatGPT 3.5.

Meanwhile, life seems to have come full circle for the homegrown GenAI ecosystem. Within months of Altman’s controversial ‘don’t even try’ statement, the country appears to be at the cusp of an AI revolution but the path ahead appears to be a long one. 

Having joined the GenAI fray a little late, Krutrim will now have to spar with domestic players like Bharat GPT by CoRover.ai, Pragna by Soket Labs, Tech Mahindra-backed Project Indus and Sarvam AI in India and foreign entities such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard and Elon Musk-backed Grok AI to secure its market share. 

According to Inc42’s “India’s Generative AI Startup Landscape, 2023” report, the country’s GenAI market is projected to surpass $17 Bn by 2030 from $1.1 Bn in 2023, growing at a CAGR of 48%.

With Krutrim, too, in the GenAI race, it remains to be seen who will emerge as the Indian AI juggernaut in the years to come, outpacing its Western counterparts.

The post Can Bhavish Aggarwal’s Krutrim Take On ChatGPT With Its GenAI For India Playbook? appeared first on Inc42 Media.

A division bench of Delhi High Court on Thursday (December 14) removed travel tech major MakeMyTrip’s injunction on Google and Booking.com to use registered trademarks as ‘keywords’ on the Google Ads Programme.

“Prima facie, we are unable to accept that MMT can claim any such right on the basis of its rights under the Trademark Act,” the order said.

The court also said that considering Booking.com is also a well-known platform offering travel services, an internet user is unlikely to be misled in any manner.

For the uninitiated, MakeMyTrip filed a complaint against Google and Booking.com because whenever a user searches for MakeMyTrip on Google, the first name that comes is of its competitor Booking.com.

MakeMyTrip issued a notice to Booking.com for the first time in 2019 to cease bidding on the keyword ‘makemytrip’  through the Google Ads Programme. Following this, another cease-and-desist notice was issued to Booking.com in August 2020 for the same.

The traveltech startup then filed a copyright infringement case against Booking.com and Google, alleging that the former had been illegally bidding on the trademarks associated with MakeMyTrip in Google Ads, which resulted in traffic and business being diverted to Booking.com from MakeMyTrip.

In April 2022, a single-judge bench of Justice Prathibha M. Singh deemed the use of MakeMyTrip’s trademark and its variations on Google Ads a passing off and ordered the search engine major to stop offering it as a keyword for bidding.

“In view of the facts, orders and legal position as discussed above, this court is prima facie of the opinion that the use of the plaintiff’s registered mark ‘MakeMyTrip’ on the Google Ads Programme as a keyword would amount to trademark infringement,” the court said.

However, in a recent decision taken by the High Court, this injunction is now removed. The bench held that  “there was nothing illegal in Google using the trademarks as keywords for display of advertisements if it did not result in any confusion or mislead internet users to believe that sponsored links or ads displayed were associated with the proprietors of the trademarks.”

Last month, the Delhi High Court also issued a restraining order against Dialmytrip, prohibiting the use of its name in connection with tours, travel, hospitality, and related services. This legal restriction follows a case initiated by MakeMyTrip, an online travel company, seeking an injunction against Dialmytrip to prevent the use of the name ‘Dialmytrip’ and the domain names ‘www.dialmytrip.com’ and ‘www.dmtgroup.in‘.

The post MakeMyTrip Trademark Case: Delhi HC Allows Google & Booking.com To Resume Adwords appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bengaluru-based Exponent Energy, an energy tech startup which provides rapid 15-minute charging for EVs, has secured INR 220 Cr ($26.4 Mn) in its Series B funding round led by Fidelity-backed Eight Roads Ventures.

The funding round also saw participation from TDK Ventures and Exponent Energy’s existing investors including Lightspeed, YourNest VC, 3one4 Capital, AdvantEdge VC, and the family office of Dr. Pawan Munjal, executive chairman at Hero MotoCorp.

Speaking to Inc42 about the fresh fundraise, Arun Vinayak, cofounder and CEO of Exponent Energy, said that after finding its product-market fit, the startup is now looking to strengthen its manufacturing and business operations.

“Until now we did only three-wheeler cargo. In the coming year, we are going to use the same fundamental battery tech, leverage the same network and enter the three-wheeler passenger category. And we also have an intercity bus market that we are now going to tap in 2024,” said Vinayak.

He said that Exponent Energy’s battery tech for three-wheelers has reached past the product development stage and it now aims to scale the operations on both the business and manufacturing fronts. Meanwhile, its battery tech for ebus is still in the R&D phase, but the startup aims to use the fresh fund infusion to accelerate the R&D and bring the product to the market.

Founded in 2020 by former Ather Energy executives Arun Vinayak and Sanjay Byalal, Exponent Energy aimed to build a tech enablement platform that can help original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) across segments make EVs by solving the problem associated with long charging hours.

Its charging station is called ‘e^pump’, which transfers refrigerated water through its charging connector called ‘e^plug’ to prevent overheating during the rapid charging of its battery packs, ‘e^packs’. The startup currently has 30 charging stations spread across Bengaluru.

Besides increasing its ‘e^pump’ installations in Bengaluru, Exponent Energy is also looking at entering five other cities – Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad – in 2024.

Including the fresh infusion, Exponent Energy has so far raised $44.4 Mn.

What Makes Investors Take A Bet On Exponent Energy?

The investment in Exponent Energy marks the first investment by TDK Ventures and Eight Roads Ventures in India’s EV sector.

Exponent Energy will also collaborate with TDK Ventures to further reduce the cost structure of rapid charging tech. 

“We share the vision of expanding rapid charging accessibility at a reasonable cost, making electric mobility an option for everyone. This collaboration represents an exciting stride toward a more sustainable and electrified future,” said Nicolas Sauvage, president at TDK Ventures, in a media statement.

Speaking to Inc42 about investing in Exponent Energy, Aditya Systla, partner at Eight Roads Ventures, said the fund infusion comes in the backdrop of booming EV adoption in India and new developments in the three-wheeler cargo space. 

“Our belief is that the entire commercial vehicle segment… we are going to see a lot of them go electric. Adoption is fundamentally growing because of reasons including improved product quality, lower total cost of ownerships, and a bunch of government’s push in the form of subsidies,” said Systla, adding that these macro reasons drove Eight Roads Ventures to invest in the player catering to the broader EV space.

“Also, we wanted to play this horizontally, so we chose a battery play rather than a specific OEM. And within battery and charging, our belief is that rapid charging is the key unlock which is going to drive large-scale EV penetration of commercial vehicles,” he said.

Besides, Exponent Energy has built a very strong differentiated two-sided solution that offers rapid charging in 15 minutes as well as a high battery life warranty of 3,000 cycles for its EV batteries, added Systla.

The VC firm invested $10.5 Mn in this funding round.

In the coming months, Exponent Energy also aims to expand its existing manufacturing facility in Bengaluru and increase its total number of charging stations in the city to 100 by March next year.

In August last year, the startup raised $13 Mn in its Series A funding round led by Lightspeed after partnering with three-wheeler EV OEM Altigreen Propulsion Labs. Recently, the startup also announced a partnership with Chennai-based Murugappa Group, while more such announcements are upcoming.

Exponent Energy continues to work towards its target of catering to 25,000 EVs and a revenue of around INR 600 Cr by 2025.

The post EV Rapid Charging Startup Exponent Energy Bags $26.4 Mn From Eight Roads Ventures, Others appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Hospitality chain OYO, operated by Oravel Stays Pvt Ltd, has elevated deputy chief financial officer Rakesh Kumar to the position of chief financial officer to drive its finance and operational growth.

Currently, Kumar oversees critical financial functions, including business finance for all markets, treasury, controllership, shared services, financial and investor reporting, taxation and financial planning and analysis.

The announcement comes on the heels of OYO’s buyback of a portion of its Term Loan B (TLB), totalling INR 1,620 Cr. 

Over the years, Kumar’s contributions have expanded beyond the finance function. He has taken on various business partnering roles and has led

the transition of acquisitions within OYO including the two European organisations, Direct Booker and Bornholmske Feriehuse, the company said in a statement on Tuesday (December 12).

Prior joining to OYO, Rakesh worked with EY, contributing to various services, including statutory audits, tax audits, IFRS compliance and IPO-related work. His experience spans across startups, travel, hospitality, and media.

Additionally, OYO also added that Ankit Tandon, global chief business officer and CEO SEAME (South East Asia and Middle East), will take on additional responsibilities, overseeing investor relations, mergers and acquisitions, as well as financial planning and analysis functions.

“My journey with OYO has been marked by unique opportunities as well as interesting challenges. I appreciate the trust placed in me to navigate these complexities…,” said Kumar.

It is pertinent to note that Inc42 had earlier reported that OYO is betting big on onboarding and providing booking for premium hotels along with setting up its properties.

In September, OYO was on track to report its first ever profitable quarter in Q2 of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), according to its founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal.

In an internal mail sent to the leadership team of the startup, Agarwal claimed OYO will mark its “maiden profitable quarter” with a projected profit of INR 16 Cr in July-September 2023. 

The startup reported a 34% decrease in its net loss to INR 1,286.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 1,941.5 Cr, as expenses declined marginally despite growth in business. 

Earlier this year, OYO reduced its IPO size to $400-$600 Mn from $1.2 Bn earlier and filed its DRHP with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) through the confidential pre-filing route. 

The post IPO-Bound OYO Elevates Rakesh Kumar To CFO Role appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Emobility startup Yulu saw its consolidated net loss widen 71% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 94.9 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) as the company’s expenses jumped with the expansion of its battery swapping infra and increasing headcount.

The startup had managed to lower its loss in FY22 to INR 55.5 Cr on an operating revenue of INR 29 Cr. However, Yulu’s bottom line was hit in FY23 despite an almost 44% YoY jump in its operating revenue to INR 41.7 Cr.

Founded in 2017 by Amit Gupta, RK Misra, Naveen Dachuri and Hemant Gupta, Yulu provides emobility solutions in cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi NCR. It also offers an AI-enabled battery-as-a-service (BaaS) platform to its electric vehicle users.

The startup earns a majority of its operating revenue from the EVs provided on rent to daily commuters and last-mile delivery executives. The income from this major bucket increased almost 31% YoY to INR 38 Cr.

Yulu’s income from the supply of manpower services rose to INR 3.8 Cr in FY23 from a mere INR 9K in the previous year.

Including interest income and other non-operating income, Yulu’s total revenue stood at INR 46.6 Cr during the year under review as against INR 30.5 Cr in FY22.

Zooming Into Expenses

Yulu reported a total expenditure of INR 140.1 Cr in FY23, a sharp 60.5% increase from INR 87.3 Cr spent altogether in the prior fiscal.

Cost of Operations: The cost of running its operations more than doubled to INR 31.9 Cr in the reported period from INR 12.7 Cr in FY22.

In that, battery charging cost jumped 730% YoY to INR 13.3 Cr. This increase was in line with the company’s expanding battery swapping infra. 

In September 2022, Yulu raised $82 Mn in its Series B funding round led by the US-based mobility technology company Magna International while also forging a partnership with the latter to expand its battery charging and swapping infra. At the time, Yulu said it was working on setting up 1,000 Yuma swapping stations for its EV users in the next 12 months.

On the other hand, the consumption of spares contributed INR 9.8 Cr to the expenses, which almost tripped YoY.

It must be noted here that Yulu also increased the number of vehicles in operations in FY23. It also launched two new vehicle models – Miracle GR and DeX GR – in February 2023. The other costs in this bucket include cost incurred in transporting vehicles, in repair and maintenance, and tech and infra.

Employee Cost: Yulu’s employee benefit expense was the single biggest contributor (over 48%) to its total expenses during the period. The spending in this bucket rose 65.6% to INR 67.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 43.1 Cr in the previous year.

In that, Yulu spent INR 55.3 Cr on salaries and wages as against INR 36.4 Cr in FY22.

The startup also spent INR 4.6 Cr towards ESOPs in the reported year, which increased from INR 2.5 Cr in FY22.

Depreciation & Amortisation Expense: Yulu posted a 14.5% YoY dip in its depreciation and amortisation expense in FY23 to INR 15.3 Cr.

Office Rent: Yulu’s expenditure on office rent grew over 48% YoY to INR 4.9 Cr.

It is pertinent to note that Yulu is further bolstering its operation this year. With last-mile delivery executives as its primary target group, the startup partnered with quick commerce delivery platform Zepto to expand in the hyperlocal delivery category in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, and Gurugram.

Recently, Yulu also expanded to the retail segment with the launch of new low-speed escooter Yulu Wynn, priced at INR 55,555.

The post Yulu’s FY23 Net Loss Widens 71% To INR 94.9 Cr As Business Expands appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric is reportedly planning to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in the next two weeks as it gears up to go public early next year.

The EV unicorn is adopting an aggressive retail strategy, such as product launches at discounted rates and price reductions on existing offerings, aiming to fortify its market share before going public, Mint reported.

Earlier this week, Ola Electric has slashed the price of its S1 X+ e-scooter by INR 20,000. The vehicle is now available at INR 89,999.This is a part of the company’s ‘December to Remember’ campaign to further accelerate sales.

The startup wants to file its draft share sale papers before December 20, aiming to precede the year-end holidays when bankers and financial market participants traditionally take a break. Moreover, it wants to ensure the initial public offering (IPO) happens before next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

Recently, Ola Electric converted into a public company. As per reports, the startup plans to raise $700 Mn and is looking to target a market capitalisation of $10 Bn through its IPO.

Ola Electric raised INR 3,200 Cr ($384 Mn) in a funding round, which was a mix of equity and debt. While the equity part was led by Temasek, the debt part of the round was led by the State Bank of India.

It has raised $998 Mn in total funding and counts Alpha Wave, DIG investment as among its other marquee investors.

Ola Electric’s net loss almost doubled to INR 1,472 Cr in the financial year ended March 2023 (FY23) from Rs INR 784.1 Cr in the previous fiscal year on the back of the company’s rising expenses.

The startup reported an EBITDA loss of INR 1,318 Cr in FY23 as its total expenses flared up to INR 3,383 Cr as compared to INR 1,240 Cr in FY22.

Electric two-wheeler registrations grew 14% month-on-month (MoM) in November to cross the 85,000 units mark on the back of high demand for top electric vehicle manufacturers during the festive season. Ola Electric retained the top spot with its e-scooter registrations jumping over 14% MoM to 27,331 units in the month.

The post Ola Electric To File IPO Papers Before December 20 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric’s net loss almost doubled to INR 1,472 Cr in the financial year ended March 2023 (FY23) from Rs INR 784.1 Cr in the previous fiscal year on the back of the company’s rising expenses.

The IPO-bound startup reported an EBITDA loss of INR 1,318 Cr in FY23 as its total expenses flared up to INR 3,383 Cr as compared to INR 1,240 Cr in FY22, Moneycontrol reported, citing financial statements.

However, the company saw its consolidated revenue surge by 510% to reach INR 2,782 Cr in FY23.

The company, in a note to investors and the bankers, said that it is targeting an EBITDA profitability of INR 803 Cr in FY25. It has also added that its EBITDA loss will come down to INR 950 Cr in FY24.

Meanwhile, the startup aims to hit revenue of INR 4,655 Cr in FY24.

As per earlier filings, Ola Electric saw its net loss almost quadruple to INR 784.1 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) from INR 199.2 Cr in FY21.

The startup generated INR 348.2 Cr through the sale of products in the financial year ending on March 31, 2022, while it earned INR 19.7 Cr through the sale of its services.

Ola Electric anticipates its sales volume to reach 3 Lakh in FY24 and further increase to 9 Lakh by FY25. In FY23, Ola sold 1.5 Lakh units of EVs.

Recently, Ola Electric has converted into a public company. The startup is looking at a public listing in 2024 and will now file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the market regulator, SEBI.

As per reports, the startup plans to raise $700 Mn and looking to target a market capitalisation of $10 Bn through its IPO.

Ola Electric raised INR 3,200 Cr ($384 Mn) in a funding round, which was a mix of equity and debt. While the equity part was led by Temasek, the debt part of the round was led by the State Bank of India.

It has raised $998 Mn in total funding and counts Alpha Wave, DIG investment as among its other marquee investors.

Electric two-wheeler registrations grew 14% month-on-month (MoM) in November to cross the 85,000 units mark on the back of high demand for top electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers during the festive season. Ola Electric retained the top spot with its e-scooter registrations jumping over 14% MoM to 27,331 units in the month.

The post IPO-Bound Ola Electric’s FY23 Net Loss Almost Doubles To INR 1,472 Cr On Surge In Expenses appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Ride-hailing major Ola Cabs is rolling out a new feature that will allow its customers to make UPI payments directly to the drivers via the app. 

The offering will go live in Bengaluru by the end of this week, and nationally by the end of December. The move is expected to alleviate the need to route the user to a third-party payment app and streamline the experience for the customers. 

“Revamping digital payments experience in Ola cab rides. You’ll be able to use UPI to pay the driver directly through the Ola app just like UPI is used daily,” Ola’s founder and chief executive officer Bhavish Aggarwal wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on November 30.

Users can create a UPI ID within the Ola app, link their bank accounts directly and make the payment without going into a third-party payment app. 

“All that’s required is for the user to key in their set UPI PIN after every ride for safe and secure transactions. With no hassle of entering card details, IFSC code or recharging a wallet, this aims at making payments easier for customers and is safe,” the ride-hailing unicorn wrote in a blog post.

Customers will also have the option of scanning the QR shown by the driver on the driver app. The move, as per the company, is expected to pave the way for more than 2 Mn Ola customers to join the UPI platform ‘overnight’.

It is pertinent to note that the new ride-hailing entrant Namma Yatri also has a similar feature powered by Juspay, which lets users pay directly to the drivers without entering into a third-party app.

Ola Cabs’ adoption of the UPI plugin comes as the ride-hailing unicorn is set to team up with the government’s digital commerce network, the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), to offer last-mile delivery services to sellers on the platform. 

Sources close to the company told Inc42 earlier this month that Ola Cabs will soon announce a partnership agreement with the state-backed network to offer last-mile logistics services for all categories, including food delivery, grocery shopping, and pharmaceuticals. 

The post Ola Cabs Introduces UPI Plugin To Allow Riders To Pay Directly From App appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Delhi High Court has issued a restraining order against Dialmytrip, prohibiting the use of its name in connection with tours, travel, hospitality, and related services. The company is also required to cease using the domain name www.dialmytrip.com for travel-related services, including tours, hospitality, hotel cabs, and other relevant offerings, as per Medianama.

This legal restriction follows a case initiated by MakeMyTrip, an online travel company, seeking an injunction against Dialmytrip to prevent the use of the name ‘Dialmytrip’ and the domain names ‘www.dialmytrip.com’ and ‘www.dmtgroup.in‘.

According to the court order, Dialmytrip initially focused on providing financial services before expanding into tours and travel. In March 2020, the company applied for the trademark DMT (Your Business Buddy) under its corporate name Dialmytrip. MakeMyTrip became aware of Dialmytrip in May 2023 and promptly issued a cease and desist letter.

Responding to the letter, Dialmytrip in July 2023 stated that it has been primarily involved in banking, insurance, and investment allied services since 2015. 

The company emphasised that its engagement in tour and travel services was minimal, constituting only about 0.8% of its total turnover in the 12 months ending March 2023. The company argued that it would be inaccurate to say that Dialmytrip was offering overlapping services that impacted MakeMyTrip.

It also highlighted that it had its own registered brand name ‘DMT’, the abbreviation of Dial My Trip, under class 39 of the trademark for tour and travel arrangements. It argued that because of this registration, it had an “exclusive right to commercially exploit the word of “DMT” in public either through an ecommerce platform or any other manner.”

However, the Delhi High Court deemed the names of MakeMyTrip and Dialmytrip “confusingly similar”, particularly in the context of online travel business. The court expressed concerns that Dialmytrip’s name might be perceived as an extension or affiliate of MakeMyTrip, posing a risk of “irreparable loss” to the well-known company. 

While acknowledging Dialmytrip’s involvement in financial, banking, and insurance services, as well as its trademarked brand ‘DMT’, the court deferred a detailed examination to a later date. The case is set to be heard again on March 22, 2024.

Established in 2015, Dialmytrip is a mid-sized fintech company with a presence in key Indian cities like Delhi, Noida, Jaipur, Mumbai, and Ranchi. It offers financial inclusion services, travel services, utility payments, insurance, and more.

This is not the first time that  MakeMyTrip has been involved in such disputes. Earlier, it accused EaseMyTrip of trademark infringement. In 2022, the Delhi High Court directed Booking.com and Google to refrain from using MakeMyTrip’s trademarked words as keywords. 

In recent times, a number of new-age tech companies have dragged enterprises with similar names to courts over trademark infringement. While Zomato-owned Blinkit was involved in a legal battle with Blinkhit, the Delhi High Court last month rejected Policybazaar’s plea to prevent Coverfox and Acko from using keywords identical to its trademarks on Google’s AdWords Program.

The post MakeMyTrip Trademark Dispute: Delhi HC Restrains Dialmytrip From Using Its Name appeared first on Inc42 Media.

IPO-bound hospitality unicorn OYO has relaunched self-operated hotels more than two years after the business was halted.

Under its new ‘Prime Partner Program’, OYO said it would offer its “best managed” hotel operators the option to operate additional hotels and earn additional revenue without taking the risk of leasing or the overhead costs of starting a new hotel.  

OYO said it is actively seeking partnerships with real estate developers to identify properties for these hotels.

During the pilot phase of the program, the company has already partnered with 30 realtors and started operations in over 35 hotels spread across cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Goa, Mumbai, and Chennai.

These operators under the new program will get dedicated relationship managers and access to OYO’s network of over 15,000 corporate accounts and over 10,000 travel agents, the company said in a statement.

These self-operated hotels will be tagged as ‘Managed by OYO’ on the app and website. Besides, the global hospitality major said it would closely monitor the hotel’s upkeep and customer reviews.

Under the program, the hotel owners can give out their property to a large organisation at a fixed rental, revenue sharing or management contract basis.

“The program recognises the evolving travel and hospitality landscape where hoteliers are looking at expansion and guests are seeking well-managed accommodations. By offering hoteliers and property owners the opportunity to participate in this program, OYO aims to create a win-win situation that benefits landlords, professional hotel operators as well as travellers,” Anuj Tejpal, chief merchant officer at OYO, said in the statement.

Most of the hotels under ‘Prime Partner Program’ will be onboarded under the company’s premium hotel offerings such as Townhouse, Townhouse Oak, and Collection O.  

It is pertinent to note Inc42 reported earlier this year that OYO was eyeing tapping the growing Indian premium hospitality market and adding 1,800 more premium properties to its platform in 2023.

Just before the Covid-19 pandemic took its full shape in India, OYO shut down the self-operated hotel business model, most likely due to SoftBank’s pressure on the profitability front.

Soon after, the pandemic devastated the entire travel industry globally and OYO also had to scale down its operations in some high-growth geographies like the UK, Europe, Malaysia, Indonesia and the US.

However, OYO is once again back in these markets, with its focus on premium hotels and holiday homes.

OYO was also on track to report its first ever profitable quarter in Q2 FY24. In an internal mail sent to the leadership team of the company, OYO’s founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal recently claimed that the startup will mark its “maiden profitable quarter” with a projected profit of INR 16 Cr in Q2. 

The company reported a 38% narrowed loss of INR 1,286 Cr in FY23 on an operating revenue of INR 5,463 Cr.

Earlier this year, OYO reduced its IPO size to $400-$600 Mn from $1.2 Bn earlier and filed its DRHP with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) through the confidential pre-filing route. 

The post OYO Relaunches Self-Operated Hotels With A Focus On Premium Category appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In a fresh trouble for former BharatPe managing director Ashneer Grover, the fintech unicorn’s parent entity Resilient Innovations has reportedly filed a fresh case in the Delhi High Court seeking an injunction against him for sharing “confidential information” related to the firm.

As per an ET report, the new case on Grover was filed following his post on X (formerly Twitter) where the controversial founder revealed the equity allocation and secondary components undertaken during BharatPe’s Series E funding round, which was led by Tiger Global with participation by Dragoneer Investor group and others. The post has been removed now.

The $370 Mn fundraise valued the fintech major at $2.86 Bn.

As per the publication, the Delhi HC heard the matter on Friday (November 24) where BharatPe’s counsel argued that Grover violated obligations under his employment agreement by putting out such confidential information. 

The counsel also noted that Grover continues to hold confidential information about the company despite his resignation, which is in violation of the firm’s employment agreement.

Responding to it, Grover’s counsel reportedly submitted an apology for tweeting the confidential company information but said his client (Grover) required the information to defend himself against the proceedings instituted against him.

Senior advocate Akhil Sibal represented BharatPe while Grover was represented by Giriraj Subramanium. The matter about Grover’s access to confidential company information will be reportedly heard at the next hearing of the case.

This is not the first time that Grover has been caught in trouble because of his posts about BharatPe. Earlier this year, he deleted some of his tweets against the company following a court directive. 

The fresh case by Resilient Innovations is in addition to the already registered civil suit at the HC against Grover and his family members for alleged embezzlement of funds, seeking up to INR 88.67 Cr in damages.

The BharatPe saga has been ongoing since 2022 and has resulted in several public spats. The fintech unicorn filed a criminal complaint with the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) against Grover and his family in December last year.

The EOW registered the first information report (FIR) against the Grovers in May this year which said that Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain paid commissions to ‘bogus HR consultants’ linked to the latter’s family members.

In its investigation into the matter, the EOW recently found fraudulent transactions totalling over INR 81 Cr made by the couple.

The EOW summoned Grover and his wife in connection with the alleged fraud earlier this week, hours after the couple was stopped at the Delhi airport from flying to New York. Grover appeared before the probe agency for questioning on Thursday (November 23). 

The post BharatPe Files Fresh Case Against Ashneer Grover For Making Co’s Confidential Info Public appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Ride-hailing giant Ola Cabs is all set to join hands with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to offer last-mile delivery services to sellers on the platform. 

Sources close to the company told Inc42 that Ola Cabs will soon announce a partnership agreement with the state-backed network to offer last-mile logistics services for all categories, including food delivery, grocery shopping, and pharmaceuticals. 

The last-mile delivery offering will entirely be powered by electric two-wheelers at the outset, a source said.

Earlier in the day, Ola cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO) Bhavish Aggarwal hinted at the announcement in a cryptic post on X, formerly Twitter. 

“Very exciting stuff coming up with our collaboration at @Olacabs with @ONDC_Official! ONDC is the future of commerce in India and we are committing to it big! Stay tuned for lots of updates in the near future,” said Aggarwal. 

This comes nearly three months after reports surfaced that the ride-hailing major Ola had joined the state-backed network and was piloting a food delivery platform. It was also said to be internally experimenting with an ‘ONDC Food’ feature available on its Ola app. 

Threat For Zomato, Swiggy?

The partnership with ONDC pits the company directly in competition with foodtech giants such as Zomato and Swiggy. 

Ola’s partnership with ONDC will help reignite the former’s foodtech ambitions, a space which has not been kind to the company in the past. 

Its past attempts included launching a food delivery service called Ola Cafe in 2015, and the subsequent acquisition of Foodpanda’s India operations in 2017. It also unveiled its quick commerce arm Ola Dash but all the experiments largely failed. The ride-hailing giant pulled the plug on Foodpanda in 2019 and shut Ola Dash in 2022. 

The ONDC-centred offering alleviates the pain points of foray into food delivery space as Ola will skip the usual hassle of figuring out integration with the restaurant partners and attracting consumers.

The move also leverages Ola Electric’s strength in the EV space. While traditional players like Zomato and Swiggy are yet to electrify their fleet, the ride hailing giant through its sister concern Ola Electric has the resources and capabilities to quickly deploy EVs on ground and compete better on unit economics (especially fuel costs) with foodtech peers. 

As ONDC rapidly scales up operations and daily transactions, Ola’s new move is expected to pose a potential threat to Zomato and Swiggy. After taking years to figure out positive unit economics, it seems Ola has emerged as a new contender on the block with its foodtech ambitions. 

The post Ola Cabs Set To Partner ONDC To Offer Last Mile Logistics Services appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Putting its IPO plans into full throttle, electric vehicle (EV) juggernaut Ola Electric has converted into a public company. 

The startup, as per previous reports, is looking at a public listing in 2024 and will now file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the market regulator, SEBI. 

As per filings accessed by Inc42, the parent company’s name has now been changed to Ola Electric Mobility Limited from Ola Electric Mobility Private Limited. 

“Ola Electric Mobility Private Limited… upon an intimation made for conversion into a public company under Section 18 of the Companies Act, 2013; and approval of the central government signified in writing… the name of the said company is this day changed to Ola Electric Mobility Limited,” regulatory filings noted. 

For the uninitiated, the conversion to a public company is the first step for listing on the bourses. Thereafter, the company files a DRHP with the market regulator, outlining the amount it will be raising, the usage of funds and the company’s financial health.

This comes close on the heels of the EV startup closing a mammoth INR 3,200 Cr funding round led by Temasek. 

Interestingly, the startup was said to be initially eyeing a listing before the general elections next year but has since accelerated its IPO plans. As per reports, the startup plans to raise $700 Mn via its public listing on the bourses. 

It has already appointed Kotak, ICICI, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs as advisers for the much-awaited listing and is looking to target a market capitalisation of $10 Bn through its IPO.

The post With IPO Plans In Full Throttle, Ola Electric Converts Into A Public Entity appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Traveltech major ixigo’s parent entity Le Travenues Technology Limited turned profitable in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) with a consolidated net profit of INR 23.4 Cr as travel demand bounced back. The startup reported a net loss of INR 21.1 Cr in FY22 as against a profit of INR 7.5 Cr in FY21.

ixigo’s operating revenue jumped 32% to INR 501.2 Cr in FY23 from INR 379.6 Cr in the prior fiscal.

As a travel aggregator, ixigo earns a majority of its revenue from the sale of various travel and related services. The sources of its revenue include the income it generates from convenience fees from the reservation of rail tickets, airline tickets, and bus tickets, as well as income from advertising services.

In FY23, ixigo’s domestic revenue increased to INR 487.9 Cr from INR 369.3 Cr in FY22. Meanwhile, its ‘export revenue services’ grew almost 30% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 13.3 Cr in the reported year.

Overall, including its interest income, excess provisions written back, and other non-operating income, ixigo’s total revenue stood at INR 517.6 Cr in FY23 as against INR 384.9 Cr a year ago.

Speaking about its improving earnings, ixigo had said in a statement earlier this year that it achieved an EBITDA margin of over 7% in FY23. The gross transaction value run rate of ixigo stood at INR 10,000 Cr in May 2023, which the company intends to double in the next two years.

Founded by Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar, the ixigo group claimed to have crossed 66 Mn monthly active users across ixigo, ConfirmTkt, and AbhiBus platforms, as of March 2023.

A Sneak Peek Into ixigo’s Spending

ixigo’s total expenses jumped 1.2X to INR 484.3 Cr in FY23 from INR 402.5 Cr a fiscal ago, with employee costa being the single biggest contributor.

The startup’s employee benefit expenses surged 1.3X YoY to INR 126.3 Cr during the year under review. Of this, ixigo spent INR 102.6 Cr on salaries and wages. The startup spent INR 71.7 Cr on salaries in FY22.

Meanwhile, advertising and promotional expenses jumped to INR 93.1 Cr from INR 57.5 Cr in FY22. Notably, ixigo roped in actors Jackie Shroff and Suniel Shetty for a new ad campaign, explaining the rise in ad expenses.

Ixigo’s IT expenses, too, jumped to INR 22.3 Cr in the year under review.

Meanwhile, the company’s finance costs declined to INR 94.9 Lakh in the year from INR 2.8 Cr in FY22.

The traveltech major, which largely competes with MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip, and Yatra, is now targeting a 40% revenue growth in FY24. ixigo sees scaling its business to INR 700 Cr in the current fiscal.

In July this year, ixigo unveiled its ChatGPT-powered ‘intelligent’ trip planner, PLAN, offering personalised recommendations, suggestions, and itineraries to travellers based on their present locations.

ixigo received SEBI’s nod for its INR 1,600 Cr IPO in December 2021 but the startup put its listing plan on hold due to severe turmoil in the global equity market.

The post ixigo Back In The Black As Travel Rebounds, Crosses INR 500 Cr Revenue Milestone appeared first on Inc42 Media.

After a long period of relative dormancy due to travel restrictions and consumer fear, traveltech companies are seeing a surge in bookings, thanks to a strong rebound of business and leisure travel. 

In fact, The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) suggests that about 235 Mn tourists travelled globally in the first three months of 2023, an 80% increase from pre-pandemic levels. Other reports show that the number of foreign tourists who arrived in India between January and June 2023 was 106% more than the figure in the previous year. 

Of course this surge has opened a door of opportunities for India’s traveltech startups and while most can boast of providing end-to-end value in the travel chain, standing out among the plethora of rivals is a matter of customer experience and personalisation. It’s not enough to just offer travel and hotel bookings, or features to ease check-ins and the boarding — the focus is on personalisation that caters to the unique needs of each traveller.

In the post-pandemic world, there’s also a heightened focus on health and safety which has made customer communications key for gaining trust, building engagement and repeat bookings. 

Simply put, it is vital to effectively and conveniently communicate with travellers at the right time and place. And in this day and age that means WhatsApp. 

With more than 2 Bn users across 180+ countries, Meta-owned WhatsApp is the most popular global messaging app and it’s an opportunity that businesses can no longer ignore. 

“Leveraging the dynamic capabilities of WhatsApp, Karix enables two-way communication stream, fostering instantaneous and impactful customer engagement,” explained Sonia Kaul, vice president, product marketing of Mumbai-based martech platform Karix. 

She further said that WhatsApp as a platform transforms the narrative of customer interactions, allowing businesses to deliver not just booking confirmations and travel updates, but an enriched customer experience.

Even though WhatsApp seems like the obvious solution to enhancing the customer experience, differentiation through targeted communication is essential. In the context of travel, for instance, if a customer seeking to advance their booking arrangements receives reminders about their existing booking, the intended purpose is defeated. 

This is where WhatsApp Business Solution Providers (BSPs) like Karix come into play, easing the path for traveltech platforms to implement WhatsApp Business APIs to enable personalised customer support.

Karix’s capabilities include chatbots that help businesses reduce call centre loads and improve turnaround time for customer support. Chatbots can automate query handling and offer features such as quick replies to resolve queries faster. Besides seamless customer support, Karix adds value by enabling convenient handling and management of bookings directly through WhatsApp.

Karix has tied up with large traveltech players such as MMT for flight, bus and train booking. Besides MMT, it has also partnered with bus and train ticketing platform redBus and the Chennai Metro Rail Limited — more on how this works later. 

Smart Personalisation With WhatsApp

In a sea of automated marketing solutions, WhatsApp commerce stands out because of the reach and the direct model of conversational commerce — companies can connect with users more intimately, and showcase products or services directly without a break in the user journey. The convenience is undeniable, and the evolving preference of individuals to gravitate towards new-age messaging apps, in lieu of tools like email, calls and SMS is also clear. 

WhatsApp’s familiarity is great, but the fact businesses can enhance their communication strategy through rich media content like videos, photos, voice notes and stickers is even more appealing. A Kantar study reveals that over 70% of Indians prefer messaging apps over emails or website visits to resolve issues, making WhatsApp a powerful business and brand communication channel.

“WhatsApp transcends traditional communication barriers, creating a fertile ground for meaningful and enduring conversations with a global audience. Its intuitive interface, coupled with the economic advantage and the capability to curate comprehensive catalogues, empowers travel platforms to disseminate not just information but experiences,” said Kaul.

She recommended using the ‘Click-to-WhatsApp’ feature that lets partner businesses embed a click button on their ads to encourage their user to connect on WhatsApp directly. 

Backed by in-house AI capabilities, Karix enables data collection and real-time customer data analysis across touchpoints and helps traveltech businesses improve customer segmentation based on behaviour and their unique needs. Most communication on WhatsApp is automated because the API can be connected to the booking systems. This allows businesses to initiate relevant messages, enabling personalised and effective communication with customers without much human intervention 

In addition, Karix’s chatbot builder allows them to build customised WhatsApp chatbots and resolve queries quickly. In case queries are too complex, the chatbot lets customers transfer the queries to a human agent, thereby working as a smart filter. 

How Karix Helped MMT, redBus

Despite being one of the oldest and largest traveltech players in India, MMT wanted to up its game and make a lasting impression on its consumers, especially non-app users and wanted to connect with them on a real-time basis. The traveltech player was also looking for a way to capture customer feedback and enhance the net promoter score, which helps it gauge the possibility of repeat usage. 

In 2021, it partnered with Karix to address these challenges. Through this partnership, it decided to leverage WhatsApp to promote its reward-based programme MMT Black and communicate with its high-value customers.

With this integration, MMT was also able to send interactive messages and timely responses to customers. Karix also helped the company share highly customised messages, allowing it to reach the right audience and increase the relevance of the conversation. For example, it was able to contact flight bookers just a few hours before their departure with personalised cross-selling communication on WhatsApp such as offering airport cabs at reduced fares.

Users have shown a higher affinity for WhatsApp messages, leading to a significant improvement in MMT’s click-through-rate compared to app-based push notifications, revealed Kaul. Although she did not disclose the number, she said that the integration of automated invitations and one-click signups has remarkably expanded the subscriber base of its MMT Black programme.

For redBus, WhatsApp integration proved to be a game-changer. The brand claims that 22 Mn+ people travel on intercity trains daily (redRail) but they find it difficult to login to different apps to know details like the PNR status or tracking the train on its journey.  

In May 2022, redBus tied up with Karix to allow its customers easy access to their PNR status and live train status on WhatsApp.

This ensured a seamless train journey which could otherwise feel long and exhausting for most customers due to lack of visibility on such information. 

The PNR and LTS (live train status) have become extremely popular among redBus users, Karix claimed. In fact, the LTS feature saw a 5X uptick in usage in just two months after it was launched on WhatsApp.

“Through our partnership with redRail, we are making use of the latest technology to deliver real value for consumers and travellers. With advanced platform capabilities and the dedicated efforts of the teams, we are committed to innovating and building the next generation of digital customer experiences,” said Kaul. 

The Future Of Travel 

According to an Inc42 report, internet penetration in India currently stands at 61% and the number of Indian internet users will likely exceed 1.3 Bn by 2030. As in other consumer services, rising internet adoption will change how Indians travel — there’s little doubt that digital platforms will continue to flourish. 

But when it comes to the competitive edge, a lot hinges on personalised communication and customer support.

“Keep the safety of your users at the core of your communication strategy. Also, leverage an omnichannel presence and strive to make the entire process frictionless and convenient by offering a one-stop solution for all their requirements,” advised Kaul. 

She added that besides communication, traveltech platforms can leverage WhatsApp for revenue-centric activities — personalised discounts and offers, loyalty programmes and content marketing to drive upselling. 

While private travel players have already begun using WhatsApp and messaging apps, even public transportation authorities have shown the appetite to move to conversational customer experience (CX) solutions. In May 2023, Karix partnered with Chennai Metro Rail Limited to allow more than 2.5 Lakh daily commuters to get timely information and access services such as checking fares, booking tickets and route maps— all through WhatsApp.

Sonia claimed that the WhatsApp chatbot has witnessed a great response, garnering over 50K users within a few hours of its launch. “The overwhelming response from the commuters demonstrates a strong desire for an efficient and user-friendly ticketing solution,” shel added. 

According to Business Wire, the value of transactions enabled by conversational commerce  is set to surge from $21.9 Bn in 2023 to $51.9 Bn by 2028. Adoption of conversational commerce by large companies and institutional players will drive this growth. 

Messaging apps such as WhatsApp are constantly improving their business-centric APIs and tools. And how Karix, WebEngage and others of their ilk make conversational commerce more personal is definitely something worth watching.

The post How WhatsApp Commerce Is Enabling Traveltech Startups To Rewrite Their Communication Playbook appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Hospitality giant OYO reportedly plans to prepay nearly a third of its outstanding term loan B (TLB) via a debt buyback process. 

As per news agency PTI, OYO plans to make payments to the tune of INR 1,620 Cr ($195 Mn) to repurchase 30% of its outstanding TLB. While the repayment of the debt is scheduled for June 2026, the exercise will reportedly be fully funded with cash on the balance sheet and from the cash collateral account.

As per the report, the travel tech major will execute the buyback deal at par value via a public bidding process, which commenced on November 14 and will go on till November 18. In the event bids breach the stipulated amount, OYO will then buy the loan back on a pro-rata basis.

The buyback exercise is expected to reduce OYO’s annual interest liabilities by more than INR 225 Cr. At the end of November 13, OYO’s debt paper reportedly closed at 90 cents on the dollar. 

This comes close on the heels of OYO cofounder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal telling top brass, in an internal email, that OYO was on the way to report its maiden profitable quarter in the second quarter (Q2) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) with a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 16 Cr. 

Curiously, a month ago, the Delhi NCR-based hospitality unicorn was said to be in talks to refinance its $660 Mn TLB with Apollo Management. The loan was taken at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 as the hospitality business came to a standstill the world over. 

In the past, the startup led by Ritesh Agarwal publicly announced that it was operationally profitable in FY23, with an adjusted EBITDA of INR 277 Cr. During the fiscal year, the IPO-bound hospitality unicorn slashed its net losses 34% YoY to INR 1,286.5 Cr against a 14% YoY increase in operating revenue to INR 5,463.9 Cr in FY23. 

The company had also noted that it was well-placed to achieve an adjusted EBITDA of nearly INR 800 Cr in FY24. It is largely on the back of this turnaround that the startup expects to fund the prepayment of TLB. 

Meanwhile, plans are underway for OYO’s much-awaited IPO, which has seen the departure of key executives, including OYO’s India CEO Ankit Gupta and head of OYO Europe Mandar Vaidya. Many key appointments have also been made amid a major management reshuffle at the company. 

Amid all this, Agarwal is all set to join Shark Tank India’s upcoming season as the newest shark.

The post Flush With Funds, OYO To Prepay INR 1,620 Cr Via Debt Buyback Exercise appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reportedly appointed executive director P Vasudevan as the new head of the fintech department earlier this month. With this, Vasudevan has become the second top official of the department since its formation in early 2022. 

Sources told The Economic Times that Vasudevan has taken over the reins from the incumbent chief and RBI executive director Ajay Kumar Choudhary, who is said to have retired. As per the report, Choudhary has now been appointed to the board of the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub.

“He has immense experience handling the payment ecosystem in the country, which will help him while dealing with the growing fintech ecosystem in the country,” a senior fintech executive reportedly said. 

The RBI hived off a separate fintech department in 2022 to foster innovation and provide impetus to the burgeoning Indian fintech industry. It is this department that industry stakeholders have to coordinate with for regulatory push and policymaking. 

Industry executives told the publication that Vasudevan will likely focus on streamlining coordination between various supervisory departments and ironing out policy bottlenecks. 

The fintech department will be an additional charge for Vasudevan who already oversees currency management, the corporate strategy and budget department at the central bank. 

This comes barely three months after Vasudevan was appointed as the executive director of the central bank in July this year. The RBI executive previously served as the chief general manager in charge of the department of payment and settlement systems before the elevation. 

The new appointment comes as the central bank has issued a slew of diktats and directives to streamline the entire fintech ecosystem. Just this month, the RBI issued rules to directly regulate entities facilitating cross-border payments. 

It has also been tightening its grip around fintech players, especially payment aggregators, and mandating greater compliance with rules and regulations. In September, RBI deputy governor T. Rabi Sankar also pitched for the creation of self-regulatory organisations (SROs) in the fintech sector to tackle key issues such as market integrity, data privacy, and cybersecurity.

A flurry of diktats from the RBI in the past one year also forced companies to pivot while the business models of many other players have also been rendered useless. 

As the fintech space grows in prominence, it remains to be seen how the space evolves. With a new official at the helm of affairs, all eyes are now on Vasudevan as to how he walks the tightrope between regulation and innovation.

The post P Vasudevan Takes Over The Reins Of RBI’s Fintech Department appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Online travel aggregator Yatra Online saw its consolidated net losses surge nearly 11X year-on-year (YoY) to INR 17.1 Cr in the second quarter (Q2) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) on the back of a fall in revenues. In contrast, the company reported a net loss of INR 1.56 Cr in the year-ago period. Sequentially, the company posted a net profit of nearly INR 6 Cr in Q1 FY24. 

Revenues from operations jumped 14% YoY to INR 94.1 Cr in Q2 FY24 compared to INR 82.4 Cr in Q2 FY23. On a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, operating revenue declined 14.5% from INR 110.1 Cr in Q1 FY24.

Including other income, total income rose 8% YoY to INR 97.3 Cr in the quarter ended September 2023. 

Meanwhile, expenses continued to drag the company down. In Q2 FY24, total expenses zoomed more than 25% YoY to INR 113.5 Cr, up from INR 90.5 Cr in the year-ago period. 

Employee benefit expenses emerged as the biggest cost centre and contributed INR 36.6 Cr to the total expenses in Q2 FY24. Other expenses stood at INR 18.6 Cr and service costs accounted for nearly INR 16 Cr in Q2 FY24. 

Yatra claims to be one of the country’s largest online travel companies in terms of gross booking revenues and competes with the likes of players such as MakeMyTrip and EaseMyTrip. Yatra also claims to cater to more than 700 corporate customers and offer hotel bookings, holiday packages and homestays. 

The online travel aggregator claims to have more than 1.03 Lakh hotels in India and over 15 Lakh hotels available on its platform for booking. The Indian arm of the Nasdaq-listed Yatra Inc. made a muted debut on the Indian bourses in September this year. 

The stock got listed at INR 127.50 per share on the NSE and INR 130 on the BSE against the issue price of INR 142. Since then, the company has been hovering around the same range. Yatra closed 0.32% lower at INR 138.60 on the BSE on Tuesday (November 11).

The post After A Profitable Q1 FY24, Yatra Online Slips Into Loss In Q2 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Shared electric mobility startup Yulu has elevated chief financial officer (CFO) Anuj Tewari to the role of its newest cofounder. 

With this, Tewari formally joins the existing three-member founding team at the startup comprising chief executive officer (CEO) Amit Gupta, chief technology officer (CTO) Naveen Dachuri, and president of ecosystem partnerships RK Misra.

Commenting on the announcement, Tewari said, “It is a great honour to become a part of Yulu’s founding team. I am humbled as I accept this responsibility and look forward to working with this unstoppable team…”

Amit Gupta, cofounder and CEO, said, “We could not have asked for a better, or more natural, choice than Anuj to join Yulu’s founding team. Over the last three years, his rich experience, uncanny insights, sheer commitment and ‘founder mentality’ have helped Yulu embark on a strong growth trajectory. His presence will be a huge asset as we pursue our ambitious growth targets. On behalf of all the co-founders and the entire Yulu team, I heartily congratulate Anuj on his new role.” 

An alumni of Kanpur’s Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Tewari has a masters degree in business and commerce and is also a chartered accountant. He has nearly two decades of experience under his belt and has had stints with companies such as Barclays Bank, Kipco Asset Management Company and logistics company Agility.

Since joining the electric mobility startup in 2020, Tewari has been instrumental in shaping Yulu’s growth strategy and has led fundraising negotiations for the startup. He also oversees the company’s finances and, as per Yulu, has been the one of the driving forces to put the startup on track to becoming EBITDA-positive by the end of the year.

The elevation comes at a time when the startup has been rapidly scaling up operations. Yulu said it plans to record a 7X-8X year-on-year (YoY) jump in revenue in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). 

It also plans to grow its fleet size by 4X over the course of the next year, and is eyeing a ‘significant share’ of the last mile mobility market in Bengaluru, Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai during the period. 

Founded in 2017 by Gupta, Misra, Dachuri and Hemant Gupta, Yulu operates a fleet of electric two-wheelers that cater to daily commuters and last-mile delivery executives. The startup has so far raised $105 Mn in a mix of debt and equity across multiple rounds and is backed by names such as Bajaj Auto, Blume, Magna and Rocketship.vc.

Yulu’s net loss declined to INR 55.5 Cr in FY22 from INR 61.1 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Operating revenue more than doubled to INR 29 Cr from INR 13.6 Cr in FY21.

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Delhi government has restricted the entry of app-based taxis, like Ola, Uber from other states into the capital. This decision was made in response to the deteriorating air quality in the city.

As per an ET report, only taxis registered in Delhi will be permitted to enter the city. This measure was implemented following a Supreme Court order, which highlighted the issue of a significant number of taxis from other states entering the capital with just one passenger.

The court also criticised the ‘odd-even’ scheme, which aimed to address air pollution concerns, labeling it as mere ‘optics.’ The court directed the Delhi government to control the entry of vehicles with orange tags into the city.

Delhi’s Transport Minister, Gopal Rai, mentioned in a press conference that the Delhi government is in the process of compiling a report based on two studies evaluating the effectiveness of the ‘odd-even vehicle’ policy in reducing air pollution.

Additionally, the Supreme Court instructed the Delhi government to oversee and prevent the burning of municipal solid waste within the city or in open areas during the period when GRAP IV is in effect.

At the time of reporting, New Delhi’s real-time Air Quality Index (AQI) for PM 2.5 and PM 10 air pollution levels was recorded at 384. The current PM2.5 concentration in New Delhi is 22.5 times higher than the recommended limit provided by the WHO’s 24-hour air quality guidelines. Just last week, the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) breached the 400 mark, reaching 476.

PM2.5 air pollution in New Delhi has been attributed to an estimated 25,000 deaths since January 1, 2021, and has cost the city’s economy approximately $3.7 Bn this year, according to Greenpeace, a non-governmental environmental organisation.

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EV startup Euler Motors has raised INR 120 Cr (about $14.4 Mn) in its ongoing Series C extension round from British International Investment (BII), the UK government’s development finance institution and impact investor, and Green Frontier Capital. 

Existing investors, including Athera Venture Partners, ADB Ventures, Blume Ventures, Alteria Capital, GIC Singapore, and QRG Holdings, also participated in the round. 

The funding was raised at a valuation lower than during its last fundraise, Euler Motors’ founder and CEO Saurav Kumar told ET. The three-wheeler EV manufacturer had last raised $60 Mn in its Series C round in October last year.

In a statement, Euler Motors said the fresh funds would be deployed strategically to drive its pan-India expansion initiatives as it plans to enter 40 cities by the end of FY24. 

The additional funds will also enable the startup to reinforce its service and charging network nationwide to further facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles across the country, it added.    

With the latest fund raise, Euler Motors has raised a total of INR 570 crores till date. Euler Motors said it plans to raise fresh funds over the next year as and when needed to execute its plan to scale up production, presence and services.  

Founded in 2018 by Kumar, Euler Motors is an automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) focused on electric commercial vehicles. 

Euler claims that its products are road-ready, technologically superior and competent for ecommerce and third party logistics. It collaborates with ecommerce players such as BigBasket, Udaan, and Flipkart and helps them turn their fleet into EVs. 

The flagship model manufactured by the startup is the HiLoad EV, which is a cargo three-wheeler offering 13 (12.96) kWh battery pack, and a 30% higher payload capacity (688 Kg), with a proprietary liquid-cooled battery. 

Besides, Euler Motors also has a charging network of more than 300 stations in Delhi and Bengauluru. 

Earlier this year, the EV startup trimmed 10% of its workforce within just six months after raising $60 Mn in its Series C funding round. Its net loss also doubled to INR 36.3 Cr in FY22 from INR 19.1 Cr in FY21.

With the increasing focus on climate change and carbon emissions, coupled with the government’s efforts to promote EVs, the funding in the EV space has also picked up.

In the commercial space, electric bus manufacturer PMI Electro Mobility Solutions recently secured INR 250 Cr in a strategic funding round to develop more innovative solutions, bring technological advancements to its production capabilities, and scale its operations. 

Besides, EV startup Raptee secured $3 Mn in its pre-Series A funding round to enhance the manufacturing facility, procure machinery and tooling for the upcoming motorcycle launch, and expand the team.

The story has been edited to update the total amount of funding raised by Euler, upon clarification from the startup.

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Foodtech major Zomato reported its second consecutive profitable quarter today, with profit after tax surging to INR 36 Cr during the September quarter of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). This was an 18X jump from PAT of INR 2 Cr in the preceding quarter. 

It must be noted that Q1 FY24 was Zomato’s maiden profitable quarter. In Q2 FY23, the company’s net loss stood at INR 251 Cr.

Interestingly, Zomato also posted a profit before tax (PBT) of INR 21 Cr in Q2 FY24, as against a loss of INR 15 Cr in the prior quarter.

Meanwhile, Zomato said its quick commerce business Blinkit also turned contribution positive for the first time in Q2 FY24, which stood at 1.3% in the reported quarter as against negative 7.3% in Q2 FY23.

Zomato’s operating income jumped to INR 2,848 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 1,661 Cr in the year-ago quarter. 

Operating revenue also grew 18% from INR 2,416 Cr in Q1 FY24.

Zomato said its gross order value (GOV) surged 47% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 11,422 Cr in Q2 FY24, with improvement witnessed across business verticals.

Food delivery GOV grew 9% QoQ and 20% YoY to INR 7,980 Cr, and is recovering well from the demand slowdown it witnessed in the last two quarters of FY23, the company said.

Zomato said that the GOV growth in its core food delivery vertical was almost entirely led by growth in order volumes, while the average order value remained largely flat. 

“Order volume growth is typically negatively impacted in this quarter due to lower delivery partner availability during rains. However, this year we were able to improve on that through better all-round execution,” Zomato said in its statement. 

Another key driver of the GOV growth during the quarter was an increasing adoption of its Gold program.

The company said it had 3.8 Mn Gold members till the end of the September quarter, who contributed almost 40% of GOV in its food delivery business. Active Gold members on the platform stood at 2 Mn at the end of June 2023.

However, the contribution margin of its food delivery business grew to 6.6% in Q2FY24 from 6.4% in Q1 FY24.

Zomato saw its consolidated adjusted EBITDA also improve to INR 41 Cr in the reported quarter from a loss of INR 192 Cr in Q2 FY23.

Where Did Zomato Spend?

Zomato’s total expenses surged over 45% YoY and 16.3% sequentially to INR 3,039 Cr in Q2 FY24.

While its spending towards the purchase of stock-in-trade almost doubled to INR 685 Cr in the reported quarter, its employee benefit expenses increased 9.4% YoY to INR 417 Cr.

In the previous quarter, Q1 FY24, Zomato spent INR 338 Cr on employee benefit expense.

Meanwhile, the company also kept spending more towards advertisement and sales promotions, which increased 18.3% YoY to INR 355 Cr.

Zomato’s delivery and related expenses surged over 1.5X YoY to INR 919 Cr in Q2 FY24.

The Outlook

Zomato said it has noticed that festivals drive stronger growth for its quick commerce Blinkit compared to the food delivery business. With major festivals like Navratri, Dussehra, and Diwali coming up in the December quarter, Zomato expects another high growth quarter from Blinkit.

“The festive period in Q3 FY24 is usually a mixed bag for the food delivery business. While people order more around the festivals, at the same time, they also travel and eat-out more in this quarter,” it said.

However, the ICC World Cup should result in additional order volumes but the demand uptick is expected to be limited to a handful of match days, the company added.

Shares of Zomato ended today’s trading session 8.3% higher at INR 116.4 on the BSE today.

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