Also in this letter:
■ Prosus Ventures may invest in ex-Myntra CEO’s new fashion startup
■ Tata Digital tweaking Neu after complaints of glitches
■ CCI keen to pass a verdict on Google probe soon
Shadowfax in talks to raise $100 million at $350-400 million valuation
Hyperlocal logistics startup Shadowfax is in talks to raise $75-$100 million in a mix of primary and secondary capital, multiple sources told us.
Details: A91 Partners is in discussions to finance the primary part, three people said, adding the deal is currently in the due diligence stage.
Eight Roads Ventures is expected to sell part of its stake in the secondary share sale.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and NewQuest Capital Partners, a fund that specialises in buying secondary stakes, have held talks to buy the stake from Eight Roads, sources said.
Bengaluru-based Shadowfax, backed by homegrown ecommerce player Flipkart, is likely to be valued at $350-$400 million if the deal goes through, the people said.
Walmart-owned Flipkart is also expected to participate, having come in as an investor in 2019 when it led a $60 million funding round in the logistics firm.
Pivot: Founded in 2015 as a hyperlocal delivery service by Bansal and Vaibhav Khandelwal amid a big rush of hyperlocal ventures, Shadowfax has transitioned to serving more ecommerce players like Meesho from initially being an on-demand logistics provider to food-delivery companies.
According to its annual filings, Shadowfax’s revenue was Rs 464 crore in FY21 and Rs 323 crore in FY20.
Prosus Ventures may invest in ex-Myntra CEO’s new fashion startup
Prosus Ventures, the venture investment arm of Prosus (formerly Naspers) is in advanced stages of talks to join the funding round of yet to launch venture of former Myntra CEO Amar Nagaram, sources briefed on the matter told us.
Nagaram’s new venture, a fast fashion platform for Gen Z, is likely to be valued at $150-160 million after the investment, they added.
Launch imminent: Nagaram, who left Flipkart-owned Myntra last December as its chief executive, is expected to launch his venture later this month and has named it Virgio.
The app is in beta testing with users being put on a waitlist before a formal launch.
We reported in January that Alpha Wave and Accel had finalised their $25-30 million round at a $100 million valuation. Prosus Ventures’ investment is also part of series A funding but the round is structured in multiple tranches and Prosus is coming in at a higher valuation than earlier investors did.
Significance: This comes at a time when there is a visible slowdown in deal making at attractive terms across all stages. Once formally announced, it will be one of the biggest maiden institutional funding rounds for a new venture.
Prior to starting Virgio, Nagaram worked at Flipkart for almost seven years before moving to Myntra in 2019. He was elevated to CEO after its previous chief executive Anath Narayanan quit following Walmart acquisition of Flipkart in 2018.
Tata Digital tweaking Neu after complaints of glitches
Tata Digital is making changes to super app Tata Neu after complaints about glitches, poor user experience and payment issues.
The Neu Pass loyalty programme has been integrated directly with brand payments so that redemptions can be made without delay, executives said. Consumers had stumbled over restrictions and glitches in redeeming points. Tata Payments will be relaunched in October after ensuring there are no technical glitches in terms of consumer experience, they said.
Fintech play: Tata Neu is also finalising plans to offer online stock broking services similar to Zerodha through Tata Fintech, its financial services arm, to gain consumer traction and make it a more attractive proposition for users.
Tata Neu houses the conglomerate’s top consumer brands such as BigBasket, 1mg and Croma. The plan is to add Vistara, Air India, Titan, Tanishq and Tata Motors to Tata Neu soon. Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran has said that Tata Neu will onboard brands outside the Tata Group in future.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Software superpower India to join world data capitals: Microsoft president
India has become a software superpower and is joining the ranks of the top two to three software economies in the world, said Brad Smith, president of Microsoft. He told us in an interview that the government’s move to rethink its data privacy law was ‘an act of wisdom’. Here are some edited excerpts from the interview.
What is Microsoft’s outlook towards India? What opportunities for growth do you see in the country?
India has made an extraordinary leapfrog move digitally in the global economy. It has probably made about five years of digital progress in the last 24 months. India has long been one of the world’s major sources of talent for the software field, a great creator of software IP. But I think it’s now joining the ranks of the top two or three software economies in the world and has become a software superpower.
Microsoft recently partnered with ONDC – the Open Network for Digital Commerce. Is this something you will experiment with in India and then take it global?
I think that (ONDC) is one of the great opportunities for India. The export of Indian IP is what happens every day. But the opportunity India has now is to take an entire software stack or multiple layers of it and begin to move that to other countries as well.
CCI keen to pass a verdict on Google probe soon
India’s competition watchdog is in the final stages its investigation into search giant Google’s Play Store policies, sources said.
Catch up quick: In 2020, Google enforced a 30% commission for all Play Store transactions, which was heavily criticised by stakeholders globally and in India, where it was seen as monopolistic and anti-competitive.
It has been holding depositions from stakeholders such as the Alliance of Digital India Federation (ADIF), Match group (owner of large dating sites such as Tinder) and several other app companies in India.
CCI has also sought information from Google and calling its executives for depositions.
The sources added that CCI had asked for final submissions from all stakeholders at a recent hearing, which was likely its last before passing a verdict.
Damage control: The company said last week that it was launching the next phase of its user choice billing pilot project, with India being among the markets where users can avail of the service. As per the announcement, all non-gaming developers can sign up to participate in the pilot and offer choice billing to users.
Oyo plans deeper presence in south India with 600 new hotels
Hospitality chain Oyo is looking at a deeper presence in south India and is planning to add around 600 new hotels and homes in the region by December, sources told us.
Currently, Oyo operates around 1,350 properties across markets such as Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Puducherry.
People familiar with the developments said Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai are among the top 10 business markets for Oyo, and besides Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad have been the most booked properties for the company this year.
The company plans to add properties in both corporate and leisure segments in the southern region.
Quote: “Oyo has also been looking at enhancing its signage strategy in India and has installed over 100 signboards in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It’s looking at increasing the number,” a person close to the matter said. The company is also planning to hire over 50 ‘revenue leads’ in south India by December.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
ED searches offices of Razorpay, Paytm, Cashfree: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted raids at Bengaluru offices of Razorpay, Paytm and Cashfree as part of its crackdown on “illegal” instant smartphone loan apps “controlled” by Chinese entities and persons. Searches were carried out at six locations in Bengaluru.
A foundational ID system to give identity to millions across the globe: A Bengaluru varsity has been working on a project to enable citizens to get foundational IDs to avail of various services from their respective governments. This is an effort that is being funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Tata Trust, Omidyar Network, Pratiksha Trust, and Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), which have cumulatively provided Rs 150 crore.
Cyberbullying among children rampant in India: In a recent survey by McAfee, 45% of participating children in India said they cyberbullied a stranger, compared to 17% worldwide. Also, 48% Indian children said they cyberbullied someone they knew, compared to 21% children globally.
The A to Z of ONDC’s commission structure: The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), the government’s marquee e-commerce network project, has already created a lot of buzz among merchants as it promises to create an inclusive marketplace. While on the buyer side, only Paytm is active, on the seller side, Digiit, eSamudaay, Gofrugal Technologies, Growth Falcons, and Seller App have gone live.
Global Picks We are Reading
■ Beijing will regulate ‘digital humans’ in the metaverse and beyond (Rest of World)
■ Twitter can’t afford to be one of the world’s most influential websites (The Washington Post)
■ Islamic State turns to NFTs to spread terror message (WSJ)
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