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<ul><li>Investors looking to participate in India’s ecommerce story will need to keep in mind that the valuation will continue to be premium even for those startups that are turning in a small profit.</li><li>For better monetisation, <keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> is also entering categories where brands tend to do well. It currently offers brands like Decathlon, Marico and Nivea on its platform.</li><li>It is also exploring a low-cost grocery model in some smaller cities, which it plans to scale if unit economics justify the investments. </li></ul> Meesho, a horizontal ecommerce player that caters to unorganised sellers, has its task cut out before its public listing 12-18 months down the line. The marketplace will not repeat the mistakes some of its new age peers made while tapping public markets. The marketplace may be the first horizontal ecommerce platform to turn profitable, but it is just the beginning of an arduous journey, given that many investors have burnt their fingers by investing in IPOs of new age companies. Share prices have not kept up with the hype that surrounded these companies, which suggests that investors will not chase such pricey companies no matter how fast they are growing. So how different will Meesho be from the other new age tech platforms that tapped public markets? In conversation with Business Insider, Meesho’s chief financial officer Dhiresh Bansal said they have reflected on the experiences of investors who participated in IPOs in 2021 and 2022. The key takeaway is that valuations were high because there was a lot of free money floating around. He says: “But public market investors are focused on profitable growth. Our point of view is that we want to make sure we run a decent track record of profitable growth if we aspire to get listed. We are targeting to grow revenues by 40% and accelerate it a little more by putting investments back, but we will continue to be profitable.” Clearly, the new mantra for startups today is to be profitable but the size and scale of the profit pool will not impress if compared to the larger companies. Investors looking to participate in India’s ecommerce story will need to keep in mind that the valuation will continue to be premium even for those startups that are turning in a small profit. Call it a scarcity premium, if you will. Explains Bansal: “The investment phase of the company in the new age world is slightly longer but they generate very large pools of cash over a period of time. This is true for unprofitable or small profit companies.” Bansal cites examples of some companies in the US that had a small profit pool to report when they got listed a decade ago. But now these companies churn out large amounts in profits. Therefore, these new age companies cannot be compared to traditional companies. Bansal says that even as fixed costs remain the same over a period of time, on a higher base these companies tend to generate a lot more in profits. Currently, Meesho has 140 mn users who visit the app every month and 40 mn, who open the app everyday. With a revenue growth target of 40% year-on-year, Meesho believes it can earn more without fixed costs going up. In addition to controlling costs and boosting operational efficiency, Meesho is also tweaking its categories and model to earn more in some categories. Even though it continues to largely be a platform for unorganised/small sellers from across India, you can find some brands too as the platform provides a differentiated experience to branded players too. Says Bansal, “Our business is largely unbranded, but we have introduced brands in some categories. We have brands like Decathlon, Marico, Nivea and other D2C brands in the marketplace other than brands in the beauty and personal care category.” Monetisation in these categories is much better than the unbranded segments. The cashburn may have slowed and Meesho’s business may be cashflow positive, but a public listing will not just look at raising fresh capital. The issue will be a mix of fresh issue of shares and offer for sale by existing shareholders. Explains Bansal: “We don’t need fresh capital for growth as we have almost $400 mn in the bank. People will decide whether they want to exit or remain on for a longer period— but It will be a mix of primary and secondary offering at the IPO but it will be largely towards secondary.” This suggests that existing investors will look at a partial exit whenever Meesho hits the public market. The platform is also experimenting with other categories as it looks to diversify from its existing mainstay – apparel, beauty and kitchenware. Meesho wants to sell consumers everything but smartphones, electronics and groceries. Adds Bansal: “We have been experimenting with groceries and beyond the convenience model that works in metro and Tier 1 cities but there is a low priced model of groceries that can work in Tier1 and Tier 2 cities. We are running pilots and once we are sure about the unit economics we will scale the business.”

Key facts to know before Meesho’s IPO hits the market

<ul><li><keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> is the new kid on the block that has emerged as a challenger to <keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword> and <keyword id="6354742" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="flipkart" source="Orion">Flipkart</keyword> with 120 mn users</li><li>Aims to bring 100 mn small sellers across India online</li><li>The newly minted unicorn is looking at going public in less than two years after it turns profitable.</li></ul>Shaan Ansari is a 19-year old entrepreneur who lives in the historic city of Panipat, 100 kms north of Delhi, and he may never qualify for any list celebrating under-20 entrepreneurs, but his story is no less inspiring than Ranveer Singh’s character in Gully Boy. The pandemic put his father out of work and Ansari out of school back in 2020. When crisis struck, Ansari went scouting for opportunities online that would require zero investment and he found it in Meesho, a social commerce platform that is designed to help solo entrepreneurs and small businesses sell their wares to a wider audience. Ansari sourced bath mats and door mats made locally and started selling them on Meesho. When his suppliers could not meet the demand, Ansari borrowed money to start his own factory. Today he manufactures these mats from a rented factory, employs 50 people and clocks revenues of ₹30 lakh a month. It is transformational stories like Ansari’s that keep Meesho’’s co-founder and CEO Vidit Aatrey and his team going. Recalling his trip to Panipat, Aatrey, says, “The neighbourhood that Ansari lives in is a really humble one and his home actually doubles up as a warehouse. When I visited him, his staff and family offered dry fruits with chai. Ansari kept telling us how his family’s fortunes have changed after he discovered Meesho. As a team we travel every quarter to listen to sellers like Ansari on our platform and are now attempting to solve some of their other financial needs so that they don’t have to go to money lenders for working capital needs.” <div type="image" title="Meesho_1 (1)" height="900" width="1200" msid="93702892" hostid="261"></div> 100 million sellers to reach a billion buyers Aatrey’s dream is to get a million local businesses online so that they expand their markets by selling wares across India, irrespective of where they are located. In the last two years, this new kid on the block has emerged as a challenger to the Big Boys of e-commerce. Meesho - which is a short code for ‘my shop’ - has gotten bigger after the pandemic with 120 million monthly active users (MAUs) in a short span of time. Flipkart and Amazon have 200 million registered users each. Meesho’s target is to have 100 million sellers on its platform and sell to a billion buyers. Meesho was born on the premise that for online commerce to genuinely offer value, local retailers had to go online. Unorganized retail accounts for 90% of India’s spends. But when Aatrey and his co-founder Sanjeev Bamwal discovered that the sellers were not coming online because the buyers were not all shopping online. The pandemic has enabled Meesho to bring a lot more local businesses online as it was a matter of their survival. Challenging Amazon and Flipkart In the early days, Meesho’s sales were driven by 15 million women resellers, who bought products from the platform and sold it through WhatsApp and Facebook groups. From being a social commerce platform driven by re-sellers, it today has a share of nearly 30% in total daily online deliveries. Of the 9 million e-commerce orders processed daily, Meesho accounts for 2.7 million, while the two biggies account for 5 million. Clearly, Meesho is the challenger that nobody expected would catch up with Amazon and Flipkart. Another interesting statistic says that of the 70 million shoppers online, only 10 million are digital natives. It is a no-brainer then that India’s small businesses can provide the network effect to any online commerce platform that chooses to target this segment. Meesho waded into this space back in 2015, but found it tough to convince small entrepreneurs to come online because their customers were not online either. Language barriers and quality of internet speeds were only a few reasons why sellers were not online. Even when they brought sellers online, their buyers were still not online nor was Meesho’s app on too many smartphones. This changed after the pandemic but before that it was Meesho’s army of 15 million women resellers that drove its gross merchandise value up until 2020. Meesho is called a social commerce channel because it has been built by women resellers who found a vocation and economic independence by reselling goods purchased from the platform on WhatsApp and Facebook groups. Between 2017 and 2020, 100% sales were happening through resellers. The share of these women resellers is now down to 20% as consumers have now started downloading the app. Meesho’s monthly average users stand at 120 million and 35 million users transact on the app every month. On an average, 110 million Indian shoppers bought on Meesho last year. Not surprising that investors have also queued up to invest in the company. After raising seed capital of $300,000 from angel investors in March 2016, Meesho is valued at $4.9 bn after its latest round of capital raise of $570 mn in September 2021. Its list of marquee investors include Soft Bank Vision Fund 2, Prosus, Fidelity Management and Research, Yuri Milner’s DST Partners, Sequoia, SAIF Partners and Y Combinator among others. Sellers turn brand ambassadors <div type="image" title="Meesho_2 (1)" height="900" width="1200" msid="93702936" hostid="261"></div> Currently, there are six lakh sellers like Ansari on Meesho and the start-up wants to take this to one million. This goal may be work-in-progress, but every week employees join the Meesho Sabha, a meeting where examples like Ansari are discussed at length so that the team does not take its eyes off the goal post. Even though Meesho continues with its outreach programme to help sellers, existing sellers have now become brand ambassadors who are helping others get online. The platform offers peer-to-peer learning in several languages for those who want to get started. Says Dhiresh Bansal, chief financial officer of Meesho, “We still do our outreach programmes but a lot of people are now coming to our platform, as they need to diversify by targeting newer markets. Also the younger generation is more progressive and are taking their family businesses online.” After its success in the last two years, Meesho’s working hard to resolve several issues of sellers on its platform. Most of these sellers have seen a sharp rise in demand for their products after going online and the need for working capital requirement has gone up sharply. Lucknow-based Suman Agrawal used to sell women’s fashion clothing at her boutique but has shut it down after her brand Rudraksh saw sales boom on Meesho. She currently manages 22,000 orders a month. There are several sellers in India who cannot go online because they don’t have the requisite GST number. Aatrey has been a votary of their cause for a while. In June this year, the GST Council cleared a proposal that will no longer require sellers on e-commerce platforms to have a GST registration, if their turnover is less than ₹40 lakh and ₹20 lakh for goods and services respectively. This rule will come into effect from January 2023. Aatrey believes that this will be a game changer for millions of small sellers across India. While the company is not looking to raise capital immediately, it has plans to turn profitable and then hit the markets in a couple of years. The e-commerce player is looking at tightening its belt on costs now that it has attained scale. If it has to turn profitable in under 2 years then Meesho will have to cut back on cashburn and conserve capital. Aatrey says, “This festive season will give us an indication if there is any slowdown. We have not seen that so far, so it will be something that we will learn from.” <div type="image" title="Meesho_3 (1) (1)" height="900" width="1200" msid="93703012" hostid="261"></div> SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/sensex-slips-517-points-goes-below-the-60000-mark/articleshow/93701486.cms">Sensex slips 517 points, goes below the 60,000-mark</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/not-just-ev-makers-there-are-many-more-stocks-that-can-gain-from-ev-play/articleshow/93696654.cms">Not just EV makers, there are many more stocks that can gain from EV play</a>

Meet India’s Real Gully Boy: Vidit Aatrey of Meesho is taking the entrepreneurial dream deep inside Bharat

Global <keyword id="6354185" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IT" source="Orion">IT</keyword> services firm <keyword id="6370971" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="accenture" source="Orion">Accenture</keyword>, which has a large presence in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>, on Thursday announced to lay off of nearly 19,000 employees amid the challenging global macro-economic conditions and slow revenue growth. Delivering its quarterly results for the second quarter of fiscal 2023, the company also reduced its annual revenue growth and profit forecasts. "We are also taking steps to lower our costs in fiscal year 2024 and beyond while continuing to invest in our business and our people to capture the significant growth opportunities ahead," Julie Sweet, <keyword id="6415823" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="chair" source="Orion">Chair</keyword> and CEO, Accenture, said in a statement. The company said its revenues were $15.8 billion, an increase of 5 per cent in US dollars. The new bookings were at $22.1 billion, a 13 per cent increase. During the second quarter of fiscal 2023, Accenture initiated actions to streamline operations, transform non-billable corporate functions and consolidate office space to reduce costs. The company recorded $244 million in business optimization costs during the second quarter and expects to record total costs of approximately $1.5 billion through fiscal 2024. "Accenture estimates $1.2 billion for severance and $300 million for consolidation of office space, with approximately $800 million expected in fiscal 2023 and $700 million in fiscal 2024," said the company. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/now-sync-your-air-travel-with-uber-via-email-integration-in-india/articleshow/98942821.cms">Now sync your air travel with Uber via email integration in India</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/heres-how-meesho-zepto-pepperfry-and-icertis-cracked-hyperscaling/slidelist/98943189.cms">Here’s how Meesho, Zepto, Pepperfry and Icertis cracked ‘hyperscaling’</a>

Global IT services firm Accenture slashes 19,000 jobs, tech mayhem deepens

As more and more companies across the spectrum sack employees amid the global meltdown, at least 853 tech companies worldwide have laid off about 137,492 employees to date, and the tally is only going north amid recession fears. According to data from layoffs.fyi, a crowdsourced database of tech layoffs, 1,388 tech companies have fired a total of 233,483 employees since the onset of Covid-19, but 2022 has been the worst for the tech sector. As of mid-November, more than 73,000 workers in the US tech sector have been laid off in mass-level job cuts led by companies like <keyword id="399907" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="meta" source="Orion">Meta</keyword>, Twitter, Salesforce, Netflix, Cisco, Roku, and others. Robinhood, Glossier, and Better are just a few of the tech companies that have notably trimmed their headcount in 2022, according to Crunchbase. Big Tech companies like Amazon and PC and printer major HP Inc have joined the global layoff season and were set to lay off more than 10,000 and up to 6,000 employees in days to come, respectively. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has warned employees that there will be more layoffs at the company in early 2023 "as leaders continue to make adjustments". The massive job cuts have hit several divisions, especially the Alexa virtual assistant business reportedly set to lose $10 billion this year as the voice assistant never managed to create an ongoing revenue stream. Alphabet, <keyword id="6355629" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="google" source="Orion">Google</keyword>'s parent company, is reportedly gearing up to lay off about 10,000 "poor performing" employees, or 6 per cent of its workforce. According to a report in The Information, Google plans to ease out 10,000 employees through a new ranking and performance improvement plan. In India, nearly 16,000 employees have been asked to go by about 44 startups, led by edtech companies like BYJU'S, Unacademy, and <keyword id="2016957" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="vedantu" source="Orion">Vedantu</keyword>, as VC funding dried up. Other tech startups and unicorns that have laid off employees in India include Ola, Cars24, Meesho, LEAD, MPL, Innovaccer, Udaan and more. Meanwhile, thousands of contractual employees have also been let go, making 2022 the harshest year for workers in the technology sector. The startup ecosystem's funding winter could last another 12 to 18 months and the industry may face "a lot of turmoil and volatility", <keyword id="6354742" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="flipkart" source="Orion">Flipkart</keyword> CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy has warned. Indian startups are going through steep hiring cuts and the hiring of permanent employees has dipped by a significant 61 per cent in the last 12 months, according to the annual insights report by <keyword id="15395027" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="razorpayx-payroll" source="Orion">RazorpayX Payroll</keyword>, the business banking platform of Razorpay. Only two startups in India, Shiprocket and OneCard, attained unicorn status (valuation $1 billion and above) in the July-September period, according to the latest PwC India report. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/netflix-working-on-brand-new-aaa-pc-game-project/articleshow/95740337.cms">Netflix working on 'brand-new AAA PC game' project</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/binance-looks-to-hire-8k-people-by-2023-end-ceo/articleshow/95716850.cms">Binance looks to hire 8K people by 2023 end: CEO</a>

853 tech firms lay off over 137,492 workers globally, more job cuts coming

<ul><li>Prime time shows have over 60% of ‘co-viewing instances’ with families watching TV together. </li><li>TV in India has an unparalleled position as a family entertainment platform, both in terms of price as well as reach, said a <keyword id="45949" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="jm-financial" source="Orion">JM Financial</keyword> report. </li><li>Growth in <keyword id="1245953" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott" source="Orion">OTT</keyword> has expanded the overall video consumption, and has not come at the expense of <keyword id="1632453" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="linear-tv" source="Orion">linear TV</keyword>. </li><li>Urban youth with access to wired broadband and proclivity to watch international content are likely to shift exclusively to <keyword id="5293670" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott-platforms" source="Orion">OTT platforms</keyword>, the report said. </li><li>Low cost of pay TV and low wired broadband penetration can work against cord-cutting, the report said. </li></ul>For families across India, prime time is mostly spent in front of their television sets. According to JM Financial, prime time shows have over 60% of ‘co-viewing instances’ – and this is what will keep TVs running in India in spite of the proliferation of OTT, as per the report. In addition to the fact that 98% of Indian homes only have a single TV, low proliferation of wired broadband is also keeping people from making the total shift exclusively to OTT. While India has over 650 million mobile broadband users, it has only 18 million wired broadband connections. “Note, these 18 million connections include small and medium enterprises as well, leaving even lower connections for households. We believe these trends and facts suggest TV screens - and linear TV - will remain the mainstay of India’s family entertainment,” said the report named ‘In the eye of the storm’. It also said that growth in OTT has expanded the overall video consumption, and has not come at the expense of linear TV. Pay TV vs OTT vs Free Dish The cost of pay TV – that’s subscription-based TV viewing – is around $3 per month. In comparison, OTT subscription cost is at least 2.5 times that of pay TV. “TV in India has an unparalleled position as a family entertainment platform, both in terms of price as well as reach,” the report said. In the US, however, where subscribers are shifting away from pay TV to OTT – it’s the exact opposite. While pay TV is at around $100 a month, Netflix subscription plans start at $10 per month. Added to that, wired broadband penetration in the US is at 95%. In spite of the fundamentals that support the long-term prospects of linear TV, it is being hurt by many factors. The usual suspect is OTT, which has been chipping away the top-of-the-pyramid user base off pay TV, who are the best spenders. This is reflected in the 6% decline in pay TV subscribers between 2019 to 2021. During the same period, broadcasters’ subscription revenue declined by 13% and ad revenue too went down by 12% – hurt by lowered FMCG ad spends and pandemic-led troubles. FMCG contributes to 50% of TV ad spends. On the other end of the spectrum, the government's DD Free Dish, a free-to-air <keyword id="6411255" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="dth" source="Orion">DTH</keyword>, too has pulled away millions of subscribers. Against cord-cutting The JM Financial report, however, believes that there is reason to be sanguine. “TV screen’s dominance during prime time coupled with pay-TV’s low ARPU and wired broadband’s lower penetration in India work against cord-cutting,” the report said. Broadcasters have been withdrawing General Entertainment Channels or GECs from DD Free Dish. That could stem the migration of viewers from pay TV. Moreover, it also expects that receding raw material cost inflation and buoyant festive demand could boost ad-revenue growth starting in the second half of the current financial year. “Unlike the general perception, our analysis indicates TV has held on to its share of ad spend while digital has gained at the expense of other media. TV’s wider reach and India’s low ad-spend-to-GDP ratio mean significant headroom for both TV and digital ad-spend to grow,” the report said. Moreover, India still has close to 100 million non-TV households, which provides a long runway for growth. Where are ad volumes going? Ad volumes have been falling differently across channel genres. Free commercial time (FCT) in genres such as English movies and English niche fell sharply even over 2019-21— reflecting the impact of OTT on select genres. The ad volumes of English movie channels declined the steepest at 45% while English niche went down by 29% and that of music channels went down 19%. “Urban youth, the viewership base of English channels on TV, appear to have shifted to OTT with global, on-demand content. Following the same logic, there seems to be a small impact on Hindi GEC (-3% FCT over 2019-21) while <keyword id="42771" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="regional" source="Orion">regional</keyword> genres seem largely unaffected, as of now,” the report said. On the other hand, ad volumes grew in genres like news, Hindi movies, Marathi channels, Tamil channels, Kannada, Bengali and Malayalam. However, ad volume fall in English channels have little effect on overall growth in TV as it constitutes only 1% of overall TV viewership. Even as the urban youth with access to wired broadband, higher spending capacity, and proclivity to watch international and niche content are likely to cut the cords and shift exclusively to OTT platforms, there is a lot of juice left in the linear TV market. “With around 300 million households, a sprawling regional language market, and a diverse cultural background, India offers significant opportunities for all forms of entertainment to co-exist. We believe OTT, pay TV, and free-to-air channels will all co-exist in the country,” the report said. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/prime-videos-four-more-shots-please-season-three-to-debut-on-october-21/articleshow/94701251.cms">Prime Video's 'Four More Shots Please!' season three to debut on October 21</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-group-leads-e-commerce-festive-sales-meesho-is-second-largest-contributor-in-order-volume-redseer/articleshow/94701015.cms">Flipkart group leads e-commerce festive sales, Meesho is second largest contributor in order volume: Redseer</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/instagram-is-developing-a-nudity-protection-feature-to-block-unsolicited-nude-photos-in-dms/articleshow/94697784.cms">Instagram is developing a ‘Nudity Protection’ feature to block unsolicited nude photos in DMs</a>

Indians stick to TV for prime time and that's keeping them from cutting the 'cord'

<ul><li>Jio Financial Services (<keyword id="4167600" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="jfs" source="Orion">JFS</keyword>) could emerge as the fifth largest financial services company in terms of net worth, says Macquarie Research.</li><li>JFS has multiple factors that could help it score over the likes of <keyword id="6357120" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="paytm" source="Orion">Paytm</keyword> and <keyword id="111876" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="bajaj-finance" source="Orion">Bajaj Finance</keyword> among others.</li><li>Reliance’s large distribution network, customer base and deep pockets will benefit Jio Financial Services, the report says.</li></ul>Paytm’s financial services pivot now faces a new threat as <keyword id="3820" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mukesh-ambani" source="Orion">Mukesh Ambani</keyword>, India’s second richest man, has set out to demerge the financial services business from Reliance Industries into a new company to be called Jio Financial Services (JFS). A new report by Macquarie Research says that JFS could emerge as the fifth largest financial services company in terms of net worth – according to the demerger update, Reliance Industries will transfer 6.1% of its shares to JFS. <div type="image" title="JFS-networth" msid="95714505" hostid="261" sizebytes="36060" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Jio Financial Services&amp;#39; estimated net worth&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Paytm shares hit a new 52-week low during intraday trading on Wednesday, with a decline of over 5.62% to ₹450 – marking a decline of 79% from its issue price of ₹2,150. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Paytm’s financial services offerings face challenge from Reliance’s deep pockets" comment="subhead" text="Paytm’s financial services offerings face challenge from Reliance’s deep pockets">Paytm’s financial services offerings face challenge from Reliance’s deep pockets</cmsannotation> One 97 Communications, the operator of digital payments platform Paytm <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/paytms-lending-and-merchant-businesses-drive-revenue-growth-in-q2-low-penetration-offers-headroom-for-growth-say-analysts/articleshow/95423464.cms">posted</a> a 14% sequential rise in Q2 revenue to ₹1,914 crore driven by growth in its lending and merchant business. For the quarter ended September, Paytm reported a loss of ₹572 crore, which narrowed from ₹644 crore in the previous quarter. Analysts at Goldman Sachs expect Paytm’s margin to improve further and forecast FY24 to be the first full year of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) profitability with continuing momentum in the lending vertical. However, Reliance’s large distribution network, customer base and deep pockets will benefit Jio Financial Services, according to Jefferies. The company’s network of over 15,000 stores across several formats (supermarkets, digital stores, etc.) and a vast customer base of more than 400 million in telecom and over 200 million in the retail segment could give JFS a large customer base to bank on. “Unlike other fintechs, JFS will have a large balance sheet, not be asset-light and eventually manufacture most product offerings, giving it a significant competitive advantage, in our view,” the Jefferies report added. Access to vast amounts of real-time data will give the RIL arm a big advantage, making it a tough competitor to other NBFCs, banks and fintechs, analysts say. “JFS will differ from most other fintechs, as it will have access to huge amounts of data, gathered from non-financial relationships; it can process and analyse this data in real time, to offer financial services, similar to Alibaba, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google,” added the Jefferies report. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Here are the factors which could benefit JFS" comment="subhead" text="Here are the factors which could benefit JFS">Here are the factors which could benefit JFS</cmsannotation> According to the analysts at Macquarie Research, JFS has multiple factors which could help it go one up on the likes of Paytm and Bajaj Finance, among others. Reliance’s deep pockets mean that JFS will benefit from an AAA credit rating, which will help it in attracting funds at low costs when compared to its rivals. As of now, only six large non-banking financial companies (NBFC) have the AAA credit ratings – HDFC, Bajaj Finance, LIC Housing, Tata Capital, Aditya Birla Capital and HDB Financial. Other factors include highest capitalisation amongst large NBFCs, large distribution footprint thanks to Reliance, and the ability to attract top talent thanks to its parent being one of the largest conglomerates of India, according to the report. The last part has already played out – KV Kamath has been appointed as an independent director on the board of Reliance Industries, and the non-executive chairman of Reliance Strategic Investments, which will house JFS. Kamath has played a key role in transforming ICICI into a diversified technology-driven financial services group. “The NBFC business model has been a treacherously difficult one for most conglomerates that have entered the space, with Bajaj Finance and Chola Finance being the standout exceptions,” the report said, but added that RIL’s hunger for scale can “pose a significant growth and market-share risk for players like Bajaj Finance and Paytm with whom it could be competing head-on.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Banks will be able to ward off the JFS challenge" comment="subhead" text="Banks will be able to ward off the JFS challenge">Banks will be able to ward off the JFS challenge</cmsannotation> On the other hand, JFS won’t be as much of a threat to banks, according to the research firm. “We believe JFS could compete more on the unsecured lending done by non-banking financial companies (NBFC) and fintechs than banks as it would be difficult to compete on risk-adjusted pricing to the kind of customers that banks cater to. While there will be some impact, we believe banks largely should be able to manage the competitive intensity coming from JFS,” the report said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/women-on-nifty500-company-boards-rise-from-6-in-2014-to-17-6-but-the-pace-is-faltering/articleshow/95709351.cms">Women on Nifty500 company boards rise from 6% in 2014 to 17.6%, but the pace is faltering</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/vocal-for-local-online-commerce-unicorn-meesho-joins-ondc-to-aid-local-sellers/articleshow/95704818.cms">Vocal for local: Online commerce unicorn Meesho joins ONDC to aid local sellers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/fpis-pour-11452-crore-in-financial-services-in-the-first-half-of-november/articleshow/95681904.cms">FPIs pour ₹11,452 crore in financial services in the first half of November</a>

Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Financial Services’ deep pockets and wide reach to challenge the likes of Paytm, Bajaj Finance

<ul><li><keyword id="1445940" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="smaaash" source="Orion">Smaaash</keyword> announced its “pre-mature” closure in September 2020 as the country was facing the worst of COVID-19 throughout the year.</li><li>The company — which was in over 45 centres across India in its first innings — is now settled with 22 centres across 14 cities.</li><li>It has stepped away from its traditional ‘for kids’ offering to reimagine itself as a business that caters to the needs of young adults and working professionals.</li></ul>After briefly shutting down its business nearly 18 months ago, popular Indian gaming and entertainment centre operator Smaaash has spent the last one year rebuilding itself. The Sachin Tendulkar-backed company — which now refers to its business model as Smaaash 2.0 — has stepped away from its traditional ‘for kids’ offering to reimagine itself as a business that caters to the needs of young adults and working professionals. The aim of the space is to give an entertainment center for adults, but with the same vibe as the local club. Dim lights and upbeat music, finger foods and alcohol, arcade games to bowling alleys is all one can expect from Smaaash 2.0. <div type="image" title="How Sachin Tendulkar-backed Smaaash is making a comeback with 45 stores by June 2022" msid="90796106" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Bowling Alley&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The company — which was in over 45 centres across India in its first innings — has now opened 22 centres across 14 cities for the second one. It claims to have an EBIDTA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) run rate of ₹4 crores at the store level, which is 20% higher than before. So what has changed since the last time? Smaaash — which has raised close to ₹700 crore from <keyword id="6354267" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sachin-tendulkar" source="Orion">Sachin Tendulkar</keyword> and Sixth Sense Ventures — announced its closure in September 2020 as the country was facing the worst of COVID-19 throughout the year. The company did not have the runway to continue and there wasn’t enough footfall in the physical store. The company’s founder Shripal Morakhia, in an email to its employees, said he was sorry that despite his best efforts he has failed in his efforts to save the company from its “premature death”. However, Smaaash restarted its operations once again in Raipur and Vijayawada and built on top of that. The company had lost several prime locations it was previously operating in, so it decided to build on its latest network in alternative locations with larger and more open spaces. Shirish Kotmire, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Smaaash, believes that this offers them the opportunity to work in bigger and more open locations, at less the cost. Secondly, the company has also spent the last one year in reading customer behaviour and effectively enhancing the value per customer. The company has expanded virtual reality (VR) offerings by introducing new games and upgrading traditional games to VR as well. Besides, it has also introduced physical games like shooting. This, coupled with dining and beverages options, increases the time spent by the customers in Smaaash stores and the average cost per customer goes up too. The company had dine-in option earlier as well, but it now emphasises reading into customer behaviour and needs. “We are ensuring that we give an entire experience, where they [customers] graduate from playing just games to consuming food and liquor, to consuming time there. When you give them a gaming environment, combined with a food and gaming experience, and the pocket friendly nature, the time of the entire experience increases … We are really good at upselling now. Because it’s a gaming concept no one comes to have food-food,” Kotmire noted. How has Smaaash been strengthening itself? Smaaash started its rebuilding efforts in metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi, and then the letter grew in a conservative manner by focusing on cities that were less likely to face stricter COVID-19 norms. In the second phase it expanded to Raipur, Gwalior, Vijayawada, and Bhubaneswar. The company is now looking to expand with 23 more stores by mid-2022, where the deals are already signed and project-related work has begun. These stores would be located in existing markets like Noida and Gurugram as they would be able to absorb the supply of customers, and also venture into newer markets like Barnala, Amritsar, Pathankot, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Bengaluru. <div type="image" title="How Sachin Tendulkar-backed Smaaash is making a comeback with 45 stores by June 2022" msid="90795995" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Customers at Smaaash&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> While the company claims that they will be carrying out this expansion using the revenue they have generated so far, they are also starting their hunt for funds in the next three months. Kotmire explained that they are at a point when they are just getting re-noticed by the investors, but they need to reach a critical size with a three or four-digit revenue figure. “What is funding for? The funding is for scale. We are just doubling stores now, we are going back to our earlier level of 40-45 stores. They are saying what’s new [to fund],” Kotmire said, explaining that convincing an investor to fund an offline business takes a little more time in the current scenario. He emphaises that the confidence of its existing investors is also coming back due to its performance in the last couple of months. “In the same sequence that it closed down, in the same sequence it’s taking off in a big way,” Shirish Kotmire, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Smaaash, said. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/peyush-bansals-lenskart-may-now-be-valued-at-over-4-billion/articleshow/90794848.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Peyush Bansal’s Lenskart may now be valued at over $4 billion</a> <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/facebook-backed-meesho-lays-off-150-employees-in-india/articleshow/90791826.cms">Facebook-backed Meesho lays off 150 employees in restructuring of grocery business</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tcs-wipro-maruti-suzuki-jsw-steel-among-hot-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-april-12/slidelist/90790324.cms">TCS, Wipro, Maruti Suzuki, JSW Steel among hot stocks to watch out for on April 12</a>

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