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<ul><li><keyword id="6354720" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ola" source="Orion">Ola</keyword> is now on a lookout for more driver partners, as it plans to expand into new cities and product offering.</li><li>Ola’s revenue declined by 95% in the first quarter of FY2021 due to the pandemic.</li><li>The impact of the pandemic will be long-drawn for Ola as the world is not going to “revert” to pre-COVID era anytime soon, CEO Aggarwal had said last year. </li></ul>Ten million people tried Ola for the first time in the financial year 2021, the ride hailing giant’s chief executive (CEO) Bhavish Aggarwal announced on Twitter on Tuesday, September 7. This coincides with the fact that it crossed its pre-COVID level gross merchandise value (GMV), last week. Ola is now on a lookout for more driver partners, as it plans to expand into new cities and product offering. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> The development does come as a surprise as Ola had been massively impacted by COVID-induced travel restrictions and lockdown last year. The Bengaluru-based startup had to lay off <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/ola-fired-1400-employees-as-revenue-is-hit-by-95-in-the-last-two-months/articleshow/75843656.cms">1,400 employees</a> from its workforce in May 2020 as its revenue declined by 95% in the first two months of the financial year 2021. “Our revenue has come down 95% over the past 2 months. Most importantly, this crisis has affected the livelihoods of millions of our drivers and their families across India and our international geographies,” Aggarwal said in an internal email sent to employees last year. He also mentioned that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be long-drawn for Ola as the world if not going to “revert” to pre-COVID era anytime soon. “Social distancing, anxiety, and an abundance of caution will be the operating principles for everyone,” he wrote in an email to employees while announcing the layoffs. As Ola has managed to recover from the impacts of the pandemic, it has put its initial public offering (IPO) plans back on the table. The company has raised<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/ola-app-raises-500-million-from-temasek-and-warburg-ahead-of-ipo/articleshow/84261607.cms"> half a billion dollars</a> from Temasek and Warburg Pincus in July 2021. It also raised $100 million debt for its electric vehicles (EV) focused arm Ola Electric to finance new projects. Ola was founded by Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati in 2010. The company has its presence across three continents. It has raised more than $4 billion to date from marquee investors like SoftBank, Tencent, Steadview Capital, Eternal, Sailing Capital, China Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund and others. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zoho-corp-invests-5-million-in-medical-devices-startup-voxelgrids/articleshow/86000656.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Zoho Corp invests $5 million in medical devices startup Voxelgrids</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/logistics-company-delhivery-raises-76-million-ahead-of-its-ipo/articleshow/85997440.cms">Former Tiger Global exec Lee Fixel picks Delhivery as his second bet in India, after Inshorts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/el-salvador-just-bought-400-bitcoin-and-plans-to-buy-a-lot-more-a-day-before-making-it-an-official-currency/articleshow/85995497.cms">El Salvador just bought 400 bitcoin and plans to buy 'a lot more,' a day before making it an official currency</a>

10 million people tried Ola for the first time last fiscal year, says CEO Bhavish Aggarwal

<ul><li>Even with the failures of <keyword id="8143915" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="uber-and-wework">Uber and WeWork</keyword> in the US market, Indian startups are optimistic about their public offer. </li><li>Here’s a list of India’s most prominent startups which could soon head for an IPO. </li><li>Recently, startups like Ola, Lenskart and Policybazaar had appealed to SEBI to make the rules easier for a startup listing.</li></ul>Startups might be looking at new avenues to raise money. And, thanks to their popularity with consumers, it is possible for them to raise it from the public. As the IPO fever has gripped the US markets, Indian founders are watching their performance closely. In spite of tepid response that Uber received and WeWork’s debacle, Indian startups are stubbornly working towards taking their companies public. However, to get funds en masse, companies should be able to show profits. And few startups would qualify. This too is not discouraging startup founders who are confident that their business model will find takers. Recently, <a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/ola-lenskart-and-policybazaar-demand-change-ipo-listing-sebi-guidelines/">startups </a>like Ola, Lenskart and Policybazaar appealed to market regulator SEBI to relax rules for startups to list. Here are the startups who could be making their market debut soon. Uber’s answer: Ola The homegrown ride hailing unicorn has set off strong rumours of an imminent <a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/ipo-is-mobility-unicorn-ola-gearing-up-for-public-listing/">IPO</a> as it has raised fresh funding of ₹35.88 crores from ARK Ola pre-IPO Fund. The fund is based out of Seoul and <a href="https://entrackr.com/2019/09/exclusive-ola-set-up-pre-ipo-trust-public-listing-2-years/">reports</a> say it was formed to aid its IPO plans. The Bhavish Aggarwal-led company has been actively entering new markets across the world, and had also recently set up a technology hub in the Bay Area. Oyo’s fast paced growth and a possible market listing Another company that has been reported to be eyeing an IPO, while also through a fast paced expansion process. Oyo Hotels &amp; Homes is entering new markets or hitting new milestones in a current markets. And reports say, all of its achievements could be leading up to a large IPO that it is planning. A <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/start-ups/oyo-s-preparing-to-list-in-next-2-3-years-eyes-up-to-18-billion-valuation-1562609045816.html">Mint</a> report says that the company is looking at a $18 billion valuation and an IPO in 2-3 years. Vijay Shekhar Sharma can’t be far behind Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s PayTm is one of India’s prized payment gateway innovation. At a recent <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/ht-mintasia-leadership-summit-paytm-to-start-planning-ipo-in-22-24-months-says-ceo-vijay-shekhar-sharma/story-67K1gh0yeRbK6Mkd7IfXWK.html">summit</a>, Sharma said that the company will start preparing for an IPO in the next two years. In the financial year 2018-19, Paytm had clocked in a gross transaction value of $50 billion through 5.5 billion transactions. It has also set a target of 12 billion transactions by FY20. <keyword id="143842" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mobikwik">Mobikwik</keyword>’s desire to be the first payments company to be listed Paytm’s competitor Mobikwik is not too far behind. In July, its payment gateway business has turned profitable. “We will march forward towards an IPO in 2023-24. We will aspire to become the first Indian fintech and first Indian payments - company to get listed in India,” the company earlier told <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/mobikwik-aims-to-become-the-first-payments-startup-to-go-for-an-ipo/articleshow/70987513.cms">Business Insider India</a>. Mobikwik’s revenues in FY 2019 was 3.5 times higher than those in previous year, at ₹18.4 billion. After all the troubles, Urban Ladder wants profitability and an IPO Online furniture retailer Urban Ladder has been eyeing an IPO for long now. It has said that it is confident of going ahead with it in the next two years. Urban Ladder is in an expansion mode, and as it hopes to turn profitable by the end of 2019. Urban Ladder underwent an organizational restructuring earlier this year, and had to let go off 90 employees. Some of its marquee investors include Ratan Tata, Sequoia India, Steadview Capital, SAIF Partners, and Kalaari Capital. Talking of furniture, Pepperfry is in too! Another furniture retailer, Pepperfry too is closing in on its IPO plans. In an interview with <a href="https://qz.com/india/1714225/pepperfry-indian-furniture-e-commerce-firm-eyes-profits-ipo/">Quartz</a>, Ashish Shah, co-founder of Pepperfry said that they are planning an IPO in one and a half years. Pepperfry has been scaling up its businesses and is also looking at achieving its $1 billion GMV <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/companies/pepperfry-targets-gross-merchandise-value-of-1-billion-by-2021-3754081.html">target</a> by 2021. With over 6 million customers, Pepperfry has 39 offline studios across 22 cities in India. It is also on an expansion mode.

These marquee Indian startups could be lining up for some big-bang IPOs

<keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, the poster child of the Indian startup ecosystem, was devalued for the seventh time in January 2017, by <keyword id="4205639" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="fidelity-partners">Fidelity Partners</keyword>. At a $5.56 billion valuation, Flipkart’s shares were valued at $52.13 in November 2016, down by 36.1 percent from $81.55 per share as of August 2016. The domino effect hit the cab aggregator <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> next with the US-based investment firm <keyword id="4205636" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="vanguard-world-fund">Vanguard World Fund</keyword> marking down Ola by over 40 percent. 
 According to their regulatory filing with the <keyword id="108474" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="US-Securities-and-Exchange-Commission">US Securities and Exchange Commission</keyword>, the current valuation for Ola is now $3 billion, with its shares dropping from $311.27 per share in the previous quarter to $182.70 apiece. During their peak, Ola had raised $500 million at a valuation of $5 billion. 
 That’s not all. According to reports, e-commerce giant <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> is reportedly looking at raising funds at a lower valuation of $4 billion. At their last fundraising round, they raised $200 million at a valuation of $6.5 billion. 
 
Valuations are normally decided according to a company’s market share, its gross margins, and its rate of growth, among other factors, but is anyone talking about the elephant in the room? Does a number decide a company’s worth or does the mettle lie someplace else? 
 
What’s The Big Deal about Valuations? 
 
While Valuations and devaluations are part of the game, they are a mix of market environment, risk appetite, a fund manager’s biases, hot new trends, fear of missing out, the multiples comparable are commanding, and of course, expected cash flows and margins. 
In 2015, we lauded the entry of Flipkart, Ola and Snapdeal in the Unicorn club. The first quarter of 2015 saw over $1.7 billion funding in start-ups and all we hear now are downturns with reality hitting the magic creatures to the ground and forcing them to compete in a horse race for fund-raising. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-uber-is-letting-you-earn-from-its-platform-uberdost/articleshow/57083396.cms">ALSO READ: Here's how Uber is letting you earn from its platform 'UberDost'</a> 
 
While there were muffled concerns of profitability and unit economics, the dynamics took a harder turn when in the middle of 2016 the world economic dynamics shifted. 
 
Suddenly, the pouring funding started slowing down, news of firing rounds, internal tiffs, and investor involvement began to cloud the startup skyline. 
 
Now the lauded valuations started to seem bloated and overhyped, and the cost-cutting started and it doesn’t seem to end. 
 
 
 
 
The secret is in the Business Model 
 <keyword id="824043" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider">Business Insider</keyword>, while digging deeper into factors ailing the startup ecosystem in India, realized that business models had to be one of the core ingredients to a startup’s success or failure. So, we got in touch with key players, notable investors and successful companies that had a say in the functions of the industry. 
 
What clearly emerged was that there were mainly three business models that most start-ups and unicorns, followed in India- 
 
1) Cut prices to gain industry share and chase profit later 
2) Set up person-to-person exchanges 
3) On-Demand Model 
 
Now we break down the models to see why Indian start-ups think they’d work and why they haven’t succeeded yet. 
 
Investors’ Point of View 
 <keyword id="262067" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mahesh-Murthy">Mahesh Murthy</keyword>, Co-Partner, Seedfund, one of India’s most vocal investors told us what’s wrong with the Indian startup ecosystem,”The problem is that we are idolizing businesses that are not ‘New’. There is nothing elusive or different about the companies we look up to, they are just copycats.’’ 
 Seedfund, which is an early stage VC firm has invested in companies like Redbus.in, Chumbak, Carwale, and Voonik. “Real businesses need little or no marketing. The cost of acquiring a customer shouldn’t be higher than your investment in your product which is what is happening right now’’<keyword id="20148" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="murthy">Murthy</keyword> comments on the viability of the business models of India’s best-known <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword>. 
 “Innovation for the sake of innovation is useless. Most consumers prefer the companies that are competitors to Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Ola and that speaks volumes. We are just looking for great service coupled with great value for money and <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> and Uber give us that while the other companies don’t hit the mark while getting celebrity endorsements with full-page ads.’’ 
 “Rule Number 1 of business: Never lose money. Rule Number 2: Don’t forget Rule Number 1,” said <keyword id="71133" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Warren-Buffet">Warren Buffet</keyword>, probably the most popular investor in the world. 
 <keyword id="542474" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reid-Hoffman">Reid Hoffman</keyword> from <keyword id="28120" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Linkedin">LinkedIn</keyword> and now a VC says that as a VC, you should be able to put your money into a startup and walk away from your investment and at the most, you are best placed to understand a sector if you have built a business in it or at the very least, worked in it. For Indian start-ups, we see the opposite happening with Flipkart who recently appointed <keyword id="6379357" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kalyan-Krishnamurthy">Kalyan Krishnamurthy</keyword> as CEO, who is an ex-employee at Flipkart’s key investor, Tiger Global. 
 
What is a business model? 
 
A business model explains which consumer pain a startup chooses to relieve, why your solution works better than competing ones and how big a wedge a company can drive between what customers are willing to pay and the costs. 
 
Breaking down the Business Models 
 
There are broadly the following business models at play when it comes to start-ups that hold the public eye in India: 
 
1. Cut prices to gain an industry share and chase profit later: Target a huge market and sell a product at the lowest price with fast delivery and great service. As the company grows, expand the product line, negotiate volume discounts with suppliers, invest in technology, customer response time and cut waste from the operations. Then deliver the lower costs to customers in the form of lower prices. 
 
This was Amazon’s model which is still one of the fastest growing companies in India and the world. Although it was founded back in 1994, Amazon didn’t actually make a profit until 2001. Amazon has some profitable projects, but the money made from them is typically used as investments to fund other Amazon businesses and ventures. The company invests its profits in new lines of businesses and uses them to expand. In short, Amazon seems to value growth over profits. 
 
 
 
​ <keyword id="8589" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="padmaja">Padmaja</keyword> <keyword id="980938" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ruparel">Ruparel</keyword>, President, Indian Angel Network doesn’t believe in this model simply because she thinks that Indian consumers are flighty, “There is a constant need to lure the consumer to stick with you which is tricky when you’re not the only player in the market. Your focus here is on how quickly you can grow the market and not on your business strategy.’’ Ruparel believes in investing in a much more stable business model, “We are old-fashioned for sure as our focus is on businesses building a top-line and a bottom-line. We ascertain a business by unit economics and even though the cycle might be slightly longer, B2B start-ups create a sustainable business.” 
 
“The consumer is surely attuned to buying online which was their aim, but only some players will remain in this market. Consolidation is inevitable as loss-making businesses can’t stay afloat for long, but only time will tell who will remain the top dogs here,’’says Padmaja when asked about the future for consumer-centric start-ups. 
 
India’s perspective: “E-commerce companies like Snapdeal and Flipkart are following a similar model to that of Amazon in India. The difference is that Amazon can afford to lose money in India as it is profitable in other markets. The former players are just playing in India where they’re losing money trying to compete with Amazon,” comments Mahesh Murthy. 
 
2. Set up person-to-person exchanges: A house owner in a town has a huge house that has idle rooms that aren’t occupied. The young professionals living in the city need accommodation in different towns to work flexibly but they don’t want to own a house or live in expensive hotels. It seems to be working for <keyword id="719382" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airbnb">Airbnb</keyword> which doesn’t own any inventory and millions of people have taken advantage of these services, and Airbnb now has a market value estimated at $30 billion—roughly the same size as the <keyword id="183920" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Marriott-International">Marriott International</keyword> hotel chain. 
 
Vikram Gupta, CEO, IvyCap Ventures, “India is not a mature market where you can write off $100 million checks to companies that are spearheaded by college graduates or in some cases, dropouts. The entire ecosystem is disturbed as new companies were getting funding at overhyped valuations. The market has started to finally stabilize and we see investors going back to the revenue as a yardstick for company’s growth instead of the GMV. The businesses are coming back to realistic valuations and while they might have money left in the bank, they are looking to reduce their cash burn rate.” 
 
 
 
India’s perspective: Companies like <keyword id="2808667" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> are trying to work with small hotels and guesthouses and have even leased their own properties but the burn-rate is consistent. With simplifying its business model and focusing on one aspect; people sharing their homes with people and minimal revamping, Airbnb has revolutionized how the world sees hotel accommodation forever. 
 
3. On-Demand Model: Smartphones have driven transformational shifts in how we consume goods and services, and many consumers have become acclimated to purchasing at the press of a button. The on-demand model allows a startup to leverage new technology while utilizing existing infrastructures. Another benefit lies in the use of freelance labor with its obvious advantages in cost cutting. 
 
Uber is a great example of the sharing economy where they connect the supply to the demand of taxis without investing in their own fleet. 
 
India’s perspective: <keyword id="6362049" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ola-Cabs">Ola Cabs</keyword> is Uber’s biggest competitor in India and while both companies burn a lot of money trying to lure customers to get into a taxi, Uber is currently the world’s most valuable startup at $69 billion. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/online-cab-players-in-2016-completed-nearly-half-a-billion-rides-with-250-y-o-y-growth-in-india/articleshow/57273938.cms">ALSO READ: Online cab players in 2016 completed nearly half a billion rides with 250% y-o-y growth in India</a> 
 
Winner Speak 
 V. Krishnan, Co-founder, and Director of <keyword id="1675768" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Justdial-Ltd">JustDial Ltd</keyword> who likes to call his company an ‘18-year old startup’ says that for a successful business you don’t need an extraordinary idea, “The problem with start-ups today is that they don’t focus on profitability. To create a profitable business, you need extraordinary execution, not an idea. Giving money to people to use your services doesn’t make sense. The Indian customers are not loyal to brands, but to offers. Our goal was to create a world-class business and a world-class company.’’ 
 
For the first ten years of JustDial’s existence, the company didn’t raise any funding. The company ran on a shoe-string budget and used its own money to survive. In 2006, when internet penetration and broadband gained traction in India, the company was ready with its fully functional website to complement its telecom services. From 2-3% internet users to now 85% internet users, the company has grown to 200 Cr web searches annually, without any cashback or incentives. The company is probably one of the rarely profitable internet companies in the country today. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/65-of-start-ups-feel-indian-startup-eco-system-may-be-in-a-tech-bubble-report/articleshow/57205211.cms">ALSO READ: 65% of start-ups feel Indian startup eco-system may be in a tech bubble: Report</a> 
 
“The core business of start-ups isn’t ready but there is marketing happening. India is going to be giving you a lot of opportunities. Everyone wants to create a company, raise a great valuation and sell it off to do something bigger; the attitude is wrong," he signs off. 
​ 
Business Insider got in touch with Flipkart, Ola, Snapdeal, and Uber for this story but the companies chose to not comment on the same. 
 
​ 
 
Business Insider’s Take 
 
While popular Indian start-ups struggle to survive without additional funding coming in, we see some internet companies like JustDial and BookMyShow staying afloat, without investor-intervention. 
 
When it comes to businesses and business models, investors and successful companies agree that the tried and tested works; build a business with a strong product that you can alter as technology develops. The business of losing money can only take you so far if you don’t put it to good use. 
 
There’s a difference between investment into a product and burning money, and the start-ups better realize that before they get acquired or relinquished by the players who created the game that they’re set to lose. 
 
The market is big enough for companies that create value for customers not just for start-ups that create customers; the difference is everything. 
 
(Graphics: All figures in INR crores for the financial year 2015- 2016. Source: <a href="http://www.livemint.com/Companies/vtqiTC9VgJgnUfOAH2QdiL/Flipkart-still-Indias-top-startup.html">Mint Research</a>) 
 
**For Oyo, the result is from Apr-Dec 2015. 
*BookMyShow is the only company mentioned that has profits.

BI Investigation: Business models akin to Amazon and
Uber’s aren’t working for Indian startups

<ul></ul><ul><li><keyword id="6358977" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swiggy" source="Orion">Swiggy</keyword> is now India’s latest decacorn after raising $700 million in its latest round.</li><li><keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword> is now valued under $10 billion as its shares dropped below the ₹100-mark earlier today.</li><li>A whole host of new investors participated in Swiggy’s latest venture capital funding round.</li></ul>Food and grocery delivery giant Swiggy has surpassed rival Zomato’s valuation as it raised $700 million. This development was aided by the plunge stock market took on Monday, January 24. Swiggy was valued at $10.7 billion in this latest round, a source close to the deal told Business Insider. The company, which was founded in 2014, has not officially announced the valuation. While Swiggy has attained the decacorn title, Zomato has lost it as its shares dropped <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/there-are-huge-discounts-on-nykaa-zomato-paytm-and-shares-of-other-listed-tech-startups/articleshow/89086759.cms">below the ₹100 mark earlier today</a>. The company’s shares hit an all-time low of ₹91 and its market cap came down to ₹71,629 ($9.6 billion). A decacorn is a company valued at or more than $10 billion. <div type="image" title="Swiggy is now valued more than Zomato" msid="89092891" hostid="261"></div> Swiggy’s latest funding round was led by US-based investment firm Invesco in a fresh round of external funding, the company has announced. New investors such as <keyword id="9554362" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Baron-Capital-Group" source="Orion">Baron Capital Group</keyword>, <keyword id="13021155" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sumeru-Venture" source="Orion">Sumeru Venture</keyword>, IIFL AMC Late Stage Tech Fund, Kotak, <keyword id="13021156" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Axis-Growth-Avenues-AIF-I" source="Orion">Axis Growth Avenues AIF- I</keyword>, Sixteenth Street Capital, Ghisallo, Smile Group and Segantii Capital participated in this financing round. The company’s existing investors Alpha Wave Global (formerly Falcon Edge Capital), Qatar Investment Authority, and ARK Impact, and Prosus also participated in the round, Swiggy said in a press note. “The GMV [gross merchandise value] our food delivery business achieved in 40 months, took Instamart just 17 months, demonstrating the platform benefits of Swiggy. We will double down on this to build more categories in line with our mission of offering unparalleled convenience to Indian consumers,” said Swiggy’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sriharsha Majety in a statement. Instamart is Swiggy’s quick commerce arm, which delivers groceries within 15-30 minutes. In July last year, Swiggy <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/swiggy-raises-1-25-billion-in-a-mega-round-of-funding-led-by-softbank-and-prosus/articleshow/84578974.cms">had raised $1.25 billion</a> led by SoftBank and Prosus. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/ola-electric-raises-another-200-million-this-time-at-a-valuation-of-5-billion/articleshow/89088739.cms" style="">Ola Electric raises another $200 million, this time at a valuation of $5 billion</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/check-out-top-10-losers-in-share-market-that-lost-more-than-15-in-last-one-month/articleshow/89089076.cms">Wipro, L&amp;T Infotech, Zee Entertainment, Mindtree among top losers that hit investors’ portfolio in the last one month</a>

Swiggy is now valued more than Zomato

<ul><li><keyword id="6587619" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Upasana-Taku" source="Orion">Upasana Taku</keyword> of <keyword id="143842" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobikwik" source="Orion">Mobikwik</keyword> believes that it's not as easy as some companies are making it out to be.</li><li>The company claims to be the largest <keyword id="9522245" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bnpl" source="Orion">BNPL</keyword> fintech company in India with 24 million pre-approved BNPL users.</li><li>According to Redseer, digital BNPL players’ GMV could scale up 15 times to $45-50 billion in the next four years.</li></ul>‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) has become the new buzzword in the Indian fintech ecosystem that everyone has been chasing. From Paytm to Ola Money, everyone has been looking to get deeper into the fintech space and generate revenue out of this simple form of micro loans. However, Upasana Taku of Mobikwik believes that it's not as easy as a few companies are making it out to be. Mobikwik – which has been in the BNPL space since the last two years – noted that there is a lot that goes behind the scenes in order to build these BNPL processes. “Lending as a feature the whole world is making. Don’t worry, mein bhi yahin hoon, aap bhi yahin hoon. 2024 mein baat karein gaye, vo sab band ho gaya hoga... Log na excitement mein aa kar posuting, prespetion aur valuation k liye cheezein shuru kar dete hain phir usmeine grand opening and grand closing ho jati hai [We are here, we’ll talk in 2024, till then all these new businesses will be shut. People get excited and start new vertices for posturing, perception and valuation. Then there is a grand opening and a grand closing],” Taku said. She also gave examples of how Flipkart, Ola, Amazon and several other non-traditional players entered the wallet payments in 2015 as it became a fad, but later exited since they had no expertise in the domain. Even MakeMyTrip has a wallet, but it is now only used for cashbacks, she added. “Kuch cheezein fashion mein aati hain, jitni jaldi aati hai utni jaldi fashion se nikal bhi jaati hai… Ultimately kya hota hai ki yeh sab khulta hai, ek-do saal paise bhetein hain. Phir 1-2 saal mein yeh sab baand bhi ho jata hai kyunki sabko realize hota hai ki hum apne core business mein leadership position to manage nahi kar paa rahe hain. Hum ek aur side business mein bina focus ke kya karna cha rahe hai. [These are just fads that come and go. Ultimately, the companies flow a lot of cash in these fads for 1-2 years and then shut it down as they realise that they are not able to manage leadership positions in their core business and it makes no sense for them to enter a new vertical without focus,” she added. <div type="image" title="INTERVIEW: Mobikwik’s Upasana Taku says all the companies that made their grand entry into BNPL will have a grand exit too" msid="89960638" hostid="261"></div> Taku has zeroed down on three major problems that any new fintech company planning to get into consumer-facing BNPL products might face. First, where to get the customer. Second, where to get the data from. Third, who to partner with so that the customers can spend the credited amount. How to get consumers? “You need consumers, and consumer ko acquire karne ke liye customer acquisition cost lagti hai [to acquire consumers you need to spend on customer acquisition cost], which if you're acquiring from a Google or a Facebook or a partner, it is going to be ₹1000 or higher per person. That’s a massive problem for any new fintech that is starting, because it will cost them a lot of money to acquire new customers,” she added. Where to get the data? Citing this as a “chicken and egg” problem, Taku explained that the Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL) only has data of the top 50-60 million people in India. These are the type of users that top banks and credit card companies have been chasing for loans. A BNPL product usually focuses on users, who usually don’t have any credit history or data on them, but are transacting digitally. These platforms don’t just need this data to know who to lend to, but also to know how much to lend. Another issue for new BNPL companies is that if they acquire 1000 customers, only a part of it would be creditworthy. However, since the companies have spent so much capital on acquiring these users, they can’t really reduce the ticket size of these BNPL credits. “Now most fintechs are giving ₹10,000, ₹30,000, ₹40,000 on a three months EMI [equated monthly installment] kind of product. But that is when they are able to make money on it. They can’t reduce the ticket size because it is a problem that they spent so much on acquising the total users,” Taku noted. Where will customers spend this credit? The third and another major challenge is setting up a BNPL business is getting merchants to use the payment feature so that the customers have enough options to spend the credited amount. Several companies like Zomato, Swiggy, Amazon and Flipkart currently accept BNPL whether directly or through third party platforms like Simpl, LazyPay, ZestPay and others. There is not much sense to borrowing capital from fintech startups if you are not able to spend it. “As an example, there is a company called Simpl. They also have a <keyword id="4585897" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="buy-now-pay-later" source="Orion">buy now pay later</keyword> product. They are not into the payments business. So they don’t have millions of merchants unlike us. Therefore, their PayLater product is available in a few hundred ecommerce platforms or apps. That is a problem,” Taku added. “In a platform play [it is easier], because you already have millions of merchants, you already have millions of customers,” Taku explained. The company claims to be the largest BNPL fintech company in India with 24 million pre-approved BNPL users. <div type="image" title="INTERVIEW: Mobikwik’s Upasana Taku says all the companies that made their grand entry into BNPL will have a grand exit too" msid="89960671" hostid="261"></div> “This is where a platform like Mobikwik has a serious upper hand,” Taku added, explaining that 50 million users have completed ‘know-your-customer’ (KYC) with Mobikwik so they have all customers' details. Secondly, they also have the customers’ spending and financial data given they have used Mobikwik’s app across their products. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/upl-wipro-vedanta-future-retail-and-other-hot-stocks-on-march-3/slidelist/89959123.cms">UPL, Wipro, Vedanta, Future Retail and other hot stocks on March 3</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/expect-your-household-budget-to-go-up-sharply-as-prices-of-essential-items-take-a-plunge/articleshow/89954724.cms">Expect your household budget to go up sharply as prices of essential items shoot up</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/google-is-calling-employees-back-to-some-us-offices-for-3-days-a-week-starting-april-4-with-flexibility-like-work-from-anywhere-weeks/articleshow/89956286.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Google is calling employees back to some US offices for 3 days a week starting April 4, with flexibility like 'work from anywhere' weeks</a>

INTERVIEW: Mobikwik’s Upasana Taku says all the companies that made their grand entry into BNPL will have a grand exit too

<ul><li><keyword id="2947589" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Droom">Droom</keyword> is currently raising $200 million, at a unicorn valuation of $1.2 billion.</li><li>Droom’s expansion plans are a mix of organic as well as inorganic strategies.</li><li>It was founded in 2014 by Shopclues cofounder <keyword id="195858" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sandeep-Aggarwal">Sandeep Aggarwal</keyword>.</li></ul>Online automobile marketplace Droom is all set to go public in the next two years. The company recently announced that it is in talks to raise<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/droom-automobile-marketplace-raises-200-million-in-a-pre-ipo-round-at-unicorn-valuation/articleshow/84818567.cms"> $200 million </a>from both new and old investors, at a valuation of $1.2 billion. The company is exploring listing opportunities in both India and the US. However, it is reluctant for a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) option. SPAC is a company with no commercial operations that is formed strictly to raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO) for buying out an existing firm. Interestingly, the company has no presence in the US as of now and no plans to expand into the territory in the next year or so. Yet, it is pursuing a dual-track plan for the IPO. The company previously noted that it plans to be listed either on US-based NASDAQ or in India in 2022. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“We started Droom seven years back, and it is clearly a new age company, a high growth company. We went to use a decent amount of capital to build a formidable scale. These [new age] companies were not rewarded in Indian stock exchanges. So from the day I founded the company, we have been a Singapore holding company. We are operating as a subsidiary in India.”" auname="— Founder and chief executive (CEO) Sandeep Aggarwal on why he is considering a US IPO."></div> “I never thought, and I was a Wall Street analyst, that new age companies with no near-term visibility to profitability can be listed on BSE and NSE [National Stock Exchange], and can create a decent enough valuation. And there is a stock appetite among the investors and that has changed over the last couple of years,” he added, explaining why India is an option too. Droom wants a global footprint CEO Aggarwal, in an interaction with Business Insider, highlighted that the company will be using these funds to aid its growth and expand into international markets. The company has shortlisted 10 countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia and Laos. It also looks at six countries in the Middle East such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Oman, Turkey and Lebanon. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Droom had already set up three offices in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia before the pandemic hit.. However, it decided to hold off the international expansion plan beyond that due to travel restriction and capital conservatism during COVID-19. It has decided to take up this plan once again. Droom’s India expansion plans A bulk of the capital Droom raises would be invested into the Indian market, Aggarwal said. The company is looking to strengthen its presence in the top 100 Indian markets over the next couple of years. Aggarwal noted that Droom has 0.56% share in India’s automobile market and even a three-fold increase to 1.3% share could generate $7-$10 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) for the company in the next two and a half years. The company claims that its current annual run-rate is $1.7 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) and $54 million for net revenue. In order to expand its presence in the Indian market, Droom is currently running a pilot programme in New Delhi to test out a new product called Droom velocity. It is a last mile delivery service that will deliver the bought cars to the end customers. Besides this, it is also investing heavily on artificial intelligence (AI) to refresh its technology. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“India is the third-largest automobile market in the world, after the US and China. Less than 1% of this market is online and bulk of that goes through us.The international expansion is because we are a technology company and we can replicate our playbook in other countries. Theoretically, in order to create the next 25-50 times more value for this company, we don’t need any geography to unleash this value.”" auname="— Sandeep Aggarwal, CEO and founder of Droom."></div> Acquisitions, investments in pipeline too Droom’s expansion plans are a mix of organic as well as inorganic strategies. The company is also looking to acquire companies that will accelerate its international expansion and cut short the timeline. Aggarwal highlighted that even though they are going big on the international market, India will continue to be its biggest market. Droom was founded in 2014 by Aggarwal, who had cofounded e-commerce portal Shopclues. Droom is a tech and data science-driven online automobile marketplace, which offers an e-commerce platform as well as technology solutions for buying and selling automobiles in India. The company claims that it will turn operationally profitable by later this year or by June next year.. “We became contribution margin positive in September of last year and in our parlance it’s called contribution margin-3… As a two-time founder of an e-commerce company, trust me, reaching there in the seventh year of operations is [difficult],” he added. Contribution margin positive is when the company’s net revenue is able to cover operational expense, marketing cost and other variable expenses. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/india-has-limited-options-for-weapons-that-can-take-down-enemy-drones/articleshow/84836724.cms">India has limited options for weapons that can take down enemy drones</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/political-media/news/there-are-at-least-four-hot-issues-in-india-that-the-government-has-no-data-for/articleshow/84820788.cms">There are at least four hot issues in India that the government has no data for</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ola-expands-esop-pool-to-3000-crore-issues-stock-worth-400-crore-to-employees/articleshow/84820171.cms">Ola expands ESOP pool to ₹3,000 crore, issues stock worth ₹400 crore to employees</a>

Droom founder explains why he is considering a US IPO and where he intends to spend the money

India now has over 462 million internet users – second largest in the world after China which means two-thirds of the 1.3 billion population have yet to come online. Only about 10 percent are currently shopping on <keyword id="436047" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ecommerce">eCommerce</keyword> sites which means that the story has just started for India where there is only room to expand. 2016 had been a challenging year for the e-tailing sector, with multiple regulatory challenges and slow demand growth that have been carried over to this year. This limited growth seen in the industry, has ensured that the murmurs around consolidation continue growing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 The biggest movement in the sector has been the recent <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> funding and Flipkart will use the capital from Tencent, eBay Inc and Microsoft to grow PhonePe- it’s UPI based app,and expand its portfolio of private labels and relaunch key categories such as furniture and grocery. The company’s plans to turn profitable in specific categories comes at a time when <keyword id="6354743" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-India">Amazon India</keyword>’s is equipped with $5-billion funding, and the upcoming threat of <keyword id="302749" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Alibaba">Alibaba</keyword>’s entry alongside learning from Paytm Mall. <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>, which is one of the companies most impacted by the industry slowdown in the last year, is reportedly likely to be acquired by Flipkart and as the rumors grow, we wondered how the e-commerce battleground would look like if this deal goes through. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 What will happen if the biggest consolidation in the eCommerce sector goes through. Benefits of the Snapdeal acquisition for Flipkart • Access to Snapdeal’s well-oiled supply chain network - This deal gives Flipkart a way to expand its supply chain reach quickly and inorganically by getting access to Snapdeal’s numerous small and big warehouses, especially in Northern India which is Snapdeal’s territory. Fast deliveries and regional fulfilment of orders have become crucial for e-tailers to achieve both higher customer satisfaction and lower supply chain costs. And this move by Flipkart would be a significant boost in its quest for supply chain leadership over <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword>, which is aggressively expanding its supply chain network. • Access to another large investor- With Softbank expected to buy into Flipkart with this deal, this should give Flipkart additional funding firepower to sustain its bruising battle with Amazon for a longer period which will ensure that the new Flipkart group becomes a more serious contender for Amazon. • Expansion of Flipkart’s customer base- While admittedly there is a significant overlap between Flipkart and Snapdeal customer bases, there is a small set of Snapdeal customers from Northern India who can be added to Flipkart’s kitty with this deal ensuring more customers than ever before and maybe even more GMV compared to Amazon after the deal. • Increase in exclusives portfolio- This deal would mean that Flipkart can take advantage of Snapdeal’s many exclusive tie-ups with brands globally, which should especially help it in home and fashion categories portfolio diversification 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Commenting on challenges and way ahead for Flipkart from the deal, Anil Kumar, CEO, <keyword id="3631351" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="RedSeer-Consulting">RedSeer Consulting</keyword> said, “Extracting synergies and value from this acquisition would be a challenging task for Flipkart, considering the physical distances, differing strategies and the different team cultures at both companies. However, if the post-merger integration is executed successfully, the deal could play out similar to Ola/TFS acquisition in online cabs space, which gave Ola significant funding and capability firepower to hold off <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> in India. Something which would help Flipkart fend off Amazon for much longer”

This is what will happen if Snapdeal gets acquired by Flipkart

It’s been a long standing war between <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Paytm&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Paytm</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a> in the payments space. Both backed by industry veterans and serious money, while <keyword id="6357120" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="PayTM">Paytm</keyword> is the current market leader, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a> isn’t taking things lying down. 
 With India’s merchants waking up to the prospect of accepting new payment methods and the upcoming <keyword id="6358921" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="UPI">UPI</keyword> (United Payments Interface) and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=payment+bank&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">payment bank</a> rollouts, payment players now have a new battlefield to fight on. 
 In an <keyword id="6370284" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Exclusive">exclusive</keyword> interview with Business Insider, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a> CEO <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Govind+Rajan&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Govind Rajan</a> said promotions aren’t the way forward anyway.”Our retention is not driven by discounts. The whole objective of our promotions is to draw more consumers to our experience. That’s the best way to spend our money. I don’t think you can promote your way to building a habit. If you’re solving a real consumer need, they’ll stick with you. You can’t always be incentivizing”, he said. When asked how much (promotions) is enough, Rajan said they keep re-calibrating as the landscape changes every 6-10 months. 
 
Rajan believes UPI will offer an added phillip to their business, “We’ll do whatever it takes to drive adoption faster. It’ll be a journey of 6-12 months to drive adoption. The target market segment for UPI is over 65%”, he said. 
 While Paytm has expanded its foothold through its partnership with Uber, <keyword id="6377963" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Freecharge">FreeCharge</keyword> has so far been targeting the unorganized sector. 
 
When asked why it hasn’t considered a FreeCharge-Ola or FreeCharge-Uber partnership yet, especially when cab business is one of the biggest source of transactions for Paytm, Rajan says, “It’s only a matter of time. For a payment mechanism, it’s never the case of A or B, but A and B. We are moving in wherever we see faster traction.” 
 
According to industry experts, the most popular <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=mobile+payment&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">mobile payment</a> apps are the ones that look beyond pure payment. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a> chooses to disagree. Its motto is to ensure you spend as little time on the app as possible. With a tagline that says ‘Lo Do Khatam Karo’ (get it done with, and quick), the company wears its ‘10-second payment time’ as a badge of honor. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a> has not applied for a payments bank license but has partnered with FINO, which has one, for last-mile reach and access to new consumers. In the next 6-12 months, the company will tie-up with merchants and retailers to build its network further. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a> claims they are doing close to a million transactions a day and growing 10-15% month-on-month. In the first few months of launch, the company crossed $1 billion in annualized GMV. It’s targeting 7 million daily transactions by the end of the year.

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