Author: Business Matters Author

Mumbai-based Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) beauty brand, Sugar Cosmetics, has raised INR 38 Cr (approximately $4.5 million) in its latest funding round. This development comes as part of a series of funding tranches from a group of prominent investors, including Anicut Equity Continuum Fund, Elevation Capital, Malabar Investment, and L Catterton, among others. This fresh round adds to the brand’s growing capital base, further positioning it as a leading player in the Indian beauty and cosmetics market. According to Inc42’s calculations, Sugar Cosmetics is now valued between INR 2,600 Cr to INR 2,700 Cr. This valuation is comparable to the company’s previous…

Shares of Swiggy, a leading online food delivery and restaurant aggregator in India, saw a significant boost during intraday trading on November 26, 2024, rising by as much as 6.2% to INR 458.00 per share on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). This surge in stock price comes a day after UBS, a global investment bank, initiated coverage of Swiggy with a “Buy” rating, signaling positive sentiment from the brokerage firm. Swiggy’s stock opened the trading session on November 26 at INR 441.25, marking a 2.3% gain from the previous day’s closing price of INR 431.25. The positive momentum continued throughout…

Aadit Palicha, the co-founder and CEO of Zepto, has addressed concerns raised by critics about the impact of quick commerce platforms on traditional kirana (local grocery) stores in India. In an interview with Moneycontrol, Palicha vehemently rejected claims that quick commerce was hurting local mom-and-pop shops, describing such narratives as “false” and “without data.” Instead, he argued that the rapid rise of quick commerce in India is actually creating jobs and contributing to the country’s economic growth, particularly in terms of tax revenue generation. Quick Commerce: A Boon for Jobs and Tax Revenue The growth of quick commerce platforms, which…

Delhivery, one of India’s leading logistics companies, has made a significant move to expand its Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) with the recent allotment of 4.90 lakh stock options. This decision, approved by the company’s board, is part of its ongoing efforts to align the interests of its employees with the growth and success of the company. According to a filing with the stock exchanges, the 4.90 lakh stock options have been granted under the Delhivery ESOP 2012 scheme. These stock options are convertible into fully paid-up equity shares, each with a face value of INR 1. The new allotment…

LensKart, the omnichannel eyewear giant led by Peyush Bansal, is reportedly looking to raise between $200 million to $300 million (approximately INR 1,688 to 2,532 crore) in a secondary share sale. This latest funding round will see participation from the company’s existing investors, including Fidelity, Kedaara Capital, and possibly a significant third investor, although the identity of this additional investor remains undisclosed. If successful, the deal will place LensKart’s valuation at an impressive $6 billion, representing a 20% premium over its previous valuation of $5 billion in June 2024. The secondary share sale marks another milestone in LensKart’s growth journey…

Instagram Outage Disrupts Users Across India on November 19 On November 19, Instagram, the widely-used social media platform owned by Meta, faced a significant outage that affected users across India. The disruption left thousands unable to log in, access their feeds, or connect to the platform, sparking frustration among users. According to Downdetector, a crowd-sourced platform that tracks service outages, reports of the Instagram outage began to flood in around 9:34 AM. The issues continued for several hours, with users reporting a variety of problems related to the app’s functionality. Nature of the Outage As per Downdetector’s data, the outage…

The initial public offering (IPO) of logistics unicorn BlackBuck has received an overwhelming response, closing with an oversubscription of 1.86X. Investors placed bids for a total of 4.19 crore shares, compared to the 2.25 crore shares that were on offer. The strong demand for BlackBuck’s IPO underscores the growing investor confidence in the company’s business model and its role in India’s rapidly expanding logistics sector. BlackBuck, a leading logistics platform that connects truckers and shippers, has been one of the most anticipated IPOs in the Indian market. The company’s IPO received a particularly strong response from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs),…

Zomato, India’s leading foodtech platform, has launched its new app, District, for its growing going-out business. The app, which is available for download on both iOS and Android platforms, allows users to discover and reserve tables at restaurants, as well as book tickets for movies, sports events, live performances, and other entertainment activities. This launch comes three months after Zomato first announced its intention to enter the going-out space, signaling the company’s commitment to diversifying its business portfolio. A New Chapter for Zomato’s B2C Business With the rollout of the District app, Zomato is targeting its going-out business to become…

Athina AI Raises $3 Million in Seed Funding to Empower AI Application Development Athina AI, an emerging AI startup, has successfully raised $3 million (INR 25 crore) in its seed funding round, bringing its total funding to $4.1 million. The round was backed by a group of high-profile investors, including Perplexity CTO Denis Yarats, Snorkel AI CEO Alex Ratner, Kleiner Perkins Scout Fund, and Y Combinator, among others. This investment will help accelerate Athina AI’s mission to simplify the development, deployment, and monitoring of AI applications for businesses. Founded by Himanshu Bamoria and Shiv Sakhuja, Athina AI offers a comprehensive…

In a strategic move to strengthen its leadership team, Physics Wallah (PW), the rapidly growing edtech unicorn, has appointed Amit Sachdeva as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Sachdeva, who previously held a senior executive role at Blinkit (formerly Grofers), will now oversee the financial and strategic initiatives at PW, further solidifying its financial oversight and accelerating its growth trajectory. This appointment signals PW’s commitment to achieving sustainable growth and managing the financial complexities of its expanding operations as it continues to disrupt India’s education sector. Amit Sachdeva’s Expertise and Vision for PW Amit Sachdeva brings with him a wealth…