Blackbuck bets on SaaS; Importing luxury kidswear to India

Hello,

Here’s some good news! 

FPIs made a strong comeback in November with a net investment of Rs 36,329 crore. This was the third month—after July and August—this year when FPIs witnessed net inflows. The hot sectors? Financial services, IT, auto, FMCG, capital goods, and telecom.

ICYMI: How pop songs came to dominate the music industry. 

Meanwhile, layoffs continue in the Indian startup ecosystem as HealthifyMe becomes the latest to trim its workforce. The company laid off 150 employees in non-operations roles. 

Last but not least, is the age of social media over?

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Blackbuck’s bet on digital services
• Les Petits: Getting luxury kidswear to India
• Sonal Ramrakhiani on mentoring women

Here’s your trivia for today: What was Mickey Mouse’s original name?

SaaS

BlackBuck’s bet on digital solutions

Startup unicorn BlackBuck started in 2015 as a platform connecting truckers with businesses that wanted to transport goods. In 2019, it shifted its strategy, adding digital services to its suite of offerings, mainly due to the rise in smartphone penetration, coupled with the government mandate on FASTag.

Value-adds for revenue:

• Nearly 12 lakh of the 35 lakh truckers use a mix of services on the BlackBuck platform.
• For FY 2021, nearly 93% of its revenues came from its marketplace operations, 6% less than in the year-ago period. This is expected to grow up to 60% in FY22.
• Despite a decline in revenue due to COVID-19, the company managed to nearly halve its losses to Rs 233 crore in FY21 from Rs 445 crore in the previous fiscal. 

Apparel

Getting luxury kidswear to India

Delhi-based Les Petits was founded in 2001 to fill the gap in the luxury kidswear segment in India. Today, Les Petits showcases around 25 brands including Givenchy, Versace, Paul Smith Junior, Kenzo, Stella McCartney etc.

A niche market:

• The price range for international brands in Les Petits' stores ranges from Rs 900 to Rs 70,000. 
• In 2017, it forayed into private labelling, introducing brands Rang and Stella Rossa for kids’ ethnic and party wear collections.
• Apart from kidswear, Les Petits also deals in kids furniture, toys, jewellery, footwear, gift sets etc. 

Women in tech

Sonal Ramrakhiani on mentoring women

Sonal Ramrakhiani comes with over 17 years of experience in business and management, and has held several key leadership roles in Tata Consultancy, Tata Teleservices, and Titan Industries. She is now the President of Sales, and COO of Global Vertical (Auto) at Tata Technologies.

Career highlights:

• Sonal has been part of TAS—Tata Group’s flagship leadership programme. She’s also a senior Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM) assessor.
• She manages Tata Technologies' automotive business globally to grow customer relationships and manage the P&L.
• She believes that there is a need for greater recognition and that diversity is not just "good to have," but also makes economic sense.

News & updates

• Mended bridges: Elon Musk said Apple has “fully resumed” advertising on Twitter Inc., further de-escalating a brewing war between two of the world’s most influential tech companies. Musk added that Apple is the largest advertiser on the social media network. 
• Opening up: Chinese cities accelerated the loosening of zero-Covid restrictions over the weekend, building expectations that Beijing could ditch the pandemic policy that has kept the country isolated for nearly three years and battered the economy.
• No child’s play: India's planned regulation of online gaming will apply to all real-money games after the prime minister's office overruled a proposal to only regulate games of skill and leave out games of chance. The much-awaited regulations are seen shaping the future of India's gaming sector.

What was Mickey Mouse’s original name?

Answer: “Mortimer Mouse" was Walt Disney's original name for the character. But his wife Lillian convinced him to change it.

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