Flipkart's secret weapon for growth; Helping women get back to work

Hello,

Flipkart faces an “appropriate adjustment”.

The ecommerce company’s valuation declined by $5 billion as of January 2024 compared with two years ago, according to equity transactions carried out by its US-based parent firm Walmart. Flipkart attributed the decline in valuation to the demerger of fintech firm PhonePe into a separate entity.

Meanwhile, Foreign Portfolio Investors have bought shares worth more than Rs 40,000 crore in the first fortnight of March—a huge improvement over Rs 1,539 crore invested in February and an outflow of more than Rs 25,000 crore in January.

Speaking of investments, Adani Group plans to invest more than Rs 1.2 lakh crore ($14 billion) across its portfolio companies—from ports to energy, airports, commodities, cement, and media. This is part of its planned $100 billion investment over the next 7-10 years.

ICYMI: Iconic Indian dessert Ras Malai has been ranked second in ‘Top 10 Cheese Desserts’ list by Tata Atlas.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Kalyan Krishnamurthy's vision for Flipkart
• Helping women get back to work

Here’s your trivia for today: Which rare earth metal is found in high concentrations in asteroids?

Interview

Kalyan Krishnamurthy's vision for Flipkart

Kalyan Krishnamurthy wants Flipkart to be the platform of choice for everyone, be it a senior citizen from Bihar or a Gen Z customer from Mumbai. Its secret weapon? A customer-first approach to enable its ~600 million users to transact more on the platform—by communicating with a customer care representative via phone or chat.

"Flipkart is the only app with all these features because we want it to be user-friendly across all age groups, locations, and demographics,” the CEO of Flipkart Group tells YourStory Founder and CEO Shradha Sharma.

All about Flipkart:

• Payments form a high-volume, repeat transaction category. Just a few weeks ago, Flipkart launched its UPI services in partnership with Axis Bank but Kalyan says it won't become a payments company. 
• The company will leverage AI to personalise services for users, help sellers reduce costs, and handle logistics effectively. 
• “It is harsh to call every startup a fraud and every entrepreneur dishonest. Yes, there is a definite correction happening in governance because probably it was less of a priority in the past,” he notes.

Women entrepreneurs

Helping women get back to work

Sankari Sudhar started Overqualified Housewives in August 2022 as a platform to provide job opportunities and upskilling initiatives to women who are willing to join the workforce after a career break. 

"If companies are ready to offer the flexibility of time and place, we can connect them with skilled women ready to commit to the opportunity," says Sudhar.

Financial freedom:

• Over 26,000 women have registered on the platform and it connects them with 600 companies, mostly startups and SMEs.
• Started with roles like content writing, graphic designing, social media management, digital marketing, customer service roles, and admin operations, the platform now offers jobs in business development, testing, project management, and others.
• Overqualified Housewives organises regular sessions with experts from different fields to help women gain new knowledge and skills to navigate the workforce after a break.

News & updates

• Resignation: Hertz, one of the four largest car rental companies in the world, is replacing its CEO after the company reversed its bet on EV rentals over increasing costs. Stephen Scherr will step down as Hertz Global Holdings’s CEO and member of the company’s Board of Directors effective March 31.
• Monetary policy: Japanese money is poised to stay offshore as the central bank creeps toward tighter policy, according to the latest Bloomberg Markets Live Pulse survey. Only about 40% of 273 respondents said the first interest-rate hike by the Bank of Japan since 2007 will prompt the nation’s investors to sell foreign assets and repatriate the proceeds back home.
• Next purchase: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in early talks to acquire the kingdom’s flagship carrier, Saudia, as it looks to pour billions of dollars into turning the country into a tourism hotspot. The Public Investment Fund is considering a deal that would see it add the 80-year-old airline to its growing portfolio of aviation assets as soon as next year.

What you should watch out for

• Startup Mahakumbh: The three-day mega startup event is set to kick off in Delhi which will see the participation of over 1,000 startups, more than 500 incubators, hundreds of investors, and delegations from over 10 different countries. Organised by industry bodies and supported by DPIIT, the event will feature leadership talks, panel discussions, and workshops by startup founders, VCs, corporates, and other stakeholders. on the theme 'Bharat Innovates'
• Google vs startups: The Supreme Court is expected to hear a plea filed by 10 startups in the Google Play Store billing policy matter. The Competition Commission of India recently ordered an investigation into Google's policies under which it developers 11-30% commission on in-app purchases made by their app's users. Google had earlier delisted 10 apps that didn't meet its billing policy but later temporarily reinstated all suspended apps from the Play Store after a meeting with the government.

Which rare earth metal is found in high concentrations in asteroids?

Answer: Iridium.

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