Delhivery vs Ecom Express; Meet the woman behind Ostara Advisors

Hello,

"If I'm here and you're there, then who's flying this plane?"

Flying with non-qualified pilots may have worked out in the 1980 film Airplane! but Air India just avoided a potential disaster (and added a new phobia for fliers).

The airline got a firm rap on the knuckles by the DGCA to the tune of a cool Rs 90 lakh, along with fines on both the Director of Operations and Director of Training.

Elsewhere, SEBI brought out the big guns, banning Anil Ambani and 24 others from the securities market for five years on charges of diversion of funds. Looks like a busy day for regulators!

Businesses, on the other hand, have a very different problem: turmoil at the top.

The last couple of weeks alone have seen several key executive changes, including at Starbucks, Nestle, and Delta. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, indeed.

ICYMI: 2024’s set a record for top brass exits, and not in a good way.

Moving on, science fiction’s quintessential creation is a step closer to reality: androids.

Tesla’s already working on producing its Optimus robots in small volumes next year. Now, China’s vying to close the gap in a whole new race to build battery-powered humanoids. Over two dozen Chinese companies showed off humanoid robots designed to work in factories and warehouses at the World Robot Conference this week in Beijing.

With both automaton and automation vying for human jobs, is this the slippery slope to a cyberpunk dystopia?

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Delhivery's dominant logistics delivery
• Meet the woman behind Ostara Advisors
• Bringing trans models into spotlight

Here’s your trivia for today: In "Jurassic Park", the park is located on an island off the coast of what country?

Logistics

Delhivery's dominant logistics delivery

Delhivery boasts a larger scale and higher profitability than Ecom Express and is in a superior position than Ecom Express, according to a report by HSBC Global Research. 

“We like Delhivery for its dominant position with superior economics in high growth ecommerce logistics industry,” the report stated.

Weighing numbers:

• Delhivery’s revenue from express parcel business surpassed Ecom Express’ by 2.2X in FY24, with an overall lead of 3.1X in total revenue.
• While Delhivery focuses on the entire Indian logistics market with top contributors chipping in about 16% of sales, Ecom Express is more ecommerce oriented and is focused on providing unbundled services, getting about 52% of sales from its top customers.
• This comes just a week after Ecom Express filed its DRHP with SEBI, which includes a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 1,284.5 crore and an offer-for-sale of shares valued Rs 1,315.5 crore.

Top Funding Deals of the Week

Startup: Opkey

Amount: $47B

Round: Series B

Startup: Livpure

Amount: Rs 233 Cr

Round: Equity

Startup: Hangyo Ice Creams

Amount: $25M

Round: Equity

Woman Entrepreneur

Meet the woman behind Ostara Advisors

Vasudha Madhavan has spent around eight years working at Citibank and ICICI Bank in different capacities. Today, Madhavan runs her own investment bank, Ostara Advisors. She claims it is India’s first electric mobility and climate-tech-focused boutique investment banking firm.

Love for finance:

• Madhavan recalls that it took her about two years to identify her niche. In 2018, while advising a company diversifying its mobility business, she delved deeper into the EV sector.
• Among various other clients, she has advised Altigreen Propulsion, an electric 3W commercial vehicle OEM, and Zypp Electric, a D2C EV brand through their Series A fundraises in 2021.
• “We need more women in finance. It’s encouraging to see more women joining VC funds, but there’s still a long way to go,” she adds.

Social Impact

Bringing trans models into spotlight

As a trans model, Rudrani Chettri saw the disparity in the fashion industry as an opportunity to create more robust spaces for people like her. 

In 2015, she started Bold, a transgender modelling agency, which has now also expanded to include casting opportunities for the trans community as well.

Representation:

• Bold was created to go beyond modelling. “We wanted to explore other areas where trans artists could be recognised for their talents, not just their gender identity,” says Chettri. 
• Trans models Siya Malasi and Meera Singhania Rehani have been shown in gender-affirming roles for Starbucks India and Kerala-based jewellery house Bhima, respectively. 
• “Discrimination plays out in subtle ways,” she says. “For example, when our models aren’t even asked about their dietary preferences, while others are.”

News & updates

• Ousted: Nestle CEO Mark Schneider was ousted in a sudden move as a result of the group's underperformance, putting an end to a near eight-year tenure by the first company outsider to lead Nestle in nearly a century.
• Lower outlook: Goldman Sachs Group Inc has lowered India’s growth forecast by 20 basis points each for this year and the next, citing a contraction in central government expenditure.
• Innovation: SpaceX's attempt at the first ever private spacewalk next week will be a test of trailblazing equipment, including slim spacesuits and a cabin with no airlock, in one of the riskiest missions yet for Elon Musk's space company.

In "Jurassic Park", the park is located on an island off the coast of what country?

Answer: Costa Rica.

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