Inside Reliance Group's AI-led future; Zepto bags additional $340M

Hello,

India’s fintech industry is raring to go.

SEBI is closely monitoring the oversight and holdup of IPO applications from fintech startups. At the Global Fintech Festival in Mumbai, SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch noted that the market regulator is focusing on expediting approvals for companies looking to go public.

This is especially relevant as around 35 mature fintech firms are eyeing an IPO over the next few years, according to a recent BCG and Z47 report.

One way of speeding up the process is by using AI. 

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also opined that the use of AI, along with blockchain and quantum computing, could bridge gaps in the traditional banking system. “AI algorithms are already being deployed for fraud detection,” he noted.

The fintech fest has also been a sounding board for financial innovation. 

From NPCI introducing Bharat BillPay for Business designed to streamline B2B transactions and UPI Circle for delegating payments, Zoho launching Zoho Payments to assist businesses in accepting online payments, to Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani’s ambitious vision to reshape the financial sector with ‘finternet’—inclusivity through innovation is the name of the game.

ICYMI: How finternet can foster an open and competitive financial landscape using ledgers.

Meanwhile, there’s a new fintech kid on the block.

Zero, a UK-based climate-focused fintech, will analyse customer spending to pinpoint lifestyle choices that contribute to climate change and offer personalised solutions.

But can fintech help solve the climate crisis?

With more than 80% of the unbanked population living in the planet’s most climate-vulnerable regions, fintech apps can connect vulnerable users to services such as loan forgiveness, microinsurance or savings opportunities to cushion the effects of climate shocks.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Inside Reliance Group's AI-led future
• Zepto bags additional $340M
• Changing the breakfast game

Here’s your trivia for today: What were the Paralympic Games originally called?

Corporate

Inside Reliance Group's AI-led future

India’s most valued corporation, Reliance Group, aims to double its size before the end of this decade with the technology of AI being one of the key enablers.

“The birth of AI, perhaps the most transformative event in the evolution of the human race, has opened up opportunities to address a number of complex problems facing mankind,” Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani said.

New tech:

• At the AGM, Reliance Jio launched JioBrain—a suite of tools and platforms, spanning the entire AI lifecycle, to create end-to-end workflows with real-time, data-driven insights and automation. 
• Digital technology is also a key focus of the company, with patents filed in areas such as 6G, 5G, AI-large language models, AI-deep learning, big data, devices, internet of things, and narrowband IoT.
• “Our New Energy business will be the new jewel in Reliance's crown. I foresee it becoming as big and profitable over the next 5-7 years, as our O2C business which we had built over the past 40 years,” Ambani said.

Funding Alert

Startup: Zepto

Amount: $340M

Round: Follow-on

Startup: Lal Sweets

Amount: Rs 330 Cr 

Round: Undisclosed

Startup: ODA Class

Amount: $500,000

Round: Series B

Ecommerce

Zepto bags additional $340M

Quick commerce unicorn Zepto has raised $340 million in follow-on financing at a valuation of $5 billion amid growing competition and consumer traction in the sector. 

The round comes just two months after the company raised $665 million at a valuation of $3.6 billion from Avenir, Lightspeed, and Avra, along with existing investors. 

Key takeaways:

• In August last year, it had raised $200 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion.
• General Catalyst Dragon Fund led the round. Epiq Capital joined the company's cap table, while existing investors StepStone, Lightspeed, DST, and Contrary also increased their stakes.
• Zepto has been focusing on ramping up its dark store operations and presence in metro cities. It is looking to double store count to 700 by the end of this financial year.

Startup

Changing the breakfast game

In today’s fast-paced world, we are seeing a noticeable demand and shift in the consumption of on-the-go breakfast items such as oats, muesli, cornflakes, etc. According to Mordor Intelligence, the Indian breakfast cereals market is expected to witness a CAGR of 8.2% during the next five years.

“Most of the products available under this category are either loaded with sugar or they lack taste and are chewy in texture,” says Pathik Patel, a serial entrepreneur, marathon runner, and fitness enthusiast, who started Fit & Flex in 2019 in his journey of eating better.

Eating right:

• The Ahmedabad-based startup offers a range of breakfast cereals and snacking products with over 35 SKUs. The founder claims the products are 100% baked and have less sugar content.
• While the breakfast cereal market is already dominated by brands like Kellogg’s, Nestle, Marico, and others, Patel is confident that the technology used to make the products and their ingredients will help the startup get a good market share.
• Its products are exported to countries including the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Nigeria, Uganda, Nepal, the Philippines, the US, and Canada.

News & updates

• Rains: India's monsoon rains are likely to be prolonged into late September this year due to the development of a low-pressure system in the middle of the month. This above-normal rainfall could damage the summer-sown crops, typically harvested from mid-September.
• Troubles: Nokia Oyj’s mobile network assets are drawing preliminary interest from suitors, including Samsung Electronics, amid increasing pressure to find new growth in the troubled telecom equipment sector. The Finnish company has considered many scenarios, from selling some or all of the division to spinning it off or combining it with a rival.
• GDP data: The US dollar rose on Thursday after data showed the world's largest economy grew a little faster than expected in Q2, adding to growing expectations that the US could avoid recession, or go through just a mild one. 

What were the Paralympic Games originally called?

Answer: Before being approved by the International Olympic Committee, they were called the “International Stoke Mandeville Games”. 

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