How to revive dying startups; Spiritual tech goes global

Hello,

Swiggy is playing catch-up with Zomato.

The food delivery giants, whose rivalry even reached Shark Tank India, significantly reduced their losses since 2020, with Zomato even turning profits. However, Swiggy has grown slower than Zomato on an annual basis post the pandemic blitz, according to PrivateCircle Research.

The companies are now looking at wider paths to differentiate themselves.

Zomato is mulling over reviving Xtreme—its hyperlocal logistics service that shut down in July. Now, it reportedly plans to tweak it to focus on food delivery.

Meanwhile, its IPO-bound rival is in high gear. Swiggy recently launched a 10-minute food delivery service Bolt in some cities—one-upping Zomato which had to scrap its instant delivery service in January 2023. It also rolled out its XL EV fleet in Gurugram to handle large orders. 

The real battle, however, lies in quick commerce.

The PrivateCircle Research report showed that Blinkit parent Zomato’s net fixed assets, which encompass dark stores and delivery warehouses, were worth Rs 6,466 crore in FY24—far exceeding Swiggy’s Rs 2,041 crore.

Everyone is now jumping in on the game. 

Amazon is channelling investments into supply chains and physical infrastructure to improve delivery times. JioMart is focusing on scaling its quick commerce pilot after showing strong performance in non-grocery categories. Even Ferns N Petals is taking the quick commerce route to deliver its gifting range within one hour. 

But does this gold rush come at a cost? 

Despite their FMCG retail dominance, kirana stories, especially in metros, are reportedly facing the heat and finding alternative ways to survive. Some are even turning their shops into dark stores for quick commerce companies.

Innovate or die, that’s the name of the game.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Sporos Capital to revive dying startups
• Spiritual tech goes global
• Flexible job options for women workforce

Here’s your trivia for today: What was the loudest sound ever recorded?

Investor

Sporos Capital to revive dying startups

Sachin Khandelwal, former Managing Director at TPG NewQuest, is set to launch Sporos Capital, an equity fund aimed at reviving tech-enabled companies amid a prolonged funding slowdown for growth-stage startups. 

Sporos Capital will be a Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) with a corpus of Rs 600 crore, having a green shoe option of Rs 1,000 crore, according to a pitch deck seen by YourStory. 

Seizing opportunity:

• The fund has onboarded Stride Venture’s Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, Lifelong Group’s Chairman Atul Raheja, and StrideOne Co-founder and CBO Sameer Mahajan onto its leadership team. 
• Sporos Capital will charge a management fee of 1.25-2% per annum, with a carry or carried interest—the share of profit a VC fund takes home from the overall profit—of 20%.
• It aims to deliver 5X to 8X on individual investments, delivering over 30% IRR. The median IRR for VCs in India has been hovering between 3-22% over the past decade.

Funding Alert

Startup: Neuron7.ai

Amount: $44M

Round: Series B

Startup: Troo Good

Amount: $9M

Round: Undisclosed

Startup: Yoho

Amount: Rs 27 Cr

Round: Pre-Series B

Feature

Spiritual tech goes global

For many Indians living abroad, being connected to their roots, and engaging in spiritual practices has been a challenge. Factors like distance, different time zones, and the inability to be physically present have created barriers. 

But now users have turned to digital platforms to stay connected with their culture and faith. Spiritual apps such as Astrotalk and AppsForBharat, which offer astrology and devotion tech services, are riding the wave by gaining significant traction, and have also managed to raise funding and see substantial revenue growth. 

Online bhakti:

• Prashant Sachan, Founder, AppsForBharat, observed that while many essential services had transitioned online, the realm of devotion remained rooted in traditional practices. 
• In the last 12 months, over five lakh users performed 27 lakh poojas and chadhavas (offerings) on AppsForBharat, and AstroTalk saw 1.7 million transacting users in August. Its monthly active user base was around 6.5-7 million users. 
• Even VC firms have taken notice of the growth of the spiritual tech space, and investors are eager to tap into this thriving market, sensing the massive potential for returns as more users turn to apps for their spiritual and astrological needs.

Women Entrepreneurs

Flexible job options for women workforce

FlexiBees, started by Shreya Prakash, Rashmi Rammohan, and Deepa Swami, matches qualified women professionals to flexible work requirements. Its goal is clear—to help women regain their identity and reach their full potential.

“As increasingly more girls in India get educated and enter the workforce, their professional selves and the skills they bring and spend time honing are crucial parts of their identity. When no avenues are available to utilise these skills, it starts to chafe,” Prakash says.

Regaining self:

• FlexiBees matches talented and qualified women professionals to flexible requirements from companies, helping them balance their professional and personal priorities. Companies, too, can hire experienced talent in an affordable and on-demand way on the FlexiBees platform. 
• It provides talent across industries and functions, including sales, digital marketing, content, virtual assistance, and HR roles, in mostly startups and SMBs in India, Singapore, the UK, the US, and UAE, among other countries. 
• The talent pool on FlexiBees has, on average, 5-7 years of experience and is productive from day one, enabling companies to grow quickly. The startup sees 70% of its business coming from repeat clients.

News & updates

• Cards: Instagram is rolling out a new “profile card” feature that is essentially a digital business card for your profile. The new two-sided profile cards are designed to make it easier for users to share their Instagram accounts with others. 
• Auction: India's government will allot spectrum for satellite broadband administratively and not via auction, hours after Elon Musk criticised the auction route sought by rival Mukesh Ambani as “unprecedented”. The methodology of awarding spectrum for satellite services in India has been a contentious issue since last year.
• Interest: Hyundai Motor India's $3.3 billion IPO was 18% subscribed on the first day of bidding on Tuesday, led by employees who placed orders for four-fifths of the shares reserved for them in the country's largest share sale yet.

What was the loudest sound ever recorded?

Answer: The Krakatoa volcanic eruption in 1883. The loud explosion was estimated to have reached 310 dB.

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