Waste management done right; Inside Krutrim's inaugural FY

Hello,

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumer can certainly attest to that saying after losing its unicorn status. Its shares fell below its IPO issue price at around Rs 225 apiece on Friday.

While the slump initially followed disappointing Q2 results where Honasa projected a more-than-expected impact from its inventory correction project, it was far from an isolated incident. Rather, a domino effect of inventory correction losses, muted demand, and changing consumer preferences worked together to engineer its fall from grace. According to experts, recovery may be a long way ahead.

By contrast, Zepto is firmly clutching onto investor interest as it bagged $350 million in a funding round led by Motilal Oswal’s Private Wealth division.

The round, Zepto’s third in the last six months, is also one of the largest domestic fundraises by a startup. And, by expanding its dark store network and Cafe operations, the quick commerce startup is eyeing the throne currently held by Blinkit.

With fresh competitors like Myntra joining the fray, the competition is fierce.

The domestic bourses are also abuzz with a few new entrants: BlackBuck app owner Zinka Logistics, which listed at a premium of over 2% when markets opened, closed 7% lower on its first day. 

NTPC Green Energy, a leading player in India’s renewable energy sector is another debut to watch out for, as it garnered bids worth Rs 15,406 crore ($1.83 billion).

ICYMI: Countries at COP29 are struggling to find the Goldilocks zone of climate finance–not too high, not too low, but just right. 

Lastly, remember the art piece featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall that went viral years ago? It has a new owner now, after being snapped up in a Sotheby’s auction for a cool $6.2 million.

The installation, “Comedian”, is meant as an ironic invitation to reflect on the value of art, according to artist Maurizio Cattelan.

After all, who really decides what is art?

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Waste management done right 
• Inside Krutrim's inaugural FY
• Helping SMEs access timely funding

Here’s your trivia for today: What is the name of the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy?

Startup

Waste management done right

ReCircle—a data and supply chain company—is working on digitising India’s waste supply chain and monetising the data that flows through this supply chain. 

ClimaOne, ReCircle’s proprietary software, offers a reverse supply chain for plastic waste by connecting waste aggregators and collectors to recyclers and processors. 

Sustainability:

• ReCircle started its operations under a business-to-consumer (B2C) model, but after three years, in 2019, the company realised it needed to procure larger volumes of waste to create an impact in the ecosystem and pivoted to a B2B model.
• The Mumbai-based company works with 400 collection partners across 250+ locations in India. As of March 2024, the company has recovered over 169,000 tonnes of waste in total through its supply chain.
• In April, ReCircle started a new project, Project Extra Life, in Mumbai with Circular Apparel Innovation Factory to target textile waste, where it has a system to recover and collect old textile materials.

Top Funding Deals of the Week

Startup: Zepto

Amount: $350M

Round: Equity

Startup: Healthkart

Amount: $153M

Round: Equity

Startup: VoloFin

Amount: $50M

Round: Notes

Technology

Inside Krutrim's inaugural FY

In its inaugural financial year, Krutrim—Bhavish Aggarwal’s AI venture and India's fastest unicorn—reported no revenue from operations and a total loss of Rs 2.84 crore.

The company also noted it anticipated the loss as it set the groundwork for future revenue streams.

Work in progress:

• Its biggest expense has been the R&D investments, where Krutrim spent Rs 134.86 crore for advancements in Silicon, Krutrim Cloud, and Applied AI​.
• The AI company said Krutrim Cloud is set for a Q1 FY25 launch, marking the beginning of anticipated revenue streams. Krutrim also plans to expand its data centre capacity, focusing on reaching a 1 GW capability by 2028.
• Meanwhile, Ola Electric has undertaken a restructuring exercise that will affect 450-500 employees, a person familiar with the matter told YourStory.

In-depth

Helping SMEs access timely funding

M1xchange is one of the four regulated trade receivable discounting (TReDS) platforms in India, alongside RXIL, A.TReDS, and C2treds. 

The online platform allows small and medium-sized businesses—like the vendor from Gujarat—to discount their invoices to receive payment faster. This way, vendors don’t have to wait for payment from their clients and have adequate funds to cover their working capital needs.

Key takeaways:

• Its digital-first approach has attracted over 65 financial institutions, including SIDBI, SBI, and Yes Bank, all of whom actively bid on invoices, creating a competitive environment that ultimately benefits SMEs with lower financing costs.
• In an extension of its service offering, M1xchange has launched a cross-border financing platform within India’s GIFT City, where international banks can also participate in financing Indian exports. 
• “What’s really exciting is how this de-risks SMEs. When an SME discounts an invoice, they don’t have to worry about delayed payments or defaults from their buyers—that’s between the bank and the buyer. This not only makes things smoother for the SME but also strengthens the overall ecosystem,” remarks Founder and CEO Sundeep Mohindru.

News & updates

• Layoffs: Parts supplier Robert Bosch GmbH will cut 5,500 jobs globally, mainly in Germany, marking the latest blow to the country’s embattled automotive sector.
• New record: Bitcoin touched a fresh record high on Friday, with its sights set firmly on the $100,000 barrier, in a stellar rally for the cryptocurrency sparked by expectations of a more friendly regulatory environment under a Donald Trump administration.
• Asset sale: Honeywell International has agreed to sell its personal-protective equipment business to a private equity firm’s portfolio company for $1.33 billion in cash.

What is the name of the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy?

Answer: Sagittarius A star.

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