All about Meesho’s sneaky IPO move; India’s EV financing challenge

Hello,

MobiKwik Securities Broking Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of One MobiKwik Systems, has received regulatory approval from India’s market regulator to act as a stockbroker and clearing member, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Moving on, the tech world’s love for The Lord of the Rings is well known. 

Venture capitalist Peter Thiel has returned to Middle Earth to name his new national bank. Called Erebor Bank, the new venture hopes to fill the gap left by Silicon Valley Bank. Sherwood News has an interesting interactive game about company names inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien!

“Erebor Bank” is named after Erebor, also known as the “Lonely Mountain,” which is featured in The Hobbit. The fictional mountain is home to Smaug, the dragon, who surrounds himself with gold.

Speaking of tech and gold, while Meta is paying millions of dollars for top AI talent, its broader workforce of engineers and product managers also has an impressive salary range, Business Insider reported.

Lastly, Nvidia hit a market value of $3.92 trillion on Thursday, on track to become the most valuable company in history, as Wall Street remains optimistic about AI, Reuters reports.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Meesho’s silent IPO move
• India’s EV financing challenge
• Trans representation where it matters

Here’s your trivia for today: Which Russian novelist wrote the short story The Queen of Spades?

Ecommerce

Meesho’s silent IPO move

Softbank-backed Meesho has confidentially filed its DRHP with market regulator SEBI as it aims to raise $500 million in fresh funds, two sources aware of the matter told YourStory. 

The Bengaluru-based ecommerce company will also have a secondary portion, where some investors might divest their stake. According to primary discussions, founders Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal aren't selling anything in the initial public offering, sources said.

All the details:

• According to sources, Sarthak Misra from SoftBank and Ashutosh Sharma from Prosus have stepped down from Meesho’s board. Peak XV Partners’ Mohit Bhatnagar and Elevation Capital’s co-managing partner, Mukul Arora, are expected to continue serving on the board.
• Elevation Capital, Peak XV, and Prosus are among the largest institutional shareholders in Meesho, owning between 13% and 15% stake each. Japanese investor SoftBank owns close to a 10% stake in the e-tailer. Other investors in the company include WestBridge Capital and Fidelity.
• Since the beginning of the year, Physicswallah, Groww, boAt, Aequs, and Shiprocket have filed their draft prospectus with the exchange regulator through the confidential route.

<Funding Alert>

Startup: Maieutic Semiconductor

Amount: $4.15M

Round: Seed

Startup: Luma Fertility

Amount: $4M

Round: Seed

Startup: GobbleCube

Amount: $3.5M

Round: Pre-Series A

Electric Mobility

India’s EV financing challenge

In India’s booming gig economy, delivery partners power everything from food deliveries to quick grocery runs. Today, most driver partners prefer to drive an EV for last-mile deliveries due to the lower operating costs compared to their petrol and diesel counterparts. 

Yet, despite being the backbone of urban convenience, millions of gig workers struggle to get access to EV financing as NBFCs remain cautious. As a result, EV fleet operators have stepped in to rent vehicles to delivery partners. 

Staggered transition:

• Ecommerce and quick commerce platforms have government mandates to electrify their delivery fleet, pushing many companies to lay down electrification targets.
• For fleet operators, financing is a less arduous process, but it is not without complexities. “...financially, the fleet operators are not very strong to be able to underwrite them purely on the basis of financials as one would do in traditional financing,” said Sameer Aggarwal, Founder at Revfin, an EV-financing company.
• Not many EV financing companies have the bandwidth to undertake rigorous checks, and so they have a different model. Mufin Green Finance, an NBFC that finances EVs, for example, does not fund gig workers directly. Instead, it provides financing for fleet operators that, in turn, equip gig workers with vehicles.

Social Impact

Trans representation where it matters

In a first for Tamil Nadu, a transwoman has been appointed Assistant Professor of English at one of the state’s top colleges, marking a significant moment for trans representation in academic spaces. 

Jency’s journey from a marginalised childhood in rural Tiruttani to the front of a college classroom is a testament to the transformative power of education and perseverance. However, struggles of trans youth must be made systemically easy too, she says.

News & updates

• New unit: Reliance Industries will spin off its consumer goods unit into a new entity. The NCLT has approved the internal restructuring under which Reliance will transfer its consumer business from its retail arm into a direct subsidiary, New Reliance Consumer Products Ltd.
• Tariffs: US President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Hanoi just days before Washington’s reciprocal tariffs come back in full force. The US will now apply a 20% duty on Vietnamese imports, sharply below the 46% rate Trump had imposed in early April. US imports to Vietnam will not be subject to tariffs.
• Sales: Apple iPhone sales jumped 8% YoY in the three months to the end of June, according to Counterpoint Research, as the tech giant looks to turnaround its business in one of its most critical markets. It’s the first time Apple has recorded growth in China since the Q2 of 2023.

Which Russian novelist wrote the short story The Queen of Spades?

Answer: Alexander Pushkin.

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