Urban Company prepares for public debut; India’s semiconductor chip revolution

Hello,

It’s September already, and you know what’s beckoning? The festive season!

Foodtech giants Swiggy and Zomato, expecting higher order volumes during the festive months, have decided to hike their platform fees to cash in on the rush. 

While Swiggy has increased its platform fee to Rs 15 per order, its highest so far, Eternal—the parent of food delivery giant Zomato and quick-commerce app Blinkit—has raised the fee on food orders to Rs 12, a 20% increase.

Meanwhile, OpenAI made a new acquisition with experimentation-platform company Statsig. It also onboarded its founder, Vijaye Raji, as the CTO of its applications unit, where he will lead product engineering for ChatGPT and Codex and responsibilities spanning core systems and product lines.

In other news, glow-in-the-dark plants are no longer found in science fiction. Thanks to a group of Chinese scientists, we now have the first multi-coloured and brightest-ever luminescent plants.

Avatar is coming to life! 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Urban Company’s Rs 1,900-Cr IPO
• India’s semiconductor chip revolution
• Leveraging tech for smarter logistics

Here’s your trivia for today: Which Spanish artist was questioned when Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was stolen in Paris in 1911?

IPO

Inside Urban Company’s Rs 1,900-Cr IPO

Urban Company has filed for a Rs 1,900 crore initial public offering (IPO), comprising a Rs 472 crore fresh issue and a Rs 1,428 crore offer for sale by existing investors, including Accel, Bessemer Venture Partners, Elevation Capital, Tiger Global, and Vy Capital. 

The issue will open on September 10 and subsequently close on September 12. The company’s shares will list on both the BSE and NSE.

Key takeaways:

• India’s largest home-services marketplace has set the price band for its upcoming IPO from Rs 98 to Rs 103 a share.
• The IPO comes at a time when the company’s backers are looking for multi-fold gains. Founders Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Raghav Chandra, and Varun Khaitan—who each hold about 9.77 crore shares acquired at negligible cost—now see their stakes valued at more than Rs 1,000 crore each.
• Urban Company’s revenue climbed from Rs 656.6 crore in FY23 to Rs 885.9 crore in FY24, before surging to Rs 1,373.5 crore in FY25. The company reported a net profit of Rs 135 crore in FY25.

Funding Alert

Startup: Seekho

Amount: $28M

Round: Series B

Startup: PlatinumRx

Amount: $6M

Round: Series A

Startup: StockGro

Amount: Rs 50 Cr

Round: Debt

Interview

India’s semiconductor chip revolution

As the world grapples with fractured supply chains and an ever-growing demand for chips, India is stepping firmly into the global semiconductor race. The nation is hosting one of its most significant technology conferences, SEMICON India 2025, in Delhi between September 2 and 4.  

“This is very important for all of us, for our future: SEMICON is happening,” said Amitesh Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary, MeitY and CEO of India Semiconductor Mission, in a conversation with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory.

Building an ecosystem:

• SEMICON India 2025 saw participation from over 350 companies from the country pavilions of Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea. Six country roundtables brought together policymakers, Indian firms, and global players.
• “Semiconductor is a foundation industry. Just like steel… without steel, no structure can be built. Similarly, semiconductors are the foundation of all industries involving electronics… From toothbrushes to defence equipment, satellites, space missions, medical, and heavy industries,” Sinha explained.
• He pointed out that while India has achieved capabilities from 180nm to 28nm, the next frontier will require persistence. For Sinha, who worked at MeitY as Joint Secretary before returning as Additional Secretary, the progress feels personal. 

Startup

Leveraging tech for smarter logistics

Hexalog focuses on the export-import trade landscape for businesses operating in and out of India. It combines advanced technology, deep industry expertise, and a unified digital platform to simplify complex cross-border logistics and supply chain challenges. 

The Gurugram-based startup offers a comprehensive ‘one-stop shop’ service for international shipping. Its offerings cover freight forwarding, customs clearance, warehousing, and last-mile delivery across India.

News & updates

• Deals: PayPal and Venmo users in the US and some global markets will receive early access to Perplexity’s new AI-powered Comet browser through a 12-month trial of the startup’s Pro subscription. The offer also provides Perplexity access to PayPal’s over 430 million users, as of the second quarter.
• Safe haven: Gold extended its gains, hitting a new all-time high on Wednesday, powered by growing bets on US Federal Reserve rate cuts and persistent market jitters that continue to fuel safe-haven demand. Spot gold was up 0.6% at $3,554.79 per ounce Wednesday morning, after hitting a record $3,556.01.
• Antitrust: Alphabet shares rose 9% on Wednesday as investors viewed the result of Google’s antitrust case as broadly favourable to the tech giant. The US Department of Justice had proposed a sort of break-up of Google, which included divesting its Chrome browser, in an antitrust case that began in September 2023.

Which Spanish artist was questioned when Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was stolen in Paris in 1911?

Answer: Pablo Picasso.

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