BlueStone’s Q1 Scorecard, Gupshup Axes 100 Jobs & More

BlueStone’s Lacklustre Q1 Show 

BlueStone’s maiden financial results as a listed company showed glittering sales blemished by persistent losses. Even though the losses fell sequentially, the company’s future plans involve a lot more capital expenditure. 

Before we see that, here’s a quick snapshot of the Q1 results

• Consolidated net loss declined 41% YoY to INR 34 Cr 
• Operating revenue surged 42% YoY to INR 492 Cr 
• Expenses zoomed 29% YoY to INR 538 Cr
• ESOP costs surged 175% YoY to INR 23 Cr
• Depreciation and amortisation also rose 83% YoY to INR 48 Cr

The Growth Engine: Notwithstanding the losses, the jewellery brand’s expansion strategy continued to pay dividends. The company added 17 outlets to its kitty in Q1, increasing its store count to 292 across 122 cities, which pushed the average order value up by 23% YoY to INR 55,499. 

The Financial Paradox: BlueStone’s narrative becomes complex when examining its underlying financials. While the company celebrated a 27X YoY jump in EBITDA to INR 54 Cr, it argued that the losses were a result of recognising rental costs for the full duration of the lease to comply with IND AS. The company said the actual cash rent payments were lower than what accounting reflects.

BlueStone’s Forward Momentum: Looking ahead, Bluestone noted that Q2 trends were exceeding May-June monthly exit rates. In the same breath, it acknowledged headwinds from gold price volatility and said that it would be hard to match last year’s volumes which were inflated by a customs duty cut. 

This muted guidance was tempered with expectations of a boom this festive season, which will be split between Q2 and Q3, but execution remains critical given the capital-intensive nature of retail expansion while chasing profitability.

Here is a quick snapshot of BlueStone’s financial health in Q1 FY26. 

From The Editor’s Desk

Gupshup Axes 100 Jobs: Four months after the conversational AI startup fired 200 employees, it has now laid off at least 100 employees, including junior developers, in its latest round of retrenchments. The impacted employees were not offered severance packages. 

Dunzo Enters Insolvency: The Bengaluru bench of the NCLT has admitted an insolvency plea against the Reliance-backed startup. The company is facing bankruptcy proceedings following a petition filed by one of its vendors, Exotel Techcom. 

India’s VC Exit Puzzle: As discounted exits become the norm for loss-making, late-stage startups, VCs are banking on governance and IRR-driven decision-making to navigate the current exit environment. Is it a concern or a sign of market normalisation? 

Flat PAT & LEAP India’s IPO: As the logistics tech startup awaits SEBI approval for its INR 2,400 Cr listing, analysts believe the company’s IPO will likely draw cautious optimism. Largely to blame for this is its flat profit in FY25 despite strong revenue momentum.

FirstClub Nets $23 Mn: The quick commerce platform has raised the capital in its Series A funding round, co-led by Accel and RTP Global, at a valuation of $120 Mn. The startup claims to be building a member-first quick commerce platform focussed on premium products.

Amazon’s Fintech Bet: The ecommerce giant has completed the acquisition of fintech startup axio for a nifty $200 Mn. Amazon will use the Bengaluru-based startup’s tech stack to boost its buy now, pay later offerings in India.

Head Digital Works Cuts Jobs: Weeks after the ban on online real-money gaming, A23’s parent is laying off two-thirds of its workforce, or 500 employees. This follows rivals MPL, PokerBaazi and Games24x7 also undertaking layoffs that impacted hundreds last week. 

Colive Bags $20 Mn: The Bengaluru-based proptech startup has raised the funding in its Series B round led by Bain Capital. Colive offers branded and serviced ready-to-move-in homes and is mainly focussed on single professionals and young couples.

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

Can Edgehax Build Edge AI From India For The World? 

For years, Indian startups have depended heavily on overseas hardware platforms like Raspberry Pi and Nvidia Jetson for their edge-AI development needs. To reduce this reliance on foreign technology, Edgehax is building the country’s first full-stack edge-AI hardware platform.

All-In-One Solution: Founded earlier this year, Edgehax has developed powerful modular boards that function as a single, unified system for compute, networking, and storage. These units support a wide array of processors (CPUs, GPUs, NPUs), offer integrated cellular and wireless connectivity and facilitate plug-and-play apps for physical intelligence. 

This all-in-one hardware stack is built to power the next generation of smart solutions such as humanoid robots, autonomous drones and industrial gateways.

Building Product-Market-Fit: The company is steadily demonstrating market validation, having shipped over 5,000 of its edge gateway boards. It has also forged partnerships with more than 150 startups, OEMs and enterprises. Through its developer kits, Edgehax has also cultivated a strong academic ecosystem, collaborating with 1 Lakh students and faculty across IITs and other universities. 

Armed with expansion plans for Singapore, the US and Europe, the company is eyeing a pie of the $66.4 Bn global edge-AI market. With an ambitious goal to deliver 10,000 compute modules by the end of this year, can Edgehax displace established global players in the edge-AI universe?