Flipkart Adds NBFC Licence To Cart, India’s Drone Tech Moment & More

Flipkart Adds NBFC Licence To Cart

Three years and countless compliances later, Flipkart has finally received an NBFC licence. The authorisation will enable the ecommerce juggernaut to offer loans directly to consumers and sellers on its platform, making it the first Indian online marketplace to do so. 

Flipkart’s NBFC Play: The licence will enable the company to cull its dependence on third-party players, unlock alternate revenue streams, raise funding from external sources, and enhance customer experience. On the B2B front, offering working capital loans to sellers could boost engagement and ensure a more consistent supply of products.

Not A Smooth Transition: With an NBFC licence in its kitty, the online marketplace is looking to commence its lending operation “in a few months”. However, it may still have to adhere to a long list of compliance, including the appointment of key management personnel and board members, and the finalisation of business plans. 

Broader Fintech Puzzle: Having dabbled with fintech for a decade now, the demerger of PhonePe in 2022 left a gaping hole in the marketplace’s fintech quiver. Since then, Flipkart has launched super.money, tapped into UPI payments and lined up an arsenal to enter the broader financial services segment, including lending and insurance.

The Many Problems Of Flipkart: While these launches are steadily adding to its revenue streams ahead of a potential IPO next year, losses continue to haunt Flipkart beyond the vanity metrics and flashy announcements. For context, Flipkart’s marketplace arm posted a loss of INR 2,358 Cr in FY24. At the same time, rising competition in the quick commerce arena has forced the company to splurge on customer acquisition while cutting corners elsewhere.

The RBI nod for direct lending comes as a boost for Flipkart, which is ramping up hiring amid a leadership shake-up. As of now, it would be interesting to see how Flipkart’s fintech play blooms as it becomes India’s first ecommerce platform with an NBFC licence.  

From The Editor’s Desk

India’s Drone Tech Moment: While drone tech startups often faced hurdles in raising funding due to the lengthy and strenuous government tendering process. However, following Operation Sindoor, defence investment is expected to see a seismic shift.

Groww To Raise $202 Mn: The IPO-bound fintech unicorn is on course to raise around INR 1,735 Cr in a Series F funding round from GIC and ICONIQ Capital. This would be separate from Groww’s pre-IPO fundraiser. The fintech major is eyeing a $1 Bn public listing. 

Arise Ventures’ AI Investment Playbook: As new-age startups capture the attention of tech-forward venture firms, Arise Ventures is sharpening its investment arsenal with the thesis that emphasises transformative, category-defining innovations to shape the future of business and drive sustainable growth.

Ravindran Vs Lenders: BYJU’S cofounder Byju Raveendran’s brother and former director of the edtech, Riju Ravindran, has moved the NCLT, seeking GLAS Trust’s removal from the committee of the creditors. Riju alleges that the creditor colluded with EY to disrupt the insolvency process. 

Navi Finserv’s FY25 Show: Ahead of its stock market debut this fiscal, the Sachin Bansal-led fintech’s PAT declined 67% to INR 221.9 Cr during the year from INR 668.8 Cr in FY24. Operating revenue stood at INR 2,271.2 Cr, up 19% from INR 1,906.2 Cr in FY24.

Airlearn’s Spin Off On The Cards: After stepping down from its active role at the edtech unicorn, cofounder Gaurav Munjal is preparing to spin off Airlearn into a separate entity. Munjal is likely to have a larger stake in the AI-powered language learning app.  

Zaggle To Buy Dice: The listed enterprise tech startup is set to acquire the Pune-based enterprise spend management startup for INR 123 Cr to strengthen its product portfolio and scale in India and globally. Dice offers tools for managing procurement and accounts payables. 

Artha Fund I Scores 61% Returns: The family office’s maiden fund has generated an IRR of  61%, with two startups in its portfolio now valued at $400 Mn. The fund, which closed in FY19 with a corpus of INR 225 Cr, has so far deployed INR 175 Cr in 32 seed stage startups. 

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

Can Eon Space Labs Become India’s Eyes In The Sky?

High-resolution Earth observation is critical for defence, infrastructure development and environmental monitoring. However, most imaging payloads today are bulky, expensive or tied to specific platforms. This makes real-time, cross-platform surveillance using satellites, drones or ground vehicles inefficient and impractical.

Going Small For Space Expedition: The IIT Madras-incubated startup is building compact, interoperable optical payloads for precision Earth observation. Its flagship drone-mounted solution, Lumira, works like a mini telescope for long-range imaging and surveillance. Eon is also developing new satellite imaging systems, MIRA and ARGUS, aimed at scalable deployment across platforms.

What’s Next? Eon plans to scale Lumira, develop more compact EO payloads and partner with satellite companies for full-stack capabilities. 

With the global Earth observation market surpassing $3 Bn in 2024, can Eon Space Labs scale fast enough to become India’s trusted eyes in the sky?