Flipkart At Crossroads, Kuku FM Vs Pocket FM & More

Flipkart’s Quick Commerce Dilemma

As Flipkart nears its much-anticipated D-Street debut, the ecommerce titan is grappling with a high-stakes dilemma. Should it chase revenue by burning capital in its recently floated quick commerce arm, Minutes, or should it protect core margins and let quick commerce rivals steal its revenue pie? What’s it gonna be?

A Game Of Balance: To sustain in the cash-guzzling quick commerce realm, Flipkart needs to strike the balance between splurging heavily and standing tall against rivals – Eternal’s Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto and others. This becomes all the more important because it may want to look an attractive proposition to investors ahead of its listing.

Playing To Strengths: Market observers see Flipkart’s breakthrough imminent in online groceries, cushioned by its strength in categories like electronics and fashion that remain tricky for 10-minute players. What may also come in handy for the ecommerce juggernaut are lessons from Quick, its failed 90-minute grocery delivery service. 

The Pricey Homecoming: The next big leap that is likely to burn a big hole in its pockets is Flipkart’s impending Desh Wapsi, which may result in the $36 Bn ecommerce major coughing up millions of dollars in taxes. A distant peer, Razorpay, which was last pegged at $7.2 Bn, is staring at a tax liability of $150 Mn to reverse flip to India. 

Serious About Minutes: Flipkart has no plans to put quick commerce expansion on the back burner. Speculations are also rife about potential acqui-hires or strategic investments by the ecommerce major to bolster its 10-minute delivery play. Besides, Minutes looks to double its dark store count to 800 by the end of this year. 

But, balancing the rope with competition on the prowl and a frayed bottom line to fix may not be an easy task as Flipkart buckles up to strike a fiscal balance ahead of IPO.

From The Editor’s Desk

Kuku FM Vs Pocket FM: Kuku FM’s cofounder and CEO, Lal Chand Bisu, has alleged that its rival is undertaking a smear campaign against it. Sources at Kuku FM told Inc42 that Pocket FM hired a social media agency to besmirch Kuku FM’s name amid fundraising discussions. 

Capillary Gears Up For IPO: The enterprise tech startup has refiled its DRHP with SEBI for an IPO, which will comprise a fresh issue of INR 430 Cr and an OFS component of 18.3 Mn shares. This comes weeks after the company’s board gave its nod for an INR 2,250 Cr listing. 

3one4 Capital’s 8+2 Thesis: Having started operations when the VC ecosystem in India was in infancy, what worked for 3one4 was its target of returning the fund within its 8+2 year lifecycle. Seven years later, its $16 Mn Fund I is now fully returned with over 1.0 DPI.

Amazon Bolsters India Plans: The ecommerce major plans to invest INR 2,000 Cr to ramp up its logistics and operations network in the country. Apart from upgrading its infrastructure, the capital will also be deployed for developing new tools for Amazon’s fulfilment network.

BYJU’S RP Sues Raveendrans: The troubled edtech startup’s current resolution professional Shailendra Ajmera has filed a lawsuit against the company’s former directors Byju Raveendran, Riju Ravindran and Divya Gokulnath for allegedly transferring the company assets.

ArisInfra IPO Day 2: On the back of healthy interest from retail investors and NIIs, the B2B ecommerce company’s public issue was oversubscribed 1.32X on the second day. The IPO received cumulative bids for 1.73 Cr shares against the total offering of 1.3 Cr shares. 

Paytm’s FEMA Troubles: The listed fintech major has filed a compounding application with the RBI to settle an ongoing case pertaining to alleged forex violations. In March, Paytm received a notice from ED over alleged foreign exchange violations totalling INR 611.17 Cr.

illumine Nets $2.5 Mn: The AI-powered childcare management startup has raised funds in a seed round from Prime Venture Partners to expand its global footprint. illumine has built a vertical AI SaaS platform that simplifies the task of running a childcare centre. 

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

Can Bharosa AI Heal The Pains Of Rural India?

A personal ordeal for his wife during pregnancy exposed Vandit Jain to the deep gap in India’s healthcare — a lack of clear communication and access to quality care, especially in local languages.  It was this problem that paved the way for founding Bharosa AI in 2023.

Mira To The Rescue: Bharosa’s flagship offering is its voice-based medical assistant called Mira that works over phone calls in 100+ languages. Built with OpenAI’s MCP protocol, Mira simplifies healthcare access, routes patients to the right doctors, and aids physicians with structured patient data.

Big Opportunity: With India’s AI-driven healthcare market expected to reach $8.7 Bn by 2030, Bharosa is tapping into a massive underserved market in rural and semi-urban areas. It is also exploring monetisation through doctor leads, virtual clinic assistants, and hospital partnerships. As part of this, it is looking to onboard over 300 clinics across Gurugram, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. 

While voice-first, context-aware AI agent is a differentiator in a crowded space, can Bharosa AI bring a robust healthcare system to rural India?