Super App Tata Neu Logs 1 Mn Downloads On Google Play; Secures Top Ranking At Apple Store

Tata Digital’s super app, Tata Neu has recorded over 1 Mn downloads on Google Play as of 14th April 2022. In a matter of a week, the app has gained prominence amongst users becoming one of the most downloaded apps. 

According to a Business Standard report, Tata Neu secured 48th place on the App Annie list of most downloaded apps in India on Google Play when the super app was rolled out on April 7 this year. Just after three days (April 11) of its launch, Tata Neu climbed up to the second position following behind social ecommerce app Meesho.  

However, in the last two days, Tata Neu’s ranking has gone down to 5th position, falling behind Meesho, Flipkart-led Shopsy, Instagram and Snapchat on Google Play. 

While on the Apple Store, Tata Neu is ranked at the top in the shopping category after its launch (April 7). In the first few days following its launch, the super app had secured the first position on an overall basis but plummeted down to the 4th position on April 13. 

Tata Neu offers a slew of services including UPI payments, hotel or flight booking and shopping for groceries, electronics and medicines, among other services. The super app also rewards 5% of the amount as NeuCoins every time a user makes a transaction where One NeuCoin equals Re 1 that users can redeem according to their convenience. 

Tata Neu’s launch comes at a time when the conglomerate company Tata got the Title Sponsor for IPL along with 29 other startups. With people back in the stadiums, Tata is banking hard on IPL’s popularity to get early-stage momentum for the super app.

For Tata Neu, Tata Digital had acquired several companies including Grameen eStore, Urja, AccessBell, 1mg, BigBasket, and CureFit. Tata Digital has also added Croma; the ecommerce platform Tata Cliq is already a part of Tata Digital. 

Foray Into UPI Ecosystem 

Recently, Tata Digital started testing digital payments through UPI on Tata Neu. For this, it has partnered with ICICI Bank and the testing is taking place in a closed group made up of Tata employees.

It is reported that Tata Digital would test digital payments in a closed group before making the feature available for the rest of the users.

With this, Tata Group is stepping into the UPI ecosystem which is presently dominated by digital payment apps Google Pay, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, Paytm, and WhatsApp Pay. Earlier in March 2022, it had submitted an application to the National Payments Commission of India (NPCI). 

Recent Bet On Super App 

On 9 April 2022, Tata Sons invested INR 5,882 Cr into Tata Digital, shortly after it sold 2.48 Cr shares to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) at INR 4,500 per share, bringing in INR 11,163 Cr in liquidity. 

In this deal, Tata Sons bought 588.2 Cr shares, a decision that was approved by Tata Digital’s board on 30th March, at a rate of INR 10 on a rights basis, according to its latest regulatory filing. 

The latest funding has taken the total funding of Tata Sons in Tata Digital to INR 11,872 Cr in 2021-22.

Earlier, reports had surfaced that Tata Sons might make an interim investment of up to $500 Mn (INR 3,795.87 Cr) for the final stretch for the launch of Tata Neu, and to keep up with the cash burn that comes with running a super app. The actual investment is 35.46% higher than the earlier reported figures.

According to the RoC filings, Tata Digital had raised INR 400 Cr in FY21 and INR 100 Cr in FY20 from Tata Sons.