SUMMARY
TataNeu has put up a banner depicting the date of the public launch, while the app remains accessible for Tata employees and invitees for the time being
Tata’s launch comes against the backdrop of the IPL being in full swing
Tata Digital has estimated a valuation of more than $18 Bn for the digital entity
TataNeu, Tata’s Super App, is all set to launch on 7th April, almost two years after it was first announced in August 2020.
Tata Group’s super-app ambition represents the salt-to-steel conglomerate’s way of joining 21st-century businesses.
TataNeu registration portal, which is present on Tata Digital’s website, has put up a banner to signify the launch of the app. The app is still open to invitees and employees only, however, users can register for alerts related to the app by registering.
Tata’s launch comes against the backdrop of the IPL being in full swing. The cricket league, which is the most popular sporting event in India, has Tata featured as the Title Sponsor, along with a bunch of 29 startups. With people back in the stadiums, Tata is banking hard on IPL’s popularity to get early-stage momentum for the super app.
Tata Digital, which is developing TataNeu, was recently reported to have asked its parent company Tata Sons for funding to the tune of $500 Mn as working capital funds.
Last October, Tata had plans to raise $5 Bn in an institutional equity round and was reportedly in talks with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, SoftBank Group, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
After Tata Group had said that it will make an ‘interim investment’, Tata Digital looks to have solved most of the issues with TataNeu and has deemed it good enough for a public rollout.
TataNeu – Kicking Off The Super App Race
Inc42 reported last year that Tata Digital will roll out a super app platform, called TataNeu, that will consolidate multiple digital entities under the Tata umbrella into a super app offering after Reliance started a similar consolidation with its flagship venture Jio Platform.
Tata Digital, which claims to have more than 400 Mn users across its digital verticals, was slated to roll out the super app in late September. The app launch has missed several deadlines. The app was supposed to be launched during Diwali last year too but was delayed due to technical issues.
With today’s announcement, the company has confirmed the launch date to April 7.
Right now, the app is being tested by more than 700K Tata employees. Tata has also asked them to rope in their next of kin in order to get more detailed feedback on the super app. That should take the number of beta testers to millions, which is quite a good base for getting feedback.
Notably, TataNeu will offer users loyalty points, and each loyalty point will be worth one rupee, which will be redeemable on purchases from any of Tata’s various brands.
What’s more, Tata Digital has also submitted an application to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for its own version of digital payments on TataNeu. The company has partnered with ICICI for providing payments for the time being.
For TataNeu, Tata Digital has acquired several companies, including Grameen eStore, Urja, AccessBell, 1mg, BigBasket, and CureFit. Recently, Tata Digital has also added Croma, in a similar vein to Reliance’s emphasis on phygital; the ecommerce platform Tata Cliq is already a part of Tata Digital.
Tata Digital has estimated a valuation of more than $18 Bn for the digital entity. Investors are however keen to assess the scale of revenues or gross merchandise value that Tata Digital can offer within a year of operations. However, investors appear to be reluctant to commit funds until clarity emerges on the consumer response to the official launch of the super app.
