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Daily Voice: FMCG remains an attractive long term bet, pharma holds potential for growth, says Equirus Wealth's Abhijit Bhave

Money ControlMoney Control · 9m ago
Daily Voice: FMCG remains an attractive long term bet, pharma holds potential for growth, says Equirus Wealth's Abhijit Bhave
Medial

Abhijit Bhave, Managing Director & CEO of Equirus Wealth, believes that FMCG companies in India are well-positioned to capture the country's growth story due to the increasing penetration of organized retail, e-commerce, and rising disposable incomes. He also considers the FMCG sector to be a stable and attractive long-term investment, particularly during uncertain times. Bhave suggests that investors in the pharma industry focus on companies with robust R&D pipelines and strong balance sheets for sustained returns. He advises retail investors to maintain diversified portfolios through mutual funds and suggests HNI investors focus on fundamentally good but undervalued stocks. Bhave also discusses the importance of maintaining asset allocation and selectively investing in small-cap stocks. Regarding interest rates, he mentions that a reduction in rates may occur if inflation remains within RBI's target range and global economic conditions stabilize.

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TCPL to double capex this fiscal, expand into new categories

LivemintLivemint · 1y ago
TCPL to double capex this fiscal, expand into new categories
Medial

Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) plans to double its capital expenditure (capex) this fiscal year, with a major investment in setting up a new plant in Vietnam. TCPL aims to become a full-fledged FMCG company and has been working on consolidating its various food and beverage interests. Last year, TCPL made significant acquisitions, expanding its portfolio and foothold in new food categories. The company is well-positioned to capitalize on the long-term opportunities presented by India's consumer market, driven by factors such as a young population, growing middle class, and increasing disposable incomes. TCPL will continue to consider attractive acquisitions that make financial sense and support growth.

Zomato's Blinkit sprints to quick commerce dominance in India

TechCrunchTechCrunch · 1y ago
Zomato's Blinkit sprints to quick commerce dominance in India
Medial

India's quick commerce market has experienced significant growth and remains vibrant despite the decline in other markets. It has seen a 10-fold growth between 2021 and 2023 and currently holds a 7% share of the total addressable market estimated at $45 billion. Zomato's Blinkit leads the market with a 46% share, followed by Swiggy's Instamart (27%) and newcomer Zepto (21%). The success of quick commerce relies on efficient supply chains, investments in dark stores, and partnerships with FMCG manufacturers and farmers. However, profitability remains a concern for investors, and the long-term sustainability of the model is still uncertain. Flipkart is also reportedly considering entering the market.

Udaan raises Rs 300 Cr debt from Lighthouse Canton and others

EntrackrEntrackr · 8m ago
Udaan raises Rs 300 Cr debt from Lighthouse Canton and others
Medial

B2B e-commerce platform Udaan has raised nearly Rs 300 crore (over $35 million) in debt funding from Lighthouse Canton, Stride Ventures, InnoVen Capital, and Trifecta Capital. This is the first debt round for the Bengaluru-based company in the past year. The new funds are intended to strengthen Udaan’s balance sheet and support its mission of empowering small businesses across India, the company said in a press release. In December 2023, the firm raised a $340 million Series E round led by M&G Plc, with participation from existing equity investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and DST Global. Although this round provided a financial boost to Udaan, its valuation dropped by 59.3%, settling at $1.3 billion, down from a peak valuation of $3.2 billion. According to Udaan, the company is on track to achieve profitability, reporting a 60% increase in revenue and more than a 50% rise in daily transacting buyers in 2024. Udaan also claimed a 30% reduction in absolute EBITDA burn in the current calendar year. The eight-year-old company operates a marketplace across several categories, including lifestyle, electronics, home and kitchen, staples, fruits and vegetables, FMCG, pharma, toys, and general merchandise. It claims to have a network of over 3 million retailers across 900 cities. Udaan has been actively cutting costs over the past year, as evidenced by layoffs. In December 2023, the company let go of more than 100 employees. While Udaan has yet to disclose its FY24 numbers, its gross revenue (GMV) dropped by 43.1% to Rs 5,629 crore in FY23, down from Rs 9,900 crore in FY22. However, its losses also narrowed by 33.7%, from Rs 3,132 crore in FY22 to Rs 2,076 crore in FY23.

Unpacking VerSe’s Josh: growth, monetization and future roadmap

EntrackrEntrackr · 8m ago
Unpacking VerSe’s Josh: growth, monetization and future roadmap
Medial

The short video entertainment space has seen consolidation with the merger of MX TakaTak, the pivot of Chingari, and the shutdown of Mitron TV. This has left the fledgling market with two main players: ShareChat’s Moj and VerSe’s Josh. While Moj’s parent company, ShareChat, has been struggling to scale its short video offering and secure follow-on funding, Josh remains well-capitalized and holds a leading position in the segment with approximately 180 million active users. “We have a monthly active user base of 179 million, along with 91 million daily active users,” said a Josh spokesperson in an interaction with Entrackr. “By the end of FY24, we had over 150 million downloads via playstore.” Josh is available in 12 Indian languages and reports that over 80% of its content is viewed in local dialects. This feature is particularly crucial as more than two-thirds of its users are from tier II and III cities such as Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Patna, and Raipur. OEM partnership: Key to Josh’s growth Josh’s DAU and MAU numbers appear staggering, but they don’t align with data from app trackers like App Annie and Appflyer. “These trackers are irrelevant in our case, as majority of our downloads come from pre-installed mobile phones,” the spokesperson clarified. Josh has secured more than two-thirds of its downloads through partnerships with smartphone manufacturers such as Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Samsung, among others. Creator-centric approach driving Josh’s topline The success of a short-video app largely depends on its creators and the ecosystem surrounding them. Josh has a community of over 100,000 creators and partnerships with 14 leading music labels. “Our monthly active creator base increased by 34% year-on-year, reaching 71 million in FY24,” added the spokesperson. Collaboration is a key focus for Josh, which launched Collab to tap into the influencer ecosystem. “Collab is designed to help brands discover influencers and engage with them seamlessly, without any friction,” said the spokesperson. After prioritizing traction for two and half years (September 2020 to mid 2023), Josh began monetization by opening the platform to brands for campaigns in the second half of 2023. Currently, Josh offers a range of advertising solutions which include diverse formats such as video ads, influencer-brand collaborations and influencer and content-led IPs. “Josh helps businesses in brand building, lead generation, user engagement, and creating overall awareness,” added the spokesperson. The platform has worked with 450 brands, including Amazon, Myntra, Nykaa, Xiaomi, since July last year. Around one-third of Josh’s user base was from tier 1 cities while 68% hailed from tier II and III cities. The popularity of short videos is 2X higher in tier II and III cities. Brands with a national presence who are looking to strengthen their brand recall in tier II markets and regional languages prefer Josh. While Josh didn’t give exact revenue numbers, it reported hitting an average revenue run rate of Rs 300 crore this quarter. “Our target is to achieve break even by the first half of 2025,” said the spokesperson. Live commerce/audio, audio stories to oil monetization roadmap In addition to tapping into the influencer ecosystem, Josh is exploring new formats such as brand shoppable commerce, live commerce, live audio, gifting and audio stories. As per the firm, these efforts aim to position Josh for revenue generation and profitability as it deepens its monetization road. The live audio feature on Josh enables users to have real-time conversations with specialised creators. Users initiating live audio calls pay per minute using Josh’s in-app currency, “Jems,” while creators earn “Diamonds,” redeemable in the Indian currency. Audio stories, particularly in regional languages, are also gaining traction. Josh offers subscription-based and micro-payments for specific content from partners like Velvet, Eight, and EarShot, viewing this as a substantial long-term opportunity. Josh has leadership in the Bharat-focused short video entertainment space and is actively working to demonstrate its platform’s ability to deliver real results and fulfil its promises to buyers. Josh’s strategic decision to remain closed to advertising until 2023 reflects its focus on building a robust user base and platform. With its recent monetization efforts, Josh is well positioned to address the market gap left by TikTok in India.

BluSmart drivers face uncertainty amid company troubles, founder issues

EntrackrEntrackr · 1m ago
BluSmart drivers face uncertainty amid company troubles, founder issues
Medial

BluSmart suspended its operations in April in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, and Bengaluru, asking its 10,000 driver-partners to return their vehicles. The move has left several drivers scrambling to find new sources of income. Rajesh [name changed], a 35-year-old man in Gurugram, secured a driving job with a heavily VC-funded electric vehicle cab hailing company which once aimed to take on the duopoly of Ola Cabs and Uber in India. An average income of Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per month, Rajesh admits, was not much for his family but managed to pay bills. Though, Rajesh, who also is a father of two young children, put in 10 hours to 12 hours daily - to reach the estimated monthly income. With his company now pausing the services, Rajesh has no source of earning, and does not know how he will pay his kids’ education fees. "... Now, I don’t know how I’ll manage. I missed my kids' school fees this month. My family depends on me, and I’ve never felt so helpless,” a visibly stressed Rajesh told Entrackr. One of the things that is agonising Rajesh the most is the deceptive way his employer pushed them out. “On Wednesday (April 16th), we [drivers] received a message saying the car needed to be submitted to the hub for a breakdown. We thought it was just a minor technical issue. When we got there, they told us it was a failure and we’d be informed later. But there was no word from the company after that. We just had to go home. We were left in complete shock," says Rajesh as his voice strains, reliving the fateful moment. Rajesh says he was among the first lot of employees, when the company had just 50 cars. Like many others, he too bought the company’s promise of stability. “Now, it feels like we’ve been left out to dry,” he said. “I’m considering working with Uber or Ola… I’m looking for something else, maybe a different field altogether. But BluSmart was my livelihood, and I’d go back in a heartbeat if they reopened. It was my only source of income,” he added. Rajesh’s story resonates with another thousands of drivers who are now scrambling to find new sources of income after BluSmart’s sudden suspension of its services. Entrackr has reached out to BluSmart seeking responses on how they plan to compensate the affected drivers. In case they respond, we will incorporate their inputs. Staging the protest On May 4, a group of BluSmart drivers raised their grievances at Jantar Mantar, a historic site for protests. They pressed for demands for alternative income avenues as well as called for crucial policy reforms to prevent similar abrupt dismissals. Additionally, they also sought a government intervention. Tajinder Singh, president of Parivahan Morcha Athavale and also among those spearheading the protest, told Entrackr that women drivers of BluSmart were among those bearing the brunt the most as other taxi companies refused to recruit them. He further said that some drivers were working on a per day basis as and when required but asserted that this was not a long-term solution. “We are demanding compensation for affected BluSmart drivers. We have also sought government intervention so that the drivers can continue to earn their livelihood,” Singh said. Singh also claimed that hundreds of BluSmart employees working at charging hubs were affected by the company’s sudden suspension of its services. A business model that promised to be different than rivals Even as ‘sustainability’ remained the headline grabber, BluSmart also deployed a rather different business model compared to rivals Ola Cabs and Uber. The company used a full-stack B2C model wherein they owned and managed the vehicles whereas Ola and Uber work with independent drivers. The model allowed BluSmart to have a better control on the quality of cars, maintenance, and subsequently better customer service. For drivers, the company offered a fixed salary along with incentives. An assured income was a big factor why a lot of drivers showed interest in joining BluSmart. Ola and Uber, on the other hand, operated on a familiar commission-based system, also common with several gig working-reliant service providers. Singh also highlighted this stark difference between BluSmart and its rivals. He said that the job of driver was to pick and drop the passenger and earn a regular income (per day payout and incentives). They needed to work 10 hours to 12 hours a day. Other things like maintenance and documentation was taken care of by the company, giving drivers a more relaxed environment to operate. Blusmart has raised over $180 million to date, including its $50 million series B round in January this year. Though, it received only Rs 61 crore out of $50 million. That said, a heavily-funded BluSmart juggernaut appeared unstoppable, until it did. Earlier this year, reports emerged that BluSmart delayed salary payments to cash crunch. It had also shut down operations in Dubai and also saw an exodus of top management employees, including CEO, CBO, and CTO. A month later, SEBI published findings of its probe into Gensol Engineering, BluSmart’s partner and EV lessor. The SEBI order highlighted misuse of funds, and also barred promoters Anmol and Puneet Singh Jaggi from accessing the securities market and holding key positions in Gensol Engineering. What next for BluSmart drivers BluSmart drivers facing joblessness due to the shutdown can go for legal remedy and urgently demand clearance of any unpaid dues and better severance compensation, if not given already. The legal course, which may take a relatively long time, may also help them investigate if BluSmart violated the contract by sudden halting of their services and returning vehicles. Moreover, they can also seek intervention from regulatory boards. Singh, however, did not appear enthusiastic about taking the legal course. “Companies like these make such contracts that they keep them protected in such incidents and don’t have to own any responsibility towards people working so hard for them,” he said [loosely translated from Hindi]. As far as the future of the company goes, it’s hard to predict considering the massive VC money riding on the company. Despite the major dent in public image and also several legal troubles, it’s likely that the company may stay afloat with a rather new management and new board - a few known steps troubled companies often take to course correct. It’s worth noting that quality of drivers and cabs were the top highlight of the platform, and if it resumes, it should continue with that. With the ongoing protests and lack of communication between drivers and management, it seems unlikely that the company will enjoy the same level of trust from its network drivers.

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