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‘Travel sentiment across India strong but inbound travel still an opportunity'

LivemintLivemint · 1y ago
‘Travel sentiment across India strong but inbound travel still an opportunity'
Medial

- Hotel rates in India have increased significantly post-pandemic, but demand remains strong, especially for domestic travel during the upcoming festival season. - Domestic travel in India is expected to maintain momentum due to the absence of major events this year, as well as the competitive positioning of the country's travel industry. - The Indian Gen Z population is increasingly searching for travel destinations on social media platforms like Instagram rather than traditional search engines like Google. - Inbound tourism in India has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, but the country's improved infrastructure, including increased airports and highways, contributes to better customer experiences. - India, Thailand, and China are still lagging behind pre-pandemic tourist arrival numbers, while countries like France and Spain have already surpassed 2019 levels. - India may not see a return to pre-pandemic levels of international traffic until 2025, largely due to factors such as the US elections and economic slowdowns in Europe and the UK.

Beardo revenue tops Rs 200 Cr in FY25; profit jumps 3.6X

EntrackrEntrackr · 3m ago
Beardo revenue tops Rs 200 Cr in FY25; profit jumps 3.6X
Medial

Men’s grooming brand Beardo, owned by FMCG giant Marico, crossed the Rs 200 crore revenue milestone for the first time since the acquisition. The company posted a 23.7% rise in revenue and a 3.6X jump in profit after tax (PAT) in the same period. According to its standalone financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Beardo’s revenue from operations rose to Rs 214 crore in FY25 from Rs 173 crore in FY24. At the same time, the company’s profit after tax climbed to Rs 13 crore from Rs 3.63 crore a year earlier, while total income stood at Rs 215 crore. The growth was steered by tighter cost management and higher operating efficiency. The company’s total expenses grew 17.3% YoY to Rs 197 crore, slower than topline expansion, leading to improved profitability. When it comes to burn, the cost of materials consumed grew 39.3% to Rs 94 crore in FY25, whereas the employee benefits and other costs stood at Rs 14 crore and Rs 52 crore, respectively. Beardo’s EBITDA margin more than doubled to 7.1% from 3.4% in FY24, while its ROCE stood at a healthy 57% during the fiscal year ending March 2025. Beardo’s board noted in its annual filing that FY25 marked the first year it crossed the Rs 200 crore revenue mark, adding that the company expects to “achieve new heights in the coming years.” The grooming brand continues to focus on hair styling, perfumes, and skincare categories, which together contribute over 90% of its turnover. Since its acquisition by Marico in 2017, Beardo has transitioned from a D2C startup to a structured FMCG subsidiary, with better supply chain control, offline expansion, and cost efficiency. The appointment of Siddharth Vaya as whole-time director in April 2024 also reflects Marico’s increased strategic oversight. On the balance sheet front, Beardo’s total assets grew 44% to Rs 72 crore, supported by a 39.5% increase in current assets to Rs 60 crore. On a unit level, it spent Rs 0.92 to earn a rupee in FY25. In the men’s personal care space, it competes with peers such as The Man Company, Ustraa, and Bombay Shaving Company.

Peyush Bansal pays Rs 222 Cr to buy back 4.6 Cr shares at steep discount ahead of IPO

EntrackrEntrackr · 6m ago
Peyush Bansal pays Rs 222 Cr to buy back 4.6 Cr shares at steep discount ahead of IPO
Medial

Peyush Bansal pays Rs 222 Cr to buy back 4.6 Cr shares at steep discount ahead of IPO Lenskart’s co-founder and CEO Peyush Bansal has significantly increased his stake in the company through a series of secondary transactions. As per DRHP disclosures reviewed by Entrackr, Bansal acquired over 4.26 crore shares from existing shareholders for a total cash consideration of Rs 222 crore. The off-market transactions were executed between July 18 and July 24, 2025, and involved several institutional and early-stage backers of the company. Among the notable sellers were SoftBank, Kedaara Capital, Avendus, Steadview Capital, and LTR Focus Fund. Even Unilazer Ventures, backed by Ronnie Screwvala, was part of the exit group, selling over 25 lakh shares. SoftBank offloaded the largest chunk, 96 lakh shares, fetching around Rs 49.93 crore from the deal. Kedaara entities cumulatively sold more than 30 lakh shares, while Steadview offloaded 34 lakh shares, raising nearly Rs 17.7 crore. The Rs 52 per share price paid in these transactions is also noteworthy; it indicates a negotiated deal that likely reflects internal valuations rather than public market benchmarks. In response to Entrackr’s queries, a Lenskart spokesperson confirmed the development. However, the company did not comment on the reasons behind the deep discount. These transactions significantly bolster Peyush Bansal’s holding ahead of Lenskart’s IPO, which includes a fresh issue of Rs 2,150 crore and an offer for sale of 13.2 crore shares. While Bansal himself is also offering 2.05 crore shares as part of the OFS, his recent acquisitions signal a strong vote of confidence in the company’s valuation and growth trajectory. The secondary deals come at a time when the eyewear major is preparing for its public market debut, backed by marquee names like Temasek, ADIA, and TPG. In FY25, Lenskart reported a 22.5% jump in revenue to Rs 6,652 crore and turned profitable with a Rs 297 crore PAT.

Recur Club plans to deploy Rs 2,000 Cr in 2024: Interview with Eklavya Gupta

EntrackrEntrackr · 2y ago
Recur Club plans to deploy Rs 2,000 Cr in 2024: Interview with Eklavya Gupta
Medial

Revenue-based financing as an alternative source of working capital is gradually receiving wide acceptability, especially among growth-stage startups. The relevance of such alternative funding sources is now far more pertinent considering the so-called funding winter wherein chances of startups scoring equity capital are slim. In recent years, several revenue-centered financing platforms have emerged with Getvantage, Velocity, and Klub being some of the notable names. Gurugram-based Recur Club has also emerged as a notable player in the space with an allocation of Rs 1,100 crore across 500 startups in 2023. The company is now looking to expand its reach in the startup ecosystem. The roadmap includes onboarding a higher number of startups as well as more investment deployment. To better understand Recur Club’s business, growth and projections, Entrackr caught up with its co-founder and chief executive officer Eklavya Gupta. Recur has backed startups like Ustraa, Rage Coffee, Moveinsync, Keka HR, Xoxodays, and others. In July last year, the platform launched a $10 million fund to back startups actively working towards a greener and more sustainable future. Recur Club isn’t looking to raise any fresh capital at the moment. “We are well capitalized and not looking to raise any money in the near future. Our priority is to onboard 500 – 700 startups this year and deploy Rs 2,000 crore through its platform,” Gupta said. Gupta disclosed that nearly half of the company’s deals are in SaaS and tech sectors, whereas the remaining is deployed towards commerce and logistics. The investment pattern is pretty similar to other revenue-based financing platforms’. Recur Club offers credit in the range of Rs 20 lakh to Rs 35 crore which yields an IRR (internal rate of return) of anywhere between 15% and 19%. While large borrowers typically pay back the loan amount in 12 to 18 months, short-term loans are required to be paid between 50-90 days. Recur Club connects startups with over 50 prominent lenders, including Tata Capital, HSBC, Aditya Birla Capital, INCRED, Ugro Capital, and various other NBFCs, banks, and institutional capital providers. According to Gupta, Recur Club assesses leads on three core premises: average revenue run rate (ARR) of at least Rs 1 crore, six months runway and positive revenue growth. Recur Club makes money by charging a small percentage from both ends: borrowers and lenders. “Depending on the type of investors and companies, we charge 0.5% to 3%,” added Gupta.

Cosmix by the numbers: What Marico gets in its latest D2C acquisition

EntrackrEntrackr · 14d ago
Cosmix by the numbers: What Marico gets in its latest D2C acquisition
Medial

Continuing its acquisition spree, Mumbai-based multinational consumer goods company Marico has announced the purchase of a 60% majority stake in plant-based protein supplements brand Cosmix, shortly after acquiring snacking brand 4700BC. Cosmix more than doubled its operating scale in the fiscal year ended March 2025 while its profit nearly tripled and has remained profitable since its inception. With this acquisition, Marico has added another brand to its growing D2C portfolio, which includes plant-based nutrition brand Plix, True Elements, Just Herbs, and men’s grooming brand Beardo. To understand the financial drivers behind the acquisition, Entrackr analysed Cosmix’s numbers based on its regulatory filings, along with market signals that appear to have reinforced Marico’s conviction. Cosmix’s revenue from operations more than doubled to Rs 50.93 crore in FY25 from Rs 24.2 crore in FY24. Founded in 2019, Cosmix operates as a digital-first nutrition brand focused on plant-based protein and wellness products, including protein bars, protein pancakes, multivitamins, and immunity boosters. The startup sells its products through its own website and third-party online marketplaces. Sales of these products were the sole source of Cosmix’s operating revenue in FY25. In addition, the company earned Rs 25 lakh as interest on deposits in the last fiscal, which pushed its total income to Rs 51.18 crore. Cosmix is a bootstrapped company and claims to have scaled to an ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) of Rs 100 crore. Advertising was the largest expense for the D2C firm, accounting for 34% of total expenditure, and doubled year-on-year to Rs 13.52 crore in FY25. The cost of materials was another major expense at Rs 11.2 crore and also doubled during the year, in line with revenue growth. Importantly, the firm’s employee benefits expenses stood at Rs 3.45 crore in the last fiscal which formed only 8.72% of its total costs. Other overheads including marketplace management, transport and courier charges, service retention fees, and software maintenance pushed total expenses to Rs 39.52 crore in FY25. The Bengaluru-based company’s revenue growth outpaced its expenses and led its profit to nearly triple to Rs 8.21 crore in FY25 from Rs 2.83 crore in FY24. The seven-year-old firm has remained profitable since inception, unlike most D2C companies. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin stood at 99.395 and 22.48%, respectively. On a unit level, Cosmix spent Rs 0.78 to earn a rupee. Its current assets were recorded at Rs 16.45 crore, with cash and bank balances of Rs 4.69 crore at the end of FY25. Like Marico, several legacy fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are increasingly acquiring digital-first (D2C) startups to expand into high-growth categories such as health supplements, grooming, and personal care. Hindustan Unilever (HUL) acquired skincare brand Minimalist, ITC has bought healthy snacking company Yoga Bar, VLCC has picked up men’s grooming brand Ustraa, and Emami has acquired The Man Company, which highlights a broader shift by established FMCG players towards premium, online-native brands. A buy like Cosmix indicates strong conviction at a promoter level or high up in Marico (FY25 revenues of Rs 10,800 crores, PAT of Rs 1,593 crore), considering the relatively small size of the business. It’s not exactly the kind of purchase that will move the stock price either way. Cosmix founders would be expected to leverage Marico’s scale and resources to scale up faster than they would have, besides use their appreciated skills to support other businesses perhaps. One can only hope that Marico will be able to offer the flexibility and space for the Cosmix team to spread out without feeling the constrictions of large firm processes and bureaucracy, an affliction that has laid low expectations from many an acquisition over the years, when it is a large firm acquiring a startup.

Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [26 - 31 Aug]

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [26 - 31 Aug]
Medial

During the week, 31 Indian startups raised around $490.32 million in funding. These deals count 7 growth-stage deals and 19 early-stage deals while 5 startups kept their transaction details undisclosed. During the previous week, 21 early and growth-stage startups cumulatively raised $144.46 million in funding. [Growth-stage deals] Among the growth-stage deals, 7 startups raised $443.8 million in funding this week. Quick commerce brand Zepto spearheaded with a $340 million Series F round. Specialty coffee retailer Blue Tokai Coffee raised $35 million followed by lending firm Yubi, agri-inputs platform AGRIM, post-sales service firm Servify, beauty and personal care D2C firm Pilgrim, and Robotics startup Miko with $30 million, $17.3 million, $10 million, $9 million, and $2.5 million in funding, respectively. Swiggy also raised undisclosed funding this week from Amitabh Bachchan’s Family Office. [Early-stage deals] Further, 19 early-stage startups secured funding worth $46.52 million during the week. Full stack marketplace for resale home HouseEazy led the list followed by conversation intelligence platform Convin, energy storage solutions startup Clean Electric, fintech firm Finarkein Analytics, and edtech startup Kreedo among others. As many as 4 startups that did not disclose the funding amount raised are; Metaman, Better Nutrition (Greenday), BiUP Technologies, and OneMoney. For more information, visit TheKredible. [City and segment-wise deals] In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru-based startups led with 8 deals followed by Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Dehradun, Jodhpur, and Lucknow. Segment-wise, E-commerce and Fintech startups are in the top spot with 6 deals each. SaaS, Edtech, Foodtech, Healthtech, Proptech, and Agritech startups followed this list among others. [Series-wise deals] During the week, Seed funding deals are on top with 11 deals followed by 6 Series A, 4 pre-Series A, 3 Series C, 2 Series B, 2 pre-Seed, and 1 Series F deal. [Week-on-week funding trend] On a weekly basis, startup funding tripled and went up 239.42% to $490.32 million as compared to around $144.46 million raised during the previous week. The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $254.80 million with 26 deals per week. [Fund launches] Two new funds launched this week to support startups in India. Velocity, a cash flow-based financing platform, has introduced a Rs 400 crore fund to assist D2C and e-commerce brands during the upcoming festive season sales. Meanwhile, Whiteboard Capital, a sector-agnostic early-stage venture capital firm, has successfully closed its second fund at Rs 300 crore. [Key hirings] Sumer Juneja, formerly with Softbank, has joined OYO as a non-executive director. Swiggy Instamart onboarded former Flipkart executive Amitesh Jha as CEO, Medikabazaar appointed Dinesh Lodha as the Group CEO, Sukoon Health onboarded Dr. Vipul Rastogi as Clinical Regional Head, and 3i Infotech hired Raj Ahuja as CEO. Evera and Zalon appointed Saurabh Kumar and Abhiishekk Rakj Pandey respectively as their Independent Director and Co-founder and CEO. [Mergers and Acquisitions] Several significant acquisitions have taken place this week in the Indian tech industry. VerSe Innovation, the parent company of Dailyhunt and Josh, has acquired Valueleaf Group, a digital marketing firm. In the SaaS space, Browserstack has acquired Bird Eats Bug, a bug detection and reporting platform, for $20 million. ANSR, a business consulting company, has acquired hrEntries, an HCM platform, to strengthen its global team management capabilities. Yudiz Solutions, a listed blockchain and IT development company has acquired a majority stake in ABCM App Private Limited, a consultancy and technology solutions company. In the FMCG sector, GRM Overseas has acquired a 44% stake in Rage Coffee, a D2C food and beverage brand. [Shutdown] Two significant shutdowns have occurred this week in the Indian tech industry. My Tirth India, a spiritual tech startup, has announced its closure due to a funding crisis. This is surprising given the growing popularity of the spiritual tech sector. Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel has decided to discontinue its music streaming app, Wynk Music, although it will retain the employees involved. Visit TheKredible to see series-wise deals along with amount breakup, complete details of fund launches, and more insights. [New launches and partnerships] OPEN launches Bharat Billpay for business Zoho forays into payment space with the launch of a payment gateway BharatPe ventures into the consumer payments space CarDekho Group partners with SaaS platform BiUP Technologies [Potential Deals] Eruditus to raise $150 Mn at $2.3 Bn valuation [Financial results this week] Rebel Foods posts Rs 1,420 Cr revenue in FY24; losses down by 42% Square Yards posts Rs 261 Cr revenue in Q1 FY25; projects Rs 1,500 Cr in FY25 CaratLane crosses Rs 3,000 Cr revenue in FY24; remains profitable [News flash this week] Customer conversation platform Exotel suffers data breach BigBasket to completely pivot to quick commerce Amazon India to enter quick commerce D2C meat delivery startup Zappfresh files DRHP Ola Electric’s products to hit ONDC next week Infra.Market lined up 8 investment banks for its $700 Mn IPO: Report Moglix initiates next-day delivery to join the rapid delivery bandwagon [Conclusion] The weekly funding jumped over 3X to $490.32 million this week. Meanwhile, two startup-focused funds launched this week namely Velocity and Whiteboard Capital. Ola Electric’s co-founder, Bhavish Aggarwal, has announced that all of the company’s electric scooters, including the S1 X series, S1 Pro, and S1 Air, will be available on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) starting next week. This move aims to expand Ola Electric’s market reach and make its products more accessible to consumers across India by leveraging ONDC’s infrastructure. Aggarwal has been a strong advocate for ONDC, comparing it to the revolutionary impact of UPI on digital payments. D2C meat delivery startup Zappfresh has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for an IPO on the BSE SME platform. The IPO will consist solely of a fresh issue of 59.06 lakh equity shares and will not include any offer for sale. Zappfresh intends to utilize the proceeds from the IPO to fund potential acquisitions, marketing and capital expenditure, working capital requirements, and general corporate purposes. Several major e-commerce players are entering the quick delivery space in India to cater to the growing demand for faster delivery of goods, especially among small and medium-sized businesses. Moglix, a B2B platform, has launched a next-day delivery service for industrial goods, expanding its reach to 12 cities and aiming to expand further to 40 cities in the coming months. Amazon, Flipkart, and Tata Digital-owned BigBasket are also making significant moves in this market. Amazon plans to enter the quick commerce space in early 2025, while Flipkart and BigBasket have already launched their own quick delivery services.

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