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Creaegis may fund Giva at $470-500 million valuation

InternetInternet · 1y ago
Creaegis may fund Giva at $470-500 million valuation
Medial

Giva, a silver jewellery and lab-grown diamonds specialist, is in discussions with private equity firm Creaegis to raise $80-100 million at a valuation of $470-500 million. This proposed valuation is over two times higher than the last funding round's valuation from two months ago. Giva, co-founded by Ishendra Agarwal, plans significant retail expansion and emphasizes value-driven jewellery offerings. The Indian jewellery market is projected to grow significantly, driven by changing consumer preferences. Giva, which specialises in silver jewellery and recently entered lab-grown diamonds, is in talks with private equity fund Creaegis to raise $80-100 million at a valuation of $470-500 million, people in the know said.The proposed post-money valuation is more than two times that after the last funding round just two months ago, underlining the high investor interest in new-age jewellery businesses. Accel-backed jewellery retailer Bluestone is preparing for an initial public offering and has filed its draft application papers for the issue with the market regulator. The company is looking to value itself more than Rs 12,000 crore for the IPO, a 50% premium to the valuation when it last raised funds in the private market, ET first reported on December 13. Giva currently has an annual revenue run-rate of Rs 700 crore. It posted nearly Rs 280 crore in revenue with a close to Rs 59 crore loss in fiscal 2024. In 2024, both Giva and Bluestone scooped up substantial funds in the past year as investors turned bullish towards omnichannel jewellery businesses, especially following the Tata Group’s complete acquisition of Caratlane. “Creaegis is in talks to lead the round while others may also join but this is symbolic of the overall confidence investors have in the sector now. While Bluestone is aiming for a significant premium to the listing, this (Giva’s valuation) is relatively lower on the multiples,” a person aware of the matter said.

Eternal bets big on Blinkit as food delivery biz shows signs of slowdown

EntrackrEntrackr · 6m ago
Eternal bets big on Blinkit as food delivery biz shows signs of slowdown
Medial

Eternal bets big on Blinkit as food delivery biz shows signs of slowdown Eternal Ltd. (formerly Zomato) posted a strong Q1 FY26 with revenue surging 70% year-on-year to Rs 7,167 crore. However, growth in its core food delivery business appears to be flattening, with momentum now coming from newer verticals such as Blinkit and Hyperpure. The food delivery segment, once synonymous with Zomato, is beginning to show signs of maturity. Revenue from food grew just 16% year-on-year to Rs 2,261 crore, while Net Order Value (NOV) rose 13%, a slight dip from 14% in the previous quarter. Eternal’s chief executive officer (CEO) Deepinder Goyal acknowledged that “20%+ growth looks unlikely this year,” hinting that the post-COVID boom in food delivery may be tapering off as the business enters a slower growth phase. In contrast, quick commerce is rewriting Eternal’s growth story. Blinkit clocked a 127% YoY jump in NOV and a 154% spike in revenue to Rs 2,400 crore, overtaking food delivery for the first time on a full-quarter basis. The 10-minute delivery app now has 1,544 stores (243 added in Q1 alone) and plans to cross 2,000 by December. So, is India’s food delivery market reaching a saturation point? Goyal doesn’t explicitly say so, but signals are clear: while margins in food delivery are stable (5% of NOV), growth is slowing, and further upside is likely to come from operational efficiencies or adjacent offerings, not explosive user demand. Meanwhile, Blinkit is scaling rapidly, not just in metros, but even in smaller cities where profitability gaps are narrowing. “Margins seem to have bottomed out,” said Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa, adding that select cities are already profitable. The business now has a strong line of sight to 5–6% margin in the long term, according to him. Interestingly, Eternal is now extending its “10-minute promise” to meals with its initiative called Bistro. The service currently runs 38 cloud kitchens across Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru, offering ‘high-quality yet affordable food’ in just 10 minutes. The company sees Bistro as a way to tap into unmet demand, particularly among users seeking low-cost, quick meals or snacky options, a segment it believes traditional food delivery players haven't fully addressed. Hyperpure, Eternal’s B2B restaurant supply business, also had a standout quarter with 89% YoY revenue growth. However, this growth may soften in upcoming quarters as Blinkit transitions from a marketplace to an inventory-led model, reducing Hyperpure’s exposure to non-restaurant clients. To navigate this shift, Eternal is also evolving its leadership structure. With the appointment of product leader Aditya Mangla as food delivery CEO, the company is doubling down on tech-first execution. Goyal calls this “rotational leadership”, a system meant to keep decision-making fresh and avoid long-term stagnation at the top. As Goyal puts it, “We want to build companies led by principles, not personalities.” The principle now seems clear: grow where the consumer moves fastest, and that’s not always dinner delivery. While churn has become a perennial feature at Eternal, both in terms of initiatives and even people, the firm continues to be valued (ridiculously so, many would say) highly for potential upsides on its other initiatives like District etc. However, the grocery business as the growth driver comes with its own challenges on the margin front, as seen in the profit shrinkage this quarter. Patient investors might also feel tested if they don't see either of two things in FY26: profitability in the delivery and grocery business, however low the margins, and a breakout in any of the remaining verticals like seen in Hyperpure.

Qoruz raises $500K in pre-Series A round led by The Chennai Angels

EntrackrEntrackr · 7m ago
Qoruz raises $500K in pre-Series A round led by The Chennai Angels
Medial

Qoruz raises $500K in pre-Series A round led by The Chennai Angels Qoruz, a creator intelligence and collaboration platform, has secured $500K of funding from The Chennai Angels as part of its ongoing pre-Series A round, which is targeted at $1 million. The round also saw participation from senior marketing professionals, agency leaders, and founders from the media and advertising ecosystem. The Bengaluru-based startup had previously raised 4.5 crore in a seed funding round from Dexter Angels and the IIM Indore Alumni Fund. The proceeds will be utilized to scale its AI capabilities, expand into new market verticals, and strengthen its global presence with a focus on the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Qoruz said in a press release. Co-founded in 2014 by Praanesh Bhuvaneswar, Prabakaran B, Aditya Gurwara, and Priya Vivek, Qoruz is a creator intelligence and collaboration platform that helps brands discover, evaluate, and collaborate with creators to drive measurable business outcomes. The platform enables marketers to approach creator collaboration as a structured, data-led channel rather than an intuition-driven tactic. “We’re not just building a platform, we’re building an ecosystem for the creator economy, where creators are central to how products are discovered, trusted, and bought. For this to scale meaningfully, it needs more than connections; it needs infrastructure. This capital allows us to deepen that foundation and bring operational precision to a space that has long operated on instinct,” said Praanesh Bhuvaneswar, co-founder and CEO of Qoruz. Qoruz plans to target $30 million ARR by 2026, growing 3x YoY in enterprise client adoption. The company claims that its platform has been used by over 1,000 brands and agencies, including Amazon, Flipkart, Jiostar, Dabur, L’Oréal, and Coca-Cola.

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