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Pine Labs to file DRHP for ₹5,000–6,000-Cr IPO by June-end

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Amrish Rau, CEO, Pine Labs

Merchant payments and lending platform Pine Labs is preparing to file its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) by the end of this month, as it moves toward a public listing scheduled for later this year, according to sources familiar with the development.

The Noida-based firm is aiming to raise ₹5,000–6,000 crore through its upcoming initial public offering (IPO), sources said. According to preliminary estimates, the listing could value Pine Labs at approximately $4–5 billion, aligning with its last private market valuation.

Pine Labs has appointed Axis Capital, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citi, and Jefferies as the lead bankers for its upcoming IPO.

“The plan is to file the DRHP by June-end and target the IPO towards the end of the year, depending on market conditions,” one of the persons cited earlier said.

Previously headquartered in Singapore, Pine Labs completed its reverse flip on April 9 following approval from the Chandigarh bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

For FY24, Pine Labs reported an operating revenue of ₹1,743 crore, while its loss before tax stood at ₹339 crore, as per regulatory filings.

The company is actively joining other major players preparing to enter the public markets. Groww, a stock broking and wealth management platform, filed its DRHP with SEBI in May, aiming to raise $700 million to $1 billion through its IPO. Additionally, Walmart-owned PhonePe is also expected to file its IPO documents by the third quarter of this year.

Pine Labs has been actively working toward a public listing over the past few quarters. In 2022, the company had confidentially filed IPO papers with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a planned $500 million raise, aiming for a listing in the United States.

Over the past three years, its valuation has surged, driven by multiple equity infusions from prominent global investors including Alpha Wave, Vitruvian Partners, PayPal, and others.

Founded in 1998, Peak XV Partners-backed Pine Labs is now one of India’s largest offline merchant payment platforms. The company has since diversified into online payments, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) solutions, and broader consumer fintech services, notably acquiring Southeast Asian fintech startup Fave in 2021.

Prestige Hospitality expands in India with 2,509 new Hotel rooms across key cities

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Prestige Hospitality Ventures Limited (PHVL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Prestige Estate Projects Ltd., is aiming to strengthen its presence in India’s rapidly growing hospitality sector. The company, which specializes in luxury, upper upscale, upscale, and upper midscale properties for both business and leisure travelers, plans to add 2,509 rooms to its portfolio through a mix of ongoing and upcoming projects.

The planned expansion includes three ongoing projects totaling 951 keys and nine upcoming projects adding 1,558 keys, thereby positioning Prestige Hospitality as one of the largest private hotel asset owners and developers in South India by total room count. Moreover, through this growth, PHVL aims to establish a strong footprint in key demand hubs—Bengaluru, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Sakaleshpura, Chennai, and Mumbai—which together account for a significant share of India’s hotel inventory and air traffic.

As of December 31, 2024, Prestige Hospitality comprises seven operational properties with a total of 1,445 keys, including one currently undergoing renovation. These include prominent Bengaluru-based hotels such as Sheraton Grand (360 keys), JW Marriott Golfshire (301 keys), Conrad (285 keys), Techcloud–Moxy (128 keys), Tribute–Mulberry (102 keys), and Angsana Oasis Spa and Resort (79 keys). Additionally, the Marriott Executive Apartments at UB City, Bengaluru—featuring 190 keys—is currently under renovation.

PHVL strategically focuses its developments on India’s top 10 key hospitality markets, where strong business activity, tourism, and connectivity drive demand. In FY24, cities such as Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Goa, Chennai, and Hyderabad collectively contributed to 59% of India’s air traffic and 46% of the total hotel key supply. PHVL’s location strategy is driven by identifying high-potential micro-markets, selected based on their proximity to airports, central business districts, major industrial zones, and popular tourist destinations.

Prestige Hospitality’s diverse portfolio spans convention center hotels, business hotels, extended-stay serviced residences, and golf resorts. The company has partnered with several prestigious hospitality brands, primarily from Marriott International, including St. Regis, Edition Hotels, W Hotels, JW Marriott, Sheraton, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Moxy, Aloft, and Marriott Executive Apartments (currently under renovation). Additionally, PHVL collaborates with other global names such as Conrad by Hilton Worldwide and Angsana Resorts & Spa by Banyan Group.

As of December 31, 2024, PHVL holds the largest number of operating and pipeline keys within the Marriott-managed portfolio in India, accounting for 9% of Marriott’s total managed inventory in the country.

Prestige Hospitality’s has recently filed a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI to raise ₹2,700 crore through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). This move marks a significant step in the company’s growth journey as it looks to expand its footprint in India’s booming hospitality sector.

PowerUp Money raises $7 Mn in funding led by Accel and Blume

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Bengaluru-based wealthtech startup PowerUp Money has secured $7.1 million in its first significant institutional funding round, with Accel, Blume Ventures, and Kae Capital leading the investment.

The round also included contributions from 8i Ventures and DeVC.

Launched in April by Prateek Jindal, former co-founder of Uni Cards, PowerUp Money enables retail investors to invest directly in mutual funds.

“The venture was initially built as a separate platform but within Uni Cards. Post this funding round, the firm and the team have been hived off from Uni,” Jindal said. He added that while he continues to be a shareholder at Uni Cards, he has resigned from an executive role in the company.

With a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) license, PowerUp Money provides advisory services for clients’ mutual fund investments, along with facilitating in-app transactions.

Founder Prateek Jindal expressed optimism about the sector’s growth, projecting that the Indian mutual fund market will expand from 55 million to 100 million users over the next three to four years. He emphasized that this surge will drive demand for reliable advisory services to help investors make informed decisions on buying and selling funds.

“There are many competitors in the wealth management space in India, but I am targeting retail investors with a ticket size of anywhere between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2 crore,” Jindal said.

PowerUp Money’s recent funding round comes amid increased momentum in India’s wealth management space, with emerging players like Centricity, Dezerv, and Ionic Wealth (backed by Angel One) aiming to establish their presence in this rapidly growing sector. Meanwhile, Groww has also entered the fray by acquiring Fisdom, marking its foray into wealth management.

PowerUp Money plans to develop a technology-driven platform that delivers high-quality advisory and portfolio management services at no cost to users. Additionally, the company offers a paid subscription tier that includes quarterly portfolio reviews and access to premium services.

“While this will be my customer acquisition strategy, I am looking to generate revenue from end-to-end portfolio management services, which is what I am building towards,” Jindal said.

With a team of around 30–35 members, Prateek Jindal plans to utilize the newly raised funds to strengthen the research division, develop new products tailored to consumer needs, and accelerate customer acquisition efforts.

Prestige Estates Projects aims Rs 27,000-Cr in FY26 sales bookings, eyes 59% growth milestone

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Zyad Noaman, Executive Director, Prestige Estates

Prestige Estates Projects Ltd. has set a goal to achieve property sales worth Rs 27,000 crore in the current fiscal year, representing a 59% increase from the previous year, demonstrating its optimism about housing demand.

Bengaluru-based Prestige Estates Projects saw its sales bookings fall by 19% year-over-year to Rs 17,023 crore in the 2024-25 fiscal year, primarily due to delays in obtaining regulatory approvals needed to launch new projects.

The company had initially projected Rs 24,000 crore in sales bookings for the last fiscal year but fell significantly short of that target.

During a conference call with analysts, Prestige Estates Chairman Irfan Razack mentioned that the company has adopted a cautious approach with a pre-sales target of Rs 27,000 crore for the current fiscal year.

“So the strategy is I would rather under-promise and over-deliver,” Razack told analysts, as per the call transcript uploaded on the stock exchanges.

“…see, now what has happened is we had kept a target of Rs 24,000 crore for FY25, which, of course, we fell short of. But I think this first quarter itself will give us some Rs 12,000-13,000 crore. So I believe we should cross Rs 25,000 crore, maybe Rs 27,000 crore… But I think let’s take Rs 27,000 crore and go along for the year,” Razack said.

He stated that the company currently holds inventories valued at Rs 20,000 crore across its ongoing projects and has a robust pipeline of new projects worth Rs 42,000 crore planned for the current fiscal year.

Prestige Estates Executive Director Zyad Noaman explained that the fall in pre-sales numbers last fiscal year was “largely due to the deferred launches.”

“However, this was offset by strong pricing power; average realization for residential apartments, villas, and commercial products rose 36 percent year-on-year to Rs 14,113 per square foot, while plotted development saw a 50 percent year-on-year increase,” said Noaman.

Looking ahead, he said the company has entered FY26 with renewed momentum.

“Q1 has already seen a strong start with the launch of The Prestige City Indirapuram, a marquee township development in NCR with a GDV (gross development value) of Rs 9,000 crore, of which we have already sold over Rs 6,500 crore,” Noaman said.

According to its investor presentation, Prestige Estates plans to launch multiple residential projects across key cities this fiscal year, aiming for projected revenues exceeding Rs 42,000 crore as it seeks to expand its business and capitalize on strong consumer demand.

The company intends to introduce up to 25 residential developments, covering a total of 44.8 million square feet of developable area, with an estimated Gross Development Value (GDV) of Rs 42,120 crore.

The company has scheduled these upcoming projects in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, and Goa.

In the 2024-25 financial year, the company launched fewer projects due to delays in regulatory approvals.

In the previous fiscal year, Prestige Estates launched 26.28 million square feet of projects, with a total Gross Development Value of approximately Rs 26,222.8 crore.

In terms of financial results, Prestige Estates’ net profit declined significantly to Rs 467.5 crore in the last fiscal year, down from Rs 1,374.1 crore in the previous year.

Total income also decreased to Rs 7,735.5 crore during the same period, compared to Rs 9,425.3 crore in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

To date, the Prestige Group has completed over 300 projects and is actively developing numerous properties across major states.

EatSure launches first vegetarian-only smart foodcourt in Rajkot

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Sagar Kochhar, Co-Founder and CEO of EatSure, Rebel Foods

EatSure, the leading food delivery brand from Rebel Foods, has introduced its first-ever vegetarian-only smart foodcourt in Rajkot. Firstly, it is located at Crystal Mall on Kalawad Road. Moreover, this development marks the eighth physical smart foodcourt by EatSure across India. Covering 2,200 square feet, the outlet aims to transform the city’s dining landscape. Additionally, it features a seamless, fully digital, and queueless ordering system. Therefore, this initiative is set to enhance the dining experience in Rajkot by making it more convenient and modern.

The EatSure Smart Foodcourt in Rajkot offers a distinctive dining experience, allowing customers to place their orders through self-service kiosks or the EatSure app. In addition to its innovative digital ordering system, the foodcourt also features a variety of celebrated brands representing popular food categories, according to a company statement.

Speaking about the launch, Sagar Kochhar, co-founder and CEO, EatSure, Rebel Foods, said, “With the launch of EatSure’s first-ever vegetarian-only smart foodcourt in Rajkot, we’re thrilled to bring a one-of-a-kind, tech-powered dining experience to a city that truly celebrates vegetarian cuisine. This marks a major milestone in our offline growth journey as we merge culinary innovation with a fully digital ecosystem. Category-leading, much-loved brands like Behrouz Biryani, Faasos, Wendy’s, Oven Story, Sweet Truth, and more are coming to Rajkot—all under one roof. With this launch, we aim to redefine everyday dining by delivering unmatched convenience, variety, and trust through a seamless, smart experience.”

With this launch, food enthusiasts in the city can now indulge in a wide range of cuisines, effortlessly ordering from a diverse collection of restaurants, including Wendy’s, Behrouz Biryani, Faasos, Oven Story Pizza, Lunchbox, Sweet Truth, The Good Bowl, Firangi Bake, The Biryani Life, and ES Café – all in one single, seamless order. And that’s not all; this launch marks a significant shift towards a more streamlined dining experience.

Consequently, the EatSure platform offers unparalleled variety and convenience, providing customers with an unmatched experience. Furthermore, the platform’s offerings cater to diverse tastes and preferences, making it easy for diners to satisfy their cravings. As a result, the entire dining experience is simplified, making it more enjoyable and stress-free.

Rebel Foods, a pioneer in the direct-to-consumer online dining movement, is realizing this vision through EatSure’s virtual food court concept. The launch in Rajkot mirrors the convenience of a traditional food court, allowing customers to place a single order from multiple leading brands. Additionally, EatSure has collaborated with IRCTC to revolutionize train dining experiences. Through the ‘Order Food on Train’ feature on its app, passengers can conveniently select from various restaurants and have their meals delivered directly to their seats as they journey across the Indian Railway network, the company stated.

Uber and AI startup Wayve partner for autonomous vehicle testing in the UK

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Uber Technologies Inc has partnered with AI company Wayve to begin autonomous vehicle testing on public roads in the UK, the two firms announced in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Under their partnership, Uber and Wayve plan to develop Level 4 autonomous vehicles. According to the Society of Automotive Engineers, vehicle autonomy is categorized into six levels—from Level 0 to Level 5. Level 4 vehicles are highly autonomous but operate within designated areas. In emergencies or system failures, a human driver can still take over control.

Alphabet is already running its Waymo autonomous vehicles in San Francisco, while various other companies, including Tesla with its robotaxi, are developing their own versions.

Uber and Wayve are partnering to pilot autonomous vehicles in the UK, combining Wayve’s AI technology with Uber’s mobility network. This partnership makes the UK Uber’s largest market for autonomous vehicle trials.

The UK’s diverse and complex driving environments, such as London, offer a unique testing ground for autonomous vehicles. Lessons learned from these trials will significantly advance L4 technology, enabling its deployment in cities worldwide.

Wayve and Uber are partnering to bring autonomous vehicles to Uber’s platform using Wayve’s AI tech, with plans to deploy in major European markets.

Wayve, a London-based autonomous driving tech company founded in 2017, has received backing from major investors including SoftBank Group, Nvidia, and Eclipse Ventures.

The partnership between Wayve and Uber marks a significant step towards deploying autonomous vehicles in the UK and beyond, leveraging advanced AI technology for safer and more efficient transportation.

Pantomath Group launches ₹2,000-Cr Bharat Bhumi Fund to boost asset management

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Madhu Lunawat, Founder and Director of The Wealth Company Asset Management

The Wealth Company Asset Management Pvt Ltd., a subsidiary of the Pantomath Group, has launched the ₹2,000-crore Bharat Bhumi Fund comprising a ₹1,000-crore Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) and an additional ₹1,000-crore greenshoe option. This marks the fifth installment in the Bharat Value Fund Series, with the fund actively focusing on investments in the real estate sector.

Rakesh Kumar spearheads the fund, bringing with him extensive experience from over 50,000 real estate transactions, along with senior leadership roles at Shell, Walmart, and Reliance. Additionally, Bhavya Bagrecha joins him, having executed institutional real estate investments worth over ₹2,500 crore and, notably, pioneered India’s first REIT-style framework under SEBI’s VCF regulations.

Additionally, Peter Sharp—former head of Walmart’s Asia real estate division and a veteran with more than 35 years of global industry experience—has joined the advisory team.

Bharat Bhumi Fund will primarily focus on ready-to-launch projects that can quickly transition from investment to value generation. Moreover, backed by a strong pipeline of approximately 1,200 acres across six projects, the fund aims to deploy capital swiftly, strategically, and with precision. These sectors align with India’s growing focus on infrastructure development, digital transformation, and sustainability, the company said.

The Bharat Bhumi Fund represents a significant extension of The Wealth Company’s investment strategy, offering investors a structured way to increase their exposure to tangible real estate assets.

“As capital becomes more thoughtful, the demand for real assets with real outcomes has never been higher. Bharat Bhoomi Fund allows meeting that demand with discipline, data, and domain expertise. The wealth company’s investment ethos is now extending into India’s real estate space,” Madhu Lunawat, Founder and Director of The Wealth Company Asset Management, said.

The fund will adopt a diversified capital allocation approach, investing across sectors such as data centers, warehousing, hospitality, and renewable energy parks.

The company observed a rise in investor interest in these emerging economic assets, driven by India’s ongoing digital and green energy transitions.

In addition, the fund will invest in mid-to-premium residential projects, retail spaces, plotted villa developments, and mixed-use projects across key high-growth urban centers, including Mumbai (MMR), NCR, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad, it added.

With a seasoned leadership team and a robust project pipeline, the Bharat Bhumi Fund aims to deliver strong value creation while aligning with emerging investor preferences in real assets.

Flick TV raises $2.3 Mn in funding round

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Pratik Anand & Kushal Singhal, Co-founders, Flick TV

Noida-based microdrama OTT platform Flick TV has secured $2.3 million (INR 19.7 crore) in a seed funding round led by Stellaris Venture Partners, with additional backing from Gemba Capital and Titan Capital.

Flick TV’s cofounder and CEO Kushal Singhal said the team will primarily use the fresh capital to ramp up content creation. “We aim to release 100 original shows this year and introduce content in four regional languages,” he said.

The funds will also go toward enhancing the mobile streaming experience, expanding the team, and growing the user base.

Microdramas, by definition, deliver short-form scripted series, with episodes typically running between 30 seconds and 10 minutes. As user preferences shift toward mobile-first content, creators increasingly design these bite-sized stories for on-the-go viewing. Consequently, they actively distribute them through platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Pocket FM, Kuku FM, and various other OTT apps.

Launched in April this year by former ShareChat executives Kushal Singhal and Sanidhya Mittal, along with ex-Pocket FM senior director Pratik Anand, Flick TV aims to fill a growing demand for bite-sized storytelling among mobile-first audiences.

According to Singhal, the platform currently partners with four in-house production studios to generate content tailored for its viewers.

With over 10,000 downloads on the Google Play Store, Flick TV competes in the short-form video space alongside platforms like Reelies, Kuku, and ReelSaga.

The app primarily caters to housewives and shopkeepers, focusing on relatable and engaging content across genres such as love, heartbreak, drama, crime, fiction, and fantasy.

He further added that the app generates its revenue via a micropayment model, where users pay a small fee based on the number of episodes they want to watch per day. “And as users develop more trust on the platform, we will switch them to monthly and quarterly payment plans,” he added.

Content continues to shape digital consumption patterns, with OTT platforms driving a surge in binge-watching across all age groups. However, as user attention spans shrink, short-form video content has rapidly gained traction. Platforms like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels now attract significant traffic, reflecting this shift in viewer preference.

What began as short videos in categories like beauty, travel, health, fitness, and comedy has evolved into serialized entertainment content—ushering in the rise of microdramas.

This trend has captured investor interest, with entertainment startups in the microdrama space attracting fresh capital to create original content and redefine digital storytelling. For example, ReelSaga recently raised $2.1 million (INR 17.9 Cr) in seed funding to enhance its app and develop localized, high-quality microdramas.

Globally, the microdrama market—centered on ultra-short, mobile-first fiction—was valued at $6.54 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach nearly $12 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 10.5%.

Insurtech firm Slide targets $340 Mn in upcoming US IPO

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Insurance tech firm Slide is targeting a valuation of up to $2.12 billion through its U.S. initial public offering, joining a wave of insurance companies that have recently seen strong debuts on the stock market.

The company’s IPO roadshow comes on the heels of impressive listings from eToro and Circle, signaling a renewed investor interest in public offerings after months of stagnation due to U.S. policy uncertainty.

According to a filing made on Monday, Slide and certain existing shareholders plan to raise up to $340 million by offering 20 million shares, priced in the range of $15 to $17 each.

Analysts note that insurers tend to be more resilient during market downturns, as increased uncertainty often drives greater demand for risk-mitigation products. Additionally, sectors centered around intellectual property continue to capture investor interest.

Apollo-backed Aspen Insurance and Florida-based American Integrity Insurance recently completed their IPOs, while specialty insurer Ategrity plans to go public later this week.

Founded in 2021, Slide provides insurance products for families and condominiums in Florida and South Carolina. The company is led by Bruce Lucas, the former founder and CEO of Heritage Insurance.

Regulatory filings reveal that 99.5% of Slide’s policies are currently based in Florida, a state where the company plans to expand its presence—despite other insurers retreating from the region due to its vulnerability to natural disasters, particularly hurricanes.

Slide reported a 69.1% surge in profit, reaching $92.5 million for the quarter ended March 31. Its combined ratio improved to 58.9%, down from 66.7% a year earlier—indicating strong underwriting performance, as a ratio below 100% means the insurer collected more in premiums than it paid out in claims.

Barclays and Morgan Stanley are acting as the lead underwriters for the IPO.

Slide’s shares are expected to debut on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “SLDE.”

Vecmocon Technologies raises $18 Mn in Series A funding round

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[L-R] Adarsh kumar Balaraman, Peeyush Asati, & Shivam Wankhede, Founders of Vecmocon

Deep-tech startup Vecmocon Technologies announced on Monday that it has secured over $18 million (approximately ₹153 crore) in a Series A funding round.

The round was led by EIF, a sustainability-focused venture capital fund, with additional participation from Aavishkaar Capital, British International Investment (BII)—the UK’s development finance institution—and existing investor Blume Ventures, the company stated.

Vecmocon Technolgies said the new capital will help broaden its market reach and enhance its technological capabilities in areas such as embedded design, power electronics, IoT, and data science. The funding will also support the company’s mission to power over 1 lakh vehicles on Indian roads with its innovative solutions.

Additionally, a portion of the funding will be allocated toward expanding the team and setting up dedicated R&D infrastructure for the electric automotive sector while also accelerating Vecmocon’s global growth plans.

“This infusion of capital will supercharge our efforts to engineer the next generation of the most robust, high-performance, software-defined, and safety-critical systems uniquely tailored for Indian conditions and global deployment in electric vehicles and clean energy systems. We’re not just building for India—we’re building in India, by Indian engineers, for the world,” Peeyush Asati, CEO of Vecmocon Technologies, said.

Founded in 2016 by IIT and ISB alumni, the New Delhi-based startup is building “most robust systems” for Indian conditions.

The company stated that it aims to embed intelligent systems and data-driven insights into every electric vehicle, enhancing their responsiveness, adaptability, and overall efficiency.

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