ZFW Dark Stores bags $1.2mn in seed round from Riso Capital, SEA Fund, & strategic angels

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June 3, 2022

ZFW Dark Stores, a full-stack fulfillment technology platform for e-commerce brands, announced that it had raised a USD 1.2 million seed round from Riso Capital, SEA Fund, Lead Fund, and a clutch of marquee founder-angels.

New investors also include Middle East conglomerate Qudrah National Holdings, Archana Priyadarshini (GP, Point One Capital), South Asia Technology Partners, Long Tail Ventures, Jasminder Gulati (Founder, NowFloats; acquired by Reliance), and founders of India’s fastest-growing brands like The Mom’s Co (Mohit Sadaani), Rage Coffee (Bharat Sethi), Neeman’s (Amar Chhabra), Jimmy’s Cocktails (Ankur Bhatia), Letsbuy.com (Amanpreet Bajaj), Thrive (Karan Chechani and Dhruv Dewan), Almo (Abhishek Shah), and Aman Arora (Keventers) among other angels. Existing investors like ice.vc, Mumbai Angels, & Arjun Vaidya (Founder, Dr. Vaidya’s) participated in the round.

The Delhi-based startup plans to use the funding to expand its dark store operations across India, streamline hiring, and expand its technological capabilities to provide a seamless delivery experience. It previously received USD 415,000 in pre-seed funding from Indvest Family Office, Runwal Group, Epigamia, Beardo, The Face Shop, NOTO, etc.

Through its dark stores and last-mile deliveries across India, ZFW Dark Stores enables D2C brands to fulfill orders to clients in 30 minutes, 2 hours, and on the same day.

Rage Coffee, Clinikally, Epigamia, Jimmy’s Cocktails, HUL, Havmor Ice Cream, and Vadilal are among the 150+ dark stores operated by the startup, which was created in 2021 by cloud kitchen entrepreneur Madhav Kasturia.

Commenting on the round announcement, ZFW Dark Stores founder Madhav Kasturia said, “Our technology platform empowers new-age brands that want to sell through their own channels and offer a superior Amazon-like Same-Day Delivery experience to customers: without breaking the bank or worrying about risks associated with over-dependence on E-commerce platforms (low margins, lack of control, and data). Solving for pain points in fulfilment like high RTOs, low customer delight, and margins is at the core of what we do. We’re humbled to welcome new investors and especially enjoy the continued confidence of so many D2C founders- some of whom first joined us as customers & then doubled down on our mission as angels.”

With rising online shoppers, acquisition costs, and evolving brand loyalties in post-Covid E-commerce, brands need to be closer to customers than ever before, with robust technology and infrastructure to meet demand.

ZFW Dark Stores plans to expand to 10 cities across India by the end of 2022 as part of its next phase.

Citigroup takes 4.20 lakh sq ft workspace in Chennai and Pune

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June 3, 2022

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US-based bank Citigroup Inc announced on Thursday the opening of two state-of-the-art workspaces in Chennai and Pune as part of its Citi Solution Centres network, which would help the bank better serve its global clients. For institutional clients and personal banking and wealth management businesses, the Chennai and Pune offices provide technology, operations, analytics, finance, risk, and allied services.

“The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified incremental spaces, spread across 4.20 lakh sq ft at the existing locations at DLF Cybercity Chennai and EON IT Park, Pune would augment the capacity to serve global client of Citi,” a company statement said here.

Citi India Chief Executive Officer Ashu Khullar, Chief Information Officer, and Head of Operations and Technology (Asia Pacific), Stacey N Lacy, inaugurated the facilities in the presence of senior officials.

“The augmented workspaces will complement the existing facilities as we scale up to support over 4,000 additional seats. This will drive forward Citi’s digital strategy, delivering market-leading digital banking products and superior client experiences,” Khullar said.

According to Lacy, “the expansion of our Citi Solution Centre premises in India signals our commitment to hire the best talent as our businesses pursue growth and work with clients in the digital age.”

“We are focused on developing the next generation of talent to further innovate, leverage new skills and deliver the best of Citi to our clients,” Lacy said.

The release said Citi has similar Citi Solution Centres in Bengaluru, Gurugram, and Mumbai.

Google to merge Duo, Meet into a single platform

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June 2, 2022

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Google has announced that it plans to merge its two video calling applications, Duo and Meet, into a single platform. The company stated that it had invested heavily in Google Duo and Google Meet to assist users who rely on our technology for video calls and meetings.

“In the coming weeks, we are adding all the Google Meet features to the Duo app, so users can easily schedule a video meeting at a time that works for everyone or continue using video calling to instantly connect with a person or group,” the company said in a statement.

“Later this year, we will rename the Duo app to Google Meet, our single video communications service across Google that is available to everyone at no-cost,” it added.

Users will be able to use a single service for video calling and meetings with people across their lives due to this integrated experience.

For customers who use Duo as their cross-platform video calling software service, the business has also added additional capabilities such as group calls for up to 32 people, the addition of doodles, and video calling on tablets, foldables, smart devices, and TVs.

The company claimed it had improved quality and reliability to keep meetings safe and productive while introducing new moderation controls.

SaaS firm Kovai.co charts product-led growth strategy for unicorn status

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June 2, 2022

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Kovai.co, the Software as a Service (SaaS) firm aims for unicorn status as it pursues a product-led growth path, said Saravana Kumar, the founder, and CEO of Kovai.co.

With a limited product portfolio, Kumar said the firm is working on a customer success product, one of the fastest-growing product segments in SaaS, and is due out this year.

“We see huge potential for this product. On its own, it can reach $50 million annual revenue,” he said. He estimated Kovai.co to reach unicorn status, a privately held company with a valuation of $1 billion or more, by 2030.

The London-based firm began by developing products for the Microsoft ecosystem, such as software for the technology giant’s Azure cloud platform, but has now expanded to develop standalone products in areas such as knowledge base software for enterprise products.

Kovai.co embarked on a consolidation drive to integrate some of its products under its flagship BizTalk360, primarily to focus on key markets.

The 11-year-old company, the Tamil name of the city – Coimbatore – from where it recruits the majority of its key personnel, reached $10 million in annual recurring revenue in 2020 and continues to expand rapidly.

The company’s impending entry into the customer success area will pit it against US-based unicorns like Gainsight and Totango, who have already made significant inroads.

Inquiries have been rising as the customer success industry becomes more widely known.

According to Gartner Research, inquiries for Customer Success Management platforms increased by 88% last year.

Customer success is a relatively recent segment of the SaaS industry.

It allows software firms to track usage, ease of use, the amount to which features and functionalities are used, and insights into why customers stop buying the product.

“It’s a pretty early-stage market. Worldwide, there are about 10-15 companies in the market,” said Kumar.

SaaS businesses have recently seen a correction in valuations, which Kumar believes can only benefit the industry in the long run by forcing a return to fundamentals and time-tested growth strategies.

SaaS enterprises have the potential to accomplish big revenue and valuation milestones on their own due to their great operating efficiencies and growth prospects, he added.

OYO adds more than 1250 new corporates since March 2022

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June 1, 2022

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Since March 2022, OYO has added over 1250 corporates, indicating that business travel in India is gradually recovering. Small and medium businesses, conventional business houses & conglomerates, startups, travel management organizations, and film production companies, which have recently emerged as a key customer category for OYO, are leading the recovery.

Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Delhi are among the top cities searched and booked by businesses. As more people from this group opt for physical interactions, which is still a key factor for building their business, small and medium firms continue to contribute considerably to business travel reservations.

Since January 2021, OYO’s Business Accelerator division has served approximately 6600 corporate clients.

Customers with corporate tie-ups get curated stay options, strong personalized customer service, integration with their accounting system, and the ability to book a room via OYO’s app or website.

Domestic corporate travel is one of OYO’s key emphasis areas. However, intermittent disruptions have resulted in suppressed or inconsistent booking patterns since the pandemic. Companies have also benefited from OYO’s recent focus on its mid to premium sector brand categories Townhouse Oak, Townhouse, 5 by OYO, and 4 by OYO.

Commenting on the growth in corporate travel, Ankit Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, OYO, India said “The appetite for business travel has returned strongly since the frequent change in travel restrictions has ebbed, making travel planning for business trips more certain and predictable.. For a lot of our corporate customers, conducting business over virtual meetings was a stop gap and sub-optimal solution. Such customers are leading the business travel revival. Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions are the other key use cases fueling the growth of business travel”.

OYO has engaged with more than 2800 offline travel agents since January 2021.

Aditya Birla Group forays into direct to consumer business, launches a new firm TMRW

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June 1, 2022

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Aditya Birla Group has announced the launch of TMRW, a new direct-to-consumer business that will acquire and incubate 30 brands over the next three years. Multiple entrepreneurs will be able to work together on a synergistic platform with common capabilities as part of the venture.

The company has appointed ex-Facebook and Bain executive Prashanth Aluru as the CEO and co-founder to lead the build-out of this new venture.

“This venture has the potential to become a significant growth engine by tapping into the new wave of entrepreneurial energy in India. With the launch of this venture, we intend to double down on our ongoing program of strategically attracting new pools of capital that are seeking investment in high-growth businesses,” Ashish Dikshit, MD of ABFRL, said.

ABFRL stated that it would create a separate firm to enter the direct-to-consumer (D2C) market as part of its ambition to build a portfolio of new-age, digital brands across fashion, beauty, and lifestyle categories. D2C brands generate the majority of their revenue or acquire most of their customers through direct-to-consumer online channels or those that began with an online-first distribution model before expanding into other channels.

The company, which sells clothing and accessories from names such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, and Peter England, has announced that it will incubate and acquire emerging brands.

According to Tracxn, a market intelligence provider of private company data, around 590 new D2C enterprises have entered the Indian market in the last three years, raising Rs 6,700 crore. According to ABFRL, the D2C market opportunity in India is anticipated to be worth $100 billion by 2025.

Digital asset management platform Liminal bags $4.7mn funding led by Elevation Capital

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June 1, 2022

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Liminal, a digital asset management platform, has secured $4.7 million in a seed round led by Elevation Capital and includes notable investors such as crypto fund LD Capital, Woodstock, and Nexus Ventures.

According to the company, the fund will be used to hire more employees and develop new products.

Founded in 2021 by Mahin Gupta, Liminal offers wallet architecture to help secure digital assets across different blockchains.

“With Liminal, we solve the very real problem of securing and scaling digital assets where users have to use different wallets and infrastructure for different protocols,” Gupta said in a statement.

The plug-and-play platform helps exchanges by reducing manual operations by 90% and saving hours of manual refilling.

“Safe custody of digital assets is a key challenge faced by businesses and institutional investors, and custodians like Liminal will play a big role in facilitating the mass adoption of digital assets and Web3,” the company said.

Liminal claimed to have processed over $2.5 billion in transactions in one year, with $400 million in automated transactions. It claimed to have assets worth roughly $50 million under protection.

Liminal’s automated wallet solution makes managing workflows across numerous blockchain protocols easier for crypto-native businesses, SMEs, and Web3 startups.

According to the statement, it helps companies, including exchanges, custodians, banks, trading desks, and hedge funds, scales their digital asset operations safely.

Liminal’s clients include ZebPay, DIFX, and Flitpay, and the company is now focusing on expanding in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

“Rapid adoption of digital assets is going to be driven by multiple new-age crypto businesses and institutions…These businesses are increasingly demanding plug-and-play custody solutions that are built taking their unique needs into account,” said Vaas Bhaskar, principal at Elevation Capital.

Kinara Capital aims to hire 700 employees

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May 31, 2022

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Kinara Capital, a fintech firm, is hiring in 90 cities throughout India. The company expects to hire 700 people throughout its 125 offices and Bengaluru head office within the next six months.

According to a statement, the company has opened its doors to everyone from new graduates to experienced senior management interested in joining a fast-growing fintech, with job possibilities available at all levels.

Sales, collections, operations, credit risk, and internal quality audit are among the field roles available at the branch level (IQA). Kinara is hiring for positions in Data Science, Engineering, Data Platform, IT, HR, Business Operations, Finance & Accounting, Marketing, Products & Strategy, and more at its Bengaluru head office.

Freshers interested in field positions are also encouraged to enrol in Kinara’s LEAP high-skill training programme, which will help them jumpstart their careers. LEAP is a six-month intensive paid training programme that combines rigorous classroom learning with hands-on field training.

The programme assists freshers in establishing a solid foundation in the corporate sector. Over 100 freshers have participated in the programme in the last year, with some of the problem-solvers graduating to take on Hub Manager responsibilities.

Kinara Capital is one of the rare companies with a women-majority management team and has made gender equality a priority in every department. According to the statement, one of Kinara Capital’s core values is inclusion.

The company has established a progressive, inclusive culture by ensuring that no gender-related or other discriminatory questions, such as those concerning religion, familial origin, marital status, or plans to have children, are asked of applicants. Employees that are differently-abled and members of the LGBTQ+ community currently work for the company.

Hardika Shah, Founder & CEO of Kinara Capital, said, “Kinara was built on the assurance of providing underserved entrepreneurs with top-notch customer service. We are growing our team to support even more MSMEs, especially as we continue to expand in Tier 2 and Tier 3 geographies. Our national hiring drive is with the intent to seek out professionals who wish to lead a purpose-driven life and make an impact on others by furthering our mission of financial inclusion.”

Lemon Tree Hotels signs new property in Chirang, Assam

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May 31, 2022

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Lemon Tree Hotels Limited (LTHL) has signed a new property in Chirang, Assam. This 40-key hotel, branded as Keys Select by Lemon Tree Hotels, is set to open in June 2026.

Carnation Hotels Private Limited, a subsidiary and management arm of LTHL, will manage the property Bharati Brahma owns.

Manas National Park, a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site, is located in Chirang, a new district in Assam. It is recognised for its unique and endangered endemic wildlife, such as the Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur, and pygmy hog, and is located in the Himalayan foothills. The closest airport is Borjhar Airport in Guwahati, and the district has multiple railway junctions in the vicinity.

LTHL opened its first hotel in May 2004 with 49 rooms and now has nearly 8,250 rooms in 84 hotels across 52 destinations in India and abroad under its various brands, including Aurika Hotels & Resorts, Lemon Tree Premier, Lemon Tree Hotels, Red Fox Hotels, Keys Prima, Keys Select, and Keys Lite. Nearly 10,650 rooms in 109 hotels across 66 destinations in India and internationally would be operated under the LTHL brands once the present pipeline is operational.

Sugar Cosmetics bags $50 million led by L Catterton

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May 31, 2022

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Sugar Cosmetics, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) cosmetics and personal care brand, has raised $50 million in a round led by L Catterton and joined by existing investors A91 Partners, Elevation Capital, and India Quotient.

The brand previously stated that the beauty brand’s current annualised sales run rate is around Rs 500 crore and that it expects to achieve Rs 2,000 crore in the next 24-36 months.

Sugar said it would expand its physical presence to over 40,000 retail outlets across 550 cities.

Sugar, founded in 2012 by husband-and-wife duo Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee, focuses on online and offline sales.

“The firm’s brand-building and value-creation capabilities will fortify our growth as we continue on our journey of delighting and over-delivering on the expectations of our customers,” Singh said.

L Catterton’s expertise in building iconic consumer brands worldwide and strategic relationship with LVMH will empower Sugar to embark on its next stage of growth amid an expansion in India’s beauty and personal care market, the company said in a statement.

Singh said the company could look at more acquisitions in FY23 and FY24.

“We look forward to partnering with the company to thoughtfully unlock international exposure and drive further growth, leveraging our experience of working with over 20 beauty and personal care companies in L Catterton’s portfolio across the Americas, Europe, and Asia,” said Anjana Sasidharan, L Catterton Asia managing director.

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