Pine Labs, Meesho eye D-Street address; Rapido's food delivery outlook
Pine Labs, Meesho eye D-Street address; Rapido's food delivery outlook
Want this newsletter delivered to your inbox?
Also in the letter:
Pine Labs gears up for Rs 5,000-6,000 crore IPO
Why it matters:
The details:
IPO size: Rs 5,000-6,000 crore
Rs 5,000-6,000 crore Target valuation: $4–5 billion (flat to last private round)
$4–5 billion (flat to last private round) Bankers: Axis Capital, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Jefferies
Axis Capital, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Jefferies FY24 revenue: Rs 1,743 crore (up around 10% YoY)
Rs 1,743 crore (up around 10% YoY)
FY24 loss before tax: Rs 339 crore (up around 50% YoY)
Founding history:
Adding context:
Between the lines:
Meesho to file draft IPO papers in coming weeks: Report
Rapido will need to go all out to battle Zomato, Swiggy in food delivery, say brokerages
Little impact:
Measured response:
Zoom out:
Read our in-depth coverage of Rapido's food delivery entry:
Sponsor ETtech Top 5 & Morning Dispatch!
Why it matters:
The opportunity:
Reach a highly engaged audience of decision-makers.
Boost your brand's visibility among the tech-savvy community.
Custom sponsorship options to align with your brand's goals.
What's next:
Early investors await Meta-Scale deal windfall: Report
Investors gains:
Beneficiaries of the deal include Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Tiger Global, and Accel.
While the agreement is yet to be finalised, Meta is expected to pay $14-15 per share.
Early backers, including Outlander VC, Y Combinator, and angel investors Greg Brockman and Nat Friedman, had reportedly invested at just 1–3 cents per share, according to Scale AI's Delaware charter.
Tell me more:
Meta is set to acquire a 49% stake in Scale. Most of the capital is expected to be used to pay dividends to shareholders, including current and former employees as well as venture investors.
Once the deal closes, Scale AI's CEO Alexandr Wang and other employees are likely to join Meta's workforce.
Also read:
Google offers voluntary exit to US staff, including search and ad teams
More details:
In a memo, K&I head Nick Fox stated the VEP is intended for employees who are no longer 'energised' by their work or are struggling to meet expectations.
Separately, some teams have asked employees living within 50 miles of a Google office to return to a hybrid work schedule.
Previous round:
Latest cuts:
Liquid Glass meltdown as memes roast Apple for AI flops, stale tech
Apple AI, iDud:
All the hype:
iPhone production slows but steadies in May at Rs 15,000 crore
Looking back:
Pine Labs plans to file its draft prospectus for its IPO by the end of June, while Meesho is likely to follow suit shortly after. This and more in today's ETtech Top 5.■ Scale AI investors' payday■ Google offers voluntary exit■ Liquid Glass meltdownAmrish Rau, CEO, Pine LabsPine Labs is preparing to file its draft IPO papers with Sebi by the end of June, according to people familiar with the matter, as the fintech firm targets a public listing later this year.The move places Pine Labs among the growing cohort of Indian fintech players heading for the public markets in 2025, alongside Groww and PhonePe . The planned offering follows its recent shift of domicile back to India.Pine Labs was founded in 1998 by Lokvir Kapoor, Rajul Garg and Tarun Upadhyay. Originally a loyalty and card-based payments solution, the company pivoted in the late 2000s to focus on merchant payments.Pine Labs had confidentially filed for a US IPO in 2022, aiming to raise $500 million. However, it deferred the plan due to market volatility.Backed by Peak XV Partners, Alpha Wave PayPal , and Vitruvian Partners , the company has steadily expanded into online payments, buy now, pay later (BNPL), account aggregation, and gift cards. It has used acquisitions such as Fave, Setu Mosambee , and Qwikcilver to fuel this expansion.Meanwhile, Meesho is planning to confidentially file for its IPO in the next few weeks, according to a Bloomberg report. The SoftBank-backed etailer is looking to raise $700–800 million from the public offering.The company converted into a 'public limited' entity from a 'private limited' one, ET had reported on June 10 . It is in the process of redomiciling to India from the US.Rapido will face an uphill task in attracting customers as it enters the food delivery space with a commission structure that undercuts larger rivals by half, according to brokerages. However, it may not need to spend heavily on brand building, given the groundwork already laid by incumbents Zomato and Swiggy.Zomato and Swiggy remain deeply entrenched within both the restaurant and customer base, and Rapido poses only a limited threat, Kotak Institutional Equities noted.As the rollout is currently limited to Bengaluru, Bernstein expects no material impact on overall market share.A rapid food delivery scale-up by Rapido, potentially driven by aggressive discounts, could dent the financials of Zomato and Swiggy. In turn, the incumbents are likely to respond cautiously to protect their margins, said Karan Taurani of Elara Capital.Zomato and Swiggy currently enjoy take rates that are well above those of their global peers, according to HSBC Research. Kotak expects this metric to remain steady given the sector's muted growth outlook.Even so, Rapido and other challengers are unlikely to pose a threat to the incumbents' take rates.ETtech Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India's tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and employees.Interested? Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@timesinternet.in to explore sponsorship opportunities.Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta is finalising a deal to invest $15 billion in Scale AI, in a move that would significantly strengthen its AI talent pool and deliver significant returns for early investors in both companies, according to The Information.Google has rolled out a voluntary exit programme (VEP) for employees in the US, as part of its efforts to trim overall headcount. The move involves 'buyout packages'—severance offers designed to encourage staff to leave on their own terms.The offer spans multiple divisions, including Knowledge and Information (K&I), which covers search and ads, as well as central engineering, marketing, research, and communications.In January, Google extended a similar offer to employees in its Platforms and Devices division, which includes Android, Pixel, and Chrome. By April, the company laid off hundreds of employees from the same unit.Just last month, Google let go of 200 employees from its global business unit.Liquid Glass, Apple's headline act at its 2025 developers' conference, quickly became the punchline as the iPhone maker skipped over any major AI breakthroughs.CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino called this year's flagship software event "a dud" on the AI front. Barclays, which hadn't expected much, still came away 'slightly disappointed.''This feels like what ChatGPT thinks people want from Apple,' one X user posted.Touted as the biggest visual overhaul in over a decade, the glass-like interface was meant to dazzle. Instead, concerns about readability and accessibility dominated the conversation. One user even compared it to Windows Vista's translucent interface – and not in a flattering way.Apple's India vendors produced iPhones worth over Rs 15,000 crore in May, according to two market research firms and industry data. Output dipped slightly from the breakneck pace of the previous two months, yet stayed well above the Rs 10,000–11,000 crore monthly average in 2024.The slight slowdown comes as US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on devices sold in the US but made overseas.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
20 minutes ago
- Time of India
Fly ash brick prices up due to raw material costs
Indore: A significant increase in raw material costs led to a price hike of 0.50 paise per piece in fly ash bricks across Indore, lifting the overall building costs for homeowners and construction companies. The surge primarily stems from the rising costs of stone crusher dust and other essential materials used in the manufacturing process. The revised cost of fly ash bricks in Indore is Rs 6.50 per piece. Now the cost of a small truckload carrying 2,000 flyash bricks will be dearer by Rs 1,000. Vijay Gandhi, a builder and member of Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI), Indore said, "Any jump in the input cost directly impacts the building cost. In Indore fly ash is used in around 30-40 per cent projects and red bricks are used widely in Indore due to its easy availability." The robust manufacturing base has established Indore as a significant hub for fly ash brick production in the region. According to industry data, Indore's fly ash brick manufacturing units produce approximately 20 lakh pieces daily. The majority of this production serves the local market, with most supplies being consumed within the city and a 20-kilometre radius. Abhishek Purohit, vice president, Fly Ash Brick Manufacturers Cooperative Society Ltd, said, "The association members unanimously decided in a meeting that due to the rising costs of gravel and stone crusher dust used in the production of fly ash bricks, the price per brick will be increased by 0.50 paise. These revised rates will be implemented immediately." The city hosts over 200 fly ash brick manufacturers, forming a substantial industrial segment. These units collectively require around 6,000 tonnes of fly ash per day to maintain their production levels. Industry experts suggest that this price increase could impact ongoing and planned construction projects in the area. Small-scale builders and individual homeowners might need to revise their budgets to accommodate these higher material costs. "Local manufacturers are working to maintain steady production levels while managing increased operational costs, but this has resulted in squeezed margins. Fly ash bricks offer an eco-friendly alternative to traditional clay bricks, and despite the price increase, these bricks remain an essential building material," said Gaurav Mohta, president, of the association. Fly ash manufacturers highlighted challenges related to logistics and timely transportation of fly ash to end-users.
Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
CM flying squad to probe MCM sanitation contract
Gurgaon: The CM flying squad has initiated an investigation into MCM's sanitation contract with Akanksha Enterprises, demanding documents such as tender details, contractor payments, and supervision records. The probe follows MCM's recent Rs 9.2 crore penalty on the contractor for inadequate service delivery. The contract, initially valid till Feb 2025, was extended to May. "A letter was sent to the MCM officials seeking details of the contract so that the CM flying squad could probe the matter. The civic body was given a week's time to probe the matter," said a ULB official privy to the matter. The contractor submitted an invoice of Rs 13.2 crore for services rendered during these three months. The representative of Akanksha Enterprises, Shishpal Rana, could not be reached despite repeated attempts by TOI. In April, the company also faced a Rs 4.3 crore penalty, during which they alleged bribery among senior MCM officials and payment delays, leading to the transfer of the then MCM commissioner. A sanitation standing committee reviewed the work of the agency between Feb 20, 2025, and May 19, 2025. A meeting was held on June 4 when the committee recommended deducting over Rs 9.17 crore from the agency's Rs 13.17 crore bill, approving only Rs 3.9 crore for payment. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo According to state govt-sanctioned estimates derived from central public health and environment engineering standards (SWM manual of CPPHEO norms, 20216) and the project's request for proposal (RFP), the agency was required to supply 1,997 personnel, 96 tractor trolleys, 468 rickshaw carts, and four earthmovers for sweeping roads in the MCM area. The urban local bodies (ULB) department stipulated that all SWM payments would be processed via the SWM monitoring portal starting Jan 2025. The committee observed a significant gap between the actual deployment figures shown on the SWM portal. It revealed personnel shortfalls of 1,315 in Feb, 1,355 in March, 1,533 in April, and 1,284 in May. Regarding equipment deployment, the committee's review showed that the agency provided only 101 rickshaw carts instead of the required 468 and merely 38 tractor trolleys against the specified 94, indicating substantial shortages in equipment provision for their work in the MCM area for three months.
Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
Tour operator told to refund elderly couple for cancelled tour in Covid times
Ahmedabad: A consumer commission here has ordered a tour operator to refund the full amount with interest, along with Rs 55,000 compensation, to an elderly couple whose tours to Japan and Europe could not take place due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The couple was reluctant to go to the UK, Ireland, and Scotland upon the operator's insistence three years later. This case involved Asha and Yogesh Doshi, residents of the Ambawadi area, who paid Rs 5.30 lakh in 2019 to Mumbai-based Neem Holidays Pvt Ltd for two tours — Japan and Europe in 2020. Due to the Covid pandemic, the tours were cancelled. When normalcy returned, they requested the same tour package, but the operator could not arrange it. Considering that people were still reeling under financial stress due to Covid, the couple did not demand their money back. In 2022, the tour operator offered them a 13-day package for Australia. They agreed and paid Rs 10,000 extra, but this did not take place. A year later, the operator offered the couple a tour to the United Kingdom. The couple refused this trip, yet their tickets were booked. They requested the company not to force them to accept this package tour and demanded their money back. As the operator did not respond, the couple sued it with the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, Ahmedabad City to get the refund. The operator's lawyer appeared, but the reply was not filed. The commission said that since the money was lying with the operator, the complainants did not have any choice but to agree to the unreasonable request. However, compelling them for another tour against their wish was harassment. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "The complainant's money has been wrongfully withheld by the opponent, and therefore the complainants are entitled to receive the full money of the package tour from the opponent," it said. The commission ordered the operator to return Rs 5.40 lakh with 8% interest, along with Rs 55,000 extra towards compensation for causing "physical harassment and mental agony" and towards the expenditure the couple incurred on litigation.
