🚚 Meesho bets on logistics with Valmo

Start Your Day with YS Buzz: Your 8 AM Snapshot of Today's Top Startup News! 08 February 2024 [View in Browser]( Hello, Looks like there’s no relief in sight for Paytm. In a meeting with its Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the RBI has reportedly [refused]( to grant any extension to the February 29 deadline of stopping major services for Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. The banking arm now faces the task of transferring all its accounts to a third party. The only respite for the fintech was on the stock market as its parent [One97 Communications’ shares]( recovered some ground for the second consecutive day, hitting the upper circuit of 10%. Meanwhile, more firms are poised to take Paytm’s pie, as the market regulator approved Juspay, Zoho, and Decentro as [payment aggregators]( allowing them to facilitate online payments on ecommerce websites via a range of options. Elsewhere in the fintech world, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has issued a fresh notice to digital payments company [BharatPe]( seeking details about the proceedings against its co-founder Ashneer Grover and the alleged financial irregularities at the company. In other news, Orios Venture Partners made a partial exit from dairy startup Country Delight, earning a [45X return]( on its initial investment. The venture fund still holds a majority stake in the company. [ICYMI:]( Meet Kmoin Wahlang, a mother of 12, who has been running marathons since she turned 69. And lastly, veg thali will cost you a little more. According to a CRISIL [report]( an average vegetarian thali is 5% more expensive than last year, while non-veg thali’s price is down 13%. The latter is still double the price of a veg thali, which will now cost you over Rs 26. In today’s newsletter, we will talk about - Meesho bets on logistics with Valmo - Freshworks’ Q4 losses halve, revenue up 20% - Eco Way enables green deliveries in Dubai Here’s your trivia for today: Where is the world's oldest astronomical clock located? --------------------------------------------------------------- Logistics Meesho bets on logistics with Valmo ecommerce startup Meesho has entered the logistics industry through supply chain service Valmo, aiming to provide low-cost solutions to micro-enterprises. Meesho looks to create a logistics marketplace to make demand accessible to local players by removing barriers to entry. Valmo’s disaggregated network will help maintain low costs per shipment even with volatile demand patterns, said the company. Key takeaways: - Meesho has been building its logistics platform and onboarding clients for the last year. So far, the platform has onboarded nearly 3,000 local and regional entrepreneurs across 6,000 pin codes in 20 states. - Valmo was built on the idea that the sector is growing fast and holds immense potential to expand local and regional capacity, Sourabh Pandey, CXO of Fulfilment and Experience at Meesho, told YourStory. - India’s logistics sector, which is largely unorganised, is poised to touch $330 billion by 2025, according to Redseer Strategy Consultants. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Funding Alert 1) Attentive.ai: $7M| Series A 2) Metafin: $5M| Undisclosed 3) Cashinvoice: $3M| Series A --------------------------------------------------------------- SaaS Freshworks’ Q4 losses halve company Freshworks registered a 20% growth in revenue for the quarter ended December 2023, driven by generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) in its product portfolio even as losses narrowed, outperforming estimates. Report card: - Freshworks reported revenue of $160.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, a year-on-year growth of 20%. - More importantly, it narrowed its losses to $28 million for the December quarter, a YoY decline of 49% from $55 million a year ago. - The company’s chief revenue officer Pradeep Rathinam has resigned from the firm he joined in 2020. Abe Smith will take over his role. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Electric Vehicles Eco Way enables green deliveries in Dubai Ivan Kroshny, a Ukrainian businessman who moved to Dubai in 2021 to open a speciality coffee chain, noticed that delivery persons in the city primarily used gasoline bikes or scooters to carry out their jobs. This significantly contributed to CO2 emissions and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH), which can cause respiratory illnesses. In 2023, Kroshny, using his experience in manufacturing electric vehicles in China, set up EV delivery startup Eco Way to replace gasoline bikes. Going green: - Eco Way has developed three versions of its proprietary e-bikes for delivery: H-9 City, H-9 SPORT, and H-9 PRO. The e-bikes are capable of reaching speeds of 100-110 km/h and have a range of up to 120 kilometres. - The company’s bikes are powered by CATL batteries. CATL is a China-headquartered company that manufactures and distributes batteries for EVs and energy storage systems. - The e-bikes come with two batteries, enabling couriers to use one while charging the other and swap them at any of its 13 charging stations. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- From the CapTable Nykaa’s beauty business bears the brunt of overall industry slowdown Online beauty and personal care giant Nykaa posted its third-quarter results on February 6, and though it didn’t spring any major surprises, there was still a lot to unpack.The company’s revenue from operations grew 22% to Rs 1,788 crore, while its profits rose about 2X to Rs 17.5 crore. The company posted an overall GMV of Rs 3,619 crore across all of its businesses—a 29% jump compared to the same quarter last year. The results are largely in line with the company’s projections and analyst estimates. But Nykaa’s latest results are worth diving deeper into given that it is the biggest quarter of the year, not just for the company but for the entire e-commerce space. Nykaa’s results are especially important considering it is the bellwether of the burgeoning beauty and personal care (BPC) sector, which gained prominence during the pandemic. Its results and the analyst call that followed showcased an industry that is moving in different directions. While mass market plays are struggling, premium brands are flourishing. Key takeaways: - Nykaa posted its third quarter financials, which saw the company clock a 22% growth in overall revenue, resulting in a Rs 17.5 crore profit. - While the numbers don’t come as a surprise, a deeper look at the financials show an industry that is moving in different directions. - D2C and mass brands are struggling to grow business sustainability, leading to high discounts. Premium brands, though, continue to gain traction. - Nykaa’s fashion play and eB2B business Superstore have also scaled up. [Continue Reading]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Namaste Doston, TechSparks ki duniya mein aapka phir se swagat hai! TechSparks, YourStory's flagship event, is set for its exciting return to Mumbai at the Grand Hyatt on February 29 and March 1, 2024. It's more than just a conference; it's a hub for the brightest minds in startups and tech. Here, you'll have the chance to engage with India's top investors and business innovators. Whether you're looking to pitch your ideas, seek funding, or form new partnerships, TechSparks is the place to be. This event is an incredible opportunity for networking with a select group of motivated individuals and leaders. It's a platform to share ideas, learn from industry pioneers, and contribute to shaping the future of tech in India. [Get Your Passes Today!]( --------------------------------------------------------------- News & Updates - [Buyback:]( China's Alibaba Group Holding announced an increase of $25 billion to its share repurchase program through the end of March 2027. The company reported revenue of 260.35 billion yuan ($36.19 billion) for the three months ended December 31, 2023. The company's US-listed shares were up 3.5% in premarket trading. - [Pay cut:]( Singapore's biggest bank DBS has slashed its CEO's bonus by 30% after disruptions to its digital services, despite it posting a record profit. The company said the cut to Piyush Gupta's variable pay amounts to $3.1 million and that his full salary for 2023 will be disclosed in March. - [Disconnect:]( Workers will have the right to ignore their superiors after they clock off under new Australian laws that could see offending bosses facing criminal penalties. The 'right to disconnect' is part of a raft of changes to industrial relations laws proposed by the Australian government to restore work-life balance. Did you know? Where is the world's oldest astronomical clock located? Answer: Prague, Czech Republic. Dating back to 1410, the astronomical clock runs from 9 am to 11 pm daily. We would love to hear from you! To let us know what you liked and disliked about our newsletter, please mail nslfeedback@yourstory.com. If you don’t already get this newsletter in your inbox, [sign up here](. For past editions of the YourStory Buzz, you can check our [Daily Capsule page here](. [Feedback]( [Unsubscribe]( [Newsletters](