Fintech Solutions 1Pay Aims to Digitize Logistics and Transportation

1Pay Latest Startup News

The Indian logistics sector is powering forward, projected to be worth a hugely impressive $380 billion by 2025. Part of that growth can be attributed to the rollout of FASTags - Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology made available for vehicle owners, which makes toll payments direct and hassle-free.

But Mumbai fintech start-up 1Pay is harnessing this technology for much more than just payments at tolls; they plan to use it to provide services tailored directly to fleet owners, such as assistance with parking payments, fuel bills and challan bills. This digitized process maximizes ease of use and helps transport operators quickly manage their payments.

At present, 500,000 commercial vehicles have already been activated on the platform, but 1Pay is confident that this number will increase to two million in a couple of years as more transport operators come on board. In 2021, revenue for 1Pay was expected to hit somewhere in the region of $15 - $20 million, and Sanjiv Singh, one of the start-up’s co-founders, said recently that last year they had achieved revenues of Rs 28 crore and now looking to reach between Rs 38-39 crore in the current fiscal year.

1Pay has so far been solely funded by its own funds but hopes to raise additional external investments within the next 2-3 months time frame. As well as an additional investment, they plan on expanding their service even further by employing salespeople across India so that they have an increased presence and more touch points.

It isn’t just startups investing in the fast-developing logistics sector, though; many larger companies are also packing their bags and hopping aboard the bus headed for success in this field, which has had a positive knock-on effect for those involved in fintech too - a field 1Pay wishes to make major strides in over 2021. 

Fintech is here to stay and is providing financial solutions not only within India but also abroad. Fastags are certainly helping bridge the gap between certain sectors within India exponentially. 

Also Read: Log9 Materials Raises $11 Million in Latest Funding Round

About Entrackr

Entrackr is a new-age media platform for entrepreneurs, startups and technology enthusiasts. It provides comprehensive coverage and analysis of the latest developments in tech startups across India, Southeast Asia and beyond. 

Entrackr offers unique stories that go beyond the normal everyday news, taking an in-depth look at the various trends in startup ecosystems. It publishes exclusive news features, interviews and stories on founders, investors, accelerators, products and more. Entrackr aggregates data-driven content to provide insights relevant to young entrepreneurs who are driving the growth of India's startup sector.

Uber India's Losses Decline 35% in Fiscal Year 2022

Uber India Latest Business News

Uber India's ride-hailing business saw decent growth in FY22, with its collection from the vertical reaching Rs 388 crore. However, the company's revenue for providing support services to group companies decreased by 87.7% to Rs 8.72 crore during the same period. Uber India's operating income was mainly derived from its ride-hailing biz, which grew 29.5% to Rs 388.23 crore in FY22 from Rs 299.7 crore in FY21. The local entity also earned non-operating income and interest on current investments of Rs 163.6 crore, taking its total revenue to Rs 560 crore.

On the expense side, Uber India booked 51% of its expenditure as the cost of materials consumed. Employee advertising cum promotional expenses and benefits declined 63.6% and 44.1%, respectively, to Rs 44 crore and Rs 151 crore during FY22. On the other hand, legal cum professional fees spiked 71.7% to Rs 28.84 crore in FY22 from Rs 16.8 crore in FY21. Uber also incurred Rs 36.28 crore in rent and utility costs. As a result, Uber India's annual expenditure declined 13.4% to Rs 853 crore in FY22 compared to Rs 985 crore in FY21. With controlled expenses, the company cut down its losses by 35.3% to Rs 216 crore last year.

The numbers for Uber India are shockingly unimpressive for the year concluding 2021, as evidenced by its EBITDA margin and return on capital employed (ROCE), which declined to -44.77% and -16.95%, respectively. This sharp decrease could be attributed to lowered employee benefits and promotional expenses on a unit level, as it took, on average, Rs 2.15 to generate a single rupee in operating revenue. 

Despite the growth in FY22, Uber India has failed to deliver on its promise of making personal vehicle ownership redundant. Its driver 'partners' and users seem unhappy with the services, and without a drastic change in approach, the suspicion remains high that the end of the road is never too far away for Uber India. Ultimately, Uber India will have to make significant changes to its approach to remain viable in the long run.

You may also like: Dailyhunt's Parent Company Has Reported a Loss of Rs 2,500 Cr and a Revenue of Rs 965 Cr for the FY22

About Uber 

Uber is a global technology company and platform that has revolutionized how people move. Uber offers a more efficient, reliable, and affordable way to travel than using traditional methods of transportation. Uber provides the convenience of ordering transportation from anywhere using a smartphone app. With just a few taps, users can order a ride from a driver who can take them to their destination safely and reliably. To date, Uber has provided billions of rides to millions of people in countries across the world, providing jobs to drivers and an efficient transportation option to many communities. In addition, Uber offers many other services, such as food delivery and boat and bike rentals. Uber has transformed the industry and changed the way people travel forever.

About Entrackr

Entrackr is an online startup news platform focused on start-ups. It covers the latest news, trends, developments and profiles of start-ups and entrepreneurs in India and across the globe. The platform also offers consulting services and helps in connecting investors and startups. Entrackr's news section covers interactions between entrepreneurs, investors and other talking of the start-up industry. It also includes a list of upcoming events and conferences so readers can stay updated on the happenings of the industry. Entrackr is a great way for startups to stay relevant and up-to-date with happenings in the start-up and venture capital world.

Dailyhunt's Parent Company Has Reported a Loss of Rs 2,500 Cr and a Revenue of Rs 965 Cr for the FY22

Dailyhunt Latest Startup News

VerSe Innovation, which owns vernacular news aggregator Dailyhunt and short video entertainment app Josh, continues to lose money, with its losses more than tripling to Rs 2,500 crore in FY22.

Meanwhile, Dailyhunt operating revenue grew by 45% to Rs 965 cr during the same period, according to its annual financial statements with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). The group's entire revenue comes from online advertising and subscription services through its mobile apps and website. A total sum of Rs 19 crore was also made by the company from bank deposits and liabilities which it wrote off during the fiscal year. 

The statements didn't provide any revenue breakdown across Josh and DailyHunt. But a Dailyhunt spokesperson told Entrackr that "100% of VerSe's revenue is from advertising on Dailyhunt, and that ad revenue grew 1.5x year-over-year.

VerSe raised $450 million during FY22, at a valuation of $3 billion, and invested heavily in marketing and creating an ecosystem to enable a creator economy for its app. The company raised an additional $805 million at a $5 billion valuation in April (FY23).

Business promotion expenses were the largest cost, more than doubling to Rs 2,693 crore in FY22 from Rs 1,281 crore in FY21. This cost is 2.8X of the company's operating revenue in FY22.

Employee benefits expense was the second-largest cost for VerSe Innovation, growing by 3.8X to Rs 731 crore in FY22.  It also included the cost of Rs 375 crore on the employee stock option (ESOP) that was settled in cash.

Legal and professional expenses, as well as commissions paid to agents, increased by 4X and 2.7X respectively, to Rs 151 cr & Rs 47 cr in the last year. As a result, the company's total cost grew by 2.3 times to Rs 3,714 cr in FY22 from Rs 1,580 cr in year 2021.

With this increase in expenses, DailyHunt's parent company's losses rose by 3.17 times to Rs 2,563 cr in FY2022. Its cash outflows from operating activities also increased by 2.52 times to Rs 2,402 cr, while the company's unit economics also took a hit and spent Rs 3.85 to earn a single rupee in FY2022. "In the last 7 months Dailyhunt has grown to 8% EBITDA positive," they added.

Dailyhunt competes with Inshorts in the news aggregation and hyper-local video business, while its short video app Josh competes with MX TakaTak, ShareChat's Moj, YouTube Shorts and Instagram, among others.

Also Read: Paytm Mall Records Rs282 Cr Revenue and Rs142 Cr Loss

Josh, which launched in late 2020, has been losing money in marketing the app and also attracting top creators. 

However, VerSe's spokesperson clarified that Josh's monetization began in August and is expected to reach $100 million in annual recurring revenue during FY23. With Daily Hunt already close to Rs 1,000 crore in revenue, the company is well-placed to monetize its inventory as and when the market demands. 

For more latest startup news & information, stay tuned to Entrackr.

Winzo File a Claim Against Google for Not Authorising Non-Rummy Games on Play Store

Winzo Games Latest Startup News

Winzo, the producer of Poker and Rummy like games application said on Tuesday it was filing a complaint against Google in Delhi High Court that "Google is discriminating and is not authorising Non-Rummy games on the Play Store. Winzo says that Google is partial and it only permits Rummy and unrealistic sports games on the app store. 

Winzo also claims that Google, which is not against gambling and betting in India is doing discrimination against them by not allowing real money-making apps on the play store. Google has declared recently that it was doing a one-year pilot with the Rummy and Dream Sports app. 

Why is Winzo so upset with Google? & What was the Major Issue that Caused the Rift Between Winzo and Google? 

All this started in March of this year. Winzo sued Google in March because of the warning that Google Chrome used to show every time on the cell phones, whenever someone attempts to download the Winzo application that says "Document may be destructive". This was the common warning that used to display among most of the individuals who were about to download this real money-making app, Winzo. 

Recently, Winzo again filed a claim against Google on 20th September for not authorising Winzo games and fantasy games on Play Store. Winzo is one of the numerous industry players like MPL and Zupee who have declared Google's pilot policy with Rummy and fantasy games erratic, biased and prohibitive. Winzo and the other organisations declared this in front of the media in its most recent suit.

If You are Wondering What was the Reaction of Google on Winzo's claim? Here it is;

Google refused to remark: The organisation has never restricted any of the real cash gaming applications on the Play Store. Another hearing of this case was on 22nd September (Thursday).

In the court records collected by Entrackr, the lawyers from Google's side told that this claim was "waggish, meaning-less and reductant" quarrelling that Google Chrome and all the other browsers display a similar warning for all the APK files that are being downloaded from the platforms other than Play Store. The lawyers from Google's side said that the IT Rules 2021 permitted it to show that brief as a safety effort.

Google presented the reviews from Winzo's iOS application, which is also accessible on the Play Store, where various customers claims about being deceived by the real money gaming apps or incapable to clear out their money or withdrawals.

What does the Co-founder of Winzo Comment about the Situation with Entrackr? 

Saumya Singh Rathore, the co-founder of Winzo told Entracker that Google's narrow scope for this pilot strengthens monopolies organised by fantasy game companies such as Dream11 and harms the producers like Winzo that have many real cash game ideas in their applications.

Rathore also told Entracker that the warning shown by Google Chrome while downloading this real money gaming app was making 75 out of 100 customers, who initiate to downloading the app yet change their mind after seeing the warning. 

You may also like: Fast Food Chain Wow! Momo Raises $16 Million in Series D

Wrapping Up 

Winzo has filed a claim against Google for allegedly breaching antitrust law by not allowing developers to use non-rummy card games in their Play Store. The court's final decision is yet to come. The battle between Winzo and Google is still fresh and will pose to be an interesting one. Be connected with us at Entrackr for the latest startup news and also about this hot topic in the market.

Entrackr - A perfect media platform for the latest startup news

Entrackr is an amazing media platform for startups, business visionaries and tech fanatic individuals. We cover all the latest startup news such as startup funding news and tech startup news.

Fast Food Chain Wow! Momo Raises $16 Million in Series D

Wow! Momo Latest Startup Funding News

Wow! Momo is a quick service restaurant chain founded in August 2008 by a group of entrepreneurs led by Kunal Bahl. They are expanded to over 19 cities and have 425 outlets in India. This startup basically provides everything related to momos only like momo-filled burgers and its desserts also. The company has raised close to $8 million in Series A round of funding led by an individual investor. This Series D round of funding is led by V’oceanInvestment and Oaksand India.

Wow! Momo is headquartered in Kolkata, India with operations in Mumbai, Chennai and more 16 cities. Wow! Momos aims to grow their fast food joint to be an IPO and compete with McDonald’s and Dominos like fast food restaurant chains. The company is rapidly expanding in the country. Mohit Bhargava, an IIT Bombay alumnus, co-founded and incubated the company before crossing the Rs1 crore revenue mark in just three months. 

This startup Wow! Momo has now raised a Series D round of funding. The current funding round is worth Rs 125 crore or $16 million. This most recent round of funding for Wow! Momo brings their total funding to $41 million. Wow! Momo is the first quick service restaurant chain in India to adopt a service-oriented design, which was introduced by Apple.

This startup has raised $16 million in a round led by Tree Line Investment Management. This latest round will take the company to a total of $70 million. In October, Wow! Momo Foods launched its newest range of products at the 35th China Food Expo. The company plans to use the amount to expand its outlets.

Wow! Momo is the first and only QSR serving the Chinese market. It has been established since 2008 and is based in Mumbai. Their food is a blend of East, East and East. Wow! Momo specializes in Chinese cuisine. It is mainly a QSR chain which prepares foods such as fried rice, pork buns, noodles, and wonton. This QSR chain is found in India and Nepal too. It has three QSR brands, Wow! Momo and Wow! China and Wow! Chicken. It is one of the leading QSR chains in India and Nepal.

On 26th March 2016, the startup announced that it has raised $16 million (Rs 100 crore) led by venture capital firm Accel and was seeking to raise another $10.6 million (Rs 70 crore) in the Series D round of funding. As per Fintrackr estimates, Wow! Momo has raised fresh investment at a valuation of $270 million or Rs 2,130 crore post allotment. As per Fintrackr's estimates, Wow! Momo's valuation grew more than 60% in the past year as it was valued at $165-170 million in its Series C round.

Also read: Top Benefits of Virtual Workspace

Wrapping Up

Wow! Momo raised ₹44 crore from Lighthouse funds in 2017, in 2018 they raised 300 crore (US$45 million) from Fabindia, In 2019 130 crore (US$23 million) from Tiger Global Management. So currently, this startup’s financial valuation has crossed 860 crore (US$120 million). Wow! Momo has not filed its financial statements for the last fiscal year but its revenue from operations shrank 36% to Rs 106 in FY21. Meanwhile, the company’s losses ballooned 17X to Rs 59.3 crore in the fiscal year marred with the pandemic.

Follow one of the best platforms for the latest startup news, Entrackr to get all the latest happenings in the startup world.

Zepto on Its Way to Raise $250 Million

Zepto Startup Funding News

Zepto, a 10-minute delivery service for groceries, Zepto has attracted a lot of attention from both investors. While customers are impressed by its speedy delivery service, huge American tech investors are optimistic about the company's prospects for the future.

Zepto is a Mumbai-based company that has plans to raise over $250 million in a fresh round, as per three sources who are aware of the deal.

One anonymous person familiar with the details of the deal told us that Zepto had already committed about $125 million, half of the round size is in conversation to raise another $125 million from existing and new investors.

Entrackr has complete information on 11 November that Zepto is seeking to raise over 100 million dollars in a new capital round, with a valuation in the range of 500 million.

According to the sources, the talks are past the early stage, as the conditions of the agreement are being worked out. With the addition of funds, the value is expected to rise. "The company will be valued at about $1 billion (post-money) after this round," according to a person who also asked to remain anonymous.

Also read: CRED is Looking to Acquire Happay

Entrackr couldn't identify the names of investors who could be part of the round. Y Combinator, Glade Brook Capital, Nexus, Global Founders Capital are its current supporters. Zepto recently raised $60 million with a value of $250 million. The queries addressed at Zepto or Y Combinator didn't elicit immediate responses.

Zepto will become one of the fastest startups to reach unicorn status if the deal is approved. The marketplace roll-up system Mensa Brands recently became a unicorn within six months from its beginning. Professional network platform Apna also achieved the feat within 21 months.

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Zepto allows online grocery orders and can deliver the groceries within 10 minutes to some locations in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi (NCR). According to the company's website, the service will soon be available in Kolkata along with Pune.

Setu Records Rs 3 Cr Revenue in Fy21 Even as Losses Climb to Rs 19 Cr

Fintech infrastructure firm Setu has broadened its offerings and currently includes data, payments as well as lending and investments through an Automated Programming Interface (APIs). The company announced in August that Google Pay partnered with Setu to provide fixed deposits from Equitas Small Finance Bank.

Although this company that is backed by Lightspeed startup is growing at a good rate, it appears to be at a pre-revenue phase as far as revenue is concerned for FY21.

Setu has reported operating revenues of 3.31 crore in FY21 as compared to none in FY20. This is the 2nd full financial year of operation for Setu. The majority of the revenue comes from the selling services (subscription charge).

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The Bengaluru-based business has been able to make 5.74 crore during FY21. This is additional income from interest earned on bank deposits. This is 334% higher than FY20. The company raised fifteen million (Rs 110 crore) Series A round at the start of FY21.

To earn this operating profit, Setu has spent 228 percent more in FY21. This is the rate of 27.96 crore, up from 8.52 crore in FY20. In accordance with the B2B model, its old set of costs were for salary and benefits for employees as well as other plans. The expense jumped by 254% in FY21 and reached 23.51 crore in FY21. 23.51 crore, up from the figure of 6.63 million in FY20.

The three-year-old firm also put aside more than 1.73 billion on consultation services in FY21. The cost increased by 226% during the previous fiscal year, compared to 52 thousands in FY20. At a unit-level, Setu spent Rs 8.45 to generate a rupee operating revenues in FY21.

The increase in total expenses has boosted setu's cash outflow by 70%, to Rs 15.3 crore in FY21 opposed to the just Rs 9 crore in the FY20.

Also read: With Premji Invest’s participation, Purplle latest round crosses $100 Mn

Although the epidemic affected the businesses of all industries, Setu is unlikely to suffer a significant hit since it's a technology infrastructure company in a market which is rapidly changing and expanding. This means that Setu's primary priority will be to roll its products more quickly in the effort to reduce the burn rate in the year 4. With an appropriate product portfolio and technological expertise it will be an option for acquisition by any large company or group looking to establish an investment market.

For such informative news and updates of the Indian startup scene, check out Entrackr.

Nykaa Updates Its Latest Equity Offer to Raise 630 Crore in IPO

Nykaa IPO News

A marketplace that is primarily focused on beauty, Nykaa has updated its red prospectus for herrings (DRHP) to boost the value of its new offering by Rs 100 crore. Based on regulatory reports, Nykaa is now seeking to raise around 630 crore in IPO.

In August, the company stated within the DRHP, that it planned to raise 525 crore through the forthcoming Initial public offer (IPO). According to media reports, Nykaa could raise $500 million (Rs 4000 crore) however, the company did not reveal the exact amount of its IPO it had announced in the DRHP at a price of between $4.5-5 billion (Rs 35,000-40,000 crore).

According to sources in the industry the company has been granted acceptance from SEBI for the public listing of its stock and will likely be listed at the exchange before the end of the month.

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Planning of lower stakes in Nykaa IPO

Nykaa will use the fresh funds to open warehouses and stores as well as to fund operations online and also repay its borrowers. Promoter Sanjay Nayar Family Trust and Nykaa's investors: Lighthouse, TPG Growth, Sunil Munjal among others will lower their stakes in the planned Nykaa IPO.

If the company is listed at $4.5-5 billion, it would be a 2.5X increment from the $1.8 billion value in November of 2020 when Massachusetts-based Fidelity Investments had picked up additional shares of the Mumbai-based company.

Contrary to most companies that are preparing for public listing, Nykaa is a profitable venture. Based on its DRHP report, the company reported the sum of Rs 61.94 crore in profit and operating revenues of 2440.89 crore for the fiscal which ended March 2021.

Also read: Licious becomes India’s first unicorn company in the D2C segment

The fact that promoters are a part of Nykaa differs from other IPO-bound businesses. Falguni along with Sanjay Nayar, along with their trusts of family members hold 53 percent of the company with a variety of rights that are favorable.

Nykaa is also older than the other internet-based consumer businesses that are preparing to go public. It was founded in 2012 by Nayyar back in the year 2012 Nykaa is able to fulfill more than 60,000 daily orders it claims that they have more than 15 million users registered. There are 73 physical stores spread across 38 cities across India with three stores at the close of FY21.

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