Cons 

Deterioration in food quality

The concept of faster deliveries is a foreign one that more appropriately suits the American audience. The American culinary consists of salads that require minimum usage of heating and cooking. 

 In addition to this, there is a high probability that in a hurry to reduce the food preparation time the food might not be freshly prepared but stored in a half-cooked state until the order comes in. Pre-cooked or pre-stored food is repeatedly heated loses its nutritive value and aroma thereby compromising the food quality. 

Putting Zomato in a bad light

The visible cons of this quick delivery are the concern for road safety and human life. Post pandemic people appreciate businesses that are socially and environmentally conscious than ventures reckless and indifferent about their employees. Consumers want to remain loyal to companies that are honestly doing the legwork of giving back to society and putting people first. Moments after Zomato gave this announcement, Twitter caught fire with Zomato’s criticism that positioned it as being insensitive, and devoid of compassion. 

In the quick delivery space, Zomato is not the only company wanting to enter. Dunzo, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto do deliver within 10 -20 minutes for most items. However, for Zomato what is to be observed is the ticket size per delivery since a small ticket size would make the model difficult to sustain. Although companies claim that they do not incentivise faster deliveries but the fact remains unchanged since most delivery people would like to rush to achieve maximum deliveries a day. Such platforms should increase the minimum income of delivery personnel. Also, the model seems to be burning investor’s money unless a premium is charged. With the emerging fast-paced lifestyle, the 10 min model will stay, but the question raises about the model’s profitability and its ability to sustain itself. 

How will Razorpay’s acquisition help? 

This acquisition of Razorpay will help pursue state-of-the-art payment banking technologies that can not only meet evolving business needs but also tackle some of the financial industry’s most complex challenges. Izealiant will deploy its ‘ZealPro’ product suite in Indian banks through Razorpay. In addition to this, The ZealPro product suite has been deployed in over 50 banks across 18 countries, processing millions of transactions. It consists of five digital products such as : 

• Zeal TX3: Transaction acquiring, Authorization, and Switching to interchanges and core banking. 

• ZealCim: Consumer onboarding, Debit, and Prepaid card production and managing programs for consumer spending patterns and manage card insurance.

• ZealWay: Offers payment aggregation with payment Gateway, QR Payments, MPOS, Mobile Payments, and Merchant Integration. 

• ZealMux: Defines, configures, onboard retail and online merchants to accept transactions and settle merchant payments seamlessly. 

• ZealMac2: Offers Multi-factor authentication with 3DS ACS, 3DS Server, and 3DS SDK that is certified for Verified by Visa, Master-card Secure code, and American express Safe key programs. & Mobile Token. It supports the authentication methods like OTP, Password, PIN, 3D secure, challenge-response, and a Mobile token that can be configured as per the customer’s requirements.

Razorpay’s acquisition will be a game-changer for the banking sector and its 8 million customer base that includes names such as Facebook, Ola, Zomato, Swiggy, and Cred. Combining payment abilities with IZealiant’s high-performing digital payment solutions, Razorpay can expand its business by developing advanced, flexible, and secure solutions payments experience for its banking customers. Before this acquisition, Razorpay had acquired Malaysia-based fintech firm Curlec, TERA Finlabs, (AI-based risk tech SaaS platform) in 2021, Opfin (payroll and HR management solution) in 2019, and Thirdwatch (fraud analytics AI-platform) in 2018.

Technology to bring in operational productivity 

• Balancing inventory: Becoming omnichannel is the current strategy of most retailers. Stores are trying to balance the e-commerce and in-store inventory to ensure they have the right amount of inventory to fulfill customers’ preferences. At the same, managing returns from the various channels is a daunting task. This signals the retailer’s investment in predictive and prescriptive analytics to gather data from internal operations and supply chains to have inventory visibility and prepare better for surges in consumer demand, avoid empty shelves and bring in more agility. 

• Use of RFID technology: Technology that was once restricted to the warehouse is now being put to use in front of the store. Radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology is gaining popularity for providing solutions in apparel, sporting goods, and electronics retailers. It enables faster and less labour-intensive inventory management where several items can be tagged at the source. It helps facilitate quicker returns processing and inventory reshelving.

• 5G technology: Leveraging 5G in the retail industry can aid in rapid digital transformation by addressing problems such as connectivity and bandwidth issues in brick and mortar stores/warehouses. Smart stores that will leverage technologies like smart apps, video analytics, robotics, drone delivery, etc will require adequate network capability and bandwidth.

The retail space is filled with fierce competition and those with unique business models combined with high operational productivity will ace this. To emerge stronger and connect well with evolving consumer behaviour, the processes should be digitalised and well connected for which agility, personalisation, innovation, and viable business model will be crucial for any retailer. 

How AI recognition will work magic for offline retail?

• Reduce inventory losses and wastage: Fresh fruits and vegetables in transit from the farmer’s place to the retail store undergo deterioration in quality such as green leafy vegetables losing water or apples shrinking in size, gradually moving closer to the expiry date. The change in the size of fruits and vegetables goes unnoticed by the naked eye. This prevents the retail owners from selling first the inventory nearing the expiry date. AI recognition will analyse the shape of fruits and vegetables that will help retailers or grocers to sell stocks of near expiry first and keep them for little time, thus preventing losses and wastage. It also helps supermarkets to plan inventory with the help of an algorithm that analyses previous demands and sale trends.

• Increase profits and sales through an optimised planogram: The AI product recognition can identify which items are missing from the shelf to remind the store staff to restock products immediately thus following planogram compliance of products on the shelf. According to a study by National Association for Retail Merchandising Services (NARMS) when an optimized planogram is 100% matched, sales will be increased by 7.8% and profit by 8.1. 

• Increases efficiency at the checkout: Long billing queues are a disappointment for a majority of retail shoppers in India. Automatic product recognition ensures an efficient checkout process. Until now cashiers have had to type in the barcode for all fruits and vegetables for billing but with automatic product recognition, this will no longer be necessary.

• Accurate stocks: Had there been barcodes, there exists a probability that an organically grown potato is accidentally scanned as a normal one impacting the accuracy of the actual count of organic potatoes. But, AI recognition on scanning reflects this in the store data. This also solves store-level ordering conventionally done using pen and paper, which is considered to be the biggest pain point in the world of fresh food.

 Can grocery stores in India adopt AI recognition?

A CIPHET study finds that the post-harvest waste and loss in the fruits and vegetable segment in India stands at 40,811 crores. 5 to 16 percent of perishables like fruits and vegetables are ruined in transit or on farms therefore the appetite to adopt AI recognition systems or platforms in grocery retail exists. But lack of internal expertise and fear of complexity hinders them to adopt the same. For AI to be used in grocery retail, somebody has to train an AI model that knows what and how to do what the customer wants. The AI models require to be retrained constantly once integrated with the store. Retraining is necessary since AI models tend to lose accuracy and performance over time. 

4 Homegrown Snacks Startups that wooed the Sharks 

• Bluepine foods

Who does not love momos? Bluepine foods a Delhi-based food startup incubated at IIM- Bangalore is the brainchild of Mrs. Aditi Bhutia Madan who sells frozen momos. The idea of selling frozen momos sparked off when she moved to Delhi and was deeply missing the Himalayan cuisine that prompted her to start her venture. Sharks Aman Gupta, Vineeta Singh, and Ashneer Grover collectively invested Rs 75 lakhs for 16 percent equity of her business. 

• Skipii Ice Pops

This homegrown ice candy brand will take us back to our nostalgic childhood of the 90s where kids bought colourful Pepsi sticks for Re 1 or 2. Skipii Ice Pops based out of Hyderabad produces ice pops that contain no artificial preservatives, sweeteners, flavours, or colours and has interesting flavours of on, cola, orange, and bubblegum. Founders Ravi and Anuja Kabra managed to raise Rs1 crore for 15% equity of their company from all five shark tank judges on the show. What made the sharks feel this to be an investible business was the nostalgia element, which will drive its purchase other than quality and hygiene.

• The State Plate 

Nothing can match the authentic taste of Rasgullas if you are buying from a city other than Kolkata. People who stay in cities far from their natives sometimes long for their hometown snacks and The State Plate – a Bangalore-based startup understood it very well. The State Plate delivers local and traditional hometown snacks, sweets, spices, pickles, and drinks from across India to your home. Whether it is Ghevar from Rajasthan or bhakarwadi from Maharashtra all the snacks are now available at your fingertips. It received funding from Lenskart founder Peyush Bansal, who gave them a deal for Rs40 lakh for 3% equity and a debt line of Rs 25 lakh. 

• Let’s Try 

Evening time tea in India is never without snacks but most snacks are fried with excessive palm oil and salt. Tapping into the country’s chai time and love for snacks Let’s Try, a snack brand that offers tasty namkeen ranging from Bikaneri Bhujia to corn mixture all made through traditional methods using 100 percent pure groundnut oil and is free from preservatives, No artificial flavors, or colors, no trans fats or cholesterol. To increase the nutrient value of snacks it also included flax seeds. The snack brand founded by Nitin Kalra, Chitra Gupta, Neelam Kalra, and Geetanjali raised Rs 45 lakh from Anupam Mittal and Aman Gupta for 12% of their company. 

What lies ahead for India’s space tech startups? 

Space tech startups and ISRO can form a symbiotic relationship where ISRO can guide or help startups in various ways by either supplying subsystems or allowing the use of their infrastructure and facilities, to lend time on ground stations and even compliance. On the other hand, ISRO has about 500 domestic vendors for its mission and yet imports certain optics and semiconductors thus there lies a demand gap where space tech startups should foray. Associating or nurturing space tech startups will be highly beneficial for ISRO in the long run if the private players can produce these components and can take over the satellite and rocket production so that the space organisation can invest its time into core space research.

Moreover, other than restricted to space, the startups will find new avenues in satellites, sub-assemblies, electronic components, materials for domestic usage in sectors like agriculture, weather, communications, military, defence, banking, monitoring, geographic information systems, and surveillance. To encourage the growth of startups in space ISRO has opened its door to startups through the programme – Space Entrepreneurship & Enterprise Development (SEED). According to ISRO’s report the number of startups in the space sector increased to 47 in 2021 from 11 in 2019. From the funding front, the startups have raised $30 million in 2021 from less than $10 million in 2019 as per Equitymaster, thus ushering the pace of growth in the space sector in India.

What National Telehealth Mental Programme (NTMP) will bring to the table?

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the National Telehealth Mental Programme will include a network of 23 tele-mental health centres of excellence in association with NIMHANS ( National Institute for Mental Health and Neurosciences) which will act as the nodal centre with the International Institute of Information technology (IIIT-Bangalore) providing technical support. The NTMP will be launched as an open platform that will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity, and universal access to health facilities thus building stronger health systems. Can this boost the mental wellness startups now?

Can mental wellness startups scale now?

Mental wellness startups face hardships while securing funding from investors. According to the data provided by the industry tracker, Traxcn Indian mental health startups have raised only $20 million between 2016 and 2020. Investors, in general, have shown reluctance in funding such startups as they doubted the market size and the small number of qualified professionals in the sector, and the stigma associated with mental health issues due to which the startups found it tough to scale.
The paucity of healthcare experts can be bridged by these telehealth centres associating with mental wellness startups. Since such internet-driven ecosystems will enable users to find experts that best align with their requirements.

What did cycle startup 91 do right to get funded by venture capitalists?

Here are the takeaways from the cycle startup 91 about receiving funds from the venture capitalists:

• Differentiated product or technology: Small businesses from the manufacturing space should know that a strong product differentiator is the key to attract venture capitalists. Most brands in the Indian manufacturing space assemble parts or outsource half of its product which tends to take away the sheen of being differentiated. 91 manufactures its bicycles in-house that requires hardcore engineering skills and focuses on making the best components to build a lightweight cycle that offers a comfortable ride to users.In the manufacturing space, if the technology is similar to its competitors then chances to get funds to become thin. 

• Higher entry barriers: While pitching unique selling points to an investor, what encourages them to invest in a business is the difficulty for new or old competitors to foray into the market and replicate a business’s success. If there are low or no barriers to enter then venture capitalists seem reluctant to invest. The major USPs of cycle startup 91 is its low cost of manufacturing and has a manufacturing unit of its own to build cycles for their brand. They also could display their skills of managing the working capital, which produced an impression of a business with clear objectives and goals right from product manufacturing to branding. Having clear objectives and goals sets apart a business and creates high barriers.

• Not easily replicable: Most manufacturing businesses focuses on first building the brand and then distribution and product development but then there is no manufacturing that takes place in-house. This kind of approach can be easily replicable by any other player. Whereas 91, took a reverse approach where it focused on product engineering then manufacturing, building distribution, and then branding. Such a model is difficult to replicate by other businesses. These businesses aim to dominate the market by becoming the big fish in a small pond, this trait encourages more venture capitalists to invest in small businesses.

Lastly, venture capitalists are likely to invest in startups that have a growing market. With gyms and fitness centres closed, cycle sales are expected to witness fillip as people are becoming conscious about improving their fitness levels.

Content platforms – A focused marketing strategy with Micro and Regional influencers

Most content platforms such as BabyChakra, Popxo, Mompresso, and Plixxo are driven by a strong community of women, regional content creators, and micro-influencers who through their innovative content styles have developed a niche that appeals to the vernacular audience which is large and growing in number. A report from RedSeer says that there are about 210 million monetisable internet users in India who consume content in vernacular languages.
Although it might seem that marketing through macro-influencers will maximise reach due to their huge follower base, but vernacular content creators hold a special place in their follower’s hearts. The followers tend to idolise them more due to regional inclination and connectivity and hence, are considered experts especially for topics on skincare, makeup, fashion, and styling.
Surprisingly, the number of followers for macro-influencers cannot promise a better engagement rate which is why these D2C companies are leveraging the strong network of women, vernacular, and micro-influencers as a part of their focussed marketing strategy to tap the vernacular-speaking masses and expand their product reach.
Similarly, GoodGlamm through its acquisition of Scoopwhoop wants to foray deeper into the male’s grooming segment that has remained underserved and limited over the years. Its new venture Good Creator Co in influencer management will form a symbiotic relationship with the influencers and content creators as it will provide brand campaigns, monetisation opportunities, as well as affiliate and creator commerce programmes.
On acquiring Momspresso and MyMoney, HCPL will enjoy from the platform’s existing 60,000 regional content creators, a strong women community of 30 million, and over 2 lakh micro-influencers owning a fan base of 50 million.

D2C brands will benefit from these online content platforms as they can market their products through regional targeting that will appeal to a larger audience by building a personal connection that offers these brands high reach and engagement.

Mensa Brands globalising the acquired D2C brands 

Mensa brands are focused to acquire D2C brands from verticals of fashion and apparel, beauty and cosmetics, and soft-home furnishings that are capable to generate annual revenues between Rs 7 crore to Rs 70 crore. Through its team of experts wants to globalise the acquired D2C brands by leveraging their expertise in driving growth, product, merchandising, technology, supply chain, and access to global markets. 

D2C brands in recent times have gained enormous popularity and profits amongst the neo-consumerist Indians who are willing to spend more on products and services that make their lives easier, more individual, and more controllable. Especially, in beauty products, customers are purchasing that has less sulphur and are vegan. D2C apparel sellers are becoming more size-inclusive for all shapes and sizes. 

How Mensa plans to make the brands global

Mensa follows a three-step process to understand a brand’s potential. 

• First Step: Decoding the brand‘s journey both financially and qualitatively. 

• Second step: After thoroughly knowing the business, the second step includes coming up with a fair and transparent commercial construct.

• Third step: It consists of carrying out due diligence and verification of financial statements, sales, costs, marketing, and supply chain. If Mensa is satisfied with the brand’s growth prospects, it attaches a valuation and undertakes the preparation of contracts and other paperwork to integrate the seller. 

Soon after the brand undergoes integration process Mensa brings its expertise across various functions such as marketing, technology, supply chain, inventory management, logistics, and product development to scale the acquired brand rapidly. A part of the profits earned in the process is distributed to the startup founders.

Lastly, these Thrasio-style startups will thrive on acquiring profitable D2C brands, which can be a bright future since according to a study by Avendus Capital the D2C market is estimated to be $100 billion by 2025. But, this thing should be taken into consideration that although India has a huge retail market, people shopping from the online market is completely is yet in its infancy to bring huge economies of scale.