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Hello,

Things are heating up in the clash of the convenience czars.

Quick commerce unicorn Zepto is pushing ahead full steam on its path to profitability, as it more than doubled its accounting revenue and managed to reign in its absolute losses in FY24. 

Zepto, which competes with Zomato’s Blinkit and Swiggy’s Instamart, clocked Rs 4,454 crore in accounting revenue in FY24 from Rs 2,025 crore earned in the previous year, while its profit after tax as a percentage of revenue improved from -63% to -28%. 

Its rivals aren’t too far behind. Public food delivery player Swiggy has launched its ‘Scenes’ feature on its Dineout tab, offering booking and ticketing for live events, concerts, culinary events, and workshops, competing with Zomato’s District. 

The quick commerce boom has its pros and cons.

Vishal Mega Mart’s IPO drew bids worth $19 billion on Friday as institutional investors piled in, underscoring confidence in the budget retailer’s growth prospects and its resilience. 

Where Vishal’s rivals have struggled with high inflation and the rise of quick commerce companies, analysts say the retail company, with 70% of its stores in smaller cities where quick commerce is nascent, is relatively insulated from this threat.

In other news, meet 2024’s latest animal superstar—Junjun, an 11-month-old bear cub in Shanghai! 

After the roaring popularity of Moo Deng, a pygmy hippo in Thailand, and Pesto the king penguin in Australia, Junjun has the internet in a tizzy.  

Netizens, seeing his videos and pictures online, are commenting on his resemblance to Duffy, a teddy bear and popular Disney character. And he comes out to meet his adoring fans every two days!

Cute baby animals rule the world, we’re just living in it. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• India’s second-hottest tech listing
• Indigenous drones for the Indian Army
• Tennis legend Andre Agassi at TiE

Here’s your trivia for today: What was the last album recorded by the Beatles?

IPO

India’s second-hottest tech listing

The IPO of One MobiKwik Systems Ltd has set a new benchmark for India’s tech startup listings, emerging as the second-most subscribed new-age tech IPO in the country. As of the latest update, the offering has been subscribed 119.32 times, surpassing the previous records of companies like Unicommerce and Awfis. 

MobiKwik is seeking to raise up to Rs 572 crore through a fresh issue of equity shares.

Key takeaways:

• On December 13, 2024, the third day of subscription, data revealed cumulative bids were placed for over 141 crore shares, compared to the 1.18 crore shares on offer, translating to an overall subscription of 79.73 times.
• Of the total proceedings, Rs 150 crore is allocated to strengthening MobiKwik’s financial services, including its digital credit offerings like MobiKwik ZIP and ZIP EMI, aimed at retail and SME clients through a default loss guarantee.
• About Rs 135 crore of the proceeds will also go towards funding organic growth in its payments vertical remains Mobikwik’s core business. The net proceeds will also fuel investments in AI and ML capabilities to enhance user experience and bolster fraud prevention mechanisms.

Top Funding Deals of the Week

Startup: Rebel Foods 

Amount: $210M

Round: Series G

Startup: Mintifi

Amount: $180M

Round: Series E

Startup: CarDekho SEA

Amount: $60M

Round: External

Startup

Indigenous drones for the Indian Army

India’s drone industry is on the brink of significant transformation, and companies like IG Drones are playing a pivotal role in shaping this evolution. Founded by Bodhisattwa Sanghapriya and Om Prakash in 2018, the startup is addressing some of the key challenges faced by the industry, such as over-reliance on foreign suppliers and the skill gap in drone technology.

Made in India:

• The Gurugram startup is currently offering services such as surveying, mapping, and inspection, and has partnered with the Indian Army, various state governments, and many large enterprises.
• One of its innovations is India’s first 5G-enabled drone—IG Drones Jaga. This AI-powered surveillance drone excels in applications such as security, defence, agriculture, precision mapping, surveying, inspection, and infrastructure monitoring.
• In October 2024, IG Drones raised $1 million in its initial funding round led by India Accelerator and saw participation from angel investors. It further plans to raise an additional $3 million in the next six months.

Sports

Tennis legend Andre Agassi at TiE

“We spend the first part of our life thinking that we have to perform, we have to achieve, and then life hits us in the face… Then comes broken relations and broken dreams,” said tennis star Andre Agassi as he addressed a packed auditorium at the TiE Global Summit 2024. 

Tennis legend Andre Agassi, speaking at the summit in Bengaluru, discussed why he started playing tennis and how he discovered his true passion after his tennis career.

Life lessons:

• Beginning his tennis career in 1986 at only 16 years of age—in an arena his father chose—the Grand Slam Champion was not satisfied with his life. Agassi wished to go beyond sports and contribute to society.
• The career Golden Slam winner—when a tennis player wins an Olympic Gold medal and all four Grand Slam competitions—believes that humility and vulnerability are crucial for healing. 
• Having dropped out of school in Grade 8 to pursue tennis, the former world No.1 player is now vocal about creating educational opportunities for students.

News & updates

• Make: Apple will begin producing its AirPods wireless earphones in India for the first time early next year, marking a milestone in the iPhone maker’s steady push to diversify beyond China. A unit of Foxconn will start the assembly of AirPods at a new factory near Hyderabad around the first quarter of next year.
• New: Microsoft revealed the newest addition to its Phi family of GenAI models. Called Phi-4, the model improves in several areas over its predecessors, Microsoft claims, particularly in solving math problems. Phi-4 is available with very limited access only on Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry development platform.
• Probe: The US SEC reopened an investigation into Elon Musk’s brain-chip startup Neuralink, according to a letter shared by Musk on X. The agency had issued Musk a 48-hour settlement deadline to either accept a monetary payment or face charges over the probe into his $44 billion takeover of Twitter.

What was the last album recorded by the Beatles?

Answer: Abbey Road.

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