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For the Tata Group, the majority stake acquisition in India’s largest online grocery BigBasket is pivotal to its grand digital ambitions and super app strategy. Coinbase sees a huge potential market in India and is hoping for regulations to become clearer. And Flipkart is venturing into new territory in backing former Flipkart fashion chief Rishi Vasudev’s Thrasio model startup.

Here’s a roundup of news and analysis last week from The CapTable.

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‘Bought my first Bitcoin during demonetisation in India’

Interview with Surojit Chatterjee, Chief Product Officer at Coinbase. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange is setting up a development centre in India and Chatterjee is hopeful that Indian regulators will take the right policy direction for the sector. Chatterjee outlines his view on the evolving regulatory landscape for crypto and Coinbase’s India plans.

Neobanks run into a big bank problem

Large banks are beginning to see neobanks no longer as their digital partners but as competitors, driving fintech startups toward smaller private lenders. Without access to customer bases of the large banks, neobanks are having to leverage their own distribution and technology capabilities to onboard customers, which poses a challenge in scaling up their businesses.

Tata Group preps big incentives to retain BigBasket founders

The conglomerate wants BigBasket’s founders to continue running the show and has drawn up a scheme to retain them by doubling the value of their holdings. This comes as the online grocery prepares for a valuation hike and an IPO as its operations smoothen out under the control of Tata Group. The BigBasket deal is pivotal to Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran’s digital and super app strategy.

The Crux 

[Crisp and incisive analysis on the developments that matter]

Flipkart in talks to back former executive Rishi Vasudev’s Thrasio-like startup

In a global first for an ecommerce company, Flipkart is set to back a startup building a house of brands business similar to Thrasio. GOAT Brand Labs, founded by former Flipkart fashion chief Rishi Vasudev, is in

talks to raise $20 million in funding led by Tiger Global, with Flipkart and Mayfield Fund participating. 

Food delivery commissions in India among the highest globally

Swiggy and Zomato have pushed restaurants to the maximum commission base and yet are barely breaking even on an order. As restaurants ratchet up their campaigns to get customers to order directly from them so they can avoid paying the high commissions, analysts say food delivery platforms need to move beyond their core operations to achieve profitability.

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