Cred's down round; Blinkit's food safety woes

Economic Times

2 days ago

Happy Tuesday! Cred has raised fresh funding at a steep cut in valuation. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Also in the letter:
■ Kaynes , L&T Semicon's new deal■ Renesas on Wolfspeed impact■ Swiggy, Eternal suffer on the bourses
Cred raises fresh funds from GIC, others; valuation cut by 45% to $3.5 billion
Fintech major Cred has raised Rs 617 crore (around $72 million) in fresh funding at a sharply reduced valuation of $3.5 billion, down from its $6.4 billion peak in 2022.
ET was the first to report about the down round on April 14.
Deal details:
The round was entirely primary capital.
GIC's Lathe Investment led the round with Rs 354 crore.
RTP Global invested Rs 74 crore, Sofina Ventures also participated Rs 25.8 crore.
QED Innovation Labs, Kunal Shah's family office, put in Rs 162 crore.
Context: The markdown comes even as Cred's FY24 revenue jumped 66% to Rs 2,473 crore. However, losses widened 22% to Rs 1,644 crore.
Also Read: Cred's FY24 revenue surges 66% to Rs 2,473 crore; overall losses up 22% to Rs 1,644 crore
Nexus Venture Partners will invest Rs 125 crore (around $15 million) in mobility unicorn Rapido as a part of a larger round from last year that valued the company at $1.1 billion, according to a filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).
Driving the news: The funding comes just ahead of Rapido's entry into food delivery, with a Bengaluru pilot set to launch later this month or early July. Rapido has finalised partnership terms with restaurants, offering commissions significantly lower than those of Swiggy and Zomato.
Deal details: Rapido will charge commissions ranging from 8% to 15%.
These rates are well below the 16% to 30% typically charged by Swiggy and Zomato, based on terms agreed with the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI).
Orders below Rs 400 will attract a fixed Rs 25 fee, while those above will be charged Rs 50.
What else: Zepto is also facing mounting criticism online over its use of alleged dark patterns. Two common user complaints: Zepto Daily Pass (a subscription offering discounts and free delivery) is automatically added to carts, while free delivery coupons must be applied manually.
Customers are charged goods and services tax (GST) on the rain fee, which was meant to incentivise delivery partners, prompting backlash on social media.
Deep tech startup Vecmocon Tech raises $18 million: Deep tech startup Vecmocon Technologies has raised $18 million in a funding round led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF), with participation from Blume Ventures and Aavishkaar Capital. The latest raise includes $8 million in fresh capital, and builds on the $10 million raised in November 2024. That earlier round was also led by EIF, alongside Blume Ventures and British International Investment (BII).
Micro-drama OTT platform Flick TV raises $2.3 million: Micro-drama OTT platform Flick TV has raised $2.3 million in seed funding led by Stellaris Venture Partners. The startup is looking to capture India's growing appetite for short-form, mobile-first video content in India.
Maharashtra FDA suspends food licence of Blinkit dark store in Pune
Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the food licence of quick commerce platform Blinkit at its Balewadi store in Pune for non-compliance with food safety regulations.
What happened: On June 5, the Maharashtra FDA officials inspected a Blinkit facility near Mitcon College in Balewadi and found it operating without a licence from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India ( FSSAI ) for production, distribution or sale of food items.
Tell me more: The inspection also uncovered several food safety violations, including: Food items placed directly on the floor
No pest control audit certificate
Workers in the food handling areas without protective caps
Food products stored on dusty racks
Cold storage facility lacking a calibration certificate
On alert: This comes a week after Zepto's facility in Dharavi had its food business licence suspended for similar violations. Multiple packaged food brands have flagged poor hygiene and upkeep across some dark stores.
Authorities are now increasing scrutiny of such facilities, with FSSAI launching surprise audits across metro cities and tier-2 markets.
What else: Zepto is also facing mounting criticism online over its use of alleged dark patterns. Two common user complaints: Zepto Daily Pass (a subscription offering discounts and free delivery) is automatically added to carts, while free delivery coupons must be applied manually.
Customers are charged goods and services tax (GST) on the rain fee, which was meant to incentivise delivery partners, prompting backlash on social media.
Kaynes Semicon, L&T Semiconductor Technologies to acquire Fujitsu General's OSAT business
Mysuru-based Kaynes Semicon and Bengaluru-based L&T Semiconductor Technologies (LTSCT) are acquiring the outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) power modules business of Japan's Fujitsu General for Rs. 118.34 crore.
Deal details: Fujitsu is transferring its power module production facilities to Kaynes.
Kaynes, which already manufactures for LTSCT, will produce these modules LTSCT's behalf.
The transaction is expected to close on June 23, subject to regulatory approval under Japan's Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act.
Why now: Raghu Panicker, chief executive, Kaynes Semicon, told us, 'The new OSAT facility being set up in Sanand, Gujarat, is launching its operations with a focus on the global power device packaging market.' This move is backed by two major developments: a multi-million-dollar, high-volume service agreement with its customer Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (AOS) and the acquisition of three power packaging lines from Fujitsu Electronics Limited, Japan, he explained.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Situation involving Wolfspeed will have no impact on India OSAT: Renesas | Japanese chipmaker Renesas has stated that the situation involving Wolfspeed will have "no impact" on its OSAT project in India. Reports of a potential bankruptcy filing by the US-based silicon carbide (SiC) wafer maker have been sending shockwaves through the global semiconductor industry, with experts suggesting that it could affect Murugappa group-owned CG Power's forthcoming outsourced semiconductor assembly and test facility (OSAT) in Sanand.
Shares of Eternal, Swiggy drop as Rapido undercuts food delivery commission: Shares of Zomato's parent company, Eternal, and its rival, Swiggy, fell by as much as 2.5% and 4% on Monday following an ET report stating that Rapido plans to launch its food delivery services this month, offering significantly lower commissions to restaurants compared to the two major players.
Krutrim announces agentic AI assistant 'Kruti', to launch on June 12: Bhavish Aggarwal's artificial intelligence (AI) company Krutrim on Monday announced its agentic assistant 'Kruti', months after the founder first teased the chatbot. In a post on X, Krutrim said Kruti, India's first agentic AI assistant, "listens, adapts and acts proactively, purposefully and in your language".
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