Latest news with #DelhiNCR
Reuters
a day ago
- Business
- Reuters
U.S. pizza chain Little Caesars eyes India expansion with dozens of new stores
June 9 (Reuters) - U.S. pizza chain Little Caesars is planning to open dozens of stores in India over the coming years aiming to capitalise on the country's robust economic growth, an executive told Reuters. Little Caesars will open its first Indian store in the Delhi NCR region this month. "India is on a growth trajectory ... We don't want to miss this wave," said Carlos Vidal, vice president of international development at the privately held Little Caesars. India's economy is projected to grow at 6.5% for fiscal 2026, maintaining its position as the fastest-growing major economy, according to the International Monetary Fund. Founded in 1959, Little Caesars is the third largest pizza chain in the world, with a presence in more than 29 countries. The Indian pizza market is fiercely competitive, with established players like Domino's Pizza (DPZ.O), opens new tab and Yum Brands' (YUM.N), opens new tab Pizza Hut, alongside local chains such as La Pino'z and numerous independent shops. India has proven a challenging market for other major pizza chains. Papa John's (PZZA.O), opens new tab, for instance, exited in 2017 due to fierce competition and operational challenges, though it now plans to re-enter the market in 2025. A 100 Little Caesars stores in India by decade-end is a realistic target, Vidal said, adding the brand is "thinking about hundreds and eventually thousands of stores over time." Little Caesars is customizing its menu with vegetarian pizzas to cater to the country's significantly large vegetarian population. It will also introduce flavored crusts—a first for the brand—as plain crusts are often left uneaten by Indian consumers. In addition to India, Little Caesars plans to also focus on Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Brazil over the next few years with a view to opening more new stores outside the United States.
Zawya
27-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Paytm appoints Ramana Kumar as CEO for Middle East business
DELHI NCR, India--(BUSINESS WIRE/AETOSWire)-- Paytm (One97 Communications Limited), India's leading payments and financial services distribution company and pioneer of mobile payments, QR codes and Soundbox, today announced the appointment of Mr. Ramana Kumar as Chief Executive Officer for its Middle East business. He brings over 20 years of leadership experience in the fintech, payments, and banking sectors along with deep expertise in driving innovation and business growth in financial services. Before joining Paytm, Mr. Kumar was the founding CEO of Magnati, a leading payments company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a subsidiary of First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), where he led key initiatives to modernize payment systems and drive business growth. He also served as Executive Vice President at FAB, overseeing the bank's payments and digital banking businesses. Prior to that, he was Managing Director and Head of Global Transaction Banking – Product and Business Management at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), where he played a key role in developing digital banking and payment solutions. Over the years, Mr. Kumar has built a strong reputation for creating scalable, innovative, and secure payment solutions. Mr. Kumar will lead Paytm's expansion in the UAE and the broader Middle East, focusing on developing digital payment solutions tailored to local needs. He will leverage the company's proven technology and expertise as a pioneer of mobile payments and payment devices in India to drive regional growth. His appointment marks a key step in Paytm's journey to bring its digital financial services to new international markets. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO - Paytm said, 'We welcome Ramana, who has built a formidable merchant payments business in the UAE. We aim to serve the region by building and bringing strong regional leadership, backed by our proven technology.' Mr. Ramana Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Middle East, Paytm said, 'I am excited to join Paytm and lead its Middle East business. The region is rapidly adopting digital payments, and there's a strong demand for innovative, secure, and scalable solutions. Paytm's technology, built and refined in India, is well-suited to meet these needs. We will work closely with regulators and ecosystem partners to introduce impactful innovations and strengthen the digital payments landscape.' The company sees strong potential to expand its technology-driven merchant payments and financial services distribution model to international markets. Paytm is exploring select global opportunities as part of its long-term growth strategy, with meaningful results expected over the next few years. About Paytm Paytm is India's leading mobile payments and financial services distribution company. Pioneer of the mobile QR payments revolution in India, Paytm builds technologies that help small businesses with payments and commerce. Paytm's mission is to serve half a billion Indians and bring them to the mainstream economy with the help of technology. View source version on *Source: AETOSWire Contacts
Entrepreneur
19-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Pronto Raises USD 2 Mn from Bain Capital to Scale Rapid Home Services
The funds will be deployed to expand operations, grow the team, and launch in newer cities as the company ramps up its rapid home services model. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Delhi NCR-based home services startup Pronto has raised USD 2 million in a seed funding round from Bain Capital, valuing the company at USD 12.5 million. The funds will be deployed to expand operations, grow the team, and launch in newer cities as the company ramps up its rapid home services model. Founded in October 2024 by Anjali Sardana, a BS Biology graduate and former investor at Bain Capital and 8VC, Pronto enables users to book cleaning, laundry, and domestic help services within 10 minutes. The startup assigns professionals for tasks like dishwashing, mopping, and clothes washing, riding the quick commerce wave pioneered by Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart. "We are on a mission to create two million jobs in two years. We're growing hyper fast and scaling our team rapidly to meet demand," said Sardana. "Building in a tough, often misunderstood space isn't easy. But we've stayed focused on what matters—earning trust, delivering value, and scaling responsibly. Grateful for Bain Capital Ventures' belief in our mission to transform domestic work in India," she added in a LinkedIn post. Pronto's funding comes just weeks after its direct competitor Snabbit raised USD 5.5 million in a Series A round led by Elevation Capital and Nexus Venture Partners. Both startups are taking on the likes of IPO-bound Urban Company by offering faster, tech-enabled alternatives for household chores. While some users remain skeptical of the need for instant domestic services, investor confidence in quick commerce remains strong. Since 2021, India has seen a surge in startups innovating around rapid service delivery—from groceries to fashion. While Pronto and Snabbit tackle home services, others like Slikk are reimagining fast fashion, showing the broader potential of India's quick commerce ecosystem.
TechCrunch
19-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Uber eyes B2B logistics push in India through state-backed open commerce network
Uber is entering India's growing B2B logistics market by extending its partnership with the Indian government-backed nonprofit that aims to break the domination of the e-commerce duo Amazon and Walmart-backed Flipkart and widen digital commerce in the South Asian nation. On Monday, the ride-hailing giant announced it will soon launch its B2B logistics service through the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to help businesses on the network access on-demand logistics through Uber's 1.4 million driver network, without disclosing a specific timeline. The service will initially enable food deliveries for businesses operating on the open network, but is aimed to be expanded to e-commerce, grocery, pharmacy, and even healthcare logistics. With its new move, Uber will be available as a logistics service provider on ONDC, competing with the likes of Shiprocket (Temasek and PayPal-backed), Shadowfax (TPG, Qualcomm Ventures, and Eight Roads-backed), recent Indian unicorn Porter, and Tiger Global-backed Loadshare. It will be a white-label service and will operate similarly to Uber Direct, launched in the U.S. in 2020, but will be limited to businesses available on the ONDC network, a person familiar with the plan told TechCrunch. Uber's foray into B2B logistics in India follows the company's expansion in the consumer logistics space by introducing Courier XL in Delhi NCR and Mumbai earlier this month to help users deliver large goods of up to 1,653 pounds from the company's rider app by choosing three- and four-wheeler goods carriers. The company has also been offering its regular Courier package delivery service on two-wheelers for some time. Eyeing logistics in general makes sense for Uber as the Indian logistics market is expected to grow 49% to 13.4 trillion Indian rupees ($157 billion) in the financial year 2028 from 9 trillion Indian rupees ($105 billion) in the financial year 2023, per Motilal Oswal. The move will help Uber get another business case in India, after seeing a 41.1% year-over-year increase in its operating revenue in the country to $439 million last year. Its last year's results also showed collections from rides growing 21.45% YoY of the total operating revenue to $94.27 million. Nonetheless, Uber is facing growing competition in the Indian ride-hailing market from local players, including emerging ones like Rapido (WestBridge Capital and Nexus Ventures-backed) and Namma Yatri (Google, Blume Ventures, and Antler-invested). Its diversification into new domains, such as logistics, is expected to help the San Francisco-based company maintain India as an important market. Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW Alongside its B2B logistics play, Uber has rolled out metro ticketing on its rider app powered by ONDC, based on the memorandum of understanding that the company signed with the Indian government-backed nonprofit during CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's visit to India in February 2024. Delhi Metro tickets are available first through the Uber app, while metro tickets in three more Indian cities will go live later this year. Launched in 2021, ONDC debuted as India's initiative to boost digital commerce and allow small retailers to go online and reach more customers easily. The network also expanded to the mobility sector in 2023. ONDC was initially designed to replicate the success of the Indian government's Unified Payments Interface, aiming to drive digital commerce adoption. However, it has struggled to gain traction, as its open-network model has yet to win over major industry players. Recent leadership churn has added to its challenges, with even its former managing director and CEO, T. Koshy, stepping down last month. Retail orders on the network also declined by nearly 34% to 4.3 million in April from a peak of 6.5 million in October. 'Uber's initial enablement of metro ticketing and logistics unlocks new possibilities — from seamless multimodal journeys to unifying a fragmented logistics ecosystem,' said Vibhor Jain, acting CEO and COO at ONDC, in a prepared statement. 'This collaboration lays the foundation for future innovations from Uber on the network, enhancing value for users, partners, and the broader mobility and services landscape.'
Entrepreneur
13-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Curefoods Acquires National Rights for Krispy Kreme, Strengthens F&B Portfolio
As part of the acquisition, Curefoods will now oversee 11 Krispy Kreme stores in Delhi-NCR, expanding its footprint to over 100 locations nationwide. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Curefoods has acquired pan-India rights for Krispy Kreme, the iconic global doughnut and coffee brand, marking a strategic milestone in its expansion journey. The move gives the Bengaluru-based F&B house full control over Krispy Kreme's India operations, extending beyond its previous exclusive distribution rights for South India. As part of the acquisition, Curefoods has taken over 11 Krispy Kreme stores in the Delhi NCR region. This includes seven physical retail outlets and four cloud kitchens in prominent locations such as Worldmark Aerocity, Select City Walk Mall Saket, Ambience Mall Gurgaon, Promenade Mall Vasant Kunj, and Mall of India Noida. With this expansion, Curefoods now operates more than 100 Krispy Kreme outlets across India, comprising a mix of dine-in stores and cloud kitchens. The deal not only marks Curefoods' entry into North India but also signals its intent to scale the brand further in western regions like Mumbai. "This marks a pivotal step in Krispy Kreme's India journey. With full national rights now under our umbrella, we are excited to build a unified strategy for brand growth, customer experience, and innovation across the country," said Ankit Nagori, Founder, Curefoods. "Delhi NCR is the beginning, and we are committed to scaling Krispy Kreme in a way that's sustainable, accessible, and exciting for our consumers." Founded in 2020, Curefoods houses several popular F&B brands including EatFit, CakeZone, Nomad Pizza, and Frozen Bottle, leveraging a tech-driven and cloud-first model to reach consumers nationwide.
