In this issue:
Is the Ixigo IPO Worth your Money?
News flash: Online Travel agency (OTA) Ixigo finally booked a confirmed ticket on its IPO as it released its price band (₹88-93) and is going live on Monday, June 10th. Ixigo joins the host of other players in the industry who are already listed like MakeMyTrip, Yatra and EaseMyTrip.
For the unintiated: Ixigo is an online platform that allows users to book train/bus/air tickets and provides other ancillary services. Founded in 2007 in Gurgaon, Haryana by Rajnish Kumar and Aloke Bajpai, distinguished alumni of IIT Kanpur, Ixigo has since emerged as a premier online travel hub in India.
The company took 12 years to reach INR 100 Crore topline and then only another 5 years to grow 5x times more to cross INR 500 Cr in FY 23. In the 9 months period ending Dec'23 the company reported topline of INR 491Cr and a net profit of INR 66Cr.
But is it worth your money? Let's break it down:
Indian Spacetech - A Story in Making
India’s spacetech startup AgniKul recently made history as it launched its first rocket. Before we talk more about it, let’s see what’s propelling India’s spacetech startups:
Should you Invest in FirstCry IPO?
Childcare products e-commerce Unicorn FirstCry.com has refiled its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in Apr'24 for its upcoming IPO (undated) after markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) demanded a revision citing gaps in the 1st DRHP filed back in Dec'23. The IPO offer, which comprises fresh issuance of shares worth ₹1,816Cr and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component of 5.4Cr equity shares remains unchanged from the previous DRHP filed by the Pune based company.
Is it worth your money? Let's break it down:
India Agritech Podcast Series Recap
In case you missed listening to our podcast series on India Agritech, here’s where to find them:
Recent Stake Grabs in Indian Startups - May'24
What else is Buzzing?
Zomato is democratizing real time weather data for all
We all hate it when we step out and it suddenly starts raining, imagine the problem faced by 200K+ delivery partners of Zomato. That’s why the food delivery Unicorn launched a platform that shares localized weather data of 60+ cities of India. It gives 12 real time weather parameters including humidity, rainfall, wind speed and temperature. Best part is that this data is available to others free of cost. Businesses in logistics, travel, real estate and insurance can make smarter business decisions from this, as their operations can be significantly disrupted by sudden weather changes.
CarDekho forays into Agri space through TractorDekho
The car search Unicorn launched a new vertical that connects buyers, sellers, dealers, and service centers of Tractors for the farming community. This vertical is in direct competition with Agri startups like Tractor Junction and KhetiGaadi that have been in this space for quite sometime.
Tesla is already in India and we didn’t know it
A Gurugram based company called Tesla Power is selling vehicle led acid batteries in India since 2020 by the name of ‘Tesla Power and Tesla Power USA’. Not surprisingly, the US based EV giant filed a complaint with the Delhi High Court, asserting trademark infringement, saying that people are reaching out to them with their customer complaints. Tesla also alleged that Tesla Power is using their name to launch EVs in India. However, Tesla Power argued that it has never been and has no plans to launch EVs or EV batteries. But, are we so stupid to believe that they named their batteries ‘Tesla Power USA’ for no reason?
NPCI’s UPI can take emerging countries from 0 to 10 real quick
NPCI’s international arm recently signed an agreement with Namibia to develop a UPI like payment interface for the African nation. Earlier, NPCI announced a similar model with the central bank of Peru. NPCI is actively pursuing central banks of several nations to develop a UPI like digital payment infra that will tremendously benefit these nations where large population is still underbanked.
Zoho steps out of Software – forays into semiconductor
India’s software major Zoho unveiled its plans to join the semi-conductor race through its investment of $200mn in a new chip making facility. Before this, big corps like Tata and Vedanta have also made big announcements to capitalize on this burgeoning opportunity, backed by GoI’s schemes and incentives and rising global demand.
OYO becomes profitable (as claimed by Ritesh)
Founder of Oyo, Ritesh Agarwal took to X.com to announce that OYO has apparently reported its 1st net profit for the entire financial year, FY 24 of ₹100Cr. If that’s so then it is truly admirable. Why you ask? We’ll tell you at length in our next issue.
Ps. There are also reports that they’re looking to raise $80-90mn from family offices at a $3-4bn valuation (70% haircut on its peak valuation of $10bn that it had touched in 2019).
The stark similarities between Ola Electric and Tesla IPOs
Ola electric will be going public in 2024, which is about 7 years from its incorporation. Tesla also went public after 7 years from its incorporation. Tesla was a loss-making company at the time of its IPO (-33% net margin), and so is Ola Electric (as per its DRHP, -21%). And today Tesla is one of the most valued companies in the world, so you might want to think twice before writing off Ola Electric’s IPO just because its loss making! We’ll share more about our take on their IPO on our next issue.
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