 Morning Dispatch |
BigBasket top brass churn; RMG ban pain manifests
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Happy Tuesday! BigBasket CEO Hari Menon is expected to take a step back as part of a leadership transition. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Also in the letter:
■ Krutrim leadership exits
■ ETtech Done Deals
■ Flipkart goes shopping
Hari Menon, CEO, BigBasket
After nearly five years at the helm under Tata ownership, BigBasket CEO Hari Menon is preparing to exit day-to-day operations, setting the stage for a major leadership transition, sources told us. The move comes as the online grocer faces fierce competition from Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto in India's cutthroat quick commerce market.
Driving the news: Menon is working closely with the board to identify an external successor. The aim is to inject fresh energy into the company as Tata looks to reposition BigBasket, ramp up execution, and raise new capital.
Context:
Zoom out: The leadership change comes amid broader churn at Tata Digital. New CEO Sajith Sivanandan (ex-Jio Mobile Digital Services) will take over in September, after the exit of Naveen Tahilyani earlier this year. A fresh face at BigBasket will be vital to reignite growth, reassure investors, and drive its BBNow 10-minute delivery play, which remains Tata's big bet in the quick commerce race.
Downloads have collapsed, revenues have vanished, and layoffs have begun. India's real-money gaming (RMG) ecosystem is in a freefall following the introduction of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, which imposes a sweeping ban on money-based online gaming.
By the numbers: Between August 20 and 30:
Layoffs begin: With India revenue streams drying up overnight, companies have started trimming their teams. MPL, one of the largest players, is cutting a significant portion of its India workforce. In an internal email, cofounder Sai Srinivas told employees that the new law had. “eliminated” its domestic income base.
Other operators, including Dream11, Zupee and Probo, have also discontinued real-money offerings, choosing compliance over legal pushback for now.
Legal battle: However, one firm has taken the fight to court. Head Digital Works, the company behind rummy and poker platform A23, has filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court. It is the first legal challenge to the newly-passed Act from within the RMG sector.
Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw met with online gaming industry stakeholders on Monday in his first engagement since the RMG ban.
At the closed-door meeting, the government advised platforms to store and, whenever feasible, return user funds that had been uploaded into game wallets before the law came into effect, a person familiar with the matter told us.
The turbulence at Ola's AI arm Krutrim is far from over.
In its third round of layoffs since June, the company has fired close to 50 people from its linguistics division, including team leads and regional language transcribers. These cuts follow an exodus of over 200 employees across departments in recent months, as the Bhavish Aggarwal-led firm struggles to find stable ground.
Tell me more: A company spokesperson described the move as a “strategic realignment” following the completion of Krutrim's in-house linguistics annotation project. However, insiders say the departure of key text-to-speech experts and senior leads has left the team severely under-resourced. Concerns are growing over whether the company can maintain progress on core projects.
The latest exits come as the firm races to develop Krutrim 3, its next-generation, multi-billion parameter large language model. It is also pushing its AI assistant, Kruti, which has seen 207,000 downloads since June.
Quick recap: Since April, at least six senior leaders have resigned. Their exits have impacted crucial functions spanning AI, hardware, cloud infrastructure, and finance. Despite raising $50 million last year and laying out bold investment plans, Krutrim continues to wrestle with funding delays, tepid product traction, and unresolved technical hurdles.
(L-R), Angad Kikla, Rahul Gill, Naisheel Verdhan, cofounders, CityMall
Gurugram-based community ecommerce startup CityMall has bagged $47 million in a new fundraise, after going through a slight valuation markdown.
Deal details:
But why? CityMall will use the fresh capital to deepen its presence in existing markets, expand to nearby regions, and grow its private label and brand partnerships. It also plans to ramp up hiring across key verticals.
(L-R), Rishi K Srivastava, Brindan Tulachan, Ankur Agarwal, Tejas Kusurkar, cofounders, Offgrid Energy Labs
Battery technology startup Offgrid Energy Labs has secured $15 million in a round led by Archean Chemical Industries Limited, with existing investor Ankur Capital also chipping in.
Objects of raise: The Noida-based startup said it will use the funds to set up a pilot manufacturing unit in the United Kingdom within a year. It will also scale R&D and commercialise its zincgel batteries, its founders told us.
Flipkart buys majority stake in Pinkvilla: Walmart-owned ecommerce marketplace Flipkart has acquired a majority stake in digital content platform Pinkvilla as part of its broader strategy to engage with the younger shoppers.
Amazon India tweaks seller fees before festive season: Amazon India has reduced the referral fees it charges to its sellers for categories including apparel, beauty, kitchenware, footwear, home decorative items, small appliances, fitness products, and more.
Infosys reworks bus schedules after commute time clashed with US calls: The IT major rescheduled its evening bus service from its Electronic City campus in Bengaluru as long commuting time of its employees was interfering with calls and demonstrations with their US-based clients.
■ Is AI the end of software engineering or the next step in its evolution? (The Verge)
■ Chatbots can be manipulated through flattery and peer pressure (The Verge)
■ ChatGPT-powered dolls are becoming caregivers in South Korea (Semafor)
Also in the letter:
■ Krutrim leadership exits
■ ETtech Done Deals
■ Flipkart goes shopping
BigBasket set for leadership change; Hari Menon likely to step back
After nearly five years at the helm under Tata ownership, BigBasket CEO Hari Menon is preparing to exit day-to-day operations, setting the stage for a major leadership transition, sources told us. The move comes as the online grocer faces fierce competition from Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto in India's cutthroat quick commerce market.
Driving the news: Menon is working closely with the board to identify an external successor. The aim is to inject fresh energy into the company as Tata looks to reposition BigBasket, ramp up execution, and raise new capital.
Context:
- Menon cofounded BigBasket in 2011 along with Vipul Parekh, VS Sudhakar, Abhinay Choudhari, and VS Ramesh.
- Out of the original team, only Choudhari has exited since Tata Digital's acquisition of a 64.3% stake in 2021.
- The company is currently valued at $3.2 billion.
- BigBasket's financials, however, are under pressure. In FY25, B2C revenue dropped 3% to Rs 7,673 crore while B2B sales declined 7% to Rs 2,227 crore. Net losses widened to Rs 1,851 crore.
Zoom out: The leadership change comes amid broader churn at Tata Digital. New CEO Sajith Sivanandan (ex-Jio Mobile Digital Services) will take over in September, after the exit of Naveen Tahilyani earlier this year. A fresh face at BigBasket will be vital to reignite growth, reassure investors, and drive its BBNow 10-minute delivery play, which remains Tata's big bet in the quick commerce race.
Real-money gaming apps see sharp decline in downloads, begin layoffs
Downloads have collapsed, revenues have vanished, and layoffs have begun. India's real-money gaming (RMG) ecosystem is in a freefall following the introduction of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, which imposes a sweeping ban on money-based online gaming.
By the numbers: Between August 20 and 30:
- Winzo averaged 45,900 daily downloads, down 69.7% from pre-ban levels.
- Zupee, backed by Z47, saw installs crash 95% to 3,490 a day.
- MPL's rummy and fantasy titles slumped 73% to 367 a day.
Layoffs begin: With India revenue streams drying up overnight, companies have started trimming their teams. MPL, one of the largest players, is cutting a significant portion of its India workforce. In an internal email, cofounder Sai Srinivas told employees that the new law had. “eliminated” its domestic income base.
Other operators, including Dream11, Zupee and Probo, have also discontinued real-money offerings, choosing compliance over legal pushback for now.
Legal battle: However, one firm has taken the fight to court. Head Digital Works, the company behind rummy and poker platform A23, has filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court. It is the first legal challenge to the newly-passed Act from within the RMG sector.
IT minister meets online gaming industry groups first time after RMG ban
Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw met with online gaming industry stakeholders on Monday in his first engagement since the RMG ban.
At the closed-door meeting, the government advised platforms to store and, whenever feasible, return user funds that had been uploaded into game wallets before the law came into effect, a person familiar with the matter told us.
More leadership exits, job cuts at Krutrim
The turbulence at Ola's AI arm Krutrim is far from over.
In its third round of layoffs since June, the company has fired close to 50 people from its linguistics division, including team leads and regional language transcribers. These cuts follow an exodus of over 200 employees across departments in recent months, as the Bhavish Aggarwal-led firm struggles to find stable ground.
Tell me more: A company spokesperson described the move as a “strategic realignment” following the completion of Krutrim's in-house linguistics annotation project. However, insiders say the departure of key text-to-speech experts and senior leads has left the team severely under-resourced. Concerns are growing over whether the company can maintain progress on core projects.
The latest exits come as the firm races to develop Krutrim 3, its next-generation, multi-billion parameter large language model. It is also pushing its AI assistant, Kruti, which has seen 207,000 downloads since June.
Quick recap: Since April, at least six senior leaders have resigned. Their exits have impacted crucial functions spanning AI, hardware, cloud infrastructure, and finance. Despite raising $50 million last year and laying out bold investment plans, Krutrim continues to wrestle with funding delays, tepid product traction, and unresolved technical hurdles.
CityMall raises $47 million at flat valuation
Gurugram-based community ecommerce startup CityMall has bagged $47 million in a new fundraise, after going through a slight valuation markdown.
Deal details:
- CityMall raised the funds through a mix of $41 million in equity and rest in debt.
- The round was led by Accel, with participation from Waterbridge, Citius, General Catalyst, Elevation, Norwest, and Jungle Ventures.
- The company's valuation now stands at $320 million, down from $350 million in 2022.
But why? CityMall will use the fresh capital to deepen its presence in existing markets, expand to nearby regions, and grow its private label and brand partnerships. It also plans to ramp up hiring across key verticals.
Offgrid Energy Labs raises $15 million
Battery technology startup Offgrid Energy Labs has secured $15 million in a round led by Archean Chemical Industries Limited, with existing investor Ankur Capital also chipping in.
Objects of raise: The Noida-based startup said it will use the funds to set up a pilot manufacturing unit in the United Kingdom within a year. It will also scale R&D and commercialise its zincgel batteries, its founders told us.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Flipkart buys majority stake in Pinkvilla: Walmart-owned ecommerce marketplace Flipkart has acquired a majority stake in digital content platform Pinkvilla as part of its broader strategy to engage with the younger shoppers.
Amazon India tweaks seller fees before festive season: Amazon India has reduced the referral fees it charges to its sellers for categories including apparel, beauty, kitchenware, footwear, home decorative items, small appliances, fitness products, and more.
Infosys reworks bus schedules after commute time clashed with US calls: The IT major rescheduled its evening bus service from its Electronic City campus in Bengaluru as long commuting time of its employees was interfering with calls and demonstrations with their US-based clients.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ Is AI the end of software engineering or the next step in its evolution? (The Verge)
■ Chatbots can be manipulated through flattery and peer pressure (The Verge)
■ ChatGPT-powered dolls are becoming caregivers in South Korea (Semafor)
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I agree to receive newsletters and marketing communications via e-mail
Thank you for subscribing to Morning Dispatch
We'll soon meet in your inbox.
