Behind the Uber-Rapido merger talks; Honasa’s strong Q1 report

Happy Friday! Uber and Rapido explored combining their India ride-hailing operations in May, sources told us. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in the letter:
■ Infra.Market’s backdoor listing
■ Bluehill VC’s maiden fund
■ Mirae Asset Venture eyes early-stage bets

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Uber, Rapido held talks to combine India ops; deal collapsed over control: sources

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi (left) and Rapido cofounder and CEO Aravind Sanka

Uber and Rapido explored combining their India ride-hailing operations in May, but the talks collapsed after the two sides clashed over how the tie-up should be structured, sources told ET.

How it played out: The discussions unfolded during Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s India visit, when the two sides floated very different visions for the deal.

• Uber's pitch: Merge the two businesses and let Rapido’s team run the combined entity.
• Rapido's counter: A cash-and-stock structure that effectively acquired Uber’s India business, leaving Uber with just a minority stake in Rapido.
• Sticking point: Uber wasn’t willing to cede control or exit the Indian market, and the talks fell apart soon after.

Why combine at all: Both companies have been burning cash to compete for the same riders and drivers, and a tie-up could have eased that pressure while creating a stronger single player.

Market snapshot: Rapido leads India’s overall mobility market on the strength of bike taxis, while Uber holds the edge in four-wheelers.

• Overall market: Rapido 50%, Uber 35-40%, with Ola and Namma Yatri splitting the rest.
• Four-wheeler cabs: Uber leads with 40-45% share, even as Rapido expands aggressively into the segment.

Deja vu: This isn’t Uber’s first India consolidation move. It sold Uber Eats to Zomato (now Eternal) in an all-stock deal in 2020 after concluding it couldn’t become a top-two player in food delivery. Mobility, however, remains a market Uber considers strategic and is unwilling to exit.

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Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumer posts record profit of Rs 90 crore in Q1

Honasa Consumer, the parent of Mamaearth, reported strong growth in profit and revenue in the first quarter of FY27.


By the numbers:

• Profit after tax (PAT): Up 116.5% YoY at Rs 90 crore, vs Rs 41 crore a year earlier.
• Revenue: Up 27% YoY at Rs 756 crore vs Rs 595 crore.
• Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda): Up 140.7% YoY at Rs 110 crore, compared to Rs 46 crore.

Product-wise: Honasa Consumer said its focus categories grew more than 35%, driven by strength across key channels.

• Mamaearth accelerated to high-teens growth.
• The Derma Co crossed Rs 1,000 crore in annualised net sales value (NSV).
• Younger brands grew more than 40%, supported by traction across Gen Z consumers.

CEOSpeak: Varun Alagh, chairman, CEO and cofounder of Honasa Consumer, said the company began FY27 by building on the momentum from the second half of FY26. “Q1 has reinforced that the strategy is working,” he said, adding that both core and newer brands were driving growth.

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FirstCry reports 13% growth in revenues, cuts losses by 34% in Q1

Supam Maheshwari, CEO, Firstcry


Brainbees Solutions, the parent of FirstCry, reported strong operating revenue and narrowed its losses in the April-June quarter of FY27.

The numbers:

• Revenue: Up 13% YoY at Rs 2,106 crore, compared with Rs 1,863 crore.
• Loss: Down 34.3% YoY at Rs 44 crore vs Rs 67 crore.
• Expenses: Up 12% YoY to Rs 2,046 crore from Rs 1,829 crore.

India market: The company’s India business continued to grow during the quarter, with order volume rising 12% YoY to 10.7 million and gross merchandise value (GMV) increasing 12% to Rs 2,381 crore. The company said its non-diaper portfolio, which is about 85% of the GMV, remained robust, while competition in the diaper category intensified during the quarter.

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Amagi net profit surges 8x to Rs 34 crore in Q1

Cloud streaming and media-tech firm Amagi’s consolidated net profit in the June quarter surged more than 8x year-on-year.

Financials:

• Net profit: Rs 34 crore
• Revenue from operations: Rose 32% from a year ago to Rs 436.9 crore.
• Expenses: Up nearly 23% YoY in the quarter to Rs 414 crore.
• Employee costs: Up 16% to Rs 206.4 crore, while other expenses rose 31% to Rs 200.7 crore.

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Other Top Stories By Our Reporters

Infra.Market’s backdoor listing: Accel and Nexus Venture Partners-backed Infra Market, a business-to-business (B2B) building materials unicorn that confidentially filed for a Rs 5,000-crore IPO last October, is set to hit the public markets through a reverse merger with the listed firm Shalimar Paints.

Bluehill VC’s maiden fund: Deeptech venture capital firm Bluehill.VC has raised Rs 408 crore for its maiden fund, including the full exercise of a Rs 50 crore greenshoe option, as investor interest in frontier technology and science-led innovation grows.

Mirae Asset Venture announces first close of India fund: Mirae Asset Venture Investments India, which has backed new-age companies such as Shadowfax, Dhan, Snabbit and KreditBee, has raised Rs 1,125 crore in the first close of its second flagship fund for India, as it looks to back startups in the early-growth stages amid a tougher funding environment for technology companies.

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Global Picks We Are Reading

■ Everybody loves Nvidia — but then, they can’t afford not to (FT)

■ Mozilla’s CTO thinks AI should be built like the internet (Rest of World)

■OpenAI, Anthropic data demand turns startups’ slack threads into prized assets (The Information)