Amazon India head on qcomm; senior exit at Z47

Happy Monday! Amazon India’s Samir Kumar said the company is gunning for the top spot in the country’s quick commerce market. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in the letter:
■ Students feel rupee squeeze
■ Curefoods delays IPO
■ Rules for AI in courts

---

Amazon is targeting the top spot in India’s quick commerce market, with country manager Samir Kumar saying the company is “in this to win it” and racing to expand Amazon Now to more than 100 cities and over 1,000 dark stores.

Scaling up: The ecommerce giant is ramping up investments despite entering the segment after rivals, arguing that quick commerce is still in its early stages and offers ample headroom for growth.

Also Read: ETtech In-depth: Amazon’s quick commerce blitz rattles Blinkit’s playbook


Prime advantage: Amazon is leaning on its vast Prime subscriber base to turbocharge Amazon Now, saying members shop significantly more frequently once they get access to rapid delivery.

Long-term bet: Even as competition heats up and rivals spar over profitability versus growth, Amazon says it will stay anchored on price, selection and convenience, signalling it is ready to invest hard for long-term market leadership.

Also Read: Amazon Now orders growing 25% month on month: CEO Andy Jassy in Q1 earnings call

---

Tarun Davda, managing director at the venture capital firm Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India), is set to leave later this year, according to people familiar with the matter.

Exit details:

• Sources said Davda has informed Z47 partnership of his plans and is likely to leave by the end of 2026.
• They added that he has not been evaluating or closing new investments for roughly a year, instead focusing largely on fundraising.
• One source said Davda is weighing two options: launching his own fund or returning to entrepreneurship.

Tell me more: Davda joined Z47 nearly 15 years ago and has focused on early-stage consumer technology and software bets, backing companies such as Ola, MoEngage and Captain Fresh.

His reported exit would add to a string of senior-level changes at Z47 and mirror the broader churn sweeping India’s venture capital industry.

• Senior executive Pranay Desai left the firm in the past six months.
• Sudipto Sannigrahi also exited during the same period.
• Principal Chandrasekhar Venugopal left Z47 in May.

---

A more than 10% slide in the rupee against the US dollar is pushing Indian students overseas back to lenders, widening the gap between loans sanctioned in India and fees and living costs payable abroad.

Industry executives told us that demand for top-up education loans has nearly tripled, with students seeking an additional Rs 1-6 lakh.


Devil in the details:

• Banks and education-focused NBFCs sanction loans in rupees, while students pay tuition and expenses in dollars, pounds or euros.
• Students are seeking enhanced sanctions, fresh documentation and, in some cases, power-of-attorney approvals from abroad.
• RBI data showed banks’ total education loan book at Rs 1.55 lakh crore as of March 31, up 13.4% from a year earlier.

Why it matters: For students already overseas, currency swings can upend funding plans after admission and the first loan tranche.

The pressure is also reshaping affordability conversations, nudging students towards programmes in India and lower-cost destinations.

---

Ankit Nagori, founder, Curefoods

Cloud kitchen platform Curefoods shelved its IPO plans months after receiving Sebi’s nod, becoming the latest new-age company to push back its public listing amid volatile markets.

Tell me more:

• Curefoods had planned to raise Rs 800 crore through the IPO at a valuation of about Rs 4,000 crore.
• But roadshows with mutual funds and institutional investors fell flat, as investors baulked at the valuation it wanted.
• The company is now likely to reconsider its listing plan next year if market conditions improve. It does not require fresh capital immediately, according to people familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: Investors in public markets are increasingly scrutinising loss-making new-age companies, focusing on profitability, growth rates, and pricing.

With its move, Curefoods joins Flipkart and PhonePe, both of which have delayed IPO plans amid market volatility and valuation pushback. The company had planned to use the IPO proceeds to expand across cloud kitchens, restaurants, kiosks, and central kitchens, including Krispy Kreme.

---

Lawyers welcome SC’s AI rules against ‘algorithmic justice’: Legal experts have welcomed the attempt to balance innovation with judicial safeguards after the Supreme Court on Wednesday released a draft regulatory framework governing the use of AI in courts, proposing a nationwide governance structure that encourages AI adoption while drawing firm boundaries around judicial decision-making.

India's cybersecurity talent gap grows as skills prove hard to find: India has nearly 39,000 unfilled cybersecurity positions, and the situation is only getting worse. The largest shortage is in areas like IoT (internet of things), blockchain, and crypto security — where there are nearly twice as many job openings as people to fill them, according to HR firm Careernet's latest report.

---

■ The Meta hack shows there’s more to AI security than Mythos (MIT Technology Review)

■ Silicon Valley’s lure is fading for India’s tech talent (Rest of World)

■ Jeff Bezos Is Funding a Wild Hunt for the Brain’s ‘Core Algorithm’ (Wired)