Big firms eye ISRO's rocket tech; DealShare's sale talks

Happy Monday! Big industrial groups are vying to get a piece of ISRO’s heavy rocket technology. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in the letter:
■ Creators turn brand builders
■ Ather CEO on Konarc bet
■ Icertis CEO replaced

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ISRO’s ‘Bahubali’ draws big industry interest as L&T, Adani, others eye rocket technology

India’s biggest industrial groups are lining up for a shot at building and operating ISRO’s LVM3 rocket. L&T, JSW-Ethereal Exploration Guild, Adani Group, Mahindra, Bharat Forge, Solar Industries and Inox India are among at least half a dozen groups considering EOIs for the technology-transfer programme.

What’s the deal: The selected entity will get access to LVM3’s end-to-end technology to manufacture, launch and commercially operate the rocket.

The story so far: The move marks another step in ISRO’s push to hand routine launch manufacturing and commercial operations to industry, freeing the space agency to focus on advanced and deep-space missions.

ISRO has already transferred SSLV rocket to HAL, and a HAL-L&T consortium has been contracted to manufacture five PSLV-XL rockets. Formal bidding for LVM3 is expected in October.

The demand: India’s space economy is projected to grow from $8.4 billion in 2022 to $44 billion by 2033, with upstream activities such as launch vehicles and satellite manufacturing expected to grow at about 20% annually, according to IN-SPACe. Globally, the space launch services market is also projected to expand from $25.3 billion to $41.3 billion over the next decade.

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DealShare, once valued at $1.7 billion, may sell to Truemeds for little over $90 million

(L-R) Akshat Nayyar and Dr Kunal Wani, cofounders, Turemeds

Business-to-business ecommerce firm DealShare, once valued at $1.7 billion, is in advanced talks to be acquired by online pharmacy Truemeds in a share-swap transaction valuing it at a little over its $90 million cash balance.

Truemeds is expected to issue shares at a valuation of about $600 million, with final terms still being worked out.

Deal structure

• DealShare is expected to be valued at its cash on books plus a small premium.
• The transaction would allow Truemeds to add DealShare’s funds without paying cash upfront.
• DealShare’s investors would receive shares in Truemeds; WestBridge Capital is an investor in both companies.

Valuation reset

• DealShare has raised about $393 million and was valued at $1.7 billion after a $210 million round in 2022.
• Revenue fell from Rs 1,963 crore in FY23 to Rs 432 crore in FY25 as it scaled back operations and cut costs.
• DealShare’s non-metro sourcing and distribution network could complement Truemeds, which raised $85 million last year and is expanding fulfilment capacity outside metros.

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Social media influencers don entrepreneurial hat; launch VC-backed consumer brands

Content creators in beauty, fashion, food and supplements are increasingly using their audiences to launch consumer brands, with venture capital investors backing some of these businesses.

For instance:

• Beauty and skincare creator Himi Khandelwal has raised about Rs 8 crore for her skincare brand Pruf, led by DSG Consumer.
• Chef Sanjyot Keer, who has run YouTube channel Your Food Lab for a decade, has raised Rs 40 crore for home appliance brand Curaa, led by 3one4 Capital
• Instagram creator Kusha Kapila’s shapewear brand Underneat has raised nearly $7 million from Fireside Ventures and Alteria Capital
• Former pilot Gaurav Taneja’s supplement brand Beastlife is in talks to raise Rs 80 crore.

Experts’ take: Creators have an advantage because their large follower bases can help market their brands, investors said. In many cases, they are also launching products in categories they have been creating content around for years.

However, having a strong community does not guarantee success. While followers can generate initial interest, the product itself needs to be good for the brand to grow, analysts tracking the direct-to-consumer (D2C) sector said.

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Other Top Stories By Our Reporters

Tarun Mehta, CEO, Ather Energy

Ather’s Konarc to deliver higher margins than Rizta: CEO | Ather Energy expects its new Konarc electric scooter to deliver better gross margins than its popular Rizta within a year, as the company bets on a lower-cost platform to take its products into the mass market and improve profitability, cofounder and CEO Tarun Mehta told us.

Icertis replaced CEO following whistleblower letter: Sources | Icertis, a US-based enterprise tech company with a major Indian presence, replaced chief executive Anand Subbaraman with two interim CEOs last month.

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Global Picks We Are Reading

■ Google Maps Now Shows ‘Lake America’ Instead of Lake Ontario (Wired)

■ Overcooked? Why robotic pizza makers are failing (BBC)

■ Why the global push to break free from Big Tech keeps falling short (Rest of World)