BigBasket founder's exit; Pocket FM’s reverse flip

Happy Wednesday! BigBasket's longtime chief Hari Menon has stepped down. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in the letter:
■ SpaceX to land Cursor
■ Brokers unlock US markets
■ India's AI talent gap

---

BigBasket CEO Hari Menon steps down; Amazon veteran Amit Nanda takes over

BigBasket founder Hari Menon and newly appointed CEO Amit Nanda

BigBasket cofounder Hari Menon has stepped down as chief executive of the Tata Digital-owned online grocer, the company said on Tuesday.

Hot seat: Amazon veteran Amit Nanda, currently director of selling partner services, now takes over as CEO. Menon and fellow cofounder Vipul Parekh stay on the BigBasket board, while Nanda leads the next phase of growth with a clear brief: sharpen BigBasket’s quick commerce game and push innovation across the business.

ET had reported in September 2025 that Menon was preparing to hand over the reins as his five-year tenure neared its end.


Background:

• Tata Group took control of BigBasket in 2021 after buying out Alibaba’s stake – then its largest shareholding – in a deal that valued the company at $1.5-2 billion.
• Initially cautious, the company fully pivoted to quick commerce in August 2024.
• But it soon ceded ground to faster-growing rivals, and its turnover slipped in FY25.

Yes, but: In an April interview with ET, Tata Digital chief executive Sajith Sivanandan said BigBasket had begun to claw back lost market share.

Industry executives say BigBasket’s rapid-delivery arm, BB Now, runs around 500 dark stores and fulfils roughly 450,000-500,000 orders a day.

---

Pocket FM begins reverse flip talks; eyes potential India IPO

Rohan Nayak, CEO, Pocket FM

Pocket FM has begun talks to shift its holding structure back to India as it explores a potential domestic public listing, people aware of the matter told ET.

The US-domiciled audio entertainment startup will first need to execute a reverse flip before filing for an initial public offering (IPO) in India, a move that typically adds tax and structuring costs on top of IPO preparation expenses.

Why it matters:

• The plan comes as rival Kuku Technologies has confidentially filed draft papers with Sebi for a Rs 3,500-crore IPO, targeting a valuation of around Rs 15,000 crore.
• Kuku’s move has sharpened investor focus on India’s audio and mobile-first storytelling market.
• Pocket FM has been in talks to raise about $150 million from private market investors, but discussions remain open-ended for now.

Investor scrutiny:

• Prosus and ADIA were among the investors who held talks with Pocket FM, but the discussions did not result in a deal.
• Investors have sought deeper disclosure on revenue quality, repeat-user behaviour, content costs, and customer acquisition payback periods.
• The IPO push comes on the heels of CFO churn, 100 jobs’ layoffs and the transfer of nearly 2,000 contractual workers to Quess Corp’s payroll.

---

Inside Cursor's journey to a $60 billion deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX

Aman Sanger, cofounder, Cursor

Days after its stock market debut, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is set to acquire AI coding startup Cursor in a $60 billion all-stock deal.

Tell me more: Cursor was founded by Indian-origin entrepreneur Aman Sanger, Michael Truell (CEO), Sualeh Asif and Arvid Lunemark, all graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Lunemark left the company last year.

• The company generates $2.6 billion in annualised business-to-business (B2B) revenue, making it one of the fastest-growing AI software startups.
• Cursor has raised $3.3 billion from investors including Nvidia, Google, Accel, Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.
• In November 2025, parent company Anysphere reached a valuation of nearly $30 billion following a $2.3 billion funding round.
• Each founder held a 4.5% stake worth at least $1.3 billion.

Deal details:

• SpaceX expects to complete the acquisition in the third quarter of 2026.
• The company had been evaluating a deal with Cursor for several months.
• In April, SpaceX secured an option to acquire Cursor for $60 billion or invest $10 billion to expand the partnership.

What else? The deal could strengthen xAI’s position in the AI coding market, one where it is considered a relative laggard. Cursor is also expected to gain access to significantly greater computing power to train and deploy its AI models.

Also Read: AI coding startup Cursor, courted by SpaceX, picks London as European hub

---

Indian stockbrokers Groww, Zerodha, Angel One and Upstox have secured approvals from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) at GIFT City, clearing the way for them to offer US stock investing to Indian retail investors.

What’s happening?

• Groww and Upstox have received Global Access Provider (GAP) licences from IFSCA.
• Zerodha and Angel One have been cleared to operate as broker-dealers.
• Zerodha and Groww received approvals on June 2, while Angel One got the nod on June 12.

Jargon buster: GAP licence holders can connect directly with US brokers for settlements, while broker-dealers must work with GAPs to provide settlement services to investors.

Tell me more: Under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), Indian residents can remit up to $250,000 abroad each year for purposes including stock investments.

Meanwhile, interest in overseas equities is surging. RBI data shows Indians invested about $440 million in global equities in March, up 43% from $306 million a year earlier.

---

India has wide AI talent gaps in deployment, governance, security: India's artificial intelligence talent is concentrated in specialist pools, and there are steep talent gaps in roles such as AI deployment and engineering, AI governance and AI security, according to the latest AI talent report by staffing firm Quess Corp.

India’s electronics exports up 11.62% to $5.09 billion in May: While shipments to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) slowed, shifting trade flows towards the United States pushed up cumulative electronics exports 24.4% to $10.27 billion in the first two months of 2026-27.

---

Global Picks We Are Reading

■ ‘Pretty crazy’ token usage is testing bosses’ bet on AI (Wired)

■ Can open-source beat OpenAI? (Rest of World)

■ Europe’s AI champion Mistral vulnerable to Russian disinformation, study finds (FT)