 Morning Dispatch |
Flipkart ex-staff push for Esop buyout; Wipro, Tech Mahindra’s Q2 report
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Happy Friday! Former Flipkart employees are asking Walmart to cash out their vested stock options. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Also in the letter:
■ Fintechs on new fee model
■ OpenAI exec on voice AI in India
■ Groww leads SIP registrations
Former Flipkart executives and employees have renewed their push for a buyout of their vested employee stock options (Esops) by the company, asking Flipkart parent Walmart to delink their liquidity from the ecommerce firm’s proposed IPO, sources told us.
Fresh demand: In a fresh email to Walmart’s board, the ex-employees cited the lack of a clear IPO timeline and sought an exit opportunity within a reasonable timeframe. “Linking liquidity for ex-employees solely to the IPO leaves them without any certainty on when they can encash their vested options,” one person said.
They argued they should receive terms comparable to those offered to current employees, particularly as the company has extended liquidity to other stakeholders.
Yes, and: The campaign extends beyond the initial seven or eight former executives; thousands of former employees have signed a petition seeking inclusion in a proposed $2 billion Esop buyback, ET reported.
Growing campaign: The signatories want Walmart to hold discussions with their representatives before deciding the terms of the proposed buyback. “The earlier response from the company was a vague one with no specific timeline…we understand that the IPO plans have been put off and it has become a non-event,” one person said.
Also Read: Flipkart's Kalyan Krishnamurthy rules out IPO timeline, plays down quick commerce as a separate business
The ecommerce marketplace business of Walmart-owned Flipkart reported a 19% decline in operating revenue to Rs 16,295 crore in fiscal 2026, per financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC). The financials are part of Flipkart Internet, the amalgamated entity of the ecommerce group. Advertising comprised the largest chunk of the marketplace’s operating revenues, at Rs 8,213 crore.
Financials:
Srini Pallia, CEO, Wipro
IT major Wipro on Thursday reported a 1.9% on-year decline in its net profit to Rs 3,201 crore in Q2 FY27, while it fell 4.7% sequentially from Q1FY27. The company’s gross revenue rose 9.1% on-year to Rs 24,752.7 crore, though on a sequential basis it slipped 1.1%.
IT services: Revenue from this segment increased 0.3% on-year to $2,611.5 million. In non-GAAP constant currency terms, it rose 0.6% on-year, while it remained flat sequentially.
Deal bookings: Total bookings stood at $2,595 million, down 22.9% sequentially in constant currency terms. Large deals declined 58.6% to $674 million.
Tech Mahindra Q2 results: Key highlights
Fintech lenders expect the account aggregator network’s new fee model to improve access to borrowers’ bank records and speed up loan processing, although some face higher costs.
What changes: From November 1, lenders will pay sharing fees divided among banks, account aggregators and Sahamati. From December, banks’ payments will depend on meeting monthly service-performance targets. Banks missing the minimum score will receive no fee.
Cost divide: Stashfin’s Tushar Aggarwal said the charges are slightly lower than what it pays now. FlexiLoans expects its bill for obtaining and analysing records to rise 70–100%, subject to negotiations over additional software charges. Progcap expects improved data quality to compensate for any increase.
The larger picture: The framework supported an estimated Rs 3.82 lakh crore in lending in FY26. Sahamati says payments are needed to incentivise upgrades to systems and services.
Vijaye Raji, CTO. OpenAI
‘India is a voice-first market, OpenAI is building for it’: India’s voice-led usage patterns, multilingual conversations and Android-first user base are shaping OpenAI’s product priorities, the company’s chief technology officer for applications Vijaye Raji said on Thursday ahead of its DevDay India event in Bengaluru.
Groww leads SIP registrations: Wealthtech platform Groww accounted for 43.6% of new SIP (systematic investment plan) registrations for mutual funds in the July-September quarter, the company told ET.
Zetwerk IPO on Day 1: Bengaluru: B2B (business-to-business) contract manufacturer Zetwerk’s Rs 5,012 crore IPO (initial public offering) was subscribed 0.23 times on the first day of bidding on Thursday, as the issue remained undersubscribed across categories.
■ Kids’ content is deeply broken. A new platform wants to fix it (Wired)
■ The aesthetics of quantum computing (FT)
■ What the West can learn from AI optimists in the rest of the world (Rest of World)
Also in the letter:
■ Fintechs on new fee model
■ OpenAI exec on voice AI in India
■ Groww leads SIP registrations
Forget IPO, cash us out: Flipkart alumni press Walmart again
Former Flipkart executives and employees have renewed their push for a buyout of their vested employee stock options (Esops) by the company, asking Flipkart parent Walmart to delink their liquidity from the ecommerce firm’s proposed IPO, sources told us.
Fresh demand: In a fresh email to Walmart’s board, the ex-employees cited the lack of a clear IPO timeline and sought an exit opportunity within a reasonable timeframe. “Linking liquidity for ex-employees solely to the IPO leaves them without any certainty on when they can encash their vested options,” one person said.
They argued they should receive terms comparable to those offered to current employees, particularly as the company has extended liquidity to other stakeholders.
Yes, and: The campaign extends beyond the initial seven or eight former executives; thousands of former employees have signed a petition seeking inclusion in a proposed $2 billion Esop buyback, ET reported.
Growing campaign: The signatories want Walmart to hold discussions with their representatives before deciding the terms of the proposed buyback. “The earlier response from the company was a vague one with no specific timeline…we understand that the IPO plans have been put off and it has become a non-event,” one person said.
Also Read: Flipkart's Kalyan Krishnamurthy rules out IPO timeline, plays down quick commerce as a separate business
Flipkart Internet’s revenue falls 19% to Rs 16,295 crore in FY26
The ecommerce marketplace business of Walmart-owned Flipkart reported a 19% decline in operating revenue to Rs 16,295 crore in fiscal 2026, per financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC). The financials are part of Flipkart Internet, the amalgamated entity of the ecommerce group. Advertising comprised the largest chunk of the marketplace’s operating revenues, at Rs 8,213 crore.
- Marketplace services, which primarily comprise commissions, transaction fees charged to sellers, and fulfilment fees, had been the biggest revenue contributor until FY25.
- Revenue from this segment fell 53% to Rs 4,295 crore in FY26 as Flipkart removed the seller fee for fashion products across all price points this April, and also for items priced below Rs 1,000 last November, to onboard more sellers.
- Net loss of the marketplace business nearly tripled to Rs 5,498 crore in FY26 from Rs 1,694 crore in the previous fiscal.
Wipro Q2 results: Net profit declines 2% to Rs 3,201 crore
IT major Wipro on Thursday reported a 1.9% on-year decline in its net profit to Rs 3,201 crore in Q2 FY27, while it fell 4.7% sequentially from Q1FY27. The company’s gross revenue rose 9.1% on-year to Rs 24,752.7 crore, though on a sequential basis it slipped 1.1%.
IT services: Revenue from this segment increased 0.3% on-year to $2,611.5 million. In non-GAAP constant currency terms, it rose 0.6% on-year, while it remained flat sequentially.
Deal bookings: Total bookings stood at $2,595 million, down 22.9% sequentially in constant currency terms. Large deals declined 58.6% to $674 million.
Tech Mahindra Q2 results: Key highlights
- Net profit: 32.7% on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,585.6 crore.
- Revenue from operations: Rose 15.6% on-year to Rs 16,180.2 crore.
- Ebitda: Up 32.8% on-year to Rs 2,878.5 crore.
- Interim dividend: Rs 15 per equity share of face value Rs 5.
Fintech firms counting on bank fees to unlock reliable records
Fintech lenders expect the account aggregator network’s new fee model to improve access to borrowers’ bank records and speed up loan processing, although some face higher costs.
What changes: From November 1, lenders will pay sharing fees divided among banks, account aggregators and Sahamati. From December, banks’ payments will depend on meeting monthly service-performance targets. Banks missing the minimum score will receive no fee.
Cost divide: Stashfin’s Tushar Aggarwal said the charges are slightly lower than what it pays now. FlexiLoans expects its bill for obtaining and analysing records to rise 70–100%, subject to negotiations over additional software charges. Progcap expects improved data quality to compensate for any increase.
The larger picture: The framework supported an estimated Rs 3.82 lakh crore in lending in FY26. Sahamati says payments are needed to incentivise upgrades to systems and services.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
‘India is a voice-first market, OpenAI is building for it’: India’s voice-led usage patterns, multilingual conversations and Android-first user base are shaping OpenAI’s product priorities, the company’s chief technology officer for applications Vijaye Raji said on Thursday ahead of its DevDay India event in Bengaluru.
Groww leads SIP registrations: Wealthtech platform Groww accounted for 43.6% of new SIP (systematic investment plan) registrations for mutual funds in the July-September quarter, the company told ET.
Zetwerk IPO on Day 1: Bengaluru: B2B (business-to-business) contract manufacturer Zetwerk’s Rs 5,012 crore IPO (initial public offering) was subscribed 0.23 times on the first day of bidding on Thursday, as the issue remained undersubscribed across categories.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ Kids’ content is deeply broken. A new platform wants to fix it (Wired)
■ The aesthetics of quantum computing (FT)
■ What the West can learn from AI optimists in the rest of the world (Rest of World)
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