 Morning Dispatch |
Habuild CEO on user loyalty; Flipkart Minutes gets its own app
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Happy Thursday! Habuild CEO Saurabh Bothra said repeat users are helping the company drive growth. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Also in the letter:
■ Aakash’s next CEO
■ Rentomojo IPO day one
■ Bots to take over purchases
Digital wellness platform Habuild, which started out offering free yoga sessions during Covid, has established a profitable business based largely on repeat subscriptions and expanded into strength training, nutrition, and AI-led meal planning, chief executive Saurabh Bothra told us.
Tell me more: Founded by Saurabh and Trishala Bothra along with Anshul Agrawal in 2020, the platform has 690,000 active users and sees 50-55% repeat subscriptions among its annual members.
Quote, unquote: “While our subscriber renewals are at 50–55%, we also have an attendance of around 70%. Achieving this kind of attendance for online yoga classes isn't easy. When people genuinely get a lot of value from the programme, it drives word of mouth, retention, willingness to subscribe, and renewals,” said Saurabh Bothra.
Financials: Habuild clocked revenues of Rs 112 crore in FY25, more than tripling from Rs 36 crore in FY24. Its net profit rose 237% on-year to Rs 57 crore in FY25, from Rs 16.9 crore in FY24.
Habuild won the Bootstrap Champ title at the ET Startup Awards 2026 for achieving sustainable growth without excessive marketing spend.
Walmart-backed Flipkart has launched a standalone app for its quick commerce arm, Flipkart Minutes, on the Google Play Store, as it steps up its push into the segment.
It is also piloting its food delivery service 'Eat In', people aware of the developments told us.
Driving the news: The Flipkart Minutes app is being piloted with early access for a few users. The company is collecting feedback to improve its performance ahead of a wider rollout before the Big Billion Days (BBD) sale in October.
ET was the first to report in April that the company planned a separate Minutes app later this year.
Also Read: Flipkart to launch food delivery pilot in August: Kalyan Krishnamurthy
The company is also testing its food delivery service among select employees in Bengaluru. It plans to expand the pilot to all employees by September 15 before opening it to the public.
Tell me more: The standalone app’s launch comes as Flipkart’s share of monthly active users (MAUs) has fallen in recent years, with customers shifting to quick commerce platforms.
ET reported on September 9 that Flipkart and Amazon are expanding quick commerce alongside microdramas, in-app over-the-top (OTT) videos and food delivery to counter the decline in their MAU share to 10-minute delivery platforms.
Also Read: Flipkart's Kalyan Krishnamurthy rules out IPO timeline, plays down quick commerce as a separate business
Aakash Educational Services is preparing for another leadership change, with Jayan Modi set to join as head of business and growth and later take over as chief executive, people aware of the development told us.
Driving the news: Sekhar Garisa took charge as managing director and CEO of Aakash just over a year ago, having also been with Ranjan Pai’s Claypond Capital. Garisa’s next move is unclear, with the company yet to indicate whether he will continue at Aakash or take up another role.
Modi, who was earlier chief business officer at Unacademy, is set to join Aakash and initially work alongside Garisa before taking over as CEO in the coming months, the people said.
Tell me more: The leadership change comes after a difficult three years for Aakash, which has gone through two CEO exits and operated without a chief executive for seven months. The company also dropped its plan to bring promoter Aakash Chaudhry back, changed its finance chiefs and reworked its growth plans several times during the period.
Its revenue also declined during the time, while operating profitability nearly disappeared.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Geetansh Bamania, founder, Rentomojo
Rentomojo’s IPO sails through on launch day: Furniture and home appliances rental startup Rentomojo’s Rs 1,256-crore initial public offering (IPO) sailed through on the first day of public bookbuilding with 1.42 times the shares on offer being subscribed.
Fintech founders bet that the bot will become the buyer: Payments and consumer internet companies are preparing for a shift from users approving purchases to AI agents procuring products and completing transactions per preset limits, putting agentic commerce at the front and centre of the first day of the Global Fintech Fest.
Key Coforge shareholders were against Bhatt’s reappointment: Days before the resignation of Coforge’s non-executive chairman Om Prakash (OP) Bhatt, 34.5% of shareholders, or 120 members who voted in the annual general meeting on August 24, opposed his reappointment as an independent director in a special resolution, as per a company filing made on August 26, ET has learnt.
■ Now it’s China’s experts who are gig workers training AI (Rest of world)
■ On a remote island, these GPS hackers are preparing for an invisible war (BBC)
■ OpenAI fought dirty on career-making math problem, says NYU mathematician (TechCrunch)
Also in the letter:
■ Aakash’s next CEO
■ Rentomojo IPO day one
■ Bots to take over purchases
ET Startup Awards 2026: Habuild leans on repeat users to expand beyond yoga into strength training, nutrition
Tell me more: Founded by Saurabh and Trishala Bothra along with Anshul Agrawal in 2020, the platform has 690,000 active users and sees 50-55% repeat subscriptions among its annual members.
Quote, unquote: “While our subscriber renewals are at 50–55%, we also have an attendance of around 70%. Achieving this kind of attendance for online yoga classes isn't easy. When people genuinely get a lot of value from the programme, it drives word of mouth, retention, willingness to subscribe, and renewals,” said Saurabh Bothra.
Financials: Habuild clocked revenues of Rs 112 crore in FY25, more than tripling from Rs 36 crore in FY24. Its net profit rose 237% on-year to Rs 57 crore in FY25, from Rs 16.9 crore in FY24.
Habuild won the Bootstrap Champ title at the ET Startup Awards 2026 for achieving sustainable growth without excessive marketing spend.
Flipkart rolls out standalone Minutes app, food delivery pilot ahead of flagship annual sale
It is also piloting its food delivery service 'Eat In', people aware of the developments told us.
Driving the news: The Flipkart Minutes app is being piloted with early access for a few users. The company is collecting feedback to improve its performance ahead of a wider rollout before the Big Billion Days (BBD) sale in October.
ET was the first to report in April that the company planned a separate Minutes app later this year.
Also Read: Flipkart to launch food delivery pilot in August: Kalyan Krishnamurthy
The company is also testing its food delivery service among select employees in Bengaluru. It plans to expand the pilot to all employees by September 15 before opening it to the public.
ET reported on September 9 that Flipkart and Amazon are expanding quick commerce alongside microdramas, in-app over-the-top (OTT) videos and food delivery to counter the decline in their MAU share to 10-minute delivery platforms.
Also Read: Flipkart's Kalyan Krishnamurthy rules out IPO timeline, plays down quick commerce as a separate business
Aakash turns to another Claypond executive as leadership churn deepens, growth stalls
Aakash Educational Services is preparing for another leadership change, with Jayan Modi set to join as head of business and growth and later take over as chief executive, people aware of the development told us.
Driving the news: Sekhar Garisa took charge as managing director and CEO of Aakash just over a year ago, having also been with Ranjan Pai’s Claypond Capital. Garisa’s next move is unclear, with the company yet to indicate whether he will continue at Aakash or take up another role.
Modi, who was earlier chief business officer at Unacademy, is set to join Aakash and initially work alongside Garisa before taking over as CEO in the coming months, the people said.
Its revenue also declined during the time, while operating profitability nearly disappeared.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Rentomojo’s IPO sails through on launch day: Furniture and home appliances rental startup Rentomojo’s Rs 1,256-crore initial public offering (IPO) sailed through on the first day of public bookbuilding with 1.42 times the shares on offer being subscribed.
Fintech founders bet that the bot will become the buyer: Payments and consumer internet companies are preparing for a shift from users approving purchases to AI agents procuring products and completing transactions per preset limits, putting agentic commerce at the front and centre of the first day of the Global Fintech Fest.
Key Coforge shareholders were against Bhatt’s reappointment: Days before the resignation of Coforge’s non-executive chairman Om Prakash (OP) Bhatt, 34.5% of shareholders, or 120 members who voted in the annual general meeting on August 24, opposed his reappointment as an independent director in a special resolution, as per a company filing made on August 26, ET has learnt.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ Now it’s China’s experts who are gig workers training AI (Rest of world)
■ On a remote island, these GPS hackers are preparing for an invisible war (BBC)
■ OpenAI fought dirty on career-making math problem, says NYU mathematician (TechCrunch)
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