 Morning Dispatch |
Startup of the Year Groww bets on scale; Qcomm sparks festive credit surge
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Happy Thursday! Groww is betting its newer businesses will take a bigger slice of its income. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Also in the letter:
■ Centre’s plan for CSAM content
■ Ola finalises rights issue
■ Razorpay partners with OpenAI
Lalit Keshre, CEO, Groww
Groww expects newer businesses to reshape its revenue mix as they scale, cofounder and CEO Lalit Keshre told us. The company won Startup of the Year at ETSA 2026.
Changing mix: Equity derivatives and stock trading contributed 68.4% of total income in the June quarter, down from 75.7% a year earlier. Credit’s share is likely to remain stable, Keshre said.
Wealth push: “The other wealth pieces are growing very fast,” he said. Groww is expanding wealth advisory, AI-powered mutual fund advisory, bonds and US stock investing. Its Rs 961-crore Fisdom acquisition added expertise for affluent customers.
Customer play: Existing customers are becoming wealthier and need more investment products. “The beauty of our platform is retention,” Keshre said.
Deal stance: Further acquisitions will depend on synergy. “If we see something good, we will consider it, but we are not actively looking to make acquisitions,” he said.
Also Read: Tech, AI, wealth management will be immediate priorities for Groww: CEO Lalit Keshre
.jpg "Festive_Lending_THUMB (1)")
India’s quick-commerce boom is giving festive-season credit demand a fresh leg, with D2C brands borrowing more to stock inventory in dark stores as the channel gains a larger share of online sales this year.
Higher inventory intensity: Brands scaling on quick commerce typically need to maintain 1.7-2.5X inventory, compared with 1-1.25X for traditional ecommerce. For instance, D2C perfume brand Secret Alchemist saw its working capital requirement rise 35% year-on-year this festive season.
Lenders see uptick: Indifi has seen disbursements to quick-commerce-focused sellers rise 50% year-on-year, while FlexiLoans expects festive disbursements to grow 40-50% to more than Rs 1,000 crore. Food and snacking brands are particularly dependent on the channel, with quick commerce accounting for 50-70% of sales for some brands in Recur Club’s portfolio.
Festive demand builds: Quick commerce is expected to account for 16% of festive spending this year, up from 12% in 2025, according to Datum Intelligence. The compressed four-month festive calendar is also concentrating borrowing needs as brands stock up earlier and replenish inventory faster.
Also Read: Checkout financing may get festive boost as electronics turn costlier
The Centre will soon notify a standard operating procedure (SOP) to help online users report child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) and facilitate its removal, officials told us.
Driving the news:
Precedent: Last November, the Centre launched an SOP to curb NCII, along with a tighter removal deadline. As much as 85% of such content is now removed by social media intermediaries within two hours of being flagged, MeitY officials said.
Tech giants comply: Earlier this year, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) began enquiries into advertisements of child abuse content on Meta platforms in India. Subsequently, Meta and Google announced they will proactively report all CSEAM detected on their platforms to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).
Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO, Ola Electric
Ola Electric finalises Rs 1,000 crore rights issue: Two wheeler maker Ola Electric Mobility has finalised the terms of its Rs 1,000 crore rights issue, setting the issue price at Rs 27 per share. The electric two-wheeler maker will issue 37.03 crore partly paid-up shares under the offer.
Razorpay cofounder on how ChatGPT ads will work in India: Razorpay has partnered with OpenAI to help Indian businesses launch ads on ChatGPT, the payments company announced on Monday. Co-founder Shashank Kumar explained how the ads will work in India.
ByteXL raises $9 million: B2B edtech startup ByteXL raised $9 million in a series B funding round led by Elevar Equity, with existing investors Kalaari Capital and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation also participating, as the company looks to expand its presence across India and invest in AI-led learning tools.
■ OpenAI is pissing off a bunch of mathematicians—again (Wired)
■ How AI tempts the lazy mind (FT)
■ South Korea’s AI chip giants are fighting for a bigger role in America’s AI boom (Rest of World)
Also in the letter:
■ Centre’s plan for CSAM content
■ Ola finalises rights issue
■ Razorpay partners with OpenAI
ETSA 2026: Groww expects new businesses to reshape revenue mix as they scale: Lalit Keshre
Groww expects newer businesses to reshape its revenue mix as they scale, cofounder and CEO Lalit Keshre told us. The company won Startup of the Year at ETSA 2026.
Changing mix: Equity derivatives and stock trading contributed 68.4% of total income in the June quarter, down from 75.7% a year earlier. Credit’s share is likely to remain stable, Keshre said.
Wealth push: “The other wealth pieces are growing very fast,” he said. Groww is expanding wealth advisory, AI-powered mutual fund advisory, bonds and US stock investing. Its Rs 961-crore Fisdom acquisition added expertise for affluent customers.
Customer play: Existing customers are becoming wealthier and need more investment products. “The beauty of our platform is retention,” Keshre said.
Deal stance: Further acquisitions will depend on synergy. “If we see something good, we will consider it, but we are not actively looking to make acquisitions,” he said.
Also Read: Tech, AI, wealth management will be immediate priorities for Groww: CEO Lalit Keshre
Quick commerce fuels festive credit demand as brands seek working capital
India’s quick-commerce boom is giving festive-season credit demand a fresh leg, with D2C brands borrowing more to stock inventory in dark stores as the channel gains a larger share of online sales this year.
Higher inventory intensity: Brands scaling on quick commerce typically need to maintain 1.7-2.5X inventory, compared with 1-1.25X for traditional ecommerce. For instance, D2C perfume brand Secret Alchemist saw its working capital requirement rise 35% year-on-year this festive season.
Lenders see uptick: Indifi has seen disbursements to quick-commerce-focused sellers rise 50% year-on-year, while FlexiLoans expects festive disbursements to grow 40-50% to more than Rs 1,000 crore. Food and snacking brands are particularly dependent on the channel, with quick commerce accounting for 50-70% of sales for some brands in Recur Club’s portfolio.
Festive demand builds: Quick commerce is expected to account for 16% of festive spending this year, up from 12% in 2025, according to Datum Intelligence. The compressed four-month festive calendar is also concentrating borrowing needs as brands stock up earlier and replenish inventory faster.
Also Read: Checkout financing may get festive boost as electronics turn costlier
MeitY planning strict protocol for swift takedown of CSEAM content
The Centre will soon notify a standard operating procedure (SOP) to help online users report child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) and facilitate its removal, officials told us.
Driving the news:
- The SOP, modelled on a similar protocol for non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), is expected to be created by next week.
- The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP) may also create a separate category for reporting CSEAM.
- The SOP will spell out protocols for victims, intermediaries and law enforcement agencies to report, remove and prevent the spread of such content.
Precedent: Last November, the Centre launched an SOP to curb NCII, along with a tighter removal deadline. As much as 85% of such content is now removed by social media intermediaries within two hours of being flagged, MeitY officials said.
Tech giants comply: Earlier this year, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) began enquiries into advertisements of child abuse content on Meta platforms in India. Subsequently, Meta and Google announced they will proactively report all CSEAM detected on their platforms to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Ola Electric finalises Rs 1,000 crore rights issue: Two wheeler maker Ola Electric Mobility has finalised the terms of its Rs 1,000 crore rights issue, setting the issue price at Rs 27 per share. The electric two-wheeler maker will issue 37.03 crore partly paid-up shares under the offer.
Razorpay cofounder on how ChatGPT ads will work in India: Razorpay has partnered with OpenAI to help Indian businesses launch ads on ChatGPT, the payments company announced on Monday. Co-founder Shashank Kumar explained how the ads will work in India.
ByteXL raises $9 million: B2B edtech startup ByteXL raised $9 million in a series B funding round led by Elevar Equity, with existing investors Kalaari Capital and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation also participating, as the company looks to expand its presence across India and invest in AI-led learning tools.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ OpenAI is pissing off a bunch of mathematicians—again (Wired)
■ How AI tempts the lazy mind (FT)
■ South Korea’s AI chip giants are fighting for a bigger role in America’s AI boom (Rest of World)
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