May 27, 2023

Want this newsletter delivered to your inbox? SUBSCRIBE Thank you for subscribing to Unwrapped We'll soon meet in your inbox. Earlier this week, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) elected a new 24-member governing council – and from that, a four-member executive council . Today, we go deeper to understand what the change in guard could mean for the Indian tech and startup ecosystem. Driving the news: The new council will assume office in the backdrop of domestic internet companies leading a charge against Big Tech players at the helm of the apex industry grouping. On May 2, we had written in detail about the deepening chasm between the interests of global internet majors such as Google and Facebook, which count India as one of their biggest markets, and that of local internet startups over issues ranging from Big Tech’s pricing policies to digital regulations. Why does it matter? The new governing council does not include a single representative from Big Tech firms like Google, Microsoft and Meta. Earlier, IAMAI’s chairperson and vice chairperson were top executives from India units of Google and Meta-owned WhatsApp. The shift is a result of continued efforts made by Indian internet companies to wrest control of the 500-member internet association’s leadership. “It’s important to put the needs of the Indian ecosystem first whether it is policymaking, research... In that sense, this governing council embodies the right spirit of putting Indian companies first,” Aloke Bajpai, cofounder of online travel agency ixigo told ETtech. Bajpai was elected to the IAMAI governing council. What’s next? The new leadership will formally take charge at the annual general meeting set to take place next month. The governing council sets the agenda for the industry body during its two-year term, whereas the executive council is responsible for executing that agenda. Incoming governing council members said ‘vocal for local’ is expected to be the dominant theme at IAMAI. “ We we want to be the voice of Indian local companies and startups.. We want to see them grow without Big Tech interests creating hurdles,” Vishwas Patel of Infibeam Avenues told us. Setting the agenda: Patel, who has been elected to the governing council, said the Google in-app purchase billing issue – which Indian entrepreneurs are opposing on various forums – is on top of the agenda. “We need to be aggressive because battles are being fought on multiple fronts here. That kind of mindful strategy of removing local payment gateways and forcing developers to choose from a limited set of options takes profitability away from a lot of startups, especially for high volume, low margin businesses,” he said. Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal, who was the first IAMAI chairperson at the time of its founding, was elected to the new governing council. He said the body should first spend time studying whether it “truly represents the interests of Indian startups and digital companies” in its current form. Mobikwik cofounder and COO Upasana Taku, the only woman member of the new council, told ETtech, “I am confident that I can make a valuable contribution to IAMAI's efforts in promoting the interests of its members, especially the Indian internet companies and create a more conducive environment for digital innovation”. ETtech top stories this week ■ Tiger Global may pick up stake in IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals valuing it at $650 million: Tiger Global, among the world’s most prolific technology-focused investors, is in talks to pick up a financial stake in the Indian Premier League’s franchise Rajasthan Royals , said two people in the know of the matter. This will mark a significant deepening of Tiger Global’s foray into India’s sporting economy and an expansion beyond the digital commerce sector where it is best known as an early backer of ecommerce giant Flipkart. ■ Binny Bansal eyes stake in Prime Volleyball Bengaluru team: Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal is in advanced stages of talks to pick a stake in the Bengaluru franchise of the volleyball team under the Prime Volleyball League (PVL), sources aware of the matter said. ■ Exclusive | Betting, gaming apps Betway, Lotus365, Fun88 continue operations, ads despite blanket ban: Several betting apps among the 138 banned by the Centre earlier this year continue to advertise their operations on digital platforms in defiance of the rules, say legal experts. ■ Reliance JioMart fires 1,000, a bigger layoff round likely: After starting a distribution price war last year, Reliance Industries’ online wholesale format JioMart has laid off more than 1,000 employees as it aligns its operations with the recently acquired Metro Cash and Carry. ■ Tatas may go for bigger play in electronics, semiconductors: The conglomerate is currently scouting for land near its electronics manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district, according to several people aware of the development. ■ With 200 million monthly users in India, Snap looks to shore up ad revenue: Apac president Ajit Mohan: Having crossed the 200 million monthly active user mark in India, parent of messaging app Snapchat now looks to monetise its offerings even as it hires a managing director for India, Snap Inc Asia Pacific president Ajit Mohan has said. “We are going to invest in building a sales team in addition to pushing growth, content and partnerships,” Mohan told ET in an interview. Avnish Bajaj (left), Tarun Davda of Matrix Partners. ■ Cash runway can't be used to hide bad business models: Avnish Bajaj, Matrix Partners | Venture capital fund Matrix Partners said it has made a final close of its latest India fund at $550 million , the largest corpus it has raised for the country since starting operations here in 2006. Earnings Report ■ Policybazaar parent PB Fintech narrows Q4 losses to Rs 9 crore: PB Fintech, which operates insurance aggregator Policybazaar and credit marketplace Paisabazaar, reported a significantly narrower net loss for the fiscal fourth quarter at Rs 9 crore compared with Rs 220 crore a year earlier. ■ Nykaa Q4 Results: Net profit plunges 72% YoY to Rs 2.4 crore; revenue jumps 34%: FSN E-Commerce Ventures, which operates the beauty and fashion platform Nykaa, reported a 71.83% year-on-year (YoY) drop in its March quarter net profit at Rs 2.4 crore. ■ Lendingkart clocked Rs 120 crore profit in FY23, says CEO Harshvardhan Lunia: The Fullerton-backed company saw its overall revenue rise to Rs 828 crore in FY23 , while total credit disbursals surged 44% to nearly Rs 3,960 crore. Fintech Corner ■ Banks, lenders wary as RBI tags centralised KYC as high risk: Centralised Know Your Customer (c-KYC) database, which was conceived as a solution to all the KYC challenges for financial institutions, has been tagged as high risk by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). ■ Fintech startups push for decentralised KYC regime: Multiple industry insiders ET spoke with said a centralised KYC registry might become difficult to maintain given the legacy players in the Indian financial services industry. Instead, if a blockchain-powered platform could be built. ■ NPCI leans on bank partnerships to push RuPay credit cards: NPCI is working closely with a clutch of major banks to find out ways to push the usage of RuPay credit cards . It has set an internal target of cornering around 10% of the overall monthly credit card spends in the next year. Tech Policy ■ Investors from 21 nations exempted from angel tax: India exempted investments by non-resident entities such as sovereign wealth funds and pension funds from 21 countries from the so-called 'angel tax'. Leaving out Mauritius and Singapore among others that account for significant equity inflow into India has irked venture capital firms , which plan to approach the income tax department seeking protective measures against the tax. ■ For VCs, renewed angel tax kills devil in details: Venture capital (VC) investors welcomed the changes proposed by the government to angel tax provisions , saying they provide much-needed clarity on tax incidence while preventing it from being arbitrarily applied. ■ Government working groups may submit AI framework in two weeks: The seven working groups constituted under India’s National programme for Artificial Intelligence are likely to submit recommendations for a comprehensive framework governing various facets of AI in the next two weeks , top officials told ET. Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Centre has started internal consultations on principles and guardrails for the use of AI. ETtech Deals Digest Indian startups secured a total of $447 million in funding this week across 20 rounds , according to data provided by market intelligence firm Tracxn, a 124% surge compared to the same period last year. The funding was bolstered by late-stage investments such as Walmart-owned fintech major PhonePe. Digital payments company PhonePe raised an additional $100 million (around Rs 828 crore) from growth equity firm General Atlantic. With this, General Atlantic has invested around $550 million in the Walmart-backed fintech firm in the latest round of funding.