Alice Besomi is the VP of Investments and known as the queen of SaaS at Jungle Ventures. They have invested in a lot of startups in India working in SaaS, consumer technology, fintech and SME tech, including Moglix (one of India’s latest unicorns), along with Livspace, LeapFinance, CityMall, Turtlemint, among many others.

In this video, Alice and Prithvi discuss all things SaaS – talking about interesting SaaS business ideas to understanding key metrics while building a SaaS startup to what are the investors looking for when investing in a SaaS startup.

Introduction

SaaS - Building from India for the World

Interesting SaaS business ideas

Key metrics to understand when building a SaaS startup

How VCs value an early-stage SaaS startup

Drawbacks of Indian SaaS startups and how to revamp

Growth of India and Southeast Asia as the land of SaaS

Understanding vertical/horizontal SaaS and the CRM market

When building a SaaS business: go local or global?

Scalability or Profitability?

SaaS business models

Disruptive SaaS ideas

Future of SaaS

This week in Indian Startup News, Zomato IPO date and Paytm IPO update, CCI could probe Zomato and Swiggy for anti-competitive behaviour, Ather Energy’s plans to compete with Ola Electric, Flipkart’s foray into social commerce, MPL to enter the US market and PlaySimple gets acquired for a whopping $360 million.  In funding news, Pine Labs closes $600 million round, Digit Insurance raises $200 million, Licious raises $192 million and Furlenco raises $140 million.

Zomato IPO date and Paytm IPO update: Zomato’s IPO is all set to launch on July 14th – offering shares worth Rs 9,375 crore ($1.25 billion) for sale – valuing the food delivery giant at around $9 billion. However, since Zomato is a loss-making company – retail investors will only have access to 10% of these shares. Also, Paytm is expected to file for IPO later this month.

CCI could probe Zomato and Swiggy for Anti-Competitive behaviour: National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) has asked the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to probe Zomato and Swiggy for anti-competitive behaviour – accusing them of deep discounting and data masking.

Ather Energy’s plans to compete with Ola Electric: While Ola Electric is busy doubling down on their electric scooter manufacturing facility, their competitor Ather Energy is also ramping up the capacity of their manufacturing facility from 110,000 to 500,000 units by the end of 2022. They have already set aside $87 million for their factory and are also expanding their charging network from 140 to 500 by the end of this year. 

Flipkart’s foray into social commerce: E-commerce behemoth Flipkart has launched its own social e-commerce platform Shopsy to empower 25 million entrepreneurs by enabling them to set up their own businesses by 2023.

MPL to enter the US market: After a successful run in India and foray in Indonesia, Mobile Premier League (MPL) is now expanding into the US to replicate their success through their paid games and competitions. 

PlaySimple gets acquired for a whopping $360 million: Swedish gaming firm Modern Times Group (MTG) has acquired Indian mobile gaming startup PlaySimple in a deal worth a whopping $360 million – making it one of the biggest exits in the Indian startup ecosystem.

Pine Labs closes $600 million round: Digital payments and commerce platform Pine Labs has raised $600 million in a round led by Fidelity and BlackRock as they look to IPO in the next 18 months.

Digit Insurance raises $200 million: Insurtech startup Digit Insurance has raised $200 million in a round led by Sequoia Capital India and IIFL Alternate Asset Managers at a valuation of $3.5 billion.

Licious raises $192 million: Fresh meat and seafood delivery startup Licious has raised $192 million in a round led by Temasek and Multiples Private Equity.

Furlenco raises $140 million: Online furniture rental startup Furlenco has raised $140 million in a round led by Zinnia Global Fund.

This week in Indian Startup News, Online pharmacy startup PharmEasy acquires 25-year-old Thyrocare, Update on Ola’s electric scooter and Futurefactory, PolicyBazaar IPO and expansion into offline insurance space, Shuttl to shut down, and Lenskart’s expansion and their new startup fund.

In funding news, PharmEasy raises $300 million, Acko in talks to raise $200 million, Fourth Partner Energy raises $125 million, Grofers raises $120 million and Classplus raises $65 million.

Online pharmacy startup PharmEasy acquires 25-year-old Thyrocare: India’s only pharmacy unicorn PharmEasy’s parent company API Holdings has signed a deal to acquire 66.1% stake in a 25-year-old diagnostics company Thyrocare for a whopping $613 million. This deal is huge for the Indian startup ecosystem, considering this is the first time ever that an Indian unicorn startup has acquired a publicly listed company.

Update on Ola’s electric scooter and Futurefactory: Ola’s electric scooter manufacturing facility called Futurefactory is nearing the completion of its first phase – which means they will be able to start rolling out 2 million of Ola’s electric scooters soon every year soon. While not much is known about Ola’s electric scooters yet, they are expected to offer a range of 150 km.

PolicyBazaar IPO and expansion into offline insurance space: PolicyBazaar’s parent company Etech Aces Marketing and Consulting is planning to file for IPO as soon as this month and the company could go public by the end of this year. They are expected to raise $400-500 million at a $4-5 billion valuation. The insurtech startup has also forayed into offline insurance space by setting up 15 stores and they plan on increasing the number to 100 in the coming months. This move is critical for their business because despite being the leader in India’s online insurance space, more than 90% of the insurances are still sold offline.

Shuttl to shut down? App-based on-demand bus service for daily office commuters Shuttl was doing over 100,000 rides every day before the pandemic. However, with the offices shut down and employees largely working from homes, their business has been at a standstill for the last year.  Shuttl has already let go of most of their employees and they are now planning to sell whatever is left of the company to a larger player.

Lenskart’s expansion and their new startup fund: Omnichannel eyewear unicorn Lenskart which already has more than 750 stores is now planning to add 300 more stores to strengthen their offline presence. The startup has also set up a ‘Vision Fund’ – which will be used to invest in smaller startups in the eyewear tech space.

PharmEasy raises $300 million: Online pharmacy unicorn startup PharmEasy has raised $300 million from their existing investors to help them fund the acquisition of Thyrocare.

Acko in talks to raise $200 million: Online insurance startup Acko is in talks with the likes of General Atlantic, Warburg Pincus, Multiples Alternate Asset Management and TPG to raise $200 million. If the deal comes through, Acko will end up being a unicorn.

Fourth Partner Energy raises $125 million: Solar energy startup Fourth Partner Energy has raised $125 million in fresh capital from Norway’s state-owned Norfund and TPG.

Grofers raises $120 million: Grofers has raised $120 million from food delivery giant Zomato and Tiger Global Management. Zomato is seeking CCI’s permission to acquire a 9.3% stake in the startup.

Classplus raises $65 million: Edtech startup Classplus has raised $65 million from Tiger Global Management to help offline tutors set up their online business.

#10 Wakefit: Founded by Chaitanya Ramalingegowda and Ankit Garg in 2015, Wakefit started selling mattresses online and were already making a profit within six months of operations. Today, this D2C mattress startup is selling 1,500 mattresses to their 500,000 customers every day – raking in a revenue of $26.5 million and making a profit of $1.3 million in FY20.

#9 Lenskart: Founded by Peyush Bansal in 2010, Lenskart offers an omnichannel platform for selling eyewear and lenses through their online platform and offline stores. The company has been investing heavily in setting up new physical stores – taking the number of offline stores to over 750. This is why the startup took a decade to reach profitability. In FY20, Lenskart made a revenue of $130 million with a profit of $2.4 million.

#8 Cashfree: Cashfree is a digital payments gateway platform that offers more than 100 payment methods to over 50,000 businesses around the world with a team of just 130 employees. Their ability to stay lean has not only enabled them to scale but also remain profitable from the get-go. Their profit increased 14X from just $190,000 in FY18 to $2.6 million in FY20.

#7 BrowserStack: India’s most valuable SaaS startup BrowserStack enables developers to test their apps remotely using their cross-browser testing platform that has more than 2,000 devices and is being used by over 50,000 businesses across the world. The company has been profitable since day one. In FY20, BrowserStack raked in a profit of $3.8 million.

#6 Aye Finance: SME lending startup Aye Finance has been profitable for the last three consecutive years and has disbursed loans worth more than $538 million to more than 200,000 small businesses. Aye Finance’s profits have increased to $5.3 million in FY20.

#5 Lendingkart: Founded in 2014, Lendingkart has disbursed loans worth $741 million to more than 100,000 small businesses. This fintech startup first achieved profitability in FY19 and their profits stand at $5.6 million in FY20.

#4 OfBusiness: B2B e-commerce and lending startup OfBusiness uses purchase financing – providing businesses with a loan that they can use to purchase raw materials from their e-commerce platform. Once their profits from the interest started coming in, OfBusiness started making money and they are now on their way to becoming a unicorn. Their profits jumped 73X from just $150,000 in FY18 to a healthy $80 million in FY20.

#3 CarTrade: Founded in 2009, CarTrade is the only profitable online used car marketplace. This decade-old startup has already filed for an IPO and is expected to hit the stock markets soon. The company significantly decreased its losses from $20 million in FY16 to just $2 million in FY17. They first turned profitable in FY18 and they did this through internal restructuring, key acquisitions and cost-cutting measures. Today (FY20), they are making a healthy profit of $11.5 million.

#2 Boat Lifestyle: Indian consumer technology startup Boat started in 2016 by selling charging cables and were able to hit profitability within the first year. Next, they launched more products like earphones, headphones and smartwatches with quality and affordability in mind to target value-minded Indian consumers. This strategy only accelerated their growth. Boat’s profit’s increased by 30X from just $225,000 to $6.6 million in FY20.

#1 Zerodha: India’s largest stockbroking platform Zerodha has managed to change the entire stock trading industry single-handedly and they did it without even raising any external funding or marketing their product. Today, Zerodha charges just Rs 20 (or 0.03% as commission – whichever is lower) from their customer for every intraday trade. Thanks to that, Zerodha earned a solid $135 million in profits in FY21.

This week in Indian Startup News, BharatPe and Centrum get RBI’s nod to acquire PMC Bank, Impact on new ecommerce rules on Amazon and Flipkart, Cars24 starts home delivery of cars and expands globally, Grofers’ co-founder Saurabh Kumar exits, Uncademy’s Graphy announces Rs 100 crore fund for creators and KKR acquires Fogg Deodrant maker Vini Cosmetics.

In funding news, Byju’s raises $50 million, RenewBuy raises $45 million, GoMechanic raises $42 million, Kutumb raises $26 million and Progcap raises $25 million.

Impact on new ecommerce rules on Amazon and Flipkart: Indian government has proposed changes to the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020 as they plan to further curb cheating and unfair trade practices. E-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart are particularly confused about the clause which says that Flash sales on e-commerce platforms are banned.

BharatPe and Centrum get RBI’s nod to acquire PMC Bank: RBI has approved the take over of PMC Bank by BharatPe and Centrum – also giving them an in-principal approval to set up a small finance bank before the merger. This could bring relief to PMC Bank customers who have been unable to access their money since 2019.

Cars24 starts home delivery of cars and expands globally: Cars24 will soon start delivering used cars to their customers’ homes with 7 days no questions asked return policy – taking their ecommerce experience to a new level. They have also set aside $100 million for their international expansion.

Grofers’ co-founder Saurabh Kumar exits: Grofers’ co-founder Saurabh Kumar is hanging his boots after building the online grocery platform for over 8 years as he looks at new opportunities.

Unacademy’s Graphy announces Rs 100 crore fund for creators: Graphy has launched a Rs 100 crore fund (Graphy Creator Grant) to help content creators to launch their own courses, build an audience and start earning money for the course of the next two years.

KKR acquires Fogg Deodrants maker Vini Cosmetics: Private equity firm KKR is acquiring a majority stake in Fogg Deodrants maker Vini Cosmetics for $625 million to help them their ecommerce sales channel and build new products for the emerging markets.

Byju’s raises $50 million: Byju’s has raised $50 million in a round led by IIFL – taking their total funding for this year to over $850 million as they explore more acquisition opportunities and eye global expansion.

RenewBuy raises $45 million: D2C insurtech startup RenewBuy has raised $45 million in a round led by Apis Partners to bring insurance to remote parts of the country.

GoMechanic raises $42 million: Car servicing startup GoMechanic has raised $42 million from Tiger Global Management to expand their operation from 35 to 100 cities as they aim to service 10 million cars by the end of 2021.

Kutumb raises $26 million: A community-building platform for Bharat users Kutumb has raised $26 million led by Tiger Global Management.

Progcap raises $25 million: Retail financing startup Progcap has raised $25 million from Tiger Global Management.

Since 2014, Paytm’s revenue has increased 15X to reach $435 million in FY21.  But how did Paytm make so much money?  What is Vijay Shekhar Sharma's business and revenue model that helped them get close to half a billion dollars in revenue?  In this video, we answer all these questions – explaining Paytm’s ingenious business model in detail, what are their different revenue channels and how does all this money make its way to Paytm’s bank account.

Paytm Wallet: Paytm Wallet was probably one of the most convenient ways to make online transactions before UPI but that it is also one of the most ingenious ways that Paytm makes money. When you add money to your Paytm Wallet, it doesn’t get into Paytm’s account, instead, it ends up in an escrow account with Paytm’s partner bank, and while it’s there, it earns interest for Paytm. This interest is revenue, and it’s one of the reasons why Paytm tries so hard to get people to use Paytm Wallet - every rupee that people deposit makes them money.  But if you decide to withdraw that money?  In that case, Paytm will charge a 5% transaction fee – which again adds to their revenues.

Commissions - Bookings: When Paytm was started back in 2010, it was an online platform that helped you recharge your mobile phones, DTH and making your bill payments (electricity, water or gas). Today, they have added a lot more services like online flight bookings, train bookings, hotel bookings or even movies. Every time you make these transactions Paytm takes a commission of around 2-3% - enabling them to make more money.

Commissions - E-Commerce: Let’s not forget Paytm Mall, while it failed to become as big as Amazon or Flipkart, it still helps Paytm generate some revenue.  When sellers want to sell on Paytm Mall, they need to pay for a couple of things. First, they have to pay a commission on every sale they make through Paytm Mall – which varies from product category to product category.  Apart from that, they also have to pay Paytm some logistics fees for handling the delivery and then a 2.7% transaction fees for using Paytm’s payment gateway.

Payment Gateway Solutions - Transaction Fees: Every merchant needs to use a payment gateway to be able to accept money from their customers. This payment gateway provides multiple ways for them to accept money – through debit/credit cards, UPI, netbanking or Paytm Wallet. However, using it is not free. Paytm or even any other payment provider charges a certain fee based on the mode of payment. Paytm charges a fixed 1.99% fee for using their gateway for Credit Cards, Netbanking, and Debit Cards.

Financial Services: Paytm partners with banks and NBFCs to help their customers get access to loans. By doing this, since Paytm brings more customers to these banks and NBFCs – Paytm ends up charging a higher interest rate from their customers than what is offered by these banks and NBFCs. In a way, Paytm again takes a small cut.  Then you’ve got the ability to buy stocks, mutual funds, gold, and insurance, and Paytm takes a cut of all of these transactions to increase their revenue.

Advertisement and Gaming: For advertising, Paytm sells exposure. Companies that want your eyes on their products pay Paytm to promote those products to their 150 million users.  Then we’ve got gaming - Paytm is following a similar model to Dream11 where players pay an entry fee to play games like Rummy, Fantasy Cricket and Fantasy Football, and a portion of that fee goes into the prize pool while the remaining portion of that fee goes Paytm’s pocket.

This week in Indian Startup News, India’s largest crypto trading platform WazirX gets tangled in a money-laundering probe, India’s first official drone delivery trial begins, PhonePe’s acquisition deal with Indus OS turns into a lawsuit, CultFit acquires Tread to foray into at-home fitness hardware and InMobi’s Glance acquires Shop101 to launch live commerce.

In funding news, Byju’s raises $350 million to become India’s most valuable startup, BrowserStack raises $200 million to become India’s most valuable SaaS startup, Vianai Systems raises $140 million, Apna.co raises $70 million and FamPay raises $38 million.

India’s largest crypto trading platform WazirX gets tangled in a money-laundering probe: India’s financial investigation agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a notice to WazirX and its directors Nischal Shetty and Sameer Mhatre – seeking an explanation for crypto transactions worth $400 million. ED has accused them of not carrying out proper KYC which led to Chinese nationals operating illegal online betting apps to launder money through their platform by buying cryptocurrencies.

India’s first official drone delivery trial begins: A consortium led by Throttle Aerospace Systems became the first to officially start drone delivery trials to deliver medicines in partnership with Narayana Health.

PhonePe’s acquisition deal with Indus OS turns into a lawsuit: PhonePe was trying to acquire Indus OS for $60 million to strengthen their mini app store Switch but the deal soon turned into a lawsuit between PhonePe and Indus OS’s investor Affle on the difference of valuations. PhonePe has also filed a complaint against another Indus OS investor Ventureast to Sebi for deceiving them and side dealing with Affle to scuttle the deal.

CultFit acquires Tread to foray into at-home fitness hardware: Health and fitness startup CultFit has acquired at-home smart fitness bike maker Tread to give their customers a more comprehensive fitness and training experience at home.

InMobi’s Glance acquires Shop101 to launch live commerce: Glance has acquired social e-ecommerce startup Shop101. The startup will be leveraging its short video platform Roposo along with Shop101’s e-commerce capabilities to launch celebrity and influencer-led live commerce on their platform.

Byju’s raises $350 million to become India’s most valuable startup: Edtech giant Byju’s has raised $350 million in fresh capital from UBS Group, Zoom founder Eric Yuan, Abu Dhabi’s ADQ, Blackstone and Phoenix Rising at a $16.5 billion valuation – leaving behind Paytm to make it India’s most valuable startup.

BrowserStack raises $200 million - India’s most valuable SaaS startup: App and website testing platform BrowserStack has raised $200 million led by BOND Capital at a $4 billion valuation to accelerate their growth via acquisitions.

Vianai Systems raises $140 million: Infosys’ former CEO Vishal Sikka’s new venture Vianai Systems has raised $140 million in fresh capital in a round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2.

Apna.co raises $70 million: Professional networking and job search platform for blue-collar workers Apna has raised $70 million in a round led by Insight Partners and Tiger Global Management at a valuation of $570 million.

FamPay raises $38 million: Fintech startup FamPay has raised $38 million in a round led by Elevation Capital to build India’s first neobank for teenagers. They will use the capital to expand their user base and add more products to their suite.

#10 Urban Company: Urban Company is India’s largest homes services  marketplace. The company has a network of more than 35,000 home service  professionals. They have also expanded beyond India to countries UAE, Australia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia. This rapid global  expansion has caused their losses to almost doubled from $10 million  in FY19 to $18 million in FY20.

#9 CRED: CRED is a fintech startup that  rewards its users for paying their credit card bills on time. The  company is trying to fundamentally change the behaviour of its consumers  in order to build a community of high trust individuals. This is why CRED had to spend a lot to get customers on their platform through  expensive ads – leading to a minuscule operating revenue of $71,200,  while expense stood at $51.8 million.

#8 Delhivery: Logistics startup Delhivery is planning  to go public in the coming months – which is why they have managed to  cut down their losses significantly but it still remains considerably  higher. Their losses rose to a high of $256 million in FY19 before  coming down to just $38 million in FY20.

#7 Udaan: Udaan is a B2B marketplace for retailers to buy products directly from the  manufacturers. Focusing on rapid growth and building their all-India  logistics – Udaan ended up raking up some pretty huge losses. Their  losses rose by 3X from $112 million in FY19 to $333 million in FY20.

#6 Ola Cabs: Ola Cabs has not only established its ride-hailing business in India but has  also expanded internationally to countries like Australia, New Zealand  and the UK. The company has been continuously improving its unit  economics while also cutting down on losses in hopes of going public.  They managed to cut down their loss from $436 million to $373 million  between FY18 to FY19.

#5 Swiggy: Indian food delivery unicorn Swiggy has long been engaged in a battle with its rival Zomato by offering huge  discounts and cashbacks to acquire new customers. That combined with  poor unit economics has caused their losses to grow. They ended the FY20 with a revenue of $368 million  but a loss of $499 million.

#4 Zomato: Zomato recently filed for an IPO is yet to achieve profitability either.  The company claims to have achieved positive unit economics – which is a  step towards profitability but according to their IPO filing, the  company is expected to continue to be making losses for a while. In the  first three-quarters of FY21, Zomato has already lost $93 million.

#3 Dream11: Dream11 is India’s only gaming startup to  turn unicorn and it is also a leader in the country’s fantasy gaming  segment. They’ve had to spend a lot on the advertisement to make fantasy  gaming popular among the masses – at a time when it was being looked at  as gambling. As a result of which, Dream11’s losses for FY19 stood at  $19 million.

#2 OYO: Oyo Rooms is India’s  hospitality unicorn that had expanded rapidly to international  destinations before shrinking operations due to the pandemic. Their  unpreceded rate of expansion demanded investment before they could make  any money. This is why Oyo Rooms’ losses grew 6X from just $50 million  in FY18 to $336 million in FY19.

#1 Paytm: India’s most valuable fintech startup Paytm has been in the headlines  for its heavy losses but they are now gearing up to file for an IPO – in  fact, it could be India’s largest IPO ever. While Paytm has managed to  cut down its losses significantly by 42% from $389 million in FY20 to  just $232 million, they are still a long way from profitability.

This week in Indian Startup News, Lenskart to establish the world’s largest automated eyewear manufacturing facility, PhonePe vs BharatPe – a fight for ‘Pe’, Zomato’s fleet to become 100% electric by 2030, Koo goes to Nigeria after Twitter gets banned, Paytm IPO confirmed, Tata Digital acquires 1mg, BoAt in talks to acquire Tagg Digital, Masai School acquires Design Shift Academy and BharatPe acquires Payback India.

In funding news, Flipkart is in talks to raise $3 billion, Swiggy to raise up to $500 million from Softbank, CarDekho in talks to raise $150 million, Whatfix raises $90 million, Zenoti raises $80 million and Refyne raises $16 million.

Lenskart to establish the world’s largest automated eyewear manufacturing facility: Lenskart has announced that it is building India’s first and the world’s largest automated eyewear manufacturing facility that will be able to serve 100 million eye sights every year.

PhonePe vs BharatPe – a fight for ‘Pe’: Back in 2019, PhonePe had filed a lawsuit against BharatPe for infringing on their copyright ‘Pe’ and using their goodwill to gain customers. They had also filed for an injunction plea to stop BharatPe from using their trademarked ‘Pe’. While their injunction plea was quashed by the Delhi High Court, PhonePe is now preparing to go to trial.

Zomato’s fleet to become 100% electric by 2030: IPO-bound food delivery startup Zomato has announced that it has joined a climate initiative called EV100. They are now committed to transition their entire fleet to electric by 2030.

Koo goes to Nigeria after Twitter gets banned: After Twitter was banned in Nigeria for deleting their president’s tweet, Koo decided to launch in the country. The Indian microblogging platform is now working to add local languages to open the platform to local language users in Nigeria.

Paytm IPO confirmed: India’s most valuable startup Paytm is all set for its IPO after it was approved by the board. Paytm will be raising $3 billion in the IPO – making it the country’s biggest IPO ever.

Tata Digital acquires 1mg: Tata Digital has confirmed the acquisition of online pharmacy startup 1mg – as they look to strengthen their digital ecosystem.

BoAt in talks to acquire Tagg Digital: Consumer electronics startup BoAt is reportedly in talks to acquire Tagg Digital to strengthen their position in the wearables segment.

Masai School acquires Design Shift Academy: Edtech startup Masai School, which offers online courses on web and android development, has acquired Design Shift Academy – which offers courses on UI/UX design.

BharatPe acquires Payback India: Digital payments and lending startup BharatPe has acquired Payback India (which offers a multi-brand loyalty program for its merchant partners)

Flipkart in talks to raise $3 billion: Walmart-owned ecommerce giant Flipkart is in talks with a host of invests including SodftBank to raise $3 billion at a massive $40 billion valuation.

Swiggy to raise up to $500 million from Softbank: SoftBank is seeking the CCI approval to invest up to $500 million in online food delivery unicorn Swiggy – to help build their war chest ahead of Zomato’s IPO.

CarDekho in talks to raise $150 million: CarDekho, an online marketplace for used cars, is in talks to raise up to $150 million at a billion-dollar valuation.

Whatfix raises $90 million: Whatfix has raised $90 million from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 at a $600 million valuation to make it easier for companies to onboard new users and employees.

Zenoti raises $80 million: Zenoti, a SaaS platform for managing spas and salons, has raised $80 million from TPG.

Tata Digital to invest up to $75 million in CureFit: Tata Digital has signed an agreement to invest up to $75 million in health and fitness startup CureFit.

India’s first earned salary access platform Refyne has raised $16 million from DST Global and RTP Global.

This week in Indian Startup News, WazirX launches India’s first NFT marketplace, RBI clarifies that crypto trading isn’t banned, Delhi allows online delivery of alcohol, Nykaa’s IPO plans, Dunzo to deliver medicine using drones, Infra.Market acquires Equiphunt, Byju’s acquires HashLearn and xto10x acquires Dockabl.

In funding news, Delhivery raises $277 million, Urban Company raises $255 million, OfBusiness in talks to raise up to $150 million and Mensa Brands raises $50 million.

WazirX launches India’s first NFT marketplace: India’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform WazirX has launched India’s first NFT marketplace- enabling artists to sell NFTs on their platform using their own cryptocurrency.

RBI clarifies that crypto trading isn’t banned: Some good news for the cryptocurrency investors as RBI has released a new circular clarifying that banks cannot cite their 2018 circular which banned crypto trading as it was quashed by the Supreme Court last year. However, they still want banks to be cautious.

Delhi allows online delivery of alcohol: Delhi government has allowed online delivery of alcohol from apps and websites but it might still be a while before it becomes reality and online delivery startups like Swiggy, Zomato and Dunzo start delivering alcohol in the city.

Nykaa’s IPO plans: Falguni Nayyar led omnichannel beauty retailer Nykaa is expected to IPO this year – raising anywhere between $500-700 million at a $4.5 billion valuation.

Dunzo to deliver medicine using drones: Dunzo has partnered with the Telangana government for their ambitious ‘Medicine from the sky’ project to help them deliver medicine to remote parts of the state using drones.

Infra.Market acquires Equiphunt: A marketplace for real estate companies to procure construction materials Infra.Market has acquired a majority stake in a contruction equipment rental startup Equiphunt for $10 million.

Byju’s acquires HashLearn: Byju’s has acquired a subscription-based on-demand tutoring platform HashLearn to strengthen its position in the test-preparation segment.

xto10x acquires Dockabl: Binny Bansal’s xto10x which helps startups in scaling their business efficiently has acquired an HR-Tech startup Dockabl to offer a performance management tool to track and enhance the productivity of employees.

Delhivery raises $277 million: Logistics startup Delhivery has raised $277 million in a round led by Fidelity and GIC at a $3 billion valuation and it is expected to go public this year.

Urban Company raises $255 million: On-demand home services startup Urban Company has raised $255 million from Prosus Ventures, Dragoneer Investment Group and Wellington Management.

OfBusiness in talks to raise up to $150 million: OfBusiness is in talks with SoftBank to raise up to $150 million at a $1.2 billion valuation – making it a unicorn.