Dexter Rewind — May 2022
Dexter Angels is back with the 2nd issue of the Dexter Rewind Newsletter. We hope you liked our previous edition. If you missed out on reading it, click here to read the April 2022 edition.
Monthly Recap
April was a reality check for the startup ecosystem with layoffs, founder ousts and a questionable inflation in the Indian economy. What led to a streaming bubble during the last two years of the pandemic saw a burst as Netflix lost record number of subscribers. And Twitter just got bought. Over Tweets.
Here is a recap of all things important
What’s April without an April Fool’s prank?
That’s probably what the world thought when Elon Musk tweeted an offer to buy Twitter. What transpired was something that we hope to become the next David Fincher movie (remember The Social Network?) starring a free speech absolutist multi-millionaire, poison pill and a climax leading to Twitter being bought by Elon Musk for $44 billion. Thankfully nobody had to use the poison pill but if you are curious, we wrote about it (on Twitter, irony much?).
While Elon took the limelight, what came crashing close was Netflix as it lost 200,000 subscribers and is expected to lose another 2 million. A panic stricken Netflix was seen laying off it’s 5 month old in-house fan website Tumdum. Netflix says it’s because people are sharing passwords. We decoded the why for its crash here.
Coming back home, Indian startups were seen oscillating between raising funding and laying off employees, all in a month. On the other side of the spectrum was our old-school IT giant Infosys trying too hard to make people stay as it experienced a record high attrition rate this month.
Between all the laying off and leaving, prices of consumer goods increased but the Finance Minister is confident that inflation is “manageable”.
There were more roadblocks for crypto startups this month with continued ambiguity around its trade. But all is not grim for the blockchain enthusiasts as CoinDCX became the most valued crypto trading platform in India.
In another world, Bitcoin got its second green flag. The Central African Republic became the second country after El Salvador to make BitCoin an official currency.
Meanwhile, Whatsapp got an approval to add an additional 60 million users for UPI on Whatsapp services.
Indian government banned 16 Youtube ‘news’ channels which include 6 from Pakistan and 10 based in India with a total viewership of 68 crore on account of disinformation. This is the second ban after early April when 22 YouTube channels were banned.
Lastly, EY in a recent report validated Netflix’s password sharing concerns as it indicated that out of a 503 million user base of OTT platforms in India, only 10 percent pay for the streaming services. Looks like it’s time to let go of your sister’s best friend’s brother’s subscription.
Flatheads
Flatheads announced Gaurav Kapur, the TV anchor & cricket presenter as the company’s brand ambassador! Kapur has also invested in the D2C online sneakers brand last year in Pre-Series A funding round.
Rezo
Rezo.ai was part of the prestigious Maruti Suzuki MAIL program at the Maruti Suzuki Innovation Startup Connect Summit, Goa from 24–25 April 2022. The programme discussed transforming customer experience in mobility and groundbreaking AI.
StepSetGo
In an exclusive interview, our portfolio company StepSetGo founders, Zaheer Khan and Shivjeet Ghatge spoke about how dinner table conversation led to the emergence of their fitness app. Go watch the full interview now!
Pilgrim
Pilgrim participated as one of the panelists in the Sustainability Summit S2 organised by The Disposal Company.
HealthySure
HealthySure is now covering more than 25,000 lives around different sectors with their comprehensive healthcare programs.
GlamyoHealth
Glamyo Health made it to the list of 20 prominent Indian healthcare Startups propelling the health sector.
- What makes the most efficient marketing structure in an early stage startup? That’s what Tomasz Tungunz talks about in his short read on how to make your marketing roadmap and your founder the architect for that map. Read it here.
- SalesLoft is one of the early successful SaaS unicorns. Want to know how? Watch the twists and turns along the way in building SalesLoft with its CEO Kyle Porter here.
- M&A can be a daunting affair for startups. Nobody wants to let go of companies built from scratch. But when is it time to let go? And when can a merger or even getting acquired can be beneficial for you?
Get an understanding of all of it in A16z’s podcast of M&A Before and After — What Founders need to know here. - If you want some sharp analysis on the working of Indian Venture Capital ecosystem; what’s coming in way of making long-term startups and how to revamp the Indian startup space, this Moneycontrol OpEd is a must read for you.
- Guilty of being lazy and using pay later options for your food cravings? Seems like a lot of us are which have given a boost to the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) market in India. Here is a quick guide on BNPL, how great is it to pay later and some concerning troubles around it.
- If you are craving some number crunching, we’d recommend the ConsumerTech report by Chirate Ventures where they discuss the changing scope of ConsumerTech. From the phase of e-commerce to a broader ambit which now includes, gaming, creators, electronic vehicles, Indian consumers are evolving. Download the report here.
Deep Dive
This month on Deep Dive we talk about what many have claimed would democratise e-commerce in the country, Open Network Digital Commerce (ONDC).
How about a virtual market where you could get the newly launched sneakers of your favourite brand, teamed up with some statement shirts from the local flea market along with a pair of RayBan, all at one place? That is ONDC for you.
Last year the Department of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) announced the ambitious project which is expected to go live from August 2022.
As a virtual decentralised market, ONDC would act as a platform, very similar to how crypto is made available in a decentralised market. It’s not an app, it’s not a Flipkart or Amazon.
In fact, ONDC is being seen as an alternative to the present hegemony of Flipkart and Amazon which restricts e-commerce to a few platforms. With ONDC, you could do business with your neighbourhood shop or a luxury brand all at one place. This system is often called a decentralised system and is the basis of the buzz around Web3.
The Aadhar fame Nandan Nilkeni as part of the ONDC Council is extremely hopeful of the project which he believes would seamlessly incorporate itself in the Indian commerce space. After the success of UPI and Aadhar, ONDC is what they believe will be the government’s next digital revolution.
Why?
The population can (sometimes at least) be of advantage. With the internet getting cheap, the pandemic and a young population, online shopping is on a peak and expected to only grow further.
The idea is to not let the nearby kirana shops disappear because they cannot keep up with technological developments, as has been seen in the West.
The e-retail market is expected to grow at 25%-30% annually over the next five years. Currently we are the third largest shopper base globally and have the second highest number of internet users in the country. Could there be a better time to adopt ONDC?
What’s the catch?
To start with, there is a reason why Amazon and Flipkart have a monopoly (and the space also includes other players like SnapDeal. And the new Tata Neu).
These players have been in the market for long enough to have the capital, data and logistical efficiency to pull off e-commerce. They make sure that you receive the right sneakers at the right place and often at the leisure of one-day delivery.
Not only is it unknown to us how a decentralised network with ONDC will ensure effective consumer experience, it will also receive some wrath of older players in the market who have spent years in developing their consumer retail platforms.
The pilot of the ONDC was inaugurated in five cities — Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Shillong and Coimbatore on 30 April. As the ambitious team at ONDC claims, we are hopefully looking forward to the next UPI revolution in the country for our nearby kirana stores very soon.
Deal makers
After three months of an upward graph, April saw a halt in the funding fad with no new unicorn startups this month. The total funding in the startup ecosystem also reduced to $2.6 billion from $3.4 billion in March 2022.
The platform Rigi — helping creators and influencers grow and manage their follower base raised $10 million in Series A round. Peyush Bansal’s Lenskart raised $100 million+ in a new funding round which is expected to close its valuation at $5 billion.
1K Kirana store — app which allows consumers to find local neighbourhood stores raised $25 million this month.
Newton School — online coding training platform inspired by the US based Lambada school, raised $25 million in a Series B funding round.
Urban Piper — restaurant management platform raised $24 million with investments form both rival aggregator platforms Swiggy and Zomato. Rapido, a bike taxi platform raised $175 million from multiple investors which also included Swiggy.
Cricket NFT platform Rario has raised $120 million in its Series A funding round led by Dream Capital. Chalo — the bus tracking and ticketing service provider has raised around $14 million in a fresh round of funding.
Education focused lending platform Financepeer has raised around $38 million in a Series B round led by QED Fund.
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