भारत के पास अपने जहाज क्यों होने चाहिए? 🇮🇳🚢क्या यह भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था को बड़ा लाभ देगा? 📈💰

भारत एक विशाल तटीय देश है, जिसकी समुद्री सीमा लगभग 7,500 किलोमीटर लंबी है। यह देश दुनिया के सबसे बड़े व्यापारिक केंद्रों में से एक है और वैश्विक अर्थव्यवस्था में तेजी से आगे बढ़ रहा है। ऐसे में भारत के पास अपने जहाजों का मालिकाना हक होना न केवल रणनीतिक रूप से महत्वपूर्ण है, बल्कि यह आर्थिक मजबूती और व्यापारिक लाभ के लिए भी आवश्यक है।

आइए विस्तार से समझते हैं कि भारत के पास अपने जहाज क्यों होने चाहिए और यह भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था को कैसे बढ़त दिला सकता है।

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1️⃣ समुद्री व्यापार में आत्मनिर्भरता 🇮🇳

भारत एक आयात-निर्यात आधारित अर्थव्यवस्था है। हमारी अर्थव्यवस्था का बड़ा हिस्सा समुद्री मार्गों के जरिए व्यापार पर निर्भर करता है। वर्तमान में, भारत का लगभग 95% व्यापार (मात्रा के हिसाब से) और 70% व्यापार (मूल्य के हिसाब से) समुद्री मार्गों से होता है। लेकिन विडंबना यह है कि इस व्यापार का बड़ा हिस्सा विदेशी जहाजों पर निर्भर है।

👉 अगर भारत के पास अपने जहाज होंगे, तो उसे विदेशी शिपिंग कंपनियों को किराया नहीं देना पड़ेगा, जिससे अरबों डॉलर की बचत होगी।

👉 भारतीय कंपनियों को सस्ती और तेज़ परिवहन सेवाएं मिलेंगी, जिससे व्यापार में तेजी आएगी।

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2️⃣ विदेशी मुद्रा की बचत और व्यापार घाटे में कमी 💵

जब भारत अपने निर्यात और आयात के लिए विदेशी जहाजों पर निर्भर करता है, तो उसे भारी मात्रा में "फ्रेटचार्ज" चुकाना पड़ता है। सालाना लगभग 75,000 करोड़ रुपये (9 बिलियन डॉलर) भारत विदेशी शिपिंग कंपनियों को देता है। यह पैसा देश के बाहर जाता है, जिससे भारत का व्यापार घाटा बढ़ता है।

👉 अगर भारत के पास खुद के जहाज होंगे, तो यह पैसा देश में ही रहेगा और भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था को मजबूत करेगा।

👉 स्वदेशी शिपिंग कंपनियां ज्यादा मुनाफा कमाकर देश के विकास में योगदान देंगी।

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3️⃣ रोजगार के नए अवसर 🏗️⚓

शिपिंग इंडस्ट्री एक लेबर-इंटेंसिव (श्रम-प्रधान) सेक्टर है। जहाजों का स्वामित्व बढ़ने से हजारों नौकरियां पैदा होंगी, जैसे:

🔹 समुद्री इंजीनियरिंग

🔹 कैप्टन और नेविगेशन ऑफिसर

🔹 कार्गो मैनेजमेंट विशेषज्ञ

🔹 पोर्ट और डॉकयार्ड वर्कर्स

👉 अगर भारत अपने जहाज खुद बनाए और चलाए, तो लाखों लोगों को रोजगार मिलेगा।

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4️⃣ राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा और रणनीतिक लाभ 🛡️🚢

समुद्री जहाज केवल व्यापार के लिए नहीं होते, बल्कि यह देश की सुरक्षा और संप्रभुता के लिए भी महत्वपूर्ण होते हैं। भारत को कई बार विदेशी शिपिंग कंपनियों से समस्याओं का सामना करना पड़ा है, जैसे:

⚠️ युद्ध या संकट के समय विदेशी जहाज सेवाएं रोक सकते हैं।

⚠️ चीन और अन्य देशों की कंपनियों का भारत के शिपिंग नेटवर्क पर नियंत्रण हो सकता है।

👉 अगर भारत के पास अपने जहाज होंगे, तो वह किसी भी वैश्विक संकट में अपनी सप्लाई चेन को नियंत्रित कर सकता है।

👉 रक्षा मामलों में भारतीय नौसेना को भी मजबूत समर्थन मिलेगा।

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5️⃣ मेक इन इंडिया और शिपबिल्डिंग इंडस्ट्री को बढ़ावा 🇮🇳⚙️

अगर भारत अपने जहाजों का निर्माण स्वदेशी स्तर पर करने लगे, तो यह "मेक इन इंडिया" पहल के तहत एक बड़ा गेम-चेंजर साबित हो सकता है।

👉 भारत में नए शिपयार्ड और मैन्युफैक्चरिंग प्लांट बनने से उद्योग को बढ़ावा मिलेगा।

👉 समुद्री परिवहन के क्षेत्र में आत्मनिर्भर बनने से विदेशी निवेश भी आकर्षित होगा।

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6️⃣ लॉजिस्टिक्स और ई-कॉमर्स को बढ़ावा 📦🚢

आज के डिजिटल युग में ई-कॉमर्स और लॉजिस्टिक्स का महत्व तेजी से बढ़ रहा है। कंपनियां अब सस्ता, तेज़ और भरोसेमंद शिपिंग चाहती हैं।

👉 अगर भारत की अपनी शिपिंग कंपनियां होंगी, तो Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance जैसी कंपनियों को सस्ता और तेज़ ट्रांसपोर्ट मिलेगा।

👉 भारत अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्तर पर लॉजिस्टिक्स हब बन सकता है, जिससे ग्लोबल कंपनियां यहां निवेश करेंगी।

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7️⃣ पर्यावरण और सस्टेनेबिलिटी 🌍💚

आज पूरी दुनिया ग्रीन एनर्जी की ओर बढ़ रही है। भारत अगर अपने जहाजों का निर्माण क्लीन एनर्जी और ग्रीन टेक्नोलॉजी के साथ करे, तो यह "सस्टेनेबल डेवलपमेंट" की दिशा में बड़ा कदम होगा।

👉 स्वदेशी जहाजों में LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) और हाइड्रोजन फ्यूल जैसी तकनीक अपनाई जा सकती है।

👉 "ब्लू इकॉनमी" को बढ़ावा मिलेगा और समुद्री संसाधनों का बेहतर उपयोग होगा।

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निष्कर्ष: भारत को अपने जहाजों की जरूरत क्यों है? 🚢📈

✔️ आर्थिक बचत – विदेशी मुद्रा की बचत होगी और व्यापार घाटा घटेगा।

✔️ रोजगार के अवसर – लाखों लोगों को नई नौकरियां मिलेंगी।

✔️ राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा – भारत वैश्विक संकटों के दौरान अपनी सप्लाई चेन को नियंत्रित कर सकेगा।

✔️ मेक इन इंडिया – शिपबिल्डिंग इंडस्ट्री को बढ़ावा मिलेगा।

✔️ लॉजिस्टिक्स और ई-कॉमर्स – भारतीय व्यापार को तेजी से बढ़ावा मिलेगा।

✔️ पर्यावरण संरक्षण – ग्रीन एनर्जी आधारित जहाजों से पर्यावरण अनुकूल विकास होगा।

👉 अगर भारत अपने जहाजों का मालिक बनता है, तो यह देश को आर्थिक और रणनीतिक रूप से बहुत बड़ी बढ़त देगा।

अब समय आ गया है कि भारत सिर्फ उपभोक्ता न बनकर "वैश्विक शिपिंग पॉवरहाउस" के रूप में उभरे! 🚀🌍

भारतीय प्रतिभूति और विनिमय बोर्ड (SEBI) के अध्यक्ष की नियुक्ति और उनकी प्रमुख जिम्मेदारियाँ।

📌 परिचय

भारतीय प्रतिभूति और विनिमय बोर्ड (Securities and Exchange Board of India - SEBI) भारत में पूंजी बाजार का नियामक प्राधिकरण है। इसका उद्देश्य निवेशकों के हितों की रक्षा करना और वित्तीय बाजारों को सुचारू रूप से संचालित करना है। SEBI के अध्यक्ष की भूमिका बेहद महत्वपूर्ण होती है, क्योंकि वे पूरे संगठन का नेतृत्व करते हैं और बाजार की स्थिरता सुनिश्चित करते हैं।

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🔹 SEBI के अध्यक्ष की नियुक्ति कैसे होती है?

🏛 1. नियुक्ति प्रक्रिया

🔹 SEBI के अध्यक्ष की नियुक्ति भारत सरकार द्वारा की जाती है।

🔹 वित्त मंत्रालय (Ministry of Finance) इस प्रक्रिया का नेतृत्व करता है।

🔹 केंद्र सरकार एक योग्य व्यक्ति को "कैबिनेट की नियुक्ति समिति (ACC)" की मंजूरी से SEBI का अध्यक्ष नियुक्त करती है।

🔹 यह नियुक्ति प्रधानमंत्री की अध्यक्षता वाली समिति द्वारा अनुमोदित होती है।

🎓 2. पात्रता और योग्यताएँ

✅ सरकार, वित्तीय क्षेत्र, बैंकिंग, कॉर्पोरेट मामलों, अर्थशास्त्र, कानून या प्रशासन में उच्च पदों पर कार्यरत व्यक्ति को नियुक्त किया जा सकता है।

✅ पूंजी बाजार और वित्तीय सेवाओं में गहरी समझ और अनुभव आवश्यक होता है।

✅ मजबूत नेतृत्व क्षमता और नीति-निर्माण में दक्षता होनी चाहिए।

⏳ 3. कार्यकाल

📆 SEBI के अध्यक्ष का कार्यकाल अधिकतम 5 वर्षों या 65 वर्ष की आयु (जो पहले आए) तक होता है।

📌 सरकार चाहे तो कार्यकाल समाप्त होने के बाद अध्यक्ष का कार्यकाल बढ़ा भी सकती है।

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🔹 SEBI अध्यक्ष की प्रमुख जिम्मेदारियाँ

📊 1. वित्तीय बाजारों का विनियमन और निगरानी

🔸 शेयर बाजार, म्यूचुअल फंड, बॉन्ड मार्केट और अन्य वित्तीय साधनों की निगरानी करना।

🔸 कंपनियों, ब्रोकरों और अन्य वित्तीय संस्थानों को SEBI नियमों का पालन करने के लिए बाध्य करना।

🔸 किसी भी अनियमितता या धोखाधड़ी (Fraudulent Activities) को रोकना।

🔍 2. निवेशकों के हितों की रक्षा

🔹 निवेशकों के साथ धोखाधड़ी न हो, इसे सुनिश्चित करना।

🔹 बाजार में पारदर्शिता और निष्पक्षता बनाए रखना।

🔹 निवेशकों के लिए शिकायत निवारण प्रणाली को प्रभावी बनाना।

🏛 3. कानून और नियमों का निर्माण और क्रियान्वयन

📜 SEBI नए नियम बनाता है और पुराने नियमों में आवश्यक बदलाव करता है।

📌 कंपनियों की लिस्टिंग, इनसाइडर ट्रेडिंग, IPO, म्यूचुअल फंड्स आदि के लिए दिशा-निर्देश तैयार करना।

📊 पूंजी बाजार को स्थिर और सशक्त बनाने के लिए उचित नीतियां बनाना।

🏦 4. कंपनियों और वित्तीय संस्थानों पर नियंत्रण

✅ कंपनियों के IPO (Initial Public Offering) की निगरानी करना।

✅ फर्जी कंपनियों और पोंजी योजनाओं (Ponzi Schemes) पर कार्रवाई करना।

✅ ब्रोकर और अन्य वित्तीय संस्थानों का लाइसेंस रद्द करने का अधिकार।

🌎 5. वैश्विक वित्तीय संगठनों के साथ समन्वय

📌 अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्तर पर वित्तीय नियामकों (IMF, World Bank, G20) के साथ तालमेल बैठाना।

📌 विदेशी निवेशकों (FDI, FPI) के लिए अनुकूल नीतियाँ बनाना।

📌 डिजिटल लेनदेन और फिनटेक कंपनियों के लिए नियामक रूपरेखा तैयार करना।

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📢 निष्कर्ष

SEBI के अध्यक्ष की नियुक्ति सरकार द्वारा की जाती है और उन्हें वित्तीय बाजारों के उचित संचालन की जिम्मेदारी दी जाती है। उनकी भूमिका निवेशकों की सुरक्षा, शेयर बाजार की पारदर्शिता और आर्थिक स्थिरता सुनिश्चित करने में महत्वपूर्ण होती है। सही नेतृत्व के बिना, शेयर बाजार में अस्थिरता और धोखाधड़ी बढ़ सकती है, इसलिए यह पद बहुत संवेदनशील और महत्वपूर्ण है।

💡 SEBI का नेतृत्व सही व्यक्ति के हाथ में होना भारत की आर्थिक स्थिरता के लिए बेहद आवश्यक है।

🔷 आशा है कि यह लेख आपको SEBI अध्यक्ष की नियुक्ति और उनकी जिम्मेदारियों को समझने में मदद करेगा! 🚀

भारत का इलेक्ट्रिक व्हीकल स्टार्टअप लैंडस्केप रिपोर्ट 2025

🇮🇳⚡ "भारत का इलेक्ट्रिक व्हीकल स्टार्टअप लैंडस्केप रिपोर्ट 2025" 🚗🔋

इलेक्ट्रिक वाहन उद्योग की क्रांति: भारत EV स्टार्टअप्स के स्वर्ण युग में! 🚀💡

भारत में इलेक्ट्रिक वाहन (EV) उद्योग एक नई ऊंचाई पर पहुंच रहा है। जहां एक समय पेट्रोल और डीजल गाड़ियों का बोलबाला था, वहीं अब इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियां सड़कों पर तेजी से जगह बना रही हैं। 2025 में भारत का EV स्टार्टअप इकोसिस्टम $3.7 बिलियन की फंडिंग के साथ नई ऊंचाइयों को छू रहा है! 📈✨

🔥 EV स्टार्टअप इंडस्ट्री की ग्रोथ ट्रेंड्स (2015-2025) 📊🚘

🔹 शुरुआती संघर्ष (2015-2018) 😓

2015-18 के दौरान, भारत में EV सेक्टर में सीमित निवेश था। फंडिंग और डील्स की संख्या काफी कम थी:

✅ 2015: $13 मिलियन (2 डील्स)

✅ 2016: $53 मिलियन (6 डील्स)

✅ 2017: $5 मिलियन (4 डील्स)

✅ 2018: $4 मिलियन (8 डील्स)

🚀 ग्रोथ फेज़ (2019-2021) 📈

2019 के बाद निवेशकों का भरोसा EV सेक्टर में बढ़ने लगा:

✅ 2019: $383 मिलियन (10 डील्स)

✅ 2020: $63 मिलियन (17 डील्स)

✅ 2021: $528 मिलियन (42 डील्स)

⚡ EV बूम (2022-2024) 💰💡

✅ 2022: $1075 मिलियन (60 डील्स) – अब तक का सबसे बड़ा निवेश!

✅ 2023: $901 मिलियन (44 डील्स)

✅ 2024: $624 मिलियन (43 डील्स)

🚗 EV स्टार्टअप्स अब भारत के ऑटोमोबाइल सेक्टर को पूरी तरह बदलने की ओर बढ़ रहे हैं! 🌿

——————————

🔋 EV स्टार्टअप्स में बूम के पीछे 5 प्रमुख कारण 🤔

1️⃣ सरकारी सपोर्ट और पॉलिसी फ्रेमवर्क 🏛️📜

🔹 FAME (Faster Adoption & Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles) स्कीम के तहत सरकार EV सेक्टर को सब्सिडी और इंसेंटिव दे रही है।

🔹 EV चार्जिंग इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर पर सरकार का ध्यान – हाईवे और शहरों में तेजी से चार्जिंग स्टेशन बनाए जा रहे हैं।

2️⃣ निवेशकों का बढ़ता भरोसा 💰📊

🔹 बड़े निवेशक और वेंचर कैपिटल फर्म्स अब EV स्टार्टअप्स में पैसा लगा रहे हैं।

🔹 Ola Electric, Ather Energy, और Yulu जैसे स्टार्टअप्स को रिकॉर्ड फंडिंग मिल रही है।

3️⃣ बढ़ती कस्टमर डिमांड 🛍️🚗

🔹 पेट्रोल-डीजल की बढ़ती कीमतों से EV गाड़ियों की मांग तेजी से बढ़ रही है।

🔹 इलेक्ट्रिक स्कूटर्स, बाइक्स, और कारें अब पहले से सस्ती और किफायती हो रही हैं।

4️⃣ इनोवेशन और टेक्नोलॉजी में सुधार 🧑‍🔬🔬

🔹 बैटरी टेक्नोलॉजी में सुधार (Lithium-ion से Solid-state बैटरियों तक)।

🔹 बैटरी स्वैपिंग टेक्नोलॉजी और IoT-बेस्ड EV चार्जिंग सॉल्यूशंस तेजी से विकसित हो रहे हैं।

5️⃣ ग्रीन मोबिलिटी और पर्यावरण संरक्षण 🌍♻️

🔹 इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियां प्रदूषण को कम करने में मदद कर रही हैं।

🔹 2030 तक भारत का लक्ष्य 30% गाड़ियों को इलेक्ट्रिक बनाना है!

——————————

🔮 2030 तक भारत में EV इंडस्ट्री का भविष्य 🚀

✅ EV सेक्टर $100 बिलियन का हो सकता है 📈

✅ 50 लाख से ज्यादा EV गाड़ियां भारतीय सड़कों पर होंगी 🚗

✅ 1 करोड़ से ज्यादा लोग EV सेक्टर में रोजगार पाएंगे 👨‍💼👩‍💼

✅ चार्जिंग इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर 10X बढ़ जाएगा ⚡

अगर आप EV सेक्टर में इन्वेस्टमेंट, स्टार्टअप या बिजनेस शुरू करना चाहते हैं, तो यही सही समय है! ⏳💰

🔥 EV क्रांति का हिस्सा बनें – भारत का भविष्य इलेक्ट्रिक है! 🚗⚡🌍

आपको यह रिपोर्ट कैसी लगी? अपने विचार हमें कमेंट में बताएं! 😊🚘

2024's Startup Graveyard: 12 Indian Startups That Shut Down This Year

The year 2024 has been a mixed bag for India's startup ecosystem. While the number of startup IPOs, unicorns, and capital inflows has risen, the aftershocks of the funding winter have persisted throughout the year.

Continuing the trend of startup closures witnessed in 2023, as many as 12 funded startups have already shut down in 2024, despite raising millions in funding and securing other resources.

"This year, we are witnessing a natural weeding out of unsustainable models, which is crucial for building stronger, more resilient startups. Shutdowns are still happening, often due to business models lacking long-term viability or the ability to adapt to evolving market dynamics," said Ninad Karpe, the founder and partner of 100X.VC.

Karpe emphasised that these closures are not indicative of a struggling economy but rather the maturity of the ecosystem, where only the most adaptable and resilient businesses thrive.

For context, more than 15 startups across various sectors shut down last year, largely due to high cash burn, low customer retention, and mounting operational costs.

In contrast, the major reasons for startup shutdowns this year have been the inability to scale (due to capital constraints), difficulties in finding product-market fit, cash crunch, regulatory hurdles, and funding shortages.

"During the pandemic, many companies capitalised on temporary demand and easy money, but as normalcy returned, cracks in their foundations became evident. This clean-up is both necessary and healthy for the ecosystem," said Gaurav, founder and managing partner at Aroa Venture Partners

Notably, sectors that bore the worst brunt of shutdowns in 2024 include agritech, fintech, edtech, and healthtech. While the demise of Koo was in the making for some time, Toplyne, and Kenko Health were some of the most surprising shutdowns of 2024.

Despite showing early potential and receiving strong investor support, many of these companies succumbed to funding shortages, regulatory crackdowns or even rumblings in their respective sectors. And there is much more at play that sank the boats of many Indian startups this year.

As 2024 nears its end, we have compiled a list of Indian startups that wound up operations this year and the reasons behind their closures.

Here Are The 12 Startup Casualties Of 2024

Note: The list has been compiled in alphabetical order.

⏺️ Bluelearn Shuts Ops Amid Edtech Woes

After more than three years since its launch, social learning platform Bluelearn shut down operations in July, due to challenges in building a venture-scale business and difficulties in achieving fast growth.

Founded in 2021 by Harish Uthayakumar and Shreyans Sancheti, Bluelearn started as a telegram channel for students to help each other with common questions. The edtech startup claimed to have a community of over 1,50,000 members from over 5,500 colleges and startups across more than 20 countries.

In its lifetime, the Bengaluru-based startup raised $3.95 Mn from Elevation Capital, Lightspeed and others.

⏺️ GoldPe Hit By Flawed Biz Model And Cash Crunch

Cofounded by Parth Shah and Yaagni Raolji, Ahmedabad-based fintech startup GoldPe decided to shut its shop just one year after its inception due to the absence of a sustainable revenue stream, a flawed business model, and cash flow issues.

The startup faced challenges in raising additional capital to sustain operations. The cofounders had secured INR 71 Lakh from 100X.VC and a group of angel investors for their first venture, SPAC, in 2022. However, with the initial funding running out, the duo actively sought fresh investments to keep GoldPe afloat but were unsuccessful. The startup could only generate INR 1.5 Lakh in revenue in one year.

Founded in April 2023, GoldPe allowed users to invest in digital gold and leverage its prize-linked savings (PLS) offering for windfall gains. It had a total user base of 2.25 Lakh individuals.

GoldPe earned a 3% commission selling digital gold in partnership with integrated gold player Augmont. It then utilised a third of this revenue to fund weekly draws in which users could win up to INR 10 Lakh upon buying digital gold worth INR 100 and above.

The startup had plans to expand into saving assets other than digital gold after it had achieved a user base of 5 Lakh. These assets would have included fixed deposits (FDs) and recurring deposits (RDs).

⏺️ Agritech Startup Greenikk Succumbes To Mounting Losses

Banana cultivation-focussed agritech startup Greenikk shut down in September due to its inability to find product-market fit and mounting losses. Despite developing an app and positioning itself as an ecosystem facilitator, the startup was ultimately perceived as just another vendor offering working capital.

At the time, Greenikk cofounder and CEO Fariq Naushad told Inc42 that loan defaults by borrowers were one of the major reasons behind the decision to wind up operations.

Founded in 2020 by Naushad and Previn Jacob, Greenikk was building a digital ecosystem around banana cultivation. From farmers, processing units, and commission agents to bulk B2B buyers and fibre buyers, it aimed to solve the problems of the entire banana value chain through its full-stack solution.

The startup also ran enablement centres to provide farmers with financing, seeds, crop advisory, insurance coverage, agri inputs, weather forecasts, and market connections. In its lifetime, the startup raised a total of INR 8.4 Cr from 100Unicorns.

The startup aspired to become the DeHaat of banana cultivation, providing end-to-end agricultural services. However, Greenikk’s ambitions fell short as it struggled to scale beyond its financial services arm.

⏺️ GenAI Startup InsurStaq.ai Ceases Ops Amid Scaling Struggles.

Despite being part of the ongoing boom in the generative AI (GenAI) sector in India, Delhi NCR-based startup InsurStaq.ai decided to shut down its operations in September due to challenges faced in scaling the business.

While further details remain unknown, the founder of InsurStaq.ai, Mayan Kansal, shared on LinkedIn, "After more than a year of building, learning, and growing alongside some of the brightest minds in the insurance industry, we've made the difficult decision to shut down InsurStaq."

"We set out to revolutionise GenAI applications for the insurance world and, along the way, built cutting-edge products, achieved enterprise-ready compliance and were recognised as one of the hottest AI startups by media houses and VCs alike," he added.

However, after facing "some key challenges", the team decided to wind up InsurStaq.ai.

Founded in 2022, InsurStaq.ai focussed on developing GenAI infrastructure tailored specifically for the insurance industry. Its first product was a sales co-pilot designed to help insurance professionals search for products, research compliance, and compare multiple offerings.

The startup also built customised AI workflows to assist professionals across various areas such as sales, support, compliance, research, and underwriting.

Last year, early-stage VC fund Faad Network invested in InsurStaq.ai through its Faad Accelerator Labs program, 'FinShastra'.

⏺️ Fintech Startup Investmint Shuts Amid Business Model Challenges

Yet another casualty of business model struggles is fintech startup Investmint, which chose to shut down operations a month ago.

Founded by Aakash Goel and Mohit Chitlangia in 2022, the fintech startup decided to wind down operations as it found it difficult to figure out a reliable business model.

"As of today, we've successfully concluded the process and returned over 25% of investor capital. While we couldn’t get to any meaningful stage, Chitlangia and I are incredibly thankful for the support from our investors, users, and all 30+ phenomenal teammates who gave it their all behind the mission," Goel wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Reportedly, the startup was also exploring acquisition opportunities with well-capitalised wealth management companies.

Investmint assisted users in making investment decisions and managing wealth with data-backed signals. The Bengaluru-based startup raised around $2 Mn in seed funding led by Nexus Venture Partners to build the startup.

⏺️ Kenko Runs Out Of Funds, Shuts

Peak XV, BEENEXT Backed Kenko Health decided to halt operations in August as it ran out of funds and couldn't secure the insurance licence from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

At the time of the shutdown, the cofounder Aniruddha Sen shared in an email, stating, "Unfortunately, the company has run out of funds, and we were unable to infuse equity capital in time due to various internal reasons. Our company has been taken to the NCLT by a debt fund that had extended a loan to us."

Months after the shutdown, Sen alleged that red tape at the IRDAI was responsible for the events that led to the startup's downfall.

The cofounder alleged that Kenko Health was sent on a "wild goose chase" by IRDAI for two years for an insurance licence, which led to the "destruction" of the company, its employees' livelihoods and their collective dreams.

Founded in 2019, Kenko Health garnered significant attraction from investors and raised over $13.7 Mn from Peak XV Partners, Beenext, Orios Venture Partners, and angel backers like Jitendra Gupta, Kunal Shah, and Amrish Rau. The startup gained attention for its subscription-based health plans, offering OPD benefits, medicines, and healthcare products.

The startup’s revenue grew from INR 5 Cr in FY22 to INR 85 Cr in FY23. However, this revenue surge was overshadowed by mounting losses, which stood at INR 68 Cr during the same period.

⏺️ Koo Shuts After Acquisition Talks Falter

Founded in 2020 by Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka, Bengaluru-based Koo was an Indian microblogging platform and a competitor to X (formerly Twitter). It announced its shutdown after prolonged acquisition discussions with online media firm Dailyhunt fell apart.

However, the biggest problem that led to the downfall of Koo was its failure to raise funds as investors tightened their purse strings amid a raging funding winter in the past two years.

Despite having raised over $50 Mn from prominent investors like Tiger Global, Accel, 3one4 Capital, Kalaari Capital, and Blume Ventures, the startup found no takers for its Series C round as the financials were not impressive enough.

Another big reason that contributed to its shutdown was its deteriorating financial health. From the start, the startup struggled with mounting losses and minimal revenue.

Between FY20 and FY22, Koo reported a net loss of INR 244 Cr, while earning only INR 21 Lakh in revenue. The company struggled to establish a viable revenue model and heavily relied on burning cash to acquire new users.

⏺️ RBI's UPI Ban On Co-Branding Arrangement Leads To Muvin's Demise.

The youth-focussed neobanking startup Muvin bit the dust in 2024 due to the Reserve Bank of India's order forbidding UPI in a cobranding arrangement.

"muvin card program has been closed. Any available balance is being migrated to the issuer Livquik app. The migration is expected to be finished by 1st Feb and we would notify next steps to access your balance. Thank you for the support and we regret that muvin is unable to support your journey towards financial literacy," a notification on the Muvin app read.

Cofounded by Vineet Gupta and Mukund Rao, neobanking platform Muvin acquired customers, performed KYC, and offered prepaid cards to students, enabling payments via its prepaid payment instrument (PPI) issuer.

The startup had partnered with Livquick, a registered non-bank PPI issuer, to offer cobranded prepaid cards to its customers. It had raised $4 Mn from WaterBridge Ventures.

⏺️ My Tirth India Succumbed Due To Funding Crunch.

After the demise of its principal shareholder and investor Subrata Roy, spiritual tech startup My Tirth India decided to "temporarily" shut operations in August due to a shortage of funds. Roy, the founder and managing director of Sahara India Pariwar, had invested nearly $1 Mn into the startup.

While the website is still active, the founder, Indraneel Dasgupta, informed Inc42 that My Tirth India had to shut down due to factors beyond its control. “Despite impressive growth in both figures and reach, scaling became impossible due to a lack of funds.”

Founded in 2019 by Dasgupta, My Tirth India offered a one-stop solution for pilgrims and tourists to travel around India's top religious destinations. Besides, it also sold spiritual products.

It offered a wide range of services like travel loans, online pooja, prasad delivery, astrology, and spiritual blog posts.

The startup's net loss more than doubled to INR 2.68 Cr in FY23 from INR 1.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Revenue from operations surged to INR 3.3 Cr from INR 89 Lakh in FY22, as per the data available on Tofler.

⏺️ Scaling And User Retention Challenges Prompt Nintee's Shutdown

In April, AI-powered digital health platform Nintee announced its closure, all while returning the remaining capital to investors. Cofounder and CEO Paras Chopra attributed the shutdown of the Peak XV Partners-backed startup to challenges with user retention and scaling. The decision came a year after the startup raised $3 Mn from undisclosed investors.

Founded by Chopra in 2022, Nintee offered an AI-powered tool for personal growth. The platform was backed by WeFounder Circle, Neon Fund, CRED founder Kunal Shah and a clutch of other angel investors.

According to the CEO, his attempts to pivot to an education and learning-led model also failed to revive the platform's flailing user numbers.

⏺️ Stoa Shuts Ops After Struggling To Scale Offline

Known as a pioneer in offering alternative MBA programmes, Bengaluru-based edtech startup Stoa shut down in November after four years of operations.

Founded in 2020 by Kulkarni, Raj Kunkolienkar, and Manoj Kambadur, Stoa offered affordable online business education programmes for working professionals. Its curriculum emphasised practical business skills over traditional academics and served over 1,500 students across 15 cohorts.

Despite building a strong brand and seeing substantial growth, Stoa refrained from foraying into offline learning, a decision that ultimately led to its closure.

Stoa raised $1.5 Mn in seed funding from notable investors, including Nithin Kamath, Kunal Shah, and Myntra's Raveen Sastry.

Competing with platforms like Masters' Union and Mesa School of Business, Stoa achieved significant financial milestones. It reported INR 15.9 Cr in FY23 revenues, up 160.6% from FY22, all while reducing losses by 43.8% to INR 43.9 Lakh. However, its FY24 performance remains unclear, as the financials are yet to be disclosed.

⏺️ SaaS Startup Toplyne Shuts Door After 3.5 Years

SaaS startup Toplyne shut down operations in October after struggling to scale and secure product-market fit. Nearly 3.5 years after its 2021 launch, the founders chose to wind down the business and return capital to investors, citing the challenges of achieving sustainable growth.

Founded by Rishen Kapoor, Ruchin Kulkarni, and Rohit Khanna, Toplyne offered an AI-driven platform aimed at helping product-led companies convert free users into paying customers. The platform analysed customer data to create targetable audiences, enabling conversions through ads, in-app nudges, emails, sales efforts, and more.

Toplyne's clients included prominent companies like Canva, Grafana, InVideo, BrowserStack, and Gather.Town.

Despite managing data for over 25 Mn, the startup couldn't sustain itself.

Toplyne raised approximately $17.5 Mn in funding from investors such as Peak XV, Tiger Global, and Together Fund.

🧑🏻‍💻 Editor :- Vats Asodariya

🔍 Source :- Public Data

12 New-Age Investment Platforms Fuelling India's Digital Gold Rush.

India's appetite for gold is world renowned. For centuries, the yellow metal has been associated with prosperity, wealth, tradition and increasingly as a safe haven for investors, especially in times of economic uncertainty.

Such has been the penchant for gold that India has consistently emerged as one of the biggest consumers of the metal globally for the past many decades, with demand settling around the 747.5 metric tonne mark in 2023. 

And with gold prices breaching the INR 80K mark per 10 gm - climbing just under 5% in two weeks - the gold rush is not about to subside any time soon. Since January 1, 2024, gold prices have gone up by a staggering 23%, underscoring its quality as a stable asset class. 

When it comes to investing in gold, the rise of digital platforms disrupted the market just as it did with stock broking and mutual funds. What was previously limited to buying physical gold in the form of coins, bars, or jewellery, has now changed to digital gold. 

Fintech startups catering to the digital gold rush brought in convenience and flexibility. These startups offer gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), fractional ownership, and even cater to impulse buying by allowing gold investments for as low as INR 1.

The shift from physical to digital gold has created more liquidity and accessibility for investors, who want exposure to gold without the hassles of storage, insurance, or purity concerns.

Naturally, a whole host of investment tech startups and fintech companies are looking to tap into the gold rush. For instance, PhonePe, Paytm and Google Pay have built gold marketplaces connecting buyers to multiple platforms, while the likes of Jar and Gullak are offering differentiated gold investment offerings.

With Dhanteras being the peak day for gold sales in India, it's time to look at how startups are disrupting the digital gold segment and catering to India's new-age gold rush. 

Editor's Note: The list is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. The gold investment platforms have been listed in alphabetical order.

Meet The Startups Facilitating Gold Investments.

💹 DIGIGOLD

Airtel Payments Bank launched gold investment platform DigiGold in 2021 and currently offers gold investments through the Airtel Thanks App.

It took the telecom behemoth a step closer to offering full-stack fintech services, adding to its UPI and digital lending play. Launched in partnership with SafeGold, Airtel's DigiGold operates just like any other digital gold investment platform, allowing customers to store gold with SafeGold at no additional cost, and enabling trades through the Airtel Thanks app. 

Like in most other gold platforms, there is no minimum investment value requirement and customers can start with as low as INR 1.

Additionally, Airtel Payments Bank's savings account customers can invest in gold using the Airtel Thanks App. Customers can also gift DigiGold to their family and friends, who have a savings account with Airtel Payments Bank.

💹 DVARA SMART GOLD

Founded in 2019 by Jaydeep Banerjee and Clemenstone Verghese, Dvara Smart Gold is backed by Axilor Ventures, angel investors as well as Dvara Holdings, the parent company. 

Dvara SmartGold is part of the 'Dvara Venture Studio', which co-creates ventures with entrepreneurs and scales them up. 

The platform allows customers to invest in gold through small, flexible instalments through uniquely designed gold micro-savings plans, wherein customers can invest as per their risk appetite. 

With an SIP-like approach, Dvara enables customers to utilise their savings seamlessly at any point in time as per their requirement. The company claims its vision is to build a full stack financial services platform, anchored around gold as an asset class.

💹 GROWW

Even though Groww has built a reputation as a mutual fund and stock broking app, the company introduced gold investments to capture the wave of digital gold. 

The company has attracted significant funding from prominent investors such as Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital, and has rapidly acquired users to become the largest digital discount broking platform in India by active investors. 

The company reported 119% growth in its revenue for FY24 as a result of its rapid growth, with income rising to INR 3,145 Cr in FY24. Groww also maintained its operational profitability of INR 535 Cr for FY24 compared with INR 458 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Mutual funds remain Groww's strongest suit. As of October 2024, Groww's active stock investor base stood at 1.2 Cr. The company claims that nearly one in four new SIPs in the country are happening via Groww.

💹 GULLAK

Founded in 2022 by Manthan Shah, Dilip Jain and Naimisha Rao, Gullak is a platform that helps users automate savings to invest in gold. 

The startup claims its mission is to promote financial literacy and responsible saving habits. The app is designed for accessibility, targeting users who may be new to investing. 

Uniquelly, Gullak users can also lease their gold to get an extra 5% return each year, apart from the returns they can secure annually through the digital gold assets. Alternatively, users can also choose between spare change savings and one-time investments according to their investment appetite. 

The Bengaluru-based startup counts Kunal Shah (CRED), Y Combinator and Rebel Partners as some of its major investors.

💹 JAR

Founded in January 2021 by Nischay Ag and Misbah Ashraf, Jar allows users to invest as little as INR 1. It claims to have more than 1.5 Cr users on the platform.

Users can automate savings and make daily investments anywhere between INR 10 and INR 500 in digital gold. In addition, they can also invest round-up amounts from their daily spending and liquidate without any lock-in period. 

Recently, with an eye on diversifying its product mix, Tiger Global-backed Jar entered the ecommerce space with its D2C jewellery brand Nek. "Gold is widely understood and stable. Since our users save in gold, launching Nek as a jewellery brand was a natural progression," cofounder Nischay said.

He added that revenue from the core digital gold vertical will remain the primary growth driver, contributing over 50% to the overall topline.

💹 JUPITER MONEY

Founded in 2019 by Jitendra Gupta, Jupiter Money is a Bengaluru-based neobanking and investments platform that allows savings accounts customers to invest in digital gold assets.

The gold investment feature is a part of Jupiter's array of fintech products, including banking, personal finance management, goal-based investments, and more. 

It is pertinent to note that Jupiter received the NBFC licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in April last year, which has added to the company's digital lending prowess. 

It has raised a total funding of about $169 Mn till date and counts the likes of Tiger Global, Peak XV Partners, and Matrix Partners among its investors. However, given several regulatory headwinds in the fintech space, the company has not been able to eke out profits. 

Jupiter's consolidated net loss more than doubled year-on-year to INR 327 Cr in FY23, against an operating revenue of just INR 7.1 Cr.

💹 ORO MONEY

Founded by Parth Shah, Sreekesh Krishnan, Rakesh Mani in 2021, Oro Money allows users to tap into the value of their gold assets. 

It connects users with financial institutions to provide them with better access and accurate information about their gold's worth. Oro Money claims to be combining traditional gold investment with technology, catering to users who prefer digital solutions. Currently, it is operational in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Vijayawada, as per its website.

The Chennai-based startup includes Singularity Ventures, Three State Capital, PI Opportunities Fund and 021 Capital among its other investors.

💹 PLUS GOLD

Founded by Raj Parakh and Veer Mishra in 2023, Plus Gold provides a platform for making investments in gold through systematic investment plans (SIPs) or one-time transactions. 

With recent funding of $1.2 Mn led by JITO, Plus Gold plans to expand its tech infrastructure, improve user experience, and introduce AI-driven investment advisory services. The startup addresses key barriers like storage and purity assurance while targeting India's massive gold market.

By integrating technology into the investment process, Plus Gold aims to attract both new and seasoned investors looking for a reliable way to diversify their portfolios. 

The Bengaluru-based startup has raised INR 7 Cr in total funding. It counts the likes of US bank Wells Fargo & Company (WFC), Card91 cofounder Vineet Saxena, Amazon Pay head Vijay Rajagopal, among others, as its investors.

💹 PLUTO MONEY

Founded in 2023 by Muhammad Danish and Reev Ranj, Pluto Money is an online platform offering automated goal-based saving solutions. 

The startup is focused on empowering users to make informed financial decisions and has hence focussed on goal-based savings as its primary model, with gold being part of an array of investment options. 

Pluto Money offers features such as goal setting, spending comparison, customised expense checklist, and more. The company claims its platform allows users to automatically invest money into various low-risk instruments like emergency savings accounts, digital gold and others. 

💹 RUPTOK

Founded in July 2020 by Ankur Gupta and Yashwardhan Aeren, Ruptok Fintech provides disbursal of loans against gold jewellery. Such loans can also be facilitated with digital gold as collateral. 

Ruptok provides instant liquidity while keeping gold safe in secure vaults. It's an ideal solution for those looking to unlock the value of their gold without selling it.

Ruptok's fully digitised gold loan process disrupts traditional lending, reducing overhead costs while reaching a broader customer base with minimal physical infrastructure.

The startup claims to have disbursed loans worth over INR 300 Cr and served more than 2 Lakh customers to date. The platform also serves as a banking correspondent to CSB Bank and Fincare Small Finance Bank.

Thanks to colending agreements with partners, Ruptok offers loan top-ups to existing borrowers against the same pledged gold assets, based on the appreciation of the gold. 

💹 SPARE8

Founded in 2021 by Ronit Harisingani and Shardul Saiya, Spare8 offers a unique platform where users can effortlessly invest in gold by rounding up spare change from their everyday purchases. This fintech platform enables micro-investments, making gold accessible to everyone, no matter their financial background. 

By simplifying the process of saving and investing, Spare8 claims to promote active investments and financial literacy while helping investors build wealth incrementally. With no minimum investment requirement, platforms like Spare8 make it much easier for those testing the waters on gold as an asset class.

The Mumbai-based startup's micro-investment model opens up a vast untapped market by catering to users who may not traditionally invest, creating a new customer base for digital gold.

💹 YELLOW METAL

Founded in 2020 by Rahul Boggaram and Nikhil Boggaram, the startup offers gold loans to rural people within 30 minutes. It charges an interest rate of 9.48% annually on gold loans, according to its website.

The startup ensures all its loans are backed by certified physical gold stored in secure vaults. Besides this, users can invest in digital gold with as little as INR 1, making it accessible to everyone. 

Yellow Metal also provides instant liquidity options, allowing users to redeem their gold investments whenever needed, without the hassle of managing physical gold.

The Bengaluru-based startup counts WaterBridge Ventures, Spiral Ventures, LetsVenture's LV Angel Fund and Java Capital's Csquare Venture Partners Fund as some of its investors.

Meet The D2C Startups Dazzling India's Jewellery Market.

Jewellery is the soul of Indian cultural identity. Weddings and festivals are incomplete without jewellery purchase and it finds usage in daily life as well.

This has propelled the Indian jewellery industry to the top globally, accounting for a 24.21% share of the total global market. 

While traditional retail contributes 85% to the overall jewellery sales in India, online marketplaces are piggybacking on the digital boom to create a niche for themselves in the segment. 

Besides the digital penetration, the demand for online jewellery products has also been growing on the back of rising urbanisation, need for novel and customised products, rising disposable incomes, evolving fashion preferences, cultural significance, among others. 

Notwithstanding the legacy players, which too have been actively expanding their online presence to meet this demand, several Indian D2C jewellery startups have emerged over the past decade or so. 

According to a report, the Indian online jewellery market is expected to grow to a size of $3.7 Bn by 2025. So, what is driving this boom? The shift towards online sales channels, especially after the pandemic, has been led by factors such as convenience, variety of options, and competitive pricing on ecommerce platforms. 

While Indians have always had a penchant for gold and diamond, other segments such as daily wear and fashion jewellery are also seeing rapid adoption among masses in recent times. 

With Dhanteras, Diwali, and the upcoming wedding season, this demand will get further boost. As such, we have compiled this list of the Indian startups shining in the Indian jewellery landscape. 

Editor's Note: This is neither an exhaustive list nor a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups alphabetically.

D2C Jewellery Startups Shining Brightly.

🪙 BlueStone

Founded in 2011, BlueStone is a Bengaluru-based omnichannel jewellery retailer that claims to offer more than 8,000 diverse designs. It offers products across a host of categories like rings, pendants, and earrings. 

The company counts the likes of Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath, Manipal Group's Ranjan Pai, Cardekho Group's Amit Jain, Zomato's Deepinder Goyal, among others, as its investors. 

While the company is reportedly eyeing a public listing by the second quarter of next year, it bagged INR 900 Cr in a funding round in August, which catapulted its valuation to $970 Mn. The round saw participation from Peak XV Partners, Prosus, Steadview Capital, Think Investments, and Pratithi Investments through a primary and secondary share sale. 

Overall, BlueStone has raised a total funding of over $219 Mn to date. 

On the financial front, the company managed to trim its loss by almost 15% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 142.2 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). Operating revenue surpassed the INR 1,000 Cr mark and stood at INR 1,265.8 Cr. It recorded a net loss of INR 167.2 Cr in FY23 on an operating revenue of INR 770.7 Cr. 

🪙 GIVA

Founded in 2019 by Ishendra Agarwal, Nikita Prasad, and Sachin Shetty, GIVA is a Bengaluru-based fine jewellery brand specialising in authentic 925 fine silver jewellery. It also sells 14K and 18K gold and lab-grown diamond jewellery. 

Earlier this month, the startup raised INR 255 Cr ($30.3 Mn) in a mix of primary and secondary transactions as part of its extended Series B funding round from Premji Invest, Epiq Capital, and Edelweiss Discover Fund. The latest funding took GIVA’s total funding in the Series B round to INR 525 Cr, following a previous raise of INR 270 Cr in July 2023. 

The startup surpassed the INR 100 Cr operating revenue mark in the financial year ended March 31, 2023. Revenue surged 97% to INR 165 Cr in FY23 from INR 84 Cr in the previous fiscal year. However, its net loss rose 138% to INR 45.2 Cr during the year under review from INR 19 Cr in FY22. 

🪙 Kushal's

Founded in 2006 by Kushal Menghar and Manish Gulechha, Kaushal's is a Motilal Oswal-backed fashion and jewellery brand offering antique ornament alternatives for various occasions. 

It is an omnichannel brand, with offline presence across more than 25 cities, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Indore, Chandigarh, among others. Besides its website, its products are available across ecommerce channels like Myntra, Amazon, AJIO, among others. 

In February this year, Kushal's raised INR 284 Cr (around $34 Mn) in its Series B funding round from Lighthouse's fourth alternative investment fund (AIF). The round also comprised a secondary transaction, providing partial exit to its first institutional investor India SME Investments, which invested INR 15 Cr ($1.8 Mn+) in 2019. 

🪙 Metaman 

Founded in 2022 by Anil Shetty, Raunak Samdaria, and Yudister Narayan, Metaman is a men’s jewellery startup backed by the likes of Suniel Shetty, Nikhil Kamath, Prashanth Prakash, Gaurav Singh Kushwaha, KL Rahul, and Robin Uthappa. 

It sells bracelets, pendants, chains, and rings, with prices starting from INR 1,999. In August this year, Metaman raised additional funding from cricketer and existing investor KL Rahul to launch its perfume range. 

Last year, the startup acquired hip-hop luxury jewellery brand Drip Project for $1 Mn to strengthen its presence in the growing Indian online men's jewellery market.

🪙 Pipa Bella

Founded by Shuchi Pandya in 2013, Pipa Bella is a fashion jewellery and accessories brand. It offers various types of bracelets, rings, pendants, among others. Pipa Bella was acquired by Nykaa in 2021 to capture the growing market for contemporary fashion jewellery in India.

Besides its own website, it sells its products via ecommerce platforms such as Myntra, Amazon, and international sites like Lazada and Zalora.

Prior to its acquisition, the startup secured $1 Mn in a funding round from Fireside Ventures and other investors in 2021.

🪙 Pulmonas 

Founded by Pallavi Mohadikar and Amol Patwari in 2021, Palmonas is a demi-fine jewellery brand for women that offers a range of contemporary options for daily and occasion wear. Demi-fine, generally, means affordable but premium quality jewellery. 

The brand offers a range of jewellery options, including necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, and mangalsutras, priced between INR 800 and INR 5,500. Its products are sold with a one-year warranty. 

Earlier this year, the startup roped in Bollywood actor Shraddha Kapoor as its new cofounder. 

🪙 Sukkhi

Founded in 2012 by Bhavesh Navlakha, and Prashant Gupta, Sukkhi is an omnichannel brand that designs and sells a diverse range of jewellery collections for men and women. It sells its product across ecommerce marketplaces as well as its own website. Besides, it has its retail outlets, shop-in-shops and kiosks across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Indore, among others. 

Its product offerings include necklaces, bangles, earrings, rings, among others. It claims to have a customer base of 15 Lakh and offers over 10K exclusive designs. 

Sukkhi raised $7 Mn in funding from private equity fund manager Carpediem Capital and Delhi-based Duane Park in 2018. Going ahead, the startup plans to establish around 300 stores across various cities in India.

🪙 Trisu

Founded by Saloni Chopra in 2023, Trisu is a fashion accessories brand offering gold vermeil jewellery with 18-karat gold plating on silver. The brand aims to provide affordable gold alternatives for customers aged 30-60.

It raised an undisclosed amount of funding in September from All In Capital, JK Tyres, and Amaanta Group, aimed at customer acquisition, product innovation, and market expansion. 

The startup then claimed that it has achieved 24X growth within eight months of commencing operations. It said it was aiming to generate $1 Mn in monthly recurring revenue by 2025 and open 10 shop-in-shops and five exclusive outlets in the next two years.

🪙 Voylla

Founded in 2011 by Vishwas Shringi and Jagrati Shringi, Voylla is a Jaipur-based fashion jewellery startup. It is an omnichannel brand with a presence across multiple online channels and 250 offline stores across India. Its product offerings include necklaces, bangles, earrings, rings, and accessories. 

It sells its products through its app, website, offline channels, and marketplaces like Flipkart, Amazon, and Myntra, among others. 

Although it started with women's jewellery, Voylla later ventured into men's jewellery space in 2015. In the same year, it raised $15 Mn from private equity firm Peepul Capital.

🪙 Zariin

Founded in 2010 by sisters Vidhi and Mamta Gupta, Zariin is an omnichannel jewellery brand offering products across categories like necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets. It offers a lifetime warranty on its gold plating, allowing customers to have their jewellery re-plated free of charge.

It claims to sell products in over 21 countries and 200 stores worldwide. In India, it sells its products via marketplaces like Nykaa Fashion and Myntra. 

The brand has been adorned by celebrities like Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Nargis Fakri, Soha Ali Khan, Kalki Koechlin, among others.

BharatPe Rolls Out New App For Investment Offerings.

Fintech major BharatPe has launched a new app, Invest BharatPe, consolidating its investment offerings.

In a statement, the company said that it has launched digital gold as the first product on the platform.

It said that consumers can buy 24K digital gold for as low as INR 100.

"The investment platform is in line with our objective of driving financial inclusion for the underserved across the country. During the festive season, a large number of consumers plan and invest in gold, making it the perfect time to introduce this new offering," said BharatPe CEO Nalin Negi. 

BharatPe plans to add additional investment products to Invest BharatPe in the coming weeks.

A company spokesperson told Inc42 that the app will also include the company's rebranded P2P lending product, formerly known as ‘12% Club'. 

"12% Club has halted taking deposits as per the guidelines of our NBFC partners. The existing users continue to have access to it through the new app," the spokesperson added. 

It is pertinent to note that the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) tightened the guidelines for NBFC-P2P platforms earlier this year to stop practices like promotion of P2P lending as an investment product along with features like tenure linked assured minimum return, among others.

BharatPe's consolidated revenue from operations grew 39% to INR 1,426 Cr in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 1,029 Cr in FY23. Meanwhile, EBITDA loss declined 75% to INR 209 Cr from INR 826 Cr in FY23.

Like a number of other fintech startups, BharatPe has also taken the super app route.

While the company was earlier focussed on merchants, it is now offering services like UPI payments, bill payments, and credit card repayments. 

The fintech major has also added an ecommerce section where the company is selling vouchers for Amazon, HeathifyMe, ixigo, Nykaa, Zomato, as well as several modern retail and D2C brands.

Recently, the company settled its two-year long legal dispute with Ashneer Grover.