Tata Digital shores up board; Rapido's tasty new ride
Happy Tuesday! The Tata Group has appointed two consumer-focused group CEOs to Tata Digital’s board. This and more at today’s Morning Dispatch.
Also in the letter:
■ ETtech Done Deals
■ India in AI talent hunt
■ Ola lags in e2W race
Puneet Chhatwal, Sunil D’Souza join Tata Digital board after Tahilyani 's exit
Sunil D’Souza (L) and Puneet Chhatwal
Tata Sons has added Indian Hotels CEO Puneet Chhatwal and Tata Consumer CEO Sunil D’Souza to the board of Tata Digital, according to people familiar with the development. The move follows the exit of MD & CEO Naveen Tahilyani in May, barely a year into his tenure, as first reported by us.
Why it matters: The appointments respond to long-standing concerns that Tata Digital’s board leaned too heavily on finance experts and lacked strong consumer business insight. Chhatwal and D’Souza bring deep experience in scaling retail-focused brands and navigating complex group structures.
The details:
The backdrop: Tata Digital runs BigBasket, 1mg, Tata Cliq, and Croma. Its super app, Tata Neu, has seen limited traction, contributing less than 10% of gross sales at BigBasket and 1mg.
What’s next: To regain ground, Tata Digital has soft-launched ‘Flash,’ a 10-minute delivery service within Tata Neu, entering a space dominated by Blinkit, Instamart, and Zepto.
Rapido set to pilot food delivery service, Ownly, in Bengaluru
And now, entering the ring from the east side of Bengaluru, clad in blue and yellow, comes the latest challenger in the food delivery game: Rapido.
Driving the news: As we first reported in March, ride-hailing platform Rapido is gearing up to launch its much-anticipated food delivery service, Ownly, with a limited pilot in Bengaluru over the fortnight.
With the move, Rapido will go head-to-head against its investor, Swiggy, which led a $180 million round in the startup in 2022, and holds a minority stake in the bike-taxi company.
Learning curve:
Also Read: ‘It’s not easy…’: Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety on Rapido’s entry into food delivery
Feeding disruption: Rapido is not just joining the party, but it’s also hoping to shake things up.
Why it matters: ETtech Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India's tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and employees.
The opportunity:
What's next: Interested? Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@timesinternet.in to explore sponsorship opportunities.
ETtech Done Deals: Jumbotail hits $1 billion valuation in new funding
Jumbotail cofounders S Karthik Venkateswaran (L) and Ashish Jhina
B2B ecommerce marketplace Jumbotail has become India’s fifth unicorn of 2025 after raising $120 million in a funding round led by SC Ventures, the investment arm of Standard Chartered. The raise comes at a time when the space faces subdued investor interest and cooling valuations.
Deal details:
AppsForBharat adds to expansion war chest
Prashant Sachan, founder, AppsForBharat
AppsForBharat, the company behind the online puja platform Sri Mandir, has raised $20 million in a funding round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital. Existing investors, including Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum, Elevation Capital, and Peak XV Partners, also participated in the round.
Deal details:
IPO-bound Infra Market raises $50 million in debt
Infra.Market cofounders Aaditya Sharda (L) and Souvik Sengupta
Construction materials platform Infra.Market has secured an additional $50 million in debt from Mars Growth Capital to support its expansion ahead of an IPO. This brings its total borrowing to $150 million.
Tell me more: This is the company’s second fundraise in 2025. In January, it secured $125 million to support growth in both Indian and international markets. The new deal also includes a five-year extension of the terms of its previous $100 million loan.
India rising as Big Tech breaks bank for AI talent
Mark Zuckerberg’s hiring spree is increasing global demand and prices for AI talent. However, India still provides a cost advantage, and some of that demand may move east.
Numberwise:
Challenges: India’s talent pool is expanding rapidly, but it still falls short in high-end AI R&D. For now, the $100 million “superintelligence” researchers remain based in the US, an expert told us.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Bhavish Aggarwal, founder, Ola Electric
Ola Electric lags legacy players in EV two-wheeler race: Ola Electric, once a leader in India’s EV two-wheeler market, stayed in third position in June, behind TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto.
Cognizant asks Infosys to name employees in trade secrets case: Cognizant Technology Solutions has issued a new request for Infosys to identify employees who allegedly accessed confidential information about its healthcare software platform, TriZetto.
Ex-Cognizant CEO’s Recognize raises second fund: The investment firm cofounded by former Cognizant chief executive Francisco D’Souza raised over $1.7 billion for its second fund to invest in next-generation digital services.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ Out of space: Picturing the big, crowded business of satellite internet ( Rest of World)
■ The Kodak brand gets a second life ( New York Times)
■ Microsoft says its new AI system diagnosed patients 4 times more accurately than human doctors ( Wired)
Also in the letter:
■ ETtech Done Deals
■ India in AI talent hunt
■ Ola lags in e2W race
Puneet Chhatwal, Sunil D’Souza join Tata Digital board after Tahilyani 's exit
Tata Sons has added Indian Hotels CEO Puneet Chhatwal and Tata Consumer CEO Sunil D’Souza to the board of Tata Digital, according to people familiar with the development. The move follows the exit of MD & CEO Naveen Tahilyani in May, barely a year into his tenure, as first reported by us.
Why it matters: The appointments respond to long-standing concerns that Tata Digital’s board leaned too heavily on finance experts and lacked strong consumer business insight. Chhatwal and D’Souza bring deep experience in scaling retail-focused brands and navigating complex group structures.
The details:
- Tata Digital will operate under a board-led structure for now, with no new CEO expected soon, partly due to leadership bandwidth being tied up with Air India after its recent crash.
- Aarthi Subramanian stepped off the board recently after becoming COO at TCS.
- Ankur Verma has taken over as acting chairman of Croma, one of the group’s key retail assets.
The backdrop: Tata Digital runs BigBasket, 1mg, Tata Cliq, and Croma. Its super app, Tata Neu, has seen limited traction, contributing less than 10% of gross sales at BigBasket and 1mg.
- In FY24, Tata Digital reported an aggregate GMV of Rs 37,355 crore across 140 million users, but cross-platform integration remains weak.
What’s next: To regain ground, Tata Digital has soft-launched ‘Flash,’ a 10-minute delivery service within Tata Neu, entering a space dominated by Blinkit, Instamart, and Zepto.
Rapido set to pilot food delivery service, Ownly, in Bengaluru
And now, entering the ring from the east side of Bengaluru, clad in blue and yellow, comes the latest challenger in the food delivery game: Rapido.
Driving the news: As we first reported in March, ride-hailing platform Rapido is gearing up to launch its much-anticipated food delivery service, Ownly, with a limited pilot in Bengaluru over the fortnight.
With the move, Rapido will go head-to-head against its investor, Swiggy, which led a $180 million round in the startup in 2022, and holds a minority stake in the bike-taxi company.
Learning curve:
- Rapido will test the waters in July with a small pilot across Koramangala, HSR, and Sarjapur. The goal is to gather on-ground insights before scaling.
- For the first two to three months, the focus will remain squarely on Bengaluru. By September or October, Rapido plans to expand into two or three additional cities.
- If all goes well, it aims to be in 10 cities by next July.
- Restaurants onboarded for the pilot have been asked to list 4–5 popular items priced under Rs 150. These will feature prominently on Rapido’s Ownly app.
Also Read: ‘It’s not easy…’: Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety on Rapido’s entry into food delivery
Feeding disruption: Rapido is not just joining the party, but it’s also hoping to shake things up.
- In its discussions with restaurants, the company is offering what incumbents Swiggy and Zomato rarely do: access to customer data.
- Even if Rapido ends up charging a platform fee, it won’t breach a certain ceiling, one restaurateur told us.
Why it matters: ETtech Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India's tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and employees.
The opportunity:
- Reach a highly engaged audience of decision-makers.
- Boost your brand's visibility among the tech-savvy community.
- Custom sponsorship options to align with your brand's goals.
What's next: Interested? Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@timesinternet.in to explore sponsorship opportunities.
ETtech Done Deals: Jumbotail hits $1 billion valuation in new funding
B2B ecommerce marketplace Jumbotail has become India’s fifth unicorn of 2025 after raising $120 million in a funding round led by SC Ventures, the investment arm of Standard Chartered. The raise comes at a time when the space faces subdued investor interest and cooling valuations.
Deal details:
- Before this round, Jumbotail was valued at around $900–950 million.
- It joins Netradyne, Porter, Drools and BlueStone in the 2025 unicorn club.
- The company has also completed its acquisition of Solv India, a B2B commerce and financial services platform incubated by SC Ventures.
AppsForBharat adds to expansion war chest
AppsForBharat, the company behind the online puja platform Sri Mandir, has raised $20 million in a funding round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital. Existing investors, including Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum, Elevation Capital, and Peak XV Partners, also participated in the round.
Deal details:
- The new capital will enable the company to develop 20 temple towns across India and expand its services and commerce verticals.
- It also intends to establish 20 logistics hubs by the end of this year to support its expanding operations.
IPO-bound Infra Market raises $50 million in debt
Construction materials platform Infra.Market has secured an additional $50 million in debt from Mars Growth Capital to support its expansion ahead of an IPO. This brings its total borrowing to $150 million.
Tell me more: This is the company’s second fundraise in 2025. In January, it secured $125 million to support growth in both Indian and international markets. The new deal also includes a five-year extension of the terms of its previous $100 million loan.
India rising as Big Tech breaks bank for AI talent
Mark Zuckerberg’s hiring spree is increasing global demand and prices for AI talent. However, India still provides a cost advantage, and some of that demand may move east.
Numberwise:
- Indian AI professionals cost around 15–25% less than those in the US, according to AMS data.
- Teamlease Digital estimates that AI salaries in the West (US and Europe) are up to five times higher than India’s average.
- Top US researchers earn between $500,000 and over $1 million annually. In India, it is closer to Rs 60-80 lakh, according to recruitment firm Adecco.
Challenges: India’s talent pool is expanding rapidly, but it still falls short in high-end AI R&D. For now, the $100 million “superintelligence” researchers remain based in the US, an expert told us.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Ola Electric lags legacy players in EV two-wheeler race: Ola Electric, once a leader in India’s EV two-wheeler market, stayed in third position in June, behind TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto.
Cognizant asks Infosys to name employees in trade secrets case: Cognizant Technology Solutions has issued a new request for Infosys to identify employees who allegedly accessed confidential information about its healthcare software platform, TriZetto.
Ex-Cognizant CEO’s Recognize raises second fund: The investment firm cofounded by former Cognizant chief executive Francisco D’Souza raised over $1.7 billion for its second fund to invest in next-generation digital services.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ Out of space: Picturing the big, crowded business of satellite internet ( Rest of World)
■ The Kodak brand gets a second life ( New York Times)
■ Microsoft says its new AI system diagnosed patients 4 times more accurately than human doctors ( Wired)
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