Swiggy vs Zomato: The B2B Showdown Begins 🍽️🔥

Happy Friday! 🎉 You've made it to the weekend eve! Whether you're planning to chill, hustle, or binge-watch Ted Lasso (RIP Apple TV’s profits), we've got your dose of spicy headlines, market insights, and startup scoops to fuel your day.

Let’s sip through the hottest updates! ☕🔥

📰 Chai Shots

• 📩 Zomato’s Eternal Rebranding – After Zomato received government approval for a name change, the food delivery giant is now Eternal Ltd, reflecting its expansion beyond food into Blinkit (quick commerce), Hyperpure (B2B supply), and District (dining & events). A new era begins! 🚀

• 🏢 Swiggy takes on Zomato’s Hyperpure – Meet Assure, Swiggy’s new B2B kitchen supply service for restaurants, hotels, and caterers. Will it cook up some competition? More in the Big Brew!

• 📱 Apple & Samsung dominate smartphone exports – A whopping 94% of India’s ‘Made in India’ smartphone exports belong to these two tech giants, as local manufacturing booms. 📦

• 🏗️ Adani Group eyes Emaar India – Talks are heating up as Adani Group looks to acquire Emaar India for $1.5B, strengthening its grip on India's real estate sector. 🏠

• 💸 SoftBank's AI power move – The Japanese tech giant is acquiring AI-chip startup Ampere Computing for $6.5B, doubling down on the AI arms race. 🤖

• 🚗 Toyota Subsidiary Fined $1.6B – Hino Motors, a Toyota unit, pleaded guilty to emissions fraud and will pay $1.6 billion in penalties. The company is also banned from importing its diesel engines into the US for five years. Ouch! 🚨

📊 Market Masala

• 📈 Sensex & Nifty Rally Big! – The BSE Sensex soared 899 points to close at 76,348, while the Nifty50 jumped 258 points to 23,165. The rally was fueled by strong IT sector gains and global optimism after the US Fed confirmed two expected rate cuts in 2025.

• 💻 IT Stocks Lead the Charge – The Nifty IT index surged 2%, bouncing back from its recent slump. HCL Tech, TCS, Wipro, and Infosys gained around 2% each, adding a significant boost to the markets. The sector’s recovery comes amid strong earnings expectations and a positive global outlook. 🚀

• ⚡ Hero MotoCorp bets ₹525 Cr on EVs – The auto giant is buying a 32.5% stake in Euler Motors, an electric three-wheeler startup, to secure a stronghold in India's booming EV market. 🏎️

• 🧬 Bharat Biotech Goes Big on Gene Therapy! India's vaccine giant Bharat Biotech is investing ₹600 crore to expand into cell and gene therapies, aiming to make cutting-edge cancer and genetic treatments more affordable in India.

• 🏗️ Hindalco’s ₹45,000 Crore Mega Investment! Aditya Birla Group’s Hindalco is rolling out a ₹45,000 crore investment plan across aluminum, copper, and specialty alumina to power industries like EVs, solar energy, and high-speed transport.

• 💰 Bain Capital Strikes Gold with Manappuram! Bain Capital is set to acquire up to 41.7% stake in Manappuram Finance, India’s second-largest gold loan NBFC, via a ₹4,385 crore primary infusion and open offer. If fully subscribed, this could be a ₹10,000 crore mega deal—the largest in India’s gold loan sector! The Nandakumar family will remain co-owners, with Nandakumar stepping into a non-executive chairperson role.

🌏 Global Masala

• 💥 Wall Street Slips After Fed Rally – US stock markets failed to sustain their Fed-driven rally, with the Nasdaq down 0.3%, S&P 500 falling 0.2%, and Dow Jones closing flat. Investors are digesting inflation risks and slower growth forecasts despite the Fed's reassurance of two rate cuts in 2025.

• 📉 China's Job Woes – China's youth unemployment rate hit a four-month high at 16.9% in February, while the nationwide jobless rate climbed to 5.4%, the highest in two years. Despite government efforts, economic recovery remains sluggish.

• 📉 Apple’s Streaming Woes – Apple's streaming platform is reportedly losing $1 billion per year, as consumer demand slows and streaming competition intensifies. The company has cut its content budget from $5 billion to $500 million in an effort to reduce losses.

• 🌍 EU delays trade war with the US – The European Union is postponing retaliatory tariffs on US goods until mid-April, hoping for a last-minute deal.

• 👟 Nike’s sales dip, but there’s hope – The sports giant reported a 9% drop in revenue, but the new CEO's turnaround plan is showing early signs of success.

🏆 The Big Brew: Swiggy’s ‘Assure’ Takes on Zomato’s Hyperpure

🚀 Swiggy just leveled up—and this time, it’s not about 10-minute biryanis! The food delivery giant has launched Assure, a B2B supply platform for restaurants, going head-to-head with Zomato’s Hyperpure.

• 🍽️ What’s Cooking? Assure is Swiggy’s way of helping hotels, restaurants, and caterers get fresh, locally sourced ingredients delivered directly—everything from veggies and dairy to imported gourmet goodies. Think of it as Instamart, but for restaurant kitchens! 👨‍🍳🥕

• 💰 The Potential Reason Behind This Move Swiggy’s quick commerce arm, Instamart, has been losing BIG—₹568.7 crore in Q3 FY25 alone! Meanwhile, Zomato’s Hyperpure is crushing it, with revenue hitting ₹1,671 crore last quarter. Clearly, Swiggy saw an opportunity and jumped in! 📈🔥

• 🚀 Swiggy’s Expansion Spree: Swiggy isn’t stopping here. It’s been launching new verticals like crazy:

  • Scenes – for out-of-home dining experiences 🍻

  • SNACC – a separate app for fast food delivery 🍟

  • Rare Life – a concierge service 🛎️

  • Yello – a marketplace for local services 🛍️

• ⚡ What Does This Mean for You? If you’re a restaurant owner, you now have more choices to get fresher supplies at better prices. If you're just here for good food, a stronger supply chain = tastier, fresher meals at your favorite spots! 🍕🎉

🚀 Startup Scoop

• 🏡 Luxury real estate goes digital – Lighthouse PropTech raises $1M to streamline high-end property transactions in India.

• 💳 Servify valued at $700M – The post-sales service firm raises $7.8M in its ongoing Series D round.

• 🏎️ 60-minute fashion delivery? – Slikk, a quick commerce fashion startup, is raising $10M led by Nexus to revolutionize instant fashion shopping. 🛍️

• 🚀 SaaS unicorn Fractal invests $20M in AI – Its AI-powered supply chain platform Asper.AI is set to scale product development and expand globally.

🎯 Chai Break Trivia

Did you know that Zomato wasn’t always called Zomato? 🤯 

When it first launched in 2008, it was known as "Foodiebay"—a name inspired by eBay! But in 2010, the company decided to go global and rebranded to Zomato for a more snappy, universal appeal. Good call, right? Imagine saying, “Let’s order from Foodiebay” today! 🍔😂

That’s a wrap for today! 🎉 Enjoy your Friday, fuel up with chai, and get ready for the weekend.

See you tomorrow for another piping-hot edition of Masala Chai. 😎☕🔥