Also in this letter:
■ Food delivery firms seek continuation of operations during G20
■ Indians could unbox iPhone 15 with the world
■ IT firms defer hikes amid demand slowdown
Gaming firm Nazara to raise Rs 100 crore from Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath
(L-R) Nikhil Kamath, cofounder, Zerodha and Nitish Mittersain, CEO, Nazara Technologies
Amid the storm engulfing India’s online gaming industry, Nazara Technologies on Monday said it was raising Rs 100 crore from Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath via an equity share issue at Rs 714 apiece.
Driving the news: Nazara is now looking to make a bigger push into the Indian game developer sector, chief executive Nitish Mittersain told ET in a chat.
“We see a huge opportunity in bringing global games and IPs to India and supporting them as a local publisher, taking them much deeper through local operations, localisation, regional marketing and so on… Emerging as India’s leading game publisher is a major focus area for us, and you’ll see a lot of investments in that direction,” Mittersain told ET.
Tell me more: The firm will scout for potential acquisitions in India, United States, Israel, and the Nordic region. It will start with a focus on casual games, and likely go for large ticket investments, Mittersain added.
The development comes weeks after Nazara’s board approved a Rs 750-crore fundraise, which was the company’s first such activity since its IPO in 2021.
Stock jumps: Shares of Nazara Technologies jumped over 12% to hit a 52-week high of Rs 854 on the NSE. The stock closed at Rs 837, up 10% from the previous day.
Udaan CTO Gaurav Bhalotia to exit as B2B startup rejigs units, roles
B2B commerce platform Udaan’s chief technology officer (CTO) Gaurav Bhalotia is exiting the company as it restructures a number of internal roles and units.
Details: Udaan did not name a successor to Bhalotia, instead saying that the technology vertical would be split into separate ‘product’ and ‘engineering’ functions. While Siddharth Reddy will lead the engineering team, Abhilash Pillai will head the product management function. Both will report to cofounder and chief executive Vaibhav Gupta, and join the executive management team.
The rejig: The company is also combining its ‘Essentials’ vertical, encompassing fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), staples, and pharmaceutical categories, with its ‘Discretionary’ vertical, which includes general merchandise, lifestyle and electronics categories. The combined entity will be overseen by Uday Bhaskar, who currently heads the ‘Discretionary’ division. Vivek Gupta, who led ‘Essentials’, will cease to work in an operational capacity and become an advisor to the board, the firm said in a statement.
Most senior-level exits: In 2022, Udaan saw the highest number of exits among senior executives across the tech and startup ecosystem, followed by mobility firm Ola and hospitality startup Oyo, according to data from executive talent search firm Longhouse Consulting.
Food delivery firms seek continuation of operations during G20
Food delivery platforms, restaurant chains and food services companies have urged the government to allow food deliveries as part of “essential services” during the G20 summit.
Driving the news: The government has announced a series of restrictions and closures in New Delhi and has dubbed it a “controlled zone”.
All online delivery services, except medicines, will be barred in the New Delhi district during the G20 Summit, the Delhi Police said on Monday, as quoted by PTI.
Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) SS Yadav said during a press conference that there are no changes in the traffic advisory issued by the police on August 25.
Quote unquote: In a letter addressed to the Delhi government, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) said, “Food delivery from restaurants may be permitted as part of essential services as was also done during the Covid-19 pandemic. This will help in mitigating to some extent the business disruptions and losses faced by industry due to the closures and restrictions.”
The G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled to be held on September 9 and 10 at the newly built international convention and exhibition centre, Bharat Mandapam, at Pragati Maidan.
Indians could unbox iPhone 15 with the world
In a first, India could be unboxing the latest iPhone just a few days after the global launch as Apple is working to narrow the gap in the India launch of the iPhone 15 series.
Mind the gap: This year, the lag, if any, is going to be a few days, as all preparations for mass production of the iPhone 15 are well underway at Foxconn’s Chennai unit, people aware of the matter told us.
India first approach: Apple expects the latest India-made devices to initially cater to the local market. Globally, the iPhone 15 is scheduled to be out on September 12.
iPhones ranked as the single largest contributor to exports, constituting 35% of all electronics exports and 66% of total overseas mobile shipments in the first quarter of FY24.
PIL push: Apple has been at the forefront of mobile phone exports from India, and has emerged as the flagbearer of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for smartphones.
The country already accounts for 7% of Apple’s global production, from less than 1% prior to the start of the PLI scheme for smartphones in 2021.
Indian techies may have longer wait as IT firms defer hikes
Due to an overall cooldown in demand in the IT sector, salary hikes for tech employees remain uncertain. While many tech firms have offered a lower hike in percentage terms, others have deferred increments.
Who’s doing what? While Wipro has pushed the announcement of increments to the third quarter, Infosys and HCL Tech have done away with implementing raises this time.
After granting increments to junior and mid-level employees, Tech Mahindra has deferred hikes for senior roles, while TCS has given an average hike of 6% to 8%.
Slowdown woes: The varying increment policies by IT firms reflect the demand trends in the industry, particularly those depending on the banking and financial services sector (BFSI). Infosys cut its growth forecast for 2023-24 to a range of 1-3.5% from 4-7% initially, due to the impact of the slowdown in the BFSI sector. Wipro also saw a 2.8% sequential decline in revenue in the June quarter, when it laid off 9,000 employees.
Today’s ETtech Top 5 newsletter was curated by Megha Mishra and Rozebud Gonsalves in Mumbai.
