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Festive online sales hit Rs 1.4 lakh crore, up 17%, but miss forecasts
The season had been expected to hit a record Rs 1.50-1.55 lakh crore in GMV, up 25-29% from last year. GMV is total value of goods sold by marketplaces before discounts and returns. The festive sale period started on October 8 with the flagship events of Amazon and Flipkart followed by multiple micro-events until Diwali, which fell on November 8.
Online festive sales miss estimates; Munjal steps down as Unacademy CEO
Happpy Thursday! Online festive sales grew, but fell short of expectations amid weak smartphone demand.This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Qcomm’s Diwali boost; Energy startups attract funds
Happy Wednesday! Quick commerce powered a strong festive season for D2C brands. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
UPI sees Diwali boom; AI cracks Captcha
Diwali spending fuelled a surge in UPI transactions, with both payment volumes and values rising. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.
Rising tech costs drive EMI sales; Shadowfax Q2 profit soars
Happy Friday! Shoppers are turning to EMIs as electronics prices rise. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Cyberattacks hit NBFCs; Pine Labs Q2 profit zooms
Cyber criminals are targetting smaller NBFCs with specialised AI toolkits. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.
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Meesho Q2 loss narrows; Info Edge names Sanjeev Bikhchandani CEO
Happy Thursday! Meesho’s losses shrunk as revenue grew in the second quarter of FY27. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Meesho loss narrows; Sanjeev Bikhchandani back as Info Edge CEO
Meesho cut its losses in the July-September quarter, while growth continued. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.

Why Walmart would rather keep Flipkart private, for now
Over the past few weeks, much has been written about former employees of the online commerce company writing to Walmart's board, asking for liquidity on the stock options they were granted 10 to 15 years ago. On October 1, at least eight former senior executives, among them former Myntra CEO Mukesh Bansal and former chief business officer Ankit Nagori, wrote to Walmart chairman Gregory Penner, other board members and Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, seeking a complete exit for all former employees holding vested options.

India’s manufacturing growth opens new investment opportunities: Trifecta Capital co-founder Rahul Khanna
India's manufacturing sector is expanding, which is leading to investment opportunities in various industries and defence. Trifecta Capital's co-founder highlighted the rise of trusted economies, with India being a key player. Companies are restructuring supply chains and leveraging technology to facilitate growth opportunities. Robotics developments in India are also helping to overcome data scarcity challenges in research. Overall, this trend signifies India's growing role in the global manufacturing ecosystem.

India first, orbit next: Skyroot eyes $300 million dual valuation plan
Skyroot is in talks with Indian family offices to raise $150 million at a valuation of $2.3-2.5 billion, while the company is seeking to mop up the same amount from global investors such as General Catalyst, General Atlantic and Silicon Valley venture fund Benchmark at a higher valuation of up to $3 billion, the people said.

Mesa School of Business raises Rs 110 crore at Rs 385 crore valuation
The round comprises Rs 85 crore in equity funding co-led by Dharana Capital and existing investor Elevation Capital, and Rs 25 crore in venture debt from InnoVen Capital and Alteria Capital. The round also saw a secondary transaction of around Rs 3 crore by cofounder Varun Limaye, cofounder Ankit Agarwal told ET.

The ET Startup Awards 2026 special
Happy Monday! The Economic Times Startup Awards (ETSA) 2026 ceremony brought together the country’s top founders, investors, and policymakers in Bengaluru for a Friday evening of sharp insights and spirited conversations.

ETSA 2026: Over a decade on, India's startup story is only getting started
The 12th edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards (ETSA) captured this transition, reflecting an ecosystem that has moved beyond the race for scale to pursue technological depth, durable businesses and international markets.

ET Startup Awards 2026 | List when the business is predictable, and stay transparent after: Groww, Meesho founders
The advice from the two founders, during a panel discussion at The ET Startup Awards moderated by Samidha Sharma, came as a number of startups are looking to tap the public market early in their journey. Value commerce platform Meesho and wealthtech company Groww, both around a decade old, listed on stock exchanges a month apart late last year.

Online festive sales start slow as smartphone demand dips; quick commerce extends shopping window
Industry executives and analysts attributed the 7-10% year-on-year (YoY) decline to a slowdown in mobile phone purchases following price hikes, the absence of the GST cut-led demand boost seen last year, and a growing share of seasonal spending shifting to quick commerce.

The ET Startup Awards 2026 special
Entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers came together in a star-studded event to honour the best of Indian entrepreneurship at the ET Startup Awards 2026 in Bengaluru.

ETSA 2026: Indian founders eyeing early IPOs instead of private capital: Meesho CEO Vidit Aatrey
Speaking at a panel alongside Groww CEO Lalit Keshre and ETtech editor Samidha Sharma, Aatrey contrasted India’s market with that of the United States.

Winners of The ET Startup Awards 2026 to be feted today
Happy Friday! The who's who of the startup ecosystem will come together in Bengaluru today to honour the winners of The Economic Times Startup Awards (ETSA) 2026.

Startups will crown new champions today at 12th ET Startup Awards in Bengaluru
Union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal will be the guest of honour at the event, which will bring together a strong mix of past and present ETSA winners and nominees, alongside leading voices from India’s new-economy landscape. Goyal is expected to speak about the government’s efforts to deepen and expand the country’s emerging business ecosystem.

E-commerce firms turn to AI to solve for Bharat during festive sales
From spotting trends before they become popular and predicting what consumers are likely to buy to personalising recommendations – AI is doing a bulk of the work behind the scenes.

Menlo Ventures on AI slowdown; Ola Electric CEO pledges stake
Happy Monday! Menlo Ventures, an early Anthropic backer, says the real AI constraint is compute, not a slowdown in frontier models. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Ecommerce's festive push; Vertex's AI bets
Happy Wednesday! Ahead of the festive sales, ecommerce giants are building out their supply chains. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Ecommerce firms scale logistics, hiring ahead of festive sales
Flipkart’s logistics arm Ekart has added 14 million cubic feet of warehousing space nationwide, increasing its storage capacity by 50%, the company said on Tuesday. The Walmart-backed company also added more than 900 delivery hubs to its last-mile network.

VCs hungry for kitchen startups; Vala Afshar’s blueprint for India’s AI future
Happy Thursday! Venture capital investors are betting on the premiumisation wave wafting into Indian kitchens. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Indian diaspora founders account for $560 billion of overseas unicorn value: Report
The figure was calculated by dividing each company’s value equally among its founders and adding only the share of those who grew up in India. If one of four founders of a $10-billion company met that definition, $2.5 billion was counted. It does not represent actual shareholdings or personal wealth. The 205 companies had a total valuation of $1.09 trillion.

Value commerce startup CityMall in talks to raise Rs 400-500 crore led by Jungle Ventures: Sources
CityMall’s push into ecommerce in smaller towns and cities comes at a time when larger 10-minute delivery players such as Flipkart Minutes and Amazon Now are also expanding their presence in tier-II markets and beyond. CityMall is currently present in 18 markets across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi-NCR, and Haryana.

Ecommerce festive sales set to rise almost 30%, quick commerce to gain share: Analysts
Online festive shopping is expected to reach a new high this year, with ecommerce marketplaces and retailers seeing strong demand across categories. Quick commerce is also set to gain share as brands introduce festive-specific offerings, while platforms ramp up hiring, inventory and delivery capacity ahead of the festive season.

Rentomojo’s valuation jump; SoftBank’s Meesho windfall
Rentomojo is expected to go public at a valuation nearly five times higher than its previous private market round. This and more in today's ETtech Top 5.
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