ETtech Top 5: India Inc's GCC play; BharatPe, Licious financials

Indian businesses are expanding their technology capabilities through global capability centres, paralleling international firms operating in India. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.

Also in this letter:
■ HCLTech CEO on data, AI
■ ETtech Done Deals
■ Gen Z spending soars
India Inc too riding GCC wave

Foreign companies are not the only ones setting up global capability centres (GCCs) in India to provide centralised support to their businesses. Large Indian corporations are also building such facilities, often to beef up their technology infrastructure.

Tell me more: Reliance Industries, Adani Group, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), and Bank of Baroda have established such centres within the country over the past two to four years.

Indian firms are estimated to have set up around 50 GCCs in the last couple of years in sectors like telecom, financial services and automotive, said Arindam Sen, GCC leader and partner for media, entertainment and telecommunications practice at EY India.


Tech strategy: According to experts, legacy companies also recognise the need for a centralised tech strategy as rapid technological advancements disrupt and transform businesses. These companies may not necessarily label these facilities as GCCs — such units are often called technology centres, innovation or R&D labs, or centres of excellence — but the purpose they serve is similar to that of GCCs.

Quote, unquote: “This shift highlights the transformative potential of the GCC framework—not just for optimising operations but for delivering value and strategic growth,” said Lalit Ahuja, founder and chief executive of ANSR, which helps companies establish GCCs in India.

Also Read | Tier-2, 3 cities make a small dent in Bengaluru's GCC growth story
BharatPe posts 39% rise in FY24 operating revenue, loss before taxes narrows 50%

Fintech firm BharatPe reported a 39% jump in operating revenue to Rs 1,426 crore in FY24 from Rs 1,029 crore a year earlier. It also narrowed its consolidated loss before taxes by 50% to Rs 474 crore from Rs 941 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a release today.

Tell me more: At the group level, the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) loss before share-based payment expenses reduced by 75% to Rs 209 crore in FY24 from Rs 826 crore in the last fiscal.

Quote, unquote: “FY24 was a milestone year for us as BharatPe turned Ebitda positive in October 2024. Also, we considerably slashed our cash burn in FY24 and are on track to build a sustainable and profitable business,” chief executive officer Nalin Negi said.

Also Read | Ashneer Grover, BharatPe settle disputes; cut all ties

Licious narrows FY24 net loss by 44%, revenue down 8% to Rs 685 crore
Abhay Hanjura (left) and Vivek Gupta, cofounders, Licious

Direct-to-consumer meat and seafood delivery startup Licious witnessed its scale shrinking during the year ended March 2024 with the company attributing the revenue decline to the closure of distribution channels – particularly Reliance-backed hyperlocal delivery firm Dunzo.

ETtech in-depth | Lacking bite and funding, online meat ecosystem returns to the drawing board

Numbers: In FY24, Licious’s parent company Delightful Gourmet reported 8% year-on-year fall in its revenue to Rs 685 crore. It also underscored a reduction in exposure to modern trade and local stores for the revenue decline as the company started focusing more on its own fulfilment channels.

The Bengaluru-based firm also said its loss narrowed 44% year-on-year to Rs 294 crore in FY24.

Both BharatPe and Licious are yet to file their financial statements with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

Also Read | Licious acquires My Chicken and More to boost offline presence
Third of incremental demand coming from data and AI: HCLTech CEO

HCLTech garnered about a third of incremental demand from data and artificial intelligence (AI) verticals, helping India’s third largest software services provider post a better-than-expected 7% rise in revenue from a year earlier in the fiscal second quarter.

AI demand: CEO and managing director C Vijayakumar declined to elaborate on revenues earned from data and AI businesses. “It (data and AI revenues) is spread across different verticals, and every client situation is different, so I'm not able to quantify it. But I think at least a third of the (incremental) demand seems to be coming from AI and data, roughly,” he said.

Market demand: “We see good demand in financial services, that's also extending to other verticals. But we are a little cautious about extrapolating this for a longer period of time. We are going to take it one quarter at a time…We believe in the mid-to-long term, of course, the levers are sustainable, but quarter to quarter, there can always be variations,” Vijayakumar said.

Q2 result: The Noida-based company reported revenue of Rs 28,862 crore, up 6.7% from a year ago and 2.6% sequentially for the September quarter. The company also raised its lower-end guidance for revenue growth to 3.5-5.0% from the earlier 3.0-5.0% for FY25.
ETtech Done Deals
Everstage CEO Siva Rajamani

Everstage raises $30 million from Eight Roads Ventures, others: Software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup Everstage has raised $30 million in a funding round led by Eight Roads Ventures, with participation from existing investors Elevation Capital and 3one4 Capital. This is the largest fundraise by the Delaware and Chennai-based firm, bringing its total funding to $45 million.

Eldercare startup Primus Senior Living raises $20 million from General Catalyst, others: Eldercare startup Primus Senior Living has raised $20 million in a seed funding round led by General Catalyst, with participation from Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath and Gruhas, the investment firm cofounded by Kamath and Abhijeet Pai of Puzzolana Group.

Also Read | Zerodha launches $1-million annual fund to support open source software projects

No-code app builder Tablesprint raises $1 million in angel funding: Tablesprint, a no-code app builder, has raised around $1 million in a funding round led by a group of angel investors including Ankit Bhati (cofounder, Ola), Ajeet Khurana (founder, Reflexical), Sunil Sharma (chief executive, Coingape), BlueLotus Ventures, TDV Partners, and DGC Ventures.
In 2025, Gen Z’s direct spends will amount to $250 billion: report

Collective spending power of Gen Z has reached $860 billion and is expected to surge to $2 trillion by 2035 with this cohort's direct spending amounting to $250 billion in 2025, a new report has shown.


Data shows: Currently, out of Gen Z’s total spending power of $860 billion, approximately $200 billion comes from direct spending—money they earn and spend themselves—while $660 billion comes from influenced spending, which includes purchases influenced by their recommendations or preferences.

Source: Snap Inc, BCG

Quote, unquote: “Gen Z will be the biggest contributor to India's consumption growth driving $1.8 trillion worth of direct spend by the year 2035,” Pulkit Trivedi, managing director, India, Snap Inc, said. “As a platform that serves the Gen Z audience, we look forward to working with brands and businesses to harness this growth potential.”

Today’s ETtech Top 5 newsletter was curated by Riya Roy Chowdhury in Bengaluru.