Start-ups take the merger route in quest for profitability

For start-ups getting into partnerships in their quest to find success and profitability has become the new big thing. Start-ups with strengths in different areas are joining forces to create a more wholesome ecosystem, strong enough to take on compete.

In a latest development, Freecharge, the digital payments platform acquired by Snapdeal, has partnered with payment gateway solution provider, PayUbiz, to further strengthen its merchant base and help consumers move from cash to digital payments.

This integration allows Freecharge to tap PayUbiz's more than 10,000 online merchants across sectors will also be accessible to the patrons of the mobile wallet. "We want to make Freecharge wallet ubiquitous in both the online and offline space by creating an ecosystem of partnerships. Through PayUbiz association, we will further strengthen our partner ecosystem and enable digital payments across 10,000 more merchants. Alliances such as this will certainly help us move in the right direction," said Govind Rajan, chief executive officer.

Both the stakeholders believe partnerships are critical to scale acceptance and build the habit of digital payments. The user interface and transaction experience ensures that consumers have the swiftest yet safest digital payments experience. Enabling wallet payments with merchants gives the ubiquity and reach that is required to take India to a cashless tomorrow.

Unlikely partnerships have forged between start-ups, some after a long-drawn battle against each other. One of the world's largest app-based cab-hailing services Uber, after a fierce turf war with its biggest rival in China Didi Chuxing, decided to merge the company's China operations. In return, Didi would invest around a billion dollars in Uber's global company.

Start-ups have also managed to get an edge by getting into tie-ups with companies from completely different spheres. Uber recently got into a tie-up with online music portal Gaana.com to offer its riders two months of free music subscription. The pilot project, started in Mumbai, would be applicable across Uber Black, Uber Go, Uber WiFi and Uber SUV.

According to sectoral experts, such tie-ups help start-ups capitalise on each other's strengths and even cut costs. "The point of such tie-ups is to find the cheapest way of using each other's respective strengths, reducing infrastructure costs and optimising on brands. These tie-ups are also a precursor to a larger alliance," said Amarjeet Singh, partner - tax, KPMG India.

Recently, hotel room aggregator OYO announced a strategic partnership with ItzCash a multi-service payment solutions company and part of the Essel Group, to facilitate effortless payments for hotel-bookings across 5,500 hotels in about 170 cities in India through ItzCash's easy money transfer solutions.

According to OYO, with this partnership, it is going aggressive in hotel booking and aims to double its volume and clock Rs 400 crore by FY18. ItzCash is backed by Lightspeed Ventures, which is also an investor in OYO.

Last year, health care booking platform Practo and Uber announced a global partnership to help people reach doctors easily. Under the tie-up that pans across India, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore, those who book an appointment on Practo's mobile application will be able to view the closest Uber available along with the appointment reminder alert.

Business Standard New Delhi, 03th August 2016

Household debt up, but India still lags emerging-market economies: RBI

Although household debt in India is rising, driven by increased borrowing from the financial sector, it remains lower than in other emerging-market economies (EMEs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Financial Stability Report. It added that non-housing retail loans, largely taken for consumption, accounted for 55 per cent of total household debt.As of December 2024, India’s household debt-to-gross domestic product ratio stood at 41.9 per cent. “...Non-housing retail loans, which are mostly used for consumption purposes, formed 54.9 per cent of total household debt as of March 2025 and 25.7 per cent of disposable income as of March 2024. Moreover, the share of these loans has been growing consistently over the years, and their growth has outpaced that of both housing loans and agriculture and business loans,” the RBI said in its report.Housing loans, by contrast, made up 29 per cent of household debt, and their growth has remained steady. However, disaggregated data sho...

External spillovers likely to hit India's financial system: RBI report

While India’s growth remains insulated from global headwinds mainly due to buoyant domestic demand, the domestic financial system could, however, be impacted by external spillovers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its half yearly Financial Stability Report published on Monday.Furthermore, the rising global trade disputes and intensifying geopolitical hostilities could negatively impact the domestic growth outlook and reduce the demand for bank credit, which has decelerated sharply. “Moreover, it could also lead to increased risk aversion among investors and further corrections in domestic equity markets, which despite the recent correction, remain at the high end of their historical range,” the report said.It noted that there is some build-up of stress, primarily in financial markets, on account of global spillovers, which is reflected in the marginal rise in the financial system stress indicator, an indicator of the stress level in the financial system, compared to its p...

Retail inflation cools to a six-year low of 2.82% in May on moderating food prices

New Delhi: Retail inflation in India cooled to its lowest level in over six years in May, helped by a sharp moderation in food prices, according to provisional government data released Thursday.Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation eased to 2.82% year-on-year, down from 3.16% in April and 4.8% in May last year, data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) showed. This marks the fourth consecutive month of sub-4% inflation, the longest such streak in at least five years.The data comes just days after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee cut the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.5%, its third straight cut and a cumulative reduction of 100 basis points since the easing cycle began in February. The move signals a possible pivot from inflation control to supporting growth.Food inflation came in at just 0.99% in May, down from 1.78% in April and a sharp decline from 8.69% a year ago.A Mint poll of 15 economists had projected CPI ...

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