Good morning. We’re here with your mid-week pep talk. [Towel pat] Keep jogging forward and take in all the sights and sounds.

We’ve got some tasty bits for you today around business, tech, and startups. As always, the early bird gets the worm, but not the kind of bug they just found in Air India’s business class meal.

In this edition:

• 🪂 Joom to enter India

• 🍔 Rebel Foods is paving a new way for Wendy’s in India

• 🧠 A new AI kid in town

MARKETS

*Stock data as of market close. Source.

• Markets: Nifty takes a dip as it ends below the 200 DMA for the first time in 20 weeks, leaving investors feeling a bit lightheaded about their holdings. Stocks at large at closing in the red. Stay zen.

FOOD

Rebel Food expands franchise commitment of Wendy’s in India

🍔 Rebel Foods, the Mumbai-based internet restaurant company, is upping its franchise commitment to American fast-food chain Wendy's to scale the global QSR brand in India. The partnership aims to expand traditional restaurant formats while also building on their existing cloud kitchen development agreement. Here's what we know about this collaboration:

• Rebel Foods will use its existing network of kitchens to serve Wendy's signature burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, and more.

• The partnership will leverage Rebel Foods' expertise in food delivery and technology to enhance the customer experience.

🥡The takeaway. With this move, Rebel Foods continues to disrupt the Indian food industry by partnering with global brands and providing unique dining experiences. It also strengthens its position as a major player in the cloud kitchen space.

COMMERCE

Joom to enter India's e-commerce market

🪂Joom, a European e-commerce marketplace, is expanding its global footprint to India, providing new opportunities for small and medium-sized exporters. Here are the key takeaways:

❓️What is Joom? Joom, founded in 2016 in Latvia, is a popular e-commerce platform that offers a wide range of products from fashion and electronics to beauty and home goods. It has a user-friendly interface and offers competitive prices, making it a popular choice among consumers worldwide.

➡️ How is Joom entering India? Joom has partnered with Indian logistics company Ecom Express to provide seamless delivery and customer support services to its Indian customers. The platform is currently offering products from Chinese and Turkish sellers, but it plans to expand to Indian sellers in the future.

What this means for India's e-commerce market

Joom's entry into India's e-commerce market could shake up the competition, especially since it offers key features like advanced buyer protection and cash on delivery. This could put pressure on established players like Amazon, Flipkart, and Snapdeal to step up their game and offer more competitive services.

Overall, Joom's entry into India is an exciting development for the country's e-commerce industry, providing new opportunities for Indian SMEs and exporters to reach a global audience.

TECH

FunnelsGPT is the new AI kid on the block, for content creators

📣 Knorish, an Indian edtech company, has launched the world's first AI-powered tool for content creators called FunnelsGPT. The tool uses natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to create and manage sales funnels, landing pages, and email marketing campaigns for content creators.

What is FunnelsGPT? FunnelsGPT is an AI-powered tool that allows content creators to automate their sales and marketing process. It offers features such as:

• Creation of high-converting landing pages

• Personalized email campaigns based on user behavior

• Automated sales funnel creation and management

• Analytics to track the performance of campaigns

Why is it a game-changer? FunnelsGPT can save content creators time and money by automating their sales and marketing process. It can also improve the quality of leads generated, as the AI-powered tool can analyze user behavior and personalize marketing campaigns accordingly.

What are the benefits for content creators? Content creators can benefit from FunnelsGPT in several ways:

• Reduced workload and increased productivity

• Improved lead quality and conversion rates

• Personalized marketing campaigns based on user behavior

• Analytics to track the performance of campaigns

INDIA EDITION: WHAT ELSE IS ON THE BIRDWATCH

• 📖 Edtech players are shooting for As. Physics Wallah, an absolute unit of an edtech unicorn, has joined forces with Utkarsh Classes to form a joint venture aimed at enriching the learning experience of students across India.

• 🦾 Japanese industrial firm amps sales presence in India. Sumitomo Electric Industries, a Japanese electrical equipment manufacturer, has established a new sales company in India to expand its hardmetal business and meet the growing demand for industrial materials in the country.

• 🪙 PEVC injections weakened in February. Private equity and venture capital funding to Indian startups has fallen 77% in February 2023, leaving founders feeling shaky about the future.

FUNDING DEALS

Catch up on the Indian funding flows from the past 24hrs:

• Grayscale Ventures has announced the first close of its $20M pre-seed fund, focused on spicing up SaaS startups in India.

• BuyHive, an Indian B2B e-commerce platform, is partnering with 40Seas to provide cross-border financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) buyers, bringing a wave of financial support to the ocean of Indian startups.

• eShakti, an e-commerce fashion brand, has stitched up a Rs. 12 crore funding round, with Klub and others chipping in to help the company expand its geographic footprint and continue its growth in India's online retail space.

WORLD

Headline Explorer

📞Global Relay rolls out internal communication boon. Global Relay, the Canadian technology firm, has launched a new digital information service aimed at streamlining communication and increasing productivity in the workplace.

💰️Quantexa acquires Irish AI firm Aylien. London-based regtech firm Quantexa is expanding its business by acquiring Aylien, an AI-powered language analysis company based in Ireland. The move is set to bump up Quantexa's anti-money laundering and fraud detection capabilities.

🌐Japanese tech giants form new metaverse business club. Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, and other tech firms are banding together to create a "metaverse economic zone" in Japan, an interconnected virtual world where people can interact with each other and conduct business.

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