Zetwerk’s pre-IPO move; War hits your deliveries
Zetwerk is preparing for a pre-IPO funding round while rising costs from the West Asia conflict impact e-commerce supply chains.Summary
Zetwerk, a B2B manufacturing marketplace, is in talks to raise Rs 500 crore in a pre-IPO round led by Bharat Value Fund, potentially valuing the company at $3 billion. They are also preparing to file draft IPO papers for a planned Rs 5,000 crore public offering. Simultaneously, the ongoing war in West Asia is causing disruptions to India’s quick commerce, e-commerce, and logistics networks. Rising input costs, particularly for packaging materials like plastics and paper (up 30-40% and 10-15% respectively), are being passed on to consumers with price increases of 10-15%. Logistics companies are also facing increased fuel costs.
In other news, Indian startups are increasingly turning to Small Language Models (SLMs) instead of Large Language Models (LLMs) to reduce costs, enhance privacy, and navigate regulatory challenges. Companies like Stockgro and Qure.ai are leveraging SLMs for specialized tasks like trading analysis and medical transcription.
Additionally, Prologis reports that India is benefiting from the 'China Plus One' trend, with increased demand for logistics infrastructure, and Rentomojo has filed its DRHP for an IPO of Rs 1,100-1,200 crore. Fuel volatility is also accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles for last-mile delivery in e-commerce.
(Source：The Economic Times)