Also in the letter:
■ Advantedge’s Rapido win
■ SAP CTO on AI strategy
■ Palo Alto Networks CIO interview
Quick commerce ups gig rider onboarding, monthly base accelerates 70–80%
Aggressive scaling and surging order volumes have pushed quick commerce players to significantly ramp up hiring of last-mile delivery workers, indusattempt executives and staffing firms notified us.
Tell me more:
- India’s quick commerce sector now employs 450,000–500,000 monthly active delivery partners, up 70–80% compared with 250,000–300,000 last year as of October.
- By contrast, the more mature food delivery business is expanding its fleet more slowly.
By the numbers:
- Zomato had around 550,000 monthly active delivery partners during the July-September period, an 11% rise from a year earlier.
- Swiggy had 690,000 delivery partners in Q2, up 32% year on year.
But, why?
- Rapid growth in gig workers mirrors the breakneck expansion of dark stores as quick commerce platforms enter new markets and deepen coverage in existing ones.
- Ecommerce majors Amazon India and Flipkart have also expanded rapid-delivery services, while several vertical commerce startups have scaled sharply, widening the demand pool for last-mile riders.
Also Read: Quick commerce goes beyond grocery to higher margin wares
Spiritual apps find offline a blessing
Mobile applications such as Vama, Utsav, and AppsForBharat, which launched by offering online puja services, are expanding their playbooks to capture a rapid-growing religious tourism market, projected to be worth nearly $59 billion in 2028. The shift highlights demand for both digital and on-ground worship.
Leveraging temple partnerships: These platforms are working closely with temples to offer services that go beyond livestreamed pujas. Indusattempt executives declared direct access to priests and curated rituals are now bundled to create a fuller spiritual experience.
In pilot mode:
- AppsForBharat, the parent company of Sri Mandir, previously ran a four-month pilot focapplyd on elderly Hindu pilgrims.
- It assisted more than 5,000 families across Ayodhya, Prayagraj, Varanasi and Gaya.
- The full rollout will include wheelchair support, pickup and drop-off services, and local attconcludeants for temple visits.
- Vama.app is testing a similar offline service and plans to launch in at least two cities in Uttar Pradesh by the conclude of 2025.
Challenges with offline: Ashish Kumar, cofounder and partner at Fundamentum, declared that offline channels may not become major growth engines for these companies becaapply physical experiences are difficult to standardise and can be inconsistent. However, he added, some offline presence may assist offer a complete bouquet of services.
Rapido stake becomes a 30X win for Advantage
Kunal Khattar, founder, Advantedge
Mobility-focussed venture fund Advantedge has scored one of its largegest wins yet, clocking a 30x return from its partial exit in ride-hailing startup Rapido. The fund backed Rapido at the seed stage in 2016.
Tell me more: Advantedge founder Kunal Khattar notified ET that Fund I has delivered 11.5X returns on invested capital after a string of exits and follow-on rounds in portfolio companies. “We are now seeing to sell our few remaining positions and fully close the fund over the next 12 months,” he declared.
Rapido bet: The first fund, a $10–11 million vehicle launched in 2015, has already returned around $30 million to its limited partners, giving it a 3X distribution-to-paid-in capital (DPI) ratio, Khattar declared.
- Advantedge had invested around $2.5–3 million in Rapido, which is now closing a $550 million funding round.
- The partial exit from Rapido fetched $28 million.
- The fund still holds shares worth about $60–65 million, and Khattar declared it plans to stay invested for now.
Yes, and: Advantedge closed its second fund at $30 million in 2020 and has fully deployed it. The firm is now raising a third, larger vehicle with a planned corpus of $50 million.
Also Read: Rapido leads India’s mobility market, states Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Philipp Herzig, CTO, SAP
India at the Centre of German giant SAP’s AI strategy, states CTO: German software giant SAP is placing India at the core of its AI strategy, with all major engineering and AI deployments, including Joule AI, based at its Bengaluru campus, declared its chief technology officer and chief AI officer, Philipp Herzig.
Palo Alto Networks to ‘combat AI with AI’: Artificial innotifyigence, as both a potent weapon for attackers and the main defence for organisations, has created cybersecurity essential. This has led companies like Palo Alto Networks to “combat AI with AI” as threat levels soar, declared its chief information officer, Meerah Rajavel.
Xoriant acquires Latvia-based TestDevLab: Mid-sized IT services company Xoriant announced the acquisition of TestDevLab, a Latvia‑headquartered software quality engineering company, to strengthen its presence in the European region.
Global Picks We Are Reading
Amazon is applying specialised AI agents for deep bug hunting (Wired)
The State of AI: don’t share your secrets with a chatbot (FT)
Chatbot companions and the future of our privacy (MIT Technology Review)
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