Also in the letter:
■ Freshworks CEO on AI’s impact
■ Eloelo’s fundraise
■ Google extends voluntary exit offers
Lenskart Q2 net profit more than doubles to Rs 232 crore, revenue rises 36%
Lenskart CEO Peyush Bansal
Eyewear retailer Lenskart Solutions reported a 36% increase in consolidated revenue from operations in the July-September quarter, aided by higher sales volumes across domestic and international markets.
Financials:
- Revenue from operations: Rs 2,845 crore in the July-September quarter.
- Net profit: Rose 125% to Rs 232 crore, compared with Rs 103.45 crore in the year-ago period.
- Eyewear volumes: Increased 27.1% during the quarter, while the company conducted 80 lakh eye tests globally.
Nykaa Q2 revenue surges 28%, net profit triples
Falguni Nayar, CEO, Nykaa
Nykaa parent FSN E-Commerce Ventures reported an on-year rise in consolidated revenues for the September quarter of FY27.
Financials:
- Revenue from operations: Up 28% to Rs 3,006.04 crore, from Rs 2,345.98 crore a year earlier.
- Net profit: More than tripled to Rs 101.19 crore from Rs 32.98 crore in the year-ago period.
- Total income: Rose 28% to Rs 3,015.56 crore.
Yes, and: Nykaa has acquired a majority stake in Mumbai-based beauty products brand Simply Nam, founded by celebrity makeup artist Namrata Soni. Nykaa said it is acquiring 82% stake in Simply Nam for a cash consideration of Rs 33 crore.
PhysicsWallah Q2 net profit doubles to Rs 144 crore, revenue rises 18%
PhysicsWallah (PW) founders Prateek Maheshwari (left) and Alakh Pandey
Edtech company PhysicsWallah’s consolidated net profit more than doubled in the September quarter, on the back of growth in its online coaching business.
Number-wise:
- Net profit: More than doubled to Rs 143.63 crore from Rs 69.71 crore a year earlier.
- Revenue from operations: Rose 18% to Rs 1,242.26 crore from Rs 1,051.24 crore.
ShareChat’s FY26 revenue jumps 40% to Rs 1,016 crore on microdrama push; net loss widens
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Ankush Sachdeva (left) and Manohar Charan, founders, Mohalla Tech
Mohalla Tech, which operates ShareChat, Moj, and QuickTV, reported a jump in FY26 revenues even as losses increased during this period.
Financials:
- Operating revenue: Up 40% to Rs 1,016 crore.
- Net loss: Rs 1,978 crore, up from Rs 1,105 crore a year ago.
Gig workers may get social security benefits through 2% transaction levy on businesses + Pranav’s explainer + GFX
The government is considering a 2% per-transaction levy on aggregators, rather than one on the total turnover, to fund social security for over 12 million gig and platform workers.
Driving the news: The National Social Security Board, set up last week to finalise and oversee the scheme, will meet in the second half of this month to decide its contours. An industry expert involved in the deliberations said the aim is to ensure that one segment of aggregators does not subsidise another, hence the preference for a transaction-based charge.
Funded by platforms alone: A senior official said the scheme is almost ready and could be launched in 2027. Aggregators alone will finance it through a Social Security Fund, with no contribution from the centre or workers.
Various approaches: The platforms are thinking about this differently. While food delivery companies are seeking a per-transaction levy based on the value of the orders delivered by gig workers, cab aggregators want it to be calculated on their own turnover.
What’s the impact: The Social Security Code, 2020, provides for benefits for gig and platform workers. Under its eligibility provisions, workers must complete at least 90 days of work with a single aggregator in a financial year, or 120 days cumulatively across multiple platforms, to qualify for benefits.
AI deployment accelerating, but enterprises becoming more discerning: Freshworks CEO
Freshworks CEO Dennis Woodside
Enterprise adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) software is accelerating, but companies are getting pickier about where they spend, demanding clearer evidence of productivity gains and returns on investment, Freshworks chief executive Dennis Woodside told ET.
Verbatim: “(AI) Deployments are absolutely accelerating. At the same time, customers are becoming more discerning and questioning the returns on that spending. They need to see a business case and tangible results. AI is costing them real money, and they want to ensure it generates real value,” Woodside said in an interview.
Software’s sharp correction: Woodside said the wider software sector saw a steep correction earlier this year, with the stock price of several companies halving between January and March.
“When investors are uncertain, they pull their money until they get greater clarity. We have been able to create some certainty around our stock,” he said, adding that recent volatility should be viewed against several years of strong returns for US equity investors.
Financial milestone: The Nasdaq-listed company crossed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in October, ahead of its year-end target.
It reported a 14% year-on-year rise in revenues to $245.4 million for the July-September quarter, marginally ahead of guidance. Net profit was $18.3 million against a loss of $4.7 million a year earlier.
Eloelo raises $80 million from Hornbill Capital, NBCUniversal
Saurabh Pandey, founder and chief executive of Eloelo
Eloelo Group, which operates the micro-drama platform Story TV, has raised $80 million in a round led by Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal, the company said on Wednesday.
The details:
- MIT Investment Co and existing investors Play Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Waterbridge Ventures, and Griffin Gaming Partners also participated in the round.
- The company did not disclose the valuation.
- This takes the Bengaluru-based company’s total funding to $130 million.
Context: ET had reported that Eloelo was in advanced discussions to raise $50-60 million at a valuation of around $400 million. The company will use the funds to produce original content across Indian languages, expand Story TV internationally, including into the US, and invest further in its artificial intelligence-powered video production platform Dolphin AI.
“Story TV shows us what India wants to watch, and Dolphin AI gives us the economics to make it, which is how we have scaled with solid unit economics,” said Saurabh Pandey, founder and chief executive of Eloelo.
Google extends employee buyout offers to staff in several countries
Alphabet’s Google has expanded its employee buyout offers to several countries this year as it looks to rein in rising costs amid heavy spending on AI.
Driving the news: The company confirmed to Reuters that it began offering voluntary exit packages in June to employees in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland. The report does not mention how many employees accepted this latest round, which had not been reported previously.
Cost pressure: The move comes as mounting AI spending unnerves the markets. Microsoft last week offered voluntary exit offers to 60,000 employees to contain costs. Alphabet’s workforce has grown steadily in recent quarters, though it has sought to shift resources toward priority areas.
The latest offers follow exit programmes offered since last year to employees in some US and UK divisions.
