Honasa Consumer, the parent company behind Mamaearth has lost its unicorn status as shares fell about 29% across sessions since its close last week.

Shares closed at Rs 237.70 apiece tanking the company’s total market cap to Rs 7,721 crore or roughly $902 million. It had filed for IPO at a valuation of Rs 10,500 crore in November 2023.

The company which listed on domestic bourses on November 7, 2023 is now trading about 27% below its IPO issue price of Rs 324.

In an exchange filing today, the company clarified the scope of its leftover inventory with distributors amid media reports of credit backlogs and unsold stock with distributors.

Honasa clarified that its distribution value chain carried a total inventory of Rs 40.69 crore, against the quoted figure of Rs 300 crore of near-expiry inventory by the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation.

The dominos effect started a week ago when the beauty and personal care retailer announced its second-quarter earnings.

Shares closed at Rs 371.55 apiece on Thursday, November 14 just before the company released the earnings report.

The Varun Alagh-led company clocked a loss-making quarter after its previous green P&Ls. It posted a loss of loss of Rs 18.71 crore in the July-September 2024 quarter from a profit of Rs 29.78 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous year. 

It has been clocking slower revenue growth across quarters. The company reported a 19% rise in its operating revenue in Q1FY25 and 21% YoY growth in Q4 FY24. Its latest quarter witnessed a de-growth of 7% to Rs 461.82 crore.

India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati on Wednesday unveiled its OTT app ‘Waves’ through which users can also access vast archives of Doordarshan and Aakashvani.

Currently, the app currently offers around 40 live channels, including popular ones from broadcasters such as B4U, ABZY, SAB Group and 9X Media as well as news channels such as India Today, News Nation, Republic, ABP News, News24, and NDTV India.

“We are trying to give clean and family entertainment,” Navneet Kumar Sehgal, Chairman, Prasar Bharati, said on the sidelines of the International Film Festival of India in Panaji, Goa.

Sehgal said the OTT app also provides a host of other services such as news, easy shopping facility by linking up with ONDC network, games, films.

“All our (Prasar Bharati) archives are also available. You can relive your childhood by watching your favourite shows,” he said.

Funding

CredFlow secures $3.7M in a Pre-Series B round from Inflexor, others

CredFlow, a Delhi-based fintech startup, has raised $3.7 million (Rs 31.2 crore) in a pre-Series B funding round led by Inflexor Ventures and a Singapore-based family office.

This funding will support the startup’s growth in lending services, technological innovation, and the development of new products aimed at small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Since its inception in 2020, CredFlow has positioned itself as a cashflow management platform, enabling SMEs to automate invoice collections, manage finances, and access real-time insights to optimise cash cycles.

With previous funding of $9.2 million across two rounds, CredFlow has already integrated $600 billion in invoices and captured 50% of India’s GST-registered businesses on its platform.

The new funding will further CredFlow’s efforts to expand its embedded digital lending arm, CredFlow Finance, and move towards obtaining an NBFC license.

Healthy foods startup O4H raises Rs 1 Cr from IPV

Order for Health (O4H), a Bengaluru-based healthy-food startup, has raised Rs 1 crore in a seed funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV).

The funds will support O4H’s expansion plans, including setting up a central kitchen and launching 11 new stores to strengthen its market presence and operational capacity.

Founded in 2020, O4H focuses on delivering fresh, nutritious, and sustainable meal options, offering salads, wraps, fit meals, and Mediterranean and pan-Asian-inspired dishes.

O4H claims to have gained over 100,000 loyal customers, earning a 4.5-star rating on Swiggy and Zomato. With Rs 6 crore annual revenue and over 13,500 monthly orders, O4H claims to serve 30% of Bengaluru’s healthy food delivery market.

Other news

NowPurchase completes its first ESOP buyback

NowPurchase, a Kolkata-based B2B startup, has completed its first Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) buyback, valuing the shares at 100 times the initial purchase price.

The buyback included staff from all levels, ranging from warehouse employees to potential CXOs.

The ESOP buyback follows NowPurchase’s recent $6 million funding round, bringing its total funding to over $10 million. Investors including InfoEdge Ventures, Orios Venture Partners, 100 Unicorns, and other angel investors supported the initiative. Notably, many senior leaders, including Sachin Singh and Prateek Losalka, retained a significant portion of their ESOPs.

Founded in 2017, NowPurchase provides procurement solutions for metal manufacturers, including raw materials like metal scrap and additives.

Vegapay partners with Yes Bank to launch ‘Credit Line on UPI’

Vegapay has partnered with Yes Bank and NPCI to launch the ‘Credit Line on UPI,’ a hyper-configurable credit platform enabling instant access to credit via UPI apps.

Through this platform, Yes Bank can design tailored credit programmes, offering options like interest-free or interest-bearing credit and EMI-based repayments. The user-friendly dashboard and customisable app streamline integration for banks, focusing on efficiency and essential data collection.

Backed by $5.5 million in funding from Elevation Capital, Vegapay’s scalable technology can process thousands of transactions per second while adhering to stringent payment standards. Yes Bank, processing one-third of India’s digital payments, aims to further its leadership in UPI with this partnership.

(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)