ixigo’s revenue soars 73%; Marketing engine for restaurants

In the popularity contest between Copilot and ChatGPT, OpenAI is beating Microsoft soundly.

While the Copilot smartphone app has been downloaded 79 million times, ChatGPT recently surpassed 900 million downloads.

Further, OpenAI is also on a new monetisation kick. The company plans to take a cut from online product sales made directly through ChatGPT by integrating a checkout system into the platform.

Where Sam Altman and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son are concerned, AI demand is just kicking off. Rather, now is the time to scale infrastructure, since the insatiable demand for AI makes it imperative to keep building more computing capacity.

Even tariffs are playing nice on that front, especially to chipmakers. Nvidia chief Jensen Huang is optimistic about the recovery of the AI giant’s China sales after a ban on sales of a key processor specifically designed for the Chinese market was lifted by the US. 

Meanwhile, chipmaking equipment supplier ASML downplayed the impact of US tariffs on its recent quarter, as AI drove strong orders for its lithography machines.

ICYMI, this AI Appreciation Day, industry pioneers had much to say about the technology that’s reinventing work as we know it. 

The gaming industry is also seeing a shift, with Nazara pulling back from Nodwin. The gaming giant will not participate in Nodwin’s fresh fundraise, and is also waiving certain rights as the majority shareholder. 

The big leagues of gaming are no child’s play. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• ixigo’s revenue soars 73%
• Marketing engine for restaurants
• Nurturing women-led startups

Here’s your trivia for today: What product does Volkswagen sell that outperforms their automobiles?

Travel

ixigo’s revenue soars 73%

Le Travenues Technology Limited, the parent company of travel and ticketing platform ixigo, reported a 73% year-on-year increase in total revenue from operations for the quarter ended June 2024 (Q1 FY25), reaching Rs 314 crore, up from Rs 181.87 crore in the same period last year. 

Booming travel:

• Net profit attributable to equity holders rose 28.4% to Rs 19.08 crore in Q1 FY25, compared with Rs 14.86 crore in the year-ago quarter, according to the consolidated financial statements filed by ixigo.
• Total expenses matched the revenue growth, rising to Rs 292.77 crore from Rs 168 crore in Q1 FY24. Employee benefits expense stood at Rs 52.27 crore, up 37.7% from Rs 37.96 crore. Other expenses rose 86.2% to Rs 236.67 crore from Rs 127.11 crore in the same period last year.
• Segment-wise, revenue from the flight business more than doubled to Rs 103.19 crore from Rs 41.51 crore in Q1 FY24. Bus segment revenue was Rs 129.92 crore, up 29.3% from Rs 100.45 crore. Train segment revenue also nearly doubled to Rs 76.62 crore, compared with Rs 39.63 crore in the same quarter last year.

Funding Alert

Startup: KNOT

Amount: $3M

Round: Equity

Startup: Zeus Hygia

Amount: $2.5M

Round: Series A

Startup: Zuppa

Amount: $1.5M

Round: Bridge

Startup

Marketing engine for restaurants

Parin Sanghvi’s Ahmedabad-based startup Reelo has flipped the script on restaurant marketing. Instead of chasing new customers through discounts, the startup looks to help restaurants turn first-time visitors into regulars through retention campaigns.

The platform integrates with over 35 point-of-sale systems, automatically capturing customer data during purchases without manual effort. Once the data flows in, Reelo’s platform analyses customer behaviour patterns and suggests targeted marketing actions.

Building relationships:

• Launched as a boutique tool for restaurants, the company’s client roster includes major hospitality groups like Aditya Birla Hospitality (Hakkasan, Yuatcha), Lite Bite Foods (Punjab Grill), The Beer Cafe, Effingut Brewery, and Nando’s across thousands of outlets.
• Reelo’s most ambitious bet lies in restaurant memberships, a concept inspired by Amazon Prime and Panera’s US coffee subscriptions. These aren’t traditional loyalty programmes but prepaid plans loaded with specific perks: free drinks, priority seating, exclusive menu access.
• In 2023, Reelo secured a $1 million seed round led by Silicon Valley-based angel investor Gokul Rajaram. International expansion is already underway in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, with Sanghvi betting restaurant memberships will become globally standard.

Women Entrepreneurs

Nurturing women-led startups

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Manisha Acharya noticed that women-centric startups were shutting down at alarming rates as entrepreneurs struggled to balance company work with family responsibilities.

The immediate solution was simple: to offer support for women-led startups at every stage. Based in Bhubaneshwar, WEneurs Forum was registered on August 12, 2021, and became the first incubator and accelerator from Eastern India to be dedicated to women entrepreneurs.

Bharat ke Innovators

Edtech startup skilling rural India

Skill Darpan is a rapidly growing edtech startup that aims to democratise access to job-ready skills for students from India’s Tier II and Tier III regions.

Software for Bharat’s MSMEs

Floww APIs is a Patna-based SaaS startup simplifying business operations for MSMEs in Bharat. Co-founded by IIT Bombay alumni, the platform offers vernacular-first, no-code tools for HR, email, accounting, websites, and logistics.

News & updates

• Cha-ching: Pop Mart, the Chinese toy firm behind the hugely popular Labubu dolls, has said its profits are set to soar for the first six months of this year. The Beijing-based company said it expects profits for the period to jump by at least 350% as revenues more than tripled.
• Make in America: Apple is investing $500 million in a deal with US rare earths company MP Materials. The move is part of a $500 billion investment Apple announced earlier this year to expand its US operations amid pressure from US President Donald Trump.
• Balancing act: France’s Prime Minister François Bayrou has proposed cutting two public holidays as part of a budget proposal as he stressed that France was “in mortal danger” of being crushed by debt. Bayrou suggested axing Easter Monday and 8 May, a day that commemorates the Allied victory at the end of WWII.

What product does Volkswagen sell that outperforms its automobiles in sales?

Answer: Currywurst sausages. 

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