Sumit Pilankar

OYO's parent company, PRISM (fresh off its rebrand from Oravel Stays), just announced a strategic leadership reshuffle to supercharge global growth and premium offerings. Spotlighting the star of the show: Ankit Tandon, who's stepping up as Global COO of PRISM and CEO, Europe—expanding from his role as CEO of OYO Vacation Homes. Teaming up with him is Varun Jain, now COO, Asia, to drive that international momentum. This move couldn't come at a better time as PRISM eyes accelerated expansion post-pandemic and dives deeper into high-end stays. It's a clear signal of bold, tech-fueled ambition in a competitive landscape. #PRISM #OYO #LeadershipReshuffle #TravelTech #Hospitality #Startups #BusinessGrowth

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🌏 India’s cross-border momentum is just getting started. 🚀 From the rise of Tier 2 exporters to the power of digital-first platforms, Payoneer is witnessing a shift in how India does global business. 💡 Gaurav Shisodia, Vice President, Payoneer India, shares key insights in Outlook Publishing (India) Pvt. Ltd. spotlighting what’s driving the next wave of cross-border growth for Indian SMBs. Read the interview here 👉 https://paynr.co/4pqPkdK

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"Cross-border expansion is often treated as a growth lever. In reality, it requires solving for operating architecture first." Scale demands cohesive systems that serve multiple regions efficiently. The paradox? These systems need to be modular enough to flex for local market needs, yet cohesive enough to scale without fragmentation. That balance is what separates expansion from sustainable growth. Really enjoyed being part of the panel at Retail ReMix discussing Cross-border Commerce at scale. Scaling e-commerce globally means learning fast, unlearning often, and building with local context in mind. Special thanks to Abhinav Patwa for his sharp insights and memorable analogies that cut straight to the point. To Khaled Boudemagh for his pace and thoughtful questions that pushed the conversation forward. And to Dharmendra Mehta for creating this community and platform that brings the retail ecosystem together. Loved seeing so many familiar faces; partners, colleagues, and new members of the community.

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OYO-Backed Sunday PropTech Acquires 8 Premium Hotels Sunday PropTech, the PRISM-backed hotel asset platform of OYO, has acquired a portfolio of eight premium hotel properties in India, marking a strategic step in its asset-led expansion across the country’s premium and mid-premium hospitality segment. Industry sources estimate the combined value of these acquisitions to be around ₹800 crore, reflecting strong investor and market confidence in branded hotel assets. The newly acquired hotels are set to be integrated into PRISM’s existing brand ecosystem — including Sunday Hotels, Belvilla and other formats — with operations likely aligned for quality and consistency. Rakesh Kumar Read more: https://lnkd.in/g2yFHxZ4 Follow Hotelier Buzz for more updates Instagram: https://lnkd.in/gTZJtZsd Curated By: Namrataa Bhandarri

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Inamo raises $8M in Series A funding to expand quick commerce infrastructure Indian quick-commerce enablement platform Inamo has secured $8 million in a Series A funding round led by Prime Venture Partners to scale its dark store network and deepen its technology stack. The funding round, which comprises $6 million in equity and $2 million in venture debt, also saw participation from returning investors Shastra VC, Antler India, and Gemba Capital. Founded in 2024 by Sumit Anand (ex-Dunzo, Ola) and Rupesh Thakare (ex-Goldman Sachs, Ninjacart, Apnaklub), Inamo provides a plug-and-play infrastructure-as-a-service model for quick-commerce platforms and online marketplaces....

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Cut and Paste ... I think Blinkit and Insta will be the players leading ... Zepto will disappear soon. Blinkit is the most preferred quick commerce application in India, Udisha Srivastav reports for Business Standard, citing a survey by Bank of America. Over 31% respondents opted for Blinkit, followed by Swiggy Instamart (19%), Flipkart Minutes (14%), and Zepto (12%). Top reasons for choosing q-commerce include fast delivery, avoiding offline shopping, attractive discounts, free delivery, and wider assortment. Between March and November this year, people who order on quick commerce at least once a day increased from 8% to 17%, while those who order more than twice increased from 3% to 11%, the survey adds. Meanwhile, India’s quick commerce sector is witnessing a surge in last-mile delivery hiring, Disha Acharya and Pranav Mukul report for The Economic Times. Platforms like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart now employ 450,000–500,000 active delivery partners monthly, up 70–80% from last year’s 250,000–300,000. In fact, festive-season payouts rose 10–15%, with riders earning up to ₹50,000 monthly, the report says. "Delivery riders have shown a better retention rate in quick commerce compared to food delivery in recent quarters because of more orders, better incentives, and dark stores, which act as a place to rest for them,” said Madhav Krishna, CEO of Vahan. Dark-store expansion is accelerating, with Blinkit operating 1,816 stores and planning 3,000 by March 2027; Instamart and Zepto each run over 1,000, adds the report. How do you think quick commerce will shape the retail landscape in India? Share your thoughts in the comments section. Source: Business Standard - https://lnkd.in/gyRqqA-9 The Economic Times - https://lnkd.in/g2CvXNAX

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Zepto Swiggy Blinkit Zomato Urban Company Snabbit Pronto shape modern convenience while operating as labor orchestration systems where human throughput forms the engine and Tech wrapper forms the interface Across border regions and northeastern states, especially Manipur under sustained stress and Tripura with heavy border exposure, contractors operate quietly. Labor moves through layers of aggregation and outsourcing until it reaches urban homes. What appears as logistics is veiled human trafficking and extortion rackets driven by margin, opacity, and silence. A deeper question sits underneath. Who will do our dirty work. Earlier, this work came from poor brothers across the Northeast, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh. Over time, the pipeline shifted. Nepal stands separate through deep ties and a long-standing pact that produces organic movement and integration. Criminals and illegal undocumented people from Bangladesh and Myanmar, displaced populations from Sri Lanka, and criminal factions routed through PoK corridors, with zero background checks, They operate similar to illegal immigration rings, shielded by political backing, eventually entering kitchens, deliveries and bedrooms, These contractors exploit both sides. The migrants are victims as well. These exploitation platforms are built on the layers of what I call dumb money. Dumb money vs Smart money. Smart money evolves with time, creates through exposure, and carries scars earned through contact with reality. Dumb money follows shortcuts. It shows up as political-kid money, entrepreneurial labels paired with shallow exposure, founders who skipped ladders, agencies posing as companies, wrappers posing as products. Social media becomes the product while substance becomes an afterthought I spent years inside startups from the entry level exposure to product reality, alongside high-quality engineers and leadership shaped at IIM and ISB levels. Grit came from pressure. Judgment came from systems breaking and recovering. What emerges today looks different: wrapper startups and shell tech companies clustered around Delhi NCR and Gujarat, outsourcing-heavy structures powered by narratives rather than depth. Product sells. Marketing plugs gaps. Thats how it should be not the other way around but social media companies are getting built upside down. Marketing first zero product. This inversion shapes capital allocation and labor outcomes at scale. Family conglomerates raise successors inside comfort rather than exposure, creative pressure fades, acquisition replaces creation, import/export wrappers Some shells are literally posing as technology backbones of quick commerce and food delivery industry. They have zero tech infra. only import export People like me won't let these NRi political kids build the future of our country with these fake dumb money startups and shells to launder money Builders will have to rise among you and me to put things back in order.

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Culture Circle, a fast-growing fashion commerce platform specialising in luxury and streetwear, has raised a strategic investment from Ritesh Agarwal, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of hospitality unicorn OYO Rooms. The funding was raised at a valuation exceeding ₹100 crore, marking a significant milestone in the startup’s journey. https://lnkd.in/eQM4NqjP

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Air India and Zomato Announce An Interesting Partnership Air India Limited and Zomato have announced a strategic partnership that links Air India’s Maharaja Club with Zomato’s food delivery platform, offering customers combined travel and food rewards. The collaboration expands Maharaja Club’s value proposition and brings everyday transactions closer to tangible travel benefits. Key benefits • Earn points: 2% Maharaja Points on Zomato orders over ₹499. • Welcome bonus: 2,000 Maharaja Points for new Maharaja Club members after first flight activity. • Daily prize: One member daily may win a complimentary one-way Economy Class ticket voucher for domestic travel, valid for six months #AirIndia #Zomato #MaharajaClub #Loyalty #TravelRewards The Cornea Impression

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Agilitas x one8: A Retail Ops Masterclass in the Making Agilitas acquiring one8 with Virat Kohli putting ₹40 crore back into the company is more than a brand story. This is a retail operations play done right and here’s why it stands out: 1. Full-stack control = fewer leakages, faster cycles Agilitas now owns the entire chain. Product creation → manufacturing → warehousing → distribution → store execution → e-com. That means fewer intermediaries, tighter margins, and real operational speed. 2. Inventory discipline gets a massive upgrade Integrated planning = better forecasting, cleaner buy cycles, controlled ageing, and higher sell-throughs. For a fast-moving athleisure brand, this is everything. 3. Retail rollout becomes predictable and scalable With one8 inside the Agilitas engine, SIS counters, exclusive stores, and marketplace presence can be scaled with consistency not guesswork. 4. Faster drops, tighter replenishment Ops + brand under one leadership means fewer handoffs and quicker decisions. The lag between design → shelf becomes shorter which is a huge competitive edge. 5. Pricing power through supply chain efficiency Vertical integration gives Agilitas room to price sharply without compromising margins crucial when competing with global giants. Bottom line: This partnership isn’t just good branding. It’s operational excellence meeting cultural relevance and that’s where real scale is built. Abhishek Ganguly Atul Bajaj Amit Prabhu #RetailOps #Agilitas #one8 #ViratKohli #SupplyChain #RetailExecution #Omnichannel #Sportswear #D2CIndia #InventoryManagement #RetailLeadership #MadeInIndia

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Israeli observability startup Coralogix has raised $115 million in a Series E round, becoming a unicorn with a valuation of over $1 billion. Coralogix offers a full-stack observability and security platform that helps companies understand and resolve complex issues in their data streams. The company has developed an AI agent, Olly, which uses a semantic layer over internal and external data to automate data observability and provide sophisticated insights through simple text prompts. The all-equity round was led by NewView Capital, with participation from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments | Investissements RPC) and NextEquity Partners, alongside existing investors. The funding will be used to expand its engineering base in India, with a planned $100M investment over five years, and to further develop its AI agent. Congratulations to co-founder and CEO Ariel Assaraf and the Coralogix team. TechCrunch: https://lnkd.in/dS3NZrrG #Observability #Data #AI #DevOps #Unicorn #SeriesE #Funding #VentureCapital #IsraelTech

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🏨 Guestara Brings on Anurag Mittal as Co-founder & CCO Travel-tech veteran Anurag Mittal—who scaled Vervotech, A Constellation Inc Company to 10X growth and led its acquisition by Constellation Software—is officially joining Guestara as Co-founder & Chief Commercial Officer. 🔹 Initially an angel investor, Anurag steps into leadership after seeing Guestara scale to 500+ properties in just 6 months. 🚀 Founded by Akshay Dekate, Kajal Makhija, Neelaksh Gupta, and Rajat Maheshwari, Guestara is: ✅ Powering AI-led guest communication ✅ Enabling real-time feedback ✅ Offering 100% digital check-ins ✅ Serving hotels & short-term rentals globally 📊 Impact so far: 👉 2,000+ rooms already onboarded 👉 Proven product-market fit in India 👉 Now gearing up for global expansion 💡 “Guestara isn’t just solving for India—it’s solving for every hotel worldwide struggling with upsells, manual tasks, and fragmented guest experiences,” — Anurag Mittal With a strong team and global vision, Guestara is reimagining hospitality SaaS at scale. #TravelTech #Hospitality #AI #SaaS #Leadership #Entrepolish

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Stoked at our one step forward in bringing to life Uber's 'Go-anywhere, Get-anything' vision further in India. We announced our foray into B2B Logistics via Uber Direct in partnership with ONDC. This enables a plug-n-play logistics solution offering affordable and scalable last-mile delivery solutions for small and big merchants on ONDC's network. Also, we are live with BMRCL Namma Metro ticketing on the Uber app,  building on the success of similar service in Delhi, Chennai, and Mumbai. Again a great example of public-private tech partnership to strengthen multi-modal connectivity that Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC) is enabling. #GoAnywhere #GetAnything #DPI #DigitalIndia

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🚀 Infra.Market raises $90M in Series G funding Investors: Nikhil Kamath's family office (NKSquared), Silverline Homes, Tiger Global, Accel, Evolvence India, Nexus Ventures 📍 Thane, Maharashtra, India Focus: Construction Technology, E-commerce, Retail Technology #startup #funding #constructiontechnology #ecommerce

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At Flipkart, we've unveiled a Zero Commission Model for all products priced under ₹1,000. This initiative is a huge boost for MSMEs, aiming to reduce the cost of doing business for sellers and making essential products more affordable for millions of customers. A strong move toward an inclusive e-commerce ecosystem. #Flipkart #ecommerce #MSME #RetailTech

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