DealShare’s Real Failure, Flipkart Minutes Leads, and Honasa Calls Off Acquisition

DealShare’s possible shutdown in 2026 looks like the end of the story. We think the real story started much earlier, in 2022.

In February 2022, DealShare raised money at a valuation of more than $1.7 billion. The pitch looked strong. Customer acquisition cost was said to be around $1, fulfilment cost around 5-6% of order value, and the company was talking about a $1 billion revenue run-rate.

Then, by April, investors were already reviewing growth, margins, service quality and cash burn. In other words, the business was being questioned only weeks after becoming a unicorn.

The original idea was actually smart. DealShare went after price-sensitive consumers in smaller cities. It used WhatsApp groups and local community leaders to push deals, sold more regional and lesser-known brands, and grouped orders to keep delivery costs low.

The model was inspired by China’s Pinduoduo, but there was one big difference. Pinduoduo was mainly a marketplace. Merchants handled most of the inventory and delivery. DealShare was much closer to a retailer. It had to buy stock, run warehouses and move goods itself. Every new city brought more working capital and more fixed costs. By early 2023, it had expanded to around 150 cities.

Then the weak points showed up. Customers were cheap to acquire, but many did not stay. Monthly cash burn crossed $10 million. Almost half of GMV came from B2B grocery, which helped DealShare buy cheaper from suppliers but also carried lower margins. So the business looked large, but part of that scale was not very valuable.

The numbers became ugly. Revenue was ₹1,964 crore in FY23. By FY25, it had fallen to ₹432 crore. Losses improved from ₹503 crore to ₹88 crore, but mostly because the company had shrunk.

DealShare then tried social commerce, B2B, offline stores and finally dark-store grocery. The last model was probably the clearest warning. Management said a dark store needed around 1,500 orders a day to break even. Based on its own revenue and store count, DealShare was doing roughly 444 orders per store per day.

CityMall faced a similar problem but used community leaders as local fulfilment points and reached operational breakeven in FY25. DealShare kept changing the model.

The shutdown is only the final chapter. The real mistake was becoming a $1.7 billion company before proving that the business worked at that size.

Let’s go through what else is happening in Indian startup world - Grab your simmering cup of StartupChai.in and unwind with our hand-brewed memes.

“Sauda Khara Khara”: Cult.fit’s Rishabh Telang Moves Karnataka High Court

Cult.fit cofounder Rishabh Telang has moved the Karnataka High Court to quash an FIR filed by his brother-in-law and fellow cofounder Deepak Poduval.

The case involves alleged forgery, cheating and conspiracy over a 2016 transaction involving Cult.fit’s assets and IP.

Read more here

“Aa Dekhe Zara”: Flipkart Minutes Overtakes Swiggy Instamart

Flipkart Minutes has overtaken Swiggy Instamart in dark-store count across India’s top 10 cities. Flipkart Minutes had 627 dark stores, compared with Instamart’s 615.

Blinkit still leads with 969 dark stores, followed by Zepto at 828.

Read more here

“Deeptech Ka Sarkari Booster”: Tamil Nadu Launches AI And Deep-Tech Initiatives

The Tamil Nadu government has announced new AI and deep-tech initiatives, including the Vetri Tamil Nadu Deep-Tech Innovation Fund with an initial corpus of Rs 50 Cr.

The package also includes Rs 20 Cr for AI Centres of Excellence, a Rs 10 Cr GPU computing cluster, AI tools for health and agriculture, and a Tamil Internet Language Lab.

Read more here

“Swag Se Karenge Sabka Swagat”: Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop Parent Sets IPO Price Band

Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop parent Purple Style Labs has set its IPO price band at ₹546–₹575 per share for its ₹680 Cr issue.

The IPO opens on August 31 and closes on September 2, targeting a ₹4,604 Cr valuation.

Read more here

“Iss Dosti Ko Rishtedari Mein Badale”: DealShare in Talks for Acquisition

DealShare is in talks with TrueMeds and Captain Fresh for a potential acquisition as its operations face an uncertain future.

The discussions are ongoing with no deal finalized yet. If both talks fall through, the e-commerce startup could shut down.

Read more here

“Purana Saal Naya Maal”: Nitro Launches AI Platform To Let Shopify Merchants Build Apps

Nitro Commerce has launched Nitro Apps, an AI platform that lets Shopify merchants build private apps using simple prompts.

The tool aims to cut development time and costs for customized software. Over 700 apps were created during its private beta.

Read more here

“Hum Bhi Hain Josh Mein”: Cashfree Launches AI Agent Relay For SMBs

Cashfree Payments has launched Relay, an AI-powered Super Agent for small businesses and startups to automate payment operations.

Relay can retry failed payments, follow up on abandoned carts, confirm COD orders, manage failed subscriptions and file disputes before deadlines.

Read more here

“Abhi Mood Nahi Hai”: Mamaearth Parent Honasa Calls Off Fluence Pharma Acquisition

Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumer has called off its proposed ₹135 Cr acquisition of a 58% stake in nutraceuticals startup Fluence Pharma.

The deal fell through after certain closing conditions were not met.

Read more here

1. Ringg AI has raised an additional $10 Mn, taking its Series A round to $15.5 Mn, with backing from Groww’s Founder Fund, Kunal Shah and others.

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2. Kitchen and lifestyle brand Cüraa has raised Rs 40 Cr in a Series A round led by 3one4 Capital, with existing investors also participating.

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3. Even Healthcare is set to raise Rs 208 Cr in a Series B round led by Khosla Ventures, just months after its $20 Mn funding in January.

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4. Runable has raised $21 Mn in a Series A round co-led by Susquehanna Venture Capital and Nexus Venture Partners.

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5. Bengaluru-based dog care company, Scooby’s Club has raised $250,000 in a pre-seed round led by TDV Partners.
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