Flipkart’s super.money Gamble, NCLT Approves Merger, BookMyShow & MIB Team Up

UPI didn’t just win India; it rewired it. In July 2025 alone, Indians moved money 19.47 billion times on UPI - ₹25.1 lakh crore in value - cementing it as the country’s default rail for everyday payments. What looks like an open playground is, however, a fortress: PhonePe and Google Pay together control roughly 85% of UPI by volume, with PhonePe near 48% and GPay around 37%; Paytm, after regulatory troubles, has slid to the mid-single digits. The market-share cap NPCI once proposed has been pushed out to end-2026 - pragmatic acknowledgment that you don’t break what’s scaling.

New challengers therefore don’t try to “win UPI.” They target niches that aren't well-served by the two big players and generate revenue from other sources. That’s why a design-forward app like CRED, beloved by a small, affluent cohort, shows tiny volume share but punches above its weight on value; a great interface alone doesn’t topple incumbents in a utility market where reliability and merchant acceptance matter more than vibe.

super.money sits precisely in this playbook. Flipkart’s checkout is its secret weapon: placement inside a 400 million-user commerce can attract new customers with discounts and special offers, which is much cheaper than expensive TV ads or other marketing campaigns. The headline “up to 5% cashback” isn’t philanthropy; it’s a data-acquisition toll to build a credit and deposits business on top of UPI. In the company’s own framing, UPI is the hook; loans, a co-branded RuPay credit card, and fixed deposits are the business. The Axis Bank–super.money RuPay launch makes the mechanism explicit: 3% on “Scan & Pay” via the app and 1% elsewhere, with caps and category exclusions - the fine print that turns a marketing promise into unit economics.

Does this invalidate the worry that growth is just cash burn? Not entirely - but it relocates the question. If CAC is effectively “cashback” sourced from Flipkart-embedded distribution, the real constraint becomes retention and conversion, not signup cost. Here the evidence cuts both ways. Even though the company is growing quickly and users stick around, technical issues like slow speeds and glitches can easily make them lose faith. In today's fast-paced world, one bad experience can cause people to immediately go back to the app they used before. For apps like PhonePe and GPay, reliability is the key to keeping their users.

Indian users typically keep two or three UPI apps and are mercenary about incentives. When cashbacks taper, habit gravitates to the app that never fails at the kirana or the auto stand. Offline is the quiet reason the duopoly holds: QR ubiquity and soundboxes that shout “payment received” give merchants certainty in noisy, cash-heavy environments - and certainty breeds consumer habit.

New players can profit by shifting their focus. Thanks to a new UPI fee, payments companies can now earn revenue by handling high-value credit transactions. If they also offer loans, they can make money like a lender, not just a free payments service. This is the strategy super.money is using, and its acquisition of BharatX helps them do exactly that.

So, is super.money’s rise “real growth” or a “cash-burn struggle”? It’s both - and the hinge is execution. Embedded distribution plus card-backed cashback can cheaply fill the top of the funnel; conversion to credit cards, EMIs and deposits must pay for that funnel; and a ruthlessly reliable UPI stack must keep users from churning when cashback rewards stop.

We think super.money isn’t trying to dethrone the duopoly’s payments empire so much as draft behind it - using UPI to source intent and income data, then monetizing like a neobank. With Flipkart’s backing, it can bleed longer than most on acquisition, but loyalty will be “earned by uptime,” not by cashbacks. Profitability arrives the day the lending flywheel outruns incentive spend and tech friction; until then, growth is real, but the struggle is, too.

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.

“Miya Bibi Ho Raazi”: NCLT Approves Amalgamation Of Info Edge Subsidiary With PB Fintech

After nearly four years, the NCLT has approved the merger of Info Edge’s subsidiary Makesense Technologies with PB Fintech.

The move dissolves Makesense without winding up, aligning Info Edge’s 50.01% stake with Temasek’s 49.99%. It is more like a long-awaited corporate reunion that finally gets an official seal.

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“Nukkad Wale Disco, Udhaar Wale Khisko”: BookMyShow, District Partner I&B Min To Boost India’s Live Events Space

BookMyShow and the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting have teamed up to give India’s booming live events scene a push.

The plan is to bring all event clearances under one roof through the Indian Cine Hub Portal. With Coldplay, Lollapalooza, and more turning up the volume, the stage looks set for smoother, bigger spectacles ahead.

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“Mai Chali, Mai Chali”: Priya Mohan Steps Down As Partner At General Catalyst

Priya Mohan has stepped down as partner at General Catalyst, a role she took up after its merger with Venture Highway last year.

Before her VC stint, she co-founded edtech startup Vidyartha, which was later acquired by BYJU’S in 2017. From investment banking to edtech to venture capital, her career has been a study in sharp pivots.

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“Hum Saath Saath Hai”: Uniphore Acquires Orby AI To Bolster Enterprise AI Cloud Platform

Uniphore has snapped up Orby AI and is eyeing Autonom8 to supercharge its enterprise AI cloud platform.

The acquisitions bring in muscle for Large Action Models and enterprise-grade orchestration, helping automate complex workflows faster. Select enterprises will get early access later this year, though the deal details stay under wraps.

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1. Chennai-based VC firm a99 is set to roll out its third fund with a $100 Mn corpus, targeting 12-15 startups in manufacturing and infrastructure. With $30 Mn in soft commitments already secured, the fund will back ventures with cheques of $5-10 Mn each.
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2. Delhi-based used two-wheeler marketplace Vutto has raised $7 Mn in a Series A round led by RTP Global, with Blume Ventures also participating. The funds will fuel expansion beyond NCR while boosting supply, refurbishment, and customer service.
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3. Elevation Capital has unveiled a $400 Mn late-stage fund, Elevation Holdings, to back IPO-bound startups. The fund will write $20-50 Mn cheques into 10-15 tech-driven firms in consumer and financial services.
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