IntrCity SmartBus has more than doubled its revenue in two years, from ₹317 crore in FY24 to ₹691 crore in FY26. Its losses have nearly tripled during the same period, from ₹9.9 crore to ₹27.9 crore. The loss itself isn't huge for a transport company growing this fast. The problem is that getting bigger hasn't made the business any cheaper to run.

In FY26, revenue grew 40%, but expenses grew faster, reaching ₹723 crore. IntrCity spent ₹1.05 for every rupee it earned, almost the same as in the previous two years. Running its buses cost ₹540 crore, while commissions to ticket-selling agents and platforms took another ₹76 crore. Together, that's 89% of revenue gone before salaries, advertising and other expenses.

IntrCity doesn't own most of these buses. Independent operators provide them, while IntrCity handles the brand, routes, bookings and passenger experience. That saves the company from buying a fleet, but it still has to pay operators and find enough passengers to fill seats. And finding those passengers is getting more expensive.

Agent commissions rose 51% last year, compared with 40% revenue growth. Advertising, at ₹16 crore, was relatively modest. So the bigger concern isn't spending on ads. It's the amount IntrCity pays others to sell its tickets. A passenger may prefer an IntrCity bus but book it on redBus because that's where they compare prices or find a discount. IntrCity gets the passenger, but someone else gets paid for bringing them in.

Management says repeat passengers account for over half its occupancy. That's encouraging, although it doesn't tell us how many book without another discount or commission. A returning customer is valuable only if the company earns enough from the trip.

The comparison with competitors is interesting. Zingbus lost around ₹25 crore on ₹161 crore of revenue in FY25, spending roughly ₹1.19 for every rupee earned. IntrCity is doing better. redBus, meanwhile, made ₹198 crore in profit on ₹1,009 crore of revenue, though its ticketing marketplace has very different costs.

IntrCity raised ₹250 crore last October, yet its FY26 operating loss widened. Investors may keep backing it, but they'll want to see older routes making more money and customers booking directly. Growing to ₹1,000 crore in revenue means little if nearly every additional rupee is swallowed by costs. IntrCity has shown it can fill buses. It hasn't yet shown that filling more buses improves the business.

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.

Fairfax plans to transfer its 49% stake in Digit and 30.2% stake in IIFL Capital Services to IDBI Bank, creating a group spanning banking, insurance, investment banking and wealth management.

The restructuring follows approval for Fairfax to acquire 60.7% of IDBI Bank for Rs 52,878 Cr.

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The Department of Telecommunications has directed Airtel, Jio, Vodafone Idea and BSNL to roll out Calling Name Presentation across their service areas from November 1, 2026.

The feature will be enabled by default on 4G and newer networks, showing the name stored in the operator's subscriber database.

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Flipkart Group's consolidated FY26 revenue rose 18.2% year on year to Rs 1,46,700 Cr, while its net loss narrowed 2.1% to Rs 8,468 Cr from Rs 8,646 Cr.

Logistics, warehousing and shipping revenue more than doubled to Rs 23,059 Cr, while advertising revenue grew 30.7% to Rs 9,597 Cr.

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Defence technology company Tonbo Imaging's Rs 852 Cr IPO was subscribed four times on its opening day.

Non-institutional investors led demand at 5.96X, followed by qualified institutional buyers at 3.92X and retail investors at 3.2X.

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Zetwerk's Rs 5,012.3 Cr IPO received bids for 4.17 Cr shares against 18.51 Cr shares on offer, ending its first day with 23% subscription.

Qualified institutional buyers subscribed to 30% of their quota, retail investors to 22%, non-institutional investors to 9%, and employees to 26%.

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Figma has unveiled AI-powered tools that bring design, code and AI agents onto a single collaborative canvas.

The update aims to simplify product development for designers, developers and product managers.

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Shopify is preparing to launch its accelerated checkout service Shop Pay in India by the first quarter of 2027.

Shop Pay lets shoppers save payment, shipping and contact details for faster purchases across participating stores.

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Hyderabad-based multispecialty hospital chain Renova Hospitals has acquired majority stake (50.1%) in International Oncology Services Private Limited (IOSPL), the operator of the International Oncology Cancer Institute (IOCI) network.

The acquisition expands the Renova-affiliated healthcare network to 18 operating hospital and oncology units across India.

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