Rapido’s Shot at the Duopoly, Fractal and Amagi’s IPO Dreams, and CoinDCX Appoints Advisor

For a decade, India’s food-delivery market has behaved like a closed room with two people in it. If you wanted to order food online, the choice wasn’t really a choice - it was Zomato or Swiggy. They controlled 100% of the viable market, processed 3 million orders a day, set the rules, and quietly raised commissions until restaurants were left with margins thinner than rumali roti. Everyone complained, no one defected. Even Uber Eats, a global giant, entered India with all the swagger in the world, only to tap out in three years and sell itself to Zomato in 2020.

But suddenly, there’s movement again. And ironically, the biggest threat to the duopoly isn’t another deep-pocketed giant. It’s a combination of two underdogs who, individually, were never taken seriously - but together, might have accidentally found the industry’s first real point of weakness.

Rapido + Magicpin.

Rapido brings ultra-low-cost logistics, thanks to its bike-taxi fleet. Magicpin brings 80,000+ restaurant relationships. It’s a combination that gives them instant inventory, instant delivery, and instant credibility.

Zomato and Swiggy charge restaurants 18-30% commission, plus restaurants pay extra for discovery and ads. Therefore, the restaurants raise menu prices by 25-40% online just to survive. Consumers end up paying inflated prices. This system has held for years because restaurants had no exit route.

Rapido-Magicpin aim to break the loop with a ₹25 fixed delivery cost, bringing effective commission down to 8-15%. For a restaurant doing 6,000 orders a month, that’s ₹5.3 lakh saved. Suddenly, restaurants can keep menu prices equal to dine-in. Customers pay less. Delivery partners earn slightly more. And Rapido does this without subsidies because its fleet already exists.

This isn’t a discount trick. It’s a structural rewrite.

The question is whether it lasts.

The graveyard of Indian food delivery is crowded - Foodpanda, TinyOwl, Ola Cafe, Runnr, Scootsy, Dunzo Food, Uber Eats. The duopoly has the deepest pockets, the highest frequency, the largest user bases, and the advantage of habit. Most people tap Zomato or Swiggy automatically. Breaking that reflex is the real battle.

Rapido’s edge lies in Tier-2 and Tier-3 India, where customers are hypersensitive to fees and restaurants bleed from commissions. Saving ₹30-40 an order here actually matters. This is where Rapido can build real traction.

But the threat is double-sided. The duopoly could simply copy the model. Swiggy has done this before - crushing Dunzo with Instamart, countering Zepto aggressively. Zomato has the balance sheet to subsidise low-commission lanes for years if needed.

But Rapido has one thing they don’t - cost. It costs Zomato-Swiggy ₹35-50 per delivery. Rapido does it for ₹10-15 because the fleet already exists for bike taxis. That gap isn’t cosmetic - it’s existential. It means Rapido can make unit economics work without subsidies. Others can’t.

If they execute well, Rapido could take 10–15% market share by 2028 - enough to force Zomato and Swiggy to lower commissions permanently. Enough to carve India’s first true value segment in delivery. Enough to justify a ₹15,000–20,000 crore IPO.

If they stumble, the duopoly absorbs the shock and everything goes back to normal.

But for now, this is the first genuine threat Zomato and Swiggy have seen in a decade - not because the challengers are bigger, but because they’re attacking the one place the incumbents can’t defend cheaply: cost.

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.

“Humari Bhi Haan Hai”: Fractal, Amagi Get SEBI Nod For Their IPOs

Fractal and Amagi just got the green light from SEBI, clearing the fog for their long-awaited market debut in December’s chilly breeze.

Fractal’s offering clocks in at a fresh ₹1,279.3 Cr plus a hefty ₹3,620.7 Cr OFS, while Amagi lines up a ₹1,020 Cr fresh raise with big investors readying a 3.41 Cr-share exit. Feels like both AI and media tech are stepping onto the bourse with the swagger of seasoned performers warming up before showtime.

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“Hum Saath Saath Hai”: Rapido Partners magicpin To Expand Ownly In Bid To Challenge Zomato, Swiggy

Rapido and magicpin have shaken hands to give Ownly a wider dining map, tapping into more than eighty thousand restaurants like it is stitching a new food atlas. In return, magicpin gets to call upon Rapido’s delivery fleet in select pockets, a quiet swap that feels almost conspiratorial.

With Ownly still charging no delivery fee, it is sneaking into a duopoly’s guarded turf like a newcomer who knows timing is everything.

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“Suswagatam Suswagatam”: Scaler appoints Ratnakar Reddy as Head of India & MENA region

Scaler has brought in Ratnakar Reddy to steer its B2B ambitions across India and the MENA region, a move that feels like adding a seasoned navigator to a ship already catching strong winds.

With twenty five years of tech leadership in his pocket, he steps in as someone who knows how to read the currents before the waves even rise.

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“Aaiye Aapka Intezaar Tha”: CoinDCX appoints Kotak’s former group chief risk officer as advisor

CoinDCX has roped in Arvind Kathpalia, formerly Kotak’s group chief risk oracle, as an advisor, signaling a rare moment where old-school banking wisdom walks into the crypto bazaar.

It is a first for India’s digital assets space, and the timing feels almost poetic as regulation winds shift. With a veteran risk mind on deck, CoinDCX seems ready to dance closer to the mainstream without losing its crypto swagger.

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1. FAE Beauty has secured ₹17 Cr to widen its omnichannel footprint, backed by a lively roster of investors betting on its inclusive vision. With plans to expand categories and refine products, it is gearing up to meet Indian skin tones with the nuance they have long deserved.

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2. Wealthy has raised ₹130 Cr to supercharge its AI tools for mutual fund distributors, with Bertelsmann India Investments leading a strong investor pack. The fresh capital will fuel tech upgrades and help the platform push deeper into tier II and III cities where the next wave of advisors is waiting.

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3. FinReach has raised ₹21.9 Cr in a new round led by Colossa Ventures, with steady backing from its existing impact investors. The funds will help it scale operations, boost guarantee facilitation, and fortify its risk and tech backbone for heavier credit volumes.

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4. Pontaq has pumped ₹5.5 Cr into deeptech ventures Dweepi and Edgehax, doubling down on both with a second round of support. The funds will drive product building, tech expansion, and enterprise rollout as the startups sharpen their edge at home and abroad.

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