Swiggy Pulls Plug On SNACC, CoinDCX Announces ESOP Buyback, and Zepto Daily Shut Down

Swiggy didn’t shut down Snacc because consumers didn’t want 15-minute food. It shut it down because the math refused to cooperate.

Launched in January 2025 as a standalone app promising ultra-fast delivery of snacks, beverages and quick meals from centralized hubs, Snacc was positioned as Swiggy’s answer to Zepto Café and Blinkit Bistro. It rode the same quick-commerce wave that pushed India’s grocery GMV to $6-7 billion by 2024 and intensified post-IPO pressure on Swiggy to demonstrate high-frequency use cases beyond traditional restaurant aggregation. But in February 2026, barely a year later, Swiggy pulled the plug, citing “broader economics” that made scaling difficult - even though product-market fit was “emerging.”

That phrasing is telling. Demand wasn’t the problem. Unit economics were.

Unlike Swiggy’s marketplace model, Snacc operated through centrally stocked hubs, essentially dark-store kitchens. This gave Swiggy control over preparation times and SKUs but transferred food-cost, wastage, and inventory risk onto its own balance sheet. The menu was tightly curated — sandwiches, rolls, breakfast items, coffee — designed to keep Kitchen Preparation Time under a few minutes. But tight SKUs mean low basket expansion. With AOVs in the ₹150-₹250 range, there is limited room to absorb delivery costs, rider payouts, packaging, hub overheads, and marketing.

Now layer on the 15-minute SLA. Strict micro-catchments, often around a 2km radius, are the “Goldilocks zone” for speed but a “death zone” for scale. To honor the promise, fleets and kitchens must remain peak-ready even during demand troughs like 3-6 PM. Idle capacity becomes structural. Grocery quick-commerce survives this because a ₹500 basket can stack multiple SKUs and tolerate minor SLA variance. A ₹200 hot vada pav cannot.

Snacc also chose the harder path strategically. Bolt, Swiggy’s in-app 10-15 minute feature, leveraged existing traffic and restaurants. Snacc, as a standalone app, had to earn its own home-screen slot in an already crowded smartphone folder. That meant incremental CAC in a market where Blinkit and Zepto were aggressively spending. In hindsight, brand fragmentation eroded network effects without delivering commensurate density.

Then came regulatory friction. The NRAI expanded complaints to the CCI, explicitly flagging private labels and quick-commerce food models. Ongoing antitrust scrutiny around deep discounting and platform neutrality constrained how aggressively Swiggy could subsidize an in-house, hub-driven model without amplifying legal risk.

There is also a more fundamental critique: the incremental value myth. Does a samosa delivered in 15 minutes deliver meaningfully higher utility than one delivered in 25? The law of diminishing marginal utility suggests not, especially if price premiums or surge dynamics creep in. Add quality attrition — sogginess, heat loss, holding compromises — and “speed over steam” becomes a fragile promise.

Globally, the cautionary parallels are clear. Getir exited multiple Western markets after the promo-fueled quick-commerce boom faded. Even Meituan’s high-speed model depends on labor density and AI routing at scale levels India struggles to replicate without regulatory pushback.

Snacc’s shutdown is therefore less a retreat and more a rational optimization. Its learnings will likely fold into Instamart cafés and Bolt features, where snack demand can piggyback on higher-AOV baskets and shared infrastructure.

In 2026, capital rewards durable contribution margins, not adrenaline-fueled SLAs. Ultra-fast hot food may delight consumers. But unless it clears the unit-economics bar, it remains a mirage.

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.

“Flop Show”: Swiggy Pulls The Plug On 15-Minute Food Delivery Service SNACC

Swiggy has shut down its 15-minute food delivery experiment SNACC less than a year after launch, as the quick-fire format struggled to make unit economics work.

The app, which served breakfast staples, coffee, bakery bites and cold drinks, couldn’t quite convert speed into sustainable margins. Employees from the vertical will now be absorbed into other parts of the business, as Swiggy refocuses on lines that actually deliver.

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“Kaddu Katega Toh Sab Mein Batega”: Crypto Unicorn CoinDCX Announces ₹111 Cr ESOP Buyback

Crypto unicorn CoinDCX has announced a ₹111 Cr ESOP buyback, offering liquidity to over 500 current and former employees in a move that signals confidence from the inside out.

The company says the payout underscores its financial strength and evolution into a scaled, mature player in the digital asset space. Backed by heavyweights like Pantera Capital, B Capital Ventures and Bain Capital, the exchange has raised over $244 Mn to date.

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“Raste Ka Maal, Saste Mein”: IPO-Bound Zepto Shuts Down Loyalty Program Zepto Daily

IPO-bound Zepto has scrapped its loyalty subscription Zepto Daily, with the plan quietly vanishing from the app.

Originally launched as Zepto Pass at ₹99 per month and later discounted to drive adoption, the program failed to gain lasting traction. The move follows a series of product tweaks as Zepto fine-tunes its model ahead of listing.

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“Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai”: PM Modi Outlines India’s ‘MANAV’ Vision For Inclusive, Sovereign AI

At a recent address, Narendra Modi laid out India’s ‘MANAV’ vision for AI, calling for systems rooted in ethics, transparent rules and strong oversight.

He stressed that AI must be lawful and verifiable, urging watermarking of AI-generated content to curb misuse. The larger message was clear: innovation should not reduce humans to data points, and the future of work must remain secure and inclusive.

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“Aaiye Aapka Intezaar Tha”: OpenAI To Expand India Presence With Mumbai, Bengaluru Offices

OpenAI will open offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru, adding to its New Delhi presence as it deepens its India push. The expansion targets closer collaboration with local partners and enterprises.

It is also growing its certification programs, with Tata Consultancy Services joining as the first participant outside the US.

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1. EV startup Pluto Mobility has raised $2 Mn in seed funding led by Version One Ventures to scale engineering, expand its team and kick off pilot deployments. Its scooter-sized, fully covered delivery vehicle aims to shield riders from harsh weather, with pilots slated for 2026.

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2. EV infra startup Statiq has raised $18 Mn to expand its charging network across Tier I and II cities. The company aims to double its footprint to 20,000 chargers by 2026, powered by its full-stack platform and proprietary AC/DC fast chargers.

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3. Omnichannel jewelry startup GIVA is set to raise ₹110 Cr, about $12 Mn, in a Series C extension round led by HPV CC1 Ltd with backing from Premji Invest and others. The fundraise follows its ₹530 Cr Series C last year led by Creaegis, underscoring continued investor confidence.

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