Fintechs' expansion play; Doubling down on Apple

Happy Monday! New-age fintech AMCs are making inroads in a market traditionally led by banks and wealth managers. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in the letter:
■ Swiggy’s Bolt bet
■ Farmley raises fresh dough
■ AI and the art of storytelling
Fintech AMCs: Groww, Navi, Zerodha diversify revenue with asset management

Fintech platforms like Groww, Navi, and Zerodha are venturing into the asset management space to diversify their revenue streams and build more resilient business models. Despite a few setbacks, the past year has been marked by strong growth for these new-age AMCs.

Driving the news:

• Groww mutual fund: Doubled its assets under management (AUM) over the past year.
• Zerodha fund house: Recorded a ninefold increase in its AUM base.
• Navi MF: Grew its AUM to around Rs 7,000 crore, up from just under Rs 5,000 crore a year ago.
• Industry context: The broader mutual fund industry grew by 21%, reaching Rs 66 lakh crore in FY25.

Beyond the numbers: While these growth figures reflect increasing traction, fintech AMCs still face challenges:

• Product differentiation: Essential to stand out in a crowded market dominated by established players.
• Distribution networks: Critical for reaching underserved and less financially literate segments.
• Building trust: A gradual, steady approach is needed to establish the credibility that banks and legacy AMCs have cultivated over decades.

The context: Groww and Zerodha, both prominent stockbroking platforms, are making long-term bets on the AMC business to ensure sustainable revenue. As they currently rely heavily on speculative equity trading, expanding AUM helps diversify earnings and build a more robust, trusted brand in financial services.
Tatas may double iPhone casings capacity to one lakh

Tata Electronics plans to double the capacity of its Hosur plant, which currently produces around 50,000 iPhone enclosures, as Apple sharpens its manufacturing focus on India.

Scaling up: “The ramp-up will likely take place ahead of the product launches that Apple does around September every year. This is Phase II of the build-out at the Hosur facility,” people in the know said.

Also Read: Tata Electronics unit engulfed in massive fire; production of iPhone components halted

A bigger bite: Tata’s renewed push follows CEO Tim Cook's recent statement that India is set to become the primary manufacturing hub for iPhones sold in the US.

"For the June quarter, we do expect the majority of iPhones sold in the US will have India as their country of origin," Cook said during Apple's Q1 earnings call on May 1. Vietnam would be the hub for almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and AirPods products sold in the US.

In context: ET reported that Jabil, another Apple supplier, is looking to ramp up its AirPods casing production in India. This is part of Apple's broader strategy to diversify its supplier chain away from China amid ongoing tariff uncertainties.
Swiggy rides on Bolt to drive up growth and market share
Rohit Kapoor, CEO, Swiggy Food Marketplace

Swiggy is banking on its 10-minute food delivery vertical, Bolt, to power growth and capture market share in its core food delivery business, which is the largest contributor to its revenue and profitability.

Why Bolt? Bolt accounted for 12% of Swiggy’s food delivery volumes during its March quarter, the company revealed in its earnings report.

Tell me more:

• Under Bolt, Swiggy partners with restaurants to offer 10-15 minute deliveries from a limited menu.
• The service spans over 45,000 restaurants across 500 cities, including quick-service chains like KFC, McDonald’s, Subway, Faasos, Burger King, and Curefoods, across 500 cities.
• In contrast, rival Zomato has shut down Quick, its rapid delivery offering, and is now focusing on Bistro, its in-house fast food delivery brand being developed under Blinkit.

Profitability push:

• Swiggy’s consolidated net loss widened to Rs 1,081 crore in the January-March period, up from Rs 555 crore in the same quarter last year.
• The company attributed this to aggressive spending on its quick commerce vertical, which peaked during the quarter.
• Analysts warn that continued experimentation in food delivery could impact overall profitability.

Other Top Stories By Our Reporters

Healthy snacking brand Farmley raises $40 million: Farmley has raised $40 million in a funding round led by global consumer-focused investment firm L Catterton. Existing investor DSG Consumer Partners also participated.

‘With AI, some of the world’s greatest storytellers will come from the most random places’: YouTube recently flew down three of its most popular global creators—Mark Rober, Mayo Japan and Brandon—to India. The country is, unsurprisingly, the largest contributor to views of Rober and Mayo Japan. Read the full interview here.

Elon Musk reignites feud with Sam Altman over past Trump remarks: OpenAI chief Sam Altman and tech billionaire Elon Musk are once again exchanging public jabs on the social media platform X, as previous political comments resurface and opinions on Donald Trump evolve.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ A ‘Trump Card Visa’ is already showing up in immigration forms ( Wired)

■ OpenAI chief Sam Altman: ‘This is genius-level intelligence’ ( FT)

■ A new AI translation system for headphones clones multiple voices simultaneously ( MIT Technology Review)