Vishal Megamart's IPO, BlinkIt & Zepto’s new apps, & Paris Panini's ₹50 Cr. playbook💡
Interesting insights from both public & private markets.
We are back with our new newsletter edition, which covers three important business topics in one go. Today, we discuss Vishal MegaMart’s ₹8000 cr. IPO, the launch of new 10-minute food apps by Blinkit & Zepto, and Paris Panini’s ₹50 cr. QSR playbook.
But before we get into it, we have something super-special for you. A free pass to witness the Mecca of growth - the 22nd Edition of the GrowthX Demo Day (next Sunday). It’s online & open to newsletter subscribers for $0 cost. A place where you’d witness GrowthX members diving deep into real business problems to scale the “Dhandha” of a few interesting hand-picked companies 💫
Vishal Megamart’s ₹8000 Crore IPO 🛒
First, some context.
Vishal Mega Mart (VMM), the 24 year old legacy chain is here with a ₹8,000 cr. IPO. Btw, the entire IPO is an Offer-for-Sale (OFS), meaning none of the proceeds will go to the company itself. Instead, the money will go to the selling promoters cashing out their stake.Fact.
The IPO is receiving a nice response, particularly from non-institutional investors (inc. high-net-worth individuals), with this segment being oversubscribed by ~1.5 times. Interestingly, even the retail investors seem super bullish on India’s consumption, as the top companies in this format are trading at over 100x price-to-earnings (P/E) multiples.
How big is VMM?
If you didn’t know already, VMM is huge. The company makes a massive ~₹9000 cr. in yearly sales. For context – Dmart makes ₹50,000 cr. in yearly sales, while Trent i.e. the company behind Zudio, Zara & Westside, makes ₹12,000 cr.
The India 2 & 3 Playbook.
Vishal Mega Mart (VMM) has a solid moat, built over two decades of brand trust. The brand's core ICPs — middle and lower-middle-class consumers know exactly what they’re getting. The company is building for the “Bharat” with 70% of its stores located in Tier 2 cities. A little different to both Dmart & Zudio, who still have good Tier 1 penetration. For ex - Zudio has roughly 10 stores in Bihar, while VMM has a massive 60 stores there.Another Fact.
Interestingly, the majority of sales (70%) of the company comes from clothes and other non-food products unlike Dmart. FMCG tends to have lower margins compared to other categories like clothing, so the product mix seems to be the reason for good operating margins of 15%.
What will we see more of?
Currently, India's fashion & food markets remain largely unorganised at roughly 50% but as the retail wave goes deep in Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities, more brands will adopt a "value-for-money" strategy, and we’ll see more brands expanding footprints in these markets with unique positioning, taking inspirations from the VMM & Zudio.
BlinkIt & Zepto are bringing a new app 🛵
First, some context.
The quick commerce rivals are now going to battle it all out in the quick-food delivery space. Blinkit has launched Bistro, which will deliver food in 10 minutes while Zepto is spinning off the “Zepto cafe” into a new app. Btw, all this happened in the last week, showing the lightning speed at which India’s quick commerce is moving.
Quick food delivery space is getting hot.
This comes just weeks after Bangalore's quick-food-delivery startup, Swish raised $2M. The numbers speak for themselves: 5% of all Swiggy orders now come from its quick food service "Bolt," and Zepto Cafe is already hitting over 30,000 orders daily orders.
How does this even work?
The model is new, & everyone is figuring out different execution playbooks. Zomato's "Everyday" feature offers home-cooked meals from centralized kitchens; Swish uses small-pod kitchens; Zepto relies on dark stores; and Swiggy partners with QSRs like KFC and McDonald's for faster meal flips. It’ll be interesting to see how all these playbooks evolve.
Fact.
This just became another major vertical for Zomato with its latest launch of District (the events app), adding to its growing top line. Plus, BlinkIt’s dark store model for quick food delivery could work out way better than the “Everyday” feature on Zomato’s app.
What’s this sudden wave?
Instant access is becoming the new norm. Whether it's groceries, medicine, PlayStations, or quick snacks, we want it fast. The 10-minute model isn't replacing 30-40 minute food deliveries—it’s targeting quick bites like chai or sandwiches, the kind you’d typically grab from places like 24/7 or Seven-Eleven.
Paris Panini's ₹4 Crore-a-month playbook 🥪
First, some context.
Paris Panini started as a food truck in 2015 and now makes ₹4 cr. in monthly revenues from the chain of 14 outlets in Bangalore. But the most fascinating part? It was founded by Nicolas Grossem (from France) who came to India for his Master's and spotted a QSR opportunity.
What did Paris Panini crack?
Finding a whitespace.
The company identified a gap in India’s organized sandwich market. While US-based brands like Subway had established themselves, there were no major premium options offering the authentic, traditional French/Italian sandwiches—Paninis. This one product became the perfect hook, allowing them to upsell a diverse product mix, eventually expanding to include fries, wraps, and more.Lean & focussed on distribution.
The company has yet to expand beyond Bengaluru and isn't pursuing the franchise model. Instead, they’re sticking with the COCO (Company-Owned- Company-Operated) route. Why? To maintain a focus on quality without diluting the brand in the race for mass appeal. Plus, being everywhere in the start can do more harm than good. The company understands that its ideal customer profile (ICP) is majorly in a city like Bengaluru, where customer education for a new category is much smoother.Validating PMF (product market fit).
Nicolas didn’t jump into a cloud kitchen or a large restaurant right away. Instead, he built the foundation with a minimal food truck and pop-up store, allowing him to engage directly with customers and iterate quickly based on their feedback.
Btw, we hosted Nicolas (the founder of Paris Panini) on the GrowthX Inner Circle Podcast.
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