Razorpay’s ChatGPT Gambit, Snapchat’s Next Big Quest & More

Razorpay Wants To Put Indian Brands Inside ChatGPT

As ChatGPT and other AI assistants move from answering questions to recommending products and facilitating purchases, Indian payments companies are racing to build the scaffolding for this new commerce layer. Razorpay is betting on this shift and ChatGPT commerce as the next big battleground.

What’s The Plan? The fintech giant is working with OpenAI and NPCI to help merchants create ChatGPT-native storefronts, sync product catalogues and enable checkout using UPI capabilities such as UPI Circle and UPI Reserve Pay. It is working with around 50 brands and several ecommerce marketplaces experimenting with agentic commerce. The company claims its technology can reduce the time required for a Shopify merchant to set up a ChatGPT storefront from 10 weeks to around 30 minutes.

What’s In It For Merchants? With traditional digital acquisition getting expensive, AI commerce offers merchants a potential new route to access customers. Razorpay is using that pull to bring merchants onto its AI stack. However, the bigger bet is building a broader commerce infrastructure layer across AI agents and platforms. The challenge for now is figuring out how Razorpay eventually makes money from it.

There’s A Catch? Consumers may be comfortable asking ChatGPT what to buy, but handing an AI assistant the power to complete a transaction is a different proposition. This is where Razorpay is seeing an opportunity. The company says its architecture keeps payment credentials away from AI models and requires user consent, but winning that trust at scale could determine how quickly agentic commerce takes off.

As of now, it appears that ChatGPT is unlikely to replace ecommerce apps and marketplaces anytime soon. However, it could very well become a new layer for product discovery and shopping. Amid the current scheme of things, will Indian consumers trust AI assistants enough to make purchases through them? While that is a story for another day, here’s all about Razorpay’s ChatGPT commerce bet…

From The Editor’s Desk

Nazara’s Bluetile Battle

• Nazara is acquiring Bluetile and BestPlay for $303 Mn, with $214 Mn still due by April 2027 as the company prepares for a CEO transition.
• The deal comes as Nazara invests across multiple studios, while Bluetile prioritises revenue growth and user acquisition over near-term profitability.
• Investors now face three key questions: how Nazara funds the remaining payout, whether Bluetile can expand margins, and when the broader portfolio generates meaningful cash.

Honasa Posts A Bumper Q1 

• Mamaearth parent’s Q1 FY27 profit more than doubled to ₹90.5 Cr, while revenue rose 27% YoY to ₹755.9 Cr, marking its strongest quarter yet.
• Growth was broad-based, with focus categories up over 35%, younger brands growing more than 40%, and The Derma Co crossing a ₹1,000 Cr annualised sales run rate.
• Honasa is doubling down on its “House of Brands” strategy, expanding offline distribution and acquiring newer brands to reduce dependence on Mamaearth.

Zetwerk Inches Closer To IPO

• The B2B manufacturing giant has filed its updated DRHP with SEBI for a public issue, which will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth ₹2,600 Cr and an OFS component of 9.6 Cr equity shares.
• Founded in 2018,  Zetwerk operates a full-stack manufacturing platform catering to clients across sectors such as industrial components, electronics and consumer hardware. It claims to operate 20 facilities globally and has raised $700 Mn to date.
• The startup’s revenue from operations zoomed 40% YoY to ₹15,900 Cr in FY26, while net losses soared 333% YoY to 1,606.1 Cr. Losses widened due to ₹1,250 Cr provision related to the discontinued civil infrastructure business and other accounting charges.

Snapchat’s Next Big Quest

• Snapchat is moving beyond Gen Z discovery, aiming to influence purchase consideration as users increasingly seek friends’ opinions and social validation before buying.
• Snap’s India advertiser base has grown sharply, but the bigger challenge is converting that expansion into meaningful, measurable and repeatable advertising revenue.
• AI, performance advertising and Chat are becoming key growth levers, but Snap must prove they deliver stronger conversions, efficiency and ROI.

Awfis Profit More Than Doubles

• Awfis’ Q1 FY27 profit jumped 140% YoY to ₹24 Cr, while revenue grew 27% to ₹424.9 Cr as EBITDA rose 28%.
• The coworking firm added seven centres and 5,000+ seats, taking its network to 251 centres and 170K seats across 18 cities.
• GCC demand and Awfis Transform are emerging as key growth drivers, with 100+ GCC clients contributing 24% of rental revenue and Transform winning ₹200 Cr+ mandates.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

Inside Carvve’s Tech-Led Marketplace For Car Accessories

India’s car accessories market is fragmented, crowded and often difficult to trust. Owners face inconsistent product quality, unclear pricing, weak warranties and inconvenient workshop visits. Carvve is trying to solve this problem with its one-stop-shop car platform.

An Integrated Experience: Born in Delhi’s Karol Bagh accessories market, Carvve is building a curated online marketplace for car upgrades. Customers can browse interior, exterior, audio, electronics and performance products, select accessories suited to their vehicle and book installation at home or at a workshop of their choice.

Visualising The Upgrade: A key part of Carvve’s tech stack is its 3D visualisation layer. Before buying, users can preview how an accessory may look on their car, understand the total cost and review installation details. This is designed to make a traditionally offline process more transparent and reduce uncertainty around fit, appearance and pricing.

More Than A Marketplace: Carvve is positioning itself as an integrated experience rather than a product catalogue. Its services include professional doorstep installation, warranty-backed offerings, and post-installation support. It is eyeing a piece of the Indian automotive aftermarket, which is projected to become a $22.6 Bn opportunity by 2033. 

As car owners seek personalisation and convenience, can Carvve upgrade India’s informal car accessories market into a tech-savvy experience?

Infographic Of The Day

With 1,048 Cr transactions in July, PhonePe accounted for nearly half of all transactions among India’s top five UPI apps, staying comfortably ahead of Google Pay, Paytm and Navi. Here is all about who commanded the UPI ecosystem in July…

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