Shiprocket’s Mixed Q1, Purple Style Labs’ Muted Listing & More

Shiprocket Reins In Losses In Q1

Shiprocket’s first quarterly results since listing show a startup inching closer to profitability. In Q1 FY27, the logistics giant’s revenue rose, adjusted EBITDA improved and losses narrowed. Yet expenses continued to pinch and climbed almost as fast as income. 

Here is a quick look at Shiprocket’s Q1 FY27 results:

• Net loss declined 24% YoY to ₹13.7 Cr
• Operating revenue jumped 34% YoY to ₹592.1 Cr
• Adjusted EBITDA zoomed to ₹8.9 Cr from ₹1 Cr in Q1 FY26
• Total expenses also surged 31% YoY to ₹619.5 Cr

The Core Engine: Shiprocket’s domestic shipping vertical remained its anchor in Q1. This core business remained cash-generative and delivered healthy growth in revenue, operating profits and margins. Operating leverage across its core fulfilment network, coupled with greater monetisation of its active merchant base, appears to be strengthening the underlying economics of the business.

This provided the financial firepower for the company to invest beyond parcel delivery.

Emerging Bets: Shiprocket continues to invest in its emerging vertical, which includes checkout, marketing, cross-border and omnichannel solutions. This business grew 3.2X faster than the core arm, improved margins and contributed 30% of Shiprocket’s revenue in Q1. However, this expansion came at a cost. Losses of the emerging business continued to widen as the company prioritised adoption and market-building.

AI & Ecommerce Expansion: The company is also adding new tools to deepen its merchant relationships, including an AI-led advertising stack and appointment-based cargo deliveries. These offerings move Shiprocket closer to the merchant’s daily operating workflow, potentially creating a stickier customer cohort. 

As the ecommerce enablement giant balances a profitable core with loss-making growth bets, here’s how Shiprocket fared on the financial front in Q1…

From The Editor’s Desk

Purple Style Labs’ Muted Listing

• Shares of Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop parent made a muted debut on the bourses, listing at a discount of nearly 7% to the issue price of ₹575. The stock opened at ₹535 on the NSE and ₹539 on the BSE.
• The stock pared some of the losses and eventually closed its maiden trading session at ₹568.05 on the BSE, a discount of 1.2% from the issue price. The company’s market capitalisation stood at ₹4,547.9 Cr at the end of the first trading session.
• The muted debut came even as the company’s ₹680 Cr IPO closed with an 1.29X oversubscription. Founded in 2015, Purple Style Labs operates luxury fashion platform Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop and owns brands such as Wendell Rodricks and Hemant Trivedi. 

Pixxel Bags A Mega Round

• The Google-backed spacetech startup has raised $100 Mn in its Series C round co-led by Temasek and Seraphim to deepen its work on sovereign space systems and increase its satellite manufacturing capacity. The round valued Pixxel at $400 Mn to $450 Mn.
• Founded in 2019, Pixxel currently operates six hyperspectral observation satellites. It is also building India’s first public-private Earth observation satellite constellation and has partnered with Sarvam to roll out an orbital data centre. It has raised $195 Mn to date.
• Pixxel operates in the broader Indian spacetech ecosystem, which is seeing healthy investor interest on the back of cutting-edge solutions, rising capital inflow and policy reforms. The sector is projected to become a $77 Bn opportunity by 2030.

Swiggy To Sell Lynk To Udaan

• The foodtech giant has signed a deal to sell its retail distribution platform to the B2B ecommerce unicorn in a share-swap deal for ₹500 Cr. In return, Swiggy will acquire a roughly 2.8% stake in Udaan.
• As part of the deal, Swiggy will also invest ₹75 Cr in primary capital in Udaan’s Singapore-based parent entity for an additional 0.4% stake. With this, the foodtech major’s total shareholding in Udaan will increase to about 3.2%.
• Founded in 2015, Lynk operates a tech-led distribution platform that connects FMCG brands with retailers. Swiggy acquired the startup in 2023. 

AITMC Ventures’ FY26 Show

• The drone tech startup’s net profit stayed almost flat at ₹14.2 Cr in FY26 despite a 26% YoY jump in operating revenues to ₹106.8 Cr in the fiscal under review. Sale of services generated ₹70.48 Cr in top line, while product sales contributed the remaining.
• Expenses continued to bite and rose 34.7% YoY to ₹88.3 Cr during the fiscal year, while the EBITDA margin tanked to 27.2% in FY26 from 34.4% in the year ago fiscal.
• Founded in 2016, AVPL International operates 70 centres across 16 states to offer drone training programmes for the agriculture sector. It has already received SEBI nod to float its ₹200 Cr IPO, but is yet to file its updated IPO papers.

Temple Incher Closer To Validation

• Deepinder Goyal’s wearable startup has released its first validation study. The pre-print paper claims that Temple’s device picked up the same changes in cerebral blood-flow velocity as a transcranial doppler ultrasound.
• The study, which was undertaken under controlled conditions, involved only 23 healthy adults and has been submitted for peer review. Founder Goyal acknowledged the study’s limited scope and noted that further validation is underway.
• Temple is positioning its wearable around continuous tracking of cerebral blood flow, targeting longevity and performance use cases. The startup raised ₹493 Cr earlier this year, acquired Longevous last month and plans to begin shipping before 2026-end.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

How Bruno Milano Is Disrupting The Indian Watchmaking Sector

India’s ecommerce boom has given shoppers endless choices. Yet, users are saddled with just two options when it comes to watches: premium or mass-market. Bruno Milano is carving a middle path with design-led timepieces available at accessible price points.

Watches For Young India: Founded in 2024, Bruno Milano sells contemporary watches through its own website, major ecommerce marketplaces and quick-commerce platforms. The brand also offers customised watches for corporate gifting, tapping into both retail and B2B demand.

Crafting Timeless Pieces: Bruno Milano’s product portfolio includes the Vittorio Chrono, Ambrosiana Chic and Duomo Heritage, built around Japanese quartz movements and hand-finished cases and dials. Most models sit between ₹2,000 and ₹5,000, positioning the brand above generic mass labels but well below premium international names.

Eye On The Prize: Backed by Sauce VC, the startup has now set its eyes on nationwide expansion, debuting new designs every quarter and building a stronger presence on ecommerce and quick commerce channels. As premiumisation and online shopping open room for new D2C brands, Bruno Milano is eyeing a piece of the Indian watch market that is projected to become a $7.5 Bn opportunity by 2031.

So, can Bruno Milano become the go-to affordable design watch for India’s online-first consumers?

Infographic Of The Day

From helping teachers teach better to creating new ways for students to find opportunities, startups are quietly reshaping the ecosystem around education. Here is a look at the startups building for the people who help build everyone else…

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