Shopify’s India Checkout Bet
Shopify is preparing to bring Shop Pay to India. Setting up a direct clash with domestic rivals like GoKwik and Razorpay, the Canada-based SaaS giant aims to disrupt the local checkout market on the back of its existing merchant network.
Shop Pay’s India Launch: Shopify plans to launch the offering in the country by Q1 2027. The company is in talks with multiple payment orchestration platforms to integrate payment service providers. In India, Shop Pay will likely sit alongside Shopify Checkout as an optional accelerated experience.
For context, Shop Pay allows customers to save payment, shipping and contact information, enabling faster purchases across participating stores.
The Distribution Edge: What works for Shop Pay in India is Shopify’s existing base of Indian merchants. Since many Indian D2C brands already build their online storefronts on Shopify, the company benefits from deep merchant integration, a ready distribution pipeline and strong global brand equity. This gives Shop Pay a direct route into the checkout layer.
Navigating Competition: Shop Pay enters a crowded Indian checkout market populated by established players like GoKwik, Shopflo, Razorpay, Shiprocket and Cashfree Payments. These domestic rivals offer specialised, India-centric capabilities like returns management, shopper engagement and advertising. These may turn out to be a tough nut to crack for Shopify.
The Ultimate Test: Shop Pay’s success in India will eventually depend on whether its native integration platform can outperform local checkout rivals on pricing, conversion and localised features. To win, Shopify must prove that Shop Pay can deliver higher net margins and lower overall operational costs than entrenched domestic alternatives.
As Shopify gears up to launch Shop Pay in India, can the SaaS giant turn its brand equity and distribution advantage into a meaningful Indian checkout business? Let’s find out…
From The Editor’s Desk
Zetwerk IPO Day 1
- The B2B manufacturing startup’s public issue was subscribed just 23% on the first day of bidding, receiving bids for 4.17 Cr shares against 18.51 Cr shares on offer. The public offer saw the highest interest from QIBs, followed by retail investors and NIIs.
- Zetwerk’s ₹5,000 Cr IPO comprises a fresh issue of shares worth ₹2,830 Cr and an OFS component of up to 14.45 Cr shares. At the upper end of its ₹143-₹151 IPO price band, the issue values the company at around ₹25,583 Cr.
- Separately, Tonbo Imaging’s IPO was oversubscribed 4X at the end of the first day, receiving bidding for 3.4 Cr shares against 85.3 Lakh shares on offer. The defence tech startup’s issue consists entirely of an OFS of up to 1.2 Cr shares worth ₹852 Cr.
JFS’ Profit Halves In Q2
- Jio Financial Services’ consolidated net profit declined 51% YoY to ₹340.4 Cr in Q2 FY27. This came despite operating revenue zooming 73% to ₹1,699.3 Cr in the quarter under review.
- The company attributed the decline in profits to higher expenditure and the absence of dividend income during the quarter. Total expenses jumped 167% YoY to ₹1,166.1 Cr in the quarter ended September 2026.
- On the operational front, JFS’ NBFC arm, Jio Credit, had ₹37,320 Cr in AUM at the end of September 2026, while its digital payments vertical clocked a total payment value of ₹14,682 Cr in the quarter. The JioFinance App also reached 3.2 Cr unique users in Q2.
Origin Bags $20 Mn
- The physical AI startup has raised around ₹190 Cr in a strategic round co-led by Accel and Zacua Ventures to build its fleet of robots, support pilots in the US and Europe, and experiment with new use cases.
- Founded in 2025, Origin is developing modular autonomous robots for the construction sector. Its robots can handle tasks such as drywall finishing, painting, taping, and drilling. The startup plans to deploy 150 bots by 2027-end.
- Origin operates in the broader Indian deeptech sector, which continues to draw investor attention on the back of regulatory push, subsidies, a thriving talent pool and growing demand. The sector raised $290 Mn in Q3 2026, up 176% YoY.
Go Digit’s New Home
- Canadian investor Fairfax Financial Holdings has proposed transferring its 49% stake in the listed insurtech company to IDBI Bank. The proposed restructuring will make the bank the holding company for the insurance business.
- This will allow IDBI Bank to distribute insurance products through Digit Insurance. However, the transaction will still require clearance from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
- The proposals come after the Centre allowed Fairfax Financial to pick up a 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank. Under its bid, Fairfax would acquire the controlling stake for approximately ₹52,878 Cr ($5.6 Bn), at ₹81 per share.
Udaan’s FY26 Turnaround
- The B2B ecommerce unicorn managed to narrow its net losses by 19.4% YoY to ₹851.5 Cr in FY26. Udaan attributed the improving bottom line to operating revenue growing nearly 13% YoY to ₹5,134 Cr, tighter execution and EBITDA burn declining about 70%.
- Despite improving operational metrics, concerns remain over Udaan’s ability to continue as a going concern. At the end of FY26, current liabilities exceeded current assets by ₹1,391 Cr, while total liabilities exceeded total assets by ₹790.9 Cr.
- Going forward, Udaan said that it is targeting sustained profitability and a public listing, which is targeted for early 2028. To get there, it must sustain revenue growth, keep narrowing losses, complete its debt restructuring and improve cash flows.
Inc42 Markets
Inc42 Startup Spotlight
How Ubiqedge Is Giving Industrial Equipment An AIoT Brain
Regulators today expect factories to monitor water extraction, emissions and other metrics in real time. But most of this tracking equipment was never designed to be connected. To solve this, Ubiqedge is building an AIoT layer that automates compliance and operations.
A Full-Stack Approach: Founded in 2024, Ubiqedge combines hardware and software to help OEMs and system integrators upgrade conventional equipment. The platform is designed to deliver monitoring and automation without asking factories to replace their existing machinery.
The Dual Combo: Its flagship hardware offering, KLEON, connects to industrial equipment, reads sensor data and then transmits it to the cloud. Its SAMASTH software then turns this data into live dashboards, historical records, alerts and compliance reports. For example, KLEON can capture groundwater flow-meter readings, while SAMASTH tracks consumption and can automatically shut off a borewell pump once the extraction limit is reached.
The Business Model: Rather than selling directly to factories, Ubiqedge partners with OEMs and system integrators, who bundle the startup’s technology with their equipment. The startup currently serves smart water management, solar monitoring, smart concrete and air-quality use cases. It closed FY26 with a revenue of about ₹7 Cr and cash-positive operations.
Growing Steadily: Backed by Piper Serica, the startup claims to have so far served more than 100 direct customers, 8,000+ end users and roughly 30,000 devices deployed through its partner network. The startup now plans to expand into the Middle East. So, can Ubiqedge make industrial AIoT simple enough to move beyond pilots?
Infographic Of The Day
From Oracle and TCS to Paytm and Flipkart, layoffs have hit across the board in 2026. But here’s the statistic that stands out: 18 out of 32 companies in our list cited AI as a reason for layoffs. Read on to know more…
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