OCTOBER 20258THOW RETAIL GIANTS ARE BECOMING SILENT CO-FOUNDERS OF e-COMMERCE STARTUPSBy Sejal Singh B G, Copy Editor, Startupcity Columnhere is a strategic shift in the e-Commerce eco-system of India, with the traditional retail giants such as Reliance, Flipkart and Aditya Birla Group shifting away to be mere spectators and instead to act as silent co-founders of the newly born startups. These conglomerates are not merely contributing capi-tal, but actively influencing the direction of growth of fledgling digital-first enterprises by bringing their op-erational capabilities, distribution channels and brand equity to bear on the direction of growth. "There is now greater confidence in the fundamentals of the companies getting created. If you look at traditional Indian busi-nesses from the last few decades like Asian Paints, HDFC Bank or Titan, they have compounded year after year, decade after decade, this is for the first time, we feel that there are some companies in our technology ecosystem that can reach that level of maturity", says Mukul Arora, · Traditional retail giants like Reliance, Flipkart, and Aditya Birla Group are acting as silent co-founders of Indian e-Commercestartups, providing capital and operational support.· Investments and strategic partnerships are boosting sectors like quick commerce, social commerce, D2C personalization, and sustainability-focused startups.· Founders leverage these collaborations for faster market entry, cost efficiency, and growth, while navigating challenges like decision cycles and exclusivity clauses.
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