Tier 2 towns want their orders fast too

All eyes on India today as quick commerce goes beyond metro cities, Gopizza doubles down in the country, and B2B startup Udaan aims for fresh financing.

Read from your browser Daily Newsletter Welcome to Tech in Asia's daily newsletter, your essential dose of Asia's tech and startup buzz. Subscribe to this newsletter or send story tips to editors@techinasia.com. Ensure our articles appear in your Google searches: IN FOCUS Quick commerce's next bet Gopizza doubles down on India No insolvency and a reset for Udaan's balance sheet Hello Betamax, The quick commerce frenzy in India is continuing at full speed. Still, the next phase of growth may not come from Mumbai, Bengaluru, or Delhi but from Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. Case in point: Peak XV Partners recently backed BazaarNow, a startup that's building a quick commerce network specifically for India's smaller cities. The company's co-founder, a former Zepto executive, says that serving the next 700 plus cities "has to be built differently." A similar trend is taking shape across Southeast Asia. Shopee has expanded its instant delivery service across multiple markets, while Foodpanda is pushing its quick commerce offerings beyond capital cities in the Philippines and Malaysia. In today's first featured story, I break down the math for quick commerce in these underserved areas. The quick commerce business model is only beginning to show a path to profit in metro markets, so taking it to less densely populated areas will come with a new set of challenges. From fast delivery to fast food, dig into our second featured story on Gopizza. The tech-enabled pizza chain has shifted its focus from Singapore to India, which has emerged as its largest and fastest-growing market outside its home base of South Korea. For Gopizza, India is where the oven's really firing up. Samreen Ahmad, Journalist TOP STORIES 1️⃣ Math of the town: Can quick commerce work outside big cities? Cracking quick commerce beyond metro cities will require a different playbook. Startups can start this venture by helping mom and pop stores keep their supply consistent while simultaneously using the data from these small shops to understand local demand. The lower traffic from these smaller cities also means a single warehouse can often serve an entire town. But employing riders directly could prove more economical in these areas, where there aren't enough gig workers to go around. 2️⃣ Gopizza cools on Singapore, fires up its India ambitions Gopizza is putting India at the center of its global growth strategy. Unlike its convenience store format elsewhere, the company is betting on full-service restaurants in India, where lower rental costs and an evolving retail landscape make the model more compelling. The country already contributes up to 40% of the South Korean chain's revenue, and the company expects that share to climb to as much as 80% over the next three years. SPOTLIGHT 'Storm in a teacup' blows over for Udaan Earlier this month, global creditors launched insolvency proceedings against the Singapore-based holding company of India-headquartered Udaan. The proceedings began after the B2B startup was accused of defaulting on US$170 million worth of compulsorily convertible notes. "It's a storm in a teacup," an Udaan investor told Tech in Asia. Lawyers echoed a similar view, saying they expected the dispute to end in a settlement rather than bankruptcy, even though the proceedings could weigh on the company's IPO ambitions. That is exactly how it has played out. This week, Udaan announced a proposed US$160 million financing package made up of fresh equity, new debt, and debt-to-equity conversions. Existing shareholders, alongside a new investor, will inject fresh capital, while certain unnamed holders will convert a portion of their debt into equity. The restructuring, which was backed by BlackRock's private credit arm and existing investor Lightspeed, has also resolved the insolvency proceedings in Singapore, according to an Economic Times report. This restructuring strengthens Udaan's balance sheet, which has battled losses and layoffs over the years. The restructuring removes a major overhang as the B2B ecommerce company gears up for an eventual public listing. For now, the "storm in a teacup" appears to have passed. TRENDING NEWS 1️⃣ DeepSeek in talks to raise $1.5b at $71b valuation The Chinese AI player is also preparing for an IPO in 2027, though the listing could come as soon as late 2026. 2️⃣ Stripe, Advent bid $53b to take over PayPal The offer, about 28% over PayPal's July 15 closing price, was submitted earlier this month and was backed by about US$50 billion in committed bank financing. 3️⃣ Temasek sells 2% Lenskart stake for $202m The sale cut the sovereign wealth fund's holding to 4.75% from 6.8% and follows the stake sales by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and SoftBank. 4️⃣ OpenAI eyes 2027 launch for AI home device OpenAI is reportedly developing a screen-free smart speaker for the home that would use ChatGPT to control appliances, play media, answer questions, and handle messages. 5️⃣ China's CXMT targets $8.6b Shanghai IPO The listing would be Asia's largest IPO so far this year and the biggest Chinese A-share semiconductor offering ever. 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