Twinkle Uppal

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟯𝟬-𝗠𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗜𝘁𝘀 𝗢𝘄𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 Blip, the Bengaluru fashion startup that promised to deliver your wardrobe faster than your lunch, has officially pulled the plug after barely surviving a year. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 Founded in 2023 by Ansh Agarwal and Sarvesh Kedia, Blip wanted to be fashion's answer to grocery quick commerce - 25,000 SKUs delivered in 30 minutes from 10+ retail partners. They went live in October 2024, targeting Bengaluru's fashion-conscious millennials who apparently couldn't wait 24 hours for their new kurta. But here's where it gets interesting (and tragic). Blip never raised external funding. Not a rupee. In a sector where players like Zepto have burned through hundreds of millions just to perfect 10-minute grocery delivery, these founders thought they could bootstrap fashion delivery with zero investor backing. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 The founders cited "limited capital and go-to-market challenges" for the shutdown - startup speak for "we ran out of money before figuring out unit economics." Their partner-dependent model meant they were essentially playing middleman while competitors owned their entire supply chain. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 Blip's collapse isn't just another startup failure story. It's a masterclass in misreading market dynamics. Fashion isn't groceries. When you're craving milk at 11 PM, you'll pay ₹10 extra for 10-minute delivery. But when buying a ₹2000 shirt, customers aren't desperate enough to pay surge pricing for speed. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 + 𝟯𝟬-𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 = 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗻. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲. 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀. While chasing the "Zepto of fashion" dream, Blip forgot that sustainable businesses need sustainable funding. In today's market, speed without capital is just expensive theater! #zepto #business #businessgrowth #startup

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'Startup India' must be followed by 'Impact India' Tarun Khanna and I write about the population-size impact of non-profit unicorns and the need for government to act like a market-maker to catalyze the ecosystem. We draw a simple learning from how startups are built - they thrive on experimentation and iteration to find scale pathways. This needs unrestricted innovation capital which government must help unlock.The article makes 3 simple suggestions. We strongly believe, that we are at a disruptive moment, where India is positioned to be a vishwaguru on scaling impact to billion+ people, through public-private partnerships crafting sound policy, and using technology and community to execute. We should make most of the moment by treating non-profits as the creative entrepreneurial efforts they can be, just as are commercial startups. https://lnkd.in/g3tSh57M

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After a fabulous two years at Kae Capital, I knew it was time to build the fund I wished had existed when I was a founder. Today, I’m launching Boundless Ventures, an early-stage, AI-native venture firm backing India-rooted founders who are building globally defensible companies at the intersection of science, systems, and culture. Boundless starts with a simple belief: the next decade’s breakout companies won’t “add AI” as a feature. They’ll be AI-native from day one, rethinking consumer products, enterprise workflows, and infrastructure with new primitives. We’ll write the first cheque ($200–400K), and then double down. We’ve proud to have already partnered with six category-shaping founding teams: • Superhealth: rethinking healthcare from the ground up • Armatrix: autonomous snake-arm robots for engine inspection • PierSight: real-time ocean intelligence • KNOT: AI-native fashion discovery and logistics • Two stealth companies in infra and consumer AI Our thesis spans four arenas: • The AI-native stack: infra, agents, and memory protocols • Make-in-India hardware: autonomous systems, design-led manufacturing • New-India consumer: culture × code • Science × story: where deep tech meets narrative leverage India is not catching up. It’s compounding. Boundless exists to back originals, with speed, belief and storytelling firepower. Link to our website & thesis below.

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