Tata Considers Pumping $2 Billion Into Super App
India’s Tata Group is reportedly looking to pump $2 billion into its year-old super app.
The new capital could help the online platform Tata Neu bolster its digital offerings and repair technical issues, Bloomberg reported Thursday (March 23), citing unnamed sources.
Tata Group has asked Tata Digital — which operates Tata Neu — to find ways to increase the valuation of the super app, according to the report.
PYMNTS has reached out to Tata for comment but has not yet received a reply. Tata Neu debuted in April, designed to function as a single platform for Tata’s brands, letting consumers shop for clothing, groceries, electronics, pharmaceuticals and airline tickets.
All-in-one super apps mark a major development in frictionless retail and payment experiences, appealing to a high-spending age demographic.
The concept of a single app to integrate payments, banking, messaging, mobility and more finds several hopefuls ranging from Microsoft to Twitter working on (or least considering) a unified app, although one has yet to come on the scene in North America.
Writing in January about the year to come, PYMNTS’ Karen Webster named the evolution of these all-in-one digital platforms as one of her eight defining trends for 2023.
Super apps are a way of life in Asia, between Tatu Neu, WeChat in China, and Gojek in Indonesia. And while one hasn’t emerged in the U.S., research by PYMNTS suggests there is demand for such a platform here, due to a number of highly-engaged and higher-income younger consumers.
PYMNTS also examined the growth of super apps in Latin America last month in a conversation with PayU Latam CEO Francisco Leon.
The high smartphone penetration in that part of the world makes it the perfect testing ground for super apps and new forms of payment.
“Based on what happened in China and what we were seeing with different big eCommerce [developments] around the world, I think this trend is coming to Latin America,” Leon said, citing the example of PayU’s work in Colombia with the Treinta super app for small businesses.