Remember that scene from Christopher Nolan’s Inception? One of the main characters takes another on a walk up a staircase, but the stairs actually lead to the bottom and end in a loop. ‘It’s a paradox,’ says the one character to the other.

Knowing that this was a reference to the ‘Penrose stairs’ created by M.C. Escher is one thing, but seeing it come to life on screen actually felt magical. And that line sealed the illusory effect.

After the past year, Zomato-owned Blinkit finds itself on its own Penrose step. The company seemed to have found vindication and denied the naysayers with its fantastic financial performance in FY24.

But the story in FY25 has been anything but smooth. Competition is taking its toll on Blinkit, so is the company’s push to grow and expand. In fact, Blinkit is building the very Penrose stairs it’s standing on. The more steps it adds, the more it finds itself going back to the start.

This is the Blinkit paradox — but also true for any quick commerce company fooling itself with the notion that it has won the market. Let’s dive in, but after a look at the key stories from our newsroom this past week:

• NRAI Renews Foodtech Battle: Restaurant body NRAI is mulling legal action against both foodtech majors over the launch of 10-minute food delivery ‘private labels’ by Zomato and Swiggy. Here’s the latest chapter in this long-drawn battle
• The Game Of Drones: A day after DroneAcharya signed a term sheet with AVPL for a merger, the former’s founder Prateek Srivastava said the deal will act as a “force multiplier” for both the companies. Here’s why the listed drone giant is brimming with optimism
• Netflix Steps Into the Ring: Netflix is set to stream WWE content in India starting in April, its first major deal in the sports streaming industry. Is this a turning point for the digital media giant as it looks to find an edge against JioCinema?

Weighing On Zomato’s Neck

Soon after Zomato reported lower profits for Q3 FY25,........

© Inc42