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By Marion Filler

Emma and Ava, the Milsom Twins, do a lot of things together.

Sophomores at the College of New Jersey, the 20-year-olds both work at Chick-fil-A in Morris Plains, and share an abundance of enthusiasm for Liquid Church in Parsippany, where they attend services.

But singing together is their forte, as they will demonstrate at Morristown Onstage this Tuesday, May 4, 2025.

“We’ve been singing since before we can remember,” said Ava.

Emma Milsom of the Milson Twins, finalists in Morristown Onstage 2025. Photo by David Okada

Emma quickly agreed. “We had a natural talent but my family isn’t musical. They’re all D1 athletes and we’re the first singers. The crazy thing is we’re actually Irish triplets, because our mother had our sister Leah 11 months before us.”

The twins are among 16 acts that will compete for cash prizes at the Mayo Performing Arts Center this week, in the 18th annual edition of Morristown Onstage.

Open to amateur performers who live, work or attend school in Morristown, Morris Township or Morris Plains, the contest has raised more than $1.6 million for programs in the Morris School District. The show is a production of the Morris Educational Foundation.

Rushing to finish each other’s sentences, the Milsom girls credited fellow parishioner Jermaine McElwee –whose rendition of Adele’s Easy on Me won the fan favorite prize at last year’s competition — with suggesting they should audition.

The sisters will perform Oceans, an inspiring piece of contemporary Christian music. It was written by Hillsong United, a worship collective that began in 1998 with the youth ministry at Hillsong Church in Australia. The collective has released 15 live albums and six studio albums.

The Milsoms’ chose Oceans because it reflects their strong connection to their church.

“We would always sing it on the way to church as little kids and dream about singing it on stage, and now it’s happened,” said Emma. “The song is about how you never really know what someone is going through. But if you put your faith in something and just push through it, you can get through anything.”

Liquid Church defines itself as Christian and non-denominational. From Sunday services at the Morristown Hyatt (now the Hyatt Regency Morristown), the church has spread to seven counties across New Jersey, becoming a megachurch.

The Milsom Twins, Emma and Ava, are finalists in Morristown Onstage 2025. Photo by Marion Filler

Live music on Sundays is just part of Liquid Church’s appeal, the twins said. As the name suggests, the church supports bringing clean water to impoverished communities around the world.

“We do tithes and offerings to raise money to drill wells in places that don’t have water,” Ava explained. Congregants also do mission trips to these villages; Ava described a recent project involving the installation of a new piping system.

The twins’ passion for singing is encouraging the rest of their family to participate.

“They are so supportive, they’re like our biggest fans” said Ava. “Our aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins are all starting to sing now too, so we brought this whole new thing to the family.

“We want to bring joy to other people by singing.”

MORE COVERAGE OF MORRISTOWN ONSTAGE 2025

The Morris Educational Foundation presents the 18th annual Morristown Onstage on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at the Mayo Performing Arts Center. Sixteen amateur acts from Greater Morristown will compete for $2,500 in prizes, in a benefit for the Morris School District. Tickets are $43-$95, available online or at MPAC, 100 South St., 973-539-8008.

Zepto secures $350Mn in third fundraise this year

March 2, 2025

Jeff Prescott

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Zepto, the Indian quick commerce firm, has now secured $350 million in its third funding round in six months. The latest infusion of funds was led by Motilal Oswal Private Wealth. The newest funding round keeps the startup’s valuation to $5 billion — where it was in the previous round. The round has expanded its investor base to include the likes of Raamdeo Agrawal, and family offices tied to Mankind Pharma, Cello, and Haldiram’s, along with celebrity investors such as Sachin Tendulkar and Abhishek Bachchan, to name some.

This funding round comes even as the quick commerce upstart is gearing up for an IPO sometime next year, and is said to be among the largest entirely domestic primary raises in the Indian startup ecosystem. It also comes at a time when the domestic quick commerce segment – in which Zepto operates – has seen a significant growth in recent times. The size of its market was estimated at $6 billion this year, and is projected to rise to $42 billion within the next six years, according to Morgan Stanley. This rapid growth has attracted competition from major players, including Flipkart, Amazon, and BigBasket, as well as rival platforms like Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart.

“We are humbled to have reached a place in India’s economic growth where we’ve not only fostered that trust but also spearheaded a fundraise of this magnitude, which will hopefully set a precedent for the startups that follow,” Aadit Palicha, CEO and Co-founder of Zepto, commented on the matter.

Founded just three years ago by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Zepto has seen rapid growth in the quick-commerce space, defying most predictions that initially said the segment may not pick up. Zepto operates a network of over 550 dark stores across 17 Indian cities, ensuring that it is able to process over 7 million orders on a daily basis (and bringing deliveries right to the doorsteps of consumers in a matter of minutes). The company’s gross merchandise value (GMV) crossed $1 billion in FY24, supported by a 150% year-on-year growth in annualized sales, which now exceed $2 billion. In fact, nearly 75% of Zepto’s dark stores achieved EBITDA positivity by mid-2024.

Going forward, the firm is positioning itself for a public listing by late 2025 or early 2026, with plans to expand its operations further, including growing its dark store network to 700 locations while introducing new services, including fintech products and Zepto Café. “I think 2026—potentially even late 2025—is a realistic timeline,” Palicha said, adding, “It’s not about profitability today. Investors are betting on our ability to generate $300–500 million in free cash flow in a reasonable timeframe.”

To Sky and Zach, all the world’s a stage — including Morristown Onstage

March 2, 2025

Jeff Prescott

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By Beth Carroll

Sky Monroe and Zach Mazouat are no strangers to the stage. And this week, they’ll be sharing a big one: Morristown Onstage.

They are among 16 amateur acts who will compete for cash prizes and bragging rights on Tuesday, May 4, 2025, at the Mayo Performing Arts Center, in a benefit for programs in the Morris School District.

From the time she was a youngster in Miami, Monroe has taken dance lessons, acting lessons, and voice lessons, both opera and musical theater. After getting her BA at Barnard College, she spent a couple of years in New York, auditioning and doing various gigs and tours.

Morristown Onstage 2025 finalists Zach Mazouat and Sky Monroe. Photo by Beth Carroll

“It was a limbo-like existence,” Monroe said. “I knew it was not what I wanted for the long term.”

So, after briefly working in publishing and as a yoga instructor, she decided to combine those interests and got a master’s degree in English Education at Columbia University Teachers College. She then moved to Morristown, teaching at Bernards High before landing at Newark Academy in Livingston.

Yet Monroe’s passion for performing never left her. So she started channeling her creative energy into community theater.

Over the years, while juggling a husband, two daughters, her teaching job, being a board member (and sometime-cantor) at Temple B’nai Or and a fitness instructor at Barre3 in Morristown, she somehow has found time for a lot of community theater.

Monroe has performed in dozens of productions with the Chatham Players, the Barn Theatre, the Summit Playhouse, the Chester Theatre, the Dover Little Theatre, and the Westfield Community Players.

Zach Mazouat also always loved performing, too.

Mazouat, who grew up in Mount Olive, majored in art education at The College of New Jersey, where he was president of the musical theater group. While teaching art at the Woodland and Thomas Jefferson elementary schools in the Morris School District, he did double duty as theatrical director for Morristown High School. For the last eight years, he has been the art teacher at the Morristown Beard School.

Like Monroe, Mazouat’s love for the theater has been ongoing. As busy as he is with teaching, his partner, two dogs, and one cat, he’s averaged three productions a year since he was in 8th grade. Most of his training was through experience, but he has supplemented that with weekly voice lessons for the last five years.

Most of his performances were with the Cranford Dramatic Arts Club. But he also has been involved with the Chatham Players and the Barn Theatre.

He met Monroe six or seven years ago. They performed together for the first time in the Chatham Players’ production of Tuck Everlasting. Recently, in Pippin at the Barn Theatre, Mazouat starred as Pippin and Monroe was a Player.

Their paths have crossed so many times that they’ve become close friends in the tight-knit community theater scene. When Mazouat suggested they team up to audition for Morristown Onstage, Monroe didn’t hesitate.

“We weren’t sure what song we were going to do but we knew it would be from a show,” Mazouat said.

Ultimately they chose Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors.

What will they do with the money if the judges declare them winners of the $1,000 top prize?

That was a no-brainer.

They agreed to use it to help fund community theater.

MORE COVERAGE OF MORRISTOWN ONSTAGE 2025

Zomato launches $1Bn QIP to fund Blinkit expansion

March 2, 2025

Jeff Prescott

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Food delivery aggregator Zomato has finally initiated its Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) issue, with the goal of raising ₹8,500 crore (~$1Bn). The issue opened on Monday, November 25, following approval from the company’s board of directors. The floor price for the QIP has been set at ₹265.91 per share, approximately 2.8% below the stock’s current market value.

The funds raised through this QIP will primarily support Zomato’s quick commerce unit, Blinkit. According to the company’s filings, ₹2,137 crore will be allocated toward establishing and managing dark stores and warehouses, which are crucial for improving delivery times and scaling operations. Blinkit, which specializes in fast deliveries and has a presence in the domestic quick-commerce segment, aims to increase its network to 1,000 dark stores by the end of the current fiscal year, as well as double that figure by 2026.

In addition to this, funds will also be deployed to strengthen the company’s market presence. This will be done through driving investments in advertising, marketing, and branding initiatives, as well as improving Zomato’s tech infrastructure (including its cloud capabilities). A total of ₹2,492 crore will be deployed towards promotional initiatives across the company’s offerings. In addition to announcing the QIP, Zomato disclosed that its CEO and co-founder, Deepinder Goyal, has extended his salary waiver until March 31, 2026. This extension mirrors a prior decision in 2021, where Goyal opted to forgo his salary for 36 months.

The announcement of the QIP coincided with a sharp rise in Zomato’s share price, which gained 7.6% on the day, marking its highest level in over three months. Shares peaked at Rs 284.34 on the NSE before closing at Rs 273.31, up 3.45% from the previous close. Zomato’s shares are currently priced at ₹274.66, which is still more than the floor price of the QIP. Overall, Zomato’s stock has clocked a strong annual growth, increasing by 120.5%. Over the past year, Zomato’s shares have risen by 140.1%.

This development comes at a time when the Indian quick commerce sector is witnessing rapid growth and intensifying competition. The market is valued at $3.34 billion this year and is expected to reach $9.95 billion within a period of five years (clocking a CAGR of more than 4.5% during the period). Blinkit’s rivals include the likes of Zepto and Swiggy Instamart, and both are expanding their operations. Zepto aims to have a network of 700 dark stores by FY25, while Swiggy Instamart plans to increase its count from 557 to 741.

Soul Tap aims to do just that at Morristown Onstage

March 2, 2025

Jeff Prescott

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By Ellen S. Wilkowe

She brings the voice. He brings the guitar. Together, they are Soul Tap.

“As in tapping into your soul,” explained vocalist Michelle Njoku of Newark.

They are among 16 amateur acts competing for cash prizes in Morristown Onstage, the Morris Educational Foundation’s 18th annual fundraiser for the Morris School District. Showtime is Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at the Mayo Performing Arts Center.

Njoku met guitarist Jonny Scalabrini of Harrison during a karaoke night, and they’ve been making music ever since.

“I was sitting with some friends and had just finished singing a song when Jonny walked up to me to compliment the performance and introduced himself as a musician,” Njoku said. “He asked if in the future I would like to participate in some of his music projects.”

Their next one, at Morristown Onstage, will be Lovesong, by Adele.

An avid Adele fan, Njouku chose that song for its profound effect on her. “It resonated with me so deeply that when I decided to sing in this competition, it was the first song that popped in my mind,” she said.

The competition is open to amateur performers who live, study or work in Greater Morristown. SoulTap checks the third box.

Njoku learned about the show during a shift at Morristown’s Kirshenbaum Baking Company, where she serves as back-of-house manager, preparing baked goods and decorating cakes.

A first-time contestant, she approached the audition with a “leave it all on the stage mentality.” Losing was never an option. And then came the news. “When I saw the e-mail it was like a victorious fist pump to the air.”

Njoku jokes that her singing has been testing her siblings’ patience since early childhood. Her vocals took a more serious turn in her mid-20’s, when she started doing karaoke nights to challenge her stage fright. Friends started asking her to sing with their bands.

Scalabrini takes a more mellow approach to his art.

A mostly self-taught guitarist since age 12, he identifies as strictly a hobby musician with the sole goal of having fun.

Should the duo secure the $1,000 top prize, they plan on paying off some bills.

MORE COVERAGE OF MORRISTOWN ONSTAGE 2025

Zomato completes $1Bn fundraise

March 2, 2025

Jeff Prescott

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Three days ago, food delivery aggregator Zomato initiated its Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) issue. Now, the firm has successfully raised $1 billion through the QIP. This marks its first major fundraising since its IPO three years ago. This development comes weeks after Swiggy had a spectacular IPO, listing at a premium of 7%, and a week after Zepto secured an additional $350 million from domestic investors.

According to reports, the funds were raised approximately 336.5 million shares (33,64,73,755 equity shares to be precise) at ₹252.62 each, attracting strong interest from institutional investors. Prominent domestic mutual funds, including Motilal Oswal (who secured over 20% of the issued shares), ICICI Prudential (secured 12.78% of the shares), HDFC (it secured 8.68% of the issued shares), and Kotak (which secured 5.95% of the shares), to name some, acquired significant stakes in the Indian startup. With this development, the firm’s foreign ownership drops below the 50% mark and reclassifying the company as a domestic entity. This move unlocks regulatory benefits for Blinkit, Zomato’s quick-commerce subsidiary, allowing it to adopt an inventory-led model under Indian law.

According to reports, the proceeds from the QIP will be deployed across various initiatives. Most of it will focus on expanding Blinkit’s network of dark stores and warehouses to streamline its operations, as well as compete with the likes of Instamart and Zepto in the domestic quick commerce landscape. Funds will also be allocated towards Zomato’s tech infrastructure – including cloud capabilities – as well as towards advertising and marketing initiatives to strengthen the firm’s presence in a competitive market. Shares of Swiggy were down 4.1% today, and are currently priced at ₹279.40.

This development comes at a time when the firm reported a 389% year-on-year surge in net profit for the second quarter of FY25, reaching ₹176 crore, alongside a 68% increase in revenue to ₹4,799 crore. In addition to this, the firm has $1.3 billion in cash reserves. “While the business is now generating cash, we believe that we need to enhance our cash balance, given the competitive landscape and the much larger scale of our business today,” Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato, had commented in September while announcing the company’s financials for the quarter. “We believe that capital alone does not give anyone the right to, but we want to ensure that we are on a level playing field with our competitors, who continue to raise additional capital,” he added.

Her second try is a first: Lily Bauman returns to Morristown Onstage

March 2, 2025

Jeff Prescott

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By Beth Carroll

When Covid shut down the world and Morristown Onstage was forced to go virtual in 2021, Lily Bauman felt a little relieved.

While she has always loved singing, the thought of performing in front of a sold-out crowd at the Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) was daunting for someone who was only 10 years old.

But she is a finalist again this year and, at 14, is more than ready for the challenge.

Morristown Onstage 2025 finalist Lily Bauman. Photo by David Okada

The Morris Educational Foundation’s annual fundraiser for the Morris School District is set for March 4, 2025, at MPAC.

Amateur performers with connections to Morris Township, Morristown, or Morris Plains will compete for cash prizes and bragging rights. And once again, Lily Bauman will be one of them.

The Morris Plains Borough School 8th grader comes by her talent honestly. The Baumans are a musical family. Her sister Kyle plays piano and drums, her father Corey plays the piano, and her grandfather is a guitarist.

She has been playing the piano since she was 5 and plays the saxophone in her school concert band and jazz band. She also takes weekly singing lesson with Kaitlin Dalakian of the Kaitlin Dalakian Vocal Studio in Boonton.

“She loves to write her own music and figure out how to play her favorite songs on the piano,” said her mom, Lisa.

Once in a while, her school band teacher will have the other kids randomly throw out the names of songs, for the fun of watching Bauman figure out how to play them on the spot.

Not all her interests are musical ones, though. She plays softball and soccer, enjoys writing and reading, and prefers her English class to all others.

At Morristown Onstage, Bauman will be singing Maggie Rose’s Fake Flowers, a song that reflects her preference for contemporary pop. She’s also a big fan of the message of the song.

“It’s about female empowerment,” she explained. “I really like that theme.”

Back in 2021, she belted out Dolly Parton’s Jolene.

Bauman hasn’t given much thought to this fall’s transition to Morristown High. However, when asked how she would spend the $1,000 prize money should she be a winner on Tuesday, she responded immediately: “I would save it to help pay for college.”

Those lucky enough to be in the audience will get to watch Bauman do her best to add to that college fund.

MORE COVERAGE OF MORRISTOWN ONSTAGE 2025

Swiggy expands 10minute food delivery brand ‘Bolt’ to over 400 cities

March 1, 2025

Jeff Prescott

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Food delivery aggregator Swiggy has now expanded Bolt – its 10-minute food delivery service – to over 400 cities and towns across the country. Originally launched just two months ago, Bolt has rapidly grown from an offering in six major cities to a nationwide service that caters to both metropolitan and emerging urban markets.

“Bolt is changing the way customers are experiencing food… With all the customer love we’ve received so far and the growing excitement from both national and local restaurants, expanding Bolt was an easy decision. We’re thrilled to bring this experience to even more cities and homes,” Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Swiggy’s Food Marketplace, commented on the matter.

Much like Instamart – which is a quick commerce service that delivers groceries and other household items within minutes, also owned by Swiggy – Bolt aims to deliver food within 10 minutes right to the doorstep of consumers, focussing on dishes that require minimal or no preparation time. This includes ready-to-eat items such as snacks, beverages, sandwiches, and breakfast options. To ensure that the quality and freshness of the food are maintained, the service limits its delivery radius to 2 kilometers. So consumers can order food like ice-cream and not worry about it melting before they get their hands on it (this sounds similar to the 10-minute food delivery service Zomato had piloted in 2022, before phasing it out the next year and rebranding it as Zomato Instant.)

Bolt was initially rolled out earlier this year, in October, in a handful of cities across the country. This includes Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune, and quickly gained traction. Currently, it has penetrated deep into the Indian market – having a presence in several Tier-1 cities as well, including Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Indore, Coimbatore, and Kochi, as well as Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, such as Roorkee, Guntur, Warangal, Patna, Jagtial, Solan, Nashik, and Shillong.

According to Swiggy, Bolt has seen the highest adoption in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Following these regions, other states such as Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Punjab have also shown strong adoption of the service. Currently, it has partnered with over 40,000 restaurants across the country, including the likes of KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King, Baskin Robbins, and Starbucks, as well as local favorites like Gwalia Sweets in Ahmedabad, Shiraz in Kolkata, Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad, and Irani Cafe in Pune. So consumers have a broad selection of foods to choose from. In addition to this, it also formed partnerships with local eateries – restaurants such as Varalakshmi Tiffins and Akhshay Tiffins have seen more than 10% of their orders processed through Bolt.

Meritus Health Foundation Hosts Successful Crystal Ball Event

March 1, 2025

Jeff Prescott

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The Meritus Health Foundation celebrated a successful evening at their annual Crystal Ball, held to support the organization’s mission of providing top-tier healthcare and medical education in the community. The event, which took place at the new Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine, attracted over 200 guests.

Attendees had the opportunity to tour the new facility, while enjoying a selection of fine foods and desserts prepared by Chef Joe and the Nutrition Services team. The event’s success was bolstered by the generous contributions of sponsors and participants, with early estimates indicating that nearly $75,000 was raised during the gala.

The funds raised at the Crystal Ball are earmarked to enhance the healthcare services and educational programs offered by Meritus Health, ensuring continued excellence in serving the community’s needs.

Photo credits to Meritus Health

Swiggy narrows loss in Q2FY25 as it reports first numbers post public market debut

March 1, 2025

Jeff Prescott

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Food delivery giant Swiggy has reported its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2024-25 (Q2FY25), its first post a successful public market debutsuccessful public market debut. For the second quarter of the fiscal year, the company narrowed its consolidated net loss to ₹625.5 crore, a modest improvement from the ₹657 crore loss reported during the same quarter last year. However, the company’s losses widened sequentially compared to the ₹611 crore loss posted in Q1FY25.

Swiggy’s revenue for the period clocked a strong year-on-year increase, amounting to ₹3,601 crore, up from ₹2,763 crore during Q2FY24. Despite the increase in revenue, Swiggy’s expenses also surged, reaching ₹4,309 crore for the quarter, marking an increase from ₹3,506 crore in Q2FY24. This rise in expenditure is largely attributed to investments in expanding its infrastructure, scaling operations, and enhancing its logistics network.

One of the key indicators of Swiggy’s growing presence in the market is its Gross Order Value (GOV), which measures the total customer spending on the platform. In Q2FY25, the company reported a 30% year-on-year increase in GOV, reaching ₹11,306 crore for the quarter. The company’s food delivery business also clocked an annual growth of 5.6%, while its adjusted EBITDA profitability now amounts to ₹112 crore.

Similarly, the firm clocked a growth in its user base, particularly its Monthly Transacting Users (MTU). The company reported a 19.2% year-on-year increase in MTUs, reaching 17.1 million by the end of the quarter. In addition to increasing its customer base, Swiggy is focusing on strengthening its logistics capabilities. The company’s board has approved an investment of up to ₹1,600 crore in its subsidiary, Scootsy Logistics Pvt Ltd, to enhance its supply chain infrastructure.

In addition to this, the company’s quick commerce platform, Instamart, has emerged as a significant growth driver for the period. Instamart delivers groceries and household essentials in minutes, and witnessed a strong performance in Q2FY25. The platform’s GOV grew by 24% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, reaching ₹3,382 crore, while it experienced a rise of 21% in orders compared to the previous quarter. The average daily orders per dark store, which serves as a critical metric for quick commerce platforms, also grew by 10%. “Our Quick Commerce offering grew 24% QoQ with losses lowered by 124 bps as the contribution margin stood at -1.9% down from -3.2% in Q1. We crossed the 50 city milestone this quarter. As of today, Swiggy Instamart is live in 54 cities,” Swiggy announced in a post on LinkedIn.

“The remarkable performance of our food business operations comes on the back of strong innovation and execution. We are constantly trying to anticipate and improve the consumer’s experience. The recent launch of Bolt- our 10-minute delivery service is an example of that. Similarly in quick commerce, we are anticipating and responding to consumer behaviour to bring more and more convenience to urban households. Instamart today is present in 54 cities and delivers more than 32,000 unique items, within an average delivery time of 13 minutes,” Sriharsha Majety, MD & Group CEO, Swiggy, announced in a press release.

By Marion Filler

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By Ellen S. Wilkowe

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