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Tag: News 📰

  • Mastercard to invest $100 million in Airtel Africa’s Mobile Money

    The global payments giant Mastercard has announced that it will invest $100 million in Airtel Africa’s mobile money business which runs under Airtel Mobile Commerce BV (AMC BV). Let’s look at the information regarding the deal and the future plans of the company.

    What is Airtel Mobile Commerce BV
    Recent Investments to Airtel Africa’s mobile money
    Future Plans of Mastercard in Africa
    FAQ

    What is Airtel Mobile Commerce BV

    Airtel Mobile Commerce BV is currently the company that undertakes and controls the major mobile money operations of Airtel Africa. The company also intends to operate and own all the mobile money business in 14 other countries of Africa which are operating under Airtel Africa.

    Airtel Mobile Commerce BV’s services are mainly focused on the unbanked market of the 14 countries of Airtel Africa. Their services include mobile wallet deposits, mobile wallet withdrawals, commercial payments, merchant payments, provision of loans, the opportunity for savings, benefit transfers, virtual credit cards, and international money transfers.

    Currently, the company has around 21 million users for its set of mobile payment services. The company had generated a revenue of $110 million in the recent quarter. They have an underlying EBITDA (Earnings before income, tax, depreciation, and amortization) of $54 million.

    Airtel Mobile Commerce BV operates one of the largest financial services in the continent. It has a valuation of around $2.65 billion.

    Number of customers of Bharti Airtel Limited
    Number of customers of Bharti Airtel Limited

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    Recent Investments to Airtel Africa’s mobile money

    Airtel Mobile Commerce BV received a recent investment of $200 million from TPG’s Rise Fund. The company will own a 7.55% stake in the Airtel Africa’s mobile money service company AMC BV.

    After closing the deal with TPG’s Rise Fund the company had plans to have a discussion on selling additional minority stakes of the company which will be around 25% of the issued share capital. They had plans to sell it to potential investors.

    Airtel Mobile Commerce BV had announced its most recent investor which is the global payments giant Mastercard. Mastercard has announced that it would invest an amount of $100 million in the company. The company will own a 3.775% stake in Airtel Africa’s mobile money business after the completion of the deal.

    The transaction of Mastercard is expected to close in two different portions. The first portion is expected to be closed at $75 million which will be finalized by the next 4 months and an amount of $50 million to be invested in the second phase.

    In addition to the investments, they received from TPG’s Rise Fund and the global payments giant Mastercard, Airtel’s Africa is raising funds by selling off some assets. It is reported that recently the company has sold around 1,400 telecommunication towers to Helios in Madagascar and Malawi. The transaction is expected to be $119 million.

    Both the companies Airtel Africa and Helios to trade tower assets in Chad and Gabon. The details regarding this transaction are not yet disclosed.

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    Future Plans of Mastercard in Africa

    Airtel Africa and Mastercard are two individual firms that are stronger to one another. Both the companies had already got into a deal in 2019. The deal provided an opportunity for Airtel Africa’s 100 million subscribers to receive access to the global network of Mastercard.

    There 2019 partnership did not have any money exchange. In the most recent deal of Airtel Africa and Mastercard has extended their commercial agreements and have signed a new commercial structure that is focused on improving their partnership in different countries around the globe.

    They are planning to concentrate on areas such as issuing of cards, payment processing, payment gateway, merchant acceptance, remittance solutions, etc. amongst the other services provided by the companies.

    The CEO of Airtel Africa Raghunath Mandava said, that they were pleased to welcome Mastercard as an investor in their mobile money business. He also added that, this partnership is a continuation of their strategy to increase the minority shareholding of the company’s mobile money business. He said that they have a further intention of listing the business in the next four years.

    The CEO also added that they are working towards strengthening their existing relationship with Mastercard which will help them realize the full potential of their considerable opportunity. This is to improve their financial inclusion in all the countries they are currently operating.

    Airtel Mobile Commerce BV’s plan of selling the minority stake of the company to Ride Fund, Mastercard, and other potential investors is based on the telecom operator Airtel Africa’s belief to raise enough funds to monetize its mobile money business.

    FAQ

    What is Airtel Mastercard?

    The Mastercard virtual card allows Airtel Money customers, to make payments to local and global online merchants that accept Mastercard cards.

    Is Airtel Money wallet safe?

    Airtel Money Wallet is an RBI approved payments wallet.

    Where is the headquarters of Airtel?

    The headquarters of Airtel is located in New Delhi, India.

    Conclusion

    The company’s efforts are to work towards the pursuit of investment opportunities, asset monetization, and ultimately reduction of debt in the company.

  • Why did Yes bank took over Reliance Centre headquarters for 1200 Crores

    There was a recent news where the headquarters of Reliance ADAG group which was headed by Anil Ambani, the Reliance Center, Santacruz, Mumbai was sold to Yes Bank for INR 1,200 crores. Let’s look at the reason and the details for the sale of Reliance’s headquarters.

    What is Reliance Infrastructure
    What is Reliance Centre
    Why did Yes bank took over Reliance Centre
    Sale of the Reliance Centre
    FAQ

    What is Reliance Infrastructure

    Reliance Infrastructure is a Indian-based private sector company. The company was involved in power generation, infrastructure defense, and construction. The company is part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group.

    The company has undertaken a lot of projects which include power plants, metro rails, airports, toll roads, bridges, and defense. The company has a major shareholding in Reliance Power and Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited.

    Reliance Infrastructure was ranked as the 51st largest corporation in Fortune India’s 500 lists of 2019 and it had the 1st rank in the category of Infrastructure Development.

    Reliance Infrastructure came into existence when it took over an eighty three year old company which was undertaken by the Government which was known as Bombay Suburban Electric Supply (BSES) in the year 2002.

    Reliance Infrastructure was formerly known as Reliance Energy Limited.

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    What is Reliance Centre

    Reliance Infrastructure which is part of Anil Ambani’s group has sold its headquarters to Yes Bank. The amount of the sales is expected to be INR 1,200 crores. The headquarters is located in Mumbai’s Santacruz.

    Reliance Center is a building with high technology office. The building has an area of 695,000 square feet on a plot of 15,514 square meters of land. Anil Ambani had shifted to this office after he had moved out of Reliance’s Ballard Estate Office.

    The experts in the field of Real Estate have that the office has a prime location because the Reliance Center is close to Mumbai’s Western Express Highway.

    Other than this, the office just has a 15-minute drive to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Terminal that is T2 and a 10-minute drive to the Chhatrapati International Airport Domestic Terminal that is T1. The building is a stone’s throw from the Bandra-Kurla Complex business district in Mumbai.

    Total Revenue of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd
    Total Revenue of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd

    Why did Yes bank took over Reliance Centre

    Reliance’s ADAG group which is headed by Anil Ambani is expected to have an exposure of INR 4,000 crores which it has to pay to Yes Bank. Last year, Yes bank had said that last year it had issued a demand notice to the ADAG group to pay the borrowed amount of INR 2,892 crores.

    The demand notice was sent under the SARFAESI ( Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest) Act. The dues had to be paid back by 60 days from the issue of the demand notice.

    Reliance’s ADAG group had failed to pay the dues on time and Yes bank had announced that it was going to take the possession of the building due to non-payment of loans which amounted to INR 2,892 crores.

    It is said that Yes bank had taken possession of the building looking at the Mumbai Airport. With this project, the Reliance Infrastructure has closed 3 different transactions which include the sale of assets. These transactions had taken place in the last 90 days.

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    Sale of the Reliance Centre

    Recently Reliance Infrastructure and Yes Bank announced that they were getting in to a sale transaction where the Reliance Centre, Santacruz, Mumbai will be sold to Yes Bank. Yes Bank which currently operates its business from One Indiabulls center in Central Mumbai is planning to convert the Santacruz office to its Corporate Head Office.

    An official from the company has said that with the sale of Reliance Center, Santacruz, Mumbai Reliance Infrastructure’s debt exposure to YES Bank has been reduced. The debt exposure of INR 2,000 crores from INR 4,000 crores has been reduced.

    FAQ

    What is the net worth of Anil Ambani in 2020?

    As per the reports declared before a UK court in February 2020 that his net worth is zero and he is bankrupt.

    What does Anil Ambani owns?

    Reliance Infrastructure which is an Private Sector Enterprise managing power, defense, construction and infrastructure and Reliance Power.

    How many companies Mukesh Ambani have?

    Mukesh Ambani has 7 companies that are, Reliance Retail, Reliance Life Sciences, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, Reliance Petroleum, Network 18, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited, and Football Sports Development Limited.

    Conclusion

    Yes Bank has said that the value of the transaction of the building is expected to be INR 1,200 crores and the entire amount from the sale of Reliance Center, Santacruz, Mumbai is utilized only to pay the debt it owes to Yes Bank. The company official has said that the company is planning to be a debt-free company within 2021.

  • How did Vodafone Idea lost 2.3 million Subscribers

    A report published by TRAI in January 2021, earlier said that the Telecom company Vi had added more subscribers to their user base but the most recent news suggests that the company has lost around 2.3 million users in their user base. Let’s look at the reasons for the changes in data.

    Vodafone Idea
    Reason for Subscriber Loss
    Corrected Figures by TRAI
    Speed Reported by TRAI
    FAQ

    Vodafone Idea

    Vodafone Idea Limited is a merged entity. It is an Indian telecommunication company with its headquarters in Mumbai and Gandhinagar. The company is the third largest mobile telecommunication network in India and is the sixth largest mobile telecommunications network in the world.

    In the year 2018 Vodafone India and Idea cellular underwent a merger and the company was called as Vodafone Idea Limited. Currently, Vodafone holds a 45.1% stake in the company and Ravinder Takkar is the current CEO of the company.

    In September 2020 the company had formed a new brand called as Vi. This is a combined brand of the two entities Vodafone India and Idea Cellular. The aim was to build a unified brand from two different companies.

    After the merger in August 2020 Vi had lost a significant number of gross and active subscribers. Vodafone and Idea operated as two different entities until September 2020.

    Vi also provides services such as IoT, Mobile payments, entertainment, and enterprise offerings. The services are accessible through both digital mediums and retail outlets across the country. Vi has a distribution reach of 1.7 million retail outlets and a broadband network of 340,000 sites.

    In the mobile network services, Vi offers 2G, 4G, 4G+, VoLTE, and VoWiFi services across Pan India. Vi provides Wi-Fi and hotspot services in major cities across the country which include Bangalore, Mumbai, and Pune with more than 200 locations.

    Telecom Market Share India
    Telecom Market Share India

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    Reason for Subscriber Loss

    According to reports in January, Vi had added a user base of around 1.7 million in January 2021 and this was the first time in the last 15 months the company has added subscribers to its user base. Also its competitors, Bharti Airtel added a user base of 5.9 million subscribers and Jio which added about 1.95 million subscribers during January 2021.

    According to the report of the Telecom Authority of India (TRAI) in January 2021, Vi had an active user base of 256.3 million which is 89.63 percent of their total users.

    Revised Data by TRAI

    Recently the Telecom Authority of India (TRAI) released a revised telecom subscription data for January 2021. The revised Telecom subscription data showed that the company Vi had actually lost 2.3 million subscribers than gaining 1.7 million in January 2021.

    The company Vodafone Idea has acknowledged earlier about its error in the numbers provided to Telecom Authority of India (TRAI) that the company had added 1.7 million subscribers in the month of January 2021.

    TRAI had examined through the numbers and identified that it was a non-intentional error that was not done through a deliberate planning. TRAI confirmed that the error had taken place by mistake.

    Vi had told the TRAI that it had added a user base of around 3.7 million from Uttar Pradesh west telecom circle alone. There is a total of 22 telecom circles in India and the company has reported that it lost subscribers in 18 telecom circles and gained subscribers in the rest of 4 telecom circles.

    Vi had sent the correct numbers to TRAI. Vi had noted on its website saying that they had found an unintentional error on their subscriber data for January 2021 which was submitted to TRAI. They also said that they had corrected the error and had reported the revised data to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

    Corrected Figures by TRAI

    As per the corrected figures of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Vi had lost 2.3 million wireless users in the month of January 2021. Whereas its competitors Airtel gained 5.9 million subscribers and Reliance Jio had gained 2 million subscribers.

    Reliance Jio had the highest wireless subscriber numbers with a base of 410.7 million and Airtel in the second position with a subscriber number base of 344.6 million. Vi had taken the third position with a total subscriber number of 281.9 million.

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    Speed Reported by TRAI

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had reported that Vi had the highest upload speed in the month of February 2021. Vodafone India’s upload speed for the month of February 2021 was 7.2 Mbps which was 6.7 in January 2021.

    Idea Cellular upload speed for the month of February 2021 was 6.4 Mbps which was around 6 Mpbs in January 2021. Vodafone India and Idea Cellular was also ranked as the best in the TRAI’s report for voice call quality charts of February 2021.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) considers the company as two separate entities in its portals for My Calls and MySpeed even after the merger of both Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.

    FAQ

    Will Idea Vodafone survive?

    Rohan Oza, an american businessman and investor believes that Vodafone will survive. “It is unlikely that the company will go bust, as it is in the interest of the government to continue with three players in the market.

    What is the future of Vodafone idea?

    As reporyed by Goldman sachs, Vodafone Idea could potentially save ₹58 billion (5,800 crore) in cash flows annually if the AGR liability were lowered to its self-assessed value.

    Is Vodafone shutting down in India?

    Vodafone Idea, India’s third-largest service provider, plans to shut down its 3G network later in 2021.

    Conclusion

    Vi has been rolling out various strategies and campaigns to capture the market to increase its subscriber base. We will have to wait and see what is going to happen in the future regarding the increase or decrease of Vi’s subscriber base.

  • Xiaomi to soon enter Electric Vehicle Market with $10b Investment

    The Chinese Smartphone company Xiaomi is reportedly planning to enter into the Electric Vehicle platform. The company which is involved in manufacturing consumer electronics is planning to invest into the Electric Vehicle Industry. Let’s look at this article to understand the plans of Xiaomi about its EV industry.

    Xiaomi
    Xiaomi planning to enter Electric Vehicle market
    Xiaomi’s EV Investments
    China’s Electric Vehicle market
    Other Players in Electric vehicle market
    FAQ

    Xiaomi

    Xiaomi is a Chinese Multinational company which is headquartered in Beijing. The company was founded in the year 2010. Xiaomi makes and invests in smartphones, laptops, mobile apps, home appliances, bags, shoes, consumer electronics, accessories, and IoT devices.

    Xiaomi is the fourth company to develop a mobile system on chip (SoC) capabilities after Apple, Samsung, and Huawei. Xiaomi is the fourth largest mobile manufacturing company in the world. The company has a leading position in the largest market which is China and the second largest market which is India.

    Xiaomi planning to enter Electric Vehicle market

    Xiaomi has plans to be part of the Electric Vehicle market. Xiaomi has confirmed its intention to invest $10 billion in its own subsidiary firm which is completely owned by Xiaomi. They had confirmed their intentions at the Mi MIX Fold Global Launch Event.

    The initial investments according to the confirmation stand at CNY 10 billion. The founder and CEO Lei Jun is expected to lead the Electric Car project of the company for the time being. Xiaomi has not revealed any information about the products they plan to introduce or work on in the Electric Vehicle segment of the company.

    There are no announcements regarding their projects and no information about the company’s launch plans. Xiaomi has said that they want to work on providing quality electric vehicles which would let everyone in the world to enjoy smart living anytime and anywhere.

    Top selling light duty plug-in Electric vehicle global market
    Top selling light duty plug-in Electric vehicle global market

    Xiaomi’s EV Investments

    According to the report by Chinese media LatePost Xiaomi’s entry into the EV market to manufacture Electric cars was taken after considering it for years. They have also said that the company’s plans are just in the early stages and it might change in the future as well.

    The report has also said that in the year 2018 Xiaomi had launched an early project in the electric vehicle segment called Mi car to explore the electric car making industry. It is said that the CEO of Xiaomi Lei Jun had visited Elon Musk who is the CEO of Tesla in 2013 twice.

    Xiaomi has also made a mark in the Chinese Electric Vehicle segment by investing in Xpeng motors which delivered around 27,041 vehicles in the year 2020. They have also invested in NIO which is also a Chinese homegrown Electric Vehicle maker.

    China’s Electric Vehicle market

    China’s Electric Vehicle market has seen a significant growth in the recent years. It has attracted a lot of high-profile companies ranging from traditional automobile companies to internet companies.

    According to a research by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, In the year 2020, the country saw an increase in the sales of EV which accounted for 1.37 million. There is an increase in the sales of up to 11% year-on-year.

    China based automaker Greely auto has said that it is planning to focus more on to the Electric Vehicle segment. The founder and Chairman of the company Li Shufu have announced that the company has plans to shift 90 percent of its production to hybrid Electric vehicles and is also planning to set up a new factory for New Energy Vehicles.

    The growth of the Chinese Electric Vehicle market has come after the multiple policy campaigns which are to promote carbon reduction which includes the plans to reach carbon neutrality by 2060.

    Other Players in Electric vehicle market

    Earlier, Huawei had announced its plans to enter into the manufacturing of Electric Vehicles. There were several speculations through various news reports which had suggested that the company had approached China’s Changan Automobile, BluePark New Energy Technology, and other players in the industry. Huawei has plans to concentrate on developing smart bits and to let the car manufacturers provide car parts.

    From the western world, there has been a lot of rumors of Apple entering into the Electric Vehicle segment. It is said that the iPhone manufacturer is working on an electric vehicle of its own. The company is focusing on building the autonomous tech, battery, and the technical parts of the car and would require another partner from the automobile sector to work on the rest of the parts of the car.

    FAQ

    Which is the cheapest electric car?

    Smart EQ Fortwo EV is one the cheapest electric car.

    What are the 3 types of electric cars?

    Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) are the 3 types of electric cars.

    Who is the CEO of Xiaomi?

    Lei Jun is the current CEO of Xiaomi.

    Conclusion

    Compared to Apple and Huawei, Mi has still not announced any of its plans for its products or the launch. We will have to wait for any more news regarding the Chinese smartphone manufacturer’s entry into the Electric Vehicle Segment.

  • The Economic Outcomes of the Suez Canal crisis

    The recent news about the blockage of the Suez Canal has gained a lot of popularity on social media. The pictures of the blockage have been widely spread in the online world as memes. But the economic outcomes of the blockage of Suez canal are severe.

    Let’s look at the Economic Outcomes of the Suez Canal crisis

    What happened at Suez canal
    Economic outcome of the Suez Canal crisis
    Loss due to the Suez Canal crisis
    Effect on Crude oil prices
    Other consequences due to the Suez Canal crisis
    FAQ

    What happened at Suez canal

    A giant cargo ship which is 400 meter in length has blocked the Suez Canal. The Canal has been blocked by the ship for the past few days. The ship which is operated by the Taiwanese transport company evergreen marine is one of the world’s largest biggest container vessels.

    The ship weighs 200,000 tones and has a maximum capacity of 20,000 containers. It is said that the ship had lost control after it entered the narrow passage of the Suez Canal from the Red Sea. The salvage company which is trying to refloat the ship has said that it might take weeks for them to complete the task.

    Peter Berdowski who is the CEO of Dutch company Boskalis who is also one of the rescue teams trying to free the ship has said that depending on the situation, they can’t exclude that it might take weeks.

    Economic outcome of the Suez Canal crisis

    The ship has stopped 12% of the world’s seaborne trade and has already cost losses of billions. Almost 50 percent of the container ships pass through the Canal on a daily basis and around 30% of the global container traffic passes through it.
    The current situation is expected to cause a great damage to the global trade. It is expected that the prices of all essential commodities will increase.

    Suez Canal Crisis
    Suez Canal Crisis

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    Loss due to the Suez Canal crisis

    The experts fear that the blockage has led to severe effect on the economy and the global trade. The blockage is costing around 400 million (around INR 2.8k crores) per hour, as ships are asked to take a longer route to reach their destinations.

    Experts have said that this is the worst ship blockage ever witnessed. It is said that many cargo ships which have been diverted would take another 5-6 days to reach their destination.

    Effect on Crude oil prices

    It is said that more than 200 containers carry crude oils through the Canal on a daily basis. Experts have also told that the major hit would be for the small tankers and the crude oil exports from Europe to Asia.

    The director of Asia oil at FGE Sri Paravaikkarasu has said that around 20% of Asia’s Naphtha which is crude oil is supplied through the Suez Canal. He said that re-routing of the ships would add more amount of fuel consumption for the ships that is around 800 tones and increase its operating expenses.

    The shortage in the availability of the crude oil will lead to a jump in the crude oil prices. It is said that the crude oil prices have already increased due to the fear of the crude oil Suez Canal blockage in the past few days.

    Data from Refinitiv has suggested that around 30 oil tankers have been waiting at both the sides of the Suez Canal. David Fyfe who is a chief economist at Argus Media which is a market research firm said that around 5-10 percent of the global shipments passing through the Suez Canal are crude oil, refined oil, and liquefied natural gas shipments.

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    Other consequences due to the Suez Canal crisis

    Lars Jensen who is an independent container shipping expert based in Denmark has said that basically anything you see in the stores would be in shortage because of the blockage in the Suez Canal.

    This includes everything from toilet papers, coffee, furniture, clothes, shoes, exercise equipment to car parts, carpets, and electronics. The blockage has also delayed e-commerce product deliveries which even include food.

    Ian woods who is a marine cargo lawyer and partner at the London-based firm Clyde and Co. has said that, there are commodities worth millions of dollars on other ships waiting for the blockage to be cleared.

    If the blockage is not cleared quickly then they would consider taking longer routes which will increase the operational charges and these extra charges will be carried down to the consumers.

    It is said that eventually the consumers will have to pay the price and this blockage would have a deep impact on the end consumers. The exact amount and the exact effect of the blockage are not yet analyzed but the more it delays the consequences will increase.

    Each day of delay will add more billions of dollars of losses towards the global trade and the economy.

    FAQ

    What country owns the Suez Canal?

    The Suez Canal is operated and owned by Egypt.

    What country built the Suez Canal?

    In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps, the former French consul to Cairo, secured an agreement with the Ottoman governor of Egypt to build a canal 100 miles across the Suez.

    Why did Great Britain want to control the Suez Canal?

    Great Britain wanted to control the Suez canal, because it allowed them quicker access to its colonies in Asia and Africa.

    When did Britain buy the Suez Canal?

    In 1875 Britain bought Suez Canal from the Egyptians in £4million worth of shares.

    Conclusion

    However, Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority is looking forward to cooperating with the United States in efforts to refloat the container ship which has blocked the Suez Canal for the past few days. According to Arab News, the Canal revenue for Egypt was $5.6 billion in 2020.

  • Jio to soon Enter Laptop Industry with its Reliance Jio Laptop – Jiobook

    Jio is the largest telecom operator in India and is the third-largest operator in the world. During the year 2020, the company had raised an amount of INR 1,52,056 crores by selling their stake of around 32.97%. This helped the company in coming up with new products and making the services affordable to the consumers.

    The company is said to launch its new product JioBook. After years of speculation, it is believed that the product is in the Engineering Validation test stage.

    What is JioBook
    Specs of JioBook laptop
    Reason for Launch
    FAQ

    What is JioBook

    JioBook is a laptop going to be launched by Reliance Jio. Just like any other product of Jio, this laptop is said to be affordable and would attract a lot of customers. As per the speculations the price of the laptop would start from INR 10,000 onwards.

    In order to make affordable JioBook laptops in India, the company had partnered with Bluebank Communication Technology which is based in China. Bluebank Communication technology is a well-known software company that develops software for third parties and creates mobile devices. Bluebank has also worked in developing the popular OS used on Jio Phones which is known as KaiOS.

    The news of Jio launching the laptop came out in 2018, when Qualcomm announced that it was in talks with Reliance Jio to launch laptops in India that are affordable with cellular connectivity. After that, there were lot of speculations about the launch of the laptop. After years of wait, Jio finally announced that they will be launching their laptops soon in the market.

    It has also been said that the price range of the JioBook laptop would differ according to their storage options and different models.

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    Specs of JioBook laptop

    According to the reports JioBook laptop is expected to be an android based laptop  by XDA developers. The android operating system UI will be called JioOS. The laptop will run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 chipset with the support of Snapdragon X12.

    JioBook laptop is said to support 4G LTE and would have a display of 720P HD. The laptop is said to have a screen resolution of 1366 x 768. It will run on the JioOS.

    The JioBook laptop would come with a storage facility of 32/64 GB with an eMMC (embedded Multi-Media Card) 5.1 memory. It is an internal storage card used in portable devices. Apart from all these features, the laptop would have features that include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 2.4 and 5 GHz connectivity, and so on.

    The laptop will come with all Jio-apps installed to ensure that JioBook is affordable to consumers.

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    Why Jio is launching Jiobook

    JioBook laptops would be the most affordable laptop ever introduced in the country. Earlier Jio had introduced JioPhones which disrupted the entire industry. Since the launch of Jio sim in 2016 the company has been trying to come up with affordable products.

    In the beginning stages, Jio sims were given for free with free internet access and unlimited calls and now Jio sim has the greatest number of subscribers in the telecom industry. Reliance Jio has the majority market share in the telecom industry with over 35.7% and 404.12 million users.

    Telecom Subscriber Market Share
    Telecom Subscriber Market Share 

    The low-cost JioPhone which was launched later on helped millions of users to shift to 4G from their 2G enabled phones. Reliance Jio provided JioPhones for INR 1,500 with an inbuilt OS system which helped the users use Facebook, Google and a lot of other apps.

    According to the reports from Reliance Jio, in just a span of 2 years, they had sold around 70 million JioPhones.

    One of the other reasons why consumers choose Jio is its offers provided such as subscriptions to OTT platforms, cashback, etc. Buyers who bought JioPhone early were provided free voice calls and 4G data for a year.

    Jio is trying to use the same strategy used in JioPhones and Jio sims with the plans to launch JioBook. The company will try to capture the laptop industry with the launch of its JioBook laptop.

    FAQ

    What will be the Specs of JioBook laptop?

    JioBook laptop will come with a storage facility of 32/64 GB with an eMMC (embedded Multi-Media Card) 5.1 memory, with support of 4G LTE and a display of 720P HD.

    What is the expected price of JioBook laptop?

    The expected price of JioBook laptop is 10,000.

    When will JioBook laptop be launched?

    JioBook laptop will may be launched at the Reliance Annual General Meeting likely to be held in July 2021.

    Conclusion

    Jio has announced a lot of other products which include Jio Glass for video call with the support of holographic. Jio is also planning for an affordable android phones which will be priced at the range of INR 4,000. The android phone will be manufactured with the partnership with Google.

    The company has received a lot of funding last year from the biggest companies around the world. This has led Jio to overcome the major hurdles in the Industry making it the leading company in India. JioBook laptops are expected to launch soon. However, there have not been any official announcements regarding the launch of the laptops. The announcement is expected to be during the next Annual General Meeting of the company.

  • How to Apply for Startup India and Seed Funding

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Rs. 1,000 Crore seed fund for India Startups, to allow initial funding for startups. “This is going to help to launch and develop new businesses,” Modi said at the International Summit of Prarambh Startup India. Modi said, “India is trying to create a startup ecosystem based on the key principles of youth, youth, and youth.” The Government will also enable new companies to develop debt capital by providing guarantees.

    PM Modi announced the Startup fund on 16th January, 2021
    PM Modi announced the Startup fund on 16th January, 2021

    The GeM platform offers local startups the chance to take part in government tenders with large corporations. Modi reported that approximately 8,000 startups had so far registered and had done almost Rs 2,300 crore. He praised the startups for creating innovative solutions during the pandemic and for supporting the efforts of the government to normalize economic activity. More than 10 startups across sectors ranging from beauty to payments turned unicorn in 2020 against nine in 2019.

    Startup Ecosystem facilitated through various Government Departments & Programs

    • 4000+ Startups have benefitted in the last year through various programs of the Central Govt.
    • 960 crore of funding has been enabled to Startups through various schemes.
    • 828 Cr sanctioned funds for infrastructure.

    The Startup India Seed Fund: How will it help for your Startup?
    Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has from the start of his tenureemphasized the growth of India [/the-growth-of-indian-startup-ecosystem/] withthe “Made in India” plan. Under his leadership, the central and stategovernments have been actively incentives for Indian Businesses. He was addre…
    StartupTalkySeema Banerjee

    Support Offered By Government

    What is GeM
    Conclusion
    Frequently Asked Questions

    Support Offered By Government

    With the objective to build a strong eco-system for nurturing innovation and startups in the country the Government launched a Startup India Action Plan that offers the following support to recognized supports through:

    Tax Exemption

    • IT exemptions for 3 years
    • Capital gains exemption to people investing such capital gains in the Government recognized Fund of Funds
    • Tax exemption on investments above the Fair Market Value

    Get help with tax preparation and planning
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    • Fast track of Startup Patent applications
    • A panel of facilitators to assist in filing applications, govt. bears facilitation costs: 423 facilitators for patent & design, 596 for trademark applications
    • 80% rebate in filing of patents: 377 startups benefitted

    Easy Compliance

    Self-certification and compliance of 9 environments and labor laws through Startup India web portal/mobile app. Online self-certification for Labour Laws enabled through ‘Shram Suvidha’ portal.

    Relaxed Norms for Public Procurement

    By easing the requirement of prior experience and prior turnover in tenders for application by startups.

    Fund of Funds

    • ₹ 10,000 Cr. Fund of Funds to be provided by Mar 2025: Avg. ₹ 1,100 Cr. Per year
    • Operating guidelines has changed to incorporate the following:

      – 2x of FFS to DIPP Startups Allow funding of the entity after ceasing to be the startup (under DIPP)

      – 600 Cr (+25Cr Interest) given by DIPP to SIDBI which further committed Rs 623 Cr to 17 VC. 56Cr has been disbursed to 72 startups catalyzing investments of Rs 245 Cr

    Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan | New Govt. Scheme to Provide Jobs
    With the Economy of India badly affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic add lossof jobs for lakhs of migrant workers during the lockdown, a scheme by the nameof ‘Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan’ or ‘Rural Job Scheme’ was launched by theHonourable Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi in the district o…
    StartupTalkyYash Taneja

    Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups

    • Corpus of ₹ 2,000 Cr across 3 years
    • Collateral Free, Fund & Non-Fund Based Credit Support
    • Loans of up to 5 Cr. per Startup to be covered
    • Status: EFC Memo circulated on 22 March 2017 to 6 Departments
    • Impact: Credit guarantee to benefit 7,500+ Startups in 3 years

    Industry/Academia Support

    Providing and building infrastructure across the country by setting/scaling up: 31 Innovation Centers, 15 Startup centers, 15 Technology Business Incubators, 7 Research Parks, 500 Atal Tinkering Labs.

    Startup Recognition

    6398 Applications received; 4127 startups recognized; 1900 startups eligible for tax exemption (900 processed, 1000 pending); 69 startups given tax exemption.

    What is GeM

    What is GeM?
    What is GeM?

    Government e Marketplace (GeM) is a government and agency online procurement platform and the most commonly used public procurement channel in India. MSMEs and DPIIT recognized startups can be used to register as sellers on GeM, and directly to government bodies to sell their goods and services. GeM Startup The runway is the latest initiative laid by GeM to empower businesses to enter the universe of government purchasers through the provision of creative, design, process, and operation-specific goods.

    To apply to Startup India Seed Fund, here are a few steps you are required to follow:

    1. Registration of the Company:

    The company needs to register itself through the GeM Portal. In the website, it has instructed on how to register the company in the portal and to check if the company is eligible.

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    StartupTalkyArbaaz sayed

    How to register your MSME?

    2. Fill Up Application:

    Fill the Form Correctly and Upload the appropriate Document then Submit the Application.

    • Name of the firm: Provide name of the business firm which shall be used to sell products and services on GeM Portal. Please note you must carry registration proof in the name of business firm.
    • Address of the Business firm: Provide the registered address of the business firm.
    • Nature of the Business: Describe the business activity of the firm such as the manufacturer of goods, service provider, retailer, wholesaler, distributor, etc.
    • List of Products & Services to be sell in GeM: Enter all the goods and services needed for public procurement in the GeM Portal. By separating commas, a company may join many products and services.
    • Owners Name: Enter the company owner’s name. In the case of a company, LLP, or partnership firm, you may enter any one authorized partner/director details.
    • Owner’s Aadhar Or PAN Number: Provide the 12 digits Aadhar Number of the business firm owner. In the case of a company, LLP, or partnership firm, you may enter any one authorized partner/director details.
    • Type of Firm: Select the nature of your business entity.
    • E-mail ID: Enter the email id of the owner or authorized director/partner.
    • Mobile Number: Enter the mobile number of the owner or authorized director/partner.
    • Bank Account Details: Provide complete bank details of the business the firm under which payment shall be received after goods/services public procurement or on completion of tender.
    • Date of Business Incorporation: Enter the date of the company/firm incorporation which shall be available in partnership deed or certificate of incorporation or other business registration certificate (in case of the sole proprietor).
    • Income Tax Incorporation: Select yes if the income tax return of the firm or owner (in the case of the sole proprietor) has been filed for any previous year. Else select No.

    3. Online Payment: Make an online payment to process your application with our Secured Payment Gateway.

    4. Schedule Call-back: Schedule a call back for validation

    5. Validate and complete registration: To receive a call from the validation department and complete your registration.

    List Of Government Schemes for Startups in India
    India is gradually building a robust startup ecosystem[/the-growth-of-indian-startup-ecosystem/]. In order to promote and supportentrepreneurs, the government has created a ministry (department) dedicated tohelping new businesses. The ruling party has introduced many schemes to bolsterentreprene…
    StartupTalkyAshwini

    Conclusion

    Startups are excluded from specific selection requirements such as Prior Experience, Preview and Earnest Money Deposits. The incentive to consult with the government on trial request, making it more likely to introduce a new product. On GeM, purchasers may rate their product or ServiceNow more restrictive definitions for GEM, meaning the publication on the website of new and creative products.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can a foreign company register under Startup India hub?

    Yes. Any company having at least on registered office in India can register on startup India hub as location preferences, for the time being are only created for Indian states. However, the government is working on international relations and will soon be able to enable registration for stakeholders from the global ecosystem.

    How can I register a profile on the hub?

    registering on the Startup India hub is very easy.

    • The “register” tab on the page will direct you towards “mygov” platform. On mygov you will be asked to fill details like name, email id etc. Then you will get an OTP for verification and a link to set a new password.
    • Sign in using the login credentials you created in step 1. This will direct you to the Hub where you can select and create the profile of a stakeholder which best defines your role.

    How do we connect to enablers after creating a profile?

    The system is build to connect you to your relevant stakeholders based on your industry and preferred stage. Under the profile of every enabler there will be an option to “connect/apply”. Upon clicking, a request will be sent to the respective profile for acceptance. Once accepted, you will able to see the enabler as a new connection.

    Please note that you can connect with upto 3 users per week.

  • Why did Ninjacart Lay Off its 200 Employees Explained

    Ninjacart recently laid off 200 of its employees working in middle and senior management. The agritech company attributes this layoff to poor performances and unmatched expectations. While the ex employees try to stain the company’s image with stating about unethical HR practices, the management and CEO of Ninjacart are in complete denial.

    Ninjacart is an agritech startup that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to retailers directly from the farmers. It supplies over 1400 tons of fresh produce directly from the farmers to supermarkets and kirana stores. Currently, is actively moving the farm products in seven major cities- Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR.

    Ninjacart Latest News
    About Ninjacart
    Vision of Ninjacart
    Ninjacart Investors
    Why did Ninjacart Layoff 200 Employees
    Unresolved issues from employees
    How Ninjacart Hires
    Casual Hiring Approach
    FAQ

    Ninjacart Latest News

    23 February, 2021. Ninjacart announced that they are laying off 200 employees. Thirukumaran Nagarajan, the CEO of Ninjacart, said that the lay off was the result of issues with employee’s performance.

    About Ninjacart

    Ninjacart is India’s largest Fresh Produce Supply Chain Company. They are pioneers in solving one of the toughest supply chain problems of the world by leveraging innovative technology. They source fresh produce from farmers and deliver them to businesses within 12 hours.

    The company works with farmers in Indian villages to produce fresh farm and deliver it on a pan India platform. When they saw that farmers are exposed to various challenges such as price risk, information asymmetry in demand, delayed payments or even insufficient knowledge on distribution, they decided to intervene and provide a channel to these farmers which would bring them better returns on their harvest.

    Vision of Ninjacart

    They looked at Retailers struggling with low quality produce, unhygienic products and everyday hassle to collect the harvest and pointed to it as a major concern. They also noticed that the traditional supply chain lacks efficiency, needs more organization and has a high rate of food wastage.

    Successful businesses are those which take off with an intention to solve problems experienced on grass root levels. And Ninjacart was founded precisely for that. The founders, Sharath Loganathan, Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Vasudevan Chinnathambi, Kartheeswaran KK, Sachin Jose and Ashutosh Vikram made an impeccable team to work towards creating a better channel for the farm produce to reach the locals more efficiently.

    Growth of AgriTech Startups in India
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    StartupTalkyRishita Jain

    Ninjacart Investors

    Backed by several venture capitalists, such as TigerGobal, Mistletoe, ACCEL, including giants like Walmart and Flipkart, Ninjacart aims to eliminate intermediaries and take control of supply chain management. It is their goal to make sure farmers are paid rightly with consistent demand and retailers are supplied with fresh and hygienic products.

    Why did Ninjacart Layoff 200 Employees

    Possible reason of Ninjacart’s layoff

    As we address the elephant in the room, we are going to talk about why a company like Ninjacart, which, as an ongoing concern, is breaking grounds to upgrade trading conditions for farmers, is laying off so many employees all of a sudden?

    Ninjacart laid off  200 employees across various functions at all employee levels. The labor cut happened across all  its key geographics- Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

    Unresolved issues from employees

    The employees complained of being given a 15 day notice period whereas every other company provides a 30 day notice period which is bare minimum. Employees at senior levels have shown dismay as they have removed from the company by issuing fake resignations. Employees said that they don’t remember submitting any resignations and that their source was a portal used by the company’s HR department.

    The employees believe the laying off was a part of their cost-cutting drive but the company has denied all such claims. According to CEO Thirukumaran Nagarajan, “Out of the 200 employees who were sent away, the majority of them were asked to leave due to performance issues. Every employee has an internal scorecard that we maintain so that whenever the performance dips below the expected KPIs, the manager (concerned) alerts him or her. If there is no improvement seen, the manager reports this to the HR who takes the final decision.”

    “We have had cases of theft, including our own employees stealing our crates. We have found instances of several of our employees stealing crates of products and selling those in supermarkets and other offline markets. We were able to track down those employees in the past and terminate their jobs.” Thirukumaran Nagarajan further added

    Apart from the layoffs, employees have complained about their performance appraisals being put on hold. Many companies, owing to the pandemic conditions, have had similar cost saving measures in place and CEO Nagarajan claims to have paid all the said payouts.

    “We have never had cost-cutting measures, but we did make a decision to postpone payments of variable pay components of employees in April after the lockdown. We had to take this decision as we were unsure about how the business might look like after the nationwide lockdown. However, we have already paid the variable pay to all employees in 4 equal instalments in the month of September, October, November and December. The annual variable pay payout is for the period of April 2019 to March 2020,” he added.

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    How Ninjacart Hires

    Ninjacart calls upon innovators, problem solvers and executioners to be a part of their steadily growing team. It has a flexible schedule for its employees and aims to have a fun environment at work. It has hired several freshers, including some from IIM and middle and senior management level employees in the recent year and now going strong with 4000 plus employees.

    Ninjacart Hiring Process
    Ninjacart Hiring Process

    Casual Hiring Approach

    Ex employees claim that the company had a casual approach towards hiring and firing people. It hired a batch of freshers from IIM and later fired them when their performance fell below a certain matrix without batting an eyelid or even giving them a second chance to improve themselves. This led to a lot of instability and insecurity among the employees and some of them left the company themselves.

    The agritech recently caught a hiccup due to a mass lay off and alleged unethical HR practices where employee IDs were hacked by team managers to submit fake resignations. The CEO, Nagarajan commented  that senior managers do not have the final say on layoffs without communicating the decision first to the HR department.

    “The issue of a manager taking control of some employees’ official accounts to force termination only happened in a few cases, and I have already communicated to these employees to contact me personally for an appropriate resolution,” he added.

    FAQ

    How does Ninjacart make money?

    Ninjacart is an AgriTech startup which allows farmers to sell their vegetables and fruits directly to retailers and restaurants without middlemen involved.

    Who is the founder of Ninjacart?

    Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Vasudevan Chinnathambi, Ashutosh Vikram, Kartheeswaran KK, and Sharath Babu Loganathan are founders of Ninjacart.

    Why did Ninjacart lay off 200 Employees?

    Ninjacart fired at least 200 employees citing performance and integrity issues, but employees believe the laying off was a part of their cost-cutting drive.

    Conclusion

    2020 Covid-19 pandemic left no stone unturned in messing up the world economy. Meanwhile, giants who stood tall taking hits from the pandemic, start up companies have struggled to even stay afloat. As we stated earlier, labor cut is a common practice when the company is in financial crisis and we surely empathize with that but the allegations Ninjacart are serious in nature.

    HR practices form a very prominent and integral part of any organization. The preamble set by an organization’s HR practices enable a smooth run for employees from the top management to ground level employees, and hence they need to be as transparent as possible.  

  • The Curious Case of Amazon, Flipkart & FDI – The Impact of New FDI Rules

    Rapid FDI stride is something India is boasting of since economic liberation in 1991, And indeed it brought in huge investments and millions of jobs alongside. No doubt market reforms placed the economy on the fast track of development. But on the flip side, soon after FDI in multi-brand retail got introduced in 2012 local businesses and trades took a hit quite as expected. Especially since gigantic foreign players like Amazon entered the market, Plenty of jobs were lost while micro & small retailers suffered significant losses.

    First Significant Change in FDI Policy That Hit Amazon/Flipkart
    Present Scenario and Government’s Role
    E-commerce/E-retail Growth in India
    Why E-commerce Regulation is Vital for Indian Economy
    Fresh Allegations Amidst Sensational Revelations
    What lies Ahead for Amazon & Flipkart
    FAQ

    First Significant Change in FDI Policy That Hit Amazon/Flipkart

    The ease & comfort of e-shopping has been intelligently multiplied in value by these global giants by offering heavy discounts. Therefore, to level out the playing field, Govt of India brought in a major policy shift Via FDI into e-commerce in Dec 2018. This change was persuaded by Indian brick-and-mortar retailers who were long unhappy with the supposed unfair trade practices of these multinational corporations.

    They contested that e-commerce retailers like Amazon & Walmart controlled Flipkart were creating complex business structures to smartly bypass foreign investment rules. They do it by finding a way around FDI rules to avoid complying with orders that are detrimental to these corporation’s interests & profits.

    US companies deny these charges, But govt of India had to look over the interests of Indian businesses first & so it did. Now, these giants were disallowed to sell products from sellers in whom they had an equity stake.

    The Rise Of E-commerce Industry In India
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    StartupTalkyDevashish Shrivastava

    Present Scenario and Government’s Role

    However, this didn’t seem to deter these foreign participants from working around policies to keep competition from Indian retailers at bay. So the Govt of India again is revisiting the FDI rules off late to tweak it further and Prohibit even those sellers from selling on these platforms, in whom these e-commerce companies have indirect stake through their parent company.

    Prohibit sellers who purchase from the e-retailer or its group firm & intern sell on the e-commerce site (presently the seller is allowed to transact 25% of its inventory under this arrangement)

    Govt had earlier in 2020 tightened the noose on FDI from neighboring countries as well, who share land borders with us like China, who now will have to seek govt approval before investing. The objective behind was to protect opportunistic take-overs & acquisitions of Indian companies in distress by foreign giants, due to COVID-19 induced global recession.

    Henceforth, any new investments in any sector from these (restricted) countries namely China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan and Afghanistan will have to take the govt route, and not the automatic route which was open to it earlier.

    E-commerce/E-retail Growth in India

    Let us look at some fascinating facts & figures before we discuss this subject further:

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    Why E-commerce Regulation is Vital for Indian Economy

    According to an American market research firm, Amazon & Flipkart together occupy about 63% of the total e-commerce space in India. Now, if domestic retailers, online & offline i.e. physical brick-and-mortar stores have to have a fair share of the market or a fair competition at least govt has to devise a strategy to promote Indian e-commerce & Industry without discouraging FDI. It’s a tough proposition.

    FDI is looked over by Indian departments of commerce & industry. They formulate laws and regulate FDI inflow by framing new policies and/or modifying scrapping old policies & rules. While this is done to further the economy on a macro level, its ripple effect on the micro economy can’t be overlooked either.

    So it has to strike a fine balance between retail reforms, an open market which on one hand benefits end consumers and provides millions of jobs. On the other hand predatory pricing, deep discounting by online retailers makes small retailers(mainly owner-managed & run stores) fight for survival tougher.

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    How is the e-commerce sector dealing with the changes brought about by Covid-19?” let us try to answer this question in detail and discuss emerging trends in the e-commerce industry.
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    Fresh Allegations Amidst Sensational Revelations

    A large growing economy like India, where low production costs and high-quality labor service lures investors from the world over, developed nations like the US, European and China, is also most prone to manipulations by foreign players if given a free run. As feared in this tweet by CAIT, Amazon India has been disrespecting laws reveals a recent Reuters investigation.


    In January 2020, India’s antitrust watchdog, the Competition Commission of India, announced it was investigating Amazon and Walmart Inc’s Flipkart following a complaint by an Indian trader group. The commission cited four alleged anti-competitive practices: exclusive launch of mobile phones by the e-commerce firms, promoting preferred sellers on their websites, deep discounting, and prioritizing some seller listings over others.

    What lies Ahead for Amazon & Flipkart

    While the colossal change in consumer behavior is unlikely to fade in near future, Amazon & Flipkart also maintain that they have been complying with Indian laws duly & are denying all charges. Govt is in talks with stakeholders for over a month. Therefore, for now, it is difficult to say what impact the policy changes, if any, will bring in, though e-retail unquestionably seems to have a bright future in the Indian market of a billion-plus.

    FAQ

    How much FDI is allowed in retail?

    51% FDI in multi-brand retail through automatic route i.e. without having to seek govt approval.

    Do online marketplaces like Amazon have their own products?

    Amazon and other multi-brand retail marketplaces are only allowed to connect sellers & buyers on their website in India. They are not allowed to purchase, hold, market and sell stocks as their own.

    Who started e-commerce in India?

    K Vaitheeswaran was the first person who opened the first online marketplace for Indian consumers called Fabmart.com in India in 1999, now rebranded as ‘More’.

  • Is Microsoft Acquiring Pinterest?

    Satya Nadella’s Microsoft made headlines when it intended to take over the American image-sharing social media service Pinterest for $51 million dollars, the Financial Times reported. Apparently this acquisition has reportedly stalled.

    Previously, Microsoft had been looking forward to buying the US operations of the Chinese media app TikTok. But the deal banged as Walmart and Oracle secured the deal. However, Walmart and Oracle might push back while President Joe Biden looks over new regulations relating to security threats posed by the Chinese apps.

    Microsoft’s interest in Pinterest

    Pinterest Growth
    Pinterest Growth


    Pinterest is a social media service that enables you to save and discover trends and ideas in the form of pin boards    . This information could be in the form of short videos, images and GIFs. It boasts about hosting 400 million users in a month. Women were their pioneer users and now 50% of their users are millennials. Although starting out as a “social media” platform that uses boards, the company has been putting continuous efforts in visual search and e-commerce such as online shopping catalogues.

    The deal with Pinterest would have been Microsoft’s largest acquisition, twice of what it spent after acquiring LinkedIn, a professional social media platform for $21 million dollars. Microsoft continues to pursue its goal of accruing a portfolio of active online communities which could run on Azure, its online cloud platform. Pinterest currently leans on Amazon Web Services (AWS) for providing infrastructure.

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    However, Pinterest has walked away from the deal stating it wants to remain an independent entity. The online social media service has seen an enormous growth during the pandemic.

    Pinterest has seen a 36% growth in the number of users compared to last year. Pinterest is the 4th largest social media platform in the US as Facebook and Instagram and YouTube hold the top spots.

    More than 40% users in the US have a Pinterest account. Pinterest is on the 10th position ranked by the Prophet’s Brand relevance Index after major giants like Apple, Spotify and Disney. It has been crowned first position in surveys like “makes me feel inspired” and “inspires me to be more creative” categories.

    Everything you need to know about TikTok Acquistion around world
    On June 29, the Indian government officially banned the famous video sharing appTikTok. TikTok dominated the Indian social media for quite some time, it isfamous for its entertaining short-videos but several reasons underline itssuccess. In just three years the video-sharing app gained massive po…
    StartupTalkyArbaaz sayed

    Microsoft’s Previous Acquisitions

    Microsoft is a multinational corporation that develops, licenses, and supports various products and services related predominantly to computers. After its Initial Public Offering, its market capitalization was close to $519 million. Microsoft’s first acquisition was Forethought in 1983. It developed a presentation program which we all know as Microsoft PowerPoint.

    In 1977, Microsoft acquired HotMail.com, a web mail service for $500 million, its largest acquisition at the time. Co-founded by Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia, Hot mail was a free web mail service with user base of 8.5 million at the time.

    In May 2011, Microsoft acquired Skype, a VoIP creation of Skype Technologies for 8.5 billion. Skype is available on smartphones , desktops and iPhone devices. it enables audio, video calls, personalized messaging and low rate calling to mobile networks and landlines around the world.

    Microsoft would be reaching a milestone in terms of its online community base if it acquires Pinterest. It did so by acquiring the professional social networking site, LinkedIn in 2016. It also acquired  GitHub, a code repository that helps network software developers, and Minecraft, an online game that last year passed 131 million users. After all the impedance and reluctance shown by Pinterest…

    Will Microsoft continue to pursue its goal to acquire Pinterest? Can this acquisition happen?

    Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

    Is Microsoft acquiring Pinterest?

    Microsoft is intended to take over the American image-sharing social media service Pinterest for $51 million dollars. Apparently, this acquisition has reportedly stalled.

    Why did Pinterest walk away from the deal?

    Pinterest walked away from the deal of Microsoft, stating that it wants to remain an Independent Entity.

    What is Pinterest?

    Pinterest is a social media service that enables you to save and discover trends and ideas in the form of pin boards. It is the 4th largest social media platform in the US

    What are major Microsoft’s Acquisitions?

    • Professional social networking site, LinkedIn in 2016.
    • GitHub, a code repository that helps network software developers
    • Minecraft, an online game that last year passed 131 million users.