Tag: News 📰

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail has Acquired Future group Retail Business for ₹24,713 crore

Kishore Biyani, once celebrated as a retail king has surrendered by selling his retail business of the Future Group to billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd has acquired Kishore Biyani’s Future Group for ₹24,713 crores / $3.38 billion. Reliance Retail will now have access to close to 1,800 stores across Future Group’s Big Bazaar, FBB, Easyday, Central, Foodhall formats, which are spread in over 420 cities in India.

“Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd will acquire the retail and wholesale business and the logistics and warehousing business from the Future Group as going concerns on a slump sale basis for lumpsum aggregate consideration of INR 24,713 crore,” the company said in a statement.

List of Companies Acquired by Reliance Brands & Jio

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has made several acquisitions in the past threeyears to boost product offerings of its subsidiaries – Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltdand Reliance Retail Ltd, among others. RIL has put in $566 million in media andeducation, $194 million in retail, $1.2 billion in telecom an…

StartupTalkyVarad Kitey

“It was mainly on account of an increase in debt of the operating companies, with the total debt at the group’s listed companies increasing to Rs 12,778 crore as of September 30, 2019, from Rs 10,951 crore as of March 31, 2019,” ICRA said.

This deal will help Kishore Biyani, CEO and founder of The Future Group, to pay off the company’s debts.

This transaction takes into account the interest of all its stakeholders including lenders, shareholders, creditors, suppliers and employees giving continuity to all its businesses. said Kishore Biyani, Group CEO, Future Group

The Future Group was founded in 1987 as ‘Manz Wear Private Limited’ and its headquarters are based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The CEO of the company, Kishore Biyani has previously sold shares of the company when they had been under debt when he sold ‘Pantaloons’ which is a leading clothing retail chain to Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited nearly eight years ago.

In the consumer electronics category, Reliance Retail operates Reliance Digital, Reliance Digital Express Mini stores and Jio stores, and in fashion & lifestyle category, it operates Reliance Trends, Trends Women, Trends Man, Trends junior, Project Eve, Reliance Footprint, Reliance Jewels and AJIO.com.

Past Reliance Industry Acquisitions

Embibe
Fynd
Grab
Haptik
Reverie
Saavn
Tesseract
Den Networks, Hathway Cable and Datacom
Hamleys
Netmeds
Asteria Aerospace
NowFloats Technologies
Radisys
Balaji Telefilms and Eros International

Why Reliance Retail acquired The Future Group Retail business

Ambani plans to battle top e-commerce companies in India such as Flipkart, which was bought by Walmart around 2 years ago, and Amazon, which already holds a stake in the company. He has already disrupted the telecom sector with jio and now is pushing ahead to consumer-services.

Reliance Retail Revenue Growth

Reliance Retail will now also have access to close to 1,800 stores across Future Group’s Big Bazaar, FBB, Easyday, Central, Foodhall formats amd Big Bazaar grocery chain will help Reliance, which sells everything from groceries to electronics through 11,000-plus stores, to broaden its extensive reach across the country.

The deal will also help to strengthen the vision of the launch of JioMart, the online grocery delivery service that propels the company’s omnichannel plans. JioMart is an online grocery store that aims to provide 50,000+ grocery products, at competitive discounts and express delivery at your doorstep.

The retail market is expected to grow to $1.3 trillion by 2025, that Boston Consulting Group.

Reliance Industries is now in battle with amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc., which have spent billions of dollars in a bid to dominate the world’s only billion-people-plus market. Ambani recently also announced that Reliance Reliance Industries is now net debt free much before original schedule.

August 29, 2020
Rakesh Sidana, founder, MeriCAR joins GoMechanic as AVP to Scale Spare Parts Business across India
With immense expertise in Business Development, Marketing and Startups, Rakesh Sidana has gone a long and fruitful journey in being an amazing Entrepreneur, as he is today! Being the Founder & Ex-CEO of MeriCar (A unique first platform for 5000 car garages in India), he has proven that innovation and determination can help succeed any ventures. He is a Serial Entrepreneur who looks for innovative and disruptive business. He has currently joined the Senior Management (Assistant Vice President) of GoMechanic.

GoMechanic is India’s leading Car Repair & Maintenance App which is helping streamline the disorganized automobile service centres in India. Amit Bhasin, Nitin Rana and Kushal Karwa, founded GoMechanic in 2016 with and aim to be a cost-effective and reliable solution in auto repairs and services. In August 2020, GoMechanic has on-boarded Rakesh Sidana to be a Key Part of its Core Management Team. His role as the Assistant Vice President will help in strengthening the position of GoMechanic in the India’s aftermarket system.

Co-founder of GoMechanic, Kushal Karwa said ‘Rakesh Sidana was one of the first few entrepreneurs in the online automotive service industry post the dot com revolution in India. His understanding & experience of the industry is commendable. We are happy to have him on board.

GoMechanic is rapidly increasing its presence in the Indian ecosystem with spread to 21 cities currently. Being the most successful multi-brand car repair & maintenance app in India, the team of GoMechanic is fully prepared to bring the benefits to more cities. GoMechanic’s app is available on IoS and Android. Till date, GoMechanic has attracted investment from Sequoia Capital, Chiratae Ventures, Rohit Bansal, Kunal Bahl, Orios, Dhianu Das & Pawan Munjal (MD of Hero Motocorp).

“Rakesh Sidana has in-depth knowledge of how the automotive aftermarket industry functions in India. He has himself spent a considerable amount of time & effort in understanding consumer behaviour & industry gaps. Glad to make the team stronger with his added point of view” Says Co-founder of GoMechanic, Nitin Rana.

Rakesh Sidana

Rakesh Sidana has always valued Wisdom and Knowledge in every step of his life. His Leadership Qualities can be assessed directly with the success of MeriCar.com

Established in 2008, MeriCAR.com is a marketplace and aggregator for the ‘after sales automotive’ market in India. He has over 20 years of experience in identifying gaps & creating online solutions for consumer needs. He founded Mericar.com in 2008 which allowed car owners to book personalized car care experiences online. It attracted seed funding from MyFirstCheque & Rajan Anandan. MeriCar is backed by a large international automotive corporate to serve customers pan-India 24×7 for roadside assistance or emergency breakdowns.

With a passion to share knowledge, Rakesh Sidana organises FB Live, Podcast, YouTube Talk Show and Startup Events. He has authored Books for entrepreneurs like –
- I want to fly, where are my wings (Motivational book for students, startups and entrepreneurs)
- Where share is like Love (The study of behaviour of users on Facebook)
- Startup Never Fails (eBook for entrepreneurs with Questions and Answers)
Rakesh Sidana will continue to being an Innovator, Serial Entrepreneur, Multi-talented and Visualizer.
August 29, 2020
Play Station is Hiring Gamers to Play games but Here’s the catch
This might sound like a dream come true to you, but yes Play Station is hiring gamers to play games, who are fluent in specific languages and live near Liverpool. The applicants must be fluent in either Portuguese, Russian, or Arabic. Besides, to be a great gamer you should also be fluent in these particular languages. Play station is looking for a Localisation Tester, who will test the audio and text in the game are correct.

The description of the job is as follows

Localization testing:
- Test software to ensure all localized assets are correct from linguistic, consistency and display points of view.
Localized assets review:
- Proof-read and correct translations before they are implemented into the games, ensuring that quality, accuracy and consistency is maintained.
Translation work:
- Occasionally provide translations for games, the packaging text for console and peripherals.
Other duties:
- Assist other teams with general testing duties when required
- Assist with project and process related tasks
Dream11 Success Story – India’s Best Fantasy Gaming App

Fantasy sport is what most young sports lovers today are crazy about. Withfantasy sport, sports lovers need not just enjoy a game by being a spectator,but can also create an imaginary team (of real players) of his own choice andearn rewards when his imaginary team performs well. All thanks to the…

StartupTalkyVidhi Punamiya

Skills, knowledge and experience:
- Fluency in English and one or more languages
- Passionate games player
- Good knowledge of computer games across multiple platforms
- Working knowledge of MS Office package
- Basic understanding of the development cycle and constraint
“As a Localisation Tester, you will be making sure the audio and text in a video game are correct. You will need to have native level knowledge for the required language (grammar, spelling, and punctuation) and good attention to detail to find and provide corrections for errors. Occasionally, you will translate text for a video game or marketing” the job description reads. The hours of work are likely to be 37.5 per week, working from 9 AM to 5:30 PM, Monday to Friday.

Top 10 Online Fantasy Gaming Startups in India: Dream11, MPL,Cricplay

Time and again, an app comes into play that floods up the market share. OnlineFantasy Sports Gaming has become more common in the last 2 decades andshockingly it has secured top gear in India. Because, by creating your ownimaginary team, if you could earn some real money, then, why not? One gami…

StartupTalkyAvantika Bhardwaj

What is Game Localization?

If you’re in the US, are your points of reference the same as a gamer in China?

Clearly no, Video game localisation includes everything necessary to prepare your app or game for sale in a new region. Most frequently, game developers translated games into German, European French, Japanese, Russian, Korean, European Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, Simplified Chinese, and Polish.

Top 10 Languages for Game Localisation

Game localisation includes
- Changing idioms to reflect cultural understanding
- Replacing slang with regional equivalents
- Changing dates and other formats to locally used ones
- Localising cultural or historical references which would otherwise make no sense
This is a dream of every gamer to play games all day long and get paid for it. If you are fluent in Portuguese and live near Liverpool you might try your luck. As of now, the salary has not been specified, the gaming giant is expected to receive a lot of applications from gamers around the world.

Game testing and localization isn’t a new job in the world of gaming. Since games are played worldwide and people may prefer to play the game in their native language, localization is key to the appeal of a game in some markets. We haven’t seen too many games localized for Indian languages.
August 27, 2020
Everything You Need to know About Tata Super App
Tata Group is planning to launch an all-in-one super app by the end of this year or early next year. Tata Super app will bring together all the consumer-facing businesses of the Tata group. A country or a region becomes super app ready when its large base of the population uses smartphones instead of desktops, and the ecosystem of apps customized to local needs is not evolved. India has over 450 million smartphone users, which means over 60 percent of Indians are accessing wireless broadband through smartphones. Here’s Everything You Need to know About the Tata Super App.

What is Super App?

A Super App is many apps within an umbrella app. The concept of the super app was first coined by BlackBerry founder Mike Lazaridis back in 2010. Smartphones are the primary internet access point for many people across the globe. A super app creates an ecosystem where there is no need for them to use a variety of apps.

The first successful super app developed was WeChat by Tencent . WeChat is a Chinese multi-purpose messaging, social media, and mobile payment app that became the world’s largest standalone mobile app in 2018, with over 1 billion monthly active users.

What is Tata Super App?

Tata super app will bring Tata’s various consumer businesses under one umbrella. Tata has a reach over 200 million households in India. Soon you could order ‘everything’ using Tata’s super app. Tata’s portfolio of products ranges from tea, coffee, water and ready-to-drink to salt, pulses, spices, ready-to-eat and more.

Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran told the paper, Tata’s super app would eventually encompass services from food and grocery ordering to fashion, lifestyle, electronics, insurance, financial services, education, healthcare and bill payments.

Ratan Tata’s Investment in Startups

Today, Ratan Tata needs no introduction as he is the most respected businesstycoon in India. He is an Indian industrialist, philanthropist, former chairmanof Tata Group and Tata Sons. Post his retirement in 2012 he has turned into anavid angel investor who has left an everlasting impact. He is we…

StartupTalkyVarad Kitey

Does India need a Super App?

In a developing country like India, a majority of the users have an affordable smartphone. These phones are restricted in terms of storage. Hence, the user doesn’t have the luxury to keep 20 utility apps installed for each task. A Super App can help bridge this restriction by clubbing all services in one app.

Smartphone users in India

Competitors of Tata Super App

India’s super app battle is expected to see a new entrant entrant, As Tata group plans to launch an omnichannel digital platform bringing together its various consumer businesses Tata Super App.

Paytm

Paytm began as a payments platform and has evolved into providing a range of services. Paytm became India’s only super app by offering 200 services to its users. Paytm is heading towards becoming India’s leading super app. The various products and services offered by Paytm are
- Paytm Mall
- Paytm Payments Bank
- Paytm Money
- Gamepind
Paytm to have Contactless In-Store Ordering | Paytm Contactless Ordering & Dinning

Indian e-commerce giant Paytm has come up with this new idea of having a‘contactless in-store ordering’. They said that the idea of Paytm contactlessordering will help in promoting the process of minimum physical contact. Paytm in a statement said that they have developed an online menu system w…

StartupTalkyYash Raj Srivastava
- Paytm Smart Retail Services
- Payment systems
- Digital wallets
- Mobile payments
- Banking
- Online shopping
Whatsapp

Facebook and Jio plan to transform India’s most popular app WhatsApp, with about 400 million users, into a Super App. It poses a new challenge to Paytm’s plan to be the leading super app in India.

Read more at Facebook-Jio deal to Turn WhatsApp into Super App like WeChat in China

Amazon

The popular perception is that Amazon is gearing towards becoming India’s first super app, but it does not comply with the core principle of super app which is services should be bundled together. Its unclear that will amazon jump on the bandwagon of super app or not.

List of products and services offered by Amazon
- Retail goods
- Amazon Prime
- Consumer electronics
- Digital content
- Amazon Studios
- Amazon Games Studios
- Amazon Video
- Video Direct
- Delivery
- Groceries
- Amazon Business
- Amazon Drive
- Private labels and exclusive marketing arrangements
- Amazon Web Services
- Amazon Publishing
- AmazonSmile
- Amazon Local
- Retail stores
- Amazon Home Services
- Amazon Cash/Top Up
Flipkart

Flipkart group is evolving into an super app by offering various services to the consumers like E commerce, Flipkart Supermart, Flipkart video and many more.

The idea of the super app sounds exciting and has worked well in China, there are concerns can it win in India’s diverse and complex market. Consumers in India want to check different options before making any purchase decision and opt to opt for the best offers before making any purchases. It will be too early to comment on anything about the success of the Tata super app but since it’s from such well known and respected brand it could be a success in India.
August 26, 2020
Flipkart Dives Into Social Commerce Platform Via Refurbished Goods Platform 2GUD

Flipkart has come up with the idea of launching social commerce on its 2GUD platform. 2GUD social commerce platform is owned by Flipkart where it sells all its refurbished goods. This new feature has been introduced to the users with a concept of uninterrupted video shopping.

Influencers Playing An Important Role

Under this feature, users can follow their favorite social media influencers and will be kept updated about all the latest fashion trends, gadget reviewing, latest make up or beauty tips and many more. it will contain a video feed consisting of all the influencers who will be promoting different brands and also reviewing the products. While the influencers will be reviewing some of the products users can even directly buy it through these videos.

2GUD Platform

Amazon Pay Launches Smart Stores: Can Be A Life Saver For Local Shops

Amazon Pay has launched a feature name Smart Stores on Friday where thecustomers who needs to buy products have just scan the QR code using theApplication and can explore all the products within the store which areavailable. Amazon Pay support system for local vendorsThis new feature is a ne…

StartupTalkyYash Raj Srivastava

A Variety of videos will be available through which the users can go through and select the product of their choice. Review videos will be available which will help the customer to go for the right choice. There will be a virtual store which will provide the customers wide variety of products.

Currently Not Available For Mobile Site and Web Site

After launching the feature on the 2GUD app, the company is also looking forward for becoming available for mobile site and website too. Having more than a million customers and spread around 15000 plus pin codes around India they offer around 600 plus refurbished products segments.

Flipkart Statement

Chanakya Gupta, Head of 2GUD gave a statement,“We want the next 200 million customers to be able to experience social commerce comfortably and build their trust on 2GUD as they come on to the platform for an engaging shopping experience. These consumers quite often face trust and style deficits. In a situation like this, recommendations from a person like yourself or an influencer play a critical role. Influencers are changing the landscape of online retail and bringing greater opportunities for social commerce platforms in India.”

Social media has played a very important role in changing the way that the users are shopping now. Influencers are creating a great impact on the new market. With the growing of influencers in the non metro cities too it has created a larger impact in the market. Due to this, people have started to feel a personal connection which has also created a good impact.

Google Launched Shopping Tab to direct users to E-commerce platforms

Google India [/tag/google/] has launched ‘Shopping’ tab to enable users to flipthrough the products and direct them to the merchant websites or e-commerceplatforms when searching for products to buy. Similar to the News and Image tabon Google, the shopping tab allows users to seamlessly control t…

StartupTalkyShubham Kumar

Lately, people have gained a lot of interest in this type of shopping concept. The younger generation is also getting attracted and becoming a smart shopper. While clothing, accessories, gadgets etc are being mostly bought online for a while now, so mixing up with this concept can be a unique way to promote the brands.

2GUD was launched in 2018

Prospecting Concept

This concept is gaining popularity among users and does have a great prospect. Influencers promoting these products is also helping in gaining the trust of the users. A good future can be expected and with more users and influencers trying to fit in.

Flipkart said that social commerce has already made inroads and accounts for 15-20% of the online retail market today, which is expected to hit the $70 billion mark in the coming decade, according to industry reports.

With the market now moving from celebrity influencers to the small home grown influencers, people will be able to develop a trust quite easily. With the involvement of Instagram, Youtube these influencers has been an inspiration for the newer generation. So, Flipkart can actually play a great role with the help of this concept.

FAQs Related To 2GUD

Will 2GUD only provide refurbished products?

No, 2GUD has been into offering new products for the quality conscious customers in the small cities since August 2019.

Is this safe?

Yes, this site is 100% safe as it is a counterpart of the ecommerce giant Flipkart only.

July 9, 2020
Everything You Need to know About JioMeet
Jio has finally launched its video conferencing app JioMeet to take on the likes of rivals Zoom and Googlemeet. Jiomeet is available across all platforms Android, iOS, Windows, mac OS and web. The video conferencing app supports call conferencing up to 100 people and meeting can go up to 24 hours. As compared to its rival Zoom, where the duration of meetings is of 40 minutes, you have to subscribe for its paid plan to host longer meetings.

Features of Jiomeet
- JioMeet can host up to 100 participants
- jiomeet has a multi-device support
- The calls can go up to 24 hours without any interruptions and there are no charges on the duration of calls
- Safe driving mode
JioMeet Features

As Reliance was planning to launch the jiomeet to compete with its rivals Zoom and Google meet but Zoom has faced intense competition since its was established. The interface of Jiomeet is almost similar to Zoom which received mixed reactions from the users. It also gets a feature waiting room which is similar to its rival zoom. As the government of India has declared zoom is not a safe platform but the users have no choice rather than using zoom because of its features. With the entry of jiomeet, it looks like Zoom has really tough competition and soon jiomeet will dethrone zoom.

Interface of JioMeet

Jio – The Company that Revolutionised Telecommunication Industry

Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified informationon different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on. When do you think a revolution came in the telecommunication industry? Well, themost common answ…

StartupTalkyRishabh Rathi

How to Download and Install Jiomeet on Smartphone
1. Go to Google Play Store or the App Store on your smartphone.
2. Search for JioMeet in the search section.

3. Once JioMeet appears in the result, tap on it, and select the ‘Install’ option to download it.

Install JioMeet

How to create a new JioMeet account
1. Open the JioMeet app and Tap on Sign up button
2. Enter your email ID and name and click on Next button
3. The app will now send a verification mail on your given email
4. Access the mail received and click on the Verify button
How to Sign In in JioMeet

5. It will then redirect you to a browser page, There it will ask you to create a password.

6. Enter the password and click on Next button

7. Once done with the process head back to the app and click on the Sign-in button and enter your login credentials.

JioMeet Sign In

How Mukesh Ambani’s JioMart is set to revolutionize e-commerce sector with JioMart

When it comes to the Indian business environment, one simply can’t ignore Mr.Mukesh Ambani, the biggest player, the owner of Reliance Industries, and thewealthiest businessman of India. He has footprints in some of the most importantsectors of the Indian economy like refining, oil & gas, petroche…

StartupTalkyLakshya Singh

How to host a new meeting

Once you are logged in into the app Tap on New Meeting, once done click on Start a Meeting.

Mukesh Ambani: The Richest Indian And Head Honcho Of RIL

Just like Sharma Ji’s son is the benchmark of educational achievements, MukeshAmbani is the epitome of running business in India. “We are not Ambani” is afavorite amongst Indians when it comes to riches and wealth. What makes MukeshAmbani and his family different from a lot of influential Indians…

StartupTalkyShubham Kumar

How to invite people to join your meeting
1. Once you setup the meeting Tap on participants at the bottom
2. After that Tap on Invite button and then choose the service from which you want to invite participants such as whatsapp, messages and etc.
How to join a meeting

Joining a meeting is quite simple either click on the link shared by the host or you can manually enter the meeting id and password and join the meeting.

Which is a better video conferencing app JioMeet or Zoom?

Jiomeet has all the basic features of Zoom but the point where JioMeet excels is, The call duration of JioMeet goes up to 24 hours free of charge without any interruptions whereas in Zoom it is limited to 40 minutes.

Zoom announced that it will be adding end to end encryption to both its free and paid users whereas Jio said all of its calls are password protected but nothing has been revealed about the end to end encryption like its rival. Looking at the details it’s hard to comment on which is a better video conferencing app, as per secure calls Zoom takes on the lead by offering (End to End)encryption but if we look at free calls for 24 hours then JioMeet is the winner.

FAQ about JioMeet

Is JioMeet Free ?

Yes, JioMeet is free and the calls can go up to 24 hrs without any interruptions.

Is JioMeet safe?

Jio has said that all its meetings are password protected however the company hasn’t revealed anything about an end to end encryption on its call.

Is JioMeet only for jio users?

No, JioMeet is available for all users. you can download it from Playstore or Appstore

It looks like Zoom has fierce competition here. Jio has made a great brand image in the past. JioMeet will be the first preference of Indian users as it is an Indian app. Zoom said in a statement that it has experienced intense competition since it was established. Now it’s up to Indians Will they prefer JioMeet or Zoom.
July 5, 2020
Uber: Mumbai Office Shuts Down, Services For Riders Will Be Unaffected

Uber has taken a decision to permanently close it’s Mumbai office as a part of the ride-hailing company’s decision to close around 45 branches of Uber globally. However, employees will work from home until December.

Uber Not Coming Up With A Proper Statement

Uber Mumbai Office shuts down

When people tried to contact the spokesperson of Uber he stated, “Uber continues to provide a high level of service to all its riders in Mumbai”.

Gurugram consists of one branch of Uber which is a big one and Uber is also having its technology centers in cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It also consists of small support offices in many cities in India.

OLA Cabs forays into United Kingdom after Australia & New Zealand

Indian cab-hailing app OLA [/startup-story-ola/] launched its services in theisland nation of Europe in 2018. Indian startups [/tag/indian-startups/] aresetting the stage for global expansion. Indian ride-hailing app Ola has launchedoperations in London. Ola has more than 25,000 registered driver…

StartupTalkyShubham Kumar

Arch Rival Ola Also Facing the Same Type Of Crisis

Uber’s arch-rival Ola has also fired around 1400 employees in May due to the same pandemic situation. Ride-hailing Competitor Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal also stated that companies condition is “very unclear and uncertain.”

Adding to it Aggarwal said, “It is going to take a long time for people to go out and about like before. With more companies preferring to have a large number of employees work from home, air travel limited to essential trips and vacations being put off for better times, the impact of this crisis is definitely going to be long-drawn for us.”

Fired Around 25% of Employees Globally

In May Dara Khosrowshai, CEO Uber wrote to all the Uber employees that they are taking a decision to shut down around 45 Uber branches globally. This step has been taken due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Uber also fired around 3700 employees in may which constituted around 25% of the workforce of the company.

“We have made the incredibly difficult decision to reduce our workforce by around 3,000 people, and to reduce investments in several non-core projects, “said the Uber CEO in May hinting the outcomes.

Till now around 6000 employees of Uber has been fired since the start of the pandemic which is creating a difficult situation for the company.

Uber Success Story – How This Ride Hailing Company Came into Being

In the 21st century, every tick-tock of clock counts and in such a scenario eventhe idea of waiting in queues for buses or autos does not seem good. UberTechnologies, Inc., came up with an idea to make every tick-tock count andenhance the traveling experience. Uber hails from The States and hasr…

StartupTalkyChayanika Goswami

India Consisting Around 8% Of Total Global Employees

India consists of around 8% of the total global employees of Uber. Also, Uber gave a statement that they will be laying off around 600 employees in the departments such as customer and driver support, business development, legal, finance, policy, and marketing verticals.

“We began 2020 on an accelerated path to total company profitability. Then the coronavirus hit us with once-in-a-generation public health and economic crisis,” Khosrowshahi said in May.

Uber Eats Can Be A Silver Lining

Uber eats can be a silver lining

“If there is one silver lining regarding this crisis, it is that Eats has become an even more important resource for people at home and for restaurants,” he said hoping a better future for Uber Eats. “We no longer need to look far for the next enormous growth opportunity, we are sitting right on top of one.”

Although he has said that the profit they hope to gain from Uber eats would not help in the loss they are facing due to their cabs services. He has also warned that the profit can not be earned overnight.

Uber globally also faced a huge loss of around $2.9 billion in the first quarter of 2020. In 2019 they were having a growth rate of around 14% from $3.1 billion to around $3.54 billion.

July 4, 2020
Mark zuckerberg lost over $7 Billion After Brands Boycott Ads on Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg has lost over $7.2 billion after major firms pulled advertising from Facebook Inc.’s network and the current net worth of Zuckerberg is $79.7B.

Shares of Facebook fell 8.3%, the most in three months, after Unilever, one of the world’s largest advertisers, joined other brands in boycotting ads on the social media network.

Facebook stocks Drop down to 8.3%

Also read: Tech Giants, Facebook,Instagram, and Twitter reacts to George Floyd Protest

This has affected the market value of Facebook and has eliminated $56 billion from its market value and drove Zuckerberg’s net worth down to $82.3 billion according to Bloomberg. This has bought down mark Zuckerberg to the 4th richest person overtaken by the chief executive of Louis Vuitton Bernard Arnault who is now the third richest person in the world.

Major brands from Verizon to Hershey’s have stopped social media ads on Facebook after critics expressed that Facebook has failed to sufficiently monitor hate speech and disinformation on the platform.

Also read: Facebook Invests $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms for 9.99% Stake

Top Brands Boycotting Facebook Ads over Hate Speech

Unilever, $42.4 million in advertising

Uniliver One of the biggest advertisers in the world said it would stop running ads on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter in the United States for at least the rest of 2020.

Coca-Cola, $22.1 million

Coca-cola announced that it would stop all paid ads on all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days. A Coca-Cola spokeswoman said that “The company was not joining the official Facebook boycott”.

Verizon, $22.9 million

The chief media officer of the telecommunications company said that it was “ it is pausing our advertising until Facebook can create an acceptable solution that makes us comfortable and is consistent with what we’ve done with YouTube and other partners.” Verizon has stopped both paid and unpaid ads on Facebook.

Honda America, $6 million in advertising

The automaker decided that it will withhold ads from Facebook and Instagram for the month of July to stand with people united against hate and racism.

Levi Strauss & Co., $2.8 million

the chief marketing officer of Levi Strauss Jen Sey has criticized Facebook for its failure to stop the spread of misinformation and hate speech on its platform. Sey also wrote that Levi Strauss would suspend advertising at least through the end of July.

After this increasing criticism, Facebook revised its policies announcing that the company would label all voting-related posts with a link encouraging users to look at its new voter information hub. Facebook also expanded its definition of prohibited hate speech, adding a clause saying no adverts will be allowed if they label another demographic as dangerous.

June 28, 2020
Government must Focus on Favorable Ecosystem in COVID-19 Crisis: Manu Rekhi

The coronavirus pandemic has affected economy not only in India but all over the world. COVID-19 has already resulted into lay-offs which led to increasing unemployment. IMF predicts that India’s economy will contract by 4.5% in FY21. However to accommodate the growing need of jobs, the Government needs to implement good and fair policies. Thus, Manu Rekhi, Director at Inventus Capital Partners, speaks on why the Indian government needs to create a business-friendly ecosystem and what entrepreneurs need to focus on.

Manu Rekhi of Inventus Capital Partners believes that the government should not finance startups or venture capitalists. Instead, it should focus on providing an ecosystem favorable for the startups by carrying out effective policies and practices. India needs to create jobs for 12 million graduates entering the workforce every year. Startups absorb nearly 57% of fresh graduates in the country.

Also Read: How Different Sectors will Resume their Operations after Lockdown?

Lobbying by big firms and Brain Drain

Acknowledging the startup initiative and commenting in the greater influence held by the big companies, Manu Rekhi said,

When the startup policy was being drafted, Startup Bridge India along with a consortium of organisations (TiE, Nasscom, FICCI, iSpirit and more) made 129 recommendations to make it easier for startups to grow in India, but only 10 percent of the recommendations were accepted. The policy has not created a level playing field for small companies and investors. There is too much lobbying by large firms who have a vested interest to limit competition.
If this is the case, there will be a continued brain drain from India and startups will eventually move to places of efficiency. This is why we see a continued increase in company registrations in Singapore and Delaware from Indian startup founders. Patchwork like POEM just convince startups to pack up their bags and move to the west. It’s not unpatriotic to leave India, rather it is unpatriotic to not strive towards having the best environment for startups and encourage healthy competition in India.

Unnecessary business regulations and taxes need to be done away with to let the startups breathe and survive.

Calling out on the hostile business ecosystem, Manu Rekhi asserted

The other important thing is that if a country is not business-friendly, startups have to change their origin of operations. You have to be ready to move to a market that supports your business ideas. Any country keen to create a great startup ecosystem should make it friendly to smaller businesses.

Startups during their initial phase are vulnerable. Hence, government policies in India should provide a similar playing field. Burdensome and ineffective policies can lead startups to die a premature death.

Earlier, Deep Kalra, chairman and CEO of MakeMyTrip, had warned about the global rivals taking over the Indian startup system. Home-grown companies are struggling to achieve share in the domestic market. Large foreign companies after merging with the local company create a stressful environment for the other potential local players.

Also Read: These Companies are Laying Off due to COVID-19 Crisis

Policies should be implemented to accommodate the capital requirement by small firms from foreign conglomerates but market security provisions should be rendered to make the local players competent enough to take on big firms. This can only be achieved by the putting place effective startup orientated regulations, thus promoting growth and enhancing the startup space in the country.

June 26, 2020
OLA Cabs forays into United Kingdom after Australia & New Zealand

Indian cab-hailing app OLA launched its services in the island nation of Europe in 2018. Indian startups are setting the stage for global expansion. Indian ride-hailing app Ola has launched operations in London. Ola has more than 25,000 registered drivers on its platform in London. The move comes on the back of rival Uber losing its licence to ply in London on safety concerns. The company has confirmed its foray into the European market.

A warm welcome to the Indian startup expanding its transportation services in foreign countries, now OLA in UK after Australia and New Zealand markets. Ola is looking at bigger markets. Ola had been working towards this launch for the last year. CEO of Ola, Bhavish Aggarwal said, “It is not just yet another city launch for us. It is a transformative event for all of us at Ola.”

In July last year, Ola was granted a one-year Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) licence from the Transport of London — a body that oversees the cities’ transportation — to operate its services in the city, according to a disclosure made by the department. Ola’s licence is valid until October 3 this year.

Bhavish Aggarwal, the Indian Entrepreneur and co-founder of OLA cabs has expressed immense happiness in bringing OLA in United Kingdom who calls it to be ‘momentous moment’ for everyone associated with OLA.

Also Read: OLA – Competing World’s Most Valued Startup from India

The United Kingdom has one of the world’s most evolved transportation markets. UK works with black cabs and private hire vehicles (PHV) round the clock catering to people. Here comes OLA, India based online ride-hailing company marching towards the UK which will be the only on demand app to offer both Black cab and PHV facilities to people. With the known fact of the UK with its best-regulated taxi services, OLA is about to enter the market. Britain already is embedded with multi-billion dollar ride-sharing giant apps like UBER on it’s fast pacing on roads.

Ola in United Kingdom

Ola has obtained the license to operate on South Wales and Greater Manchester as per a press release as it’s the first step as ‘OLA in UK’. OLA is engaging with policymakers and regulators to expand its network over a period of time. It might expand its services throughout the UK by this year-end. This seems a wise decision entering into the UK market which faces mobility issues for the people relying on public transport services.

The company has come up with more facilities for commuters as per their convenience and choice. It ensures facilities with 24/7 safety, in-app emergency services, Disclosure and Barring Services(DBS) screened drivers, sharing live location, live tracking, reaching out to emergency contacts if needed etc. OLA app is user-friendly and is instantaneous in catering all needs of the people.

OLA in UK is all set for its second innings globally after launching across seven cities in Australia with its maiden launch. It also has its sketch to launch in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka soon.

Also Read: Uber – How This Ride Hailing Giant Made It To The Top!

Despite the fact that Uber is one of the most sought ride-sharing apps in the UK and its territorial presence in 70 countries, OLA is enthusiastic and is firm to take a stand globally with 1 million drivers across various cities. A huge customer base and the most accessed app in the Indian sub-continent, OLA has an edge over Uber in India. It must have its own strategies to make it successful in the transportation overseas market.

Time for us to wait and watch the Indian based company establishing its market in Britain grounds.

June 24, 2020