Rebel Foods to spend $150 million to buy and scale new food brands in India & abroad

Rebel Foods, which runs a chain of internet restaurants, has said it plans to invest $150 million (nearly Rs 1,140 crore) to acquire and scale new food brands in India and globally.

The investment pool will be used in the next few quarters, to scale up existing and new partnerships with over 40 Indian and international brands, the company said in a statement.

The foodtech unicorn which operates over 450 kitchens globally around 70 cities in over 10 countries, said it plans to further grow its presence to 100 cities around the world.

The firm said it has helped scale up partner brands like SLAY, Naturals Ice Cream, Mad Over Donuts and Wendy’s across hundreds of locations in India within a short period. It recently invested in Biryani Blues and Zomoz to further scale the brands nationally.

Rebel Foods Co-Founder Raghav Joshi said, "This is in conjunction with our plans to expand great local brands internationally while becoming the most loved food company.”

The startup’s investment plans come on the back of it attaining unicorn status in October this year.

Open acquires neo-bank Finin for $10 million

Google-backed business-focused neobanking platform Open has acquired consumer neo-banking startup Finin for $10 million in a cash-and-stock deal.

The acquisition will strengthen Open’s cloud native enterprise offering BankingStack through which it has deployed SME digital banking solutions for 17 banks.

According to the firm, the deal will also enhance its no-code embedded finance platform Zwitch, through which it enables fintechs and non-fintechs to launch innovative digital banking services.

“The acquisition of Finin adds strategic value to Open’s offering in the cloud native enterprise banking and embedded finance space,” said Anish Achuthan, Co-Founder & CEO, Open Financial Technologies.

Open powers over 15 banks in India and two banks in South-East Asia mostly in the business banking space. The platform powers close to two million SMEs and processes over $24 billion in annualised transactions. The firm also adds over 100,000 SMEs every month.

Flipkart's Shopsy launches e-grocery in 700 cities

As e-grocery platforms pick up momentum in India, Flipkart's social commerce offering Shopsy announced that it has started offering grocery as a category on its platform.

Leveraging the Flipkart Group's supply chain infrastructure and tech capabilities, Grocery on Shopsy will cater to consumers across 700 cities, spanning over 5,800 pincodes.

"Grocery is a key consumer need and we are committed to making e-grocery affordable for consumers and sellers alike. We have been working on reducing the cost of delivering groceries over the last few months. We are happy to announce that we have achieved best in class cost structure which makes us confident of scaling grocery on Shopsy," Prakash Sikaria, Senior Vice President, Growth, Flipkart, said in a statement.

Grocery on Shopsy will host over 6,000 products across 230 categories -- ranging from staples, FMCG, and other dry groceries; matching the selection and range available on Flipkart Grocery.

Shopsy is foraying into grocery delivery when the space is seeing intense competition from players such as Blinkit (formerly known as Grofers), Swiggy’s Instamart, BigBasket, Dunzo and Zepto.

Launched earlier this year, Shopsy has over 2.5 lakh sellers on the platform who provide 150 million products.

E-commerce in India sees uptick of 77% between 2020 & 2021: Bobble AI Report

E-commerce in India has witnessed an uptick of 77 percent between 2020 and 2021 and tier 2 and 3 cities are transacting more than ever, as per a report by conversation media platform Bobble AI. The report also revealed that while tier 1 cities dominate the fashion festival figures, transactions in tier 2 cities are at an all-time high -- up 82 percent over the previous year.

Flipkart’s active user base rose 83 percent in 2021compared to Amazon’s 72 percent. Bobble AI said despite Flipkart dominating in terms of engagement metrics like search frequency and active sessions, Amazon was winning in terms of transactions and significantly less average session times.

The study highlighted that India’s fashion e-commerce industry has transformed from ‘Monopoly’ to ‘Ludo.’

Fashion giant Myntra faced tough competition from its competitive counterparts, Meesho, Ajio, and TataCliq. While almost 46 percent of all transactions belonged to Myntra during the 2020 festive period, Ajio bagged around 69 percent of all transactions in 2021. The share of Myntra’s active users, also using Meesho, Ajio, and TataCliq has also increased significantly, indicating how users are exploring multiple options this year, the report added.

Meanwhile, from the beauty e-commerce segment, leading players Nykaa and Purplle locked horns this festive season. Purplle had a 70 percent growth in active users in the 2021 shopping festival, compared to a 50 percent increase for Nykaa. With 15 percent common user base in 2020, Purplle is now standing at 17 percent in 2021.

Mamaearth’s parent co to offer ESOPs worth Rs 20 crore

D2C player Mamaearth’s parent company Honasa Consumer has distributed stocks worth Rs 20 crore, in addition to the ESOPs previously allocated. This option will be a top-up component over and beyond the employee CTC.

“Unlike some programmes which require employees to contribute a part of their CTC as investment towards stock options, we have made this as a top-up component. We want the employees to have equal chance to participate in any upcoming liquidation opportunity to build their personal wealth portfolio,” said Varun Alagh, Co-Founder and CEO, Honasa Consumer.

This initiative will include all the current employees, irrespective of their role, seniority and tenure. The personal care brand said it will provide stock appreciation rights to all the future employees as well.

The Sequoia-backed D2C startup has so far raised $73.3 million and had recorded a revenue run rate of over Rs 500 crore.

D2C clean beauty brand Pilgrim witnesses 3X Growth in FY21

D2C beauty and personal care brand Pilgrim has revealed that they have witnessed 3X growth in revenue in 2021.

Out of this, 75 percent of revenue was driven by their Korean beauty range, and the French beauty range held a 25 percent share, the company said in a statement.

The vegan brand had held a survey which showed that more than 75 percent of consumers wanted their skincare products to be free of sulphates and parabens. It also highlighted that most of the respondents who preferred clean beauty products were women and men in the age group of 25-35 years.

“We have also seen an increasing demand for vegan and animal cruelty-free products. Younger generations have played a huge role in this shift and are motivating the previous generations to join this movement,” said Anurag Kedia, Co-Founder and CEO, Pilgrim.

Sachin Tendulkar joins Spinny as strategic investor, lead brand endorser

Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has joined pre-owned car retailing platform Spinny as a strategic investor and lead brand endorser. Spinny, however, did not disclose the amount of investment by Tendulkar.

“Entrepreneurs of today are creating solutions that cater to this ambition. The team has adopted timeless values to achieve excellence in their business -- trust, transparency and integrity," said Tendulkar.

Earlier this year, Spinny had announced its association with Indian badminton player P.V. Sindhu. Spinny’s customers, along with the endorsers, will lead a series of marketing initiatives over the next year, the company said in a statement.

“We strive to instill Sachin's abilities in everything we do and Spinny’s outlook to solve real customer problems. Having him onboard with Spinny is absolutely heart-warming, and we are proud to welcome our newest captain of Squad Spinny, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar," said Niraj Singh, Founder and CEO, Spinny.

The company had recently joined the unicorn club after raising a $283 million Series-E round of funding, which took the total capital raised by the platform to more than 530 million and giving it a valuation of $1.8 billion.

Netflix slashes India prices, bids to make inroads in Bharat

Netflix has slashed the prices of its streaming services in India, for the first time since its launch as it moves to better compete with rivals Disney and Amazon.

The streaming giant cut prices by 60 percent, to Rs 199 from Rs 499 per month, for its basic plan that lets users watch content on a single device, it said in a blogpost.

Meanwhile, the Standard tier which offers high-definition (HD) content along with support for two concurrent screens, has been reduced to Rs 499 per month from Rs 649 per month.

The service's most expensive Premium tier that offers Ultra high-definition (Ultra HD) content with support for four concurrent screens, is now priced at Rs 649 per month, down from Rs 799 per month.

The price of its mobile-only plan, which was introduced in India in July 2019 at Rs 199 per month will drop a quarter to Rs 149, with overall prices of various plans falling 18-60 percent. The new pricing will be applicable from the user's next billing cycle.

The new prices were the "real Money Heist," Netflix said in its announcement, using the name of one of its popular television shows.

This move would allow Netflix to attract a new set of audience to its platform and capture the Indian market.

Banks gained 11.6% share for loans in micro-credit lending in the last 4 years: IFI Report

Banks have gained an additional share of 11.6 percent, while small finance banks (SFBs) and micro finance institutes (MFIs) lost almost 5 percent and 6 percen, respectively for the total gross loans in the micro-credit lending space, as per Inclusive Finance India (IFI) Report 2021.

It revealed that return on assets decreased from 3 percent to 0.67 percent while return on equity declined from 13.17 percent in FY 2020 to 1.44 percent in FY 2021 for MFIs.

However, there were significant improvements in average cost for funds, which declined from 11.9 percent in FY 2020 to 10.9 percent in FY 2021. MFIs also witnessed a net reduction in operating costs compared to 2020 by more than 50 basis points, the study showed.

The report also observed an increase in contactless and Aadhaar-based payments by 10 percent in 2020, the public retention of currency also increased by 22 percent.

Zomato strengthens leadership, appoints Deputy CFO & Chief Sustainability Officer

Food delivery platform Zomato has announced two top-level appointments to expand its senior leadership team.

Anjalli Ravi Kumar has joined the company as Chief Sustainability Officer and Nitin Savara as Deputy Chief Financial Officer.

Savara worked with Zomato as an advisor, and was an integral part of various acquisitions and other key initiatives, leading up to the IPO, the company said.

"Zomato is committed to sustainable growth. To take our initiatives to the next level and ensure our growth is sensitive to both environment and society, we announce that Anjalli Ravi Kumar will be joining our team as Chief Sustainability Officer", the company said in a statement.

The foodtech major reported a net loss of Rs 434.90 crore in Q2 September 2021 as against a net loss of Rs 229.80 crore in Q2 September 2020.

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS

Apple closes in on $3-trillion market value, launches AirTag detector app for Android

Apple’s market value hovered just shy of the $3-trillion mark on December 14, following a stunning run over the past decade, that has turned it into the world's most valuable company.

As per Reuters, the company’s shares fell just over 2 percent on December 14 to close at $175.74, reversing earlier gains that saw them approach the $182.86 price needed to record a $3-trillion market value.

The iPhone maker's march from $2 trillion to near $3 trillion in market value took 16 months.

Meanwhile, Apple has also launched an Android app to help users scan nearby AirTags or other similar item trackers that might be traveling with them without their knowledge, in an effort to boost privacy.

The Tracker Detect app, which Apple released on Google's Play Store, says that a user can scan to try to find AirTags or compatible devices if they believed someone is using it to track their location.

Musk sold Tesla shares worth $13 billion so far, EV maker to accept Dogecoin as payment for merchandise

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sold nearly $13 billion worth of shares since early November, when the world's richest person polled Twitter users about offloading 10 percent of his stake in the electric car maker, Reuters reported.

The billionaire sold another 934,091 shares for $906 million on December 13 to pay for taxes on the exercise of stock options to buy 2.13 million shares in Tesla, according to US securities filings.

Musk also said on December 14 that the electric carmaker will accept Dogecoin as payment for merchandise on a test basis, sending the meme-based cryptocurrency up 24 percent.

Musk did not specify what merchandise, which starts from $50 and goes as high as $1,900, could be bought with Dogecoin.

China's WeRide gets strategic investment from GAC Group for robotaxis

WeRide, a China-based autonomous driving startup, has received a strategic investment from Guangzhou Automobile Group, which will deepen their partnership that is focused on developing and making robotaxis.

It did not disclose the size of the investment. The two plan to build a fleet of tens of thousands of robotaxis in the coming years, as per a Reuters report.

WeRide is also backed by Nissan Motor. Last month, WeRide said it planned to make its robotaxis available for booking by the public on GAC Group's Ontime ride-hailing app by next year.

UK regulator says Google and Apple hold 'vice-like' grip on consumers

Google and Apple hold a "vice-like" grip over how people use mobile phones, stripping any meaningful choice from the system and potentially hiking costs, Britain's competition regulator said.

According to Reuters, the Competition and Markets Authority said it had provisionally found that the two groups were able to leverage their market power to create largely self-contained ecosystems.

The regulator said it would consult on its initial Apple and Google findings and would welcome responses by February 7. It expects to issue a final report by June.

The CMA's report set out a range of options that could address the issues, including making it easier for users to switch between Apple's iOS and Google's Android phones without losing functionality or data.

It is also looking at whether users could install apps through methods other than Apple's App Store or Google's Play Store.

The statement is a fresh warning to tech groups after the regulator, with British government backing, stepped up scrutiny of the power they wield in a world increasingly lived online.

Facebook owner behind $60-million deal for Meta name rights

Meta Platforms, the owner of social media network Facebook, is behind a $60-million deal to acquire the trademark assets of US regional bank Meta Financial Group, spokespersons for the companies told Reuters.

The deal underscores how valuable the Meta name has become for the technology giant, which is betting that its focus on the metaverse -- shared digital spaces accessed via the internet through an array of devices -- will pay off handsomely in the coming years.

Meta Financial had said in regulatory filing on December 13 that a Delaware company called Beige Key agreed to acquire the worldwide rights to its company names for $60 million in cash. It did not disclose who the owner of Beige Key was.

Facebook said in October its parent company had changed its name to Meta Platforms. The tech giant, which has invested heavily in virtual reality and augmented reality, sees the metaverse as the successor to the mobile internet.

Weibo fined by Chinese regulator for publishing illegal information

Chinese social media platform Weibo Corp has been slapped with a 3-million yuan ($470,000) fine by China's internet regulator for repeatedly publishing illegal information, Reuters reported.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said Weibo had violated a cybersecurity law on the protection of minors as well as other laws but did not give further details.

It also said Beijing's local cyberspace regulator had imposed 44 penalties on Weibo totaling 14.3 million yuan for the year to November.

The company, which operates a platform similar to Twitter in China, has been ordered to "immediately rectify and deal with relevant responsible persons seriously," the CAC said in a statement.

Weibo said it "sincerely accepts criticism" from the regulator and has established a work group in response to the penalty.

The fine is the latest in a string of penalties the regulator has imposed on tech companies this year and comes amid tougher oversight of a tightly-censored internet that has seen new guidelines issued for news sites and online platforms.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)