Here are the top headlines from the startup space this week.

Ixigo eyes mega IPO backed by Budget boost to rail infra & hospitality

As the startup IPO boom is set to continue in 2022, travel tech major Ixigo is eyeing a robust stock market debut on the back of a forward-looking and infrastructure focussed Union Budget for FY23.

According to the company, the announcement of new Vande Bharat trains over the next three years and further support for the hospitality sector under ECLGS scheme would in turn support the travel industry and boost consumer demand in the sector.

In December, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) gave its approval for Le Travenues Technology Limited which manages the travel platform Ixigo to raise Rs.1600 Cr. through initial public offering.

It plans to raise Rs 750 crore in fresh issue and Rs 850 crore in an offer-for-sale. Elevation Capital, with a 24 percent interest in the company, is the largest shareholder in the travel booking company, followed by SCI Investments, with a 16.02 percent stake, and Gamnat, with a 9.89 percent stake. Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar, the company’s co-founders, own 9.18 percent and 8.79 percent of the company, respectively.

Governance review being carried out based on internal complaints: BharatPe CEO

BharatPe CEO Suhail Sameer in a letter to his employees requested them to keep their trust on the board amid co-founder Ashneer Grover's tussle with the company's board. Grover has been accused of financial fraud and misbehaviour.

The fintech has been in news over Grover’s alleged use of inappropriate language against one of Kotak Group’s employees.

The BharatPe CEO in the letter to employees, a copy of which is with CNBC-TV18, has said while some reports are partially true, most are unsubstantiated rumours.

He said that they have decided to do a full audit of the governance processes based on some internal complaints. "Review is still substantiating the more serious allegations," he said.

"We expect the review partners to share an interim report with the Board in a couple of weeks. And I request all of you to keep your trust on the Board of BharatPe. We are on an incredible trajectory; we are easily the fastest BNPL product to hit 500 crore TPV. January 2022 was our lifetime best month so far in terms of revenue, as well as on margins."

Meesho goes 'Boundaryless', allows employees to work from anywhere

Internet commerce giant Meesho will allow its employees to work from anywhere, as it joins a growing list of global companies that are future-proofing their organisations & realigning the workforce post the pandemic.

Adopting a ‘Boundaryless Workplace Model’, Meesho aims to decentralize the workplace. It is giving its employees the power to choose to work from home, office or any location of their choice, a statement said. Based on employee demand, the company will also set up satellite offices at locations with higher talent density.

The new model also gives the company an opportunity to tap into a global workforce as the war for talent continues to heat up in India’s technology sector.

Meesho’s founder and CEO, Vidit Aatrey explained the move in a series of tweets, saying that “leaders need to acknowledge that employees' psychological & physical safety is more important than their location of work.”

ACQUISITION NEWS

IPO-Bound Pine Labs acquires Qfix as it adds more thrust to Online Payments foray

IPO-bound Pine Labs has acquired online payments startup — Qfix Infocomm — for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition comes as Pine Labs adds more thrust to its foray into online payments in a move to diversify ahead of its U.S. IPO later this year.

The Mumbai-based Qfix is a cloud-based end-to-end platform, offering integrated online payments and billing services to multiple sectors. With HDFC Bank as its lead distribution partner, the platform currently hosts more than 5,000 merchants, including educational institutions, governments and clubs.

Fintech unicorn Razorpay marks first international foray; acquires Malaysian startup Curlec

Fintech unicorn Razorpay marks its first international acquisition after buying a majority stake in a Malaysian fintech firm Curlec. Razorpay expects to complete the full acquisition in the next one-and-a-half years.

This is Razorpay's fourth acquisition overall and comes just over a month after raising $375 million in funding. Prior to this, Razorpay acquired TERA Finlabs, Opfin and Thirdwatch.

“This acquisition will allow us to quickly ramp up and start scaling in Southeast Asia as a market. Curlec have been powering recurring payments for multiple companies in the Malaysia market. With them as part of this team, we will have a local team that understands the nuances of the market in Malaysia and Southeast Asia at large,” said Harshil Mathur, CEO and Co-founder, Razorpay.

GlobalBees acquires Reach, 2nd sport equipment brand in its portfolio

Rollup ecommerce unicorn GlobalBees has acquired the fitness equipment and accessories brand, Reach.

The company is GlobalBees’s second investment in the sports category. It now has twelve brands in its portfolio including The Better Home, andMe, Prolixr, Absorbia, Yellow Chimes, HealthyHey, Rey Naturals, Intellilens, The Butternut Company, Mush and Strauss.

In the next three years, GlobalBees is looking forward to investing in more than 100 brands across verticals, including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), sports, home organisation, and lifestyle, it said in a statement.

ShareChat and MX Player merge their short video apps

ShareChat and Times Internet-owned MX Media have announced the strategic merger of their short-form apps — Moj and MX TakaTak, signaling the start of consolidation in the super-competitive space.

While the deal value remains undisclosed, reports suggest ShareChat could pay up to $600-700 million for MX TakaTak as it seeks to strengthen its short-form video play.

The combined short video platform will have over 300 million monthly users with Moj and MX TakaTak contributing about 150 million users each. Post this transaction, MX Media and its shareholders will become a part of ShareChat, which will assume the responsibility to run both the short-form apps.

Imarticus Learning acquires StratOnboard

Professional education platform Imarticus Learning has acquired game-based learning platform StratOnBoard for an undisclosed amount in a mix of cash and stock deal. This is Imarticus’s second acquisition.

Through the acquisition, Imarticus Learning will bring in unique differentiators in the form of epistemic games – the future of learning, it said in a statement. StratOnboard is a strategic fit to Imarticus Learning’s overall ecosystem and aligns with its multiple business segments, including Enterprise, Academic, Retail, and Consumer.

The firm has more such acquisitions planned with a set amount earmarked for the same this year, it added.

UK-based Revolut's India arm acquires Arvog Forex as it advances multi-million dollar expansion plan

Revolut India, the Indian registered entity of London-headquartered fintech player Revolut, has acquired international money transfers company Arvog Forex as part of its multi-million-dollar investment into the country.

With the acquisition of Forex, Revoult aims to strengthen its foundation in India and accelerate its plans to offer a best-in-class remittance service and forex services to Indian customers, the company said in a statement.

The company entered the Indian market in April 2021 following launches in Singapore and Australia in 2019; and the US and Japan in 2020.

“Our significant investment plans, this acquisition and the quality of the team we are putting together reflect our intention to rapidly roll out these innovative products and services. India is a key region in our global expansion plan and this acquisition is testament to the rapid strides we want to make here. It is an incredible time to be a fintech company in India and we plan to make the best of this opportunity,” said Paroma Chatterjee, CEO Revolut India.

Fitness startup Fitpage acquires “India Running”

Fitness-tech start-up Fitpage has acquired race registration platform “India Running” (IR) for an undisclosed amount, it said in a release. The race registration online platform “India Running” helps users search and register for running events.

This acquisition will enable Fitpage to provide registration, nutrition, and training, all together and hence provide better value to the races, the company said in a statement.

Last year, fitpage raised a total of $3.7 million. The fitness tech start-up raised $3.5 million in a seed round from Astra Ventures at the beginning of 2021 and additionally raised $300,000 in an angel round at the end of last year.

Picsart marks 3rd acquisition with edtech platform Code Republic

Digital creation platform Picsart has acquired the learning platform Code Republic for an undisclosed sum to join its educational division Picsart Academy.

The acquisition of Code Republic will allow Picsart Academy to support additional programs and expand into more locations,serif; font-size: medium;">As part of the acquisition, all 20+ Code Republic employees will join the Picsart Academy team. This is Picsart’s third acquisition, after the buyout of Computer Vision and AI company DeepCraft late last year and advanced video effects company “D’efekt” in 2020.

iLink Digital acquires Connexis to expand global Data Analytics & IoT footprint

Data and AI services company Connexis has acquired iLink Digital, a global technology consulting solution firm, in India.

As part of this acquisition, Connexis will offer solutions and consulting services in the areas of data engineering, data analytics, and IoT solutions, a statement said.

This merger will allow Connexis to integrate their deep Data, IoT and Product engineering expertise to iLink’s portfolio of technology consulting which will enhance customer experience. These services will further enable iLink to drive experience-led transformation at scale for clients across multiple industries, the firm added.

EARNING NEWS

Nykaa Q3 profit plunges 59%; GMV rises 49%

Online fashion and beauty retailer Nykaa has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 29.01 crore for the December quarter. This is a fall of 58% from Rs 69 crore a year ago. Revenue from operations came in at Rs 1,098.36 crore, a 35.94 percent hike against Rs 807.96 crore in the year ago quarter.

The firm’s Beauty and Personal Care GMV grew 29% QoQ, 32% YoY in Q3 FY22 and grew 58% year to date FY22. The beauty company's expenses soared by 47% to Rs 1,067 crore during the December quarter when compared with Rs 727 crore in the year-ago period.

The same from the fashion segment surged 137% year-on-year to Rs 510 crore during the third quarter under review.

The company said its Ebitda stood at Rs 69 crore at a margin of 6.3 percent as compared to 3.3 percent in Q2FY22. Nykaa’s consolidated GMV grew 26 per cent sequentially and 49 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,043.5 crore in the quarter.

Zomato Q3 results: Firm posts net loss of Rs 63.2 Cr, revenue up 82.5% to Rs 1,112 Cr

Online food delivery platform Zomato has reported a loss of Rs 63.2 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021. In the corresponding quarter last year, the company posted a loss of Rs 352.6 crore.

Total revenue for the quarter rose 82.5 percent YoY to Rs 1,112 crore from Rs 609.4 crore in the year-ago quarter. The company's revenue from operations grew by 9 percent QoQ, while the customer delivery charges de-grew by 22 percent. This was driven by Rs 7.5 per order reduction in customer delivery charges in Q3 FY22 as compared to Q2 FY22.

The Gross Order Value (GOV) grew by 84.5 percent YoY and 1.7 percent QoQ to Rs 5,500 crore in Q3 FY22. Number of orders grew 93 percent YoY and 5 percent QoQ. Average order value (AOV, which includes customer delivery charges) shrunk by 3 percent QoQ, mostly on account of a reduction in customer delivery charges. Contribution as a % of GOV for our food delivery business was 1.1 percent in Q3 FY22 as compared to 1.2 percent in Q2 FY22.

Swiggy reports Rs 2,145 Cr revenue, Rs 1,314 Cr net loss in FY21

Food delivery giant Swiggy has reported its revenues for the financial year 2020-21 as Rs 2,145 crore, a 23 percent fall since the last financial year, as per regulatory filings sourced from Tofler.

The company further reported a net loss of Rs 1,314 crore during the same fiscal. This is a 65 pecent decrease from the last financial year. The company’s total expenses for the fiscal were reported as Rs 3,310 crore.

The company said the business has shown strong recovery through the year and has grown by 1.2x from March 2020 level and 2.2x from June 2020 levels with a strong focus on customer acquisition and retention; supply improvements (both restaurants and delivery riders) and a high bar on Experience with focussed interventions on improving Selection, price and convenience, and policies for its customers as well as partners.

OTHER STARTUP NEWS

Yamaha Motor enters automobile asset management, services segment

Yamaha Motor Company announces its entry into automobile asset management and services with the launch of Moto Business Service India (MBSI), to cater to tech startups that focus on shared mobility space.

The mobility solutions firm, which is headquartered in Bengaluru, aims at increasing the usage of vehicles on shared/rental platforms, and create employment opportunities, it said in a statement.

MBSI will also procure new and second-hand vehicles and deploy them on rental platforms on a revenue-sharing basis model and also explore the opportunities to work with last-mile delivery platforms, especially with the companies that are keen on deploying EVs such as 2/3 and 4-wheelers, Yamaha Motor said.

Hero Electric partners with ReadyAssist to train 20,000 mechanics

Hero Electric has tied up with ReadyAssist, a 24X7 roadside assistance company, for training and upskilling 20,000 mechanics for servicing electric two- wheelers. The company has undertaken the initiative under its Private Garage Owners (PGO) programme.

The partnership will aid in identifying mechanics willing to upgrade their skill set and coaching them in the next two years. The training programme will have two stages divided among beginners and experts. Once the training is complete, both the partners will assess enrolled mechanics and give a Certificate of Merit to these mechanics.

Hero Electric has already trained 6,000 mechanics under the PGO initiative till now. The partnership with ReadyAssist will accelerate the company's objective of empowering people with competency, Hero Electric CEO Sohinder Gill said.

Amazon India launches a dedicated storefront for Ayurveda products

Amazon India has announced the launch of a dedicated storefront for Ayurveda products on its marketplace. The store was officially launched by Sarbananda Sonowal, Ayush minister, at a virtual event on Tuesday.

The Ayurveda storefront will enhance visibility of unique Ayurveda products from Indian small businesses and D2C brands and showcase them to millions of Amazon customers across India, the E-commerce giant said in a statement.

Amazon also claimed that there has been a marked increase in the overall selection of Ayurveda products by nearly 3X in the last two years on Amazon.in. The storefront will exclusively showcase products from emerging Indian brands, helping generate demand for their products.

Amazon India launches startup accelerator 2.0 to nurture new brands

To help emerging Indian brands and startups to reach customers around the world, Amazon India on Wednesday launched the second season of its 'Global Selling Propel' startup accelerator.

The participating startups will get an opportunity to win a total equity-free grant of $100,000 from Amazon as well as free AWS credits worth $10,000. The entries for the startup accelerator are open till March 14.

The company said that the programme will provide startups an opportunity to showcase their business propositions to partner VC firms - Accel, DSG Consumer Partners, Fireside Ventures and Sequoia Capital India.

WE Hub announces rural incubation programme for women entrepreneurs

Telangana-led WE Hub has announced a year-long rural incubation programme, giving women entrepreneurs from rural areas a chance to become part of the startup ecosystem.

The incubator has called for applications for the newly launched programme and it is aimed at accelerating existing enterprises as SMEs and strengthen the local supply chain.

As part of the cohort about 50 women entrepreneurs across the State in the five targeted sectors namely manufacturing, textiles and handlooms, FMCG, food processing and handicrafts will be selected,

BYJU's doubles target under 'Education For All' to 10M underserved students

BYJU'S aims to make digital learning accessible to 10 million underprivileged children under its 'Education for All' initiative by 2025.

Launched a year ago, BYJU'S has doubled its target from the earlier aim of reaching 5 M students from underserved communities in the next three-four years.

Through 'Education for All', India's most-valuable edtech startup seeks to bridge the educational and digital divide by providing BYJU’S free streaming licenses to children from rural and urban slums.

So far, BYJU'S 'Education for All' claims to have reached 3.4 million children in more than 340 districts across 26 states.

Leap Scholar plans to invest $20M in the UAE market

Leap Scholar, a study abroad platform has announced its expansion into the Middle East region. The San Francisco-headquartered firm plans to invest $20 million over the next one year to set up a team in the region to serve the end-to-end study abroad needs of students and parents.

The startup has raised over $75 million in venture capital from marquee investors including Sequoia Capital, Owl Ventures, Jungle Ventures, and Harvard Management Company among others. Since its inception in 2019, Leap Scholar has built a growing community of over 1 Million study abroad aspirants.

With its foray into the Middle East, Leap Scholar aims to enable and empower millennials in achieving their global education and professional goals. The key offerings that students will be able to avail include study abroad counseling, test preparation for standardized exams like SAT, ACT, IELTS, TOEFL, Duolingo, GRE, GMAT etc., university application, visa assistance, and networking opportunities once students have got an admit in universities abroad among others, the firm said in a statement.

CoinSwitch Kuber launches Cryptocurrency Recurring Buy plan

Crypto investing app CoinSwitch Kuber has launched an added service called recurring buy plan (RBP), a systematic way to buy crypto assets in the country.

The move comes days after union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget 2022 speech that virtual digital assets will now be taxed at a rate of 30 percent in India.

The company said that this plan would enable users to beat crypto market volatility and keep away from impulsive decisions regarding crypto.

With this launch, the Crypto unicorn aims to enable users to beat market volatility and avoid making impulsive buying or selling decisions. Users can now sign up through a waitlist to get early access to explore this new feature, it said.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flags off Niti Aayog’s Fintech Open Summit

Niti Aayog has launched a three-week-long virtual summit ‘Fintech Open’ from 7–28 February to showcase the importance of the fintech industry.

The summit was inaugurated by Union Minister for Railways, Communications, and Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw in the presence of Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar.

A first-of-its-kind initiative, Fintech Open will bring together regulators, fintech professionals and enthusiasts, industry leaders, the start-up community, and developers to collaborate, exchange ideas and innovate.

Flagging off the event, Vaishnaw said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Government was creating open platforms, such as Cowin and UPI, for healthcare, logistics and other sectors.

An open platform is created using public investment, wherein numerous private entrepreneurs, startups and developers can join to create new solutions.

Hiring activity on positive trajectory in Jan with 41% growth: Naukri JobSpeak Report

The year 2022 has been off to a flying start, with a hiring spree across industries, according to Naukri JobSpeak index, which recorded 41% year-on-year growth in January.

As per the report, the upswing in hiring activity was observed in multiple sectors with IT-software, retail, and telecom leading the charts. Other sectors that observed an uptick in hiring trend compared to last year are pharma (29 percent), medical/healthcare (10 percent), oil and gas/power (8 percent), insurance (8 percent), FMCG (7 percent), and manufacturing (2 percent). Auto/auto ancillary remained flat in January 2022 versus January 2021.

The upswing in hiring in IT-software and BFSI sectors have enabled metros to outperform their tier-2 counterparts in the year-on-year growth charts. IT hubs of India--Bengaluru (79%), Hyderabad (66%), and Pune (63%)--recorded the highest growth in January this year. Other such as Mumbai (58%), Chennai (54%), Kolkata (41%), and Delhi/NCR (35%) also witnessed a spike in the hiring trajectory.

2021 saw the highest global M&A deal value in history at nearly $6 trillion: Bain & Co Report

In 2021, corporate dealmakers raced to acquire transformative capabilities and scale rapidly amid soaring valuations. This led to a record-breaking year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deal values, exceeding expectations at an unmatched $5.9 trillion, said consulting firm Bain & Co in a report.

In a white-hot market, valuation multiples hit an all-time high of 15.4 times enterprise value/EBITDA. Tech assets, in particular, decoupled from the broader M&A market, with multiples at 25 times. Similarly, the healthcare industry saw its asset prices soar, with median multiples at 20 times, the report showed.

While strategic buyers (including both corporate buyers and private equity portfolio add-ons) saw total deal value rise by 47% year over year in 2021, these other forms of M&A grew about two times faster, it added. Overall strategic M&A deal values hit $3.8 trillion in 2021. This makes it the second-highest year for strategic deals.

Most Indians adopt hybrid lifestyle in pandemic: Google

While the Covid-19 pandemic imposed several constraints, the majority of Indians became adept at leveraging internet access to make more informed choices and better decisions and seek support for their hybrid lifestyles, according to a report by Google.

The Google annual Year in Search report for 2021 showed accelerated expansion of the internet user base in India over the past two years. It has also led to millions of new Google searches per day across user segments, channels, and needs making Search a key touchpoint for relevant and helpful information.

Even as mobility was limited, the year saw an acceptance of a blended lifestyle with an approximately 350 percent growth in interest in "hybrid workplace" alongside about 80 per cent increase in "online doctor consultation", the report showed.

Increasing user comfort with online commerce has led to a record 533 percent growth in search interest for "D2C brands" and a 55 percent increase in "virtual try-on".

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS

Top Apple executives likely to be deposed in US fight with Google

The Justice Department wants to depose some of Apple's top executives as it prepares for a trial to determine if Alphabet's Google broke antitrust law in how it runs its search business, a lawyer representing Apple said.

In its complaint, the Justice Department accused Google of paying billions of dollars each year in exclusionary agreements with Apple, Samsung and others so that they will make Google's search engine the default on their devices, according to Reuters.

In a pre-trial hearing, Steven Sunshine, speaking for Apple, said that the government was asking for depositions of "Apple's most senior executives." Sunshine also indicated that it was not clear to him what the Justice Department wanted from Apple.

The U.S. Justice Department sued Google in October 2020, accusing the $1 trillion company of illegally using its market muscle to hobble rivals. A trial date was set for September 12, 2023.

PriceRunner sues Google for 2.1 Bn euros, prepares for long fight

Swedish price comparison firm PriceRunner said on Monday it was suing Alphabet-owned Google for about 2.1 billion euros ($2.4 billion), the latest firm to take legal action alleging the search giant manipulated search results.

As per Reuters, Google in November lost an appeal against a 2.42 billion-euro fine it received in 2017 which found using its own price comparison shopping service gave the company an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals.

"They are still abusing the market to a very high extent and haven't changed basically anything," PriceRunner Chief Executive Mikael Lindahl told Reuters in an interview.

PriceRunner, which is in the process of being bought by Swedish fintech Klarna, said a lawsuit it filed in Sweden aimed to make Google pay compensation for the profit it had lost in Britain since 2008, as well as in Sweden and Denmark since 2013.

Apple raises pay of many US retail employees: Report

Apple is raising the pay of many US retail employees effective this month, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

The hikes range from 2% to 10% depending on store location and role, and will go to sales staff, including Genius Bar technical staff and some senior hourly workers, the report said.

The raises do not apply to all employees, the report added.

Last year, it reportedly paid one-time bonuses of as much as $1,000 to store employees ahead of the busy holiday season.

Amazon plans to more than double base pay cap for employees: Memo

Amazon plans to more than double its base pay cap to $350,000, from its previous maximum salary of $160,000 for US employees, according to a company memo seen by Reuters.

The e-commerce giant will increase the overall compensation range for most jobs globally and the company said the increases were much more "considerable" than in the past.

"This past year has seen a particularly competitive labor market," according to the memo, which added that there was a "need to remain competitive for attracting and retaining top talent".

Early Facebook investor Peter Thiel to step down from Meta board

Facebook-parent Meta Platforms said that billionaire investor Peter Thiel, an early investor who has been on the company's board since 2005, has decided to retire.

Thiel aims to spend time helping elect candidates who he believes will advance former President Donald Trump’s agenda in the US midterms, the Congressional elections this year, sources told Reuters.

Thiel, a co-founder of online payments system PayPal and a rare voice of conservative politics in Silicon Valley, became a Facebook investor in 2004, when he provided $500,000 in capital at a $5 million valuation for a 10% stake in the company and a seat on its board of directors.

Thiel will serve as a director until Meta's annual shareholder meeting but will not to stand for re-election, the social media giant said.

Twitter misses ad revenue and user growth estimates; revenue forecast light

Twitter reported weaker-than-expected quarterly advertising revenue and user growth on Thursday and forecast revenue short of Wall Street targets, indicating that a turnaround plan has yet to bear fruit for the social networking site.

Still, Twitter said it made "meaningful progress" toward its goal of reaching 315 million users and $7.5 billion in annual revenue by the end of 2023, and said user growth should accelerate in the United States and internationally this year.

Monetizable daily active users, or users who see ads, grew 13% to 217 million in the fourth quarter ended December 31, missing consensus estimates of 218.5 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. That was up from 211 million users in the previous quarter.

Advertising revenue for the fourth quarter grew 22% year over year to $1.41 billion, missing analysts' estimates of $1.43 billion. The company forecast first-quarter total revenue of $1.17 billion to $1.27 billion. The mid-point of that range is below Wall Street's average target of $1.26 billion.

Uber posts quarterly profit as ride demand recovers, delivery remains strong

Uber Technologies has reported its second quarterly operating profit as demand for its ride-hailing service approached pre-pandemic levels and its food delivery business turned profitable for the first time.

For the fourth quarter of 2021, Uber reported $5.8 billion in revenue, Reuters reported.

The California-based company reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a measure that excludes one-time costs, primarily stock-based compensation, of $86 million for the quarter ended December 31, significantly ahead of analyst expectations for $62 million.

That compared with a loss on the same basis of $454 million a year ago. It marked the company's second profitable quarter since it first reported positive adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter.

Crypto exchange Binance to take $200M stake in Forbes

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance will make a $200 million investment in Forbes, the media company said on Thursday, with the platform taking a stake through a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

According to Reuters, the investment by Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange by trading volumes, will replace half of the $400 million in commitments from investors already announced by Forbes and SPAC Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited.

The deal is expected to close by the end of March, Forbes and Magnum Opus said in a statement.

Billionaire Soros buys stake in EV startup Rivian

Billionaire investor George Soros bought nearly 20 million shares of electric truck startup Rivian Automotive in the quarter ended December31, as per securities filings seen by Reuters.

The 19,835,761 shares, worth about $2 billion at the time, makes Soros Fund Management among the most prominent investors in a company that has yet to produce a consumer vehicle. Rivian, which is 20% owned by Amazon, is expected to provide the e-commerce company with more than 100,000 electric trucks.

Irvine, California-based Riviansaid in December it expected production to fall "a few hundred vehicles short" of its 2021 target of 1,200 due to supply chain constraints, highlighting the likely challenges in ramping up production to take on EV leader Tesla.

US lawmakers introduce bipartisan bill to address social media addiction

US Senators Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, and Cynthia Lummis, a Republican, introduced a bill aimed at addressing addiction to social media platforms like Meta Platform's Facebook or Twitter, Reuters reported.

Under the bill, the National Science Foundation and National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine would do a study into potential interventions that Facebook or others could use to address problems of social media addiction, Klobuchar's office said in a release.

The Federal Trade Commission would create rules based on the findings, and hold the platforms accountable if they do not comply, the release said.

TikTok tests age-rated content restrictions

TikTok is working on ways to rate and restrict content by age in order to prevent adult content from reaching teenage users of its short video app,serif; font-size: medium;">TikTok, which has exploded in popularity among teens in recent years, said it was running a small test for how adult-rated content could be restricted from accounts belonging to younger users, either by the user or their parents and guardians.

The company, owned by Chinese tech titan ByteDance, said it was drawing on the types of content-rating standards already used for movies and gaming. It said it would test a way for creators on the app to specify if they want their content to only be viewed by older audiences.

Dating app owner Bumble buys France's Fruitz in first acquisition

Bumble has bought France's Fruitz in its first acquisition, as the dating app company tries to strengthen its foothold in Europe, where it plays catch-up with Tinder owner Match Group.

The deal sets the stage for Bumble to take on rival Match Group in an arena where the Hinge owner has the advantage of an earlier start. Bumble currently operates its dating app Badoo in Western Europe, competing with the likes of eHarmony and CharmDate.com.

Melania Trump to make Parler her 'social media home'

Former US first lady Melania Trump will use Parler for exclusive communications and make the platform her "social media home", according to Reuters.

Parler, a social media service popular with American right-wing users, had also spearheaded the launch of her non-fungible token (NFT) and blockchain technology venture in December.

The site had gone dark for weeks early last year after major service providers cut it off for failing to police violent content that led to the attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6 by followers of then-US President Donald Trump.

SpaceX chief Elon Musk 'highly confident' his Starship will reach orbit this year

Elon Musk said he was "highly confident" his new SpaceX Starship, designed for voyages to the moon and Mars, will reach Earth orbit for the first time this year, despite a host of technical and regulatory hurdles yet to be overcome,serif; font-size: medium;">It came nine months after the private California-based space venture achieved the first successful launch and touchdown of a Starship prototype rocket in a test-flight after four previous landing attempts ended in explosions.

Musk acknowledged difficulties SpaceX has faced in developing the "Raptor 2" engines for its Super Heavy rocket, a reusable next-generation launch booster designed to carry the Starship spacecraft to orbit. He cited problems with melting inside the thruster chambers of the engines from intense heat.

But he said, "we're very close to solving that," and expected to scale up production to about seven or eight of the engines a week by next month and produce a new Starship and a booster every month by year's end.

Tesla recalls nearly 579,000 US vehicles over pedestrian warning risk sounds

Tesla is recalling 578,607 vehicles in the United States because pedestrians may be unaware of an approaching vehicle if warning risk sounds are obscured, US regulators said Thursday.

Under increasing scrutiny from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Tesla has issued 10 U.S. recalls over the last four months, as per Reuters.

The electric vehicle manufacturer is recalling some 2020-2022 Model S, Model X, Model Y, and 2017-2022 Model 3 vehicles because the "Boombox function" allows sounds to be played through an external speaker while the vehicle is in motion.

US accuses couple of laundering $4.5Bn in bitcoin tied to 2016 hack

The US Justice Department has unraveled its biggest-ever cryptocurrency theft, seizing a record-shattering $3.6 billion in bitcoin tied to the 2016 hack of digital currency exchange Bitfinex and arresting a husband-and-wife team on money laundering charges.

The pair is accused of conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin stolen after a hacker broke into Bitfinex and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions. Justice Department officials said the transactions at the time were valued at $71 million in bitcoin, but with the rise in the currency's value, the value now is over $4.5 billion.

Crypto firms launch coalition to promote market integrity

A group of major cryptocurrency firms including Circle, Anchorage Digital and Huobi Global are forming a new coalition aimed at cracking down on market manipulation in an effort to instill trust in the burgeoning digital asset industry,serif; font-size: medium;">The Crypto Market Integrity Coalition, which was convened by risk-monitoring software company Solidus Labs, is also urging digital currency companies to sign a “market integrity” pledge that acknowledges the potential for fraud in the cryptocurrency space and the need for the industry to protect investors.

The new alliance and pledge comes as regulators remain concerned the new market is safe for investors, despite its surge in popularity. The Securities and Exchange Commission has cited the potential for market manipulation as one of the primary reasons for rejecting several applications for spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

The other founding members of the coalition are CrossTower, BitMex, GSR, Bitstamp, Elwood, CryptoCompare, Securrency, MV Index Solutions, the Chamber of Digital Commerce, Global Digital Finance and CryptoUK.

SoftBank says no stake sale plans linked to Alibaba US filing

Alibaba's recent registration of additional American Depository Shares is not tied to any specific future transaction by SoftBank Group, a spokesperson for the Japanese conglomerate said.

"The registration of the ADR conversion facility (F6 filing, which was filed by Alibaba), including its size, is not tied to any specific future transaction by SBG," SoftBank said in a statement to Reuters.

Ecommerce giant Alibaba last week filed to register an additional one billion American Depository Shares. The move, Citigroup analysts said this week, "might also suggest potential selling intention by SoftBank."

SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son told analysts he was "surprised" and had not requested the filing, according to a person familiar with the matter.