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Times Internet buys South Korean based MX Player for $144 Mn

28Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Times Internet buys South Korean based MX Player for $144 Mn

In an attempt to remark its entry in Indian OTT Segment, Times Internet has acquired South Korea based world's largest local video platform, MX Player in a deal worth 1000 Cr ( $144 Mn). With new acquisition onboard, Times Internet is planning to build a digital-first video streaming platform taking on the likes of Netflix and Amazon in India. Notably, the deal marks second big bet for Times Internet in the OTT Segment as earlier in 2016, company had launched its OTT app Box TV. However, the high cost of content had led the service to shut down. MX Player, developed by J2 Interactive, a South Korean based app will continue to work independently with teams across India and China. The platform currently has 350 million users in India, of whom 175 million use it every month, exceedin...

Facebook Boardroom War in Swing : Investor’s Want Mark Zuckerberg To Step Down

27Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

News

Facebook Boardroom War in Swing : Investor’s Want Mark Zuckerberg To Step Down

Amidst growing series of scandals, data breach allegations, and Cambridge Analytica disaster, social media company Facebook is facing investor's fury where investors are growing increasingly restless on how Facebook is run, demanding radical changes. According to Business Insider's conversation with six prominent shareholders, it is clear that investors have become rebellious over company's corporate governance structure which hands Mark Zuckerberg the sole power as both CEO and Chairman. New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who oversees around $895 million of Facebook shares through city pension funds said, "We have concerns about the structure of the board that the company doesn't seem ready to address, which can lead to risks - reputational, regulatory, and otherwise." While ...

27Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

FUNDING

Agri Tech Startup Eggoz raises 1.2 Cr Funding

Agri Tech Startup and Egg Producer Eggoz has raised Rs. 1.2 crore funding from a group of angel investors including Narendra Sankar, Sunil Mishra, Vishal Sharma, Anurag Jhanwar and Mohini Jhanwar. The company has plans to use fresh funds in business expansion across states of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Eggoz is also planning to use the capital in setting up a company-owned farm in Nalanda, Bihar which will act as a model farm to attract clients, and for research and development. Talking of the recent funding development, Mr Pankaj Pandey, Co-founder of Eggoz, said, India has a "serious" hunger problem and ranks 100th out of 119 countries on the global hunger. The egg is a wholesome nutritious food which is available at affordable price. We saw huge gaps in the market with Southern st...

Microsoft partners with cloud enterprise platform InMobi

27Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

BUSINESS

Microsoft partners with cloud enterprise platform InMobi

Microsoft Corp has announced a global partnership with a marketers enterprise platform InMobi to enable new-age CMOs in their transformational journey from digital to mobile marketing. Under the new partnership, InMobi will be migrating to Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud provider sealing a technology collaboration with Microsoft. At the same time, InMobi is also expanding its platform through its InMobi Marketing Cloud. As per company's website, The Marketing Cloud will enable marketers to get a 360-degree view of every customer, uncovering insights that help them design customer journeys for engagement, action and measurement while remaining committed toward the privacy rights of the customer. Commenting on the strategic partnership with InMobi, Satya Nadella, CEO, Microso...

HCL Acquires German IT Major H&D International Group

27Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

ACQUISITION

HCL Acquires German IT Major H&D International Group

IT Major, HCL Technologies has signed an agreement to acquire Germany based IT and engineering service provider H&D International Group to fuel its European expansion. In its official statement, HCL said, This landmark deal sees HCL attain significant in-country front office and delivery capabilities and will further enhance the company's domain expertise in the global automotive sector. Ashish Gupta, Corporate Vice President at HCL Technologies said, "Germany is a critical market for HCL as we continue to expand our business in Europe. We feel the German market is at an inflexion point and it is the right time for HCL to expand and make significant investments here." It is interesting to note that H&D is one of the leading IT majors in German automotive industry that operates...

Luxury brands Harley Davidson, Louis Vuitton under IT Scan

27Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

News

Luxury brands Harley Davidson, Louis Vuitton under IT Scan

Luxury Brands Louis Vuitton and Harley Davidson and several other prominent players in the business industry have fallen under tax radar for taking cash above Rs. 2 lakh in clear violation of a new income tax law introduced in this year's budget. Earlier this year between January and March, The Directorate of Intelligence and Criminal Investigation, Department of Income Tax had run a special project to nail these companies. Moreover, a survey has also revealed that Harley Davidson in Guwahati, Venkys in Pune, a Louis Vuitton dealer, a Gucci dealer, 5-star hospitals in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow and Indore were accepting cash of more than Rs.2 lakh. According to sources involved with the survey, a total of 1705 cases were found to be violating Section 269ST of the Income Tax A...

MoneyOnMobile to Invest $6.2 Mn to Boost its Indian Expansion

27Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

BUSINESS

MoneyOnMobile to Invest $6.2 Mn to Boost its Indian Expansion

US-based digital payment company MoneyOnMobile has plans to invest $6.2 Mn to boosts its Indian expansion plans, as informed by its chief executive officer, Harold Montgomery. The announcement for fresh infusion plans has come right after the firm raised $5 Mn Series H funding from S7 Group. MoneyOnMobile's chief executive officer Harold Montgomery told that with India emerging as one of the most exciting payments markets in the world, he wants to expand the company’s footprint to enable the rural and the poorer sections of the country to start transacting digitally. He also added, We have retail outlets where end consumers can just walk in and do transactions like bill payments, remittances and cash out. We have also enabled Aadhaar-enabled transactions, thereby creating a mini-ATM...

Instagram growing faster than Facebook, worth more than $100 Bn: Report

26Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

News

Instagram growing faster than Facebook, worth more than $100 Bn: Report

Facebook Owned Photo Sharing Platform, Instagram has been estimated to be worth more than $100 billion, if it were a stand-alone company, making a 100 fold return for the app, as per the report published by Bloomberg Intelligence. Instagram is garnering new customers faster than Facebook's main site each day and going by the pace it is expected to exceed 2 billion users within the next five years said, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jitendra Waral wrote in a report Monday. While Facebook has already crossed this milestone, Instagram audience base is younger than its parent making it the most popular social media platform for advertisers. Interestingly, Instagram is also growing in the US, unlike Facebook. Moreover, according to eMarketer data cited by Bloomberg Intelligence, Insta...

Here’s the Criteria to List Your Startup on BSE’s New Platform

26Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

Market

Here’s the Criteria to List Your Startup on BSE’s New Platform

In an attempt to push startup environment facilitating the listing of startups in different sectors IT, ITES, biotech, 3D printing, space tech, and e-commerce, BSE India is launching a platform for new-age companies from July 9. The maiden platform will help in the listing of startups from other sectors too including defence, drones, nanotechnologies, virtual reality, big data, e-gaming, robotics, genetic engineering and more as informed by BSE officials. There is a certain criterion that startups and SME's in the above-mentioned sectors will have to fulfil for their listing in the world's fastest exchange as claimed by BSE. Some of the mandatory conditions are: The company should have a pre-issue paid up equity share capital of a minimum of Rs. 1 crore. ...

26Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

INDIA

List of No Risk Investment Options in India With Good Returns

Investment Planning is a crucial step that aids in wealth growth and income generation. Most investors look for maximum returns with least risk in deciding out the "best" investment option for themselves. However, there is no such "best" investment concept that exists in reality. One can select from the numerous alternatives that are available and make it work best for them. If you want to figure out the most desirable way of investing your money, consider these factors as a priority: Financial goals - whether you are planning to meet your short/long term goals through investment? Risk horizon - How susceptible are you when it comes to taking the risk? Low, Moderate or High Risk? Investment period - Whether you want to invest for a shorter pe...

Apple to bring “Exclusive Made-in-India” iPhone 6s Soon

26Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

Tech

Apple to bring “Exclusive Made-in-India” iPhone 6s Soon

American Technology Major, Apple has given a kick-start to commercial production of iPhone 6s in India at the Bengaluru facility of its Taiwan-based contract manufacturer Wistron, as informed by industry executives. While Apple has already made iPhone SE last May at the Wistron facility, it will now begin producing two models of iPhone locally. The company has been taking a trail undertaking for the second iPhone model in the 6 series since April and has chosen iPhone 6s for sales potential in the market. Additionally, the development also means that any further change in import duties will not include price change in iPhone 6s, a move which could help Apple strengthen its position in the mid-to-premium segment of the Indian smartphone market. According to a source cited by ET, a ...

26Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

FUNDING

SigTuple rasies $19 Mn Funding From Accel and IDG Ventures

SigTuple, an AI-based healthcare startup has raised 19 million i.e approximately Rs. 130 crores in a Series B round led by IDG Ventures and Accel Partners. The investment round also saw participation from pi Ventures, Flipkart’s executive chairman Binny Bansal, Endiya Partners, Axilor Ventures. The Bengaluru-based company plans to use the funds in the expansion of assembly and distribution of AI100 along with research and development of new solutions that can boost its reach and market presence. Rohit Kumar Pandey, chief executive at SigTuple said, The major chunk (of the money) will go into setting up a manufacturing pipeline so that we can put more devices in the market. We have applied for US FDA and CE certification. Once we go through the stage, it will require more clinical tr...