Startup digest: CCI raids target sellers on Amazon, Flipkart; DealShare achieves a GRR of $1 bn in FY22 & Twitter adds more users, reports revenue miss

Here are the top headlines from the startup space.CCI raids target sellers on Amazon, Walmart's Flipkart: ReutersThe Competition Commission of India has launched raids early on Thursday against two top domestic sellers of online retail giant Amazon and some on Walmart's Flipkart, following accusations of competition law violations, sources told Reuters.The two Amazon sellers figuring in raids were Cloudtail and Appario, two sources said on condition of anonymity, as the details were not public. Two other sources said some sellers on Walmart's Flipkart platform were also being raided by CCI, but there were no immediate details.One of the sources said the raids, carried out in the capital, New Delhi and the southern tech hub of Bengaluru, related to an investigation the CCI ordered in January 2020.Amazon and rival Flipkart face accusations of anti-competitive practices, such as promoting preferred sellers on websites and giving priority to listings by some sellers. The antitrust investigation continues.Flipkart launches ‘Flipkart Labs’ to foray into Web3 and MetaverseFlipkart has launched ‘Flipkart Labs’ to build and create technology-based solutions and plans to foray into Web3 and Metaverse.This new arm will leverage emerging technologies, incubate cutting-edge ideas, and deliver breakthrough solutions to the ecosystem. The Innovation Lab will test Web3 and Metaverse use-cases with real-world applications, including NFT-related use-cases, Virtual Immersive Storefronts, Play to Earn, and other Blockchain-related use-cases.“Some of the use-cases like immersive commerce, NFT-related use-cases and more are very promising and, as one of the first areas of focus in Flipkart Labs, we want to collaborate with the passionate Web3 community, innovate and set the standard for commerce in the Metaverse,” said Naren Ravula, VP and Head, Product Strategy and Deployment, Flipkart Labs.Flipkart Labs will be housed in the Product Strategy & Deployment arm of the Flipkart Group and will work with talent building technology solutions in this space. It will also look at potential collaborations beyond the organization with brands, merchants, startups, and technologists.DealShare achieves a GRR of $1Bn in FY22DealShare, a social e-commerce unicorn, has achieved a gross revenue run-rate of $1 billion for the year ended March 2022, a growth of 6.6 times over the previous fiscal.For the fiscal year ended March 2021, the startup recorded a GRR of $150 million, it said in a statement.In July 2021, its valuation stood at $455 million when it had raised $144 million as part of its Series D round of funding. The company also witnessed its customer base crossing 15 million mark during the year. An average of 4 lakh orders are placed on the app every day and the firm said its vendor base has increased to 1,000 local manufacturers.Meesho records 100M+ transacting users in last one yearSocial commerce unicorn Meesho has acquired over 100 million transacting users on its platform in the last one year.The company said that the transacting user base on the platform has grown by about 5.4 times and gross merchandise value has risen around 3 times since March 2021, without disclosing the actual numbers.Meesho said that it has recorded a 85 percent increase in seller registrations since April 2021, along with 3 times growth in average seller revenue. Nearly 70 percent of all Meesho sellers hail from tier 2 plus cities such as Hisar, Panipat and Tiruppur, among others, the statement said.Amazon Prime launches movie rental service in IndiaAmazon's Prime Video has launched a movie rental service in India, promising to release more than forty original series and movies over the next two years in a key market, as per a Reuters report."We are super excited about the launch," Gaurav Gandhi, head of Amazon Prime Video India, said at a function, adding that the service would widen customers' reach and choice. It enables them to pay per movie, instead of a flat monthly fee.The company unveiled plans for 41 original series in three Indian languages, some to be produced by top Bollywood directors such as Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar.Amazon has invested heavily in acquiring and producing local content in India, where, founder Jeff Bezos said in 2020, Prime Video was doing better than anywhere else in the world. Amazon does not break out user numbers by country.Vedantu launches Ai LIVE technologyEdtech unicorn Vedantu has launched an Augmented Interactive LIVE technology aimed at making quality education accessible and affordable.Ai LIVE offers an interactive platform backed by technology that will disrupt the price point of Rs 5000 per year to bring it down to Rs10 per hour.Ai LIVE interactive classes are available from the class 6th to 12th curriculum for CBSE, ICSE & Maharashtra Boards, and competitive exams such as JEE, NEET, NTSE, and more, the firm said in a statement.Spice Money and Religare Broking partner to enable rural citizens to apply for IPORural fintech platform Spice Money has partnered with Religare Broking to enable rural citizens to apply for the LIC IPO.Through this association, Religare Broking and Spice Money aim to provide rural citizens with equitable access to investment opportunities, it said in a statement.This association will allow over 95 percent of rural pin codes to get access to assisted phygital platforms to invest in capital market-linked opportunities such as equities, mutual funds, commodity, currency and NPS to build wealth for the future, it added.Samunnati crosses cumulative disbursement amount of Rs 37 Cr for its Instant Pre-Approved LoansSamunnati, an agri-value chain enabler said that its instant pre-approved loans , the digital lending solution to nascent Farmer collectives , has crossed the cumulative disbursement amount of Rs 37 Crores across 600 loans since its launch in July 2021.The volume of loan disbursements stood at Rs 33.1 Crores in FY '22 and continued to see tremendous momentum in April itself, the firm added. In just 9 months of launch, the Sam-IPL has seen disbursement of almost 600 FPO loans with 165 more in pipeline.With over 1500 farmer collectives registered on its FPO Gateway platform, Samunnati has a member base of over 6 million farmers across 100 agri value chains and 22 states.FidyPay partners Yes Bank to drive financial inclusionFintech startup FidyPay has partnered with Yes Bank to extend the digital facilitation to a wide array of businesses, comprising fintechs, SMEs, and start-ups.As part of the association, FidyPay will be enabling a seamless connected banking experience to Yes Bank's customers, the company said. Besides this, FidyPay will also be the solution provider for UPI services.The firm also added that it looking forward to catering to 10 million SMEs, MSMEs through such banking alliances as well as a comprehensive network of government channels which Yes Bank has acquired over the years in order to enable them on digital payment integrated solutions.Cannabis wellness startup Awshad clocks 100% growthCannabis wellness startup Awshad has witnessed 100 percent growth in since its inception in 2021. During the last one-year period, the startup said it has seen its revenue its products’ sales have skyrocketed by more than 2x.According to an internal customer survey conducted by Awshad, 47.2 percent of their users are using their products for overall wellness, while 52.8 percent are using the products for moderate to severe ailments.“We are gearing up for an even bigger and better 2022 with new CBD based products and formats in the pipeline,” said Richa Jaggi, Co-Founder & CMO, Awshad.NimbusPost forays into the Indonesian logistics space to scale e-commerce brandsNimbusPost, a shipping aggregator announced that it is expanding its business to Indonesia. The company has appointed Adithyan Asokan as the country head for NimbusPost, Indonesia. As per the firm, the Indonesian logistics industry presently contributes nearly 27 percent to the country’s GDP with 2500+ traditional 3PL service providers and a 30 percent market share led by the top 10 3PLs.“The company will continue to expand its footprint around the globe in the coming years. In a bid to expand our foothold across the world, we’ve started operations in the Southeast Asia region. We’re actively hiring professionals to expand our team across different functions. As far as our business goals are concerned, we see huge business potential in the Indonesian market as the country’s eCommerce revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.16 percent by 2025, and the logistics requirements are bound to follow the suit. By entering the Indonesian market, we aim to resolve the shipping needs of all-sized ecommerce businesses,” said Yash Jain, Co-founder and CEO, NimbusPost.FiEx to launch NFT marketplace with AR integration, digital asset exchangeCrypto player FiEx has announced the launch of a new NFT marketplace with AR integration and a new age digital asset exchange.The company which operates in the Digital Asset and Web3 domain plans to allow users to discover, mint, purchase, showcase their NFTs and bring the NFTs to the real world using AR technology.The platform is expected to go live mid-June this year. FiEx aims to offer a safe and secure platform for carrying out digital asset transactions, the firm said in a statement.123% increase in Senior Exec & CXO hires by startups in FY22: RazorpayX Payroll Insights reportDespite the second and third waves of the pandemic, organizations saw growth of 84 percent in employee headcount from April 2021 to March 2022.In fact, 28 percent of the organizations grew more than double in strength over the year, according to the RazorpayX Payroll Insights report.In the case of new hires, Senior-Executives and CXO level roles saw the highest increase in headcount of 123 percent in FY22, followed by junior level roles where employee headcount increased by 92 percent. Mid-level and Entry-level roles grew by 86 percent and 63 percent respectively, the report added.Operations and Logistics departments reported the highest increase in personnel of 172 percent in FY22, witnessing more than a 2.5X headcount growth from FY21. This was closely followed by Sales & Marketing departments which grew by 148 percent. Technology teams saw an increase in headcount by 80 percent.The report highlighted that salary spends doubled over the year, in fact grew by 102 percent over the year with a total of Rs 1489 crores processed. Mid-Level and CXO level salaries grew by 8 percent and 6 percent, respectively, in March 2022 as compared to April 2021, suggesting that organisations were hiring and promoting.GLOBAL TECH & STARTUP NEWSTwitter adds more users, reports revenue miss for Q1Twitter, which has agreed to a $44 billion sale to Elon Musk, has added more users than Wall Street had expected for the first quarter even as revenue came in slightly below estimates.The company said daily active users rose to 229 million users in the first quarter ended March 31, from 199 million, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected 226.8 million daily active users.It reported revenue of $1.2 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.23 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Its net income rose to $513.3 million, or 61 cents per share, from $68 million, 8 cents per share, a year earlier.Investors fret over potential Musk U-turn in $44Bn Twitter buyoutInvestors speculating over whether Elon Musk will complete his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter sent the social media company's shares to their lowest level since the deal was announced, Reuters reported.Traders fretted that Musk may not have enough money sitting around to fund his $21 billion cash contribution and could decide against selling some of his Tesla shares to come up with it.Twitter shares ended trading in New York down 2.1% at $48.68, a big discount to the $54.20 deal price, implying a 62% chance of the deal being completed, according to Reuters calculations.Meta shares surge after Facebook ekes out user growthFacebook rebounded from a drop in users early this year and its parent Meta posted a profit ahead of Wall Street targets, defying low investor expectations with a quarterly report that sent shares up 20 percent.Total revenue, the bulk of which comes from ad sales, rose 7 percent to $27.91 billion in the first quarter, but missed analysts' estimates of $28.20 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.Meta's profit soundly beat Wall Street targets at $2.72 per share, compared with an average analyst estimate of $2.56, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. The earning beats were tempered by Meta recording its slowest revenue growth in a decade.Facebook daily active users , a key metric for advertisers, were 1.96 billion, slightly higher than the estimate of 1.95 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Monthly active users came in at 2.94 billion, missing Wall Street estimates by 30 million.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also said that the company would scale back costs and was investing in artificial intelligence tools to improve recommendations and ads, a sign Meta is buckling down to make money while working on its long-term ambitions to build the metaverse.Pinterest posts strong quarter on ad spending boostPinterest’s first-quarter revenue and profit surpassed market estimates as the image-sharing platform benefited from higher ad spending by businesses, sending its shares 9 percent higher in extended trading.Revenue rose 18 percent in the first three months of the year to $575 million, driven by strength in the retail advertising and international businesses. Analysts on average were expecting a figure of $572.5 million, according to Refinitiv IBES data.While the company's overall monthly active users declined 9% to 433 million, it posted a rise in mobile app MAUs, the group which accounts for most its revenue.Amazon declines to describe search-algorithm data: Australian regulatorAmazon has declined to describe its product-search system to an Australian competition regulator that has heard complaints of large marketplace platforms giving preference to in-house wares, Reuters reported.The company's withholding of the information sets the scene for a possible repeat of Australia's 2021 showdown with Facebook and Google, which resulted in those firms paying content royalties to the media.The regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission , mentioned Amazon's stance in a report issued on Thursday that was part of the same five-year review of big-tech regulation that involved Facebook and Google.The ACCC said in the report that it had surveyed 80 online merchants and that nearly half believed large marketplace platforms skewed searches and website presentation to favour in-house products.Amazon had told the regulator it did not give an advantage to its own products but "the ACCC sought details about inputs of Amazon's algorithms, which were not provided", the report said. As a result, "the ACCC does not have information about how Amazon's algorithms produce search results", the report said.China's Weibo shows user locations to combat 'bad behaviour'Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, told users it would start to publish their IP locations on their account pages and when they post comments, in a bid to combat "bad behaviour" online, as per a Reuters report.The move, posted on Weibo's official account, garnered over 200 million views and was widely discussed, with some users rattled by the perceived reduction in their online anonymity.For users in China, the platform will display the province or municipality where they are posting from, it said. For those using Weibo overseas, the country of users' IP addresses will be displayed.The settings are designed to "reduce bad behaviour such as impersonating parties involved in hot topic issues, malicious disinformation and traffic scraping, and to ensure the authenticity and transparency of the content disseminated," it said in a notice.

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Startup digest: CCI raids target sellers on Amazon, Flipkart; DealShare achieves a GRR of $1 bn in FY22 & Twitter adds more users, reports revenue miss

By Aishwarya Anand Apr 28, 2022 9:45:15 PM IST (Published)

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Startup digest: CCI raids target sellers on Amazon, Flipkart; DealShare achieves a GRR of $1 bn in FY22 & Twitter adds more users, reports revenue miss

By Aishwarya Anand Apr 28, 2022 9:45:15 PM IST (Published)

Startup Digest brings you a quick wrap of all the news that matters

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