STARTUP DIGEST: Here are today’s top stories

There were several developments in the startup space during the day today. Here are today’s top startup updates:

Zomato will charge zero commission on takeaway service from restaurants as the food tech platform hits 110 percent of pre-Covid GMV run rate in the food delivery business with order volumes up over by more than 200 percent on its takeaway app.

Keeping this metric in mind, Zomato is making takeaway service available for free to their restaurant partners and will not be charging any commission. Additionally the company also plans to forego the payment gateway charges restaurants incur on all takeaway orders.

As per Tofler, online movie and events ticketing platform BookMyShow reported its revenues for financial year 2019-20 at Rs 518 cr, a 13 percent fall over the last financial year.

Fintech startup Instamojo closes its Pre-Series-C funding round of an undisclosed sum. This round of funding saw the participation of Japanese investors Base and existing investors such as Gunosy Capital who participated in Series B round back in January 2019.

The funds raised will be used to expedite the company’s growth and product road map as well as venture into international markets in the coming year.

Prescribe, raises Rs 1 crore from Titan Capital & other investors

Health Tech startup Prescribe has raised Rs 1 crore in the seed funding round led by Titan Capital and other groups of investors including Angel list syndicate and Curofy founders.

The funds will be used to grow the sales team, engage in strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and HIS providers in order to reach 500-plus hospitals in 6 months.

Google is set to unveil an all-new Google Pay app today. The company will be unveiling its revamped payments app via an online launch at 10.57 pm on November 18. The new Google Pay app will be first available in the US and is expected to be available in other countries at a later date.

The company has not shared any other details regarding the Google event

Apple has launched an industry-leading new developer programme to accelerate innovation and help small businesses and independent developers propel their businesses forward with the next generation of groundbreaking apps on the App Store.

The new App Store Small Business Programme will benefit the vast majority of developers who sell digital goods and services on the store, providing them with a reduced commission on paid apps and in-app purchases, the company said.

Developers can qualify for the programme and a reduced, 15 percent commission if they earned up to $1 million in proceeds during the previous calendar year.

The App Store programme, which will launch on January 1, 2021, comes at an important time as small and independent developers continue working to innovate and thrive during a period of unprecedented global economic challenge.

Group video chat app Houseparty has partnered with popular video game “Fortnite” to let friends video chat while playing the game, as people seek various sources of entertainment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Houseparty video chat is currently available to “Fortnite” players on PC, Sony Corp’s PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, the company said, adding that players will also need an Android mobile device or Apple Inc’s iOS, with the Houseparty app installed.

Republican senators attacked the chief executives of Facebook and Twitter for what they called censorship of President Trump and his allies during the US election while Democrats bemoaned the spread of misinformation on social media.

The CEOs, Jack Dorsey of Twitter and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, defended their content moderation practices at a congressional hearing scheduled after the platforms decided to block stories from the New York Post that made claims about the son of then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

YouTube to add a link to provide information on the development of COVID-19 vaccines expanding its efforts to combat misinformation related to the pandemic. The link will send users directly to authoritative COVID-19 vaccine information from a third-party source like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the World Health Organization.