HomeStartup NewsSTARTUP DIGEST: Here’re top stories of the day

STARTUP DIGEST: Here’re top stories of the day

There were several developments in the startup space during the day, which include Mubadala to invest Rs 6247 crore in Reliance Retail for 1.4% stake, and Zomato, Swiggy get notices from Google for violating Play Store norms.

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By Palak Agarwal  October 2, 2020, 12:05:55 AM IST (Updated)

STARTUP DIGEST: Here’re top stories of the day
There were several developments in the startup space during the day, which include Mubadala to invest Rs 6247 crore in Reliance Retail for 1.4% stake, and Zomato, Swiggy get notices from Google for violating Play Store norms.


Here are today's top startup updates:

Mubadala to invest Rs 6247 crore in Reliance Retail for 1.4% stake
Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor, will invest Rs 6247.5 crore in Reliance Retail Ventures for a 1.4 percent stake, the fourth strategic investor to pick up a stake in the retail arm of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), within a month.

Reliance Retail Venture's subsidiary Reliance Retail operates India's largest retail business serving close to 640 million footfalls across its 12,000-odd stores nationwide in 7000 cities.

The Mubadala deal values Reliance Retail Ventures at an equity value of Rs 4.285 lakh crore.

Zomato, Swiggy get notices from Google for violating Play Store norms
Food delivery apps Zomato and Swiggy have received notices from Google for their in-app gamification features that allegedly violate the tech giant's Play Store guidelines.

The development comes just weeks after Paytm was blocked from the Play Store for a few hours for violating Google's policy on sports betting activities.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18 exclusively Vivek Sundar said ‘after Google notice, we have turned gamification off and are in talks with Google’.

Cure.fit hives off eat.fit into a separate business entity
Bengaluru-based health tech platform cure.fit has hived off its health food vertical eat.fit into a separate business vertical, the company said in a press note today. Eat.fit will be working as an independent business entity to meet the consumer demand from the cloud kitchen sector.

This move is part of a larger digital strategy as it has shifted its focus to its digital offerings.

India open to launching own mobile app store as startups criticise Google
India is open to launching its own mobile app store or expanding an existing one if it receives enough demand from domestic firms for an alternative to Apple and Google platforms, a senior government official said on October 1.

The country has some 500 million smartphone users, most of whom use Google's Android platform, but Indian startups have criticised the company for policies they say stifle their growth.

FirstMeridian Group acquires CBSI India
HR firm FirstMeridian has acquired IT staffing business CBSI for a total investment of Rs 12 crore. CBSI and its employees will now operate as part of the FirstMeridian group. With presence across contract staffing as well as permanent recruitment, CBSI works with marquee clients in the IT Service Industry space.

Since its inception, FirstMeridian has acquired four HR solution providers, namely Innovsource, V5 Global, Affluent Global and HR Cornucopia, employing over 90,000 associates who are serving 500+ clients spread across 1100+ locations throughout the country.

Droom acquires Visiolab Ideas to enhance vehicle research and customer buying experience
Online automobile transactional marketplace, Droom has acquired Delhi-NCR based AR startup, Visiolab Ideas for an undisclosed amount.

Droom introduces an AR-VR lab with this acquisition to enhance the customer experience in their vehicle buying research. Under the acquisition, both co-founders of the company will join the Droom team.

With this acquisition, Droom will provide a live virtual tour of vehicles to its customers in 3D. Droom allocated Rs 50 crores last year towards building new and innovative products using AI, AR, and VR.

Matrix launches survey findings on ‘State of India Fin+Tech Union’
Matrix Partners India released the ‘State of India Fin+Tech Union’ report today that outlines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the financial services and fintech sectors, and the recovery mechanisms being implemented by various players. McKinsey & Company is the Knowledge Partner for this initiative.

The report includes results from a survey of 70 fintech founders & CXOs and insights from a series of virtual fireside chats held with industry thought leaders in August 2020.

Senate panel approves sending subpoenas to CEOs of Twitter, Facebook, Google: Report
As per Reuters, the US Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday unanimously voted to approve a plan to subpoena chief executives of Twitter, Alphabet's Google and Facebook for a hearing likely to be held before the election on a prized legal immunity enjoyed by internet companies.
The hearing will discuss reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which offers tech companies protection from liability over content posted by users.
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