The heightened border tensions between India and China are now very clearly spilling over into India’s startup ecosystem. China’s Alibaba Group has put on hold plans to invest in Indian companies, two sources aware of the plans told Reuters. Alibaba will not put in fresh funds to expand its investments in the country for at least six months, the sources reportedly said. However, there are no plans to reduce its stakes or exit investments, they added. “Alibaba and a few…

At at time when China’s businesses in India are under the scanner following the Ladakh standoff, China’s Ant Financial has indicated that Chinese companies with financial stakes in Indian startups too can wield considerable influence over them. China’s Ant Group, which was a subsidiary of Alibaba’s, has said said in its IPO prospectus that is has ” “significant influence” over One97 Communications Ltd, which is the parent company of Paytm. “Our major associates include One97 Communications Ltd that operates…

Amazon and Flipkart had thus far been reconciling themselves with a massive Indian player having joined the e-commerce fray — JioMart, it is becoming increasingly apparent, will take both companies head on. But Amazon and Flipkart might have another huge Indian player to contend with. The Tata group is poised to launch a “super app” by December or early next year, FT reported. The super app will provide food and grocery ordering, fashion and lifestyle, consumer durables,…

Yet another startup is finding out that signing on high-profile celebrities as brand ambassadors is a sword that can cut both ways. “Uninstall PhonePe” is currently trending on Twitter with hundreds of users demanding that the company dissociate itself from Aamir Khan and Alia Bhat, its brand ambassadors. The trend Uninstall PhonePay (curiously with the spelling of Pe misspelled) currently has nearly 80,000 tweets on Twitter, and is trending at number 3 nationwide. PhonePe had…

There is now data available on how the coronavirus is now impacting India’s food business. Food delivery volumes are now back up to 75-80 percent of pre-Covid levels, while restaurants are operating at 8-10 percent of pre-Covid levels, Zomato has said in a report. “Over the last few days, we reached out to thousands of restaurants and customers across various cities in India to understand the current state and future outlook of the industry,” Zomato…

The full extent of Reliance’s e-commerce ambitions is slowly becoming apparent. Reliance has gone ahead and acquired Netmeds for Rs. 620 crore in cash. The investment gives Reliance a 60% holding in the equity share capital of Netmeds’ parent company Vitalic Health, and 100% direct equity ownership of its three subsidiaries. Reliance also has the option to buy to the remaining portion of the company over the next four years. “This investment is aligned with our commitment…

India’s premier sports tournament now has an Indian startup as a sponsor. Fantasy sports company Dream 11 has bagged the title sponsorship of IPL 2020. The company signed a Rs. 222 crore deal with the BCCI for the rights. Dream 11 will hold the rights only for the duration of this year’s IPL for a period of 4 months and 13 days.  The IPL had invited bids for fresh sponsors after there had been outrage…

Even as speculation swirls about TikTok’s fate in India, competitors have begun arming their war chests in a bid to take its place. Two apps that are gunning for the void that was created after TikTok was banned in India have raised significant funds this week. Mitron, which had been gaining traction even before TikTok had been banned, has raised $5 million (Rs. 37.5) in a round led by Nexus Venture Partners. 3one4 Capital, Arun Tadanki’s…