There were several developments in the startup space during the day, which include Google to enforce Play store tax on the 3 percent of apps not paying, Amazon infuses Rs 1,125 crore into India marketplace ahead of festive sale, Etrio raises $3 million in Series A to launch new EV product lines, Financepeer raises $3 million strategic investment in Pre series A funding round, Infilect raises $1.5 million in pre-Series A funding, Indian startups raised $63 billion during 2016-20; Walmart may invest $25 billion in Tata Group's Super app, says report; and Uber wins court appeal to continue operating on London roads.
Here are top startup updates of the day:
1. Google to enforce Play store tax on the 3% of apps not paying
Tech giant Google said that it will enforce its Google Play rules that require all app developers on the Play Store to use its in-app payment system. With this move, all Android developers will use Google’s billing system which takes a 30 percent fee from payments.
Google Play’s billing policy in print has always required developers to use its billing system for in-app purchases of digital goods. While this isn’t new, Google today clarified the language of the policy during a virtual briefing. Google said that more than 98 percent of its current developers comply with this “long-standing policy”.
According to Google, “Any app that chooses to offer in-app purchase of digital goods like unlocking additional features for a system tool, or buying tokens to power-up a game character, or even paying for songs in a karaoke app will be required to use Google Play’s billing system”.
However, Google Play’s billing system will not be required for apps that sell physical goods. Also, paying for a content subscription via the developer’s own native website will not be considered as a transaction within the app, and hence this policy does not apply.
2. Amazon infuses Rs 1,125 crore in India marketplace ahead of festive sale
Amazon has infused Rs 1,125 crore in Amazon India’s marketplace business just ahead of the upcoming festive sales, filings sourced from Tofler show.
The e-commerce company has been ramping up operations ahead of its flagship Great Indian Festival sale. According to Redseer’s recent report, the main festive sale events, which are dominated by Amazon’s sale and Flipkart’s Big Billion Day sale, is expected to see sales worth $4 billion, 50 percent higher than last year.
Amazon Seller Services, which runs the marketplace in India, received the funding from Amazon Corporate Holdings Private Limited, Singapore and Amazon.com Inc Limited, Mauritius, the filings show.
According to paper.vc, Amazon’s India business has received an estimated infusion of $750 million so far this year. Amazon India had received $1.26 billion in 2019, and $826 million in 2018, paper.vc said.
3. Funding of the Day
Etrio raises $3 million in Series A to launch new EV product lines
Electric vehicle startup Etrio raised $3 million (about Rs 22 crore) from Singapore-based investors. The Hyderabad-based company said it has raised the capital in Series A round from investors.
The group of investors is led by Janardhan Rao, founder of Triumph Global Group, a Singapore headquartered international commodity trading house with a consolidated revenue of over $900 million.
The funding will be used to launch new Electric Vehicle product line & drive customer acquisition and retention across B2B & B2C segments.
Financepeer raises $3 million strategic investment in Pre series A funding round
Education fintech company Financepeer, focused on financing education fees and providing other education technologies, raised $3 million as pre Series A funding round from MS Fincap, a Jaipur based NBFC, Danube- UAE’s largest conglomerate, Aar Em Ventures, Angelbay Holdings, JITO Angel Network and HEM Angels.
Financepeer has raised a total of $4 million in the last two years and the new investment will be used to bolster education institution partnerships from existing 1,800 schools to 5,000 schools over the next 12 months. The funds will also be used to enhance edu-fintech product offerings, accelerate product development and enable organic growth in India.
Infilect raises $1.5 million in pre-Series A funding
Retail Visual Intelligence SaaS provider Infilect raised $1.5 million in a pre-series A financing led by Mela Ventures and 1Crowd, with participation from The Chennai Angels (TCA).
With the investment, Infilect will expand its go-to market programs, and will continue to invest in the areas of Image Recognition (IR) for retail execution, supply-chain optimization, store personalisation, and category planning.
In conjunction with the investment round, Rostow Ravanan, an IC Member of Mela Ventures, will be joining Infilect’s board of directors.
4. Indian startups raised $63 billion during 2016-20; making India the World’s 3rd largest tech startup hub
Indian startups have raised $63 billion during 2016-20, making it the World’s 3rd largest tech startup hub, says a report by Praxis Global Alliance and IVCA. During 2019, $34 billion was invested in Indian ecosystem with an additional $17 billion invested in 2020 as of May.
Tech-enabled players continue to drive investor’s interest and have dominated the early stage funding landscape in India. This phase has also seen the emergence of 27 Indian unicorns.
The report also highlights that the startup ecosystem growth phase has been fuelled by, availability of technical talent pool, positive perception around entrepreneurship, learning and adapting from global tech companies; increased government support through infrastructure investment and funding, and large amount of foreign capital flowing into India motivating domestic capital pools to participate as well.
5. Walmart may invest $25 billion in Tata Group's Super app, says report
Walmart is reportedly in talks with Tata Group for a $25 billion state in Tata's retail venture "Super App". The Mumbai-headquartered company is working on a digital services platform to provide a wide range of products in the retail sector.
According to Mint, if the deal goes through, it could become India's largest deal in the retail space, over taking Walmart's May 2018 purchase of a 66 percent stake in Flipkart for $16 billion. Reports suggest that the Super App is likely to be launched as a joint venture between the two companies with a possible option of including foreign investors.
The business could be part of a subsidiary of Tata Sons, where it amalgamates other retail channels of Tata including Tata Cliq, StarQuik, Tata Sky and Croma under one umbrella.
6. Uber wins court appeal to continue operating on London roads
Taxi ride-hailing giant Uber won a court appeal in Britain on September 28 to be granted a new licence to operate in London. The US-headquartered app has been operating in London on an interim basis while its appeal was being heard after Transport for London (TfL) had rejected its licence application last year over safety concerns.
This move ends uncertainty for the 45,000 drivers who use the taxi app in London. Westminster Magistrates' Court said Uber was now a "fit and proper" operator "despite historical failings".
Meanwhile, Uber is faced with a separate legal battle over whether it should give these drivers basic employment protections, such as minimum wage and holiday pay, as they currently fall under the category of contractors rather than employees.
7. Uber weighs in purchase of BMW-Daimler Ride-Hailing Venture: Report
Uber Technologies is likely to buy Daimler AG and BMW AG’s ride-hailing joint venture Free Now according to a news report on Bloomberg. The deal that could boost its market share in Europe and Latin America.
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