Startup Digest: RBI bars Paytm Payments Bank from adding new customers, Unacademy launches first experience centre & Info Edge acquires 76% stake in Aisle

Taking the phygital route, edtech player Unacademy has launched an experience store in Delhi called ‘Unacademy Store’. The firm plans to open three more stores in Jaipur, Lucknow, and Kota in 6-8 weeks.

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Co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal told CNBC-TV18, that the company is on track to achieve profitability in its core business. Munjal added that the new stores are meant to provide better experiences to new learners to understand Unacademy’s products and offerings while they talk to the top educators in person.

Unacademy is not the only startup to take the omnichannel approach. Its rival and India’s most valuable startup Byju’s earlier announced its plan to open 500 physical centres in India to ramp up its blended learning.

IT company Info Edge, which owns platforms such as Naukri.com and Jeevansathi, has acquired a 76 percent stake in online dating company Aisle Network for Rs 91 crore. With both Aisle and Jeevansathi, InfoEdge will look to strengthen its offering in the matchmaking segment.

The funds will be used to further strengthen Aisle’s position in the high-intent dating market in India, the firm said in a statement. Able Joseph, founder and CEO of Aisle will continue to run Aisle with the support of Info Edge’s infrastructure and ecosystem.

Ankit Nagori-led cloud kitchen company Curefoods has acquired a majority stake in milk-shake brand, Frozen Bottle. Under Curefoods, Frozen Bottle is set to expand its dessert portfolio and more snack-based brands are expected to augment the Frozen Bottle portfolio to cater to a wider audience both via physical and online channels, firm said in a statement. Curefoods also aims to expand Frozen Bottle’s footprint taking it to a total of 50 cities with over 250 outlets.

E-commerce rollup unicorn Mensa Brands has announced its partnership with home storage solutions brand, Pretty Krafts. Pretty Krafts’ product line-up comprises closet organizers, laundry bags, shirt stackers, hanging storage units, and a host of other home storage products that are popular on Amazon and Flipkart.

Edtech startup Infinity Learn has acquired Don’t Memorise, a concept-based multilingual content platform. With this buyout, Infinity Learn aims to cater to Grade 6-10 learners and expand into tier-2 and -3 cities. Don't Memorise focuses on the K-10 segment and boasts of a subscriber base of 2.6 million.

Plant-based dairy startup Goodmylk has acquired domestic nutrition brand PRO2FIT. "It has always been part of Goodmylk's vision to increase food security through local, nutrient-rich plant-based foods. It's more affordable, sustainable and better for everyone. PRO2FIT’s vision matched ours and this should be an exciting journey,” said Radhika Datt, Co-Founder, Goodmylk.

Agritech startup Ninjacart has acquired Tecxprt, a SaaS-based smart solutions provider for an undisclosed amount. With the buyout of Tecxprt, Ninjacart will expand the opportunities for participants to flourish both individually and collectively, thereby contributing towards the enhancement of the agri–ecosystem, it said in a statement. As part of the acquisition, Ninjacart will obtain direct access to Tecxprt's technology suite, which will accelerate the digitisation within the organisation's ecosystem, it added.

UK-based integrated manufacturing services and power products company Volex has acquired a majority stake in inYantra Technologies, an electronics design, and manufacturing services firm, for $13 million.

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Volex's partnership with inYantra will bring in new verticals and fortified capabilities. It will strengthen the focus on two high-growth Indian sectors of medical electronics and electric vehicles (EVs) for inYantra Technologies, the company said in a statement. The association with Volex will also provide access to a global customer base, spread international operating footprint, inYantra added.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Amazon’s proposal to acquire Prione Business Services, which runs Cloudtail, one of the largest online marketplaces in India.

"The proposed combination pertains to the proposed acquisition of 76 percent of the equity shares of Prione Business Services Private Limited (Target) by Amazon Asia-Pacific Resources Private Limited (Acquirer),” CCI said in a statement.

Prione Business Services has a wholly-owned subsidiary Cloudtail India Private Limited (CT), which is engaged in the B2C retail business in India, and currently offers for sale products to customers on Amazon Marketplace.

Kristal.AI, an asset management platform, has rolled out an ESOP buyback plan of $1 million for its former and existing employees. The company said it plans to conduct such liquidity exercises on a yearly basis to facilitate wealth creation opportunity for both existing and former employees. This opens a dedicated route to help employees unlock liquidity and optimize their financial assets, the firm added.

Women-owned very small businesses ((WVSEs) in India face several challenges, including inadequate access to capital, technology and information, and infrastructure gaps.

There are 15 million women-owned MSMEs in India and over 70 percent of them are manufacturing enterprises (most of them home-based), as per a report by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), enabled by Intellecap.

The report titled ‘Opportunities and Challenges of Women-Owned Very Small Enterprises in India’, highlighted that WVSEs with an estimated credit demand worth Rs 836 billion ($11.4 billion) need the strong support of financial institutions. This support will facilitate their growth and drive socio-economic inclusion by eliminating existing challenges, it added.

Women's job applications witnessed a 25 percent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in 2021, according to a report by Naukri.com. The findings showed that there were 2,113 million female job applications in 2021, the number was 1,687 million in 2020 and 1,410 million in 2019. In terms of women's job applications, the report witnessed a 25 percent Y-o-Y in 2021, and a 20 percent Y-o-Y in 2020.

2021 was a milestone year for the Indian startup ecosystem with 44 companies entering the ‘Unicorn Club’. There has been a 2X quarter on quarter (QoQ) growth in a job posting by top unicorns in India, according to a recent report by apna.co.

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At present, apna is the preferred hiring partner of 30 Indian unicorns including the ones joining the club last year, it said in a statement.

The report highlighted that more than 80 percent of hiring demand has been for the top 3 categories -- Delivery persons, field sales, and business development.

TikTok is nearing a deal for Oracle to store its US users' information without its Chinese parent ByteDance having access to it, hoping to address US regulatory concerns over data integrity on the popular short video app, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The agreement would come a year and a half after a US national security panel ordered ByteDance to divest TikTok because of fears that US user data could be passed on to China's communist government.

Oracle had discussed acquiring a minority stake in TikTok in 2020 when ByteDance was under US pressure to sell the app. The cloud computing giant will store all of TikTok's US user data on Oracle data servers under the new proposed partnership, the sources said.

European Union and British antitrust authorities launched parallel investigations into a 2018 online display advertising deal between Google and Facebook, adding to a long list of regulatory challenges facing the US tech giants.

As per Reuters, Google and Facebook defended the "Jedi Blue" deal, which the EU said may thwart ad tech rivals and disadvantage publishers in online display advertising.

While one angle of the EU investigation focuses on the deal, another looks at whether Google abuses its dominance which could mean that Facebook is off the hook if this is found to be the case.

Prosecutors have asked a Russian court to designate Facebook's parent organisation Meta Platforms as an "extremist organisation," Interfax reported.

The state prosecutor also asked Russia's communications watchdog to restrict access to Meta's Instagram social networking service.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Meta would allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Another Russian news agency, TASS, reported that Russian investigators had opened a case about Meta's actions.

Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook has raised concern over LGBTQ laws in the United States, mainly those focused on young people that opponents refer to as "don't say gay" legislation.

Florida lawmakers recently passed a Republican-backed bill prohibiting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for many young students. The legislation has stirred national controversy amid an increasingly partisan debate over what schools should teach children about race and gender, Reuters reported.

"As a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, I am deeply concerned about laws being enacted across the country, particularly those focused on our vulnerable youth," Cook said on Twitter. Walt Disney Co's Bob Chapek is another chief executive to voice his disappointment about the LGBTQ legislation.

Twitter has named three new leaders in its consumer division to oversee the development of new features and services as it races to reach 315 million daily users by the end of 2023, up from 217 million now, Reuters reported.

Over the past year, Twitter has added features such as Spaces, an audio-only chat, and Communities, to let users group around common interests such as music, in its biggest effort yet to expand beyond the 280-character posts the site is known for.

Jay Sullivan, a former product director at the virtual and augmented reality unit of Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc, will become Twitter's vice president of consumer products, Kayvon Beykpour, the unit's general manager, said on Twitter.

The new head of consumer design will be Anita Butler, who now leads some design teams focused on privacy and boosting the safety of Twitter conversations.

Twitter said Arnaud Weber would head engineering within the consumer division. He previously led engineering on the team responsible for growing revenue via digital ad sales and data licensing.

Uber has raised its outlook for first-quarter core profit on Monday, as its ride-hailing business was recovering faster than expected on the back of a surge in airport rides and an increase in the number of offices being reopened.

The company also said customers continued to order food at a high rate in February.

As per Reuters, Uber said in a filing it now expected adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $130 million to $150 million in the first three months of the year, up from $100 million to $130 million it previously projected.

Google said it would buy cybersecurity firm Mandiant for $5.4 billion in cash as its cloud business skyrockets, Reuters reported. Google's offer of $23 per share is at a premium of about 53% to Mandiant's stock price before a report that said Microsoft was eyeing a deal to buy the company.

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A deal could bolster Google's cloud computing business, which generates more than $19 billion annually but has been losing billions of dollars a year, and help it compete with bigger rival Microsoft.

Amazon is expected to win unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $8.5 billion buy of US movie studio MGM, people familiar with the matter told Reuters, a move that is set to ramp up competition with streaming rivals Netflix and Disney+.

Announced in May last year, the deal would also strengthen Amazon's video streaming service, drawing people to subscribe to Amazon Prime, which offers fast shipping and encourages consumers to shop more regularly.

The MGM acquisition would give the world's largest online retailer rights to James Bond, one of the most lucrative franchises in film history that have earned nearly $7 billion at the box office globally, according to MGM.

Ukrainian Tesla employees who are asked to return to defend their country will receive pay for at least three months, according to an email the company sent on Monday to employees in Europe, the Middle East, and the Africa region.

It wasn’t clear from the email whether this benefit would be extended to employees in North America and elsewhere, CNBC reported. After three months, Tesla plans to reassess the Russia-Ukraine war and their employees’ situations to decide what more will be needed.