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Competitors
EBay picks up over 5% stake in Paytm mall
Publication- ET Tech
Edition- Online
Date- 18 July, 2019
Ebay has picked up a 5.5% stake in Paytm Mall, as the San Jose-based online marketplace makes another attempt to get a slice of the Indian e-commerce market. Ebay said its global inventory will be available to over 130 million active users on Paytm Mall and Paytm's app ecosystem as part of the deal. The companies did not disclose the investment amount, but sources close to the transaction said the financing round is about $150 million.
ET had reported the eBay funding in its April 22 edition. Ebay’s investment comes at a time when Paytm Mall’s business has undergone significant restructuring, with the company moving away from a discounting and cash back-led strategy to following an online-to-offline (O2O) model.
Paytm Mall had raised Rs 1,510 crore in June last year, led by Japanese tech investor SoftBank and Chinese internet giant Alibaba, at a valuation of about Rs. 12,696 crore. It has raised over $650 million in a span of two years from Alibaba, SoftBank and SAIF Partners — all existing investors in Paytm’s parent One97 Communications entity.
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Industry News
Nokia says it has moved ahead of Huawei in 5G orders
Publication- ET Telecom
Edition- Online
Date- 18 July, 2019
Nokia has attracted increased interest in its next-generation telecoms equipment in recent weeks, helping it to move ahead of Chinese rival Huawei in total 5G orders, one of the Finnish company's directors said. With 42 commercial 5G orders, Nokia has edged ahead of Huawei and Ericsson, Nokia director Federico Guillen said, as the companies jostle for position in a market in which U.S.-driven security concerns over Chinese equipment have boosted the attraction of Nordic vendors.
Huawei has struck an estimated 40 commercial 5G orders. Swedish rival Ericsson has publicly announced 19 contracts, of which eight are live. Customers are increasingly looking to Nokia to equip their next-generation core networks, either to have dual sourcing for the most sensitive parts of their networks or to replace existing providers, Guillen said.
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The benefits of blockchain
Publication- The Hindu
Edition- Online
Date- 18 July, 2019
The Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2019 has proposed stringent penalties, including 10 years of imprisonment, for holding, selling or dealing in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Given the high chances of cryptocurrencies being misused in money laundering, various government bodies such as IT, CBDT, and the customs departments have endorsed this endeavour.
While it is important to put mechanisms in place to deter bad actors, a blanket ban on all forms of cryptocurrency transactions will result in India missing out on what may become one of the biggest technology revolutions since the Internet.
The potential of blockchain
While an oversimplification, blockchain can be described as a way for people to share extra space and computational power in their computers to create a global supercomputer that is accessible for everyone. Every computer connected to a blockchain network helps validate and record transactions. People who connect their computers to a network are known as validators and receive transaction fees in the form of tokens.
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Data analytics startup Near secured $100 mn
Publication- Tech Story
Edition- Online
Date- 18 July, 2019
Data Analytics startup Near has now secured $100 Million from the Greater Pacific Capital. The startup will now be going to use the funds to expand into some of the new markets. While on the other hand, a startup has a team of engineers in Bangalore, it is yet to launch its service in India.
The latest funding round has now taken the total capital secured by the company to around $134 Million.Near’s existing investor include the Cisco Investment, JP Morgan, Telstra ventures, Sequoia Capital. “Near provides insights into human behavior by analyzing where people are and combining that with a multitude of data points to predict and influence behaviour…” Ketan Patel, CEO of GPC, said in the statement.
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