ShareChat Parent Enters Into Strategic Partnership; Will Buy TakaTak In $700-million Deal

Social media platform ShareChat’s parent Mohalla Tech (which also operates Moj) has entered into a strategic partnership with Times Internet-owned short video app MX TakaTak, operated by MX Media. The plan is to build India’s largest short video platform —…

An American PE That Backed Alibaba And Airbnb Has Turned Bullish On India Amid The Pandemic

In a year that’ll be remembered in history for a devastating pandemic and an unprecedented economic slowdown, an American investor is flooding India with money. Experts believe having this giant in the roster will give Indian firms’ street cred globally. Silver Lake…

Can India’s Legacy Businesses Beat Amazon and Walmart?

From Flipkart versus Amazon to Uber versus Ola, and even Swiggy versus Zomato, India’s internet has so far been a battleground for young local startups and global tech giants—either fighting each other or among themselves.   “The investments from the…

Why The World Needs To Wake Up To India’s Jio

Billion-dollar investments, marquee shareholders, and a business built without any Chinese footprint, India’s 10-month old Jio Platforms appears to have all the right ingredients to become the next big global tech giant.   The biggest strength of Jio Platforms is…

TikTok’s Suitors: Among Microsoft, Walmart, Oracle, and Reliance, Who Makes The Best Match?

Just about a year back, when afaqs! did a cover story on TikTok, it seemed like the short video platform was nearing the end of its problems in India. It seemed like the major concern for the ByteDance-owned video juggernaut…

TikTok Deal With Oracle May Not Lead Easing Of Ban In India

The ‘technical partnership’ deal struck between US-based business software provider Oracle and ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, is unlikely to bring cheers to users of the mobile app in India as the Centre is reportedly in no mood…

The Big Race For TikTok In India: What’s In It For The Buyer?

In the US, TikTok might be on the last legs of negotiation to find itself an American buyer but the big race is on In India. While several names like Microsoft, Twitter,  Reliance Jio and now Oracle have come to…

Oracle Running TikTok In India Doesn’t Make Sense: Here’s Why

Earlier today, we published a research report on the possibilities and the likely outcomes if Oracle was to land TikTok. Since then, I've received many calls from friends in the media about the implication for TikTok's India business and whether or not…

Oracle Landing TikTok Means A Lot Of Things, But Definitely Not An Ad Network

Sunday night just got exciting, and how! Reports have confirmed that Oracle has won the bid for the U.S. operations of TikTok (a ByteDance company), leaving behind both Microsoft and Walmart from the race. It's being touted that this deal will not…

The Race To Build An Indian Social Network

Over the past three months, home-grown variants of short-video social networking apps have cruised through some unusual times. Border tensions and #BoycottChina campaigns had already resulted in a steady uptick in their user base. And then came the ban on 59…

Engagement, User Experience Critical For Homegrown Apps To Succeed

The ban on 59 apps with Chinese links has opened up opportunities for homegrown players to accelerate growth but they will have to ensure good user experience and engagement on their platforms to be successful, according to industry analysts.  …

Ban On ‘Made-in-China’ Apps Gives India’s TikTok Rivals A Boost

India's decision to ban 59 'made-in-China' apps is proving a blessing to local software developers, especially alternatives to video-sharing social networking service TikTok, which until the ban had 200 million users in the country.   Some experts, however, see challenges…

Google-Reliance Partnership Heats Up Indian eCommerce Race

TOKYO -- Google's surprise decision announced on July 15 to invest $4.5 billion into Jio Platforms, the digital business arm of India's biggest family-owned conglomerate Reliance Industries, has so far not been accompanied by any announcement on Google's role in Reliance's…

Reliance Likely To Acquire TikTok In India For $5 billion

India's most valuable company Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is reportedly the latest bidder for the Bytedance-owned TikTok in India. The Mukesh Ambani-led firm had begun talks last month with the Chinese firm to acquire its operations in India. The deal…

Does Acquiring TikTok In India Make Sense For RIL?

Reliance Industries Ltd could gain a deeper connection with consumers by acquiring TikTok in India, but its existing strategic partnership with Facebook — which owns Instagram — could put the deal under the scrutiny of the Competition Commission of India,…