india

Flipkart taps Dunzo founder to lead quick commerce push

Commerce /

Flipkart has hired Kabeer Biswas, co-founder of Indian delivery startup Dunzo, as the Walmart-owned e-commerce group expands its quick commerce business in the world’s most populous nation. Biswas will lead Flipkart’s quick commerce business, called Flipkart Minutes, a source familiar with the situation told TechCrunch. The move follows Flipkart engaging with Biswas over a potential […]

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Microsoft backs its $3B AI push in India with public and private sector deals

AI /

Microsoft announced a sweeping series of artificial intelligence partnerships across India’s core sectors on Wednesday, a day after pledging to invest $3 billion in the country over the next two years as it intensifies competition with rivals Google and Amazon. The tech giant’s chief executive Satya Nadella (pictured above) unveiled agreements with five major organizations

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Indian government websites are still redirecting users to scam sites

Security /

Some Indian government websites continue to allow the planting of scammy links on their official domains months after TechCrunch reported the issue. TechCrunch found more than 90 “gov.in” website links associated with Indian government departments — including the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and India Post, as well as state governments and councils of Haryana

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South Park Commons is raising $40M for an India-specific fund

Venture /

South Park Commons, a Silicon Valley collective of engineers, founders, and researchers, is raising an India-specific fund over six months after entering the South Asian market in June, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week. The exact size of the fund is yet to be determined, though the

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Microsoft to invest $3 billion into cloud and AI push in India

AI /

Microsoft plans to invest $3 billion to expand capacity for its artificial intelligence and cloud Azure services in India and also upskill an additional 10 million people in the country with AI, the software giant’s chief executive said Tuesday. “The investments in infrastructure and skilling we are announcing today reaffirm our commitment to making India

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Accel could raise billions for India, but it’s sticking to $650 million

Venture /

Accel has maintained its India fund size at $650 million for its eighth vehicle, even as other venture firms in the region are racing to raise increasingly larger pools of capital. The firm had ample opportunity to raise “multi-billion dollars,” said Shekhar Kirani, partner at Accel, in an interview with TechCrunch. But unlike peers who

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Hindustan Unilever in talks to acquire Peak XV-backed Minimalist for up to $350M

Commerce /

Consumer goods giant Hindustan Unilever is in advanced talks to acquire four-year-old direct-to-consumer startup Minimalist for up to $350 million, according to two people familiar with the matter. An acquisition would add to the Unilever subsidiary’s buying spree in India, where it expanded into the health and wellbeing category by acquiring Oziva and Wellbeing Nutrition

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Cloudflare’s VPN app among half-dozen pulled from Indian app stores

Security /

More than half-a-dozen VPN apps, including Cloudflare’s widely-used 1.1.1.1, have been pulled from India’s Apple App Store and Google Play Store following intervention from government authorities, TechCrunch has learned.  The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs issued removal orders for the apps, according to a document reviewed by TechCrunch and a disclosure made by Google to

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India again delays rules to break PhonePe-Google Pay duopoly

Fintech /

India has once again pushed back a contentious plan to limit big technology companies’ control of the nation’s digital payments system, extending a regulatory uncertainty that has weighed on the sector for years. The National Payments Corporation of India said on Tuesday it would extend the deadline for implementing a 30% cap on any individual

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