Manish Singh
TechCrunch
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Recent articles by Manish:
Google to shut down its India-focused Q&A app Neighbourly –
Google is shutting down Neighbourly, a Q&A social app that it launched in select parts of India two years, the company has informed users. The app, developed by company’s Next Billion Initiative, aimed to give local communities an outlet to seek answers to practical questions about life, routine and more. At the time of its […] → Read More
Mobile payments firms in India are now scrambling to make money –
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and chief executive of India’s most valuable startup, Paytm, posed an existential question in a recent press conference. “What do you think of the commercial model for digital mobile payments. How do we make money?” Sharma asked Nandan Nilekani, one of the key architects of the Universal Payments Infrastructure that created […] → Read More
Spotify and Warner Music Group renew their global licensing deal, sort out their issue in India –
Spotify and Warner Music Group have renewed their global licensing partnership, the two said on Wednesday, confirming that Warner Music Group’s songs will now be available on the Sweden-headquartered firm’s platform in India. In a joint statement, the two giants said, “The two companies look forward to collaborating on impactful global initiatives for Warner artists […] → Read More
Investors tell Indian startups to ‘prepare for the worst’ as Covid-19 uncertainty continues –
Just three months after capping what was the best year for Indian startups, having raised a record $14.5 billion in 2019, they are beginning to struggle to raise new capital as prominent investors urge them to “prepare for the worst”, cut spending and warn that it could be challenging to secure additional money for the […] → Read More
Disney+ to launch in India on April 3 –
Disney said on Tuesday that it will launch its streaming service, Disney+, in India on April 3. The service, available globally in about a dozen markets, will launch in India on Hotstar, one of the most popular on-demand streaming services in the country that is also owned by Disney. The company said it is raising […] → Read More
Xiaomi reports Q4 revenue jump, beats estimates –
Xiaomi ended 2019 on a high, reporting a 27.1% year-on-year jump in the fourth-quarter revenue aided by overseas expansion, beating analysts’ estimation. The Chinese giant said sales in the fourth quarter jumped to 56.5 billion yuan ($8 billion), up from 44.42 billion yuan in the same quarter a year before. In the fourth quarter of […] → Read More
China’s Pinduoduo raises $1.1 billion in private share placement –
Chinese e-commerce firm Pinduoduo said on Tuesday it had raised $1.1 billion in a private share placement that will enable its further expansion and capture “additional opportunities” during the times of uncertainty. The Nasdaq-listed firm said some of its long-term investors financed the deal. The investors were granted newly issued Class A ordinary shares of Pinduoduo […] → Read More
Streaming service Hooq files for liquidation –
On-demand video streaming service Hooq said on Friday it has filed for liquidation after it failed to grow rapidly and cover its increasing operating costs. Hooq Digital, a joint venture between Singapore telecom group Singtel (majority owner), Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros Entertainment, said the company sailed through “significant structural changes” in the on-demand video […] → Read More
Inside Udaan’s push to digitize India’s B2B retail market –
During a recent visit, Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella reiterated his company’s commitment to India and revealed a new fund to help SaaS startups in the country. And then Nadella and Anant Maheshwari, president of Microsoft India, discussed the success story of B2B platform Udaan in three separate onstage public appearances. Headquartered in Bangalore, Udaan […] → Read More
Facebook launches Community Hub on Messenger to fight coronavirus misinformation –
Facebook today unveiled Messenger Coronavirus Community Hub that offers tips, authoritative information and other resources to help stay connected and informed about the coronavirus outbreak, weeks after launching a similar information hub on its other messaging service WhatsApp. The launch of the coronavirus hub on Messenger, used by more than a billion people, comes at […] → Read More
India’s MX Player expands to US, UK and other markets in international push –
MX Player, the on-demand video streaming service owned by India’s conglomerate Times Internet, is expanding to more than half a dozen new international markets including the U.S. and the UK to supply more entertainment content to millions of people trapped in their homes. The Singapore-headquartered on-demand video streaming service, which raised $111 million in a […] → Read More
Facebook in talks to acquire stake in top Indian telco Reliance Jio, report says –
Reliance Jio, a three-and-a-half-year-old subsidiary of India’s most valued firm Reliance Industries, may have attracted the attention of Facebook. The American firm is in talks to acquire a 10% stake in Indian telecom operator, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. The size of the deal, the paper said, was in “multi-billion dollars.” → Read More
Netflix to reduce its traffic on ISPs by 25% in India –
Netflix said on Tuesday that it will lower the streaming quality on its platform in India, following a similar move in Europe in a bid to reduce the congestion on the internet pipelines. The American streaming giant said it would lower its traffic on network providers by 25% in India for a period of 30 […] → Read More
Uber, Ola suspend all rides in New Delhi –
Uber and Ola have suspended all ride options in New Delhi till March 31, days after temporarily discontinuing shared ride options across the country in a bid to slow the coronavirus pandemic. The firms said the suspension of their services in India’s capital was in compliance with the local state government’s lockdown order that went […] → Read More
WhatsApp tests new feature to fight misinformation: Search the web –
WhatsApp, one of the most popular instant messaging platforms on the planet, is testing a feature that could make it simpler for its 2 billion users to tell whether the assertion made in messages they have received is true. In the recent most beta version of its Android app, the Facebook-owned service has given users […] → Read More
India launches WhatsApp chatbot to create awareness about coronavirus –
India is turning to WhatsApp, the most popular app in the country, to create awareness about coronavirus pandemic. Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister, said on Saturday that citizens in the country can text a WhatsApp bot — called MyGov Corona Helpdesk — to get instant authoritative answers to their coronavirus queries such as the symptoms […] → Read More
Ola suspends shared ride option in India –
Ride-hailing giant Ola said on Friday evening that it is temporarily suspending pool rides on its platform, called Ola Share, in India in a bid to slow the coronavirus pandemic by encouraging social distancing. The Indian firm, which operates in several countries including Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, offers Ola Share only in India. […] → Read More
Disney+ India launch postponed –
Disney said on Friday that it is postponing the launch of its eponymous streaming service in India after the biggest local attraction, cricket tournament Indian Premier League, was rescheduled due to the coronavirus outbreak. The company, which is launching the streaming service through its local streamer Hotstar, did not immediately have a new launch to […] → Read More
Y Combinator-backed Kosh is a neobank for blue-collar workers in India –
Dozens of startups have stepped up in India in recent quarters to improve banking experience for millions of users and businesses in the country. As a result, tens of thousands of people who could not get a loan or a credit card from a bank can now secure both from fintech startups. But this push […] → Read More
WhatsApp unveils $1M grant and info hub to fight coronavirus rumors –
Grappling with the spread of misinformation on the platform, WhatsApp today announced two initiatives to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Facebook -owned instant messaging service announced WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub — for which it has partnered with the WHO, UNICEF, and UNDP — to offer simple, actionable guidance, general tips and resources for users […] → Read More