Amazon India plans to acquire UberEats’ local unit; Paytm Money to get Rs 250 cr

Retail giant Amazon’s India arm now wants to deliver food as it is planning to buy UberEats’ local unit. Paytm Money is trying to disrupt the low-cost broking model and is expected to get a Rs 250 cr infusion from its parent company. 

Amazon India plans to buy UberEats India unit

Amazon India is in talks to buy San Francisco, California- based online food ordering company UberEats’ India unit. With this move, the Washington-based ecommerce giant aims to enter the online food delivery business, Business Standard reported. 

UberEats is looking at a valuation of around $300 million, the report added.

Talks about a possible buyout are in the early stages. The retail giant believes food delivery business can bring customers to its Prime app more frequently than shopping for fashion, electronics or grocery, the report added.

Amazon is making efforts to push its Prime membership in India. Earlier in the month, the company had conducted the Prime Day Sale, offering discounts on several products. The sale offered membership at a discount for users aged between 18 and 24 years.

Also, the annual subscription for Amazon prime youth was reduced to Rs 499 compared to the standard amount of Rs 999, the report added.

Paytm Money gets fresh infusion of Rs 250 cr from parent

One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm Money, will be investing Rs 250 crore in its investment platform over 12-18 months, The Times of India reported. 

The investment comes after the recent  Rs 80 crore infusion made by the promoter in the first year of business. The company has built one million active users through its direct mutual fund distribution platform. With this, the company aims to disrupt the low-cost broking model, the report added.

About 80% of the users on the platform are first-time investors in the capital market and come from beyond the top 30 cities in the country, Pravin Jadhav, director of Paytm Money, told the TOI. 

The platform has already received approvals for providing stockbroking and depository services. Paytm Money is registered as an investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and investors can choose to put money in any of the direct schemes of all 40 mutual funds in the country. 

“Our focus is on the simplicity of investing for common people. Instead of complex features, we plan to have in the app short videos of fund managers, which will help investors understand the scheme,” Jadhav added.

Last month, Paytm Money had said that it is planning to raise as much as $1.2 billion in a mega-funding round.

Former Ola Play head to lead Ola EV initiative

Bengaluru-based unicorn transport company Ola is making changes in its team to take its Ola Electric Mobility, electric vehicle and solutions initiative forward, Business Standard reported.

Ankit Jain, who was vice-president and head of Ola Play, has been appointed as the co-founder of Ola Electric Mobility.

The company’s team, which mainly manages FoodPanda and Ola Play, is getting diverted to work in the Ola Electric mobility initiative. The programme will include mid- to senior-level managers, executives, vice-presidents and engineers, the report added.

Earlier in the month, Masayoshi Son-led global conglomerate SoftBank pumped in a $250 million into the Ratan Tata-backed electric vehicles arm of Ola.