In Brief: Former Flipkart CTO launches credit firm Davinta; Xiaomi restructures its India leadership

Former Flipkart chief technology officer Ravi Garikipati has rolled out financial services and micro-credit startup Davinta in partnership with serial entrepreneur Raj Vattikuti, The Economic Times reported. The duo has invested Rs 140 crore of personal money, the report said. The firm already has an NBFC (non-banking finance company) license and has disbursed loans worth Rs50 crore. Since inception, Davinta had disbursed loans to about 10,000 customers, of which 85% are women.

Xiaomi India MD hands over offline retail business to COO

Electronics company Xiaomi India’s managing director Manu Kumar Jain has handed over the offline retail business to Muraikrishnana B, COO, as he plans to enter new global markets and products categories, The Economic Times reported. Jain will continue in his existing role as India MD. The Beijing headquartered company claims leadership in smart televisions in India, a category it entered less than two years ago, the report added.

India has always been open to business, says Piyush Goyal

The Union minister of railways and commerce and industry Piyush Goyal reiterated that India has always been open to business. When asked about the Amazon issue, Goyal said every company will have to stay within the law of the land, according to The Mint. “I am sure you are aware, that e-commerce in India, which was allowed in 2000, very categorically defines that in e-commerce 100% FDI is allowed only for B2B (business to business); it does not allow business to seller. They are not allowed to own inventory, to have control over inventory… After that of course, in order to encourage e-commerce companies, we brought in the marketplace model, but that did not allow business to consumer interface. This is an agnostic platform,” he told in an interview with the publication. Also, Goyal will be leading the Indian delegation to the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos.

Bharti Airtel partners with Google Cloud to boost digital transformation in India

Telecommunications provider Bharti Airtel has signed a deal with Google Cloud to boost digital transformation in India. The New Delhi headquartered company will offer  G Suite to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in India as part of its integrated ICT (information communication technology) portfolio. The G Suite is a set of apps, including Gmail, Docs, Drive and Calendar, among others, which is designed with real-time collaboration and machine intelligence (ML), the companies said in a joint statement.

Anthill Ventures, AWS and HSBC India jointly announce the third edition of Merge

Hyderabad-based early stage investment firm Anthill Ventures,  cloud giant Amazon Web Services and financial services company HSBC India jointly announced the third edition of Merge. The event aimed at fostering co-innovation and collaboration between tech startups, blue chip corporates, and global investors in the ecosystem, according to a statement. The companies said that over 30 startups across health, media, and urban tech will get a chance to showcase their products and solutions to companies like HCG, Jubilant, AWS, HSBC, and other leading industries and global investors giants. The companies added that the startups, corporates, and investors will have access to seven health-tech startups from Singapore that are conducting a market study trip in India under a global innovation alliance with Anthill Ventures. The event will take place on January 22, 2020, in Bengaluru.

Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence invites applications for the start-up incubation programme

The Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence (CCoE), a joint initiative of Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and Government of Telangana, has invited applications from companies and start-ups in cybersecurity and data privacy for its upcoming incubator and accelerator centre. The first round of applications is about to close soon, the press statement said. The programme is set to begin at the CCoE campus at Hyderabad.