In Brief: TikTok may store user data in India; QIA in talks to fund JioFiber

ByteDance-owned short video app TikTok is understood to have told the government that it is ready to set up data centres in India to store user information locally, The Economic Times reported. Last month, the government banned TikTok and Helo, along with 57 other Chinese apps, over concerns around the sovereignty and integrity of India.

Qatar Investment Authority may invest $1.5 bn in JioFiber

State-owned sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is in advanced talks with Reliance Industries to invest $1.5 billion (about Rs 11,200 crore) in JioFiber, as per a report on Mint. The company looks to monetise its fibre assets held under Jio Digital Fiber and has roped in Citigroup Global Markets, Moelis and Co and ICICI Securities as investment bankers for the deal, the report said. RIL has already bagged over $20 billion in the past few months via stake sales in Jio Platforms. 

Hospitality startup Datstop raises fresh capital

Datstop Hostel, a hospitality startup catering to young professionals and backpackers, said it has raised an undisclosed amount in an equity investment round from Zenga TV managing director and CTO Shabir Momin and Digital Democracy founder Saurabh Pathak. The Delhi-based company plans to deploy the funds to improve its backend operations, speed up food research, find a space for another hostel, and for marketing and team structure strengthening purposes, according to the statement. 

Lowe Lintas rolls out tech platform to help migrants find jobs

Marketing communications company Lowe Lintas said it has launched a technology platform Kaam Wapasi to help migrant workers get back to work. The platform will also provide employers access to a pool of readily available workers, it said. A mobile-first site, the platform will also offer an interactive voice response (IVR) solution to those who may not have access to a smartphone, the statement said.  

MobiKwik launches UPI payments link service

Gurugram headquartered digital payments platform MobiKwik said it has launched mpay.me, a unified payments interface (UPI) payments link service. Through mpay.me, users and merchants can set up a link using their mobile number to start receiving money, a statement said. The personal payments gateway link, which can be shared on messaging services, accepts payments from all the UPI apps, it added.

Axis Bank rolls out chatbot to manage customer queries

Mumbai headquartered Axis Bank said it has rolled out an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered conversational voice bot AXAA to engage with customers and resolve queries. The bot, which can converse in Hindi and English, is expected to accelerate engagement and problem solving via automated speech recognition and natural language understanding, a statement said. The bank has partnered with Bengaluru based Vernacular.Ai to provide technical support and integrate the solution with its applications, it added.