In Brief: ByteDance hands out bonuses to India employees despite TikTok-Helo ban

Chinese technology company ByteDance has been doling out cash bonuses, going up in lakhs of rupees, to its Indian employees, who are hopeful of being absorbed under a global deal, according to an Economic Times report, citing sources. The move is in line with a global announcement through an internal memo, the report said, adding that bonuses for a set of mid senior to senior employees ranged between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 4 lakh. ByteDance has 2,000 employees in the country. The news comes at a time when Bytedance apps TikTok and Helo are banned in India. 

Related: Timeline: Whose TikTok is it anyway?

New Chinese apps surface in popularity, similar to those banned

Several Chinese apps have made an entry into India’s consumer market, even as they substitute the functions of those banned by the country earlier this year, as per an Economic Times report. The rebranded version of apps include Snack Video, launched by Tencent-backed Kuaishou, and is similar to banned apps Kwai and TikTok. “This should not be the case. If this is happening, we will take up the matter,” an unnamed government official was quoted as saying by The Economic Times in response to its query on the matter.

Campus Fund calls for applications for student entrepreneurs contest

Student-led venture capital investing initiative Campus Fund on Sunday said that it has launched a “grand challenge” to build and promote an ecosystem for student entrepreneurship in India. The contest will provide the winners with access to the Amazon Web Services Activate programme that offers resources, mentorship and promotional credit support, the statement said, adding that the top 60 shortlisted startups will be mentored by members of the AWS Super Angels programme in India. Startups operating in the country’s mobility, agritech, cleantech, robotics, edtech, fintech and mental wellness sectors, with founders who are current students, dropouts and recent graduates, have been invited to apply by October 12.

Paytm rolls out stockbroking services

Digital payments startup Paytm on Monday said it is open for business on its Paytm Money’s unit of stockbroking services. With a target of capturing 10 lakh investors in the financial year ended March 2021, the service has registered over 2.2 lakh users in an early access programme, with 65% being millennials, a statement said.

Locus, Vinculum announce omnichannel commerce partnership

Bengaluru-based B2B deeptech solutions provider of supply chain management Locus on Monday said it has partnered with Vinculum to enable omnichannel commerce and supply chain fulfillment for customers. Noida-based Vinculum is a software services provider in omnichannel retailing, ecommerce and B2B fulfillment. They will provide a solution for brands to manage everything ecommerce, right from global marketplace listings, data consistency, real-time view of inventory in stores, BOPIS (buy online, pick up in-store), BOPAK (buy online, pick up at kerbside), returns across channels, to last-mile routing, the statement said.

PhonePe sets up 7 new categories for mutual funds services

Walmart’s Flipkart owned digital payments startup PhonePe on Monday said it has launched seven new mutual fund categories for its over 230 million registered users to invest in. The current set of categories include large cap, mid and small cap; diversified funds; index funds; hybrid - aggressive and dynamic asset allocation; debt; liquid; and tax saving funds, a statement said.

upGrad announces first international business CEO 

Mumbai-based higher education services provider upGrad on Monday announced the appointment of Saranjit Sangar as the CEO of its British, Europe and Middle Eastern business. Based out of London, Sangar has previously worked in areas of ecommerce with Amazon UK, last-mile logistics with Honestbee in Singapore, cloud kitchens with Grab in Singapore and consumer goods with Godrej in India. As the first appointed international CEO of upGrad, she will drive the company’s $1 billion revenue goal from the new markets in the next 4-5 years, a statement said.