Also in this letter:
■ Centre writes to Meta over WhatsApp outage
■ IBM says moonlighting creates ‘conflict of interest’
■ Will probe layoffs at Byju’s: Kerala minister
Money View may become the next unicorn
Online financial services provider Money View may become a unicorn soon. The startup is in discussions to rack up a fresh round of equity funding, which will be its second this year. The round is expected to value it at a little over $1 billion, sources aware of the deal told us.
New investor alert: Private equity giant Apis Partners is expected to lead the round and join in as a new investor. Apis is expected to invest roughly $65 million, with the rest of the corpus coming from internal investors and private equity funds.
Valuation jump: The fresh round is expected to value the startup at $900 million to $925 million pre-money and over $1 billion post-money. That would be a spike of over 60% in valuation since its last prescribed valuation of $625 million in March.
What does Money View do? Founded in 2014, Money View provides personal loans, as well as buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) products worth up to Rs 5 lakh to individuals. It also offers personal financial management solutions to end consumers. For its credit offerings, the Bengaluru-based fintech has partnered with over 15 financial institutions.
Centre writes to Meta over WhatsApp outage
The government has shot off a letter to Meta India asking it about the reasons behind the almost-two-hour outage of its instant messaging platform WhatsApp on Tuesday. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) wants to know if the outage was on account of an internal glitch or a cyber attack, sources told us.
‘Co-ordinate with Cert-In’: The IT ministry asked WhatsApp to work with the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) to ascertain whether there was any untoward cyber incident on the company’s servers during the time the services of the instant messaging app were not available.
Longest outage ever: WhatsApp faced a major global outage on Tuesday that prevented users from sending or receiving text and video messages for almost two hours.
WhatsApp Web, the app’s web version, used by many on their desktops and laptops, was also hit by the outage. The instant messaging app has more than 500 million users in India and has become the ubiquitous form of communication in the country.
Meta’s stance: Meta did not offer any explanation as to why the app was out of service globally. On Tuesday, after services were restored, a spokesperson for the company said it had “fixed the issue” that had caused the outage and apologised for the inconvenience caused to users.
IBM says moonlighting creates a ‘conflict of interest’
Tech major IBM on Wednesday waded into the moonlighting discourse, saying the practice creates a “conflict of interest” as it could put critical client data and commercial assets at risk.
What it said: “…while IBMers’ time outside of work is their own, it also requires them to avoid engaging in activities that create a conflict of interest,” IBM India managing director Sandip Patel said in an internal note sent to employees. “…if you advance a personal interest, whether directly or indirectly, at the expense of IBM’s interest, it is treated as a serious conflict of interest and violation of trust,” it said.
Varied opinions: Wipro recently sacked 300 techies for indulging in moonlighting and its executive chairman Rishad Premji has termed the practice as “cheating”. Infosys, on the other hand, has allowed its employees to take up external gigs that are not in direct conflict with the firm’s business, with prior approval.
Smaller firms open to moonlighting: Even as top-tier IT services companies fret about moonlighting, mid-tier technology companies and tech startups are holding open discussions with employees to inspire confidence among moonlighters to disclose side projects and reset expectations.
Companies such as Zoho, Kissflow and M2P Fintech have had company-wide discussions on moonlighting to clarify that the practice is acceptable, as long as the company’s intellectual property is not compromised.
ET Ecommerce Index
We’ve launched three indices – ET Ecommerce, ET Ecommerce Profitable, and ET Ecommerce Non-Profitable – to track the performance of recently listed tech firms. Here’s how they’ve fared so far.
Google reviewing CCI decision
A day after India’s competition regulator came down heavily on Google for the second time in less than a week, a spokesperson for the internet giant said it was “reviewing the CCI (Competition Commission of India) decision to evaluate the next steps”.
The emailed statement added that Indian developers have benefited from the technology, security, consumer protections and unrivalled choice and flexibility that Android and Google Play provide.
Quote unquote: “And, by keeping costs low, our model has powered India’s digital transformation and expanded access for hundreds of millions of Indians,” it said. “We remain committed to our users and developers and are reviewing the decision to evaluate the next steps.”
Indus App Bazaar cofounder reacts: In an interaction with ET, Rakesh Deshmukh, cofounder of Indus App Bazaar, India’s largest localised app store, said that the CCI order is a respite for all stakeholders. “This is fantastic news for all startups in India (that want) to build competitive products,” he said.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Will probe layoffs at Byju’s: Kerala minister
Amid reports that edtech startup Byju’s has forced its employees to resign, Kerala’s minister for general education and labour, V Sivankutty, said the state government would conduct a “serious investigation” into the closure of Byju’s Technopark office in Thiruvananthapuram.
Quote unquote: “The employees of Byju’s app had come to meet me along with the officials of Prathidhwani, an IT employees welfare organisation at Technopark. The employees have many grievances including job loss. The labour department will conduct a serious investigation in this regard,” Sivankutty wrote on Facebook.
Company’s response: Byju’s said 140 people from the Technopark office were let go. “In this ongoing organisational restructuring for profitable growth, Byju’s is making every attempt to offer relevant relocation opportunities to the affected employees. In this regard, while we are discontinuing a part of our Thiruvananthapuram operations to reduce redundancy, we are also offering the entire Thiruvananthapuram team an opportunity to relocate to Bengaluru,” a Byju’s spokesperson said.
Planned move: Earlier this month, Byju’s announced that it would “rationalise” about 5% of its 50,000-strong workforce across departments such as product, content, media and technology, in a phased manner. This translated into layoffs of around 2,500 people.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Online dispute resolution startup Sama raises seed funding: LegalTech company Sama recently announced that it has raised an undisclosed round of funding from Campus Fund. The company said in a press release that it would use the funds to expand its market presence, scale up the core team, and accelerate product development. The startup is building a platform to enable government bodies, companies and thereby individuals to completely resolve their disputes online.
Apple facing iPhone 14 supply constraints in India: Minister of state for electronics and information technology (IT) Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday that he has held talks with iPhone maker Apple regarding a shortage of the iPhone 14 Pro in India. “I have spoken with Apple and they have said that while iPhone14 demand is being met also with India production, iPhone14 Pro demand has surged and is facing supply constraints, which they are addressing,” he tweeted.
