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<ul><li><keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword>’s <keyword id="2003276" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jio">Jio</keyword> has partnered with <keyword id="6354576" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword> which many think is a bid to build the next <keyword id="3848715" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Super-app">super app</keyword> for India.</li><li>Historically, super app experiments in the country have not been sustainable.</li><li>Currently, it’s not known whether Jio or WhatsApp will be the new super app — or if it will be a new independent super app altogether.</li><li>Payments may be oil for e-commerce, but a lot of these uncertainties and questions will only be answered in the weeks and months to follow.</li></ul>In a bid to be India’s Alibaba, the country’s richest man Mukesh Ambani is attempting something where others have failed — building a super app. The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/heres-why-facebooks-mark-zuckerberg-is-paying-top-dollar-for-a-stake-in-mukesh-ambanis-reliance-jio/articleshow/75286331.cms">$5.7 billion deal with Facebook</a> is another step by <keyword id="6354504" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="reliance-jio">Reliance Jio</keyword> towards a super app — an idea that hasn’t worked in India so far. Even if it takes off this time, there will be other uncomfortable questions for Ambani as well as his new friend <keyword id="6354630" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mark-zuckerberg">Mark Zuckerberg</keyword> who is looking to capture a big chunk of the millions of Indians who are yet to use the internet. <div type="image" title="pjote grid (6)" msid="75343777" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;A WhatsApp super app, a Jio super app, or a third new super app altogether — nobody really knows. The bigger question is why attempt building a super app in a country where, historically, super apps haven&amp;#39;t worked out.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The Mittal experience Facebook and Reliance are not the first to try out the super app in India. Hike, an eight-year-old startup with 2 million weekly active users as of December 2019, had to pivot away from the super app idea after working on it for six years. “Do consumers want a super app on a super app is the question that we asked and in 2017, we concluded that was not going to be the future,” said <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/exclusive-kavin-mittal-says-hike-will-look-to-make-money-this-year-heres-how/articleshow/73924944.cms">Kavin Mittal</a>, the founder and CEO of Hike, told Business Insider during an interview in February. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="73924944" title="Exclusive: Kavin Mittal says Hike will look to make money this year —here's how" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> “Given that India is not like China — in that it’s open to competition from the world — building a super app wasn’t the way to go forward. In a market with very cheap 4G and good smartphones, the smartphone becomes the super app,” Mittal went on to explain. However, Mittal didn’t have the wide array of businesses that could leverage each other or the deep pockets like Ambani does. The difference in context for Ambani Reliance Jio is just one of the many businesses that Ambani owns — refining, petrochemicals, and retail being the other major segments ⁠— and he wants the super app to complement his vast network of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/from-reliance-jiomart-to-unicorns-and-other-startups-all-line-up-to-serve-kiranas-indias-mom-n-pop-stores/articleshow/75324026.cms">10,901 retail stores and sourcing prowess</a> to beat his primary competitors Amazon, Walmart-owned Flipkart and Future Retail. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="75290132" title="Jio, a 3-year old telecom company, is now bigger than HDFC, Infosys and ITC – and India's largest bank" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> Further, Ambani who has been touting the phrase ‘data is the new oil’ for a few years now wants access to as much information on his users as possible. In the process, Jio, which was born as a mobile service provider just 3 years ago, has quickly added everything from movies to music to the upcoming services like e-commerce, and even <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/reliance-jio-fired-up-as-mukesh-ambani-joins-hands-with-satya-nadellas-microsoft-to-challenge-jeff-bezos-in-india/articleshow/70641754.cms">virtual reality (VR) shopping.</a> Now, Ambani wants to bring 30 million small shops and business owners onto his new commerce platform, JioMart, in the next one year. Facebook brings the missing piece of the puzzle — WhatsApp, India’s most-used messaging service, and a motherload of user data from its 400 million monthly active users (MAUs) in India. “Not many telecoms in the world have this kind of ecosystem control — right from content to music to movies as well as having all the different apps within that ecosystem. What was missing was the commerce piece of it,” Tarun Pathak, an associate director at research analytics firm Counterpoint, told Business Insider. Both Zuckerberg and Ambani have another common grouse too. Their respective e-payments service, Jio money and WhatsApp payments, have not taken off in a big way so far. And as Akhil Handa, head of fintech at Bank of Baroda, told Business Insider, “Payments is oil for e-commerce.” <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> “In my mind, WhatsApp Pay and Jio Money will all hopefully get rolled into one,” Vikram Sud, an independent director at DBS told <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/whatsapp-is-the-secret-sauce-in-the-deal-between-facebook-and-reliance-jio/articleshow/75296172.cms">Business Insider.</a> Together, they will have the muscle to disrupt a crowded payments market both in terms of money and a mammoth data bank to market itself optimally. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Platform </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Users </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">WhatsApp </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">400 million MAU* </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Facebook </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">250 million MAU </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Jio </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">366 million subscribers </td></tr></tbody></table>*MAU: Monthly active users Size matters but not always Pathak believes that the success of the super app will depend on whether it can prove to be ‘sticky’ enough for users to stay. “In India, it’s about value for money. If I’m getting a good deal on a particular platform, it’s not going to matter whether I’m hooked to a particular super app or not,” explained Pathak. On the other hand, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vibar/?originalSubdomain=sg">Vibhu Arya</a>, the head partnerships &amp; big deals in South East Asia for Tencent-backed iPaylinks. predicts that the success of an app like this is pretty low. “A super app tied to a parent like Jio Telco and Reliance Retail defeats the very purpose of a super app ushering in conflict of interest for other sellers,” Arya told Business Insider. Right now, there isn’t clarity around the Reliance-Facebook concept of a super app. The world doesn’t know if it’s going to be on WhatsApp, if it’s going to be on Jio, or will it be an entirely new independent super app co-owned by both. “If WhatsApp becomes the super app and Reliance is only one of the many sellers, there’s no conflict. In an ideal scenario, if WhatsApp needs to build a super app — there is no advantage that Reliance brings to it,” Arya explained. Citing the example of WeChat, he said that anyone can set up a store on the platform — from a mom making pastries to international giants like Louis Vuitton. Consumers are chatting — they can build a relationship with a brand or a seller. Then they use payments within the app to complete the transaction. It’s essentially an operating system on a smartphone and customers don’t have any other options. A lot of these uncertainties and questions will only be answered in the weeks and months to follow. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/heres-why-facebooks-mark-zuckerberg-is-paying-top-dollar-for-a-stake-in-mukesh-ambanis-reliance-jio/articleshow/75286331.cms">Here's why Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is paying top dollar for a stake in Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/whatsapp-is-the-secret-sauce-in-the-deal-between-facebook-and-reliance-jio/articleshow/75296172.cms">WhatsApp is the secret sauce in the deal between Facebook and Reliance Jio</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/reliance-and-facebook-all-set-to-innovate-together-for-a-post-corona-world-their-startup-acquisitions-certainly-say-so/articleshow/75290353.cms">The Indian startups backed by Reliance Industries and Facebook have a lot in common</a>

To be India’s Alibaba, Mukesh Ambani wants a super app with Facebook⁠— but an all-in-one app is not known to work so far

<ul><li>Facebook founder and CEO <keyword id="6354630" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mark-zuckerberg">Mark Zuckerberg</keyword> opened up about his $5.7 billion investment in Asia’s richest man <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword>’s <keyword id="6354504" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="reliance-jio">Reliance Jio</keyword>. </li><li>Zuckerberg has reaffirmed his interest in India – the largest user base for Facebook and <keyword id="790242" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="WhatsApp">WhatsApp</keyword>. </li><li>The Facebook-Jio partnership will also become the testing ground for innovation for WhatsApp. </li></ul>Social media giant Facebook announced its first quarter earnings to report a revenue of $17.74 billion on Thursday. During the call, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg also opened up about his $5.7 billion investment into Reliance Jio led by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani. The largest tech deal in India stoked interest along with rumours that Zuckerberg and Ambani will come together to build a super app. And now, Zuckerberg reaffirmed his interest in India – the largest user base for Facebook and WhatsApp. “By bringing together JioMart, which is Jio's small business initiative to connect millions of shops across India with WhatsApp, we think that we're going to be able to create a much better shopping and commerce experience. And there's a lot more that we can do here, and I'm looking forward to making progress with the team at Jio,” he said during the call. The country with the largest WhatsApp community With the investment in Jio, Zuckerberg is reinstating his faith in e-commerce. He said that on WhatsApp, they have started rolling out things like catalogs and working on payments through which complete transactions can take place. He also spoke about WhatsApp’s click to messaging ads for businesses. And a lot of it could possibly begin with the Jio partnership in India. “From what they have described to us, JioMart’s vision is that there are millions of small businesses and shops across India and they want to try to help get them on to a single network that you'll be able to communicate with through WhatsApp and do payments online through WhatsApp. So I think of that as a great, very large example of how we can wire up and help small businesses in the country where we have the largest WhatsApp community,” said Zuckerberg. The Facebook-Jio partnership will also become the testing ground for innovation for WhatsApp. Zuckerberg confirmed that all the products and technology that they're building to enable the Jio partnership are going to be things that they want to do around the world. ‘The need to build digital storefronts’ Interestingly Zuckerberg also spoke about how the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in many businesses shutting down their physical storefronts and this brings about the need to build digital storefronts. And this is exactly what the Reliance acquired startup Nowfloats promises to do. In December 2019, RIL invested $20 million for a majority stake in Nowfloats – a startup that helps businesses and individuals, who don’t have any web developing skills, build an online presence. Jasminder Singh Gulati, co-founder of NowFloats, tweeted about the coincidental chronology of events after Zuckerberg spoke about digital storefronts. “Our app NowFloats Boost, builds storefronts using chat, in a minute or so, with just about 5 interactive messages (it was via 4 SMS when we started in 2013). Jio acquired a majority stake in NowFloats last year,” he wrote. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/vijay-shekhar-sharma-is-much-closer-to-a-super-app-than-mukesh-ambani-or-mark-zuckerberg/articleshow/75447200.cms">Vijay Shekhar Sharma is much closer to a super app than Mukesh Ambani or Mark Zuckerberg</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/mukesh-ambani-wants-to-be-alibaba-with-reliance-jio-super-app-and-investment-from-facebook/articleshow/75343540.cms">To be India’s Alibaba, Mukesh Ambani wants a super app with Facebook⁠— but an all-in-one app is not known to work so far</a>

On Facebook earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg opens up about his deal with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio

Indian telecom giants <keyword id="15491" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="airtel">Airtel</keyword> and Reliance <keyword id="2003276" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="jio">Jio</keyword> have been at loggerheads even before Jio made its super grand entry into the telecom space in India. The two telcos have fought for the top spot to become the number one telecom operator in the country but now it seems like the two are busy fighting it out to gain the position of ‘the most affordable smartphone’ in India. Airtel today announced yet another partnership with smartphone maker <keyword id="1087300" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Celkon">Celkon</keyword> to offer 4G smartphone at Rs. 1349. Reliance Jio had announced its Jio phone earlier this year at a famously “effectively free” price of Rs. 1499 wherein customers will have to pay for the services only for a fixed period of three years. Competing directly with the Jio phone, under Jio’s “India ka smartphone” campaign, Airtel’s partnership is part of ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ initiative where Airtel plans to collaborate with device manufacturers to bring smartphones at the price of a feature phone. Airtel had earlier introduced an <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword> smartphone (<keyword id="145729" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karbonn">Karbonn</keyword> A40) in association with Karbonn. The Android touchscreen smartphone with dual SIM functionality came at an effective price of Rs. 1,399. However Reliance Jio seems to have hit bit of a roadblock with Jio phone according to a report by Factor Daily. The Report suggests that Reliance Jio has stopped the production of its VoLTE feature phone and is now planning to launch an Android smartphone. The JioPhone runs KaiOS and came packed with all of Jio’s own apps including JioChat, JioMusic, JioTV, Jio Cinema and others. The OS does not support many of the widely used apps such as <keyword id="6354576" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword>, WhatsApp and others. But this walled garden approach did not really work for Jio as these apps have been extremely popular with the consumers. Airtel on the other hand is clearly specifying that the Airtel smartphones will “offer full access to all apps on <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> Play Store, including <keyword id="10879" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="YouTube">YouTube</keyword>, Facebook and WhatsApp”, apart from preloaded Airtel apps such as MyAirtel App, Wynk Music and Airtel TV. While both players are ultimately trying to lap up subscribers on their network through their new feature-ish smatphones, they should know that the smartphone market is changing rapidly in India and the consumers are increasingly going for experience more than affordability.

Airtel-Reliance Jio battle heats up yet again but on a whole new battleground

<ul><li>Facebook has bought 9.9% in Reliance Jio for $5.7 billion. </li><li>The bigger reason for the buy-in is how <keyword id="4878801" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="whatsapp-pay">WhatsApp Pay</keyword> and Reliance Retail can use this partnership to help each other out. </li><li>The payments platform can use Reliance’s massive network of offline stores to monetise its data, while Reliance can use the ‘household’ name to finally yield success with a seamless payments system. </li></ul>Everyone is excited about the deal between Facebook and Reliance Jio in hope that it will result in a new ‘super app’ for India. However, the partnership between Facebook and Reliance Jio has a few more layers than what is visible at first glance. The secret sauce to this deal is the potential for Facebook’s payment solutions — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-payments-launching-in-india-against-paytm-google-pay-phone-pe-for-1-trillion-opporunity/articleshow/70376672.cms">WhatsApp Pay</a>. And, this is the reason why <keyword id="6354630" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mark-zuckerberg">Mark Zuckerberg</keyword> is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/heres-why-facebooks-mark-zuckerberg-is-paying-top-dollar-for-a-stake-in-mukesh-ambanis-reliance-jio/articleshow/75286331.cms">paying top dollar for a stake</a> in <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword>’s Reliance Jio. “Our goal is to enable new opportunities for businesses of all sizes, but especially for the more than 60 million small businesses across India,” said Facebook’s chief revenue officer, David Fisher, and the VP and managing director of India, Ajit Mohan in a <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2020/04/facebook-invests-in-jio/">post.</a> Zuckerberg’s social network has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/facebook-picks-up-10-stake-in-jio-platform-for-rs-43574-cr/articleshow/75283937.cms">bought a 9.9% stake</a> in Reliance’s telecom venture for $5.7 billion. However, the second richest man in India — Mukesh Ambani — also owns the country’s biggest retail chain, Reliance Retail. It will now be a force of power to ensure that WhatsApp Pay has a chance of success in the Indian market despite being such a late entrant. “PayTM, PhonePe and other players will be impacted. They don’t have as much e-commerce as these guys will have. That will make a big difference,” Vikram Sud, an independent director at DBS told Business Insider. Retaining employment at brick-and-mortar stores rather than wipe it out “This is an amazing partnership on the payments side. Whatsapp Pay did not have the commercial sides of it as Whatsapp was trying to creep into the business. Now, between Whatsapp, Instagram and Facebook — all the commerce can be done through Whatsapp Pay,” said Sud. Jio’s plan to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/mukesh-ambani-owned-reliance-retail-revenue-estimate-from-kirana-stores/articleshow/71643159.cms">pull all kirana stores</a> and combine it with this payment mechanism will be a massive competition to Amazon and all other e-commerce players. You will get delivery from local stores while also helping them retain their employment unlike the advent of Amazon and Walmart, who have been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/if-were-living-through-a-retail-apocalypse-why-are-e-commerce-leaders-like-amazon-alibaba-and-jd-com-so-focused-on-building-brick-and-mortar-stores/articleshow/70849067.cms">chipping away</a> at the brick-and-mortar business. “By bringing together JioMart, Jio’s small business initiative, with the power of WhatsApp, we can enable people to connect with businesses, shop and ultimately purchase products in a seamless mobile experience,” said Facebook. And that’s the play that global IT giant is primarily aiming for, according to a senior industry analyst. They weren’t able to monetise it but that doesn’t change the fact that they're sitting on a huge pile of data. This is something they will now be able to leverage and monetise by using Jio Mart's reach. It’s a win-win situation for Ambani and Zuckerberg “In my mind, Whatsapp Pay and Jio money will all hopefully get rolled into one. It will just make it quicker since there is nobody in India that doesn't have WhatsApp,” said Sud. WhatsApp has been testing its payments platform in India since 2018. It was only available to a million users under a partnership with ICICI Bank. However, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/whatsapp-spyware-hack-raises-security-concerns-around-its-upcoming-payments-service/articleshow/71888781.cms">concern for policymakers</a> was whether not it will be responsible to allow a social messaging app — known for being a vehicle of fake news or what’s more commonly called the ‘WhatsApp University’ — to also integrate payments into its platform. In February this year, two years after the company’s first trial, WhatsApp finally got the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/india-whatsapp-pay-global-rollout-zuckerberg/articleshow/73760554.cms">approval </a>to roll out its digital payment service in a phased manner. In the first phase, it will offer its payment services to 10 million users in the country. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/mukesh-ambanis-reliance-industries-stock-gets-a-50000-crore-facebook-boost/articleshow/75285485.cms">Facebook’s investment in Reliance Jio boosts RIL share value by ₹50,000 crore</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/heres-why-facebooks-mark-zuckerberg-is-paying-top-dollar-for-a-stake-in-mukesh-ambanis-reliance-jio/articleshow/75286331.cms">Here's why Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is paying top dollar for a stake in Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio</a>

WhatsApp is the secret sauce in the deal between Facebook and Reliance Jio

<ul><li>Social media app <keyword id="9520177" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="elyments">Elyments</keyword> has stopped working a day after it was launched by Indian Vice President.</li><li>The app has been developed by over 1,000 IT professionals from across the country.</li><li>It allows users to make new friends, chat, make audio and video calls and more.</li></ul>The Elyments app crossed over 100,000 downloads on the Play Store within the first 24 hours of its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/india-vice-president-launches-a-social-media-super-app-elyments-which-will-take-on-facebook-instagram-and-whatsapp/articleshow/76796178.cms">launch</a> by the Indian Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. Dubbed as India’s first social media super app that will offer all features that are available on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. However, soon after the launch, several users have reported that the app is not working from several hours. During the sign-up procedure, the user is required to verify their mobile number by entering a 4-digit OTP. However, even after several attempts, the app does not send an OTP to the user. <div type="image" title="Elyments" msid="76807802" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Elyments&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> We tried to register on the Elyments app using four different numbers but did not receive the OTP on any number. We have reached out to the company for an update and are awaiting their response. Several users have taken to social media platforms such as Twitter to talk about not being able to sign up for the app. Queries sent to the spokesperson remain unanswered at the time of publication. <div type="twitter" handle="prashis_twit" handlename="Prashis U" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/649944373975773184/sHYFbNmr_normal.jpg" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" status="Waiting for OTP but not receiving any.#Elyments #elymentsapp #ElymentsSuperApp https://t.co/dAukI3eJHO" createdat="1594009693000" id="1279995546027954176"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="SPK_2908" handlename="Srikar Prasad K." image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1242474996691132416/EMjbpqD0_normal.jpg" favoritecount="2" retweetcount="0" status="@ElymentsApp I m not getting my OTP.. trying since yesterday.. plz help me out...And if any OTP I get it shows inv… https://t.co/YqdVTQtchL" createdat="1594008740000" id="1279991546998214658"></div> What is Elyments? Elyments is a social media app that has been built in India keeping in mind user’s privacy as one of the primary objectives. It supports 10 languages and allows users to chat with their friends, make audio and video calls, meet new people, get alerts and more. The app has reportedly been built by over a thousand IT professionals from across the country. Why this fanfare around Elyments? The app has been launched at a time when India is engaged in a border dispute with China and has banned <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/tiktok-shareit-uc-browser-club-factory-among-59-chinese-apps-banned-by-the-indian-government/articleshow/76694483.cms">59 apps</a>, including TikTok. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been advocating for an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and urged innovators and entrepreneurs to build for India. “India is an IT powerhouse and we have some of the world’s best-known names in this field. With such a huge pool of talented professionals, I feel there should be many more such innovations coming out in future,” said Vice President Venkaiah Naidu while launching the app. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/india-vice-president-launches-a-social-media-super-app-elyments-which-will-take-on-facebook-instagram-and-whatsapp/articleshow/76796178.cms">India’s Vice President launches a social media super app Elyments, which will take on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/reliance-jio-launches-jiomeet-app-to-take-on-zoom/articleshow/76762100.cms">Reliance Jio launches JioMeet app to take on Zoom</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/chinese-app-tiktok-alternative-in-indian-market-like-chingari-triller-sharechat-roposo-mitron/articleshow/76725779.cms">Top TikTok alternatives to make and share your videos</a>

Elyments OTP verification fails⁠ disappointing new users wanting to get on board a day after its high-decibel launch

New Delhi, May 26 () Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has launched an online extension of its grocery business under JioMart brand across 200 cities. The service is being offered in all leading metros (Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata), and even in smaller towns like Mysuru, Bhatinda and Dehradun. JioMart is now delivering in more than 200 cities, Damodar Mall, the chief executive officer of Reliance Retail's grocery business said in a tweet. JioMart last month started a pilot project serving users in three neighbourhoods surrounding Mumbai. Credit Suisse said, "The national roll-out provides customers with a useful alternative to existing players (BigBasket, Grofers) as online grocery orders have spiked, given the fewer store visits". D-Mart, it said, mentioned that April revenues are down 45 per cent year-on-year as nearly 50 per cent of the stores are shut or have very restricted hours of operation. Therefore, online orders should help offset some of the lower sales in physical stores. CLSA said as of now, the website will only use Reliance's offline grocery supply chain as its backbone and deliver to homes. "Success at its ongoing beta tests in Navi Mumbai, which also encompasses mom and pop stores and uses WhatsApp as a platform to order, will be later extended to pan-India," it said. Users can order from a full suite of grocery items by visiting the JioMart website. Products include fruits and vegetables, dairy and baked goods, staples, snacks and branded foods, beverages, and personal and home care. Reliance's private labels also featured prominently. "While it does not commit on a delivery timeline when ordering (due to the lockdown), it aims to deliver orders within a two-day timeframe," CLSA said. Eventually, like other online retailers, it is possible that Reliance integrates its entire retail offerings, including fashion, lifestyle and consumer electronics, onto one super e-commerce platform and mobile app. "This, along with a pan-India extension of partnerships with mom &amp; pop stores after a successful beta test and ramp-up of this new commerce venture is crucial in Reliance's grand plan of converting Jio's 400 million-plus subscribers into customers for its eCommerce and other offerings," CLSA said. Recent partnerships with Facebook-owned WhatsApp for JioMart will only help in increasing monetisation opportunities by increasing the convenience and reach of consumers. The grocery platform was previously piloting deliveries only in select areas of Mumbai. "JioMart has seen a 4x rise in online orders from a low base. With its pan India presence JioMart now directly competes with Amazon and Flipkart in eCommerce," Bernstein said in a separate report. Grocery is 70 per cent of the Indian retail market, 90 per cent-plus unorganised, driven by Kirana stores/small retailers. "Organised penetration is less than 10 per cent while online penetration for grocery is less than 1 per cent," it said. Facebook has made a bigger push into e-commerce with the launch of Shops. "The idea is to bring millions of small businesses online. This will allow free online storefronts for small businesses and retailers and expand Facebook presence across Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger," Bernstein said. "Facebook shops will be complimentary to WhatsApp business use to sign and onboard Kirana stores for JioMart (grocery app of Reliance Retail)." Credit Suisse said JioMart currently fulfills the order by own entity and kiranas likely to be on-boarded subsequently. "The platform lists all the major grocery categories like fruits and vegetables, staples, dairy and bakery, snacks, beverages, personal care, home care and baby care. "In terms of pricing, Reliance has extended the Smart promise of 'minimum 5 per cent off on MRP' to all products on JioMart. The discount is higher on its private label brands, and is competitive to branded products," it said. Reliance Retail had been piloting the initiative in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan among select population group. It was serving these customers through both Kirana stores and their own warehouses. It also set up Smart Points, which were acting as delivery points in neighbourhood. However, orders post the national launch are being serviced by Reliance Smart and Fresh stores, Sahakari Bhandar stores (owned by Reliance retail), and is not yet fully leveraging kirana network (as on-boarding of Kirana stores is still ongoing), Credit Suisse said. "Just prior to the national launch, Reliance Retail tapped the WhatsApp customer base in the three pilot regions to source orders. In our view, it was just a test phase of integration. The orders were available only for pick-up from nearby Kirana store, whose details were sent to the customer via WhatsApp. However, the national launch, so far, does not have integration with WhatsApp," it said. The brokerage said it placed an order on JioMart but the delivered order value was 55 per cent of the booked order value, due to inventory limitation in the nearby Sahakari Bhandar store. ANZ BAL

Reliance launches JioMart across 200 cities; analysts say co eyeing spike in online grocery orders

New Delhi, Apr 22 () Setting a new benchmark in dealmaking, the USD 5.7 billion investment by Facebook in Reliance Industries' Jio Platforms saw a bulk of the active M&amp;A dialogue, including for due diligence and agreement negotiations, happening remotely, bankers and advisors involved in the transaction said. This is one of the biggest deals that has taken place when there is a nationwide lockdown in India while same is the case for most states in the US -- the two countries where the two parties of this deal are based. The deal, which gives unlisted Jio Platforms an enterprise value of close to USD 66 billion, will help its listed parent firm Reliance Industries cut debt and also use Facebook's popular messaging platform WhatsApp as a front-end for creating an Indian e-commerce giant that could rival global giants like Amazon and Walmart. While Bank of America was the exclusive financial advisor to Facebook for this transaction, Morgan Stanley advised Reliance Industries. AZB &amp; Partners and Davis Polk &amp; Wardwell acted as counsels for RIL, while Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas was legal advisor for Facebook. Bankers involved in the deal said the active deal-specific dialogue had been going on for a few months before it became public, but broader discussion between Reliance Industries and Facebook was happening for much longer, which had started on talks for doing something together and then moved on towards getting to know each other and building the trust. "For last two months, much of the discussion, a large part of due diligence, agreement negotiations, etc, all of that have happened remotely. Even some board meetings have happened remotely. Once the active M&amp;A dialogue began, most of that has happened remotely," a top banker said. Traditionally, deals of this magnitude, especially cross-border ones, involve extensive travel and physical visits to offices and facilities by top executives as well as financial and legal advisors from both sides for an all-round vetting, including of books of accounts and financial statements. Another banker said the deal discussions from Facebook's side were mostly driven by the social media giant's finance and M&amp;A teams, while legal teams were also involved actively. The overall business leadership team of Facebook was mostly involved in discussions at the back-end with various top stakeholders of Reliance Industries group, the banker said. Reliance Industries' Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said Reliance Jio and Facebook will look to use WhatsApp for delivering goods from local neighbourhood kirana stores to consumers before expanding collaboration into education and healthcare sectors. "The combined power of Jio's world-class digital connectivity platform and Facebook's intimate relationship with the Indian people will offer innovative new solutions to each one of you," Ambani said. "In the very near future, JioMart -- Jio's digital new commerce platform, and WhatsApp will empower nearly three crore small Indian kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood," he said. WhatsApp has over 400 million users in India while Jio has 388 million-plus phone subscribers. Facebook itself has about 250 million users in India. The bankers said the deal gives an opportunity to Facebook to establish a broader partnership in India as the country is very important for the global giant and it sees a long growth horizon in Jio, both in terms of mobile and fixed broadband businesses. During the discussions, Facebook was also impressed with the way 'Jio Homes' is connecting houses with fibre broadband and it has become even more important during the ongoing lockdown to have good fibre connection. Besides, Facebook sees a great value in a suite of apps and OTT (over the top) platforms that Jio has created, the bankers said. Facebook is also excited about a proposed collaboration between WhatsApp and Jio Mart, where it sees the messaging platform becoming a front-end technology partner for Jio Mart, among various other long-term growth opportunities. WhatsApp users would be effectively able to shop what they want, using the backend of Jio Mart. Facebook itself is not in the business of setting up stores or warehouses or moving goods etc. The deal can see Facebook and WhatsApp customer in India getting connected to retailers across the country. Another person involved in the deal said it does not put Facebook in direct competition with Amazon, Walmart or Flipkart, but Jio Mart is clearly competing with those e-commerce platforms. He clarified Facebook itself is not creating a new app or platform, but WhatsApp itself is moving towards becoming a tool for e-commerce. The bankers ruled out any immediate plans for Facebook increasing the stake from 9.99 per cent. BJ RAM

Dealmaking in times of corona: Facebook-Jio sets new benchmark for remote negotiations

New Delhi, Apr 27 () Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has started limited test use of WhatsApp to connect customers to grocery stores, days after Facebook decided to invest USD 5.7 billion in digital assets controlled by the company. JioMart, an e-commerce venture of Reliance Retail, "has already started interacting with customers on WhatsApp for grocery orders" in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan, Credit Suisse said in a report. "The customer initiates the interaction on WhatsApp, checks out the grocery order on JioMart webpage, gets connected with a retail store on WhatsApp and then customer picks up the order from Kirana and pays in cash," it said, adding the model is likely on delivery and completion of the transaction on one app. The Facebook deal will help Ambani set up a digital platform to take on Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart in an e-commerce market that KPMG says is likely to grow to USD 200 billion by 2027. The deal benefits Facebook via "partnership with the largest retail player in India, where partnership starts with grocery, and later could be extended to medicine distribution, fashion and lifestyle stores, food delivery, etc," Credit Suisse said in a report. Also, Reliance Jio, with its 388 million telecom users, could provide telecom infrastructure for various Facebook's solutions, it said. For RIL, the large user base of WhatsApp (400 million) could significantly accelerate the adoption of the JioMart app besides it would leverage Facebook's experience to monetize data through advertising. "The key advantage is not only the large base of WhatsApp users in India but the amount of time spent on the app per day by an average user. "This would catapult Jio into the attention of the large user base, thereby addressing the first key barrier of awareness post-launch of its New Commerce offering," Credit Suisse said adding this was based on assumption that at some stage, JioMart could be a mini-app within WhatsApp (a concept similar to WeChat mini-programmes) which would avoid new 400 million downloads of JioMart and give JioMart immediate access to 400 million users of WhatsApp for grocery. It is likely that the partnership could be extended beyond grocery to other retail products too. "Deal cash flow would help RIL bring down overall net debt and help to move towards its target of achieving zero net debt by March 2021," it added. J P Morgan in a separate report said it believes that initially WhatsApp would be integrating a 'Jio Shopping bot' on the API, and allow users to add the bot to their contacts. Once added, users can search for a local business, see available products in a catalogue, and purchase the product in the thread or in the shop. The Facebook deal should help accelerate Jio's ability to further evolve into a full-stack player across India's e-commerce ecosystem, it said. The acquisition of a 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms Ltd for USD 5.7 billion represents the second-largest investment of Facebook to date (the largest was USD 19 billion WhatsApp acquisition in February 2014). This corresponds to a quarter's worth of free cash flows for the firm. "Nevertheless, it still represents a significant step for Facebook as this may strengthen its evolving business model in commerce," Credit Suisse said. ANZ MR

Reliance starts using WhatsApp for grocery deliveries but model to evolve

New Delhi, Apr 22 () Facebook's move to pick up about 10 per cent stake in Jio Platforms will accelerate Jio's digital monetisation drive and put Reliance Industries (RIL) on course to turn net debt-free by March 2021, analysts said on Wednesday. "RIL had restructured its digital business into one consolidated wholly-owned subsidiary - Jio Platforms - which would host all the digital initiatives of the firm, including Jio digital services (mobile, broadband), apps, tech capabilities (AI, Big Data, IoT) and investments (like Den, Hathway)," Credit Suisse said in a note. It said that Facebook's investment into this entity will further Reliance Industries' digital initiatives and will help in deleveraging. "...The deal will aid in achieving net debt-free (target) by March 2021. As of December 31, 2019, net debt for the group stands at Rs 1,531 billion (Rs 1.53 lakh crore) and with Facebook's investment, this should put RIL on course to be net debt free by Mar-2021," it said. The announcement includes commencement of a partnership among JioMart (platform of RIL's new commerce initiative), Reliance Retail and WhatsApp, it noted. "Currently, new commerce is under purview of Reliance Retail and outside of Jio Platforms. The partnership will entail leveraging the messenger platform to facilitate new commerce transactions between a consumer and a kirana store," Credit Suisse said. In similar vein, Bernstein said the partnership is strategic for both companies. "The investment in Jio is one of the biggest investments Facebook can make. The transaction fits with their recent push to build themselves and experiment more and provides a closed network of 388 million users to test on, proof point around the already announced partnership to build and test a WeChat like app," it said. "Facebook has already launched WhatsApp as customer service/social commerce tool in India allowing brands and retails to talk directly to customers/prospects, this can strengthen that offering both for 60 million small merchants on JioMart but also for Reliance Jio itself," Bernstein added. Facebook on Wednesday announced an investment of USD 5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) to buy a 10 per cent stake in the firm that houses billionaire Mukesh Ambani's telecom arm Jio as the social media giant looks to expand presence in its largest market in terms of subscriber base. "Today we are announcing a USD 5.7 billion, or Rs 43,574 crore, investment in Jio Platforms Ltd, part of Reliance Industries Ltd, making Facebook its largest minority shareholder," the company said in a statement. Reliance in a separate statement said the investment by Facebook values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value (USD 65.95 billion, assuming a conversion rate of Rs 70 to a US dollar). "Facebook's investment will translate into a 9.99 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis," it said. Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), houses digital services of the group. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, with 388 million subscribers, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms. The Facebook deal is part of value unlocking by RIL to cut debt. RIL has been seeking strategic partnerships across its businesses while targeting to deleverage its balance sheet. MBI ANSANS

Facebook investment to accelerate Jio's digital monetisation drive: Analysts

New Delhi, Apr 22 () Facebook on Wednesday announced an investment of USD 5.7 billion to buy 9.99 per cent stake in the firm that houses Reliance Jio -- a deal that will help billionaire Mukesh Ambani create an e-commerce giant that could rival Amazon and Walmart by linking local kirana stores and consumers over the highly popular chat service WhatsApp. The largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the technology sector in India will give the US social-networking giant a broader foothold in its biggest global market. "Today we are announcing a USD 5.7 billion, or Rs 43,574 crore, investment in Jio Platforms, part of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), making Facebook its largest minority shareholder," the company said in a statement. Reliance Industries (RIL) in a separate statement said the investment by Facebook values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value (USD 65.95 billion). Facebook will be issued fresh equity shares and will get a board position on Jio Platforms where Ambani's twin children, Isha and Akash, are directors. Jio Platforms, which was created in October last year to house all digital initiatives of Reliance, will retain Rs 15,000 crore and use the remaining amount to pare some of its about Rs 40,000 crore debt. Transaction advisors to prepare term sheet for the deal were engaged sometime in November last year, implying commercial negotiations between the two groups would have started in July or August. Ambani had in August last year told RIL shareholders about plans to sell stake in some of the businesses with the goal of making the firm free of net debt by 2021. The deal was originally targeted for March 31, but the outbreak of COVID-19 pushed the negotiations into a virtual zone. The deal will bring together JioMart, the e-commerce venture of Ambani, and Facebook's WhatsApp platform to connect consumers with neighbourhood kirana stores, he said. WhatsApp has over 400 million users in India while Jio has 388 million-plus phone subscribers. Facebook has about 250 million users in India. This is Facebook's biggest stake buy since its 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp. The US giant has typically been buying into media and online properties till now and the investment in Jio Platforms underscores the potential it sees in a country that is rapidly embracing online payment and e-commerce as more people get smartphones. The deal would require the approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). No government nod is needed as the FDI is within the permissible limits. "In the very near future, JioMart and WhatsApp will empower nearly 3 crore small Indian Kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood," Ambani, 63, said in a video message after the deal announcement. "This means all of you can order and get faster delivery of day-to-day items, from nearby local shops. At the same time, small kiranas can grow their businesses and create new employment opportunities using digital technologies," he said. RIL spent almost USD 50 billion -- mostly borrowed money, on Jio, whose entry in 2016 with free calls and cheap data pushed some rivals to exit or merge to stay afloat. At the end of the December quarter, RIL had an outstanding debt of Rs 306,851 crore. It also had cash in hand of Rs 153,719 crore, bringing the net debt position to Rs 153,132 crore. Facebook said the investment "underscores our commitment to India and our excitement for the dramatic transformation that Jio has spurred in the country". Together with WhatsApp and Instagram, Facebook overall is estimated to have more users in India than any other single country, and the numbers are expected to grow. The number of internet users in India is projected to rise to about 850 million in 2022, according to consultancy PwC, up from 450 million in 2017. RIL has been seeking strategic partnerships across its businesses while targeting to deleverage its balance sheet. It has been talking to Saudi Aramco for sale of a 20 per cent stake in its oil-to-chemical business for an asking of USD 15 billion. RIL has sold stake in its retail fuel venture to BP Plc for Rs 7,000 crore. Both Facebook and Jio said the deal is non-exclusive, which essentially means that the US firm is free to partner with other Indian or foreign company as well. The deal would give Facebook deeper access to India, the second-largest internet market after China. Facebook is looking to launch a payment offering. Having a local partner could help it in navigating various regulatory issues, including those related to privacy and local storage. Also, having a good telecom partner could help Facebook improve its reach to masses. From RIL's perspective, it could leverage on Facebook's technology expertise and talent pool as well as help in its ambitions to make Jio a digital company. RIL said that concurrent with the investment, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail Ltd and WhatsApp have also entered into a commercial partnership agreement. This is to further accelerate Reliance Retail's new commerce business on the JioMart platform using WhatsApp and to support small businesses on WhatsApp. The transaction, RIL said, is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals. Morgan Stanley as a financial advisor and AZB &amp; Partners and Davis Polk &amp; Wardwell as counsels advised RIL on the transaction. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas were legal advisors for Facebook. PRS MBI ANZ SHW ABMABM

Facebook picks up 9.99 pc stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 43,574 cr

(Eds: Adding details) New Delhi, Apr 22 () Facebook on Wednesday announced an investment of USD 5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) to buy a 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms -- a deal that will help RIL cut debt and use WhatsApp to create an Indian e-commerce giant that could rival Amazon and Walmart. The largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the technology sector in India will give the US social-networking firm a broader foothold in its biggest global market. "Today we are announcing a USD 5.7 billion, or Rs 43,574 crore, investment in Jio Platforms, part of Reliance Industries Ltd, making Facebook its largest minority shareholder," the company said in a statement. Reliance Industries (RIL) in a separate statement said the investment by Facebook values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value (USD 65.95 billion). Facebook will be issued fresh equity shares and will get a board position on Jio Platforms. Mukesh Ambani's twin children, Isha and Akash, are also part of the board. Jio Platforms, which was created in October last year to house all-digital initiative of Reliance, will retain Rs 15,000 crore and use the remaining amount to pare some of its about Rs 40,000 crore debt. Transaction advisors to prepare term sheet for the deal were engaged sometime in November last year, implying commercial negotiations between the two groups would have started in July or August. Ambani had in August last year told Reliance Industries shareholders about plans to sell stake in some of the businesses with the goal of making the firm free of net debt by 2021. The deal was originally targeted for March 31, but the outbreak of COVID-19 pushed the negotiations into a virtual zone. The deal will bring together JioMart - the e-commerce venture of Ambani, and Facebook's WhatsApp platform to connect consumers with neighbourhood kirana stores, he said. WhatsApp has over 400 million users in India while Jio has 388-plus phone subscribers. Facebook has about 250 million users in India. This is Facebook's biggest stake buy since its 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp. The US giant has typically been buying into media and online properties till now and investment in Jio Platforms underscores the potential it sees in a country that is rapidly embracing online payment and e-commerce as more people get smartphones. The deal would require the approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). "In the very near future, JioMart and WhatsApp will empower nearly 3 crore small Indian Kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood," Ambani, 63, said in a video message after the deal announcement. "This means all of you can order and get faster delivery of day-to-day items, from nearby local shops. At the same time, small kiranas can grow their businesses and create new employment opportunities using digital technologies," he said. RIL spent almost USD 50 billion -- mostly borrowed money, on Jio, whose entry in 2016 with free calls and cheap data pushed some rivals to exit or merge. At the end of December quarter, RIL had an outstanding debt of Rs 306,851 crore. It also had cash in hand of Rs 153,719 crore, bringing the net debt position to Rs 153,132 crore. Facebook said the investment "underscores our commitment to India and our excitement for the dramatic transformation that Jio has spurred in the country".Together with WhatsApp and Instagram, Facebook overall is estimated to have more users in India than any other single country, and the numbers are to grow. The number of internet users in India is projected to rise to about 850 million in 2022, according to consultancy PwC, up from 450 million in 2017. RIL has been seeking strategic partnerships across its businesses while targeting to deleverage its balance sheet. It has been talking to Saudi Aramco for sale of a 20 per cent stake in its oil-to-chemical business for an asking of USD 15 billion. RIL has sold a stake in its retail fuel venture to BP Plc for Rs 7,000 crore. Both Facebook and Jio said the deal is non-exclusive, which essentially meant that the US firm was free to partner with other Indian or foreign companies as well. The deal would give Facebook deeper access to India, the second-largest internet market after China. Facebook is looking to launch a payment offering. Having a local partner could help it in navigating various regulatory issues, including those related to privacy and local storage. Also, having a good telecom partner could help Facebook improve its reach to masses. From RIL's perspective, it could leverage on Facebook's technology expertise and talent pool as well as help in its ambitions to make Jio a digital company. RIL said that concurrent with the investment, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail Ltd and WhatsApp have also entered into a commercial partnership agreement. This is to further accelerate Reliance Retail's new commerce business on the JioMart platform using WhatsApp and to support small businesses on WhatsApp. The transaction, RIL said, is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals. Morgan Stanley as a financial advisor and AZB &amp; Partners and Davis Polk &amp; Wardwell as counsels advised RIL on the transaction. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas were legal advisors for Facebook. PRS MBI ANZ ANZ ANSANS

Facebook buys 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 43,574 cr

New Delhi, Apr 30 () Facebook's mega Rs 43,574-crore pact with Reliance Jio will help the social media giant build products and technology that can be extended to other parts of the world, its Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said. He also said the social media giant aims to create a "much better shopping and commerce experience" in India working with JioMart by leveraging WhatsApp's communication and payments platform. Last week, Facebook announced an investment of USD 5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) in Jio Platforms. "All the products and technology that we're building to enable that partnership (with Jio) are going to be things that we want to do around the world. So, we're excited about working with them to drive this vision forward and then extending it everywhere over the coming months and years," Zuckerberg said during an investor call. He added that the company's strong balance sheet proved to be an "important asset" this quarter, enabling it to commit to a "long-term growth priority in India even in the midst of a troubled global economy". Zuckerberg pointed out that the largest Facebook and WhatsApp users in the world are in India. "We think that there is an especially important opportunity to serve small businesses and enable commerce there over the long term. By bringing together JioMart, which is Jio's small business initiative to connect millions of shops across India with WhatsApp, we think that we're going to create a much better shopping and commerce experience," he said. Zuckerberg said the focus is on helping small businesses have a presence on all of the apps -- Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and FB Messenger -- so that they can communicate organically with people and then, increasingly do things that can help them drive transactions. "There are millions of small businesses and shops across India, and they (JioMart) want to try to help get them on to a single network that you'll be able to communicate with through WhatsApp and do payments online through WhatsApp. So, I think that is a great, very large example of how we can wire up and help small businesses in the country where we have the largest WhatsApp community," he said. Soon after announcing the deal with Facebook, billionaire Mukesh Ambani had said Reliance Jio and the social networking giant will look to use WhatsApp for delivering goods from local neighborhood Kirana stores to consumers before expanding collaboration in education and healthcare sector. "In the very near future, JioMart, Jio's digital new commerce platform, and WhatsApp will empower nearly 3 crore small Indian kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood. This means all of you can order and get faster delivery of day-to-day items, from nearby local shops. At the same time, small kiranas can grow their businesses and create new employment opportunities using digital technologies," Ambani had said. While the deal is part of value unlocking by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to cut debt, Facebook gets deeper access to India, the second-largest internet market after China. Facebook already has over 400 million WhatsApp users in India and is looking to launch a payment offering. Having a local partner could help it in navigating various regulatory issues, including those related to privacy and local storage. Facebook, which registered an 18 per cent rise in revenue to about USD 17.7 billion at the end of the March 2020 quarter, saw daily active users (DAUs) increase by 11 per cent year-over-year to 1.73 billion. Its monthly active users (MAUs) were up 10 per cent y-o-y to 2.60 billion at the end of March. SR HRS

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