<ul><li>The <keyword id="5482723" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Oversight-Board">Oversight Board</keyword> will have the final word on what content Facebook and Instagram should allow or remove, based on respect for freedom of expression and human rights. </li><li><keyword id="1508987" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sudhir-Krishnaswamy">Sudhir Krishnaswamy</keyword> is the only representative from India on the board.</li><li>Krishnaswamy is the India Vice Chancellor of the National Law School of India University, and co-founder of the Center for Law and Policy Research.</li></ul>Facebook <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/facebook-announced-the-first-20-members-of-its-oversight-board-that-will-decide-what-controversial-content-is-allowed-on-facebook-and-instagram/articleshow/75586376.cms">recently</a> announced the list of 20 members on its newly created Oversight Board. The Oversight Board will have the final word on what content Facebook and Instagram should allow or remove, based on respect for freedom of expression and human rights. Comprising independent members from around the world, the board also has a seat for Sudhir Krishnaswamy, the only representative from India. Krishnaswamy is the India Vice Chancellor of the National Law School of India University, and co-founder of the Center for Law and Policy Research, an advocacy organization that works for the rights of LGBTQ+ and transgender persons in India through impact litigation. The Oversight Board will begin hearing cases soon, although Facebook is still trying to figure out how the board will function and the operational challenges that will come its way because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the decisions made by the board will be made public, and Facebook will respond to them publicly. “We will publish our decisions on our website, while protecting the identity and privacy of those involved,” said Facebook. The 45-year old Krishnaswamy is one of the most noted academics in India. A visiting professor in the Ivy leagues of the world, he was also a legal consultant in the Prime Ministers Committee of Infrastructure, Planning Commission in 2006. “Content moderation and content control has been a problem in most jurisdictions around the world, India being one of the most affected. Content is currently being controlled by either private companies or the government. Creating a mechanism to oversee a private company is a radical decision; if this works, it provides us with a new way of handling content moderation for the future. It’s as important to democracy as it is to the market,” said Krishnaswamy. A Rhodes scholar and an Oxford graduate, Krishnaswamy was previously the director of the School of Policy and Governance and Professor of Law and Politics at Azim Premji University, as well as the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Visiting Professor of Indian Constitutional Law at Columbia Law School. He is also an author of the book “Democracy and Constitutionalism in India”. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/goa-may-be-the-new-thailand-says-ritesh-agarwal-as-oyo-pivots-to-a-new-strategy-driving-and-not-flying-destinations/articleshow/75591960.cms">“Goa may be the new Thailand, ” says Ritesh Agarwal as OYO pivots to a new strategy ⁠— ‘driving, and not flying, destinations’</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/biocon-chairperson-kiran-mazumdar-shaw-says-indias-covid-19-vaccines-will-enter-clinical-trial-in-9-months/articleshow/75591805.cms">Don’t hold your breath ⁠— Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw says India's Covid-19 vaccine will enter clinical trials in 9 months</a>

Meet the Indian on Facebook's oversight board which will police content on Facebook and Instagram

<ul><li><keyword id="9148173" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pepper-content" source="Orion">Pepper Content</keyword> has raised $14.3 million in order to expand to the US-market.</li><li>It currently works with 2,500 customers such as Adani Enterprises, Hindustan Unilever, P&amp;G and others.</li><li>The company’s founder believes that their existing backers will make this international journey much easier given their existing network and expertise.</li></ul><keyword id="14146559" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="content-agency" source="Orion">Content agency</keyword> Pepper Content has raised a whopping $14.3 million (₹110 crore) in an attempt to expand to the US. The company currently runs its fill-stack content marketplace in India. Pepper Content’s Series A round was led by <keyword id="2828823" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bessemer" source="Orion">Bessemer</keyword> Venture Partners. Tanglin Venture Partners, Lightspeed and Titan Capital also participated in the round, along with seasoned global operators like Doordash’s Gokul Rajaram, OYO’s Ritesh Agarwal and Abhinav Sinha, Teachable’s Ankur Nagpal, Nutanix’s Dheeraj Pandey, Helion.vc’s Ashish Gupta, and CRED’s Kunal Shah. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Choosing US was a simple decision" comment="subhead" text="Choosing US was a simple decision">Choosing US was a simple decision</cmsannotation> The company will use the proceeds from this funding to expand its international operations, particularly in the USA. Usually, companies start their international operations from the Middle East or other countries in Southeast Asia because of their similarities with the Indian market. However, Pepper Content has decided to skip that market for exactly the same reason. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“Instead of fighting the same battle in a similar market across the world, we thought let's just go after the biggest market because if not now, one year after we will have to go after the US. So why not start with the US, get in those bigger chunkier pieces then expand globally.”" auname="— Rishabh Shekhar, the co-founder of Pepper Content, said in a conversation with Business Insider."></div> Another factor that motivated Shekhar to skip the Middle East and expand directly to the US is the “seamless acceptance” of its products during trials in the US market. The other reason for Pepper Content to go after the US market is the ability to earn in dollars that too in a market which is more focused on quality of content rather than the price, he explained. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="More services, more competition" comment="subhead" text="More services, more competition">More services, more competition</cmsannotation> Pepper Content — founded in 2017 by Anirudh Singla and Shekhar at the BITS Pilani campus — is a full-stack content marketplace (SaaS) that connects content creators to organisations that require content. The company claims to work with 2,500 customers such as Adani Enterprises, Hindustan Unilever, Procter &amp; Gamble (P&amp;G), HDFC Bank, CRED, Groww, SBI Mutual Funds. Google, Binance and Adobe. Along with the expansion to the US market, the company has also decided to introduce fresh services like graphic design, language translations, and video content creation. The new and existing verticals would pit Pepper Content against <keyword id="14146561" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="verbilo" source="Orion">Verbilo</keyword>, <keyword id="222017" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="webchutney" source="Orion">Webchutney</keyword>, <keyword id="14146562" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="99design" source="Orion">99design</keyword> and <keyword id="14146563" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="super-design" source="Orion">Super Design</keyword> in the US market. “What Salesforce has done for Sales, we will do for the content ecosystem,” both Singla and Shekhar said in a statement. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Shekhar says existing investors could make its US expansion easier" comment="subhead" text="Shekhar says existing investors could make its US expansion easier">Shekhar says existing investors could make its US expansion easier</cmsannotation> Shekhar also noted that their existing backers will make this international journey much easier given their existing network and expertise. “We have got the right people. And Bessemer is really big in [the] US, so we are already in contact with the US arm,” Shekhar told Business Insider. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></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;">Investor </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;">Designation / Advantage </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;">Bessemer Venture Partners </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;">The US-based fund had been a backer in LinkedIn, Pinterest, Shopify, Yelp and others </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;">Tanglin Venture Partners </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;">The Singapore-based fund had invested in Jupiter, Rupeek, Open, Inshorts, Moglix </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;">Lightspeed </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;">The US-based fund has invested in around 1,200 companies including Byju’s, OYO, ShareChat </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;">Gokul Rajaram </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;">Product and Business Helper at Doordash, Board Member at Coinbase and Pinterest </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;">Ritesh Agarwal </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;">CEO of global budget hotel chain OYO </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;">Dheeraj Pandey </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;">Founder of Nutanix, Board Member at Adobe </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;">Ashish Gupta </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;">Founder at Helion.vc, Board Member at Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: Pepper Content, Company websites "We firmly believe that the future of work is on-demand driven and we love the approach that Pepper is taking to build a powerful content marketing stack that helps startups and enterprises to work more strategically with expert on-demand freelance talent and enable workflows and collaboration tools to create great quality content,” Anant Vidur Puri, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, said. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/after-amazon-flipkart-reliance-and-tata-neu-indias-133-billion-ecommerce-market-may-be-too-little-for-a-fifth-player/articleshow/92062540.cms">After Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance and Tata Neu, India's $133 billion ecommerce market may be too little for a fifth player</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/physicswallah-is-indias-first-profitable-edtech-startup-up-here/articleshow/92056796.cms">YouTube channel to a billion dollar company — India’s first profitable edtech unicorn is here</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/deepinder-goyal-akshant-goyal-here-is-how-much-zomatos-dream-team-earned-since-october-2021/articleshow/92080767.cms">Deepinder Goyal, Akshant Goyal — here is how much Zomato’s dream team earned since October 2021</a>

INTERVIEW: Pepper Content skip the traditional Middle East route, heads directly for the US market

Casual dining chain <keyword id="361005" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Barbeque-Nation">Barbeque Nation</keyword> Hospitality has filed fresh papers with markets regulator Sebi to raise an estimated Rs 1,000-1,200 crore through an initial public offering. The IPO comprises a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 275 crore and an offer-for-sale of up to 98,22,947 equity shares, according to the draft papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The company may consider a pre-IPO placement to the tune of Rs 150 crore. Proceeds of the issue will be utilised to repay an outstanding borrowing of Rs 205 crore in part or full and for general corporate purposes. The company is promoted by Sayaji Hotels, Sayaji Housekeeping Services, <keyword id="3449286" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="kayum">Kayum</keyword> Dhanani, Raoof Dhanani and Suchitra Dhanani and is backed by private equity firm CX Partners, which made its first investment in 2013 and again in 2015. The promoters hold 60.24 per cent, CX Partners owns 33.79 per cent and renowned stock market investor <keyword id="6398943" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="rakesh-jhunjhunwala">Rakesh Jhunjhunwala</keyword>'s investment firm Alchemy Capital holds 2.05 per cent in the company. According to market sources, the IPO size will approximately be between Rs 1,000-1,200 crore. The issue is being managed by IIFL Securities, Axis Capital, Ambit Capital and SBI Capital Markets. In 2017, the company had filed IPO papers with Sebi seeking to raise Rs 700 crore. However, the regulator kept the processing of the company's proposed IPO in abeyance "pending regulatory action for past violations" and finally approved the IPO plan in January 2018. Although, the company could not launch the initial share-sale due to averse market conditions. <keyword id="103769" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Barbeque">Barbeque</keyword> Nation Hospitality owns and operates Barbeque Nation Restaurants, currently operating at 138 outlets across India and 7 outlets in the UAE, <keyword id="62607" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="oman">Oman</keyword> and Malaysia. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/oyo-says-no-guidance-from-softbank-masayoshi-son-despite-wework/articleshow/74185141.cms">We don't Work under Softbank's guidance, insists OYO Board member</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/virat-kohli-beats-priyanka-chopra-on-instagram-by-just-a-few-thousands/articleshow/74186439.cms">Virat Kohli hits a sixer on Instagram, becomes the first Indian to hit 50M followers</a>

Barbeque Nation looking to raise ₹1,000-1,200 crore from IPO, files papers with SEBI

Gain a better understanding of how COVID-19 has impacted business around the world. Join us for the inaugural Business Insider Global Trends Festival, a five-day virtual event with more than 60 hours of content. We're bringing together business leaders from Asia, Europe, the US, and the UK onto four virtual stages for a truly global perspective. From live talks to dedicated workshops, the week's programming will be insightful, thought-provoking, and surprising — and accessible from your office or home office.<h2>Buy tickets for the event <a href="https://trendsfestival.com/en/tickets-for-trends-festival.html?utm_source=tf_usa&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ticketn=ticket">here.</a></h2>This year's speakers are experts in their fields, and more are signing up to participate every week, so watch this space for updates. Check out the lineup so far:<ul><li>Reed Hastings, CEO and co-founder, Netflix</li><li>Nouriel Roubini, Economist</li><li>Blake Chandlee, Vice President-Global Business Solutions, TikTok US + EU</li><li>Sebastian Thrun, Founder, Udacity; Founder, Google X</li><li>Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman, Munich Security Conference</li><li>Prashanth Chandrasekar, CEO, Stack Overflow</li><li>Adena T. Friedman, President and CEO, NASDAQ, Inc</li><li>Robert Lewandowski, Footballer, investor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador</li><li>Michael Miebach, President and CEO-Elect, Mastercard</li><li>Jennifer Jordan, Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior, IMD</li><li>Shéhérazade Semsar-de Boisséson, CEO, POLITICO.EU</li><li>Poppy Gustafsson, CEO, Darktrace</li><li>Sergio P. Ermotti, CEO, UBS Group</li><li>Carlos Watson, CEO and co-founder, OZY Media </li><li>Alexa von Bismarck, Country Manager Germany, Adyen</li><li>Christoph Franz, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Roche Holding</li><li>Mathias Döpfner, CEO, Axel Springer SE</li><li>Audrey Tang, Digital Minister, Taiwan</li><li>Alain Dehaze, CEO, Adecco Group</li><li>Marc Walder, CEO, Ringier AG</li><li>Prof. Marcel Salathé, Epidemiologist</li><li>Philip Vanhoutte, Founder, Ozadi</li><li>Jean-Francois Manzoni, President, IMD in Lausanne</li><li>Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Strategy Professor, Harvard Business School</li><li>Bob Dignen, Director, York Associates</li><li>Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO (group), OYO Hotels &amp; Homes</li><li>David Folkerts-Landau, Group Chief Economist, Deutsche Bank</li><li>Dr. Friedrich von Bohlen und Halbach, Managing partner and co-founder, Hopp BioTech Holding GmbH &amp; co. KG.</li><li>Hannes Schmid, Photographer, Philanthropist, Founder of Smiling Gecko</li><li>Christian Lindener, Head of Airbus BizLab</li><li>Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC Ltd. </li><li>Roksana Ciurysek-Gedir, Founder of Possible X</li><li>Geoff Ramsey, Chief Evangelist Officer, Co-Founder, Insider Intelligence</li><li>Shinichiro Isago, Director of AI, LINE</li><li>Ajay Piramal, Chairman, Piramal Group</li><li>Koen Gonnissen, Partner, Coach and Trainer, Mentally Fit</li><li>Ray Dalio, Founder, Co-CIO, Co-Chairman of Bridgewater Associates</li><li>Laura A. Hambley, President, Co-Founder of EvOHlution</li><li>Mukesh Aghi, President and CEO, USISPF</li><li>Markus Krebber, CFO, RWE</li><li>Tarek Müller, Co-founder and Co-CEO, ABOUT YOU</li><li>Arndt Rolfs, Founder and CEO, CENTOGENE</li><li>Kristin Peck, CEO, Zoetis</li><li>Mark Mader, President and CEO, Smartsheet</li><li>Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Former Trader, Risk Specialist and Best-Selling Author</li><li>Özgür Burak Akkol, Chairman of the Board, President of the Turkish Employers' Association of Metal Industries (MESS)</li><li>Seiko Noda, Chairperson of the Committee on Budget, Member of the House of Representatives</li><li>Takuya Miyata, Founding Partner, Scrum Ventures</li><li>Werner Baumann, Chairman of the Board Management, Bayer AG</li><li>Boyan Slat, CEO and Founder, The Ocean Cleanup</li><li>Panos Panay, Microsoft Chief Product Officer</li><li>Shin Murakami, Japan Country Manager, LinkedIn</li><li>Nick Bloom, Professor of economics, Stanford University</li><li>Keiko Hamada, Executive Editor-in-Chief, Business Insider Japan</li><li>Niklas Östberg, Co-Founder and CEO, Delivery Hero</li><li>Shada Islam, New Horizons Project</li><li>Philipp Peitsch, Managing Director, Idealo</li><li>Mark T. Maybury, CTO, Stanley Black &amp; Decker</li><li>Markus Duesmann, CEO, AUDI</li><li>Claudia Kessler, Visionary Founder Space Ambassador, CEO Astronautin GmbH</li><li>Ester Asin, Director for WWF's European Policy Office</li><li>Brunon Bartkiewicz, CEO, ING Bank Śląski, Poland</li><li>Marcin Lewenstein, InnoEnergy Innovation Officer, Thematic Field Leader-Energy for Circular Economy</li><li>Richard Mosley, Employer Brand Author and Chief Strategist, Universum</li><li>Tom Hidvegi, Creative Strategy Director for Coca-Cola, Central and Eastern Europe</li><li>Dariusz Mazurkiewicz, President of the Management Board, BLIK</li><li>Anna Brussa, Design Partner, EIT Climate-KIC</li><li>Lee Olesky, CEO, Tradeweb <keyword id="31671" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="markets">Markets</keyword> Inc.</li><li>Dorian Gorr, Co-founder, Veritas Entertainment</li><li>Stav Erez, Partner, Labs/O2</li><li>Filip Thon, CEO, Innogy Polska S.A.</li><li>Beata Mońka, Business Partner, Business Partnering Solutions, Ringier Axel Springer Polska</li><li>Satoshi Sugie, CEO, WHILL Inc.</li><li>Hiltrud Dorothea Werner, Member of the Board of management of Volkswagen AG for Integrity and Legal Affairs</li><li>Ugur Sahin, Co-founder, BioNTech</li><li>Romanus Otte, Editor in Chief and Managing Director, Business Insider Deutschland GmbH</li><li>Inga Michler, Journalist, Writer</li><li>Leonard Stiegeler, Founder of Pulse</li><li>Sohn Young, Corporate President and Chief Strategy Officer, Samsung Electronics, and Chairman of the Board for HARMAN</li><li>Phil Graves, Vice President, Corporate Development at Patagonia</li><li>Maximillian Jell, Head of Regulatory Affairs and Reduced Risk Products</li><li>Lukas Stricker, CEO of Gravity Global AG</li><li>Nikolay Kolev, Managing Director of WeWork</li><li>Brian Brackeen, General Partner, Lightship Capital</li><li>Lyinoluwa Aboyeji, General Partner oand Co-founder of Future Africa</li><li>Stuart Kronauge, Chief Marketing Officer at Beyond Meat</li><li>Manny Maceda, Worldwide Managing Partner of Bain &amp; Company</li><li>Krijn de Nood, CEO and co-founder, Meatable</li><li>Carlos Nueno, President International, Teladoc Health</li><li>Marek Andryszak, CEO, TUI Deutschland</li></ul>

Announcing BI Global Trends Festival 2020 speakers: Don't miss Reed Hastings, Carlos Watson, Nouriel Roubini, Jennifer Jordan, and more!

<ul><li><keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword> might have taken a hit with the growing resentment against Chinese apps, but it has also opened up the line of investors with the likes of Microsoft and Oracle in the US and Reliance in India. </li><li>But it’s not just TikTok alone. The ban on the app in India along with several other Chinese apps in late June this year gave its clone apps overnight popularity.</li><li>In August alone, Indian video-sharing apps have closed almost $20 million in funding so far.</li></ul>TikTok doesn’t just have millions of users dancing to its tunes, it also has marquee investors around the world picking up a tune to sing along with the Chinese giant. From Microsoft and now, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/272cfc69-b268-45ac-88d6-d55821f27e78">reportedly Oracle</a> looking to buy TikTok in the US, to India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani looking to buy the Indian business, the company has investors looking to cash in on its popularity. But it’s not just TikTok alone. The ban on the app in India along with several other Chinese apps in late June this year gave its clone apps overnight popularity. It even saw Facebook pushing out its new Instagram update and TikTok lookalike – <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/instagram-reels-is-being-quietly-tested-in-india-just-days-after-the-tiktok-ban/articleshow/76768337.cms">Instagram Reels,</a> just days after the ban. While TikTok’s real number of users aren’t reported by the company, the app was high up on the top downloads charts in India and had seen over<a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2020/aug/13/reliance-likely-to-acquire-tiktok-in-india-for-5-billion-2182978.html"> 611 million downloads</a>. And with these users looking to move to newer video destinations, Indian <keyword id="9777126" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="video-sharing-apps">video sharing apps</keyword> wanted to ride on the ban and the country’s AtmaNirbhar initiative. So evidently, venture capital money has also made its way to its India clone apps. In August alone, the Indian video-sharing apps have closed almost $20 million in funding so far, and as reports say, there are bigger ones on the cards. Indian social media startup Sharechat, which had also launched its own video sharing platform Moj, is <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/google-in-talks-with-sharechat-as-latter-scouts-for-150-200-million/articleshow/77582440.cms">reportedly</a> in talks with Microsoft and Google for an investment. Sharechat was also Twitter’s first startup investment in India. <keyword id="40682" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chingari">Chingari</keyword> Chingari, shot to fame overnight, so much so that its founders were tracking the hundreds of thousands of users coming in every hour right after the TikTok ban while working for 48 hours with no sleep. The app also won the best video sharing app in the Indian government’s AtmaNirbhar app challenge. Chingari raised $1.3 million in August from LogX Ventures, iSeed, Village Global along with angel investors like Brian Norgard, the former Chief Product Officer of Tinder, who has invested in SpaceX, AngelList, Notion among others. <keyword id="3961149" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mitron">Mitron</keyword> Mitron, which gained popularity, even before the TikTok, thanks to its name being a word used famously by PM Narendra Modi, has raised two rounds of funding in recent times. Today the company has announced that it has raised $5 million, led by Nexus Venture Partners. 3one4 Capital and Arun Tadanki’s private syndicate on LetsVenture, along with a slew of angel investors like Deep Kalra (MakeMyTrip founder), Amarjit Batra (Spotify India head), among others. The startup said that it has over 33 million downloads on the Play Store and garners 9 billion video views per month. <keyword id="8861782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Trell">Trell</keyword> Trell raised $11.4 million in a Series A round led by KTB Network. The round also saw participation from Samsung Ventures, Gokul Rajaram (Board Member, Pinterest, Square, DoorDash), Sequoia’s Surge, Fosun RZ Capital, among others. With 75 million downloads, the app claims to have grown over 27 times in the last 12 months and also has 25 million monthly active users. “Since the Chinese App ban, Trell has witnessed 500% growth with over 15 million creators on its platform receiving more than 5 billion monthly views,” the company said. Bolo Indya Another TikTok clone app, Bolo Indya, closed a seed funding round of $500,000 with over 40 lakh monthly active users. The startup’s funding was led by Eagle10 Ventures and India Accelerator. With a focus on vernacular language growth, the company’s founder Varun Saxena had said he aims to “see ourselves to be on at least one smartphone of every Indian household with a non-English user within the span of next 18 months”. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/oyo-byjus-investor-lightspeed-india-closes-its-third-fund-with-275-million/articleshow/77603896.cms">OYO, Byju's investor Lightspeed India closes its third fund with $275 million</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-motors-sbi-card-bandhan-bank-ril-britannia-sbi-cards-share-price-are-top-movers-on-dalal-street-today/articleshow/77605529.cms">Top stock movers on Dalal Street today — Tata Motors, SBI Card, Bandhan Bank, RIL, Britannia</a>

It's not just TikTok, its clone apps in India too have a beeline of investors

Hello!It's been a dark few weeks, but there's been some light in the past few days, as the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-icu-patients-new-york-fell-first-time-cuomo-says-2020-4">number of patients in New York ICUs dropped for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began</a>, and there was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gilead-remdesivir-clinical-data-in-covid-19-patients-2020-4">some promising data on a potential treatment</a>. As Andrew Dunn reports, more than <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gilead-remdesivir-clinical-data-in-covid-19-patients-2020-4">two-thirds of hospitalized COVID-19 patients improved in condition after receiving remdesivir</a>, an experimental antiviral treatment from Gilead Sciences. More tests are needed, as the study had no control group, but the lead author called the observations "hopeful." You can read Andrew's story on remdesivir and 14 other leading treatments that are now being tested against COVID-19 here. <h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/list-coronavirus-treatments-tested-in-clinical-trials-2020-4">Here are the 15 leading coronavirus treatments already being tested in COVID-19 patients, and the major trials now underway to see if they work</a></h3>The pandemic is upending medical research across the board, as big pharma mobilizes to find a treatment. GSK for example is betting <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/glaxosmithkline-vir-collaboration-coronavirus-research-vaccines-2020-4">$250 million on buzzy biotech Vir as the two team up to hunt for coronavirus treatments and vaccines.</a> In related news, Blake Dodge reported this week that Alphabet's life-sciences firm Verily <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/verily-connect-patients-to-coronavirus-trials-project-baseline-2020-4">may use its giant patient registry to help sign people up to test coronavirus treatments.</a>And Blake separately reported that tests that can tell if you're immune to the coronavirus are on the way. She breaks down <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-making-coronavirus-immunity-tests-serology-blood-2020-4">the companies racing to bring them to the US healthcare system here</a>. The flipside here, as Andrew and Blake report, is that dozens of biotechs are putting clinical trials on hold as the search for a coronavirus vaccine <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-is-upending-clinical-trials-for-other-diseases-2020-3">makes it harder to find cures for cancer, heart disease, and neurological disorders</a>. (For more on how Andrew is covering the high-stakes race for a coronavirus vaccine, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/qa-with-andrew-dunn-on-coronavirus-2020-4">he talked to deputy executive editor Olivia Oran about his reporting.</a>)Meanwhile, Apple and Google on Friday announced they are building a system to track COVID-19 cases and alert people if they've been in contact with someone with the virus. But as Rob Price reported, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-google-contact-tracing-system-let-down-us-failure-testing-2020-4">plan is let down by America's testing failures</a>.<h2>Startups to watch</h2>From Melia Russell and Paayal Zaveri:The coronavirus outbreak has changed not only where people work from, but how they work and what tools they use.Already, apps like Zoom and Slack have seen huge increases in usage in the past few weeks, as users grab onto ways to stay connected in their work and personal lives while social distancing.The urgent need for better work tools could catapult some enterprise startups into the pantheon of unicorn startups, as their users multiply and venture capital investors jump to fund them.They asked VCs to tell them about one startup in their portfolio, and one where they have no financial interest, and came up with a list of 30 startups to watch. You can read more here. <h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/future-of-work-startups-success-year-venture-capital-2020-4">30 startups creating the future of work that will prosper in 2020, according to VCs</a></h3>Elsewhere in startup news:<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rigup-oil-andreessen-horowitz-data-breach-layoffs-2020-4">Austin unicorn startup RigUp went from hiring "at a rapid pace" to cutting 25% of staff in a matter of weeks. Now a data breach is adding to its woes.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/5-billion-restaurant-software-startup-toast-cuts-hundreds-2020-4">$5 billion software startup Toast just slashed its workforce by 50% despite a recent $400 million funding round, as coronavirus has wiped out its main source of customers.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/software-startup-lever-employees-layoffs-2020-4">Employees from Lever, the hot recruiting-software startup run by an ex-Googler, say the company just cut about 40% of its workforce as hiring dries up amid the sharp economic downturn.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/these-vc-firms-portfolio-companies-layoffs-nea-founders-fund-andreessen-2020-4">Silicon Valley startups are being forced to cut costs or die in the worst financial crisis in a generation. Here are the investors whose companies are feeling it the worst.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/consultants-who-focus-on-distressed-startups-say-theyre-in-demand-2020-4">Consultants who try to help VCs salvage struggling startups say the coronavirus crisis has them 'on more conference calls than we probably ever have been."</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sba-made-easier-for-startups-to-qualify-for-coronavirus-loans-2020-4">Silicon Valley startups may get to tap into the $350 billion coronavirus small-business loan program after all, thanks to late rule changes by regulators.</a> </li></ul><h2>A real estate meltdown</h2>The week started with the news that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-group-sues-softbank-for-failing-to-complete-stock-purchase-2020-4">WeWork board members are suing SoftBank for backing out of its plan to buy $3 billion of shares.</a> Meghan Morris reported that former CEO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-group-sues-softbank-for-failing-to-complete-stock-purchase-2020-4">Adam Neumann is still weighing legal options</a>.Meghan and Dan Geiger then revealed that WeWork rival Knotel is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/knotel-stops-paying-rent-landlords-commission-fees-to-cushman-cbre-2020-4">scrambling to pay millions in bills</a> that started stacking up before the coronavirus hit, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/knotel-stops-paying-rent-landlords-commission-fees-to-cushman-cbre-2020-4">and hasn't paid April rent at some locations</a>. They also got leaked Knotel financials, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/knotel-leaked-financials-2019-show-missed-targets-2020-4">which show it struggled to hit sales targets.</a>Elsewhere:<ul><li>Dan reported that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aby-rosen-drops-deals-totaling-600-million-amid-coronavirus-2020-4">real-estate tycoon Aby Rosen is abandoning $600 million worth of acquisitions as the coronavirus puts New York City's multibillion-dollar sales market on ice</a>.</li><li>Melia Russell reported that SoftBank-backed Oyo quietly fired 110 people based on their performance. Some fired workers say it was basically impossible to close sales, and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oyo-fires-us-employees-for-performance-workers-say-sales-struggle-2020-4">company is only offering severance if they agree to not speak out</a>.</li><li>Alex Nicoll reported that real-estate brokerage Redfin <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/redfin-furloughs-almost-half-agents-lays-off-7-of-employees-2020-4">is furloughing 41% of agents until September</a>, painting a dire picture for how long the US housing market will take to bounce back.</li><li>Real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran talked to Libertina Brant about about navigating real estate uncertainty. "For somebody like me, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/barbara-corcoran-weighs-in-on-when-to-invest-in-the-housing-market-2020-4">it's the perfect time to buy</a>," she said. </li><li>Meghan reported that private-equity giant Blackstone bet big on four huge Las Vegas casinos. Then the coronavirus brought Sin City to a halt, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-private-equity-giant-blackstones-las-vegas-casino-investments-2020-4">right as the PE giant was trying to unload one of its multi-billion-dollar jewels</a>.</li><li>Troy Wolverton reported that Airbnb could run out of cash in one year, even with the $1 billion it just raised, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-could-out-of-cash-in-year-due-to-coronavirus-2020-4">because of how devastating the coronavirus is on its business</a>.</li><li>Alex reported that short-term rental managers are ramping up their amenities to<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/short-term-rentals-lengthen-stays-for-customers-who-want-isolation-2020-4"> include masks, hand sanitizer, and large cases of wine as city dwellers look for their "destination isolation."</a></li></ul>Below are headlines on some of the stories you might have missed from the past week. Stay safe, everyone.-- Matt<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-streets-top-restructuring-bankers-when-recessions-defaults-hit-2020-3">POWER PLAYERS: Meet 20 Wall Street restructuring bankers who will navigate the defaults and bankruptcies of the coronavirus crisis</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-picks-to-buy-cheap-prices-coronavirus-investing-morgan-stanley-2020-4">Morgan Stanley handpicks the 18 best US stocks to buy now while they're cheap to enjoy profits for years to come</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/buy-now-pay-later-affirm-afterpay-klarna-splitit-merchants-spending-2020-4">Buy now, pay later startups are "having a moment" - here's why retailers like Walmart and Target are betting on installment payments to keep consumers spending</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gv-backed-orbital-insights-images-from-space-track-oil-storage-2020-4">A startup backed by Goldman Sachs is measuring shadows from space to track the world's oil supply - and it's yielding numbers that no one else has</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-oracle-could-buy-acquisition-targets-20-billion-2020-4">Oracle is known for making bold M&amp;A moves in a recession and it's sitting on a fresh $20 billion. Here are the 7 companies experts think it could acquire as the coronavirus crisis drives down valuations</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teach-yourself-to-code-best-online-coding-boot-camps-programming-2020-4">The 10 best online coding boot camps that you can sign up for right now to land a job at a tech company like Facebook or Intel</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-23-people-shaping-the-tv-advertising-industry-in-2020-2020-4">TV advertising is a mess - meet 23 industry insiders working to fix it</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mahattan-ceo-reveals-daily-routine-she-follows-working-from-home-2020-4">How a CEO is running a Manhattan-based brokerage from an apartment she shares with her 2 teenage kids - she swears by this daily routine from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mahattan-ceo-reveals-daily-routine-she-follows-working-from-home-2020-4"></a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mckinsey-client-note-coronavirus-pandemic-response-2020-4">McKinsey created a 67-page briefing for executives with tips for responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Here are the 9 most important slides you need to read on managing the crisis.</a></li></ul>

The race to find a coronavirus vaccine, startups to watch, and a real estate meltdown

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann isn't the only person to have hyped up the troubled startup - investor SoftBank also played a key role.</li><li>In 2018, senior SoftBank exec Rajeev Misra loftily predicted the business could one day be worth as much as $100 billion.</li><li>Adam Neumann has now resigned as CEO amid intense scrutiny of his business practices and lifestyle.&#xa0;</li><li>Misra's remarks highlight how investors charged with oversight of the company were helping build the buzz that has since come crashing down, as its IPO plan goes off the rails.&#xa0;</li><li>Footage of the executive's remarks subsequently disappeared from YouTube, but Business Insider is now publishing the full audio.&#xa0;&#xa0;</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>Adam Neumann has fallen on his sword, stepping down as chief executive of WeWork in an attempt to help the office rental giant's bungled initial public offering (IPO) get back on track.After weeks of intense scrutiny of the company's business model and the 40-year-old CEO's personal life that has thrown a spanner in the works of its attempts to go public, he has been replaced by two new co-CEOs, Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-everything-we-know-about-sebastian-gunningham-and-artie-minson-2019-9?r=US&amp;IR=T">seasoned executives with years of management under their belts</a>.With his idiosyncratic behaviour and his unconventional (and sometimes outlandish) remarks, Neumann has been emblematic of WeWork's strangest excesses. His departure is optically useful, and may allow WeWork's bankers and backers to bill the company as learning from its mistakes and placing grown-ups in charge.But, as evidenced by one curious episode last year, Neumann wasn't the only over-optimistic hype man when it comes to WeWork.In May 2018, one of SoftBank's most senior executives appeared onstage at a conference in London and announced that WeWork was raising funds at a $35 billion valuation - and that it could one day be a $100 billion business.He also outlined how WeWork would expand from simply renting out office space to playing a more active role in construction and design, and said the firm's revenue growth would come from cross-selling services to its shared office members.The executive was Rajeev Misra, the London-based chief executive of SoftBank Investment Advisers. This is the arm of SoftBank overseeing its mammoth $100 billion Vision Fund, which has funneled billions of dollars into Uber, DoorDash, Slack and, of course, WeWork. (Misra&#xa0;does not sit on WeWork's board. SoftBank's board seat is occupied by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-ron-fisher-softbank-vision-fund-behind-wework-valuation-ipo-2019-9?r=US&amp;IR=T">Ron Fisher</a>, the firm's vice chairman and head of investment.)"A year ago we were told that WeWork was extremely overvalued, $17 billion for a real estate company doing office space. Well guess what, they're looking to raise capital at $35 billion today. Maybe it's overvalued but I believe they're a $100 billion company in the next few years," he said.&#xa0;"They will completely go horizontal, and go beyond office space into manufacturing furniture for themselves, to becoming a leader in real estate as an industry, to building offices, to mechanising construction, etcetera etcetera."Misra was speaking at CogX, a comparatively new UK conference focused on artificial intelligence - a key plank of the Vision Fund's investment strategy. SoftBank was also sponsoring the conference. Both were unusual. The Vision Fund hadn't yet closed the full $100 billion and SoftBank was generally keeping a low profile.Still, Misra seemed comfortable talking about the fund's investment strategy up on stage before an audience of startups, investors, journalists and other industry figures.Perhaps he was too comfortable. It turns out no one had ever mentioned WeWork's new fundraise publicly, nor had anyone mentioned a possible $35 billion valuation. WeWork's most recent raise had been in July 2017, the the year before, which <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2017/07/10/wework-hits-20-billion-valuation-in-new-funding-round/#75a0b7331194">reportedly valued the company at a more modest $20 billion</a>.And certainly no one had mentioned a prospective $100 billion valuation.Business Insider <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-wants-to-raise-money-at-35-billion-valuation-softbank-says-2018-6?r=US&amp;IR=T">published a write-up of his remarks the next day</a> with additional comment from WeWork, which had evidently been caught off-guard.It was, pretty clearly, a gaffe. Although Misra's remarks were also captured on video by the conference organisers and posted to CogX's YouTube channel, that video quietly disappeared after Business Insider asked both WeWork and SoftBank about his comments. SoftBank declined to comment at the time.A few days later, Axios' Dan Primack suggested that Misra's revelation <a href="https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-pro-rata-f418c292-2127-4a96-a81d-9036120786f3.html">may have even violated SEC rules</a>. It wouldn't be the first time <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/09/walmart-softbank-flipkart-masayoshi-son/">a SoftBank executive has let the news of a major deal slip early</a>.<h2>'A year ago we were told that WeWork was extremely overvalued'</h2>Business Insider recorded Misra's remarks, and is now publishing that audio in full.&#xa0;Here is what the finance executive said about WeWork (emphasis added). For context, Misra was asked by the conference moderator whether the Vision Fund was fuelling a bubble and spiraling valuations:"Valuations are high in certain companies, valuations are low in certain others. When you're taking a 10 year view, a 10%, 20% difference in valuation doesn't matter if you can get the WeWorks. It's like saying, look, I'm going to [unclear] and try to negotiate the 10% or 15% extra discount. We can do that anyway, we got into Uber at a 30% discount to the previous round, in the secondary."But the key that we look for is cos that we believe going to be the winners in that industry. WeWork, a year ago we were told that WeWork was extremely overvalued, $17 billion for a real estate company doing office space. Well guess what, they're looking to raise capital at $35 billion today. Maybe it's overvalued but I believe they're a $100 billion company in the next few years. They will completely go horizontal, and go beyond office space into manufacturing furniture for themselves, to becoming a leader in real estate as an industry, to building offices, to mechanising construction, etcetera etcetera."The key is to own the customer. They own their consumer and that is extremely valuable. [They have] one or&#xa0; two million members right now, 100,000 last year, they ended last year at half a million across the globe. They will own consumers who use their app, work in their offices five days a week. And the ability to cross-sell through those members and the ability to go downstream to create those offices substantially cheaper... Not to get into WeWork in a big way, getting back to valuation, we believe if we invest in winners, of course we don't do early-stage investing any more, we do late-stage growth investing, if we believe our investment will go up 3, 4, 5x, why bother 10%, 20% valuation."Elsewhere in the recording, Misra <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-6-months-uber-8-billion-2018-6?r=US&amp;IR=T">talks about SoftBank bringing "synergies" to Uber</a> because it also holds stakes in other rival ride-hailing companies around the world. He also discussed SoftBank's acquisition of ARM, its investments in Indian hotel marketplace Oyo, and how SoftBank helps its portfolio firms scale into Asia.<h2>Those charged with oversight helped contribute to the hype</h2>WeWork would go on to hit a $47 billion valuation - but has since had a dramatic reversal of fortunes.In the run-up to its planned IPO, Misra's exuberance for a sky-high valuation has been mirrored by the other bankers WeWork talked to. <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/272d408e-de40-11e9-b112-9624ec9edc59">According to a Financial Times report</a>, JPMorgan told the company it could be worth up to $63 billion in its public listing. Goldman said it could be as much as $96 billion. Morgan Stanley reportedly valued it at as much as a staggering $104 billion.However, intense media and investor scrutiny of WeWork's business practices, Neumann's unusual degree of control over the company, and his lifestyle (there are reports of smoking weed on private jets and presidential ambitions) has since driven the IPO process off the rails. Neumann has now left his post. There are rumours of thousands of employee layoffs coming. And when the company does eventually go public, its valuation seems certain to be dented,&#xa0;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-valuation-cut-20-billion-may-delay-ipo-report-2019-9?r=US&amp;IR=T">and potentially halved</a>.In the aftermath, Misra's lofty pronouncements in 2018 - like the heady valuations suggested by Morgan Stanley and the rest - highlight how those meant to keep Neumann and WeWork in check instead helped directly contribute to its over-hyped image and stratospheric expectations.<div></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/veggie-burger-taste-test-burger-king-impossible-burger-beyond-meat-2019-9">We compared 13 veggie burgers and Burger King's Impossible Burger was the only one that stood out</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

SoftBank thought WeWork could be a $100 billion company, and audio from 2018 shows how it inflated the hype

A mere two years after he left <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=SoftBank&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">SoftBank</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Nikesh+Arora&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Nikesh Arora</a> has stepped down as the COO of the company. Handpicked by <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Softbank">SoftBank</keyword> CEO <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Masayoshi+Son&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Masayoshi Son</a> himself, this <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Silicon+Valley&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Silicon Valley</a> was widely regarded as Son’s successor, and was one of the highest paid man on earth. 
 
Arora's resignation comes a day after SoftBank gave him the clean chit after a special committee reviewed allegations against him, and found no merit. Son is expected to continue as the CEO for the next 5-10 years. 
 
Mr. Arora’s departure comes after a volley of criticism about his lackluster investments, and shareholders campaigning to see him gone, claiming conflict of interest as a major reason, thanks to his role as an adviser to private-equity firm Silver Lake. 
 
Allegations against him: 
In its allegations, New York-based law firm Boies Schiller &amp; Flexner representing SoftBank shareholders claimed he was guilty of a "series of questionable transactions, poor investment performance and conflict of interest." 
 
With SoftBank struggling with slow growth in profit and a huge debt of $80 billion, no wonder Mr. Arora’s appointment as a board member to Sprint soon after joining SoftBank would face criticism. 
 
“Large corporate investments are not based on individuals. SoftBank’s investments would be guided by their idea of the size of the Indian market rather than an individual’s decisions”, Arvind Singhal, Chairman and Managing Director of Technopak says. 
 
His investments: 
Arora has been a strong supporter of the Indian startup ecosystem. Under him, SoftBank pumped over a billion dollars into the country’s startups. Its India investments include the likes of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Snapdeal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Snapdeal</a>, Ola, Grofers, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=OYO+rooms&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">OYO rooms</a> and the troubled <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Housing.com&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Housing.com</a>. 
 
“With him in place, SoftBank may have looked at India much more aggressively”, Singhal muses. 
 
Mr. Arora’s $208 million paycheck over the last two years made him one of the highest-paid executives in the world. His decision to purchase SoftBank stocks worth over $483 million last year also caused an outcry, calling it an attempt by the company to quieted murmurs about his performance. 
 
“I won’t be looking to invest in this space anymore, but not because of what transpired with the SoftBank portfolio. That space was looking like one with a very large market opportunity and, that ventures operating in it could scale quickly. However, now the consumer internet space is fairly congested. There is no value in investing in a space where every startup has several well funded competitors”, Angad Singh Rikhy, Manager, Dealflow and Partnerships, Unitus Seed Fund says. 
 
When asked if Arora’s investment decisions could be stamped as ‘bad choices’, Rikhy says, “I wouldn’t’ go as far to say that. Every fund and/or angel makes investments that go south, at an average 2 out of 10 funded startups make positive returns. Looking at his portfolio, it was not a complete blunder as people are positioning it. The reality is a lot of the time early-stage investors are not positioned well enough, whether its due to the lack of historical information when dealing with innovative products/services or the fact that most of the data available are projections. We bet on an entrepreneur’s capabilities to pull off certain strategic maneuvers.” 
 Several of Mr. Arora’s investments have been burning cash and losing money. Ola is still up against Uber in an expensive price war, <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> is struggling to raise new funds and OYO’s business model is being questioned. 
 
<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/photo/48539924.cms">Image Source</a>

Nikesh Arora will leave SoftBank - what next?

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">OakNorthSunil Chandra, OakNorth's new chief executive.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>OakNorth is a UK bank which lends money to small- and medium-sized businesses. It is one of the few profitable, high-profile startups backed by SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund and worth $2.8 billion.</li><li>The startup recently appointed Sunil Chandra, and experienced executive formerly of Google and Barclays Capital, as CEO, marking a period of international expansion. </li><li>The company claims working with SoftBank has been "wonderful" even as other Vision Fund portfolio startups draw scrutiny over their business models and extreme growth. </li><li>Chandra was specifically brought in to ramp up the startup's scaling plans as it looks to strengthen its grip on an estimated $7.9 trillion market. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>It's been a tricky year for SoftBank and its $100 billion Vision Fund.The fund wants to be a kingmaker, but turbulence at its most high-profile investments - Uber, WeWork - has raised questions about its investment strategy.But there is one standout in the portfolio that bucks the trend, British lender OakNorth.OakNorth loans money to small- and medium-sized businesses. It raised $390 million from the Vision Fund, as part of a wider $440 million round in 2018, one of the biggest for a UK startup. It has quietly disrupted the $7.9 trillion mid-market lending space.The firm is valued at $2.8 billion as a result. It is also profitable, making it a rarity both in the Vision Fund's portfolio and on the wider unicorn scene.In October, OakNorth hired ex-Google, McKinsey, and Barclays Capital executive Sunil Chandra as CEO to kickstart the next stage of the company's journey. Chandra takes over the job from Rishi Khosla, OakNorth's cofounder.Chandra met Khosla six months ago in New York and took over to help build what he describes as a "generational company.""When I met OakNorth it reminded me of early days of Google, you have great founders and a young team that's really focused on building a generational company," Chandra told Business Insider in an interview."I have experience from Barclays Capital and McKinsey, before Google, in Asia and China but despite different industries and geographies the scaling experience is similar and that's my background so I'm here for this hyper-scale period." While at Google, Chandra helped scale the company from 7,000 to 100,000 people.That OakNorth is switching out its CEO while it enters a growth phase is a marked difference from other SoftBank-backed founders who have, perhaps, stuck around too long in the top job.Uber's cofounder and one-time CEO Travis Kalanick was publicly ousted pre-IPO, and more recently <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-adam-neumann-said-family-control-company-300-years-january-2019-10?r=US&amp;IR=T">WeWork's Adam Neumann</a> stepped down from the top job after months of lurid stories about his own behavior and his company's business model. Both were replaced by more experienced executives.<h2>OakNorth made $44 million in pre-tax profits in 2018</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">OakNorthOakNorth cofounder Rishi Khosla has stepped down as CEO and handed the reins over.</div></div></div>OakNorth was founded in 2015 by Khosla and Joel Perlman, who sold their previous business to Moody's in 2014. The two remain involved in the running of the business.The company has a full banking license in the UK, but its focus is bespoke lending to companies around the world.Notably, OakNorth has reported profitability <a href="https://www.cityam.com/fintech-unicorn-oaknorth-more-than-trebles-profits/">claiming figures of a pre-tax profit of £33.9 million</a> ($43.6 million) last year having lent more than £2.5 billion since launch.OakNorth funds its lending through equity and deposit functions in its customer base and specializes in customized small business lending.That sector of the market generally sees loan sizes of between $1 and $25 million and OakNorth offers a variety of credit facilities to small businesses which make up some 95% of the available market worldwide. The company's own research into current and potential markets for growth estimate that the overall volume of potential loans could be $7.9 trillion globally. Mid-market loans typically include stronger covenant packages, more frequent and transparent financial reporting, and often have higher amortization payments.In basic terms, the lending conditions of these products are generally superior to other forms of corporate debt with the upshot being that OakNorth can be more stringent in its terms. This may also explain the sector's low default rates, with OakNorth claiming to have never had one so far. That could be tested in the event of an economic downturn, but for now things are rosy. "It's where the money is there to be made," Sarah Kocianski, head of research at fintech consultancy firm 11:FS, told Business Insider in an interview. "OakNorth has gone after a very specific sector of the market which has more complex needs than the usual retail banking sector and have been very successful." It's unusual for a company to be profitable so early on, particularly in an age where mega rounds and curious financial metrics are in vogue, but OakNorth has no plans of taking money for the sake of it. "Our great joy is that from nine months in onward we have been profitable and want to do that year after year and still be extremely aggressive in our growth agenda," Chandra said."We're not looking at raising more capital and we're not burning more capital. That's the business model, high growth, very disciplined execution, run it like a business that has profit and profit margins across it."<h2>OakNorth has staved off the WeWork aftershocks</h2>Profitability appears to have made OakNorth's relationship with its main investor easier.SoftBank, after the WeWork fiasco, is reportedly doing additional due diligence on its existing portfolio to make sure there isn't a second PR and financial disaster on the same scale. One such example was car leasing company Fair, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-backed-fair-struggled-after-explosive-growth-say-insiders-2019-11?r=US&amp;IR=T">which saw hundreds of layoffs and a change to its business model</a> following SoftBank investigations while insurtech firm Lemonade <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-backed-insurance-startup-lemonade-has-delayed-plans-for-2019-ipo-2019-11?r=US&amp;IR=T">delayed its IPO</a> after markets were spooked by WeWork.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Michael Kovac/Getty Images for WeWorkFormer WeWork CEO Adam Neumann.</div></div></div>And there are jitters at other SoftBank firms. Oyo, the Indian hotel company, is drawing closer scrutiny thanks to its apparent similarities to WeWork. Dog-walking startup Wag just lost its latest CEO and appointed a 29-year-old to take charge.Equally, there has been greater soul-searching following the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Saudi Arabian hands earlier this year. The kingdom is a major backer of SoftBank's Vision Fund.SoftBank did not respond to requests for comment. OakNorth said it not seen greater interference from SoftBank."Every company is different but SoftBank have been nothing but wonderful investors for us," Chandra added. "Really nothing has changed, we're a small part of their overall portfolio obviously and we're profitable so we have not had a change." The company has raised $1 billion to-date from investors including GIC and Clermont Group. <h2>OakNorth says it wants to grow carefully, and launched in the US this year </h2>OakNorth is planning its expansion carefully, focusing initially on the US. The startup has 35 staff in its New York office with the world's deepest lending market a massive target for the company's growth going forward. It also has some staff in India.The company's own research, seen by Business Insider, indicates that the current SME loan market in the US is around $1.6 trillion. Figures for Asia are higher, potentially $3.3 trillion, meaning there is no shortage of potential customers for the startup. Interestingly, OakNorth has been keen to utilize SoftBank's contact network both via partners, board members, and other portfolio companies to accentuate this growth. "Given our opportunities we will take all the help we can get," Chandra said. It's a common trait for Vision Fund portfolio firms to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-gympass-took-softbank-money-after-jamal-khashoggi-murder-2019-6?r=US&amp;IR=T">do business with each other</a>.The company wants to stay committed to a core plan. "There a few different things that we want to maintain as we grow: stay customer obsessed, keep a strong executive team, invest in top talent plus people and culture these serves you well when hyper-scaling and helps you maintain agility," Chandra added."I want us to stay very close to customers to ensure we know what delivers the most value to our customers."<h2>OakNorth says it is highly differentiated thanks to its financial forecasting</h2>Perhaps the key point in OakNorth's growth plan is the continued expansion of OakNorth Analytical Intelligence, its forecasting service.It helps lenders decide who to loan money to, increasingly important in an age of booming corporate debt.OakNorth explains its advantage thus: "Overall, our model is man and machine. We have a large data set and repository plus propriety information and reference data," Chandra said. "But the secret sauce on top of that is credit science which is the moniker we use for credit analysis done by really really fantastic analysts from world's top banks alongside machine learning and data to really understand which companies need which credit facilities and how they are going to do in the future."Using AI to automate much of the credit analysis process is helpful but so is licensing its solutions for third parties.In overseas markets, other financial institutions can purchase OakNorth's white-labelled software and use it within their own businesses with one notable example being a deal with Dutch lender NIBC.The company also competes on savings products by offering competitive interest rates on short term bond issues, for example. It found more customers for its products through a tie-up with fellow London unicorn Monzo. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/banking?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_subscription&amp;itm_content=banking&amp;itm_campaign=banking-2"></a> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ben-horowitz-what-companies-get-wrong-about-corporate-culture-2019-11">Legendary venture capitalist Ben Horowitz on culture mistakes most companies make, diversity in leadership, and the outlook for crypto</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

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OakNorth may be the jewel in SoftBank's crown, worth $2.8 billion and profitable. Its new CEO comes in as the bank looks to enter hypergrowth without burning cash.

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