Connect with us

News

Amazon Pilots Food Retail Venture In Pune

Published

on

Amazon becomes the first foreign firm to start a food retail venture Amazon Retail Pvt., Ltd., in India. Amazon Retail will start with its pilot services in Pune. The development comes at a time when the global retail giant Walmart is in plans to acquire a 40% stake in homegrown ecommerce giant Flipkart.

With this venture, Amazon India can stock and sell food items including sell locally made and packaged food directly to consumers. The Economic Times reported a person close to the development said, “Amazon is now a vendor on Amazon.in and is currently operating in Pune.” However, according to another source, it will take another quarter for the ecommerce major to roll out the food retailing business nationwide.

Amazon received the government’s approval to invest $ 500 million in Indian food retail industry in July last year. At present, Amazon is the only international company to have applied for the food only retailing business with 100% overseas investment. As mandated by the Indian government, Amazon will be keeping this venture separate from its online marketplace. This includes maintaining separate management and offices for the venture as the ecommerce firm does not have the permission to sell products directly to consumers. Without giving any details, an Amazon India spokesperson confirmed the news saying, “We continue to be on track to launch our food retail business in India.

Other foreign funded retail outlets such as BigBasket, Grofers and Supr Daily have also received similar approvals from the government for food retailing. India’s food retailing sector seems to be the next big milestone in the ecommerce industry. Recently, China’s ecommerce giant Alibaba invested close to $300 million in BigBasket, while Walmart is also looking to buy a substantial stake in Flipkart. Till date, Amazon has invested $ 4.74 billion in India, almost reaching Jeff Bezos commitment to invest $ 5 billion in the country.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News

Bhavish Aggarwal’s Krutrim Unveils ‘Kruti’ — An Agentic AI Built for Bharat

Published

on

Kruti

Bengaluru, June 2025 – Krutrim, the AI startup founded by Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal, has launched its new agentic AI assistant, Kruti. Unlike traditional virtual assistants, Kruti is designed with an Indian-first approach — combining cultural context, multilingual capabilities, and generative AI to offer a more intuitive, task-oriented experience for users.

Kruti is built to do more than just respond to queries — it can independently perform tasks, make decisions, and integrate across platforms for productivity and communication. Powered by Krutrim’s proprietary Indian-trained language model, it brings a deep understanding of local languages and digital behaviors, catering to both personal and business needs in the Indian ecosystem.

Aggarwal described Kruti as “India’s digital brain,” highlighting its role in redefining AI for Bharat. The assistant will be rolled out in phases, starting with enterprise partners and expanding through apps and APIs. As Kruti integrates into various platforms — including Ola’s services — it marks a significant stride in India’s ambition to lead the global AI race.

Continue Reading

News

Bankruptcy Forces BYJU’S to Offload Epic and Tynker for a Fraction of Acquisition Cost

Published

on

BYJU’S StartupStories

BYJU’S, once India’s most celebrated edtech startup, has sold its major US-based subsidiaries Epic and Tynker for a fraction of their original purchase prices, marking a dramatic reversal in its global expansion strategy. The distressed sales, approved by a US bankruptcy court on May 20, 2025, come amid the company’s ongoing financial and legal turmoil. Tynker, a coding education platform acquired by BYJU’S in 2021 for $200 million, was sold to CodeHS for just $2.2 million in cash, while Epic, a digital reading platform bought for $500 million in 2022, was acquired by China’s TAL Education Group for $95 million.

These fire-sale transactions were part of a broader restructuring effort to address disputes with lenders after BYJU’S defaulted on a $1.2 billion loan, which triggered bankruptcy proceedings for its US entities. The company’s US unit, Byju’s Alpha, became the focal point of legal battles, including allegations of mismanagement and the misappropriation of funds by top executives. Court rulings in the US have highlighted instances of fraudulent transfers and breaches of fiduciary duty by suspended directors, further compounding BYJU’S woes.

As BYJU’S scrambles to stabilize its core operations, several of its other high-profile acquisitions, such as Great Learning and Aakash Institute, have started operating independently and distancing themselves from the parent company. The massive losses from the sales of Epic and Tynker underscore the risks of BYJU’S aggressive acquisition spree and the severe impact of its financial mismanagement, leaving the future of the once high-flying edtech giant in question.

Continue Reading

Funding

Flick TV Secures $2.3M to Revolutionize India’s Micro-Drama Streaming Scene

Published

on

Flick TV StartupStories

Flick TV, India’s first mobile-focused OTT platform dedicated to micro-dramas, has secured $2.3 million in seed funding led by Stellaris Venture Partners, with participation from Gemba Capital and Titan Capital. Founded in early 2025 by Kushal Singhal, Pratik Anand, and Sanidhya Mittal, the platform aims to address the growing demand for high-quality, short-form storytelling tailored for mobile consumption. Unlike traditional user-generated short video platforms, Flick TV produces professionally shot, under-five-minute dramas across genres such as romance, thrillers, and slice-of-life—each crafted for vertical viewing to suit India’s rapidly expanding mobile internet audience.

The newly raised capital will be used to scale up content production, with plans to launch over 100 original titles, enhance the platform’s streaming technology, and expand offerings into four regional languages. Flick TV is also investing in generative AI and advanced workflows to streamline scripting and production, aiming to combine creative excellence with operational efficiency. The founders bring deep expertise from previous roles at ShareChat, EloElo, Meesho, and Pocket FM, positioning the company to bridge the gap between creator agility and cinematic storytelling in India’s nascent micro-drama ecosystem.

Industry observers see Flick TV as a frontrunner in India’s next entertainment wave, which is expected to be mobile-native, emotionally engaging, and built for short attention spans. With the micro-drama market projected to reach $5 billion in India over the next five years—mirroring the $7 billion success in China—Flick TV is poised to set new standards for premium, binge-worthy short-form content and redefine streaming for the modern Indian viewer.

 

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Recent Posts

Advertisement