The year 2017 has flown by with amazing speed and is quickly and surely winding down to a close. As we approach the end of the year with infinite speed, it is time to take stock and take a look at the different things that have happened in the Startup world in this past week. 

1. Net Neutrality And What It Means. 

Net neutrality has been an issue which has been involved in more discussions than one. From its benefits to its negative impact, net neutrality is one of the hottest topics being spoken about. Recently, the FCC banned net neutrality. This means that free speech on the internet is going to be a thing of the past. The question here is, is this ban a good thing or a bad thing?

2. Swiggy To Partner With Sodexo To Provide Easier Delivery and Payments

Food delivery platform, Swiggy, just partnered with the employee’s benefits provider Sodexo. At present, according to reports, more than 3 million people are making use of the Sodexo Meal Card option. Through this partnership, Swiggy aims at providing its users with a wide array of restaurants. The focus of the company is to empower the technological segment, enhance user experience and increase the digital acceptance of Sodexo Meal Cards.

3. Amazon To Invest In Lending Platform Capital Float

Ecommerce giant, Amazon, is all set to invest in the small and medium enterprise lending platform, Capital Float. This Seattle based company is getting ready to invest close to $ 10 million in the digital lending platform. Currently, the ecommerce giant has invested in online financial services platform, BankBazaar. At present, Amazon is facing major competition from its rival company, Flipkart and reports suggest that Flipkart is also in talks with several lending companies for partnerships.

4. Vijay Shekhar Sharma Pledges Personal Stock For Paytm Mall

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Paytm, has pledged his personal stock in the ecommerce arm of Paytm, Paytm Mall for the employee stock option pool. Sharma will be pledging about 5% of his stock, which amounts to $ 50 million, to the ESOP corpus which will then become 10% of the overall company. This move to pledge personal stock to the ESOP corpus comes after Flipkart completed the largest buyback by a privately held Indian startup worth $ 100 million.

5. Amazon To Launch Tenor, Its Very Own Smartphone

Just a little over a month ago, Flipkart announced the launch of its very own smartphone Billion Capture+. In an attempt to counter this move, Amazon went ahead and launched its own smartphone under the banner, Tenor.  Private play labels like Amazon and Flipkart have raised the value of smartphones from beyond what they used to be, thereby creating a niche space for users.

6. Ola Acquires Food Delivery Startup Foodpanda

Homegrown cab aggregator, Ola, acquired the food delivery startup Foodpanda. Ola said it is going to acquire Foodpanda from its parent company Hero, in return for a percentage of Ola’s shares. Further, Ola said that it will invest $ 200 million after a period of time. With this acquisition, Ola will be able to enter the online food delivery and ordering service.

7. Facebook Unveils New Features To Curb Harassment

The social media giant, Facebook, announced new tools in an attempt to curb online harassment on social media as well as on its messaging app. Facebook has created this new feature by taking input from people who have experienced higher levels of harassment like journalists and women. The social media company consulted over 150 safety experts around the world for these new features.

8. Bitcoin Interrupted. Slumps From Its All Time High By 20 %

As of Sunday, Bitcoin slumped from its all time high of $ 19, 666 by a whopping 40%. Bitcoin’s monumental gains this year ensured that its price soared about 19 times. This has spurred both caution and alarm among some policymakers. According to reports, Bitcoin has experienced alternating levels of highs and lows. A rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies like Ether and Ripple is one of the main reason for this, according to reports. 

9. Alibaba Launches First Cloud Data Center In India

In an attempt to expand its ever growing presence in the world, Alibaba launched its first cloud data center in India. According to reports, this Jack Ma led firm will go live in January 2018. The new Alibaba data center will have 33 zones, spanning over regions like China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Australia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States. This move comes in a fight against the likes of AWS, Microsoft, Azure and Google Cloud.

10. Flipkart To Launch Artificial Intelligence Unit, AIForIndia

After launching its first data analytics brand, Billion, Flipkart is gearing up to create an Artificial Intelligence unit called AIForIndia. With a host of new additions, Flipkart has worked hard to secure its position as the number one ecommerce brand.

11. Quikr India To Buy HDFC Developers And HDFC Realty From HDFC For $ 56 Million

In an interesting move, Quikr India placed a bid to buy HDFC Developers and HDFC Realty from HDFC Ltd., for $ 56 million. Through the years, Quikr India has added a lot of verticals to its growing portfolio, thereby increasing its market value. At present, Quikr is one of the leading companies in India and has a market value of around $ 1.5 billion.

12. Bitcoin Slips Below $ 13,000

On Sunday, Bitcoin rose as much as $ 19,666 in the lead up to exchange giant CME Group’s launch of bitcoin futures. Nevertheless, the currency seems to have lost steam post the launch. The current plunge comes amid growing signs of mania among regulators and investors for anything cryptocurrency related. Although CME and its rival, Cboe Global Market have given this particular form of cryptocurrency perceived validation, a majority of policymakers are still skeptical and on the fence about the Bitcoin issue. 

13. 5,350 Startups Recognized Under Startup India Initiative

The Department of Industrial Policy and Development (DIPP,) stated that as of 1 December 2017, a total of 5,350 startups have been recognized under the Startup India Programme. Through this programme, about 40,000 people have been employed in the startup world. At present, India currently ranks third in the startup ecosystem, world over.

That’s all for this week! Subscribe to our portal to never miss updates from the startup world! If your startup has an exciting announcement coming up, you can even write to us at [email protected]. Catch up with the highlights of the week with our The News This Week section.