Tech giant Microsoft has recently invested $5 million in OYO at a $9.6 billion valuation

US-based tech giant Microsoft has recently made a deal with Oyo to invest $5mn. SoftBank backs Oyo, and the latest deal is being considered as one of the biggest strategic alliances by both companies. Even though the sale might look small from the outside, the objective, however, is very wide. This includes allowing the key investors to show the value on paper on the basis of this new deal. Various reports suggest that both the companies have drawn the deal without giving away much information regarding the transaction.

The indications of the new deal were given three weeks ago in the media when Oyo issued its IPO. As of now, Oyo has allotted five equity shares for the tech giant, and along with that, 80 preference shares were also issued at $58,490 per share. As the company goes forward, it will be getting more money from the tech giant. Previously when Oyo raised funds from Hindustan Media Venture Ltd, the company was valued at $9 billion, and it raised $7 million. However, it must be noted that Oyo’s valuation significantly fell from $10 billion in November 2019 to $8 billion in August 2020. The sharp decline in valuation was mainly due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

 

The retail segment will have to wait a little more to recover from covid impact completely

Following the completion of the company’s massive expansion plans in May, the Javits Center in Manhattan managed to host its first trade show since last year’s pandemic lockdowns. From 8th to 11th of August, buyers and wholesale vendors convened at the trade show. Various consumer products were featured in the event, and it was sorted and put into ten sections like handmade designer-makers, artisan resource, accent on designs, home design with tabletop, gifts with stationery, luxury wellness, and lifestyle.

By looking at the feedback given by the participants of the trade show, it can be intercepted that almost every business was in some way affected by the pandemic — both negatively and positively. The ongoing pandemic has proved that the retail segment is resilient against any adversaries, and it can step up its game and recover. Many digital-first brands also have managed to open new in-person stores, and the wholesale sector has also come up with new competitive products. To cater to the customer’s need effectively, the retailers must deliver their best and create better offerings. As of now, it is very difficult to predict when the retail segment will completely recover because of various unpredictable and unknown factors.
 

 

Facebook's New Program to Help Small Businesses Gain Access to Loans in India

In partnership with the online lending platform Indifi, Facebook has launched a new program 'Small Business Loans Initiative,' to help SMBs across India gain quick access to business loans. This program will help businesses across the country avail credit through independent lending partners.

The Small Business Loans Initiative's timing is laudable since India's small and medium businesses have suffered great losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Facebook has also announced that it will receive no revenue or gain any benefits through this program.  

“FICCI lauds Facebook efforts of empowering the MSME sector with the right opportunities, skills, and solutions. FICCI has always advocated for stronger private sector participation for the growth of India’s MSMEs and welcomes the launch of Facebook's Small Business Loans Initiative to make access to credit more easily available to the industry," commented Uday Shankar, president, FICCI.

If a business applies for a loan through the Small Business Loans Initiative, it can expect INR 500,000 to INR 5,000,000 in loans. If approved by Indifi, loans can be availed in 3 working days of completing all documentation. Applications are being accepted with no collateral through a quick online application.

The interest range on the loans through this program will be between 17-20 percent p.a. A woman-owned business can receive 0.2 percent reduction on the applied interest rate. Business owners who apply through this program can get the application confirmation within one working day of applying.

Facebook has rolled out this program for registered businesses across 200 towns and cities of India.

 

 

Paytm Partners with HDFC Bank in India

Paytm has announced a partnership with HDFC Bank in India to expand its digital banking services in the country. The partnership will see HDFC Bank build solutions for PoS machines, credit products, and payment gateways. This will include Paytm Postpaid, Eazy EMI and Flexi Pay.

The partnership between the two big players in the Indian financial space will empower businesses and help them scale.

“As India’s largest issuing and acquiring bank, we have always endeavored to personalize our offerings to customers-consumers, businesses and corporate houses. Through this partnership we will also be jointly delivering enhanced SmartHub solutions to the market. We believe that this is the start of a great partnership and the cumulative strength of both HDFC Bank and Paytm will help us strengthen our respective leadership positions,” said Parag Rao, Group Head–Payments, Consumer Finance, Digital Banking & IT, HDFC Bank.

The private sector bank's SmartHub solutions is a platform that offers merchants with many options to access tools for their needs like banking, payments, lending, and business solutions.

In addition to this, HDFC Bank will sell Paytm's payment solutions in the Indian market. Both the companies will also launch a co-branded PoS product for the retail sector jointly.

 

Bug found in ThroughTek IoT devices poses serious security threats, warns Experts

Bug found in ThroughTek IoT devices is highly critical, warns the researchers of Mandiant, and it is expected to be addressed soon.

Mandiant, a popular name in the cybersecurity segment, has recently made an announcement that it has detected a new vulnerability has been detected in ThroughTek's Kalay network, which is expected to allow cyberperps to watch the real-time video and listen to live audion on hundreds of thousands of IoT devices. Even though the disclosure was made public recently, the bug was present in IoT devices since late 2020. Threat researchers Dillon Franke, Jake Valletta, and Erik Barzdukas have contributed heavily to the research blog that highlighted the bug. Successful exploitation of the bug will give the users access to live audio and video feed, and furthermore, it was revealed that perps could also gain access to credentials which prompts that an attack will be taking place in the future.

 As of now, there is no known public exploit of the bug. ThroughTek had released a statement earlier this month that the company knew about the bug, even though they did not give any details regarding the same. The statement from the company makes it clear that the outdated release from the company was sufficiently covered to completely protect the data transferred. The company has now channeled its efforts towards creating a solution for this issue and providing relevant guidance soon to its customers.

 

Taiwan Export Orders Surge Again in July for the Consecutive 17th Month

 A poll conducted by Reuters indicated that the country’s export orders are showing an upward trend in July for the 17th time in a row. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to rattle the world as the waves startle nations one by one. Recently, the second wave in India wreaked havoc. People died in scores. Now, the Delta variant wave has gripped the entire Australian nation. Immediately after India’s disastrous second wave, Indonesia had witnessed a rising number of cases.

However, the pandemic has unleashed opportunities that were unknown in the pre-pandemic world. From online shopping to work-from-home, the pandemic has knocked at many uncharted doors that treasured endless opportunities. The large corporations once making work-from-office mandatory see it a threat now. Online classes, for instance, is revolutionizing EdTech market. These opportunities were hanging around, but went unnoticed until the pandemic hit the world last year.
Several countries witnessed record-high growth in their respective markets as the above mentioned opportunities were unleashed with full force. Taiwan, for instance, witnessed a record-high growth in July. The country’s export orders rose for the 17th consecutive month.

The growth was buoyed by strong sustained demand for technology products that people used during the lockdowns. As mentioned above, millions of people worldwide work from home and take classes online need technology latest products to operate efficiently.
A poll conducted by Reuters indicated that the country’s export orders are showing an upward trend in July for the 17th time in a row.

 

Antinalysis, a blockchain analytics tool used by criminals, was shut down by the authorities

A popular blockchain service on the dark web to check the legitimacy of the bitcoin wallet was recently shut down by the regulators.

Several reports from media show that a popular blockchain tool that was being used by crypto launderers to test their funds’ connection to crime has been shut down permanently now. The service was known as Analysis, and it was reportedly very popular on the dark web. This tool allowed users to check their bitcoin link to criminal activities. Founder and Chief Scientist of Elliptic, Dr. Tom Robinson, has stated that criminals were starting to find loopholes to overcome the challenges posed by blockchain analytics, and Antinalysis was the first to help the criminals with the same.

The site of Antinalysis was discovered by Robinson last week, and he had mentioned this in his blog post. This, however, caught the attention of the regulators, who shut down the service. The tools are generally helpful for investigators to deal with crypto-related activities, but in the wrong hands, the tools are being misused by the money launderers to identify whether the funds will lead back to them or indicate their criminal background. Incognito was the developer behind Antinalysis, and it has several other services, too, like the Incognito Market. The software runs on Tor, which is a network that allows users to browse the dark web anonymously.