1947 Tech: #48
Once a week newsletter: Insights on Tech, markets, startups, venture capital, and foreign investments in India
1. The future is India: The future of the internet is Indian
If you are interested in learning about India’s tech ecosystem and only have time for one article to read. This is the article for you to read.
“Little over half of the world’s population is online, which means about 3.5 billion people across the world are not connected to the internet,” Rajan Anandan, managing director of Google in India, told CNN Business last month.
So what will it take to connect those users and make the internet useful for them?
“Those answers lie… in what it would take to get the 900 million [Indians] who are not online,” Anandan, said.
World has 3.5BN unconnected people; 30% of these are Indians
India consumed 22% world mobile data in Apr-June
Price/GB drop $3 to $0.16 in 3yrs
2. An App that Is Empowering India: WhatsApp Is Changing the Way India Talks About Food
Over 200 million people in India are using WhatsApp. That saturation has often led to misuse: Various groups have deployed WhatsApp to spread false news, incite mob violence and manipulate votes during elections in India and other nations.
But it has done more good than bad for Indians. It has played a significant role in connecting people, creating jobs and helping poor farmers earn more income.
3. Content is king in India: Investors are queuing up to back Indian language content startups — ETtech
The languages spoken in India change every few kilometers, as does the taste of the water.
With the surge of smartphones and internet penetration across India, startups targeting the next 100 million internet users by building products for them to communicate and be informed and entertained in their own languages are drawing the attention of marquee investors.
By 2021, Indian language internet users are expected to more than double to 536 million, while English users will increase to only 199 million.
Investors are queuing up to back Indian language content startups - ETtech
4. Big Funding Round: Grab in talks to invest $100 mln in Indian hotels startup Oyo: ET
Singapore-based ride-hailing firm Grab has invested $100 million in Indian hotel-reservations startup OYO. Both companies are backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp
It will be an interesting synergy. Oyo has a presence in Indonesia and Grab is looking to enter Indonesia to take on Uber of Indonesia, Go-Jek. Go-jek recently entered Singapore to take on Grab on its home turf.
Grab in talks to invest $100 mln in Indian hotels startup Oyo: ET
A week in review
