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Rapido’s fresh funding; Starlink’s gotcha moment
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Rapido has bagged fresh capital from an investor ahead of its food delivery rollout. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.
Also in the letter:
■ Meta’s new AI bet
■ War on dark patterns
■ Pichai on coding jobs
Nexus Venture Partners will invest Rs 125 crore (around $15 million) in mobility unicorn Rapido as a part of a larger financing round last year that valued it at $1.1 billion, the urban mobility platform said in a filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).
Driving the news: The fresh infusion precedes Rapido’s food delivery push, with a pilot in Bengaluru due to start later this month or early July. To this end, Rapido finalised its food delivery partnership terms with restaurants, offering commissions nearly half of what rivals Swiggy and Zomato charge.
Delivery plan:
Current status: Rapido’s bike-taxi riders currently have a limited, non-exclusive ‘idle-time’ partnership with Swiggy for food delivery in selected cities.
This move comes amid rising complaints from small restaurant owners about what they call “steep charges” from Zomato and Swiggy.
Shares drop: Shares of Zomato parent Eternal and its rival Swiggy dropped as much as 2.5% and 4% on Monday, following Rapido's food delivery push.
Starlink could be forced to disclose details about its satellite kits that were seized in India before the company received formal approval to operate. Indian security agencies have raised concerns over the unauthorised use of Starlink equipment, particularly in sensitive border regions.
Hesitant to comply:
Crackdown possible: The DoT may issue a show cause notice to Starlink and could even revoke its permit if the company continues to withhold the requested information.
Threat perception: Since commercial satellite communication services via low earth orbit (LEO) networks like Starlink, is still relatively new, its implications for national security remain unclear. With Starlink now live in India’s neighbouring countries such as Bhutan and Bangladesh, there are fears that the terminals could be smuggled into India.
Why it matters: ETtech Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India’s tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and employees.
The opportunity:
What’s next: Interested? Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@timesinternet.in to explore sponsorship opportunities.
Artificial intelligence startup Scale AI is set to receive a multibillion dollar investment from Meta in what could be the largest private company funding rounds in history.
Driving the news: The financing could exceed $10 billion, making it Meta’s biggest ever external AI investment, and a rare move for a company that typically builds in-house. Scale was last valued at $14 billion in 2024 after a funding round that involved Meta and Microsoft.
Tell me more: Simply put, Scale specialises in data that powers artificial intelligence. It labels the data used by companies like Meta and OpenAI to train and refine their models, and helps businesses build custom AI applications. The company draws on a wide talent pool, from PhD scholars to nurses, to develop more nuanced and capable AI systems.
Win-win: For Meta, partnering more deeply with Scale may help it keep pace with AI rivals like Google and OpenAI, while building deeper ties with the US government at a time when it’s pushing more into defence tech. For Scale, Meta can be a powerful and deep-pocketed ally.
India’s consumer rights authority has instructed all ecommerce platforms to eliminate deceptive and unfair trade practices, commonly known as dark patterns.
What’s the news: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued an advisory asking online marketplaces to conduct self-audits within three months to identify dark patterns, and ensure their platforms are free from such malpractices.
Break it down: Dark patterns are manipulative design tactics used to mislead consumers into spending more than they intend.
The CCPA categorises these tactics as: False urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, subscription trap, interface interference, bait and switch, drip pricing, disguised advertisements and nagging, trick wording, SaaS billing, and rogue malware.
For context: In May, consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi met with stakeholders to address growing concerns around dark patterns and explore ways to curb them. The advisory directing platforms to carry out self-audits follows from that meeting.
Platforms that fail to comply with the guidelines will face legal action, the minister warned.
AI’s rise has prompted many executives and studies to suggest that it could replace human jobs. But Google CEO Sundar Pichai offered a more optimistic view in a recent interview with popular podcaster Lex Fridman.
What did he say?
What else? Pichai also confirmed that Google still plans to hire more engineers next year.
He emphasised that the real value lies in how much AI is improving productivity, particularly in what Google calls "engineering velocity," a measure of how quickly and effectively development teams can deliver updates and improvements.
According to Google’s internal estimates, AI has boosted engineering velocity by around 10%.
Also in the letter:
■ Meta’s new AI bet
■ War on dark patterns
■ Pichai on coding jobs
Nexus Venture to invest Rs 125 crore in Rapido ahead of food delivery launch
Nexus Venture Partners will invest Rs 125 crore (around $15 million) in mobility unicorn Rapido as a part of a larger financing round last year that valued it at $1.1 billion, the urban mobility platform said in a filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).
Driving the news: The fresh infusion precedes Rapido’s food delivery push, with a pilot in Bengaluru due to start later this month or early July. To this end, Rapido finalised its food delivery partnership terms with restaurants, offering commissions nearly half of what rivals Swiggy and Zomato charge.
Delivery plan:
- Rapido will levy commissions between 8% and 15%.
- These numbers are significantly lower than the 16% to 30% charged by Swiggy and Zomato, as per terms agreed with the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI).
- Orders below Rs 400 will attract a fixed Rs 25 fee, and Rs 50 on orders above that.
Current status: Rapido’s bike-taxi riders currently have a limited, non-exclusive ‘idle-time’ partnership with Swiggy for food delivery in selected cities.
This move comes amid rising complaints from small restaurant owners about what they call “steep charges” from Zomato and Swiggy.
Shares drop: Shares of Zomato parent Eternal and its rival Swiggy dropped as much as 2.5% and 4% on Monday, following Rapido's food delivery push.
Satcom permit may force Starlink to share information on illegal kits seized
Starlink could be forced to disclose details about its satellite kits that were seized in India before the company received formal approval to operate. Indian security agencies have raised concerns over the unauthorised use of Starlink equipment, particularly in sensitive border regions.
Hesitant to comply:
- Starlink has been reluctant to share information about its Indian users from the period before it secured official permission.
- The company asked security agencies to route such requests through US law enforcement channels or international cooperation protocols.
- This led India’s home ministry to escalate the matter to the telecom department (DoT) in March, officials aware of the details told us.
Crackdown possible: The DoT may issue a show cause notice to Starlink and could even revoke its permit if the company continues to withhold the requested information.
Threat perception: Since commercial satellite communication services via low earth orbit (LEO) networks like Starlink, is still relatively new, its implications for national security remain unclear. With Starlink now live in India’s neighbouring countries such as Bhutan and Bangladesh, there are fears that the terminals could be smuggled into India.
Sponsor ETtech Top 5 & Morning Dispatch!
Why it matters: ETtech Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India’s tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and employees.
The opportunity:
- Reach a highly engaged audience of decision-makers.
- Boost your brand’s visibility among the tech-savvy community.
- Custom sponsorship options to align with your brand’s goals.
What’s next: Interested? Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@timesinternet.in to explore sponsorship opportunities.
Meta to throw billions at startup that leads AI data market
Artificial intelligence startup Scale AI is set to receive a multibillion dollar investment from Meta in what could be the largest private company funding rounds in history.
Driving the news: The financing could exceed $10 billion, making it Meta’s biggest ever external AI investment, and a rare move for a company that typically builds in-house. Scale was last valued at $14 billion in 2024 after a funding round that involved Meta and Microsoft.
Tell me more: Simply put, Scale specialises in data that powers artificial intelligence. It labels the data used by companies like Meta and OpenAI to train and refine their models, and helps businesses build custom AI applications. The company draws on a wide talent pool, from PhD scholars to nurses, to develop more nuanced and capable AI systems.
Win-win: For Meta, partnering more deeply with Scale may help it keep pace with AI rivals like Google and OpenAI, while building deeper ties with the US government at a time when it’s pushing more into defence tech. For Scale, Meta can be a powerful and deep-pocketed ally.
Consumer watchdog directs etailers to shun dark patterns
India’s consumer rights authority has instructed all ecommerce platforms to eliminate deceptive and unfair trade practices, commonly known as dark patterns.
What’s the news: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued an advisory asking online marketplaces to conduct self-audits within three months to identify dark patterns, and ensure their platforms are free from such malpractices.
Break it down: Dark patterns are manipulative design tactics used to mislead consumers into spending more than they intend.
The CCPA categorises these tactics as: False urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, subscription trap, interface interference, bait and switch, drip pricing, disguised advertisements and nagging, trick wording, SaaS billing, and rogue malware.
For context: In May, consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi met with stakeholders to address growing concerns around dark patterns and explore ways to curb them. The advisory directing platforms to carry out self-audits follows from that meeting.
Platforms that fail to comply with the guidelines will face legal action, the minister warned.
AI to replace coders? Not just yet, says Google CEO Sundar Pichai
AI’s rise has prompted many executives and studies to suggest that it could replace human jobs. But Google CEO Sundar Pichai offered a more optimistic view in a recent interview with popular podcaster Lex Fridman.
What did he say?
- Pichai noted that while AI now supports around 30% of the code written at Google, it is unlocking new possibilities and helping people achieve more.
- AI, he explained, handles the repetitive and time-consuming aspects of coding, freeing developers to focus on creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving.
What else? Pichai also confirmed that Google still plans to hire more engineers next year.
He emphasised that the real value lies in how much AI is improving productivity, particularly in what Google calls "engineering velocity," a measure of how quickly and effectively development teams can deliver updates and improvements.
According to Google’s internal estimates, AI has boosted engineering velocity by around 10%.
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I agree to receive newsletters and marketing communications via e-mail