Singapore’s GIC to invest $752 million in Reliance Retail

GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, will invest $752 million in Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail, the Indian firm said Saturday midnight.

The Government of Singapore Investment Corp is the fifth high-profile investor to back Reliance Retail, India’s largest retail chain, in the past four weeks. Reliance Retail — like its sister sibling Jio Platforms — is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, India’s most valuable firm.

GIC’s investment gives Reliance Retail a pre-money valuation of $58.5 billion, the Indian firm said. GIC, which has backed firms in over 40 nations, will get a 1.22% equity stake in the retail giant.

The announcement today caps a busy week for Reliance Retail, which in the past three days has revealed that Mubadala ($855 million for a 1.4% stake), Silver Lake ($254 million for a 0.38% stake), and General Atlantic ($498 million for a 0.84% stake) would be investing in it.

In total, investors have committed about $4.1 billion in Reliance Retail in the current fundraising spree. (Silver Lake committed to invest another $1 billion in Reliance Retail last month, and KKR has announced it would invest about $754 million.)

Reliance Retail, founded in 2006, serves more than 3.5 million customers each week (as of early this year) through its nearly 12,000 physical stores in more than 6,500 cities and towns in the country. Physical retail commands about 97% of all retail sales in India, according to estimates from several research firms.

“We believe Reliance Retail will continue to use its extensive supply chain and store networks, as well as strong logistics and data infrastructure, to add value to its customers and shareholders,” said Lim Chow Kiat, CEO of GIC, in a statement.

Reliance Retail operates supermarkets, electronics chain, fashion outlets, and a cash-and-carry wholesaler. In recent months, the firm has rushed to widen its dominance in the retail market. It bought several parts of Future Group, India’s second largest retail chain, for $3.4 billion in late August.

Late last year, it also entered the e-commerce space with JioMart. JioMart, a joint venture between Reliance Retail and Jio Platforms, has presence in over 200 Indian cities and towns and maintains a partnership with Facebook for a WhatsApp integration.

Facebook, which invested $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms earlier this year, has it will explore various ways to work with Reliance to digitize the nation’s 60 million mom and pop stores as well as other small and medium-sized businesses.

Jio Platforms has raised more than $20 billion in India this year from a roster of marquee investors including Facebook, Google, General Atlantic, Mubadala, Silver Lake, and KKR. Some industry executives have argued that investments in Jio Platforms make no business case and is largely foreign firms’ push to get friendly with Ambani, India’s richest man and an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“I am delighted that GIC, with its track record of close to four decades of successful long-term value investing across the world, is partnering with Reliance Retail in its mission to transform the Indian retail landscape. GIC’s global network and track record of long-term partnerships will be invaluable to the transformation story of Indian Retail. This investment is a strong endorsement of our strategy and India’s potential,” said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, in a statement.

Facebook’s $5.7 billion bet on Indian giant Jio spells trouble for Amazon and Flipkart

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/02/singapore-gic-reliance-retail-ambani/

Macrometa, an edge computing service for app developers, lands $7M seed round led by DNX

As people continue to work and study from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, interest in edge computing has increased. Macrometa, a Palo Alto-based startup that provides edge computing infrastructure for app developers, announced today it has closed a $7 million seed round.

The funding was led by DNX Ventures, an investment fund that focuses on early-stage B2B startups. Other participants included returning investors Benhamou Global Ventures, Partech Partners, Fusion Fund, Sway Ventures, Velar Capital and Shasta Ventures.

DNX Ventures launches $315 million fund for US and Japanese B2B startups

While cloud computing relies on servers and data centers owned by providers like Amazon, IBM, Microsoft and Google, edge computing is geographically distributed, with computing done closer to data sources, allowing for faster performance.

Founded in 2018 by chief executive Chetan Venkatesh and chief architect Durga Gokina, Macrometa’s globally distributed data service, called Global Data Network, combines a distributed NoSQL database and a low-latency stream data processing engine. It allows developers to run their cloud apps and APIs across 175 edge regions around the world. To reduce delays, app requests are sent to the region closest to the user. Macrometa claims that requests can be processed in less than 50 milliseconds globally, making it 50 to 100 times faster than cloud platforms like DyanmoDB, MongoDB or Firebase. One of the ways that Macrometa differentiates from competitors is that it enables developers to work with data stored across a global network of cloud providers, like Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (for example), instead of a single provider.

As more telecoms roll out 5G networks, demand for globally distributed, serverless data computing services like Macrometa are expected to increase, especially to support enterprise software. Other edge computing-related startups that have recently raised funding include Latent AI, SiMa.ai and Pensando.

A spokesperson for Macrometa said the seed round was oversubscribed because the pandemic has increased investor interest in cloud and edge companies like Snowflake, which recently held its initial public offering.

JFrog and Snowflake’s aggressive IPO pricing point to strong demand for cloud shares

Macrometa also announced today that it has added to its board of directors DNX managing partner Q Motiwala, former Auth0 and xnor.ai chief executive Jon Gelsey and Armorblox chief technology officer Rob Fry.

In a statement about the funding, Motiwala said, “As we look at the next five to ten years of cloud evolution, it’s clear to us that enterprise developers need a platform like Macrometa to go beyond the constraints, scaling limitations and high-cost economics that current cloud architecture impose. What Macrometa is doing for edge computing, is what Amazon Web Services did for the cloud a decade ago.”

Edge computing could push the cloud to the fringe

from Microsoft – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/01/macrometa-an-edge-computing-service-for-app-developers-lands-7m-seed-round-led-by-dnx/

Cisco acquires PortShift to raise its game in DevOps and Kubernetes security

Cisco is making another acquisition to expand its reach in security solutions, this time specifically targeting DevOps and the world of container management. It is acquiring PortShift, an Israeli startup that has built a Kubernetes-native security platform.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Israeli publication Globes reported later on the day of the deal that it was for $100 million (we’re trying to confirm if this is accurate). PortShift had raised about $5.3 million from Team8, an incubator and backer of security startups in Israel founded by a group of cybersecurity vets. Cisco, along with Microsoft and Walmart, are among the large corporates that back Team8. (Indeed, their participation is in part a way of getting an early look and inside scoop on some of the more cutting-edge technologies being built, and in part a way to help founders understand what corporates’ security needs are these days.)

The deal underscores not just how containerization, and specifically Kubernetes, has taken hold of the enterprise world, but also how those working in this area, and building businesses around containerization and Kubernetes, are paying increasing attention to security around them.

Others are also sharpening their focus on containers and how they are secured, and M&A deals like Cisco’s decision to buy PortShift are examples of how larger enterprise tech companies are betting on this area, as well as the wider demands for the products from end users. Earlier this year, Venafi acquired Jetstack, which runs a certificate controller for Kubernetes; and last month StackRox raised funding from investors that included HPE for its own approach to Kubernetes security.

For Cisco, the deal fits strategically in a couple of ways. It has been a longtime partner of Google’s around cloud services and related to that has been building services around containerization for years now. It has also made a number of acquisitions in the area of cybersecurity. They have included acquiring Duo for $2.35 billion, OpenDNS for $635 million and, most recently, Babble Labs (which helps reduce background noise in video calls, something that both improves quality but also helps users ensure unwanted or private chatter doesn’t inadvertently get heard by unintended listeners).

Cisco acquiring BabbleLabs to filter out the lawn mower screeching during your video conference

But as Liz Centoni, the SVP of the Emerging Technologies and Incubation (ET&I) Group, notes in the blog post, with this latest purchase, Cisco is turning its attention also to how it can help customers better secure applications and workloads, alongside the investments that it has made to help secure people on networks (the primary thrust of deals like Duo’s and Babble Labs’).

In the area of containers, security issues can arise around container architecture in a number of areas: it can be due to misconfiguration; or because of how applications are monitored; or how developers use open-source libraries; and how companies implement regulatory compliance. Other security vulnerabilities include the use of insecure container images; problems with how containers interact with each other; the use of containers that have been infected with rogue processes; and having containers not isolated properly from their hosts.

Centoni notes that PortShift interested Cisco because it provides an all-in-one platform covering these many aspects of Kubernetes security:

“Today, the application security space is highly fragmented with many vendors addressing only part of the problem,” she writes. “The Portshift team is building capabilities that span a large portion of the lifecycle of the cloud-native application.”

PortShift provides tools for better container configuration visibility, vulnerability management, configuration management, segmentation, encryption, compliance and automation.

The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of Cisco’s 2021 fiscal year, when the team will join Cisco’s ET&I Group.

Israel’s Team8 raises $104M to make bigger cybersecurity and enterprise bets

Updated with a reported price for the acquisition.

from Microsoft – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/01/cisco-acquires-portshift-to-raise-its-game-in-devops-and-kubernetes-security/

The arc and the arch

They sound similar, but they’re not.

An arc, like an arch, is bent. The strength comes from that bend.

But the arc doesn’t have to be supported at both ends, and the arc is more flexible. The arc can take us to parts unknown, yet it has a trajectory.

An arch, on the other hand, is a solid structure. It’s a bridge that others have already walked over.

Our life is filled with both. We’re trained on arches, encouraged to seek them out.

But an arc, which comes from “arrow,” is the rare ability to take flight and to go further than you or others expected.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/636243802/0/sethsblog~The-arc-and-the-arch/

VTEX raises $225M at a $1.7B valuation for e-commerce solutions aimed at retailers and brands

Retailers and consumer brands are focused more than ever in their histories on using e-commerce channels to connect with customers: the global health pandemic has disrupted much of their traditional business in places like physical stores, event venues and restaurants, and vending machines, and accelerated the hunt for newer ways to sell goods and services. Today, a startup that’s been helping them build those bridges, specifically to expand into newer markets, is announcing a huge round of funding, underscoring the demand.

VTEX, which builds e-commerce solutions and strategies for retailers like Walmart and huge consumer names like AB InBev, Motorola, Stanley Black & Decker, Sony, Walmart, Whirlpool, Coca-Cola and Nestlé, has raised $225 million in new funding, valuing the company at $1.7 billion post-money.

The funding is being co-led by two investors, Tiger Global and Lone Pine Capital, with Constellation, Endeavour Catalyst and SoftBank also participating. It’s a mix of investors, with two leads, that offers a “signal” of what might come next for the startup, said Amit Shah, the company’s chief strategy officer and general manager for North America.

“We’ve seen them invest in big rounds right before companies go public,” he said. “Now, that’s not necessarily happening here right now, but it’s a signal.” The company has been profitable and plans to continue to be, Shah said (making it one example of a SoftBank investment that hasn’t gone sour). Revenues this year are up 114% with $8 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) processed over platforms it’s built.

Given that VTEX last raised money less than a year ago — a $140 million round led by SoftBank’s Latin American Innovation Fund — the valuation jump for the startup is huge. Shah confirmed to us that it represents a 4x increase on its previous valuation (which would have been $425 million).

VTEX, an e-commerce platform used by Walmart, raises $140M led by SoftBank’s LatAm fund

The interest back in November from SoftBank’s Latin American fund stemmed from VTEX’s beginnings.

The company got its start building e-commerce storefronts and strategies for businesses that were hoping to break into Brazil — the B of the world’s biggest emerging “BRIC” markets — and the rest of Latin America. It made its name building Walmart in the region, and has continued to help run and develop that operation even after Walmart divested the asset, and it’s working with Walmart now in other regions outside the US, too, he added.

But since then, while the Latin American arm of the business has continued to thrive, the company has capitalized both on the funding it had picked up, and the current global climate for e-commerce solutions, to expand its business into more markets, specifically North America, EMEA and most recently Asia.

“We are today even more impressed by the quality and energy of the VTEX team than we were when we invested in the previous round,” said Marcello Silva at Constellation. “The best is yet to come. VTEX’s team is stronger than ever, VTEX’s product is stronger than ever, and we are still in the early stages of ecommerce penetration. We could not miss the opportunity to increase our exposure.”

Revenues were growing at a rate of 50% a year before the pandemic ahead of it’s more recent growth this year of 114%, Shah said. “Of course, we would prefer Covid-19 not to be here, but it has had a good effect on our business. The arc of e-commerce has grown has impacted revenues and created that additional level of investor interest.”

VTEX’s success has hinged not just on catering to companies that have up to now not prioritized their online channels, but in doing so in a way that is more unified.

Consumer packaged goods have been in a multi-faceted bind because of the fragmented way in which they have grown. A drinks brand will not only manufacture on a local level (and sometimes, as in the case of, say, Coca-Cola, use different ingredient formulations), but they will often have products that are only sold in select markets, and because the audiences are different, they’ve devise marketing and distribution strategies on a local level, too.

On top of all that, products like these have long relied on channels like retailers, restaurants, vending machines and more to get their products into the hands of consumers.

These days, of course, all of that has been disrupted: all the traditional channels they would have used to sell things are now either closed or seeing greatly reduced custom. And as for marketing: the rise of social networks has led to a globalization in messaging, where something can go viral all over the world and marketing therefore knows no regional boundaries.

So, all of this means that brands have to rethink everything around how they sell their products, and that’s where a company like VTEX steps in, building strategies and solutions that can be used in multiple regions. Among typical deals, it’s been working with AB InBev to develop a global commerce platform covering 50 countries (replacing multiple products from other vendors, typically competitors to VTEX include SAP, Shopify and Magento, and giving brands and others a viable route to market that doesn’t cut in the likes of Amazon).

“CPG companies are seeking to standardize and make their businesses and lives a little easier,” Shah said. Typical work that it does includes building marketplaces for retailers, or new e-commerce interfaces so that brands can better supply online and offline retailers, or sell directly to customers — for example, with new ways of ordering products to get delivered by others. Shah said that some 200 marketplaces have now been built by VTEX for its customers.

(Shah himself, it’s worth pointing out, has a pedigree in startups and in e-commerce. He founded an e-commerce analytics company called Jirafe, which was acquired by SAP, where he then became the chief revenue officer of SAP Hybris.)

“We are excited to grow quickly in new and existing markets, and offer even more brands a platform that embraces the future of commerce, which is about being collaborative, leveraging marketplaces, and delivering customer experiences that are second-to-none,” said Mariano Gomide de Faria, VTEX co-founder and co-CEO, in a statement. “This injection of funding will undoubtedly support us in achieving our mission to accelerate digital commerce transformation around the world.”

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/30/vtex-raises-225m-at-a-1-7b-valuation-for-e-commerce-solutions-aimed-at-retailers-and-brands/

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will get EA Play on November 10th

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers would be able to access EA Play for no additional cost. The company shared more details about the rollout. Console players will be able to activate their complimentary EA Play subscription on November 10th.

Microsoft is also launching the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on November 10th. As a reminder, EA Play includes back-catalog games from EA, such as FIFA 20, Madden NFL 20, Battlefield V, Mass Effect games, Dead Space games, etc.

The Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription includes access to Microsoft’s library of games, an Xbox Live Gold subscription, Microsoft’s cloud gaming service xCloud and soon EA Play. It costs $14.99 per month. If you just subscribe to the Xbox Game Pass for $9.99 per month, you won’t get EA Play.

On Windows, Xbox Game Pass (and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate) subscribers will be able to download EA games in December. Unfortunately, you’ll have to create an EA account, download the EA client and link your Xbox and EA accounts.

If you’re already paying for EA Play and an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription that grants you access to EA Play, your EA Play subscription will be canceled and your remaining time will be converted to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. If you had between 50 days and three months left, you’ll receive one month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. If you had between four and six months remaining, you’ll receive two months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. You can get more details in the FAQ.

Microsoft is using this opportunity to confirm that some Bethesda games will be added to its subscription service. Doom Eternal is coming on October 1, for instance.

Microsoft confirms $499 Xbox Series X arrives November 10, pre-orders begin September 22

from Microsoft – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/30/xbox-game-pass-ultimate-subscribers-will-get-ea-play-on-november-10th/

Twitch launches a rights-cleared music catalog for streamers, Soundtrack by Twitch

Twitch today is introducing a new tool, Soundtrack by Twitch, that will allows it creators to add licensed music within their streams. The feature, which has been in development over the past year, is meant to not only make it easier to find rights-cleared music, but also to address the ongoing issues creators face with having their archives muted.

At launch, Soundtrack by Twitch is working with a variety of label and distribution partners, but doesn’t have agreements with the majors themselves. Instead, the initial lineup of supported partners includes Soundcloud, Monstercat, Distrokid, cdbaby, Empire, Westwood Recordings, United Masters, Alpha Pup, Popgang, Text Me Records, Dim Mak, Create Music Group, Chillhop Music, Anjunabeats, Soundstripe, LabelWork, mxmtoon, future classic, Nuclear Blast, Season of Mist, Chilled Cow, Pure Noise Records, Symphonic, Blkbox, and Songtradr.

Twitch says this lineup will give creators access to a range of music, including artists like Above & Beyond, mxmtoon, Porter Robinson, RAC, SwuM, and others. In total, over a million tracks will be available for free use by creators.

Twitch declined to share details about the deal terms with partners, however.

Image Credits: Twitch

Some of Twitch’s music partners had already been catering to creators by publishing their free-to-use music as Spotify playlists, for example. Others had previous agreements with Twitch, like dance music label Anjunabeats which had cleared 350 tracks last year for use in Twitch streams. Soundcloud, meanwhile, had more recently launched its own channel on Twitch to help connect with viewers interested in discovering new music. Other details about this new upcoming Twitch integration were pre-announced by some participants.

Before today, Twitch’s audio recognition system would automatically flag any audio where users didn’t have the necessary rights to play it during the stream. Many creators mistakenly believed if they had bought the bought or paid for a streaming subscription service that would allow them to feature the music while streaming. This wasn’t true.

In reality, the only music creators were able to legally play largely fell under a few, narrow categories: music they themselves owned or music that was licensed to them. (Vocal performances captured during Twitch Sings gameplay were also permitted.)

That meant a wide variety of music-related content on Twitch simply wasn’t allowed, including radio-style listening shows, DJ sets, karaoke and lip syncing, cover songs where creators used any sort of musical accompaniment besides themselves, or even the display of lyrics.

The company has been working with Audible Magic to scan past VODs for rights violations. And when music was flagged, creators could find their VODs (video on demand) muted.

Image Credits: Twitch

Twitch in the past had tried to address music rights issues with the launch of the Twitch Music Library in 2015, but this was shut down last year without explanation.

With the launch of Soundtrack by Twitch, music will be separated into its own audio channel so creators can play the tracks without being worried about muting or receiving strikes against their channel. Creators will be able to choose music from a set of stations and playlists curated by Twitch staff, by theme or genre — like “just chilling” or “Lofi Hip Hop/Beats” or “Rap,” for example.

The launch of Soundtrack comes at a time when music has become a larger part of the Twitch experience, thanks to the live-streaming platform’s adoption by artists during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company hosted a benefit in partnership with Amazon Music, called Stream Aid, which featured a number of artists, like Diplo, Barry Gibb, Ryan Tedder, Lauv, Charlie Puth, Die Antwoord and others. It since has hosted a flood of other musicians’ live stream, leading the “Music & Performing Arts” category to surge by 387% year-over-year as of this July.

Twitch also hired Spotify’s Tracy Chan as its new head of Product & Engineering for Music, partnered with Bandsintown, and rolled out several ways for artists to fast-track their way to Twitch Affiliate status. This month, Twitch livestreams were also integrated with Amazon Music’s app.

The early version of Soundtrack by Twitch is launching today and will be compatible with OBS on PC, Twitch Studio, and Streamlabs OBS (soon), the company says.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/30/twitch-launches-a-rights-cleared-music-catalog-for-streamers-soundtrack-by-twitch/