Big Tech ⚔️ Parliament, Unicorn on sale🦄, Google tracks highest private data🔍

Big Tech firms to testify, Logistics unicorn Rivigo in sale talks, Google tracks highest private data, Funding Deals and more.

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Aug 23, 2022

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Big Tech firms to testify on anti-competitive practices before Parliamentary panel⚖️

Representatives of Big Tech like Amazon, Google, Netflix and Microsoft, among others, have been summoned by the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Finance on Tuesday to depose on the subject of anti-competitive practices by tech entities.

In July, the panel summoned top executives of several tech companies to discuss their market behavior following allegations of unfair market practices.

Companies like Flipkart, MakeMyTrip, Ola, Paytm, Swiggy and Zomato told the Parliament that Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook were unfairly promoting their platform operator's products, services or lines of business.

Logistics unicorn Rivigo in sale talks with Flipkart, FirstCry🚛

Rivigo has held talks with ecommerce marketplace Flipkart and omnichannel baby products retailer FirstCry for a potential sale, according to ET. The logistics unicorn has struggled to raise fresh funds for some time now, which is further amplified as investors turn skittish due to the ongoing economic slowdown.

The discussions around Rivigo’s acquisition have been preliminary and may or may not result in a deal, the people said. Rivigo, they said, had evaluated merging its operations with Flipkart's logistics arm e-Kart, and FirstCry's e-commerce focussed logistics unicorn Xpressbees.

A few months ago, the company’s board decided that it should look for potential buyers and that staying independent wasn’t an option anymore.

Rivigo, which operated in a “relay trucking model”, pivoted to relay-as-a-service model during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hot Shorts⚡

Mumbai-based B2B beverage vending company Dwija Foods has announced its maiden institutional fund-raise worth Rs 5.15 crore led by Negen Capital AIF.
Chennai-based consumer and wellness startup Cutis Consumer Pvt Ltd, which operates Razor Club and Pro Nutrine, has raised $100,000 in angel funding from ah! Ventures Angel Platform and other angel investors.
Freeskout, a matchmaker between brands and social media influencers, has announced raising Rs 4 crore in a seed round of funding.
Cross border B2B manufacturing and supply chain enablement platform for building materials, Magma, has raised pre-seed funding of $515,000 led by WEH Ventures.

Funding Deals

Google tracks highest private data among Big Tech firms: Report🔬

Tech giant Google collects the most data among all the Big Tech companies, including Twitter, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook, said a report published on Monday.

According to an analysis by StockApps.com, out of the five major digital firms, Google harvests the most data on its users by tracking 39 types of private data for each user.

"Most people do not have the time or patience to read privacy policies that can be several pages long for each website they visit. Also, it is quite unlikely that all users have a background in law to properly grasp the privacy policy," Edith Reads from StockApps.com said in a statement.