Jio bets on Glance📱, Cult.fit acquires Gold's Gym(India)💪🏻, Govt bans 54 apps📵

Jio Platforms bet $200M on Glance, Cult.fit acquires India biz of Gold's Gym, Fresh orders to ban 54 Chinese apps, Funding, Acquisitions & more.

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Feb 15, 2022

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Jio Platforms invests $200M in InMobi's mobile-first content platform Glance📱

AI-driven lock-screen platform Glance has agreed to raise $200 million from Jio Platforms in its Series D round of funding. The investment will value Glance at $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion post-money, according to a report.

The proposed investment by Jio is aimed at accelerating Glance's launch in several key international markets outside of Asia such as the USA, Brazil, Mexico and Russia.

The company aims to create the world's largest live content and commerce ecosystem on the lock screen and use the funds raised to expand globally. In addition to Jio Platforms, Glance is also backed by technology giant Google and Silicon Valley-based venture fund Mithril Capital.

At present, Glance claims that its lock screen platform is present on more than 400 million devices across markets in Asia.

Cult.fit acquires India business of global fitness chain Gold's Gym💪🏻

On Monday, app-based health and fitness platform Cult.fit acquired the India business of international fitness chain Gold's Gym for an undisclosed sum.

Cult.fit, now a unicorn, picked up a majority stake in F2 Fun & Fitness India, becoming the master franchise partner for Gold's Gym in India.

The startup now aims to expand the Gold's Gym brand in key geographies such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan.

Cult.fit acquires India business of global fitness chain Gold's Gym

Cult.fit currently operates more than 350 owned and partnered centres in over 25 cities in the country. It now aims to scale its business across non-metro cities and towns.

The second-largest player in fitness with more than 140 outlets in 90 cities, Gold's Gym has multiple long-term franchise partnerships. Cult.fit will also enable all the Gold's Gym centres with its industry-leading centre-tech suite and customer app.

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Indian government issues fresh orders to ban 54 Chinese apps🚫

According to top sources in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Centre has banned 54 Chinese apps that "pose a threat to India's security".

Many of these apps belong to large Chinese tech firms such as Tencent, Alibaba and gaming firm NetEase, and are “rebranded or rechristened avatars” of apps that have been banned in India since 2020.

India Bans 54 More Chinese Apps That Threaten Security

The ministry of electronics and IT issued the latest ban order on the grounds that these apps were transferring sensitive data of Indians to servers in foreign countries such as China.

Since June 2020, the government has banned a total of around 224 Chinese apps.

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