TikTok swayamvar 💐
Defense-tech win, wearable launch, and ad purge.
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Market summary: 📊
US:
S&P 500 - up 0.17%
Nasdaq 100 - down 0.38%
India:
Nifty 50 - up 0.084%
Sensex - up 0.10%
No mo ads for ya 😏
Facebook is warning advertisers that Apple’s IOS 14 coming out next month may hamper the company’s ability to target ads to iPhone users, as Apple turns the knob up on privacy.
Apple allows advertisers to track user actions through a unique “Identifier for Advertisers” (IDFA) number to track user behaviour — for example, to track if a certain click led to you installing the app. Now Apple is considering handing over more control to the phone user, including making it apparent that the user can choose not to share this information. Facebook and other smaller advertising companies that id users based on this data will suffer.
While this may not affect FB’s advertising within its apps, Facebook runs an independent advertising network that places ads for developers and advertisers on millions of other websites on the internet, which could be the worst affected. The good news — this line of business forms only a small component of FB’s revenues (of which just 50% will be threatened now) and a much lesser component of its profits. Read more.
Bottomline: well, Apple’s singular focus on consumer privacy is distinguished and laudable. However, some consumers actually prefer ads. Yep. Surveys indicate sufficient consumers believe targeted ads are much more useful than lame ads without any relevance. Will this add on to the revolt against Apple?
AMZN’s wearable bet ⌚
Apple has its Watch, Google bought Fitbit, so naturally Amazon feels left out and the company counters with its own wearable/health-tech bet — launching “Halo” line of products.
The line up is currently limited to a wrist band, and a subscription based smartphone app that tracks basic fitness data. But here’s where it gets wacky — the app will be capable of capturing and analyzing a full 3-D scan of your body, as well as will be capable of tracking your emotional state from your voice.
Why it's interesting: Big Tech is slowly converging on healthcare as its next frontier. While data tracking is a basic part of it, Amazon has natural synergies with its ecommerce business. The company could track your information, automate your medicine or supplement purchases (remember they own online pharmacies everywhere), link your data with Alexa for reminders etc. The possibilities are endless. Read more.
Also, it’s hard to believe Amazon is likely to stop here. Analysts believe a tele-health offering could be looming as well — completing the loop on talking to a doctor, tracking health info, and automating medicine orders.
Bottomline: The wearables market is presumed to top $52 billion by the end of this year, one of the fastest growing categories. As populations globally age, and costs of healthcare skyrocket, the segment will only heat up.
Weird things today in TikTok
Firstly, reports suggest that Oracle is the frontrunner with its bid, cobbling up a $20 billion package for the Chinese company. Oracle has proposed TikTok $10 billion in cash, $10 billion in stock and 50% of 2-year profits transferred to TikTok’s owner Bytedance in China. US government “likes” the deal apparently.
Back in Satya’s corner, Walmart joined hands with Microsoft, bolstering Mr. Softy’s bid. The love old school companies are showing for this consumer tech poster child is kinda getting creepy but Walmart may have some serious synergies. As the company combats Amazon in ecommerce, the platform could be a real edge in placing ads, leveraging influencers, and enabling in-app commerce. Also, Flipkart is owned by Walmart, so will TikTok make a desi revival?
Apparently, Walmart (wanting to lead) had previously tried tying up with Google for a joint effort but bailed when the US government insisted on having a tech company own TikTok. Anyway, TikTok is set to choose an offer in the next 48 hours.
And then finally, bye-bye to TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer, who decided to quit the company. Kevin was responsible for launch and scaling of Disney+ streaming service before TikTok had poached him in one of the most high profile hiring events of the year. But now as things get sticky here, Mayer knows better than lingering around.
Bengaluru’s defense tech boost 🤝
Bangalore based 46-member startup, NewSpace Research and Technologies, will be working with the US Air Force to develop air-launched drones for the military. Part of an intergovernmental Defense Technology and Trade Initiative, the unique partnership comes as a ray of hope for hardware tech and defense tech ventures in India.
As you’d expect, details of the project are mostly secretive, but the initiative revolves around improving coordination and operations of drones in warfare. While India and US work together for defense regularly, R&D initiatives have been limited so far and experts welcome the move to involve the private sector this time.
Takeaway: defense tech in India is still nascent, but as software takes a large role in global combat, India’s local engineering capabilities get a unique shot to shine. The partnership harkens a new era looming on the horizon and will hopefully pave the way to ignite more entrepreneurial passion for government and defense tech in the near future.
Funds, funds, more funds... 💰
Celebrity fan engagement platform, TrueFan, announced that it had secured $4.3 million in a seed funding round by prominent investors like Mayfield India, Saama Capital, and Ronnie Screwvala.
Based on US-based Cameo, the company lets users connect with A-list celebrities in Bollywood, cricket and music through personalized, interactive experiences, and was founded just this year. Taking the Cameo experience a notch further, users on TrueFan engage in casual games (quizzes, trivia etc.) and winners get a personalized video message or an interaction from their favourite stars. Good start, but there’s a free site to do that, its called Twitter. 😝 Read more.
And of course there has to be Ed-tech, 📚
Byju’s finally closed on its raise from Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, with Yuri plonking $122 million from his investment fund DST Global as part of its ongoing funding round. The sum is considerably less than what Yuri had promised earlier - cold feet bruh?
Anyway, Byju is clearly not short on cash having raised nearly $545 million across four Series F rounds now just this year in 2020. The pandemic driven advantage gained by ed-tech firms will last them a long long time. The early stage investing market is flooded with new pitches day in and out.
As far as the numbers go, Byju’s reports over 57 million registered students, more than 3.5 million paid subscribers, making up revenues of ₹2,800 crore in FY20, up 100% from the year before. Amazing!
And while we’re on the investing subject, ✋
Alibaba has decided to hold off on its investments in Indian companies in the backdrop on the Indo-China border skirmishes. The company will pause all its investments in Indian startups for 6 months at least, says management. Rough estimates show BABA had invested almost $2-3 billion in local startups since 2015, with Zomato, PayTM, BigBasket — all being beneficiaries of Chinese capital. Read more.
What else are we snackin’ 🍿
💊 Some clarity on health data privacy - the government’s health data registry initiative was met with a warm welcome as well as skepticism around data protection. While exact protective measures are not disclosed yet, the government is slowly giving some color on how things will be managed.
🚀 Capturing space market share - SpaceX has secured a contract to act as the launch partner for Masten Space Systems, one of the companies to receive a NASA launch contract for a lunar mission that will land a probe to the south pole of the moon. The mission scheduled for 2022 will also carry experimentation instruments and cargo from commercial passengers.
👩🚀 Making history - NASA Astronaut Jeanette Epps is set to create history by becoming the first black woman to serve as an International Space Station crew member. Epss will fly on a 2021 mission onboard a Boeing spacecraft, joined by astronauts Sunita Williams and Josh Cassada for a six-month expedition.
🖥️ Extended WFH - Short-term home rental company Airbnb is allowing employees to work remotely through the end of August 2021, even if some of its offices reopened as COVID-19 restrictions ease. The company said it would provide a $300 stipend for home office equipment, with an additional $200 to cover ergonomic equipment. Employees will also be supported to rent an Airbnb if they’d like to locate elsewhere and work. How cool!
💉 Promising results - US based vaccine maker Moderna says its candidate vaccine is showing promising results in older patients. 10 patients tested months apart with the vaccine were able to produce neutralizing antibodies in their system, which are critical to building immunity to the virus. We may be closer than we realize.
☁️ Big cloud hits a sixer- Salesforce, one of the largest cloud software companies, came out the door with a monster second quarter performance report, and stock jumped 26% on a single day. The company increased revenues by nearly 29%, while profits surged 118%, as demand for cloud software is at all time highs.
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