Daily News RoundUp: Facebook, Meru Cabs, Workpays.me

Facebook to acquire 3D gaming company Oculus

Facebook has recently announced that it will be acquiring virtual reality technology company, Oculus VR for over $2 Bn. This includes $400 Mn in cash and 23.1 Mn shares of Facebook common stock (valued at $1.6 bn based on the average closing price of the 20 trading days preceding March 21, 2014 of $69.35 per share).  The agreement also provides for an additional $300 Mn earn-out in cash and stock based on the achievement of certain milestones.

Oculus is the leader in immersive virtual reality technology and has already built strong interest among developers, having received more than 75,000 orders for development kits for the company’s virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift. Facebook plans to extend Oculus’ existing advantage in gaming to new verticals, including communications, media and entertainment, education and other areas.

“Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate,” said Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014. Post acquisition, Oculus will maintain its headquarters in Irvine, CA, and will continue development of the Oculus Rift.

Meru Cabs launches in Chennai

After operating successfully in 6 cities, Mumbai based cab service provider, Meru Cabs has now expanded its services in the Chennai where it plans to add 2,000 cabs.

Meru already has its services in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jaipur and Ahmedabad.

It also has Meru Mobile App with Insta-Pay option, credit card payment facility, the convenience of booking a car through advance website & 24×7 call centre, automated e-bill at the end of the trip, trip tracker service for women safety and track your cab on map.

Ecommerce Platform Workpays.me is Acquired By Global Analytics

Global Analytics Holding Inc, a web company that analyses data to provide financial services company focusing to the underbanked population, has acquired Workpays.me, owned by Pennsylvania-based Workpays LLC .

Workpays.me is an ecommerce platform that aids buyers finance purchases through payroll deductions with zero per cent interest. It offers an online catalogue of over 20,000 items such as computers/electronics, furniture, home goods, accessories and fitness equipment at market prices. “This transaction strengthens our commitment to offering our customers the most affordable way to finance purchases,” said Michael Thiemann, CEO of Global Analytics.

Founded in 2003 by Krishna Gopinathan, Global Analytics is a B2C company that supplies a set of financial services to consumers possessing inadequate access to banks. Global Analytics offers two important services to individual borrowers : one, a lending service that provides emergency loans for six months (Lending Stream), and two, a short-term lending platform that offers loans with flexible repayment options (Zebit). Additionally, it analyses whether an individual could repay the loan in an affordable manner. That allows one to choose the repayment tenure and also offers lower interest rates based on the customer’s credit quality.“When I founded this company, I was looking for ways to use analytics to have a positive impact on people’s lives,” Krishna Gopinathan said. “This is a perfect application for our Zebit platform – using our Deep Learning analytic capabilities to ensure we can provide zero cost financing to as many customers as possible.”

The details of the transaction are not disclosed. This acquisition will help Global Analytics expand and offer more complex products to its customers.