Daily Tech Briefing: Jio’s Rampant Funding Streak; Facebook Takes Down Hate Groups & More

One of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) will invest INR 5,683.5 Cr in Jio Platforms to get a 1.16% stake of the company. The ADIA joins the list of marquee investors backing India’s digital economy with an investment in Reliance Jio.

For this transaction, Jio Platforms was valued at an equity value of INR 4.91 Lakh Cr and an enterprise value of INR 5.16 Lakh Cr. In the last six weeks, investors have committed around INR 1 Lakh Cr in Jio Platforms, with Facebook leading the round with $5.7 Bn investment.

In less than six weeks, Jio Platforms has raised close to INR 1 Lakh Cr from various investors. Last week, Jio Platforms raised funding from two large investors — Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor Mubadala Investment Company and Silver Lake Partners

While Mubadala will invest INR 9,093.60 Cr in Jio Platforms for a 1.85% equity stake. Silver Lake along with other co-investors will pump in additional INR 4,546.80 Cr in Jio Platforms. With this round, Silver Lake’s investment in Jio Platforms increased to INR 10,202.55 Cr, acquiring a 2.08% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. Last month, Jio Platforms had announced that it is raising INR 5,655 Cr from Silver Lake.

Paytm Contacts 10 States For Contactless Dining

After announcing plans to foray into the foodtech segment last month, Paytm is said to be in contact with 10 state governments for its contactless dining and ordering solution. The digital payments major is now looking to make this technology as part of the standard operating procedures for restaurant operations as they start opening from Monday (June 12).

In April, Paytm had said that it will launch ‘contactless in-store ordering’ for restaurants and eateries. The company said it would install QR codes at restaurants, which can be scanned to get a digital menu on a smartphone and place orders. The contactless ordering is similar to what Zomato and Dineout have planned for restaurants once the lockdown ends.

Facebook Takes On Hate Groups

Social media giant Facebook has removed almost 200 social media accounts suspected to be linked to white supremacy groups. These groups were alleged to encouraging members to attend protests and clash with other protestors, over police brutality and the resulting deaths of many black US citizens in the past few years.

The accounts of group members were also linked to Proud Boys and American Guard, neo-fascist organisations that are alleged to have promoted violence through their posts. Facebook said that officials were already monitoring the accounts in preparation for removing them when they saw posts attempting to exploit the ongoing protests prompted by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Hackers Steal ZEE5 User Data

A hacker group has claimed to have gained access to the database of Zee Group’s over-the-top video streaming platform ZEE5. It claims to have stolen over 150 GB live data along with the source code of the website.

The hacker, who goes by the name John Wick, said that they got access to ZEE5’s database and its code repositories on bitbucket.org. He also claimed that the database contains personal details of users including transactions, passwords, email addresses, phone numbers, among others.