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E-commerce Giant Flipkart Acquires SastaSundar.com At Undisclosed Price, Enters Crowded Health Care Sector With The Deal

Kolkata-based SastaSundar is an eight-year-old firm with a market capitalization of $125 million at its most recent valuation. Following the acquisition of many e-pharmacy sites by big Indian conglomerates, Walmart-owned Flipkart has become the latest to join the frenzy.

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Flipkart, India’s biggest e-commerce platform, intends to enter the online pharmacy business with the purchase of sastasundar.com, according to reports. Flipkart formally announced that it has entered into an agreement with sastasundar.com to buy most of the shares in the online platform specializing in prescription-based drug delivery.

Kolkata-based SastaSundar is an eight-year-old firm with a market capitalization of $125 million at its most recent valuation. Following the acquisition of many e-pharmacy sites by big Indian conglomerates, Walmart-owned Flipkart has become the latest to join the frenzy. Reliance Retail Chain, the biggest in India, had recently acquired NetMeds, and the Tata Group had also made investments into the 1mg pharmaceutical company in June 2021.

Until recently, the Indian e-pharmacy industry has remained mostly untouched. The outbreak of the corona pandemic provided a sense of urgency and a broad range of opportunities for e-pharmacy. When you consider that India is a large nation, it is interesting to note that e-pharmacies account for barely 5 percent of the pharmaceutical business.

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With the purchase of SastaSundar, Flipkart hopes to acquire a considerable proportion of the customers who depend on online pharmacies. However, the e-commerce behemoth did not disclose the amount it paid to acquire the Kolkata-based e-pharmacy startup. Sastasundar Marketplace Limited, which owns and operates SastaSundar.com, an online pharmacy, and digital healthcare
the platform will be operating as a flagship of Flipkart Health+ – a new venture of Flipkart for dealing with the online pharmacy business.

SastaSundar has a network of more than 490 pharmacies spread over India, on which they depend and from which they get genuine medicines for their customers. This company’s mission is to solve the difficulties of access to affordable and high-quality healthcare in India by supplying original items from approved sources and distributing them across the nation. SaastaSundar.com offers customers complete solutions for a wide variety of healthcare issues by using artificial intelligence and data analytics technologies and merging them with personalized counseling provided via its network.

Using the combined assets of the Flipkart Group, which include its pan-India reach and technical skills, together with SastaSundar’s deep experience, Flipkart Health+ will be able to give customers an end-to-end service in the pharmacy technology ecosystem, according to the company.
As stated in the release, “it would attempt to provide millions of Indian customers access to high-quality and affordable health care, as well as novel healthcare services like e-diagnostics and e-consultation.”

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While the Flipkart Group’s efforts to address the growing consumer internet ecosystem have been successful, this new venture builds on those efforts by providing end-to-end offerings ranging from travel to healthcare at a time when digital technologies continue to democratize access to products and services.

What Flipkart Expects From Sastasundar Acquisition?

“The consumer internet ecosystem in India is proliferating as consumers recognize the opportunities and convenience that digital adoption is enabling in their lives. With growing awareness and focus on health amplified by the pandemic, there is a big opportunity and demand for affordable healthcare and ancillary offerings,” Ravi Iyer, Senior Vice President and Head -Corporate Development, Flipkart, said in a statement on the development.

As a result of our investment in SastaSundar.com, a firm that has established itself as a trusted partner for lakhs of customers via authentic items, a technology-powered platform, and an extensive network, we are thrilled to join this area. Together with our dedication to prioritizing our customers’ requirements, the synergies between the Flipkart Group and SatsaSundar.com will enable us to grow and change online healthcare in India.”

Amazon, another e-commerce behemoth in India and a direct competitor to Flipkart, has also begun delivering prescription-based medicines via its online marketplace. The service, on the other hand, was exclusively available in Banglore.

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Netflix Layoffs 150 Employees Given Declining Subscribers Base

Netflix layoffs 150 employees from its workforce. The layoffs will mainly affect its office in the United States, which is located in the state of California.

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World’s largest OTT platform, Netflix layoffs 150 employees from its workforce. The firm has been lately striving hard to retain its falling number of subscribers, but it seems Netflix could not succeed in stopping the number of subscribers from plummeting. So, Netflix on Tuesday announced that it was laying off 2 percent of its staff.

The layoffs will mainly affect its office in the United States, which is located in the state of California. They make up roughly 2 percent of the company’s workforce in North America, somewhere around 7,500 people.

Why Netflix Layoffs Its Staff?

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Netflix announced in April 2022 that it had lost 200,000 members in the first three months of the year. This was the first time that the streaming service had ever seen a significant decline in consumers. The company also warned that another two million users were projected to flee in the next quarter.

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Despite these losses, Netflix remains the undisputed market leader with 220 million subscribers worldwide. However, its rivals are expanding at a much quicker pace than before, and they are starting to intrude into its domain by providing content and services that are alternative to their own.

Netflix has already taken steps to address this issue by reducing its workforce by 2% (around 150 employees) to reduce costs and increase efficiency. However, some analysts believe that further layoffs may be necessary if Netflix wants to remain competitive as its rivals continue their meteoric rise in popularity among customers worldwide.

“Netflix’s recent financial report showed that the business had lost customers due to the conflict in Ukraine and its decision to hike pricing in the United States. It was found that only leaving the Russian market had resulted in a loss of 700,000 subscribers for the business.
However, this was not the only bad news for Netflix. The company also announced an increase in its quarterly losses and said that it would be raising prices for new customers.

Clarification On Netflix Layoffs

A spokesperson for Netflix has released a statement regarding the company’s recent decision to reduce the number of employees by 2%.
The statement reads: “These decisions are primarily motivated by business requirements rather than individual performance, making them highly challenging since none of us want to say goodbye to such terrific colleagues.

The statement did not clarify which divisions of Netflix were impacted by these layoffs; however, according to the reports, content creation and recruitment departments and communications departments were affected by these job cuts.

Netflix is also trimming the number of its original productions. To minimize expenses, it decided to stop the creation of Pearl, an animated series that Meghan Markle developed. This decision was made in early May.

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Testing Alternative Revenue Models

Since it announced that it would be raising prices, Netflix has been investigating other ways that it may make cash. While the company has said that it still needs more time to figure out how these changes will affect its users, they have already begun testing ad-based pricing models.

The company is also working with advertisers to ensure that their ads are relevant instead of interrupting the user experience.
The OTT company also stated that it would be cracking down on password sharing among family members or friends who may be sharing accounts. Netflix said this practice was responsible for losing 100 million homes in worldwide markets, including India and China.

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Crypto Legalization In India Never Possible, Says Finance Secretary Somanathan, Leaves Traders In Worry

Crypto legalization can never be considered in India Cryptocurrencies and NFT are digital currencies whose price is determined by a transaction between two parties.

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According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), virtual currencies gaining ground in India, including the newly founded Non-Fungible Tokens, will never be accepted as legal tender in India, which creates doubts about crypto legalization in India, Somanathan, Finance Secretary of India, stressed that only digital currencies that would not default would be supported by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).  TV Somanathan was speaking about the central bank’s stand on cryptocurrencies after Finance Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman confirmed that virtual digital assets will be subject to a 30 percent tax.

Crypto legalization can never be considered in India Cryptocurrencies and NFT are digital currencies whose price is determined by a transaction between two parties.

TV Somanathan On Crypto Legalization

After being pressed to clarify his position, the Finance Secretary said that anyone who seeks to engage in private cryptocurrency should be aware that such investments do not have the government’s permission and that there is no guarantee whether their investment will be profitable or not. He went on to say that although one may incur losses, the central government is under no obligation to reimburse one for such losses.

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Providing clarity on the issues of cryptocurrency and crypto legalization, Somanathan stated the Reserve Bank of India would support the digital currency, and the money will be under its control; nevertheless, the currency will be digital in form. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has declared that the digital rupee that it will create would be recognized as legitimate money.  TV Somanathan said, “The rest of them do not fall under legal tender as per the opinion of the Reserve Bank of India, and they will never have legal tender status.

As part of her Budget 2022 address, the Finance minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman, proposed a 30 percent tax on digital assets derived from virtual assets delivered on Tuesday. The scale and prevalence of these transactions, in her opinion, have increased dramatically in recent years, and she believes that a particular tax system should be formed to address the frequency and amplitude of these transactions.

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It has been clarified that, except for the cost of purchase, no deductions would be permitted in respect of any expenditures or allowances while calculating such income, according to her. Aside from that, she recommended an additional 1% service fee on payments made regarding payments on virtual digital assets that are transmitted in amounts more than and equal to the threshold monetary amount. The proposed 30 percent tax on the cryptocurrencies will be chargeable at the receivers end, which means the sender of digital currency will not have to pay any tax. But the receiver of the currency will be liable to pay the newly proposed 30 percent tax. While in trading in these digital currencies, there will be no tax on purchasing but selling off coins will be taxable at 30 percent.

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Crypto traders seemed happy with the newly proposed crypto tax policy yesterday. However, crypto legalization bill is what they are waiting for. On the other hand, there was a little surge in values of the crypto coins. However, there was a significant fall in price today.

Also Read: Swiggy Raises Funding In Series K Round, Total Market Value Goes Up To $10.7 Billion

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Swiggy Raises Funding In Series K Round, Total Market Value Goes Up To $10.7 Billion

leading online food ordering platform based in India Swiggy raises funding one more time in Series K round of funding.

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Hardly six months after bagging a whopping $1.25 billion investment in funding, leading online food ordering platform based in India Swiggy raises funding one more time in Series K round of funding. Swiggy has freshly procured $700 million in a Series K financing round as the Indian food tech giant is proactively looking forwards to expanding its business operations. Apart from India, Swiggy has already rolled out its services in South Asian markets. 

An insider having direct knowledge of the matter revealed that Invesco managed the Series K investment round, which increased the market capitalization of Swiggy to $10.7 billion. Previously, during the Initial Public Offering (IPO) in July, the food-tech company was valued at $5.5 billion. 

The market capitalization value of the food tech giant crosses Zomato’s existing market value as Swiggy raises funding in the Series K round. It is important to note here that Zomato, a 13 years old company, is witnessing a slump in its share price, which has brought down Zomato’s market value below $10 billion.

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Swiggy’s Round K funding saw participation from Axis Growth Capital, Sixteenth Street Capital, Kotak, Sumeru Ventures, Baron Capital Group, IIFL AMC Late Stake Tech Fund, Segantii Capital, Ghisallo and Smile Group. Existing investors of Swiggy also participated in the funding round, which included Alpha Wave Global, Qatar Investment Authority, ARK Impact and Prosus Ventures.

Swiggy’s quick delivery service, Instamart, is on track to hit a $1 billion annual gross merchandise volume run rate in the coming three quarters, the food-tech firm believes.

Swiggy, India’s leading food ordering platform giving tough competition to Zomato,  had said last year that the firm wanted to spend $700 million to upgrade its services and geographic presence. After Swiggy raises funding, it seems the rivalry in the food delivery industry in India will witness stiff competition in grabbing market share.

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‘Invesco Developing Markets Fund, on a long term basis, is looking forward to investing in leading companies across the world that have long term structural development ability. Investment in Swiggy is one such kind of investment.’ Said Justin Leverenz, Chief Investment Officer at Invesco.

Majety’s Words After Swiggy Raises Funding

Sriharsha Majety, Swiggy co-founder and chief executive, said that Instamart had achieved a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) in only 17 months, while the core food delivery company required 40 months to accomplish the same level of success.

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The ultimate goal of Swiggy is to make 100 million users at least use Swiggy 15 times a month. The completion of this goal will help Swiggy’s ecosystem to have a broader influence and bring revolution in the food and grocery delivery industry. For that, the food tech company will continue to invest in our partners and products.’ Sriharsha Majety added further.

The Indian food services sector will stand at a value of $97 billion by the end of 2026. Organized food service is increasing at a higher rate compared to the other industries, and it is anticipated to have a 55 per cent market share by 2025. By the end of 2025, we predict internet access to hit 20% and the market size to achieve $20 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 46 per cent (CAGR). Acquisition of new customers as well as expanding into new and emerging areas will comprise the major of the company’s development.

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