Business
Tim Cook’s Visit to India Highlights the Country Economic Potential
Apple CEO Tim Cook’s visit to India to inaugurate the company’s first physical store in the country has underscored the rising interest that corporations and governments have in doing business with India. This has been buoyed by recent geopolitical shifts, with western leaders looking to enhance economic cooperation with countries that share similar values. As tensions continue to mount between the West and Beijing, companies and countries are looking to diversify away, and India fits perfectly into this shift.
India’s demographic dividend, driven by its vast consumer market and affordable labor pool, represents a major opportunity. The Indian government has signed free trade deals with countries like Australia, United Arab Emirates, and Mauritius since 2021 and is negotiating deals with the EU, UK, and Canada.
India’s economic and demographic foundations, in addition to its geopolitical advantages, are spurring commercial interest. The International Monetary Fund projects that India will expand its GDP by 5.9% this year, outpacing all other significant developing and established nations. The US economy is projected to increase by just 1.6%, while the economies of Germany and the UK are predicted to stagnate.
India’s working-age population is over 900 million, and its workforce could surpass that of China in the next few years, according to Capital Economics. Furthermore, if India maintains its current momentum, it could overtake Germany as the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2026 and Japan from the third spot by 2032, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
With India’s potential for economic growth, its growing middle class, and the government’s efforts to boost the industrial sector, it’s no surprise that corporations and governments are keen on doing business with India.
Business
ShareChat Secures Nearly $49 Million from Key Investors: Report
ShareChat Secures Nearly $49 Million from Key Investors: Report
SharingChat, a social media site, has secured $48.8 million from its current backers, Temasek and Lightspeed, through convertible debentures.
Citing ShareChat’s regulatory filings, startup news website Inc42 stated on Wednesday that the fundraising round will assist ShareChat in “navigating the path to profitability in the next 12 to 15 months.”
The report also stated that the company is supposedly in talks with investors for a larger equity investment round.
To date, ShareChat has raised more than $1 billion in investment.
It was reported in December of last year that ShareChat planned to raise as much as $65 million from current investors.
The investment round was expected to include participation from current investors like Temasek, Tiger Global, Google, Lightspeed Ventures, and others.
As part of a strategic reorganization, ShareChat let go of 200 workers in December, representing around 15% of its total employment.
Also Read: Sergey Brin Personally Urges Google Employee to Decline OpenAI Job Offer
The decision, according to Mohalla Tech, the parent company of ShareChat and the short video entertainment app Moj, indicates the firm’s commitment to attaining profitability within the next four to six quarters and simplifying its cost base.
ShareChat’s sales increased by 62% to Rs 540.21 crore in FY23, but its net loss increased to Rs 4,064.3 crore from Rs 2,941.5 crore in FY22.
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