One Thing Today in Tech
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Okta cyberattack may have affected hundreds of clients; Oxyzo raises $200 mln; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw elected to RSE
A cyberattack in January on Okta, a company that provides network access to its customers, may have been more severe than it originally thought, BBC reports. Oxyzo Financial Services, a tech-enabled smart financing solution provider, has raised $200 million in Series A funding. Plus, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has been named to Scotland's Royal Society of Edinburgh
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Alphabet's quantum unit becomes separate company; Apple has another outage; Mfine brings blood pressure monitoring to app
Google's parent Alphabet's quantum technology unit, Sandbox, is spinning off into an independent company, the company said yesterday, CNBC reports. A few of Apple's services experienced another outage yesterday, just one day after various services and online infrastructure went offline on Monday, The Verge reports. Plus, Mfine has added blood pressure and glucose monitoring features to its mobile app
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Infosys only Indian co in Ethisphere 2022 list; crypto startups dismayed over tax clarification; CommerceIQ turns unicorn
Infosys has been recognised as one of athe World's Most Ethical Companies for 2022, the second year in a row, by Ethisphere Institute, which works in the area of defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices. A clarification on disallowing offset of loss against profit in crypto transactions in India has caused much consternation among startups, TechCrunch reports. Plus, ecommerce automation SaaS company CommerceIQ turns unicorn
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Reliance Retail buys Clovia; Sarah and Ajit Isaac fund new IISc centre; Cricketer Mahela Jayawardene co-founds cloud-sec startup
Reliance Retail, part of the Reliance Industries conglomerate, is acquiring an 89 percent stake in direct-to-consumer brand Clovia for $125 million. Indian Institute of Science has entered into an MoU with Ajit Isaac, founder and chairman of Quess Corp, and his wife Sarah Isaac, for establishing a Centre for Public Health at the IISc campus. Plus, Sri Lankan Cricketer Mahela Jayawardene co-founds a cyber security venture
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Wipro, Pandorum to develop regenerative medicine tech; Walmart, IITM partner on R&D, training; Blinkit raises $100 mln more
Wipro and Pandorum Technologies, a biotechnology company working in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, have teamed up to develop technologies that shorten time-to-market and maximise patient outcomes during R&D and clinical trials of regenerative medicine; Walmart Global Tech and IIT Madras will collaborate on research, and continued education for Walmart associates; And Blinkit raises money from Zomato, ET reports
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Biden issues crypto regulation order; Amazon plans 20-1 stock split; Ather teams up with Foxconn; Money View, Jiffy.ai, Atlan raise funds
US President Joe Biden issued a new executive order on Wednesday on regulating cryptocurrencies in America, laying out a broad strategy for how the government plans to balance consumer protection without stifling innovation. Amazon shares surged on its plan for a 20-1 stock split, Bloomberg reports. And Money View, a fintech startup, Jiffy.ai, a B2B automation platform and Atlan, a data management venture, have all raised substantial funding
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India extends UPI to feature phones; Google buys Mandiant for $5.4 bln; Apple releases new iPhone SE; Swiggy IPO soon
The Reserve Bank of India yesterday launched additional features on the Unified Payments Interface platform that will allow people to make payments even on basic feature phones, which are still widely used in India. Google will buy Mandiant, a cyber defence and response consultancy, for $5.4 billion. Plus, Apple announced its latest iPhone SE, with its A15 Bionic chip, a larger battery than the previous model and 5G wireless support
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Amazon accused of using suppliers linked to forced labour; Better.com reportedly firing 4k staff; e-scooter sales surge in India
Amazon is allegedly employing suppliers in China with links to forced labour, according to a report from the Tech Transparency Project, a research group owned by the nonprofit watchdog organisation Campaign for Accountability. Better.com, the online mortgage lender, whose CEO callously laid off 900 people over a zoom call three months ago, is about to lay off roughly half of its staff, TechCrunch reports. Plus, EV sales surge in India
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Meesho planning an IPO; Ninjacart launches agritech fund; CredAvenue turns unicorn; Apollo.io raises $110 mln from Sequoia
Meesho is preparing for an IPO as early as 2023, Reuters reports, citing an internal company document it has seen. According to Reuters, the Bangalore company is working to be ready for a listing by the end of 2022 and is evaluating both Indian and US exchanges. Ninjacart, an agri-tech platform provider, has launched a $25 million fund. And CredAvenue has raised $137 million, tripling its valuation in the process, according to ET
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Mfine adds heart rate monitor to the app; Infosys, Roland-Garros extend contract; Tide UK to help 500,000 women entrepreneurs
Mfine, a digital health platform provider, has launched a Heart Rate Monitoring Tool on its mobile app that uses the phone's camera flash. Infosys and Roland-Garros have renewed their partnership for another five years. Filo, Docsumo, and Pocketly raise funding. Plus, Tide, UK, has a plan to support 500,000 women entrepreneurs
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Mindtree founders' Mela Ventures closes first fund; Ather sells 2042 EVs in Feb; Sony launches extra bass headphones
Mindtree's founders have closed the inaugural fund at their early-stage venture capital firm Mela Ventures at Rs. 320 crore, well exceeding their initial target of Rs. 200 crore, Economic Times reports. EV company Ather Energy sold 2,042 scooters in February this year, a 140 percent increase over the same month in 2021. Plus, Sony has released a new wireless headphone for bass enthusiasts
