Google invests $4.5 billion investment in Jio Platforms, taking a 7.73 per cent stake in the fast growing company. CEO Sundar Pichai said the is the first India-specific investment aimed at accelerating India’s digital economy.
Jio and Google to jointly develop affordable smartphone to accelerate the path to India’s digitization, the press release revealed.
Jio Platforms has been on a fundraising spree the last few months. COVID hasn’t dampened the spirits of investors.
The fast growing company, with over 300 million internet and telecom subscribers, has been the darling of investors raising about $20 billion from Qualcomm, Intel, KKR, Silver Lake, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, Mudabala and the latest from Google. Facebook is the biggest investor with $5.87 billion taking 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms.
ITVibes Insight
The strategic investment will give provide Google an entry point in India’s fast-growing digital market. Although Google’s Android operating system has been embraced by the Indian market, the disruption potential is massive and leading Big Tech players can’t afford to miss the huge opportunity.
The booming Indian digital market, despite the economic gloom, has become a battleground for giants including Amazon, Microsoft, Walmart, Google and Facebook. Jio Platforms is at the centre of this growing market.
Intel recently invested $250 million in Jio Platforms buying a 0.39% stake. As the anti-China rhetoric gains momentum in India, Intel’s new chips launched for the telecommunication industry could make their way into Jio’s expansion plans.
The highlight of Google’s investment is the “joint effort to develop an entry-level affordable smartphone with optimisations to the Android operating system and the Play Store”.
Google stated: This effort will unlock new opportunities, further power the vibrant ecosystem of applications and push innovation to drive growth for the new Indian economy.
The latest announcement comes within days of Google announcing plans to invest $10 billion in India with the aim of making the Internet “affordable and useful” for a billion people.
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