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Morning Briefing (9 Min Reading Time)
Top news & stories of the startup ecosystem from India & around the world
In another major development, 10 leading media companies of India came together to launch the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) to work collaboratively on defining, creating, and fostering the digital news ecosystem in the country. Roundup with insights on these and other important Indian startup news stories…
Facebook has finally appointed Ajit Mohan as Managing Director and Vice-President, Facebook India. Mohan is expected to join Facebook early next year. He will be aligning teams and driving Facebook’s overall strategy in India. Let’s see the movers and shakers of this week…
In a step closer to officially become a portfolio company of US-based investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, Indian digital payments decacorn Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications has reportedly approved the investment of $300 Mn from Berkshire.
Fact sheet by Inc42 Datalabs.
Unlike Japan, the US, Australia, and many other countries, India’s blockchaindevelopment has been caught in a Catch 22 situation where the central government and central banks want to promote blockchain projects but not cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings (ICOs), and crypto-tokens.
Here comes Stanza Living, a tech-enabled student accommodation platform, which wants to take the pain out of student living in India and redefine the space with its scalable, professionally managed offerings. The startup is based on a unique community living concept created for students moving to a new place.
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To keep up with the growing sizes of early-stage funding rounds, Y Combinator  announced this morning that it will increase the size of its investments to $150,000 for 7 percent equity starting with its winter 2019 batch. Since 2014, YC has invested $120,000 for 7 percent equity in its companies. It has increased the size of its investment before — in 2007, a YC “standard deal” was just $20,000.
California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a cybersecurity law covering “smart” devices, making California the first state with such a law. The bill, SB-327, was introduced last year and passed the state senate in late August. The bill has been praised as a good first step by some and criticized by others for its vagueness. Cybersecurity expert Robert Graham has been one of its harshest critics.
Hackers may have accessed as many as 50 million Facebook user profiles without those users’ permission, Facebook said today. Facebook says the hackers took advantage of a “vulnerability in Facebook’s code” that gave them access to special “digital keys” that keep people logged into their accounts without needing to re-enter their password.