HDFC Bank launches services for eNAM beneficiaries

HDFC Bank has partnered with the SFAC (Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium) to enable banking services on the government's National Agriculture Market (eNAM), according to a stock-exchange filing on November 12.

The eNAM integration will enable digital collections and settlement of funds, giving HDFC Bank access to more than 17 million farmers in the country.

Dr Lal Pathlabs buys out Suburban Diagnostics 

Dr Lal Pathlabs has acquired Suburban Diagnostics in an all-cash deal for Rs 925 crore, plus certain performance-linked payments capped at Rs 225 crore.

Suburban Diagnostics operates diagnostic centres, radiology centres, and cardiology centres. The acquisition will help Dr Lal Pathlabs strengthen its presence in the western region, according to a stock-exchange filing.

Suburban Diagnostics reported a turnover of Rs 294.7 crore in fiscal year 2021, which was 73.4 percent higher than in the previous year.

Nandita Sinha is Myntra CEO

Flipkart-owned fashion platform Myntra has appointed Nandita Sinha as its new CEO. She will succeed Amar Nagaram on January 1, 2022, according to a report in The Economic Times.

Sinha, currently Vice President of Customer Growth and Marketing at Flipkart, will be the first woman to head an ecommerce business unit in the company. She has been with Flipkart for eight years, before which she worked at Hindustan Unilever and Britannia Industries.

Facebook launches new shopping tool

Facebook has introduced ‘Shops in Groups’ to allow members to support the communities they care about by buying products from them.

With Product Recommendations in Groups, Facebook will display products that members of a group recommend when a person asks for guidance. It then makes it easy to purchase those products from shops on Facebook.

The social network is also beginning to test Live Shopping for creators to make it easier for the creators to partner with brands and highlight their favourite products.

Netflix Launches Free Plan in Vietnam

Netflix has launched a free plan in Vietnam, the second region to enjoy this service after Kenya, according to the content platform.

The features available to a paid subscriber can be availed by Android phone-users in Vietnam, the only Asian country to have Netflix for free, without ads.

“And if you like what you see, it’s easy to upgrade to one of our paid plans, so you can enjoy our full catalogue, even more features, and the option to enjoy Netflix on your TV or laptop,” said Cathy Conk, Director, Product Innovation, Netflix.

Tata Consumer Products to buy SmartFoodz

Tata Consumer Products has wholly acquired FMCG company Tata SmartFoodz from Tata Industries for Rs 395 crore, as it expands into new adjacent food categories, the company said in an exchange filing on Friday.

TSFL, which started operations in 2019, sells ready-to-eat packaged food products under the 'Tata Q' brand in India.

Toshiba plans to split into three firms

Japanese conglomerate Toshiba will split itself into three companies — in the semiconductors, infrastructure, and devices domains — by 2024, in response to pressure from shareholders.

In a stock-exchange filing, Toshiba said it will create two publicly-listed companies focused on infrastructure and energy, and electronic devices.

"With this greater focus, each could attract board and management talent more directly suited to their respective needs, who could each then pursue growth strategies and reforms utilising capital and resources in a way that specifically matched their respective business profiles and capital allocation requirements," the company said in the exchange filing.

Spotify buys Findaway to expand into audiobooks

Spotify has agreed to acquire digital audiobook distribution Findaway in line with its strategy to become the world’s leading audio platform.

Findaway offers a catalogue of distributed titles and works with authors, publishers to make their stories available in audio format. Spotify did not disclose the value of the deal.

The deal helps the Swedish audio streaming company expand its podcasting business.

“It’s Spotify’s ambition to be the destination for all things audio both for listeners and creators. The acquisition of Findaway will accelerate Spotify’s presence in the audiobook space and will help us more quickly meet that ambition,” said Gustav Söderström, Spotify’s Chief Research & Development Office.

Storytel to acquire Audiobooks.com

Swedish audiobook streaming group Storytel has agreed to acquire the streaming service Audiobooks.com from investment firm KKR for an enterprise value of $135 million on a cash and debt free basis.

Storytel’s acquisition of Audiobooks.com lays the foundations for the company’s expansion into English-language markets, and underlines its pronounced growth strategy to launch into large and established audio markets.

With a focus on user experience in top-rated apps for iOS and Android devices, Audiobooks.com also offers integration with Alexa, Sonos, CarPlay and Android Auto, among others.

Audiobooks.com offers a content catalogue of 300,000 audiobooks from hundreds of major publishing partners, as well as millions of free podcasts and additional audio entertainment.

Instagram tests ‘Take a Break’ tool

Instagram is testing a new feature called ‘Take a Break’, which will allow the social media app’s users to get a notification after they spend a certain amount of time on the Meta Platforms Inc. service.

The head of Instagram Adam Mosseri tweeted that the platform will launch the opt-in feature sometime in December.

The feature is “part of a broader effort to try and give people more control over their experience of Instagram,” Mosseri said in the video posted on Wednesday.

Esri India unveils ArcGIS Platform as-a-service

Geographic information system (GIS) software provider Esri India has launched ArcGIS Platform as-a-service (PaaS) that includes maps and location services.

With the platform, the company aims to reduce time to market and promote creative design, enabling an open location-focused PaaS for software developers and businesses, which use maps and location services for their products.

"With the launch of ArcGIS platform as-a-service, Indian developer community and start-ups will have easy access to the most comprehensive, high-quality set of location services, data, and mapping tools to bring their ideas to a reality," said Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India.