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We update you on the most essential news from Asia in tech, media, and business—the things you need to know that you probably haven’t heard in Western media.
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Indian Unicorn Zomato Plans to Go Public Next Year 👇
Zomato, the Indian food delivery company, has just raised $250 Million and described their plans to go public in the first half of next year. As previous interview guest Rashi has said, Zomato is a prime example of an inspiring Indian tech startup that has found global success. The 12-year-old company is currently worth $3 Billion and this new fundraising round was partly to provide more cash reserves in the time of the coronavirus.
While Zomato has struggled a bit because of the coronavirus, their latest announcements are optimistic for the future. Another Indian competitor in food delivery Swiggy has eliminated hundreds of jobs this year. At a global level, food delivery companies are benefitting from the coronavirus as eating at home becomes a forced, newer behaviour. If Zomato can hold on and succeed with this new investment, they should be able to have a large IPO next year. That would be a major success story for Indian tech.
Tencent Wins Contract to Broadcast Premier League in China
After the Premier League cancelled their $665 Million agreement with PPTV earlier this month, it was unclear how Chinese fans would be able to watch matches from England’s biggest football league. Last week, the Premier League announced the signing of a one-year broadcast deal with Chinese tech giant Tencent. Tencent will have the exclusive rights to play Premier League games in China, hosted on their platforms including WeChat, QQ, and Tencent Video.
The TV rights to England’s Premier League are some of the most sought after in the world. And China has hundreds of millions of football fans eager to watch the games. For the Premier League, China is their most lucrative emerging international market and TV rights is the biggest revenue driver for the league, as with most sports leagues. However, the sports industry is in a precarious position considering that full stadium attendance is currently impossible, and sponsors/advertisers might want to renegotiate their deals in light of Covid. In the situation of Tencent and the Premier League, right now the Premier League needs Tencent more than Tencent needs the Premier League. Before Covid, it was the other way around.
Youtube Shorts Launches in India 🎥
With TikTok still banned in India, many companies are trying to fill the TikTok-sized consumer hole with their own mobile apps. This includes local startups, but also American companies like Triller, who have partnered with India’s JioSaavn, part of Reliance group. Another example is Youtube, who have just launched YouTube Shorts in India.
YouTube Shorts is basically a short-form (less than 15 seconds) video app that gives people different creative tools to upload a video with background music. Much like Instagram Reels, this is a blatantly opportunistic move to capitalise on the short-video trend that has been best captured by TikTok. While YouTube Shorts has been launched first in India and then will expand globally, India is the one market where YouTube Shorts won’t have to compete with TikTok. So long as TikTok is banned in India, the country is now the world’s biggest market ‘up for grabs’ for any short-form mobile video app. And that’s a very big opportunity.
Update #73 - Zomato Goes Public, Tencent Plays Football, and Youtube Shorts in India