Points on Reliance JIO

 India’s 1 billion-strong consumer market, most of which has been excluded from the internet
revolution for the most part, will welcome a smartphone like the JioPhone.
 September 5 2018 marks two years since the launch of the brand that shook the telecom industry in
India.
 Suddenly, there has been a race to create compelling use cases from startups and industry veterans
alike.

 With a new focus set on India’s ecommerce market worth $200 Bn in 2019, Mukesh Ambani-led
Reliance Industries is continuing to build its arsenal of etailer-related services by acquiring
promising players from the Indian startup ecosystem.
 The deal, which is said to be in final stages, may be announced in next few weeks. It is being
further speculated that Grab was in talks for acquisition with several companies including Paytm.
 Ambani had shared earlier that Reliance Retail and Reliance Jio Infocomm will jointly launch a
new ecommerce platform. The company is expected to follow a hybrid model. Under this plan,
the company is aimed at creating shared profitability by integrating the offline stores of three
crore small retail players via Reliance Jio, RIL’s online platform.
 The Reliance Retail is planning to use more than 5,100 Jio point stores across 5,000 cities and
towns as delivery and collection points for its ecommerce venture. The initiative is expected to
begin in April, this year.
 Ambani is targeting Indian ecommerce market which is largely dominated by Amazon and
Walmart-owned Flipkart. A recent Deloitte India and Retailers Association of India (RAI) report
predicted ecommerce market to grow to $1.2 Tn by 2021.
 The reports of such interests surfaced when RIL through its Jio entity was looking to invest in or
acquire startups operating in the content, healthcare, education technology, financial technology
and transportation segments.
 It might also look at Jio aligning with product technology ventures, particularly those operating in
AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning).

 March 2018: Reliance Jio Music and Saavn merged their synergies to jointly strengthen the
foothold in the Indian music streaming market. The combined value of the companies has been
pegged at $1 Bn, out of which Jio Music’s implied valuation is $670 Mn leaving Saavn at a
valuation of $330 Mn. With this, Reliance also acquired a partial stake in Saavn from its existing
shareholders for $104 Mn.
 April 2018: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) agreed to invest over $180 Mn intoAI-based
education platform, Embibe over the next three years. This will put RIL in a position to buy out
around 72.69% stake from Embibe’s existing investorsincluding Lightbox and Kalaari Capital.
 September 2018: The Bengaluru and San Diego headquartered NetraDyne raised $8 Mn in
funding from Reliance Industries for 37.4% stake in the company. With the investment, Reliance
is looking at potential synergies with digital services and communications initiatives of RIL and
its subsidiaries, apart from commercialisation benefits in India.
 February 2019: Reliance Industrial Investments & Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Reliance Industries entered into a agreement for acquisition of equity shares of vernacular
language services startup Reverie Language Technologies (‘Reverie’) for a cash consideration not
exceeding INR 190 Cr for a 83% stake.
 The unit of the Rs 6.11 lakh crore Reliance Industries (RIL) wants to invest in or acquire ventures
operating in the content, healthcare, education technology, financial technology and
transportation segments, according to people ET spoke with
 “Given Jio’s intentions, a number of Indian startups will no longer have to depend on just venture
capital or large conglomerates such as Google, SoftBank or Alibaba (for funds). This, in turn, will
accelerate exits,” a venture capital investor told ET on condition of anonymity as he had
negotiated with Jio on behalf of a content producing startup earlier.

 Investments will be done through RIL.

 Early this year, RIL had set up a venture arm called GenNext Ventures, which is looking to
acquire up to 15-per cent stake in young companies that make it to the next round of GenNext
Innovation Hub, a start-up accelerator programme launched in partnership with Microsoft
Ventures.
 The company is likely to compete in the taxi service segment with aggressive pricing and has
roped in consulting firm E&Y to come up with pricing strategies that align with Reliance
Industries Chairman Ambani’s plans to “go all out to get market share,” said the source.
 Another source at Reliance Industries said that the company has ordered cars for its own fleet
from makers such as Mahindra and Hyundai. “They have placed orders for nearly 600 cars,” this
source said.
 The company will pursue a “mixed market strategy,” where in it not only goes after major cities
but also smaller cities like Bhopal and Jaipur.
 Reliance’ Jio Cabs will have an “Uber like” app and development is already underway. As per the
source, the company is still exploring the payment system for drivers. It is likely to use Jio
Money, its own mobile wallet.