Just in: Skill gaming unicorn MPL is laying off 350 people after 28% GST on real-money gaming decision.

One sad thing: Ambareesh Murty, one of the OGs of the Indian e-commerce industry, has died of a cardiac arrest in Leh. 

In today’s newsletter:

• The return of SoftBank
• ONDC’s fintech ambitions
• IT CEOs laugh all the way to the bank

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SoftBank, one of the biggest backers of tech companies, is cautiously restarting investments after a long pause. Nature is healing?

SoftBank invested close to a billion dollars through its Vision Funds investment arm in the June quarter, the most it has invested in the past year.

The Japanese tech investor is shifting from a defensive to an offensive approach in the future, with an increased focus on generative AI, SoftBank’s CFO Yoshimitsu Goto said.

• Goto showcased a presentation highlighting the cutting edge technology’s potential applications across SoftBank's portfolio companies.

These comments will likely bring cheer to India's burgeoning startup ecosystem, where SoftBank hasn't made a single investment in the last 15 months.

The bar for investments would however be “very high”, said Navneet Govil, a top executive at Vision Funds unit

“I hope you get the sensitivity here that we are carefully and slowly moving back to investment activities” Goto said.

The Vision Fund’s performance also helped the Japanese investment conglomerate post a significantly smaller loss than the previous quarter. That said, SoftBank still posted a loss for the third-straight quarter. More on that here

Also read: MC Interview | Startups that had to go out of business already have: SoftBank's Rajeev Misra

There’s always something freshly brewing at Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). The latest? It’s getting into fintech

Months after its noisy entry into food and grocery delivery, ONDC has published a draft flow of how financial products like loans and gift cards can be sold on the network. 

The government-backed interoperable network is now seeking feedback from participants such as banks, NBFCs, buyer and seller apps for the design of the protocol. It aims to bring on board FASTag and insurance products as well.

• These specifications will be finalised within the next two or three weeks on the basis of feedback, sources tell us.

As of now, seven broad categories of products are available on ONDC — food & beverages,  grocery, home & kitchen products, mobility, electronics, fashion and beauty & personal care. 

• ONDC also plans to bring on educational services and home services to the network in the future

ONDC is now planning to double down on Tier 2 and beyond in the next iteration of its incentive scheme, which may also be released this week.

• The network has been able to ramp up to more than 1.1 million retail transactions (food, grocery, apparel, etc.) and 5.4 million mobility transactions since its inception.

• On the retail side, 54,500 merchants have joined ONDC, offering about 75 lakh stock-keeping units

Through ONDC, the government hopes to increase e-commerce penetration in the country to 25 percent in the next two years.

• It aims to sign up 900 million buyers and 1.2 million sellers on the network and is projected to generate a gross merchandise value of $48 billion.

Go deeper

Indian IT may be weathering storms at the moment, with dismal earnings and a challenging demand environment in key markets, but the pay commanded by CEO’s continues to be stratospheric.

• Wipro CEO Thierry Delaporte was the highest-paid among the top Indian six Indian IT CEOs, drawing $10 million, or Rs 82.4 crore in FY23. 

Delaporte’s salary was the most, by a significant margin, in comparison to his peers. 

The next closest in pay was Infosys CEO Salil Parekh, who drew Rs 56.44 crore. 

 The steepest fall in pay was of HCLTech’s C Vijayakumar, who earned Rs 28.4 crore — down 79%. 

• Vijayakumar's salary may rebound next year as HCLTech pays out the long-term incentive (LTI) at the end of two years

To put the CEO pay in perspective, the median remuneration at these firms tells a different story. 

Like in the previous instance, the gap between Delaporte’s pay and median remuneration is the highest. He makes 916.12 times median remuneration at Wipro. 

Of the top six IT companies, the least gap between median remuneration and CEO pay is that of LTIMindtree’s Debashis Chatterjee. He makes 139.92 times an employee’s median remuneration. 

Go deeper

After a few false starts, Tata Group’s super app Tata Neu has seen a surge in downloads and repeat purchases since its revamp earlier this year. 

However, there are still some key UX challenges that need to be addressed before the app can truly achieve its goal of becoming a one-stop shop for all things online.

• One of the biggest challenges is the lack of a unified shopping cart

• The inconsistency of UX across different Tata brands is another key challenge

Find out more

• People are forming close bonds and even companionship with AI chatbots that can closely mimic conversations with humans. (Remember, the movie “Her”?)

• Zoom has reversed a policy that allowed the company to collect data for AI training without customer consent after an online outcry.

She's been a fashion icon, a role model, and a source of inspiration for generations of girls. But now, Barbie is also a box office phenomenon.

Barbie has grossed over $1 billion at the global box office, making Greta Gerwig the first solo female director to reach this milestone.

Here's to more female directors breaking records and making history.