Good morning. Welcome to the middle of the week, where last Saturday was just a fever dream and AI is still out to conquer the world. Nevertheless, have this handmade basket of market trends and business insights to keep on the loop.

In this edition:

• 🎮️ WinZO’s $50M gaming fund

• 💸 25% raise for Gujarat workers

• 🐦️ Twitter’s new paywall on 2FA

MARKETS

*Stock data as of market close. Source.

• Markets: In a recent development, Nifty has formed a bullish candle, indicating that the market may rally further if it crosses the 17,200 mark. Technical analysts believe that the market is poised for a positive trend, with a decisive move above 17200 being the crucial factor.

GAMING

WinZO Launches $50M gaming fund to level up startups

🎮️ WinZO, the Indian vernacular social gaming platform, has announced a brand new $50M fund to invest in gaming startups globally.

Who is it for?

• The new fund will be established as part of the Indian social gaming startup's flagship Game Developer Fund, with $10M earmarked for US-based gaming companies.

• The fund seeks to sponsor a diversified portfolio of initiatives, including those in interactive entertainment—game developers and publishers, gaming economics, content production, live operations, and security.

Web3-equipped. Because of its controlling interest in Upskillz, WinZO was able to integrate blockchain and web3 technologies onto its platform. Other blockchain companies that gained backing from WinZo include IndiGG, Village Studio, and Bombay Play, as well as blockchain-based creator economy and streaming startup Glip.

Co-founder Paavan Nanda said: “In addition, being operators ourselves, we tend to create a melting pot for our portfolio companies for them to exchange ideas, do pilots or leverage WinZO’s community and resources.”

LABOR

Gujarat raises minimum wage by almost 25%

💸 The Gujarat government has announced a nearly 25% increase in minimum wages for laborers in the state, a move aimed at improving their standard of living and reducing poverty.

Raising wages for better living

• The monthly minimum wage for unskilled workers has been increased from Rs 9,445.80 to Rs 11,752

• Meanwhile, semi-skilled workers will now receive a minimum wage of Rs 11,986 from 9,653.80

• The decision to increase wages was made after considering the rise in the cost of living and inflation.

Impact, in numbers. The hike in wages is expected to help reduce poverty and improve the standard of living for over 2 crore workers and their families.

When to expect the raise. The pay raise in the area will come into effect after a memo is issued within the next 2 weeks.

BUSINESS

Karnataka greenlights Foxconn investment proposal, among others worth 75,000 crore

👍️ The Karnataka government has approved investment proposals worth over Rs. 75,000 crore, including a project by Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, as part of its efforts to attract investment and boost economic growth in the state.

Approval Details

• 18 projects were approved for this run. The composition — 10 new, 5 expansion projects, and 3 additional projects.

• This batch of approvals includes a Rs 8,000 crore pitch from Apple's contract maker Foxconn.

• Estimated job opportunities: 77,606 in total, 50,000 of which were proposed by Foxconn.

Governing body. The clearance granted to these investment proposals were overseen by the State High-Level Clearance Committee led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

INDIA EDITION: WHAT ELSE IS ON THE BIRDWATCH

• 🏠️ Residential real estate favors the Metro. Looks like the big city dreams are still alive and kicking in India, as a new report shows that metropolitan areas are dominating the demand and supply of residential real estate, leaving tier II cities behind by 250%.

• ⛲️ The magic fund fountain ran thin in February. Per a recent report, private equity and venture capital investments in India have taken a bit of a tumble, with February 2023 seeing a nearly 50% drop in investments.

• 🛢️ India bumps down windfall profit tax on crude oil. The Indian government has cut the windfall profit tax on crude oil by 25% to Rs 3,500 per ton, a move expected to provide relief to domestic oil producers while confusing a lot of pro-EV people.

FUNDING DEALS

Catch up on the Indian funding flows from the past 24hrs:

• Doqfy, a contract execution platform, has secured Rs 7.5 crore in a funding round led by Turbostart and Pentathlon VC to scale up its operations and develop innovative technology.

• Sukino Healthcare Solutions, a healthcare provider, has successfully raised Rs 50 crore in a Series A funding round, which will be used to fuel the company's expansion plans and enhance its technology offerings.

WORLD

Headline Explorer

💵 Japan grants tax pass to big tech with new local HQs. Big Tech just got a big tax break in Japan, with the government granting tax exemptions to tech giants who register their headquarters in the country.

🐦️ Twitter shoves new paywall afront 2FA safety feat. Twitter is giving its security features a premium twist, as its two-factor authentication moves behind a new paywall. Non-Twitter Blue users on Monday have been cut from phone-based 2FA, however, they can still secure their accounts for free using third-party authentication apps.

📦️ Amazon’s trimming its staff by 9,000. Amazon is running a leaner staff roster, as the e-commerce giant plans to lay off 9,000 employees globally in its latest round of job cuts. A recent AP report suggests that jobs around Twitch, cloud services, and marketing are most likely to be affected.

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