We were hearing the rumours about social media giant Facebook’s next big investment. It was true. In April 2020, American multinational social media company Facebook brought a 9.9% stake in Jio. This was the largest ever FDI in any Indian technology company. This is not the first investment of Facebook in Indian start up’s, Facebook has invested in EdTech platform Byju’s (The Learning App) based on Bangalore, India, and Meesho, India’s #1 Reselling platform.
Facebook has invested $5.7 billion into the Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio. This is near 9.99 % of total stock in INR 43,574 crores of the company. We all know the recent growth of Jio and its business in India. Currently, Jio has the largest number of mobile sim users in India.
See what Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post along with RIL.
“There’s a lot going on in the world right now, but I wanted to share an update on our work in India. Facebook is teaming up with Jio Platforms — we’re making a financial investment, and more than that, we’re committing to work together on some major projects that will open up commerce opportunities for people across India.
India is home to the largest communities on Facebook and WhatsApp, and a lot of talented entrepreneurs. The country is in the middle of a major digital transformation and organizations like Jio have played a big part in getting hundreds of millions of Indian people and small businesses online.
This is especially important right now, because small businesses are the core of every economy and they need our support. India has more than 60 million small businesses and millions of people rely on them for jobs. With communities around the world in lockdown, many of these entrepreneurs need digital tools they can rely on to find and communicate with customers and grow their businesses. This is something we can help with — and that’s why we’re partnering with Jio to help people and businesses in India create new opportunities.
I want to thank Mukesh Ambani and the entire Jio team for their partnership. We’re looking forward to getting started.”
-Mark, CEO of Facebook
“Reliance Industries Limited, Jio Platforms Limited, and Facebook, Inc. today announced the signing of binding agreements for an investment of Rs43,574 crore by Facebook into Jio Platforms.”
-RIL, Jio
Facebook can see enough opportunity with Jio in India. India is a large market for Facebook; more than 400 million people in the country use WhatsApp, its global messaging service, while more than 300 million people use the company’s core social network. They have millions of users on the photo-sharing platform Instagram.
Jio started its journey on 5 September 2016 in India. Jio has over 370.07 million subscribers in India by Mukesh Ambani. He is India’s richest person with a net worth of ~$45 Billion. Jio has many products in the Indian market such as JioCinema(OTT Platform), JioSaavan(Music Streaming App), Jio fiber, JioNews, and JioTV with millions of users.
This investment of Facebook in Jio will boost facebook to grow in India in other technology areas such as digital payment. They are also planning to launch multiple purpose apps in India. So let’s wait for what news is coming with these groups.