Amazon, global tech giant, based out of California, has invested $7.43 million (approx ₹51 crore) in Quess Corp, a Bengaluru-based technological and business services provider.
The news came after Amazon picked up a 0.51 per cent stake in the company. With this, the company is looking to expand its value proposition to customers across the entire lifecycle of electronics from sales to after sales to repair service.
Quess Corp’ss board approved the preferential issuance worth INR 51 Cr of 7.54 Lakh shares at INR 676 per share to Amazon.com NV Investment.
Amazon, is an American multinational technology company, based out of Seattle that focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming and artificial intelligence. It was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos.
Amazon is investing into Quess’ subsidiary Qdigi Services. Qdigi has a service network of close to 80 walk-in-centres and 200 authorised service providers across India. Also, as a part of the deal, Amazon has also taken certain rights in Qdigi. This includes a right of first refusal that gives it the option to be the first to purchase or buy in Qdigi before Quess tries to sell it to a third party, non-compete and a right to acquire it in the future.
Amazon has earlier invested in Indian startups such as Acko to further enhance its value proposition for the customers.
In December 2014, Amazon made its first investment in India by investing $10 Mn in Bengaluru-based gift card technology and retail startup QwikCilver Solutions. Then it acquired Noida-based payment gateway firm EMVANTAGE Payments Pvt Ltd, for an undisclosed amount in February 2016.
Thus, other major players in the digital payment industry are Paytm, PhonePe, Google Pay, MobiKwik, many more.