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What Do Temu, Cred & Starbucks Have in Common This Week?
Valuations dipped, markets shifted, and protein got poured into your cup. Catch up now.
Bindu Sharma
June 13, 2025
Table of Contents
📰 India Retail Pulse
Maharashtra hikes liquor duties: Aims to generate ₹14,000 Cr annually after welfare scheme payouts. 👉 Read more
Titan’s IRTH brand to grow digital share to 40%: Strategic push via Myntra partnership and 100 offline stores by FY28. 👉 Read more
Reliance’s consumer ventures eclipse energy biz: Retail and Jio now account for over half of RIL’s operating profit. 👉 Read more
Tata Electronics sends staff to Taiwan for fab training: Prepping for India’s upcoming semiconductor fab in Dholera. 👉 Read more
CaratLane launches quick commerce pilot: Delivery within 4–6 hours in 3 cities; no lab-grown diamonds planned. 👉 Read more
Zara India posts slowest sales growth: FY25 sales up just 0.4%; profit still rose 23%. 👉 Read more
Reliance sells 3.6% stake in Asian Paints: ₹7,704 Cr block deal; RIL retains a small stake. 👉 Read more
Inflation hits 75-month low of 2.8%: Cooling food prices pull CPI and food inflation down sharply. 👉 Read more
Jubilant promoters to raise ₹2,000 Cr: Selling stakes to partly finance acquisition of 40% of HCCB; Goldman Sachs has already mobilized $600 M. 👉 Read more
🌍 World Retail Headlines at a Glance
L’Oréal to acquire majority of Medik8: Luxury skincare deal reportedly worth €1 billion. 👉 Read more
Inditex sales slow amid economic headwinds: Just 4.2% constant-currency growth this quarter. 👉 Read more
Starbucks launches protein cold foam: Wellness-centric drink trial adds 15g protein per serving. 👉 Read more
Nintendo Switch 2 sells 3.5M units in 4 days: Record-breaking launch clogs major online stores. 👉 Read more
Kering Eyewear acquires Italian maker Lenti: Expands vertical integration in eyewear. 👉 Read more
Amazon Books team sees layoffs: Under 100 roles cut in cost-efficiency move. 👉 Read more
H&M founder family pushes toward privatization: Perssons quietly buying up more stake. 👉 Read more
Temu & Shein pivot to Europe under tariff heat: But face mounting regulatory scrutiny. 👉 Read more
Lowe’s launches creator network with MrBeast: First home improvement influencer platform. 👉 Read more
🔍 Deep Dive: Meta’s Mega‑Deal with Scale AI
What’s happening:
Meta Platforms Inc. is investing nearly $14.8 billion for a 49% stake in Scale AI, valuing the startup at around $29 billion. This is Meta’s biggest investment since its $19B acquisition of WhatsApp. As part of the deal, Scale AI’s 28-year-old founder Alexandr Wang will lead Meta’s new “superintelligence” division, signaling the company’s aggressive pivot toward data infrastructure and foundational AI innovation.
Who is Scale AI:
Scale AI is a Silicon Valley-based unicorn specializing in labeled training data — a foundational input for machine learning models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. It works with OpenAI, the U.S. Department of Defense, and many enterprise clients.
Why It Matters:
Data Labeling Is the New Oil- AI models are only as good as the data they’re trained on. Scale AI’s core strength is in providing high-quality annotated data at scale, making it a backbone for training large language models (LLMs) and computer vision systems. Meta gains direct access to this supply chain, which competitors like OpenAI and Google had long dominated.
Strategic Pivot After LLaMA-4- Following a lukewarm industry reception to LLaMA 4, Meta is looking to bolster its capabilities in model fine-tuning and vertical-specific datasets. With this deal, Meta can shortcut its AI advancement curve by tapping into Scale’s elite infrastructure and government contracts.
Regulatory Crosshairs- The transaction is Meta’s largest strategic bet since WhatsApp and will likely invite scrutiny from U.S. and EU antitrust regulators. Critics argue the deal could consolidate power over AI infrastructure and data access—two critical levers in future tech monopolies.
AI Talent Acquisition- Apart from infrastructure, Meta is also onboarding some of the top minds in AI labeling, robotics, and enterprise model deployment, giving it a workforce edge in the generative AI arms race.
Bottom Line:
This deal gives Meta a double advantage: access to premium data pipelines and cutting-edge annotation tools. In a world where everyone is racing to build the best models, owning the “data refinery” might be more powerful than owning the model itself. Meta’s stake in Scale AI is not just a bet on data — it’s a bet on controlling the upstream of AI itself, positioning it as a formidable rival to OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon in the coming decade.
Sources:
Reuters
The Information
Washington Post
The Verge
Wikipedia – Scale AI
MarketWatch
🔥 Top Funding and IPO News in Indian Retail
Cred raises Rs 455 Cr in down round: Kunal Shah’s fintech unicorn secured ₹455 crore (~$53 M) from GIC, RTP Global, and Sofina at a reduced valuation. 👉 Read more
Meesho to file confidential IPO papers soon: Targeting $700–800 M raise after redomiciling. 👉 Read more
Rapido raises ₹125 Cr (~$14.6M): New funding from Nexus Ventures to fuel food delivery and fintech foray. 👉 Read more
Gecko Robotics raises $125M: US startup for critical infrastructure crosses $1B+ valuation. 👉 Read more
📊 Spotlight Insight- Quick Commerce in India (A Staffing Perspective)
According to the TeamLease report titled Q-commerce Report: A Staffing Perspective.
✍️ About the Writer
Bindu Sharma
Bindu | Founder, World One Consulting
A seasoned entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience in building and scaling successful retail brands across India. Bindu has launched ventures like Oma, Renovation Factory, and MyEpique, and worked with leading names such as Westside, GoodEarth, Kiehl’s, and Pepsico. At World One Consulting, she empowers businesses with strategic insight, brand-building expertise, and a passion for sustainable, omnichannel growth.
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