Facebook, Silver Lake invest in Jio Platforms, but what is it?

JioPlatforms just received its second major investment after Facebook. Here’s what this platform is about.

Jio Platforms was launched back in 2019 by Reliance Industries Limited. (AFP)

After Facebook, Reliance Jio scored another investment deal for its Jio Platforms. Jio earlier today announced US-based private equity firm Silver Lake will invest ₹5,655.75 crore into Jio Platforms.

So what is Jio Platforms?

Announced last December, Jio Platforms is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited. This new platform was launched to serve as a platform for Reliance's digital services like Reliance Jio, MyJio, JioCinema, JioNews and JioSaavn. It also covers other tech-related services in areas like education, healthcare and agriculture.

JioPlatforms' latest venture - JioMart

Facebook's investment in Jio Platforms led to the first test of Jio's e-commerce platform 'JioMart'. Available as a business account on WhatsApp, JioMart can take orders for groceries from nearby stores. JioMart is currently being tested in three sub-urban areas of Mumbai.

Users can get started by saving the number +91-8850008000 on their phone and texting "Hi" to it. Users will then get a link for the nearest "JioMart Kirana" which opens up on the browser. Here, users can select the items they wish to purchase and place the order. Once this is done, users can head over to the store to collect the order and complete the payment as well. There's no option to make the payment via WhatsApp as yet.

Jio-Silver Lake deal

Jio Platforms joins a host of tech companies globally where Silver Lake has invested in like Airbnb, Alibaba, Alphabet's Verily and Waymo, Dell and Twitter. This investment also puts Jio Platforms at an equity level of ₹4.90 lakh crore and an enterprise value of ₹5.15 lakh crore.