Amazon's Unicorn Hunt

Hi everyone, it’s Sankalp in New Delhi. Amazon is launching a Shark Tank-like reality show in India, which could help shape the company’s im [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hi everyone, it’s Sankalp in New Delhi. Amazon is launching a Shark Tank-like reality show in India, which could help shape the company’s image in its top international market. But first... Three things you need to know today: • Microsoft [cleared another hurdle]( in its bid to buy Activision • China’s top chipmaker [lost its chairman]( • Expedia added a [rewards program]( Unicorn hunt “Stop yourself every now and then, to give yourself a pat on your back if you want, but just keep going.” Advice you’d expect from a Dale Carnegie self-help book, not a Bollywood star speaking about entrepreneurship. But that’s exactly what it was: Alia Bhatt, one of India’s top actresses, drawing on her experience of starting a kids’ clothing line. She spoke on July 12 at a posh New Delhi hotel, launching a startup reality show for Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime video-streaming service that costs 1,499 rupees ($18) a year. The seven-episode Mission Start Ab (ab is Hindi for now) will bring together three yet-to-be-named investors to hunt for India’s next unicorn. The timing of the new show couldn’t be more fortuitous. India’s startup economy is in the throes of a funding winter and its poster child, Byju’s, is desperately trying to restore investor confidence after missing loan payments and losing board members. Mission Start Ab is yet another attempt by Amazon to reshape the narrative around its Indian business, which I’ve seen growing over the years even as it’s faced challenges. Mom-and pop store owners have often labeled it predatory, and the government has previously been just as unkind. Three years ago, as founder Jeff Bezos visited, India’s trade minister said Amazon wasn’t doing the country a “great favor” by investing. That high-decibel anti-Amazon rhetoric has softened even though antitrust challenges remain. Nevertheless, the tech giant has ploughed on, bringing more small businesses, artisans and women entrepreneurs onto its online storefront. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with CEO Andy Jassy during the Indian premier’s US tour last month ushered in the prospect of greater cooperation between the government and Amazon. In the latest sign of the thaw, the Modi administration agency that's responsible for shaping national tech policy is a prominent adviser of the new show, similar to the hit series Shark Tank. Mission Start Ab once again underscores the lure of India, the world’s most populous nation, for global internet companies scouting hungrily for growth beyond their home markets. And it comes at a time when India, according to tech minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, is brimming with “extreme confidence and extreme desire to try out entrepreneurship.” Talk about killing two birds with one stone. —[Sankalp Phartiyal](mailto:sphartiyal@bloomberg.net) The big story Wall Street’s top regulator said the proliferation of artificial intelligence means governments will [probably have to overhaul regulations]( to maintain global financial stability. One to watch [Watch the Bloomberg Technology TV interview]( with Loft Dynamics CEO Fabi Riesen, and read the story about how US regulators [turned to a small Swiss startup]( to rethink how helicopter pilots are trained. Get fully charged Ford is slashing prices on the electric version of its best-selling F-150 pickup by as much as 17% as it moves to [fend off new competition]( coming from Tesla and General Motors. Paramount Global’s CBS TV network plans to rerun shows from its cable and streaming outlets as part of its fall broadcast schedule — an apparent response to the writers and actors [strikes against Hollywood studios](. Raisin, a German financial technology company that helps savers find better rates, is betting that the end of cheap central bank cash will prompt lenders to seek alternate funding, [boosting the amount of money]( sourced via its platforms. More from Bloomberg Get Bloomberg Tech newsletters in your inbox: - [Cyber Bulletin]( for coverage of the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage - [Game On]( for reporting on the video game business - [Power On]( for Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more - [Screentime]( for a front-row seat to the collision of Hollywood and Silicon Valley - [Soundbite]( for reporting on podcasting, the music industry and audio trends - [Hyperdrive]( for expert insight into the future of cars Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? 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