After fundraising problems, layoffs and a canceled buyout, ZestMoney's founders step down

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The big news today is that Apple’s partner Foxconn is investing $500 million in manufacturing plants in South India, which is “the latest in a series of bets from the key Apple contract partner as it expands its base in the South Asian market.”

Meanwhile, Africa-based asset financing platform M-Kopa took in a whopping $250+ million in new funding that included $55 million in equity and over $200 million in debt. The company offers underbanked African customers access to “productive assets” and the ability to pay for them via digital micropayments.

Over at ZestMoney, founders Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma and Ashish Anantharaman told employees today that they were resigning. This is “the latest twist in the fate of the Indian fintech whose ability to underwrite small ticket loans to first-time internet customers once drew the backing of many high-profile investors, including Goldman Sachs.”

Cold-chain startup Figorr raises $1.5 million as it backs the rollout of data-driven perishables insurance.

Blackstone sells its IBS Software stake to Apax for $450 million.

U.K. pension startup Smart secured $95 million to expand internationally and make acquisitions.

Big Tech Inc.

It’s not Christmas yet, but hardware startup Telly doesn’t care. It’s giving away 500,000 of its new smart TVs for free — yes, that’s free. Oh, but wait, there’s a catch: Users must watch 24/7 ads while simultaneously streaming TV shows and movies.

Media company Vice, which was valued at $5.7 billion just six years ago, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, while three of its lenders have agreed to buy the company for $225 million. We reported that “Vice’s financial issues are not a pure reflection of the media business at large, though. The company made severe managerial missteps and allegedly fostered a culture of sexual harassment.”

Apple released a satellite-based emergency SOS feature in Australia and New Zealand.

Damo Academy, Alibaba’s autonomous driving lab, will merge with Cainiao and will now focus more on monetization.

The European Commission gave its blessing to Microsoft’s $68.7 billion Activision acquisition, but expected some future oversight.

U.K.’s Space Forge debuts new reentry tech for in-space manufacturing satellites.

For you Lord of the Rings fans, Amazon is developing a multiplayer online game.

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How to avoid AI commoditization: 3 tactics for running successful pilot programs

Companies in search of AI-powered business solutions have a lot more options to choose from than they did a few months ago. But where does that leave startups that are trying to differentiate their offerings?

“The real moat is a combination of AI models trained on proprietary data, as well as a deep understanding of how an expert goes about their daily tasks to solve nuanced workflow problems,” says Chaitanya Vaidya, co-founder of Deeprisk.ai.

In this TC+ article, he shares three tactics AI startups can use to manage iterative pilot programs that create customer delight by studying user behavior. “Leveraging deep relationships with customers in your domain is a simple, yet effective tactic,” writes Vaidya.

Two more for you:

Binance is banking big on M&A and VC deals

VCs love to talk about AI, but they aren’t writing as many checks as you might think

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