Indian Telco Jio, Which Just Launched Alternative App to Zoom, Secures $253.5 Mln in Investment

New Delhi (Sputnik): It’s raining dollars for Indian telecom giant Reliance Jio after 11 foreign companies, including Facebook, invested over $15 billion in just a month. Jio, headed by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, has sold a 25 percent stake to its investors in lieu of hefty capitals.

American chipmaker Intel revealed on Friday that it is investing $253.5 million in Jio Platforms as the 12th foreign company to purchase stakes in Mukesh Ambani’s telecom venture. The chipmaker’s investment arm called Intel Capital will be acquiring a 0.39 percent stake in Jio Platforms.

“Jio Platforms’ focus on applying its engineering capabilities to bring the power of low-cost digital services to India aligns with Intel’s purpose of delivering breakthrough technology that enriches lives. We believe digital access and data can transform business and society for the better”, Wendell Brooks, Intel Capital president, said in a statement.

With Intel’s fresh investment, Jio has reached a market valuation of a whopping $65 billion.

The news comes just a day after Jio launched its very own video conferencing app – JioMeet, which allows 100 participants to join at once – in a bid to replace Zoom Video Communications, an app founded by Chinese-American businessman Eric Yuan.

In April, two months before India drastically banned 59 Chinese apps, citing national security reasons, the country advised government employees to refrain from using the video conferencing app Zoom over security and privacy reservations.

Even though netizens have pointed out the striking interface similarities between Zoom and JioMeet, they are supporting the Indian alternative because they feel their data will be safer.

JioMeet and Zoom - a thread.

Screen 1 - Landing Page. pic.twitter.com/TC1HEJLUX1

— SG (@shrinivassg) July 3, 2020

I don't really have a problem with this. Everyone starts off with copying. The point is really about the code that rums all this, relatability, security etc.

— Arvind Balakrishnan (@arvindbalakri) July 3, 2020

#JioMeet
Use jiomeet pic.twitter.com/mPZPM77DJc

— Mahadev (@Mahadev15871260) July 3, 2020

Reliance officially launched it's video conferencing app #JioMeet. India's "self reliance" gets a digital push. It can accommodate up-to 100 users for a video conference uninterrupted for as long as 24 hours. RIL is driving India's digital revolution! @reliancejio pic.twitter.com/4pqC4r54Cg

— Panchali Das (@panchali_19) July 3, 2020

​Following an over a month-long intense and violent faceoff between India and China in the former’s Ladakh region, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking stringent steps to make India “self-reliant”.

Indians are also heavily supporting the #BoycottMadeinChina movement on social media, which urges fellow countrymen to "go vocal for local".