Startup.Pedia

Meta has announced paid subscription tiers for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, which marks the tech giant’s largest push yet to generate recurring consumer revenues.

Naomi Gleit, Meta’s head of product, announced the news of the subscriptions through an Instagram post on May 27, 2026, which confirmed a worldwide rollout of the subscriptions.

According to TechCrunch, Instagram Plus and Facebook Plus will be available at $3.99 per month, while WhatsApp Plus will be priced at $2.99 a month.

Instagram Plus subscribers gain access to story rewatch analytics, the ability to extend stories beyond the standard 24-hour window, unlimited audience lists, and expanded profile customisation tools, as Fox Business reported.

WhatsApp Plus includes features to choose an app theme of your preference, premium sticker packs, and custom ringtones.

One significant detail is that ads won’t be removed from any of the paid subscriptions. Users will continue to see ads on both the Instagram and Facebook apps.

Furthermore, Meta is also experimenting with an AI-centered subscription brand called Meta One, priced at $7.99 and $19.99 per month, as reported by TechCrunch.

Meanwhile, Meta’s stock rose close to 3% on the day of the announcement.
This development comes at a time when Meta anticipate their capital expenditure for 2026 to range between $125 billion and $145 billion (the major portion being spent on their AI infrastructure).

Meta says the free version of their applications will still remain available, with subscriptions being only an additional alternative.

Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal has said India has the potential to become a major producer of copper and gold if the government creates a trust-based ecosystem for entrepreneurs and accelerates reforms in the natural resources sector.

In a recent industry interaction, Agarwal stressed that India’s heavy dependence on imported minerals and metals is not due to a lack of resources, but because of policy bottlenecks and underutilisation of the country’s geological reserves.

“It is painful to see India face the adverse consequences of a war we have nothing to do with, particularly because of raw material security,” Agarwal said.

“We don’t have to import 95 per cent of our copper or 99.5 per cent of our gold. Mother Earth has given us the best geology.” He added that “now is the time… to give entrepreneurs freedom.”

Speaking at the India Today Conclave 2026, Agarwal said India imports nearly 90 per cent of its oil, over 95 per cent of copper and almost all of its gold despite possessing vast untapped reserves.

According to him, unlocking domestic exploration and mining can significantly reduce import dependence, create jobs and strengthen India’s strategic capabilities.

Agarwal said India’s resource scarcity is “a myth” and asserted that the country has enough reserves to emerge as a major force in minerals, metals and energy production.

He also advocated a “trust-based framework” with minimal bureaucratic interference to encourage investments in mining and exploration.

On the importance of copper, Agarwal recently described the metal as “the next gold,” citing its growing use in electric vehicles, renewable energy infrastructure, artificial intelligence and defence technologies.

“Copper is the new super metal,” he said, while urging India’s entrepreneurs and investors to seize opportunities in critical and transition metals.

He has also repeatedly argued that India can become a major gold producer if mining reforms and privatisation initiatives are pursued aggressively.

While many FMCG startups are spending heavily on quick commerce and D2C platforms, Lahori Zeera is proving that real scale in India still comes from kirana stores and offline distribution.

Speaking on the Startup Pedia podcast, co-founder Nikhil Doda shared how the company built a Rs 770 crore business without relying heavily on digital-first distribution.

According to Doda, many founders make the mistake of choosing the wrong sales channel for affordable products.

“Many founders have good products at a Rs 30 price point, but they keep losing money trying to crack D2C. With delivery and platform costs, it becomes very difficult to sustain. If your channel is wrong, your product won’t scale. Real scale in India still comes through general trade,” Nikhil Doda told Startup Pedia co-founder and podcast host Jameel Akhter.

Doda explained that while premium products can succeed online by targeting niche consumers, affordable mass-market products require scale through general trade and local retail networks.

Instead of chasing quick online growth, Lahori Zeera focused on building its business slowly by expanding city by city, strengthening distributor relationships, and improving supply chains over time.

“There are no shortcuts in mass-market FMCG in India. For affordable products like Lahori Zeera, e-commerce alone cannot deliver the kind of scale that traditional retail and general trade networks can,” he added.

Launched in 2017, Lahori Zeera entered a market long dominated by global cola giants by focusing on desi Indian flavors instead of conventional soft drinks.

Watch full podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua2OkhMrtDs