Indian Startups: News

GoMechanic fires 70% of its workforce; financial books under scanner

Automobile after-sales service start-up GoMechanic has fired roughly 70% of its workforce or around 500 employees.

Social e-commerce start-up DealShare raises $11 million in Series-A round

DealShare, a Jaipur-based social commerce start-up that sources products directly from manufacturers to sell them at discounted prices, has raised $11 million in Series-A round of funding.

HR tech start-up Greytip raises $4.87 million from Naukri's parent

HR tech start-up Greytip Software has raised $4.87 million in Series C round of funding.

Five start-ups that are changing the lives of rural India

India has become one of the fastest growing start-up hubs in the world in recent years. There are tens and thousands of start-ups in the country across various sectors, including technology, media, healthcare, and financial technology, business services among others.

Swiggy raises $1bn in its largest funding round yet

Months after entering India's unicorn club, food delivery platform Swiggy has raised a whopping $1bn in fresh capital from existing and new investors.

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Bounce raises $3 million from venture debt firm InnoVen Capital

Two-wheeler rental service provider Bounce today said it has raised $3 million from leading venture debt firm, InnoVen Capital.

OYO Rooms raises $1bn, enters unicorn club

Budget hotel chain OYO Rooms has entered India's unicorn club, having raised a whopping $800mn in a round led by Japan's Softbank Vision Fund.

Warren Buffett set to invest Rs. 2,000+ cr in Paytm

If reports are to be believed, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway are in talks with Paytm parent company, One97 Communications to invest around Rs. 2,200-2,500cr ($300-350mn) in the digital payments company.

Host the best weddings with AutoParty by OYO

A wedding is a dream, and AutoParty by OYO works to fulfill this beautifully.

Ola: Began its journey in 1BHK, now worth Rs. 32,500cr

India's largest cab-hailing start-up Ola started its journey eight years back in 2010 from a 1BHK Mumbai apartment as its first office.

India will have 1 lakh start-ups by 2025: Mohandas Pai

India will have one lakh start-ups by 2025, employing 32.5 lakh people, Manipal Global Education Chairman T V Mohandas Pai said today.

Online milk delivery start-up Doodhwala receives $2.2mn funding

Doodhwala, a micro delivery service for fresh groceries, today said it has received a seed investment of $2.2 million by Omnivore, a venture capitalist firm, for a minority stake in the company.

Facebook is the world's most evil company: Paytm founder

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of India's biggest mobile wallet firm Paytm, has called Facebook "the most evil company in the world."

I am an entrepreneur, I should not be taken seriously

That entrepreneurs are dreamy is an understatement. People outside the 'chaar dewari' find this job glamorous, people inside it find it lonely.

Gurugram to get UN lab focusing on women entrepreneurs

The city of Gurugram is all set to get a United Nations (UN) technology innovation laboratory that will focus on promoting women entrepreneurship in the region.

Angel Investor Mahesh Murthy arrested in stalking and harassment case

Mumbai Police have arrested VC and Pinstorm Founder-CEO Mahesh Murthy acting on a sexual harassment complaint by a Delhi-based woman. Notably, Murthy had helped in launching MTV in India.

Swiggy raises Rs. 642cr in its biggest funding round

Bengaluru-based food delivery start-up Swiggy has raised $100mn (a little over Rs. 642.5 crore) in a Series F funding round led by South African media conglomerate Naspers joined by Chinese e-commerce platform Meituan-Dianping.

Angel-tax exemption for start-ups with up to Rs. 10cr funding

Start-ups founded before 2016 may finally get an exemption from the much-talked-about Angel Tax, giving them a much-needed relief, reported ET.

China's Alibaba leads BigBasket's $300-million funding round

Online grocery start-up BigBasket has raised $300 million in Series-E funding which was led by China's Alibaba Group. This is the largest investment raised by the company so far.

Paytm to become a $10bn start-up after secondary share sale

The valuation of home-grown digital payments giant Paytm, owned by Noida-based One97 Communications, is likely to jump to $10bn after some existing and former employees sell a part of their shares to new investors, including Canada-based Discovery Capital. Information about other investors isn't available yet.

Start-up opens first theater for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video

Bengaluru-based start-up TERIFLIX has opened the first mini-theatre for screening content from video streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Flipkart's Bansal brothers set up new company, Sabin Advisors

In a quiet move, Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal set up a new company, Sabin Advisors, in December, 2017, reportedly for new businesses, that could range from venture capital funding to insurance.

Drones, chatbots, AI: How will Indian e-commerce change in 2018?

The Indian e-commerce industry has been growing by leaps and bounds. Till 2016, it made up 2% of the total retail market, but this number is set to rise to 12% by 2026.

Ola buys Foodpanda to get into food-business, will infuse $200mil

Ola has announced it will acquire Foodpanda's India business, wherein Foodpanda's parent company DeliveryHero will get an undisclosed amount of Ola stocks.

Freedom-251 maker asks for govt's help, promises delivery soon

Mohit Goel, director of the firm behind world's cheapest smartphone, Freedom 251 phone, is back in news.

India will have 1L startups by 2025: Mohandas Pai

India will have one lakh startups by 2025 which will create a value of $500bn, says Manipal Global Education Chairman TV Mohandas Pai.

The news start-up where all the reporters are under 14

This robot can play with children and help them learn!

Robots have already disrupted industries like manufacturing (automotive/electronics/consumer goods), medical/pharmaceutical, space, etc. but are hardly being used domestically.

Complaint against Flipkart founders for cheating supplier of Rs. 10cr

The Bansals of Flipkart fame are in trouble, along with three of its employees. A businessman has filed a complaint against these five people alleging they had cheated him to the tune of Rs. 10cr.

After one-year ban by IITs, companies shun "startup" tag

A year after the IITs barred startups from its campus placements, new companies seem to be ever-wary of being labeled one.

Kerala start-up has tech solution to sewer deaths

Despite legal bans, Supreme Court interventions, and other measures against manual scavenging, the abominable practice continues in India.

Paytm now lets you borrow interest-free credit! Here's how.

Paytm has been expanding its range of services tremendously, and there's another new product in store.

Meet Aditi Verma: Mumbai entrepreneur who has defeated Down syndrome

Aditi Verma is 23 years old. Born with Down syndrome, she had to undergo a major surgery at the age of 2.5 years to mend a hole in her heart. But today, Aditi runs a cafe in Navi Mumbai's Bhoomi Mall.

Bengaluru company picked by Facebook for marketing mix modelling partnership

RainMan Consulting, a Bengaluru-based marketing analytics company, has become one of the primary firms in Asia to join hands with Facebook as a marketing mix modelling partner (MMM).

Indian start-up 'Buttalks' is helping men buy better underwear

At a time when internet-based companies are changing the way Indians pay bills, buy groceries, and commute, three Chennai-based entrepreneurs (Brijesh Devareddy, Surej Salim, and Manish Kishore) are using an e-commerce platform to help Indian men buy better underwear.

Food-delivery space: Next big battleground for Indian e-commerce leaders?

E-commerce giants, Amazon India, Flipkart, and Paytm, are reportedly looking to foray into the food-delivery business and are trying to acquire, invest, or expand into the sector.

Paytm launches "Inbox" in-app messaging service to take on WhatsApp

At a time when WhatsApp is about to debut "in-chat payments feature" to take on Paytm in India, the country's largest digital wallet app has launched a messaging feature, as a direct competition to Facebook-owned messenger.

Bengaluru AI start-up develops speech-to-text technology supporting 9 Indian languages

Bengaluru-based Liv.ai Artificial Intelligence (AI) start-up has developed a speech-recognition technology that converts speech-to-text for those who don't speak English.

Flipkart in talks to pick up stake in BookMyShow

E-commerce giant Flipkart is reportedly in talks to pick up a significant stake in online ticketing platform BookMyShow to build out its services and transaction offering.

GoJavas sends Rs. 300cr legal notice to Snapdeal

Quickdel Logistics, the parent of GoJavas, has sent a Rs. 300cr legal notice to Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal and Jasper Infotech, the entity than runs Snapdeal.

Paytm Payments Bank incurred Rs. 30cr loss in 7 months

In its regulatory filing to Registrar of Companies (RoC), Paytm Payments Bank informed that in the time period between August 2016 and March 31, 2017, it has incurred losses of Rs. 30.7 crore.

Flipkart: $100mn ESOP repurchase plan; Diwali bonanza for employees

As many as 6,000 current/former employees of India's homegrown e-commerce giant Flipkart are in for a Diwali bonanza.

Food tech start-up Yumist shuts down; fails to raise funds

Gurugram-based food tech start-up Yumist, which offered home-cooked meals, is shutting down as it failed to raise the kind of capital required to survive in the competitive market.

Bengaluru tech start-up wins $1mn in Elon Musk-backed competition

Chimple Learning, a two-year-old Bengaluru-based technology start-up, has become one of the finalists of "Global Learning XPRIZE" competition, winning a $1mn milestone prize.

Indian start-ups that crashed in 2017

A recent study, titled "Entrepreneurial India" by the IBM Institute for Business Value and Oxford Economics, showed that 90% of Indian start-ups fail within the first five years.

SEBI asks crowdfunding platforms to issue disclaimer

According to reports, angel investor networks and start-up funding platforms are now required to notify every firm and investor via disclaimer that their platforms are not stock exchanges and they don't have SEBI's authorization to solicit investments.

Bengaluru: Start-up that helps civic bodies prepare for natural disasters

Visual computing technology firm VizExperts said municipal agencies in Bengaluru have no system in place to get prepared for natural disasters.

Zomato eyes $200m from Alibaba, may get the unicorn-tag back

According to reports, Zomato is currently engaged in negotiation with Alibaba and its payments affiliate Ant Financial to raise up to $200 million from them.

Paytm Mall's festival marketing budget is a whopping Rs. 1000cr

This festival season, India will witness one of the biggest e-commerce wars. Reports show that Paytm Mall's budget, for cash back, marketing, and promotions for September-October, is a whopping amount of Rs. 1,000 crore.

Bertelsmann wants to invest $200-250m in Indian start-ups

German media group Bertelsmann plans to deploy $200-250 million in India's start-up ecosystem over the next four years.

Paytm looking to become a full-service bank through partnerships

Paytm's rise to prominence during the demonetization-phase fuelled its ambition to get into the banking business.

Flipkart partners with global firms to push private labels

Indian home-grown e-commerce platform Flipkart, in a bid to push its private labels, has now decided to work closely with manufacturers in China, India and other Southeast Asian countries.

Youths in conflict-ridden Kashmir shine with their own start-up

Abrar Yaseen, Muazzam Khursheed and Haider Parveez could have been mistaken for just any college-going youngsters. Instead, they have managed to stand out by setting up their own start-up in conflict-ridden Kashmir.

BigBasket eyes $200 million investment from Paytm Mall, Alibaba

According to reports, online marketplace Paytm Mall and its principal investor Alibaba has extended the exclusivity period of their negotiations with online grocer BigBasket for two weeks.

Flipkart goes global, will woo NRIs with desi products

Amazon already does it and from now on, so will Flipkart. The home-grown e-commerce platform will now sell its products to online shoppers in nearly 200 countries.

Narendra Modi will meet 200 start-up entrepreneurs to discuss ideas

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be meeting the 'champions of change', who have set up successful businesses from the grounds up, today at a session organized by federal policy think tank NITI Aayog.

Paytm Mall plans to get 50,000 offline sellers onboard

It's not only Flipkart and Amazon which are gearing up for the festive season discount battle. Another major player, which hasn't been making much noise, is now ready to make its move.

Flipkart and 38 other companies miss out on GSP license

Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart has missed out on becoming a holder of the GST Suvidha Provider (GSP) license.

SoftBank buys stake in Flipkart, becomes its largest shareholder

Flipkart just announced that it has received a mix of primary and secondary capital from the SoftBank Vision Fund.

CEOs: Deciphering the enigma and busting the boardroom's myths

It's a thinking-out-loud kind of a situation. What makes a CEO tick?

The start-up funding game: In focus now, Matrix Partners India

When one is talking about Matrix Partners India, the entire article can be summed up with the Wi-Fi password of their office.

Zomato Skillet to educate restaurateurs about industry insights, skills, tricks

Zomato has survived 9 years in the food-tech sector. Several start-ups in this segment balked and closed shop but Zomato soldiered on, even after losing the coveted "unicorn" tag.

Snapdeal 2.0, the story of not giving in to pressure

Snapdeal is ready to bend but it's not ready to snap. There will be no sale.

Multi-million dollar Zoho Corp powered by high school graduates

Zoho Corporation is a Chennai-based software company offering cloud-based products like Zoho Mail, Zoho Docs (like Google Docs), accounting software Zoho Books and several others, some of which are used by giants like Amazon, Suzuki, etc.

The start-up funding game, in focus now, SAIF Partners

India has seen its fair share of start-up success and failures stories. A start-up begins with a vision but to make it a reality, it often needs funding. One of the ways to go about it is via venture capitals

Microsoft mulls on investing $100 million in Ola's parent firm

According to reports, Microsoft is now mulling on investing $50-100 million (Rs. 320-640 crore) to acquire a minority stake in ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs Ola, the home-grown ride hailing platform.

Ambulances in need, start-ups are now breaking new grounds

The government runs around 24,000 ambulances under its National Ambulance Service and there is a bevy of private ambulances across India.

Paytm buys majority stake in Insider.in for Rs. 35 crore

Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led Paytm has now acquired a majority stake in Insider.in for a little over Rs. 35 crore.

India's Halli Labs joins Google's Next Billion Users team

M&A (mergers and acquisitions) is the flavor of the season, it appears.The latest one was Google acquiring Bengaluru-based Halli Labs, a relatively new start-up which made its presence known on May 22 this year.

Flipkart may see the return of Bansals at the helm

Rumors are afloat that with the proposed deal with SoftBank Group Corp, Flipkart will see the return of Sachin and Binny Bansal, co-founders of the company, to their former glory.