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Ratan Tata Fosters Another Startup, Invests in Fitness Band GOQii

3Oct By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

FUNDING

Ratan Tata Fosters Another Startup, Invests in Fitness Band GOQii

Adding one more to his startup funding list, leading industrialist and serial investor Ratan Tata has invested in virtual fitness coaching platform, GOQii. The size of the funding was however not disclosed. The company, which is a leading player in the Indian wearables market, is backed by angel investors like Shriram Nene and his wife and Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit Nene and Neeraj Arora (WhatsApp). It offers a fitness tracker band coupled with a personal coach. The US-based company had earlier raised USD 13.4 million in a series A funding in November 2015. "With the recent developments and tie-ups on the platform, the investment from Tata is a testimony to us being a defining player of services in our category making long-term impact in people's life," GOQii CEO and founder ...

Amazon Prime Video to Launch Baahubali’s Animated Series

2Oct By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Amazon Prime Video to Launch Baahubali’s Animated Series

Amazon Prime Video today said it has partnered with filmmaker S S Rajamouli, Graphic India and Arka Mediaworks to launch "Baahubali: The Lost Legends", a new animated series based on blockbuster film, "Baahubali". "The animation series will allow our customers to discover hidden stories and legends from the Baahubali world," Amazon Prime Video India Director and Country Head Nitesh Kripalani said. "Baahubali: The Lost Legends" is set before the Kalakeya invasion depicted in the movie, when Baahubali and Bhallaladeva are still both young princes of Mahishmati, a release said. It said the animated series will feature new, never before revealed stories about the characters from the film, including Prince Baahubali, Bhallaladeva, Kattapa and Sivagami, as well as dozens of new characte...

Market Potential Huge, E-commerce Bound To Succeed: Nadan Nilekani

30Sep By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

Entrepreneurs Talk

Market Potential Huge, E-commerce Bound To Succeed: Nadan Nilekani

E-commerce players in India are bound to succeed because of huge market opportunities, and the coming Diwali season will be a pointer to where this space is headed, says Infosys co-founder Nandan M Nilekani. He is also of the view that a prudent cash management and improved customer experience will stand them in good stead. "E-commerce businesses are becoming more disciplined about their operations, they are burning less cash, they are improving their customer experience, and this Diwali season will be a very good indication of how the market is growing," Nilekani, the brain behind the biometric Aadhaar, said. "All these companies are well-funded, they have enough capital to last for a couple of years. So, that gives adequate time to discipline the model. In any case, they are doing an ...

DIPP to Hire Consultants to Push Startup India

29Sep By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

DIPP to Hire Consultants to Push Startup India

The commerce and industry ministry is looking to engage consultants to promote the government's Startup India campaign for budding entrepreneurs. The department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), under the ministry, has issued an advertisement for engaging a senior consultant and two consultants for the Startup India initiative. It has invited applications from eligible candidates for "engagement as senior consultant/consultant on contractual basis." It said the job responsibilities for the senior consultant include assessment of the existing startup ecosystem in the country, identifying the national and international best practices, making recommendations to facilitate growth of startups and monitoring implementation of action plans, schemes and programmes. Those of th...

Amazon to Set Up 3 More Fulfillment Centres By Year-end

26Sep By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Amazon to Set Up 3 More Fulfillment Centres By Year-end

E-commerce giant Amazon will set up three more fulfillment centres in India taking the total number to 27 by the end of this year, a senior executive of the company said here today. "Right now, we have 24 fulfillment centres. By the end of this year, we should be closing with around 27 fulfillment centres. That would give a storage capacity of around 7.5 million cubic feet. That is one of the largest investments we committed to India," Noor Patel, Director Category Management, Amazon India told reporters in a press conference. However, Patel declined to reveal the locations for the proposed centres. A senior official of Amazon said currently 24 centres are located across 10 states in India. "This is the only country where Amazon is having its own delivery infrastructure," he ad...

Skype Will Use Aadhaar-based ID Authentication: Microsoft

23Sep By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Skype Will Use Aadhaar-based ID Authentication: Microsoft

Microsoft today said it has presented to central authorities various “case scenarios” on how its Skype service can be used for identity authentication using the Aadhaar database. “We have presented various case scenarios on how Skype can be used. We already support iris authentication (on Windows 10). Now it depends on them how they want to proceed,” Microsoft India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik said. Citing an example, he said Skype can be used by people to authenticate themselves for accessing government services that require Aadhaar-based authentication. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is in discussions with handset makers and operating system providers for embedding the identification technology onto mobile devices. This will help people authenticate their Aadhaa...

India Post Seeks Applications For Payments Bank CEO Post

23Sep By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

India Post Seeks Applications For Payments Bank CEO Post

Government today set into motion the process to select CEO for India Post Payments Bank (IPPB). IPPB has invited applications for the post of chief executive officer/managing director from eligible candidates, a public notice said. Last year, India Post has received in-principle approval from RBI and subsequently nod from the Cabinet for setting up IPPB. As per the notice, the candidate should be between 40-55 years, and a minimum 15 years of experience in financial services is mandatory. India Posts payments bank with 650 branches is expected to start functioning from September 2017. There are 1.54 lakh post offices, of which 1.39 lakh are rural ones. The total asset of postal payments bank is Rs 800 crore, which will have Rs 400 crore equity and Rs 400 crore grant. All ...

Study Shows Over Half of all Employees Feel Dissatisfied With Their Salary

20Sep By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

ANALYSIS

Study Shows Over Half of all Employees Feel Dissatisfied With Their Salary

A study by leading Job Portal reveals that 55% Gen Y and 53% Gen Z employees were disappointed with their first-drawn salaries. Dissatisfaction with salary is not new, however the reasons may have changed with changing aspirations of different generations. "This disappointment with salaries is due to many factors - the lack of a proper benchmark tool is one of the reasons which are not readily acknowledged. However, if you can assess your worth on the basis of what the standard payout is in a particular sector for a particular role, you will be saved of that disappointment when you actually get the job offer," says Vikas Deep Verma, Head of Product and Marketing, TimesJobs. The TimesJobs study based on the first job journey of Gen Z and Gen Y workforce also reveals that Gen Z is quic...

Indian Companies Foreign Investment Fell 84% in Aug at $399 Million

17Sep By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Indian Companies Foreign Investment Fell 84% in Aug at $399 Million

India Companies overseas direct investment fell 84 per cent to USD 399.06 million in August, data from RBI showed. Indian companies had made an investment of USD 2.47 billion in the markets abroad during the same period last year. Compare to July this year, direct investments in August were down by 82.6 per cent. The investments were in the form of issuance of guarantees (USD 97.14 million), loans (146.36 million) and equity (USD 155.56 million). Palava Dwellers Pvt Ltd was among the biggest investors, which invested 21.75 million in its wholly owned subsidiaries in Jersey, Mauritius and The Netherlands. WNS Global Services invested USD 15.35 million in a joint venture in the UK, General Insurance Corporation infused USD 11.9 million in a wholly owned business in South Afric...

Paytm Plans to Open Multi-Format Physical Touch Points Soon

17Sep By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Paytm Plans to Open Multi-Format Physical Touch Points Soon

Mobile payment firm Paytm, which has remained restricted to the digital format this far, will soon have physical branches and touch points, a top company official said today. "We will have physical touch points in various formats. We have submitted a 12 months business plan," Paytm Payment Bank VP Ruchita Taneja Aggarwal said on the sidelines of a CII organised banking event here. She said that these physical touch points have become necessary after Paytm forayed into payment bank business and received the regulators nod. "We are waiting for the final license from RBI, but we expect to start payment bank operations by Diwali," Aggarwal said. With payment bank license, Paytm would be able to give interest on wallet balance to those who upgrade their accounts to savings bank, but Agg...

Rivigo Will Add 100 More Cities For Faster Delivery of E-commerce

16Sep By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Rivigo Will Add 100 More Cities For Faster Delivery of E-commerce

Logistics solutions provider Rivigo today announced adding 100 more cities for faster delivery of cargo using truck drivers relay mechanism. "Rivigo today announced a significant expansion of its part-truck load capability Rivigo Zoom by adding more than 100 cities to its pan India coverage. With the expansion, Rivigo services can now be availed of in most state capitals, major cities and industrial centres," the company said in a statement. It said combining technology and a unique driver?s relay mechanism, Rivigo provides precision deliveries at 50-70 per cent lesser transit times compared to conventional trucking companies. The expansion coincides with the company acquiring 1,200 trucks from Ashok Leyland to take its fleet size to 2,700 by the year end. "We are confi...

Uber Tie-up With NSDC, Maruti to Skill 1 Million By 2018

15Sep By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

BUSINESS

Uber Tie-up With NSDC, Maruti to Skill 1 Million By 2018

Transportation app Uber has launched a new initiative in partnership with Maruti and NSDC, for creating livelihood opportunities for one million people by 2018. Under UberSHAAN, the company will provide access to skill development and driver training to the unskilled, Uber India President Amit Jain said. The initiative will also help trained drivers receive commercial licenses, vehicle financing and leasing solutions, he added. "With UberSHAAN, our plan is to rapidly scale Indias entrepreneurial base and generate one million livelihood opportunities on the Uber platform by 2018. Our partnership with the National Skill Development Corporation and Maruti Suzuki will be instrumental in realising our goal by 2018," he said. Uber has about 4 lakh drivers on its platform in India, which ...