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15Feb By RishabhNo Comments

FUNDING

RailYatri To Raise $10 Million Funding From Omidyar Network

Indian Railway query platform RailYatri is in talks to secure a funding of $10 million from its existing investor Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm. This third round of funding will also see participation from its other existing investors including Blume Ventures, Helion Venture, Nandan Nilekani according to the source ET. “While the talks are on with our existing investors, the quantum of capital we will raise will depend on the scale we wish to achieve over the next 12-18 months,” Manish Rathi, co-founder of RailYatri told the source. The fresh capital will be used to expand the firm's offerings to capture the long-distance market through penetration in geographical spread of buses, along with the introduction of long-distance taxis. RailYatri will also be aiming ...

Top 5 Electric Vehicles to Buy at Auto Expo 2018

14Feb By RishabhNo Comments

Story

Top 5 Electric Vehicles to Buy at Auto Expo 2018

Auto Expo 2018 has been more of an Electric Vehicle Expo! Almost every company that participated in the event has announced or showcased its plans for next generation electric vehicles. It is certain that the electric vehicles are the future of transport industry- from motorbikes, scooters, and cars to big trucks. This years Auto Expo also received a good response from the audience, where Electric Vehicles were quite attractive. Apart from major OEMs like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra and many more, many startups from all across the globe actively participated in the Auto Expo 2018. "Auto Expo is all about showcasing the new product, technologies and take customer feedback. it will be an interesting show for not just OEMs, supply chain but for cus...

14Feb By RishabhNo Comments

FUNDING

Food-tech Startup Holachef Raises Rs 2 Crore Funding

Mumbai based diamond manufacturer and distributor Laxmi Diamond Pvt Ltd's Ashok Kumar Gajera has invested Rs 2 crore in food technology startup Holachef a financial daily reported. Holachef is a food delivery service from its "innovative food combos". The funding is raised at the same valuation as its $5 million Series B round which was held in April, last year. The food delivery startup had raised around $5 million from its existing investors- Kalaari Capital, and was participated by SIDBI Venture Capital and India Quotient, as per the filings with the Registrar of Companies and documents. The Series-B round was completed in two rounds- valuing the company at Rs 143 crore. The startup has been working to build up its team and scale its logistics infrastructure to streamline the busi...

How Negative Publicity Helped ‘Padmaavat’ Gain Huge Revenue

12Feb By RishabhNo Comments

BUSINESS

How Negative Publicity Helped ‘Padmaavat’ Gain Huge Revenue

It is generally said- "All's well that ends well" and it holds just right the entire team of Padmaavat. To our surprise the movie which was in doubt of hitting even a single cinema hall or multiplex, following huge outrage has somehow managed to recover all the investments made by co-producer Viacom18 Motion Pictures. The movie 'Padmaavat' whose named was changed from 'Padmaavati' was made at a cost of Rs 180 crore including P&A (prints and advertising) and distribution expenses. The movie has notched up Rs 307.05 crore in box-office collections as per the source Bollywood Hungama. However, since the film is still up and running, the figures may increase considerably. The figure- Rs 307 crore- is not as huge as it seems if you talk about profit of the co-producer. Only about h...

Alibaba Makes Fourth Investment of $1.3 Billion To Boost Offline Retail Strategy

12Feb By RishabhNo Comments

CHINA

Alibaba Makes Fourth Investment of $1.3 Billion To Boost Offline Retail Strategy

Alibaba Group on Sunday revealed that it will be working towards expansion of its retail footprint and has announced that it invested RMB 5.45 billion (around $867 million) for 15% stake in Beijing Easyhome Furnishing, China’s second-largest home-improvement supplies and furniture chain and invested $486 million in Shiji Retail Information Technology, for 38% stakes. “The investment will combine the strengths of the world’s largest e-commerce platform and rich offline sources of Easyhome,” Alibaba said in a statement. Alibaba has been working on its strategy- "new retail" which is aimed at combining online and offline. As a part of this strategy, the Beijing Easyhome deal is Alibaba's fourth major investment in a brick and mortar chain after it bought majority of stakes in hypermark...

Know What is a ‘Ponzi Scheme’ and Who was the Man behind it?

12Feb By RishabhNo Comments

BLOGS

Know What is a ‘Ponzi Scheme’ and Who was the Man behind it?

In a recent interview, the World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim compared Bitcoins to a "Ponzi Scheme" that once again triggered questions on the legitimacy of the world's most popular cryptocurrency. “In terms of using Bitcoin or some of the cryptocurrencies, we are also looking at it, but I’m told the vast majority of cryptocurrencies are basically Ponzi schemes. It's still not really clear how it's going to work,” he said in an interview. The cryptocurrency, that has been soaring since 2017, has seen not so great start in this year and had reduced to one-third of its peak value nearly in just two months. The World Bank is looking closely at the blockchain technology and hopes that it could be used by developing countries to "follow the money more effectively" and regulate co...

Non-Profit Organization RSF Urges Chinese Reporters To Quit Apple iCloud

9Feb By RishabhNo Comments

CHINA

Non-Profit Organization RSF Urges Chinese Reporters To Quit Apple iCloud

Reporters Without Borders or Reporters Sans Frontières(RSF), a non-profit NGO that promotes freedom of information and freedom of the press calls on Chinese reporters and journalists who are using Apple iCloud to close their accounts or relocate by February 28, 2018, when control of their data will pass to the Chinese state. This is because of the Apple's move of outsourcing the Chinese iCloud operations to a firm which has ties with the local government, by February 28. "RSF alerts journalists and bloggers using iCloud China to the danger that this migration poses to their security and the security of their sources, and urges them to migrate their account to another geographic region or to close it by 28 February," the report reads. Apple iCloud stores the majority of an iPhone or Ma...

Competition Commission of India Imposes Rs 136 Crore Fine on Search Giant Google

9Feb By RishabhNo Comments

News

Competition Commission of India Imposes Rs 136 Crore Fine on Search Giant Google

Competition Commission, the statutory body of India, has imposed a fine of Rs 136 crore (around $ 21.1 million) after finding it guilty of abusing its dominant position in India. The amount of penalty charges is equivalent to about 5 percent of Google's revenue from India. What is the case all about? The case was filed back in 2012 by Matrimony.com, former Bharat Matrimony (Case No. 7), and Consumer Unity & Trust Society (Case No. 30), when they complained the watchdog CCI about Google's about Google's anti-competitive behavior. Alphabet Inc's search giant provides online search services and advertisement space- AdWords and AdSense. The complaints submitted to the CCI focused on Google's biased search results, in which it was favoring Google's own services and partners, ...

8Feb By RishabhNo Comments

FUNDING

Swiggy Swag! Raises $100Mn Funding in Series F Round by Naspers and Meituaan-Dianping

Swiggy has done it once again! Amidst the merger talks with Zomato, Swiggy has raised a $100 million funding in it's Series F round of funding from Naspers, the global internet and entertainment company and Meituaan-Dianping, a Chinese local life information and trading platform. This is the largest funding round in the history of Swiggy so far. The latest development will be used to further strengthen its market leadership position by introducing advanced products and services in the sector, beside making investments in its new supply line business line. “With this funding, we will further invest in building differentiated offerings, plugging the white spaces in the ecosystem, and developing our technology while keeping superlative customer experience at the core. We want to continu...

India’s First Electric Bike Launched at Auto Expo 2018

8Feb By RishabhNo Comments

Automobile, Tech

India’s First Electric Bike Launched at Auto Expo 2018

Bengaluru based tech startup Emflux Motors has launched India's first electric superbike what they call 'Emflux One' at the Auto Expo 2018 amidst high speed electric cars. The obvious, Kitna deti hai(what is the average and price)? Emflux One is a high-power beauty powered by Samsung's Li-Ion Batteries, that includes the Samsung SDi Cells which gives it a 200 km pump without compromising on acceleration and speed, the company says. The bike is powered by 60 kW AC induction motor, with power limited to 53 kW from the controller, which gives it a speed of 200 kmph (around 124 mph). The bike can reach from 0-100 km/h in just 3 seconds (for techies out there - the motor provides a torque of 84 Nm @ 8400 rpm, which is pretty amazing given it is battery powered). The highway r...

DIPP Announces Its 7-Pillar Framework To Rank States on Startup Development

7Feb By RishabhNo Comments

INDIA

DIPP Announces Its 7-Pillar Framework To Rank States on Startup Development

With its goal to encourage states to take proactive steps to encourage startup ecosystem, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has launched the awaited ranking framework, that includes 7 pillars with 38 pointers to rank states/UT based on measures they have taken to promote and nurture entrepreneurship. The online dashboard for State/UT Startup Ranking 2018 was launched by Minister of commerce and Industry, Sri Suresh Prabhu. The Framework DIPP aims to promote competitiveness amongst the Indian states and Union Territories to act proactively when it comes to startup and entrepreneurs. According to the report that DIPP released today, there are a total of 6,875 recognized startups and 82 startups have been given tax exemption. DIPP has also assigned 7 p...

No ‘Angel Tax’ For Startups on Raising Funds Up To Rs 10 Crore

6Feb By RishabhNo Comments

News

No ‘Angel Tax’ For Startups on Raising Funds Up To Rs 10 Crore

In between the Indian government's bid to promote Make in India and the startup industry in the country, the government has finally agreed stating that startups founded before 2016 who have raised up to Rs 10 crore angel funding will be exempted from the Angel Tax. Know what is Angel Tax here? "We have finalised the conditions which will resolve the issue of pre-2016 startups," an anonymous official from DIPP(Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) told the source ET. The finance ministry had initiated the discussions with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on the certification of genuine startups to help with the decision, amidst growing protests from investors and startup founders. "The government has also asked tax officials not to pursue cases against s...