News | Pixr8 News

Ratan Tata will advise IDG Ventures India as a senior advisor

10Sep By No Comments

News

Ratan Tata will advise IDG Ventures India as a senior advisor

Ratan Tata has joined the advisory board of venture capital firm IDG Ventures India as a senior advisor, third such move by Tata Sons' chairman emeritus this year. IDG Ventures, which holds stakes in e-tailer Flipkart and online travel portal Yatra, has offices in Delhi and Bengaluru. Tata will be advising IDG Ventures India and portfolio entrepreneurs on its overall business strategy and growth, global expansion, team building and leadership. He will also be a special invitee, on selective basis, in portfolio company board meetings on strategic matters, said a statement. The venture capital firm, which completes ninth year of operations in India, has backed 50 companies from its funds committing over Rs 1,000 crore in the Indian early stage technology venture capital market. Other p...

UrbanClap hits $10 million mark, one of the fastest growing startups

9Sep By No Comments

News

UrbanClap hits $10 million mark, one of the fastest growing startups

UrbanClap, a mobile marketplace for services ranging from the likes of house cleaning and beauty services at home to interior designing and wedding photography, said the value of monthly transactions on its platform has reached $10 million (Rs 66.6 crore). The startup had achieved the mark in August, less than six months of its mobile app launch, making it one of the fastest growing Internet services companies in India. "We are receiving 2,000-3,000 customer requests every day and are able to connect 99% of the customers to the right professionals in less than half an hour," said Varun Khaitan, cofounder of UrbanClap. The 27-year-old IIT-Kanpur graduate founded UrbanClap last year, along with former Twitter employee Raghav Chandra and IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus Abhiraj Bhal. ...

8Sep By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Sourav Ganguly will host Bengal’s first entrepreneurship based reality show

The former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly is well known for his television show Dadagiri and now become the face of an upcoming Bengali business reality show Egiye Bangla - apni jokhon entrepreneur. The request came from none other than Chief minister of Bengal Ms. Mamata Banerjee. The show is being sponsored by Bengal government, as Mamata Banerjee wants to promote - Shilpo Karun, Bangla Gorun and for that small entrepreneurs are now being focused to create jobs. (more…)

AskmeBazaar launches ‘NDD service’ for Hyderabad

8Sep By No Comments

News

AskmeBazaar launches ‘NDD service’ for Hyderabad

Pushing on its hyperlocal offering, AskmeBazaar.com has launched its Next Day Delivery (NDD) service in Hyderabad. Bringing deals from the offline players on the city-specific page of AskmeBazaar, the portal has tied up with 70 merchants in the city across 13 categories for delivery within 24 hours. It will extend its services to Guntur, Vijaywada and Vizag to cover Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in next phase of expansion. With a presence across 22 cities and a seller base of 1400 merchants, it is a part of the e-commerce portal's expansion in the hyperlocal delivery space. "Currently you see hyperlocal delivery only in the grocery and food segments. We have launched our hyperlocal delivery in this segment in Delhi-NCR recently and will also scale it up over the next two quarters. As for...

Startups, inMobi, Zerodha, Woolpr ‘takes care’ employees pets

7Sep By No Comments

News

Startups, inMobi, Zerodha, Woolpr ‘takes care’ employees pets

Becky a three-month old kitten, purrs atop a work desk at InMobi, staring at long boardroom discussions and at the new faces at hiring interviews. Her owner Rebecca D'leema, a top executive at the tech startup, brings Becky to work every day. Like most of the 700-odd workers at InMobi located in Marathahalli, Rebecca is single. "Long working hours means leaving pets home alone in a lonely environment.Without time, people are giving them up to shelters," she said. InMobi allows employees to bring their pets to work as a matter of policy. "In such a scenario, a workplace that allows pets makes life so much easier," Rebecca said. So, Becky has company. Walter, the Golden Retriever, owned by another employee who works on the same floor as Rebecca, is Becky's friend.At least six employ...

6Sep By RishabhNo Comments

News

Challenges, growth and takedowns of Online Food & Groceries startups in India

Many emerging start-ups like BigBasket and PepperTap have started to acquire the market with their services of providing food and groceries right to your doorstep. Providing over more than 14,000 products all over from pulses to dairy and eggs and all that too online is no small thing. These startups have slammed the accelerators and are working hard and consistently to grow over into the deepest of valleys and every street in their working region. (more…)

Paytm testing payment models usable in offline mode

5Sep By No Comments

News

Paytm testing payment models usable in offline mode

Alibaba-backed Paytm is testing payment models to make its online wallet usable in the offline world — across large retail stores, restaurants and fuel stations — as the company looks for more avenues for the money stored in its digital wallet to be spent. Last week, Paytm, which recently got a payment bank licence from the Reserve Bank of India, started a pilot with Pizza Hut. Under the model, a customer can pay directly from his/her Paytm Wallet by opening the Paytm application and selecting the merchant from the list. "The idea is very simple. We are creating more offline to online use cases for the wallet," said Nitin Misra, vice- president of Paytm. Misra added that the company wants the Paytm app to become the local app for all payment needs be it for bills, groceries, challans, ...

China’s big tech companies backs Indian startups

4Sep By No Comments

News

China’s big tech companies backs Indian startups

What we will say, Is this Narendra modi effect or what but China's one of the largest search engine Baidu and one of the country's biggest private conglomerates Fosun are scouting to invest in Indian startups, joining compatriots from the Middle Kingdom eager to profit from the opportunities in the world's fastest-growing major economy. Investment managers from both companies are in talks with Indian venture capitalists and start-ups for potential funding deals, two people directly aware of the development told ET. Taiwan's Foxconn is also an investor in Snapdeal along with Japan's SoftBank. "They (Baidu and Fosun) have been having conversations about specific opportunities — the startup names include niche e-commerce firms as well as some in the enterprise space," said a second source....

Ratan Tata invests in food startup Holachef

3Sep By No Comments

News

Ratan Tata invests in food startup Holachef

Chairman emeritus of Tata Sons Ratan Tata has made a personal investment of an undisclosed amount in the online marketplace for chefs Holachef. Launched in September 2014 by Saurabh Saxena and Anil Gelra, Holachef has seen substantial growth in Mumbai and Pune, the company said in a statement today. "Ratan Tata's name and body of work is synonymous with trust and consumer focus. With his guidance, Holachef is looking to become a leader in the food-tech space," Saurabh Saxena, Co-founder and chief executive Holachef said. Ratan Tata in his personal capacity has invested in over a dozen new businesses so far, most of them being technology driven. Holachef had raised a first strategic round of funding (Series A) of Rs 20 crore in a round led by Kalaari Capital in June 2015. Anand ...

2Sep By NitishNo Comments

News

Rediff Introduces Real-time ‘Conversations’ to its Platform

Rediff.com India Ltd. (NASDAQ: REDF) ("Rediff" or "the Company"), an India-based internet company which delivers digital content and commerce services, introduced 'Conversations', a real-time messaging platform, making it easy and secure for users to converse on topics of common interest. Users can create 'Conversations' on the fly and invite others to contribute. Participants can also share articles, links, images and documents. 'Conversations' thus becomes the knowledge repository for various topics. The service addresses the issue of users having to manage multiple communication threads on related topics. 'Conversations' makes it easier for new members to use the platform as multiple discussions are available for their reference in chronological order. The platform also includes ...

After cabs, Uber plans own ‘Uber wallet’ in India

1Sep By No Comments

News

After cabs, Uber plans own ‘Uber wallet’ in India

US-based cab service provider Uber is planning to come up with its own mobile payment wallet in India, according to sources. It is planning to apply to RBI for the licence. At present, consumers can pay for Uber trips via Paytm wallet. It recently tied up with Airtel Money to facilitate payments via the latter's wallet as well. The latest plan is in line with the firm's ambition to make India its second biggest market after the US. It recently entered four new Indian cities, taking its tally to 22 cities. "It would be a natural progression for Uber in India given the importance it attaches to Indian market.The growth plans will get a further boost if it gets the nod from RBI for a semi-closed wallet ," a source close to the development said requesting anonymity . When contacted, a...

Practo, Healthcare startup forays into Indonesian market

1Sep By No Comments

News

Practo, Healthcare startup forays into Indonesian market

Healthcare startup Practo today said it has forayed into the Indonesian market with its product, 'Practo Search'. Practo has a presence in India, Philippines and Singapore and has a team of 1,500 employees. Indonesians will be able to search for over 4,200 verified doctors in over 60 percent of all clinics across Jakarta DKI, using Practo website or an app that has been specially built for the region, Practo said in a statement. The product, available in Indonesian and English language, will allow consumers to book appointments for doctors online, it added. "We will continue our global expansion to be present in over 10 countries by March and enable over two billion consumers to make better healthcare decisions," Practo founder and CEO Shashank ND said. Consumers can search u...