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9Jul By AnkitaNo Comments

INDIA

G20 Hamburg Action Plan Praises India For Promoting Startups at G20 Summit 2017

Acknowledging steps being taken by India for sustainable and inclusive growth as well as support to global economy, the G20 has praised the initiatives in the country for promoting ease of doing business, startup funding and labour reforms. In its Hamburg Action Plan, adopted at the G20 Summit of leaders from the worlds 20 largest economies, the group also noted that "in the financial sector, India is popularising a number of derivative instruments in exchanges or electronic trading platforms" as part of measures to enhance resilience of its economy. The G20 (or G-20 or Group of Twenty) is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies. Currently, these are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy...

Lenskart To Launch IPO in 3 yrs, Aims Rs 600 Cr. Biz in 2017-18

9Jul By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Lenskart To Launch IPO in 3 yrs, Aims Rs 600 Cr. Biz in 2017-18

Online eyewear firm Lenskart plans to launch its initial public offer within next three years to create value and provide exit option to existing shareholders. "As the company grows, we see IPO will create more value for everybody. We are building values with various investments in technology development in the eyewear segment and from IPO will chart out our growth path. We expect to launch it in next three years," Lenskart Founder and CEO Peyush Bansal told PTI in a statement. Lenskart expects to register 100 per cent revenue growth at around Rs 600 crore by the end of current fiscal. The company has raised around Rs 700 crore from various sources with private equity investment, among which TPG Global was one of the lead investor, till now. He said that the company does not requir...

Pokemon Go May Promote Healthy Lifestyle: Study

8Jul By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

ANALYSIS

Pokemon Go May Promote Healthy Lifestyle: Study

Playing Pokemon Go may be good for your health, say scientists who have found that the popular physically-interactive game promotes exercise and reduces sedentary behavior. Researchers from Kent State University in the US assessed the ability of the smartphone based video game Pokemon Go to increase walking and decrease sedentary behavior, like sitting. They asked over 350 college students to report their physical activity and sedentary behavior the week before they downloaded Pokemon Go, the week immediately after downloading the game, and again several weeks later. The team found that relative to the week before downloading the game, students doubled their daily walking behaviour (102 per cent increase) and reduced sedentary behaviour by 25 per cent during the first week after d...

Axis Bank In The Race To Acquire Freecharge

8Jul By RishabhNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Axis Bank In The Race To Acquire Freecharge

Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector lender has emerged as one of the key-runner in the race to acquire e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal owned Freecharge, a digital payments platform founded by Kunal Shah. This payments platform has been seeking a suitable buyer since long, even as its parent company negotiates the terms for its own sale. Axis Bank is currently conducting due diligence on FreeCharge. According to M&A experts, the deal may turn out to a be of USD 20-50 million to Snapdeal. FreeCharge was earlier acquired by Jasper in 2015 in a cash-and-stock deal estimated around USD 400-450 million in what was the largest acquisition of any Indian startup back then. Freecharge has been in continuous talks with many companies for the past one year, but nothing seem...

BookMyShow Acquired Restaurant-Discovery Platform Burrp

4Jul By RishabhNo Comments

ACQUISITION

BookMyShow Acquired Restaurant-Discovery Platform Burrp

Online ticketing platform BookMyShow, in which Reliance Industries-controlled Network18 holds a sizeable stake, has recently acquired restaurant-discovery platform Burrp, another Network18-owned firm. Burrp would continue to run as a separate entity said Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, which runs BookMyShow. The Network18 divestment was made to Foodfesta Wellcare Pvt. Ltd, the BigTree subsidiary that owns and operates BookMyShow, a press statement said. The companies did not reveal the value of the all-cash deal, but a report in The Economic Times called it a “slump sale” and pegged it at a meagre Rs 6.7 lakh. Mansi Vora, head of mergers and acquisitions at BookMyShow, said, “Movie going in India is a social activity and food is an integral part of it. This is where Burrp fits in...

How Bootstrapping Strategy Has Worked Like a Magic In My Startup Business

4Jul By AnkitaNo Comments

Story

How Bootstrapping Strategy Has Worked Like a Magic In My Startup Business

‘When you begin to dream about something that you really like and work hard to achieve it, nothing comes in the way till you are attached with a string of your dream. Let it be there always!’ After working as an employee in ibibo, I decided to join my own venture with the help of my wife, Arti Sharma. Arnit Retail Pvt. Ltd is the parent company of IndiaRush which we started as an e-commerce portal to cater home decor and electronic products. But with passing time, struggle and a lot of arduous effort, we decided to start with apparels, accessory, jewellery and footwear business. Since my college days, I was into mobile marketing and website development. I joined ibibo.com as a software engineer in the mobile department to develop smart games for their app users. It was then when got ...

Nandan Nilekani Teams up With Sanjeev Aggarwal For $100 Million Fund

3Jul By NitishNo Comments

News

Nandan Nilekani Teams up With Sanjeev Aggarwal For $100 Million Fund

Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has partnered venture capital veteran Sanjeev Aggarwal to set up a USD 100 million fund that will focus on building "enduring technology companies" out of India, specially consumer technology. Called the The Fundamentum Partnership, the platform will lead investment rounds ranging between USD 10-25 million in companies that are looking at scaling up and have attained a certain product market fit. "In a marked departure from industry practice, Fundamentum founders will not be charging any fund management fee or carried interest," it said in a statement. Aggarwal who had also founded of BPO firm Daksh will continue to also actively manage the portfolio of Helion Venture Partners (which he co-founded) along with other co- founders. "Fundamentum w...

30Jun By AnkitaNo Comments

ANALYSIS

6 Differentiators to Help Your Startup Win the Race

Thousands of startups open and shut every year, forced by a fiercely competitive environment. Below are 6 differentiators that will help you stay above the crowd and prove yourself a winner:- Tell a Captivating Story People love stories and to draw them to yours, you must ensure that they understand where you are coming from. You have to illustrate your pitch in such a manner that people can instantly relate and put themselves in your shoes. It needs to have logic, emotion and recall value. Using the power of storytelling through various channels like emails and social media, you can enhance a brand’s image, significantly. Acknowledge What Makes You Different You are probably not the first one to create your product or service and even if you ar...

SHAREit Becomes Model Case of a Company’s Rise in India

27Jun By AnkitaNo Comments

News

SHAREit Becomes Model Case of a Company’s Rise in India

Investors and entrepreneurs are always looking for opportunities in a booming market regardless of what stage of development that market is in. From China more than a decade ago to India nowadays, industry leaders have always kept an eye on the Asian market, while India has replaced China as the market with the most potential and become a new driver of global economic growth. Entrepreneurs from across the world are competing in India's internet market. As a result, companies that deliver quality products to India's immense number of consumers are building and consolidating a leading position in the global market. SHAREit is one such case. From gaining 1 billion users worldwide within five years, to appearing on Google Play's homepage over 700 times and claiming the number one spot on...

27Jun By AnkitaNo Comments

ANALYSIS

Impact of GST on Startup and Businesses

Goods & Services Tax (GST) is a consolidated, consumption based tax which will be levied on the supply of goods and services at a national level. It will combine major taxes like excise duty, CST, octroi, service tax, and VAT (value added tax) etc. into a single tax called GST, which will come into effect starting July 1st, 2017. Here are some of the ways startups and other common businesses will be impacted by GST- Small traders with an annual turnover of up to Rs. 20 lakh won’t be required to register the new GST Act, and with the north-east States, the exemption threshold is Rs.10 lakh. This would save many small scale traders and service providers from undertaking GST agreements and reduce a substantial weight off the shoulders of tax authorities. The GST in...

Fintech Startup LoanTap Raises Rs 26 crore For Business Expansion

24Jun By AdityaNo Comments

FUNDING

Fintech Startup LoanTap Raises Rs 26 crore For Business Expansion

LoanTap Financial Technologies today said it has raised USD 4 million (about Rs 26 crore) in second round of funding, which will be invested in software and expand its footprint in tier 2 and 3 cities. "LoanTap Financial Technologies, an online personal loan company with in-house NBFC, has announced closing of its second round funding at USD 4 million," the company said in a statement. Post funding, LoanTap aims to bolster collection features in its software, besides reaching out to Tier 2 and Tier 3, major capital cities and business hubs. The fund raising round comprises of a mix of equity and debt instruments from Kae Capital, India Quotient, IFMR and MAS Financial Services Ltd. "Equity infusion to the platform was led by Kae Capital with participation from its existing inve...

Airbnb Acquired Background Check Startup Founded by Indians

19Jun By PriyankaNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Airbnb Acquired Background Check Startup Founded by Indians

Leading online lodging service Airbnb is buying a California-based background-check startup founded by three Indian-origin entrepreneurs in 2014 as it seeks to protect its users and hosts from undesirable and fraudulent people. A report in Fortune magazine said Airbnb is buying Trooly, a startup that specialises in technology that helps conduct background checks. Trooly was co-founded by Savi Baveja, Anish Das Sarma and Nilesh Dalvi. According to profiles of the founders on the Trooly website, Baveja, who is also the company's CEO, had previously served as senior partner at the strategy consulting firm Bain & Company, and a member of the Bain Board of Directors. Sarma, the companys Chief Technology Officer, is a gold medalist from IIT and has worked at Google Research and Y...