Thursday, April 25

Tag: startups

Bengaluru Metro Will Now Be The Refuge Of Startups!
News

Bengaluru Metro Will Now Be The Refuge Of Startups!

Finally, a good news for the entrepreneurs of Bengaluru, If you are founding  a Tech based startup and are looking for a not too expensive office, Bangalore Metro is just the right place! The Bangalore Metro Rail Authority is inviting emerging businesses to set-up their offices in five of its stations, following the success of 'Rsmakerspace', Workbench Projects, that opened at the Halasuru station in February 2015. "It is not like Workbench Projects, which is renting out space (at the Halasuru metro station) on a monthly basis. These (startup) outlets will be proper offices." BMRCL currently has 31 operating metro stations from Baiyappanahalli to Mysuru Road  and from Nagasandra to Sampige Road. Startups can bid for 31 office spaces of 100 sqft to 4,000 sqft at the Byappanahalli, Swam...
Venture Catalysts Raises $500k Funding From Zaffiro Ventures
FUNDING

Venture Catalysts Raises $500k Funding From Zaffiro Ventures

Valued in a groundbreaking development for the Indian entrepreneurial landscape, Venture Catalysts has secured $500000 amount from Zaffiro Ventures. VCats was valued at Rs. 40 crore during the investment process, marking a major landmark in the six months of its operations and underlining its position as the fastest growing seed investment platform in the country. "Our aim, ever since our launch, has been to support and augment the growth of promising start-ups across the country. The investment from Zaffiro will not only help us in expanding to multiple cities across India and promote entrepreneurship beyond the metropolitan and tier-I geographies, but will also allow us to access industry insights and business acumen gained by individuals such as Revathi Roy and Jagdish Gothi. ...
Power of Email Marketing-  $38 in Revenue, For Just $1 Investment
BLOGS

Power of Email Marketing- $38 in Revenue, For Just $1 Investment

Email marketing allows you to reach a highly targeted audience at a low cost. In fact, experts at Campaign Monitor, an email marketing company, estimate that an effective email marketing message has the potential to result in $38 in revenue, for just $1 of marketing investment. Here are some email marketing conversion tips all small businesses can use: Include descriptive tags with your images - Online publication MarketingCharts cites data revealing that the average person receives more than 400 commercial emails a month. Emails that include images can help your small business stand out in an already-crowded inbox, especially if you choose those that evoke an emotional response to a product, a promotional campaign concept, or your brand. However, email marketing now comes with a “catch ...
Ivycamp Join Hands With Nasscom To Promote IoT Startups
News

Ivycamp Join Hands With Nasscom To Promote IoT Startups

Nasscom 10,000 StartUps along with IvyCamp, an initiative of IvyCap Ventures, has forged an alliance to bolster the Internet of Things (IoT) movement in the Indian startup ecosystem. The initiative will connect startups, investors, mentors and industry bodies to converge and explore ways of working together, a statement from Nasscom said. IvyCamp platform will connect the industry participants to entrepreneurs for providing guidance on formulating and driving the IoT business. Activities through the year will focus on seeking out, supporting and growing IoT innovations and ventures, it said. "The potential scope of disruptive technologies in India is vast, as they can have a massive economic impact. IoT is one such sector which is gradually gaining popularity. With this collaboratio...
Microsoft Accelerator In a Joint Initiative With Tata Launched Startups Accelerator Center
BUSINESS

Microsoft Accelerator In a Joint Initiative With Tata Launched Startups Accelerator Center

Microsoft Accelerator in India and TCS Co-Innovation Network have announced a joint initiative to create a platform that provides a boost to the Indian startup ecosystem. Under the collaboration, an open innovation framework will be created to mentor and engage with startups to bring their innovative solutions to market. The announcement was made at Think Next Summer 2016, Microsoft Accelerator’s flagship forum, which brings together thought leaders in technology who are driving transformation via innovation. “The progress India has made in IT and entrepreneurship over the past four decades, has radically changed the landscape offering new entrepreneurs unmatched opportunities. As one of the contributors to the startup ecosystem in India, we felt it was a story worth telling. It has tak...
JSW Ventures Gets Sebi Nod For Startup Investments
News

JSW Ventures Gets Sebi Nod For Startup Investments

JSW Ventures, the venture capital arm of the JSW Group, today said it has received clearance from markets regulator Sebi to begin investing in the country. JSW Ventures would focus on providing early-stage funding to technology-enabled startups operating in the education, healthcare, financial services, SaaS (software as a service) and enterprise software space. The fund will have an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore which it will invest over a three-year period. "JSW Ventures, the venture capital arm of the JSW Group, has received the mandatory clearances from Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), paving the way for it to begin investing," a statement by JSW said. "Technology innovation is happening across sectors, from old-fashioned verticals like real estate to research-driv...
Finally Indian Govt Approved Rs 10,000 Cr Fund For Startups
News

Finally Indian Govt Approved Rs 10,000 Cr Fund For Startups

The government today approved Rs 10,000 crore Fund of Funds for Startups to support them with an aim to generate employment for 18 lakh persons. "The fund is expected to generate employment for 18 lakh persons on full deployment...A corpus of Rs 10,000 crore could potentially be the nucleus for catalysing Rs 60,000 crore of equity investment and twice as much debt investment," an official statement said. The decision was taken in the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The Cabinet has approved the establishment of Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) at Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for contribution to various Alternative Investment Funds (AIF), registered with SEBI which would extend funding support to startups," it said. This is in line wi...
Online Companies are Focusing on Unit Economics, Customers: Report
ANALYSIS

Online Companies are Focusing on Unit Economics, Customers: Report

E-Retailers Focusing on turning unit economics positive and customer retention as opposed to the prior focus on gross merchandise value, a recent report said. "We believe this may be a function of limited availability of capital, leading companies to focus on cash generation. Post government regulations that curtailed discounts, companies seem to have done away with the same; most discounts being seen online are being offered by sellers or brands themselves," a study by Kotak Institutional Equities said. Gross merchandise value is the total sales value of goods sold through a marketplace. Most companies surveyed are also evaluating other revenue streams such as advertising and online content to better leverage their platform, it added. Customer retention, recall and loy...
Telecom Solutions Provider U2opia Will Invest Around Rs 20 Cr in Indian Startups
FUNDING

Telecom Solutions Provider U2opia Will Invest Around Rs 20 Cr in Indian Startups

Telecom solutions provider U2opia Mobile will invest USD 3 million (around Rs 20 crore) over the next three years to fund startups working on scalable mobile technology. Under its Catapult programme, in the first year, U2opia will invest in five-six companies that have about 2-4 members. The programme is aimed at helping early-stage startups and entrepreneurial teams that are finding it difficult to raise funds, U2opia Mobile co-founder and MD Sumesh Menon said. These companies could be working in areas like mobile security (antivirus), gaming or solutions for operators, he said. "Under this programme, all teams will be given access to state of the art technology infrastructure, ample working space, brand and marketing support, management and financial cover," Menon added. Bes...
Microsoft Launches Early Stage Investment Venture Arm That Will Replace Microsoft Accelerator
News

Microsoft Launches Early Stage Investment Venture Arm That Will Replace Microsoft Accelerator

Nagraj Kashyap, the Corporate VP of Microsoft Ventures announced a new early-stage investment group of Microsoft called Microsoft Venture. The entity will look after investment in early age startups.  In his blog, Nagraj mentioned, The Microsoft Venture name was assumed from an existing team within our Developer Evangelism team. That team has now been rebranded to Microsoft Accelerator. Microsoft Ventures will focus on start-up investments while Microsoft Accelerator will focus on start-up enablement, primarily through our seven accelerators around the world.  On one side of the spectrum, we help early stage companies with tools, technology and consulting through Microsoft Accelerator*. And at the other end is where you’ll typically see our larger investments and acquisitions. Microsoft ...
Extend Tax Holiday For Startups From 3 yrs to 7 yrs: Nirmala Sitharaman to FinMin
INDIA

Extend Tax Holiday For Startups From 3 yrs to 7 yrs: Nirmala Sitharaman to FinMin

The Finance Ministry should consider raising tax holiday for startups to 7 years from the current 3 years to encourage budding entrepreneurs, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said. Nirmala Sitharaman said lots of inputs from startups have been received and "recommendations have gone to the Finance Ministry for extending the 3-year tax holiday to 7 years". "We shall pursue it and there shall now be lots more interactions with them," she told reporters while briefing them on the initiatives taken by her ministry during the last two years. The minister said she would visit different co-work spaces of these new age companies to see the ground picture and infuse fresh energy. Several startups have pitched for increasing the tax holiday period from the ...
4 Ways Small Businesses Should Leverage Text Message Marketing Campaign
BLOGS

4 Ways Small Businesses Should Leverage Text Message Marketing Campaign

If your business has ignored text message marketing, it’s time to rethink your strategy. Short message service (SMS) has a massive audience, as more people own mobile phones than ever before. More importantly, text messages have an incredible read rate — 98 percent of all text messages are opened by the user. Considering that email marketing open rates tend to fluctuate between 20 and 30 percent, depending on the industry, this is clearly an incredible opportunity. Here are four important ways you can get started with your own text message marketing campaign:   Provide Coupons and Discounts Directly Offering coupons or special promotional deals is a great way to immediately boost sales, and text messaging provides the perfect channel. As we learned above, your audience will be...