Koovers, a business-to-business auto spares startup, has raised $1.5 million in a round led by Inflection Point Ventures. JPIN-VCats and Venture Catalysts are among the other investors in the round. The funds will be used to grow the company’s product line and improve its technological infrastructure, according to the company. Vinayak, Sandeep Begur, and S Prem Kumar founded Koovers in 2016 to provide automobile workshops with doorstep delivery of genuine spares from all car manufacturers at low pricing. Even with Covid, the company has over 5,000 workshops in its network…
Read MoreAuthor: FutureTech
WhatsApp pay may require users to verify identity
WhatsApp may eventually require users who make payments over the service to verify their identities. According to an APK breakdown, the WhatsApp v2.21.22.6 beta version has new strings that hint to a verification system. Last year, WhatsApp Pay was made available to users in India. XDA developers discovered the following strings during the APK teardown: “Your identity could not be verified. “Try uploading the documents again,” and “Verify your identity to continue using WhatsApp payments.” Users of other Unified Payments Interface (UPI) apps, such as PhonePe and Google Pay, are…
Read MoreApple now wants to save the environment
Apple has more than doubled the number of suppliers committed to using 100 percent sustainable energy over the last year. The change is intended to meet the company’s 2030 objective of being carbon neutral across its supply chain and products. Apple’s Clean Energy Program, which promotes the use of renewable energy for production and other activities, will now be followed by a total of 175 Apple suppliers worldwide. Eleven of these vendors will be from India. Cheng Uei (Foxlink), Avary, CCL Design, Flex Ltd, Hon Hai, Jabil, Lingyi Tech, Pegatron,…
Read MoreCosmetics startup Nykaa expects to raise $500 million in its initial IPO
Indian cosmetics to fashion startup Nykaa got bids for 40 times the number of shares it expects to sell to anchor investors in its initial public offering (IPO), showing substantial interest in the sale. investment firm Blackrock Capital Group and asset manager Fidelity were among the top buyers in the $319.68 million sale of shares that FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the company that owns the Nykaa brand, offered to institutional investors. SN E-Commerce priced its IPO at Rs 1,085 to Rs 1,125 per share, valuing Nykaa at up to $7.11 billion….
Read MoreGoogle collaborates with MeitY Startup Hub
Google has partnered with the Ministry of Electronics and IT’s Startup Hub to develop Appscale Academy, a growth and development initiative that will teach early to mid-stage startups across India on how to build high-quality applications for the global market. The Appscale Academy, which will be launched in October 2021, will assist local businesses in developing and scaling a variety of world-class applications across sectors such as gaming, healthcare, financial technology, education technology, and social impact. “It is great to see start-ups and developers across India, especially those in Tier…
Read MoreIndian unicorn startups in “hiring spree”
India has roughly 70 unicorns’ startups valued at $1 billion or more — that are expected to produce 125,000-160,000 white-collar jobs over the next two-three quarters According to two different surveys performed by EMA Partners and CIEL HR Services. According to an EMA survey of the month September, unicorn startups have recruited about 150,000 Executives in the past three quarters. It predicts that an extra 125,000 executives will be hired in the following two quarters. A significant portion of the hiring, up to 70% will be for technology roles only,…
Read MoreSnapchat hits 100 million monthly users in India
Snap Inc announced on Wednesday that Snapchat has hit 100 million monthly users in India, attributing this rise to the app’s localization. The news was made at the second edition of “Snap in India.” According to the company, it has enhanced its offerings of local content through partnerships with key channels. Snapchat’s ‘Discover’ content area has 70 local Indian channels covering news, fitness, fashion, entertainment, and comedy, publishing premium content on Snap in 2021, an increase of more than 200 percent over the second quarter of 2020. “We don’t really…
Read MoreFacebook was selective in removing fake account during 2020 Delhi elections: Says former Facebook employee
Former Facebook data analyst and whistleblower Sophie Zhang stated that the social media giant was selective in removing fake accounts during the 2020 Delhi elections. She had highlighted that Facebook deactivated three of four fake accounts, with the fourth one being personally handled by a member of parliament from the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). She also stated that Facebook prioritized the removal of fake accounts because India is more important to Facebook than Azerbaijan or Honduras, where she found fake news being shared on Facebook pages but the company refused…
Read MoreThis time Diwali also brings JioPhone Next to the market
Sundar Pichai has announced that the JioPhone Next will be available in India before Diwali. During Alphabet’s earnings call on Wednesday, Google CEO Larry Page revealed the launch date for the entry-level smartphone. The announcement confirms the rumor that the Jio phone will be released in the country after multiple delays. Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), originally unveiled JioPhone Next at the company’s annual general meeting in June. Ambani had previously stated that the phone would be released on September 10 to coincide with the Hindu festival…
Read MoreMobility startups witness decrease in profit due to pandemic
FY21 was a nightmare for mobility startups and ride-hailing giants like Uber and Ola, as the pandemic affected their operations. While Ola has yet to file financial statistics for FY21 (or even FY20), Uber India saw a 47.3 percent reduction in operating profits during the fiscal year ended March 2021. Uber India’s operating revenue fell to Rs 370.5 crore in FY21, down from Rs 703.1 crore in FY20. During the previous fiscal year, around 81 percent of these revenues, or Rs 300 crore, were earned by Uber’s ride-hailing operation, with…
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