Start-Ups

Bengaluru : It takes just one startup to change the narrative of an ecosystem. Last week, Chandigarh-based PrepLadder became that startup, when the medical entrance test preparation platform was acquired by Facebook-backed educational technology company Unacademy for $50 million in a cash-and-stock deal. The exit, hailed by founders and investors alike, it is indicative of a fledgling startup ecosystem in Chandigarh, which a clutch of homegrown venture capital-backed companies — in sectors such as ed-tech, agri-tech, content tech, Software as a Services (SaaS) and consumer goods — call home. The founders of these startups, both…

How have your companies fared during the Covid-19 crisis? The short answer is, some better than others. It’s been stressful since Covid-19 came to town. I own a diverse range of companies, including a towing company, a bar and restaurant, a real estate redevelopment company, plus my consumer product startup, Kube Sound. We had to close the restaurant and let everyone go. In addition, one of the  my real estate redevelopment deals in Berkeley, California, has provided more than its fair share of problems. We were supposed to finish the building last…

BENGALURU : Last week, after India abruptly announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps, TikTok’s CEO Kevin Mayer called for a virtual town hall with his India employees. Over the past two years, ByteDance, which owns TikTok and Helo (also included in the list of the banned apps), had established a large presence in India. Despite the border conflict between India and China that led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers and the anti-China rhetoric that had been bubbling up here as the pandemic spread, the Beijing-headquartered Byte Dance had no inkling…

BookMyShow is changing. From a pure-play transactional platform with the main focus on ticketing for outdoor events, the Mumbai-headquartered start-up is foraying into online shows and events, direct-to-home. No marks for guessing why. It’s COVID-19. “We have historically been the discovery platform of choice for all forms of outdoor entertainment. With COVID-19, people are forced to stay at their home and we are designing the app to bring entertainment straight to the consumers,” said Albert Almeida, Chief Operating Officer – Live Entertainment at BookMyShow. BookMyShow has already hosted around 750…

New Delhi: A survey has revealed that about 38% start-ups have run out of funds and 30% have 1-3 months of cash left, indicating the severe impact of lockdown on fledgling businesses. According to the online survey by Local Circles  which sought over 28,000 responses from more than 8,400 start-ups, SMEs and entrepreneurs — 16% such entities said the they have 3-6 months of cash left. Another 12% respondents said they have less than a month’s worth of cash left. “4%  also said that they have already shut down the…

Bengaluru: Two-wheeler rental startup Bounce has decided to lay off around 22% of its workforce or 130 employees owing to the major Covid-19 impact on the mobility industry. Bounce cofounder and CEO Vivekananda Hallekere said, “Unfortunately, the way the external environment has continued to shift means our medium-term workforce needs have changed as several new business lines, products, and projects we had planned will have to either transform or be put on hold in the coming quarters.” He added that the layoffs have come as “an outcome of a change…

Maharashtra: Digital payments giant Paytm, on Sunday (June 28), announced that it has processed close to INR 1,500 Cr in salaries and other benefits for over 5K medium and large enterprises through its Paytm Payouts service. The Paytm Payout services, which was launched in this year, is a digital money transfer service that offers an API or Paytm for Business Dashboard to make bulk payments to bank accounts, UPI addresses and Paytm wallets instantly.  They look to help businesses make payments to their employees, vendors & business partners. These payments…

On World MSME Day (June 27) the World Wild Fund (WWF) India, has said that only a few policies target the renewable energy startup ecosystem. In a report titled, ‘Clean energy policy landscape in the SME sector,’ it said, while almost 140 government interventions focus directly or indirectly on clean energy and startups, only 38 policies actually target them. “Policy support can be an important catalyst in accelerating clean energy adoption and scale up.  This report maps the clean energy policy landscape in the SME sector, and provides recommendations that…

New Delhi/Bengaluru: Byju’s raised about $100 million from US technology investor Bond, propelling the education startup to a $10.5 billion valuation. The latest fundraise has made Byju’s the India’s second-most valued startup , overtaking hospitality unicorn Oyo, which was last valued at $10 billion. Paytm was valued at $16 billion late last year when it raised $1 billion in a round led by T Rowe Price and existing investors Ant Financial and SoftBank Vision Fund. Byju’s raised the capital from Bond, co-founded by Mary Meeker, at a valuation of $10.5 billion. Byju’s had in…