8 Indian Startups Selected For First Ever Google Launchpad
Eight Indian startups are a part of Google’s first ever Launchpad Accelerator that began on Monday in Silicon Valley.
Author: Bart Eshwar
Bart Eshwar is interested in startups, business and green tea. He is currently nursing an unhealthy obsession with Donald Trump.
Housing Appoints Cofounder Snehil Buxy As Chief Product Officer
Housing.com has appointed Snehil Buxy as its Chief Product Officer. Buxy was a part of the original 12 member founding team of Housing. The 26 year old was also close to former CEO Rahul Yadav.
TRAI Reprimands Facebook For Its Free Basics Campaign In The Most Epic Way Possible
“Your urging has the flavour of reducing this meaningful constructive exercise designed to produce informed decisions into a crudely majoritarian and orchestrated opinion poll.” This isn’t a school headmaster admonishing an errant student. It’s TRAI letting Facebook know what it thought of its Free Basics poll that generated 9 million responses.
Indian Business Chat Apps Have Some Serious Competition; WhatsApp To Focus On B2C
Over the last year, India has seen a mushrooming of chat apps that aimed to connect consumers directly with businesses. Services like LookUp, Haptik and Helpchat all had business models that involved setting up and easy, phone-based communication channel between users and local businesses, and had met with varying levels of success. But the industry is now likely to be upturned. Whatsapp, the global chat behemoth with 70 million Indian users, is looking to enter the space in a big way.
Mumbai Dabbawalas To Launch Own Delivery Company
India’s fledging hyperlocal delivery startups now have some competition – and it’s not from another yet another superfunded startup trying its luck in the already crowded space. It’s from Mumbai’s iconic dabbawalas, who’ve been delivering food to Mumbai’s office-goers since 1890.
Flipkart Ditches App-Only Strategy; Republic Day Sale To Be Available On Web
Flipkart appears to have put the final nail in the coffin of its app-only push that it began in May last year. Its latest sale, centered around Republic Day, will be available on both desktop and app. There’s also a company-wide move to make all products and services available on desktops, company insiders tell OfficeChai.
Rahul Yadav’s Housing Stake Presented To Employees As Phantom Stock; Employees Protest
Housing employees hadn’t received the shares that Yadav had promised them. And now it turns out that they might not receive the shares at all – at least not in the traditional sense. On 12th January, the company announced in an email to the staff that they would get their share of Yadav’s gift in the form of phantom stock units.
Amazon Goes Eco-friendly; Will Use Cycles To Deliver At Short Distances
Amazon is experimenting with cycles to deliver last-mile orders. Orders under the radius of 3-5 km will be delivered through this mode. The delivery team would be provided with geared bikes to carry packages of up to 7.5 kg per trip.
Paytm To Launch “Sound Pay”; Will Transmit Cash Via Sound Waves
It’s an idea that’s going to make a lot of noise in the online payments world. Paytm is going to soon launch “Sound Pay”, a feature that will allow money transfers using ultrasonic sound waves.