Startup offices are getting swankier by the day. After Flipkart and Snapdeal had unveiled grand offices that would put luxury hotels to shame, smaller startups too have begun sprucing up their workspaces. Delhi based dating app TrulyMadly has a new office, and it looks pretty spectacular.
Over a 1000 Ola drivers protested against the company in Bangalore yesterday. The drivers alleged that they hadn’t been paid the incentives they’d been promised for driving over New Years’. They also were unhappy that the money that had been deducted from their accounts towards the payment of their car loans had not reached the banks.
Oyo Rooms has begun 2016 by expanding into unchartered waters – it has become the first Indian hotel aggregator to expand overseas. The company, which operated in only 3 Indian cities in 2015, now operates in 165 cities and has 4000 properties bearing its name.
Leading Chinese travel company Crip has invested $180 million into MakeMyTrip. Ctrip will invest this amount through convertible bonds. In addition, MakeMyTrip has granted Ctrip permission to acquire MakeMyTrip shares in the open market, so that combined with shares convertible under the convertible bonds, Ctrip may own up to 26.6% of MakeMyTrip’s outstanding shares.
After over a year of speculation, Netflix is all set for its India launch. The company has unveiled a list of plans that it will offer to its Indian viewers. And the prices are comparable to what users pay in the US. Netflix’s basic US plan costs $7.99, and its Indian counterpart will cost Rs. 500 per month. The Premium plan in India will cost Rs. 800.
Realty portal Housing.com had been struggling with mounting losses when CEO Rahul Yadav was let go, documents filed by the company reveal. In FY 2014-2015, Housing recorded a loss of Rs. 279 crore. Its revenue in the same period was Rs. 12 crore. In comparison, competitor CommonFloor had revenues of Rs. 45 crore.
Freecharge founder Kunal Shah has been appointed as the Chairman of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). IAMAI is a not-for-profit industry body with a mandate is to expand and enhance the online and mobile value added services sectors.
The carpooling wave, partly spurred on by the Delhi government’s Odd-Even plan, is taking foot across the country. After starting off in Delhi, Uber has now launched UberCommute in Bangalore. Under this service, ordinary drivers will be able to offer their cars for pooling with people going their route.
Grocery delivery app Grofers’ ambitious expansion plans have hit a roadblock. After the company recently raised $120 million which saw its valuation rise threefold in less than a year, the company has decided to scale back its operations. It has shut down in operations in 9 Indian Tier 2 cities, including Ludhiana, Bhopal, Kochi, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam.