Fintech companies in India are moving up the value chain — Paytm started with payments, and how has a platform to sell mutual funds, and PhonePe now sells insurance. But yet another fintech unicorn is looking to do something which thus far was only the domain of pure finance players. Zerodha has said that it’ll soon start its own mutual fund.”We have just applied for an AMC (Mutual fund) license,” Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath announced…

Elon Musk is known for speaking his mind, and he doesn’t seem to shy away even when he’s talking about his fellow billionaires. Elon Musk has said that his conversations with Microsoft co-founder and former world’s richest man were “underwhelming.” Tesletter, and unofficial Tesla newsletter, had posted on Twitter wondering why Bill Gates had bought a Porche Taycan instead of a Tesla. “I wonder why Bill Gates decided to go with the Taycan instead of…

Even as India startups are swarming into the unicorn club — a dozen companies have made the elite list over the last 18 months — there are some that could be exiting too. Swedish investment firm Kinnevik has marked down the valuation of Quikr by 45% to about $570 million from more than $1 billion as of September 2019, the firm said in its annual earnings statement earlier this month. Kinnevik noted that the reduction in Quikr’s worth is due…

India’s payments companies aren’t making any money, but that isn’t stopping them from splurging on advertisements. PhonePe has announced the launch of its new brand campaign “Karte Ja. Badhte Ja.” featuring Bollywood stars Aamir Khan and Alia Bhatt.  The company is also the official co-presenting sponsor for the television broadcast of VIVO IPL 2020, and will be launching a series of TV ads during this IPL season. PhonePe says it has earmarked Rs.  800 crore for marketing in this…

Far from disrupting traditional retail, e-commerce companies in India continue in their efforts to replicate it. Flipkart is partnering with local stores offering its customers a “touch and feel” experience before they make the purchase on its platform. Flipkart proposes to have authorised “buy zones”where a customer can walk in and check a product but he or she has to order it online. “Our pilot project was successful in Hyderabad with mobiles where we partnered with local…

Yet another global software company is setting up operations in India. GitHub, which runs what is perhaps to most popular version control software in the world, has announced that it’s coming to India. “Namaste! Today, we’re excited to announce GitHub India Private Limited, a subsidiary of GitHub, Inc,” the company said in a blogpost. “Maneesh Sharma, our newly appointed General Manager of GitHub India, will lead our growth strategy in the country. Over the next…

In e-commerce, most retailers now seem to agree that the path forward seems to be an omni-channel approach, which employs both physical stores and online deliveries. In food commerce too, it appears that brands are converging on the same idea. Swiggy is collaborating with select restaurants to create exclusive delivery-only brands on its platform, ET reported. These brands will operate out of the restaurants’ existing dine-in facilities, and as a part of the agreement, Swiggy…

There is no business that Paytm doesn’t seem to want to be in. Paytm has now launched something called MyStore, which will enable people sitting at home to be sell items online. MyStore will let users set up their online stores, pick items from Paytm’s inventory, and then share these links with their friends and family. If people buy items through these stores, the person with the online store will make a reseller commission. If…

The world has grown increasingly circumspect about Facebook over its privacy violations, its alleged interference in elections, and its monopolistic tendencies, but Elon Musk has some typically succinct advice about the social media giant. Elon Musk has asked people to delete their Facebook accounts because “it’s lame.” Musk said as much in a tweet in response to a viral tweet from comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who has acted in movies like Borat and Bruno. “We…