At the TiECON conclave, which ended in Mumbai on January 7, 2016, eminent industrialist Ratan Tata was asked how he decided on investments in startups. He replied, “I am intrigued by a startup if it has an interesting concept that excites me… Second is what I feel about the founders…whether they have passion and innovation in what they do.
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.
While job roles for most companies are more or less similar, some jobs are a reflection of the current economy. India’s in the midst of booming startup culture. Most of these startups operate online, and often ecommerce, the man power required has shaped accordingly. We crunched some data on the various job portals and startup communities in India and found the following job roles were the most sought after. We have also analysed some salary trends for these roles to come up with a range.
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 months of speculation, and repeated denials by both parties, Quikr has finally sealed the deal and acquired real estate portal Commonfloor. Reports of Quikr acquiring Commonfloor had been abuzz for a while but Commonfloor CEO had diligently rubbished them every time. However in a report on December 1, the deal was touted to be almost through.
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.
A day-long congregation (kumbh) – the first of its kind – of startup stakeholders gets underway on January 16 in the Indian capital, New Delhi. Here’s a preview.