8 Indian Startup News That You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [25-30 Dec]

We bring you the weekly dose of important Indian startup news of the week.

The biggest Indian startup news reported this week was – the US-based athletic footwear brand filing cases in the Delhi high court against ecommerce giant Flipkart and four other sellers for selling Skechers’ fake products. The four sellers include Retail Net, Tech Connect, Unichem Logistics and Marco Wagon.

The company, with the help of court-appointed local commissioners, raided seven warehouses of the sellers in Delhi and Ahmedabad and discovered more than 15,000 pairs of fake Skechers shoes and plans to take strict action against the people involved.

Two days after US-based athletic footwear brand Skechers filed cases with the Delhi High Court, the country’s leading online marketplaces, including Flipkart and Amazon, issued statements vehemently denying these allegations. Other online marketplaces like Snapdeal have also released their statements on the matter. 

Important Indian Startup News Stories Of The Week

Myntra To Launch Multi-Brand Offline Stores

The biggest newsmaker in the Indian startup ecosystem was Mytra this week. The online fashion marketplace is considering to launch its own multi-brand offline stores where customers can see all the all the private labels that are available on its online platform. It had previously launched an offline store for its most popular private label, Roadster and now plans to launch a multi-brand store in order to encash its profitability roots.

In another development, Reliance Industries announced its partnership with Flipkart-owned lifestyle ecommerce player Myntra. With this partnership, Myntra will co-brand its denim collection from its private label Mast & Harbour with the flagship product of Reliance, RElan FeelFresh.

Appario Retail Receives Funding From Amazon

Appario Retail, the seller entity under the recently formed joint venture between Amazon and Patni Group and owned by Frontizo Business, has received a capital infusion of $15.69 Mn (INR 100 Cr). The development comes after it raised $6,27 Mn (INR 40 Cr). With Frontizo, the existing and future consumers at Amazon can benefit with multi-channel customer support services, including email assistance, customer outreach and contact on the phone.

Homelane Shuts Down Furniture Platform Capricoast

After acquiring modular furniture platform for $14 Mn (INR 90 Cr) a month ago, Homelane announced shutdown of the Bengaluru-based marketplace Capricoast. The 120 member team of Capricoast has joined the Homelane team post the acquisition, along with the founder, Jawad Ayaz.

HDFC Bank Partners With Rajasthan Government

HDFC Bank announced a partnership with Rajasthan Government to promote and nurture startups in the state. Under this partnership, HDFC Bank will team up with the state government to provide end-to-end solutions like current accounts, credit cards and other solutions to startups under its SmartUp programme. Furthermore, HDFC bank also plans to assist startups in showcasing their offerings to the general public through its various platforms.

Punjab Startup Hub Plan Approved

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh approved the establishment of Punjab Startup Hub, in order to effectively implement the state’s industrial policy. During the first meeting of the Punjab Industrial and Business Development Board (PIDB), he announced numerous plans for Punjab-based startups. Under the Startup Hub initiative, the state government has proposed a state-of-the-art incubation centre at Mohali, which will cater to startups based on hardware, manufacturing and related startups.

Facebook Urges Users To Open Accounts With Aadhaar Name

Social network giant Facebook wants users to use their names as listed in their Aadhaar cards while creating new accounts. According to Facebook, this is an optional prompt and users are not required to enter the name on their Aadhaar card. The new feature encourages those opening new accounts to submit their names as in their Aadhaar cards.

Whatsapp Receives Legal Notice Regarding Middle Finger Emoji

Instant messaging platform WhatsApp was sent a legal notice for its offensive “middle finger” emoji. In the legal notice, Delhi-based advocate Gurmeet Singh asked the company to remove the objectionable emoji within 15 days. According to Singh, showing the middle finger, even on a virtual platform, is not only illegal but is an “obscene” gesture.

Other Indian Startup News Stories Of The Week

Paytm Crosses 100 Mn Downloads On PlayStore

Fintech giant Paytm announced that its app had crossed the 100 Mn milestone on Google Play Store in the second week of December 2017. This makes Paytm the country’s first payments app to cross the 100 million downloads mark.

BigWin Infotech To Soon Launch Its P2P Marketplace

BigWin Infotech, which is among the few startups to apply for an NBFC-P2P license after RBI’s revised guidelines, aims to start operations through its marketplace called PaisaDukan.com from January 2018. As per the latest RBI regulations which were released on 4th October 2017, RBI gave P2P lending platform operators a NBFC (non-banking financial company) status and released a list of guidelines and directions for P2P firms, thus bringing them under the domain of legitimacy with a clear set of regulations such as a process of registration, disclosure requirements and grievance redressal mechanism.

Stay tuned for the next edition of the News Roundup: Indian Startup News Of The Week!