News Roundup: 12 Indian Startup News That You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [11 -16 Dec]

News Roundup: 12 Indian Startup News That You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [11 -16 Dec]

SUMMARY

Important Indian Startup News Of The Week

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

The most talked about Indian startup news of the week was Jack Ma-led ecommerce behemoth receiving the nod from Competition Commission of India(CCI) to the invest in hyperlocal grocery delivery startup Bigbasket. Alibaba will be transferring the funds to Supermarket Grocery Supplies, the parent entity of Bigbasket.

alibaba-bigbasket-hyperlocal-grocery

Important Indian Startup Stories Of The Week

Myntra Plans To Set Up Offline Beauty Stores

After opening its first offline store in Bengaluru for Roadster in March 2017 Myntra is now setting up the stage to open offline beauty and wellness stores as well. The Indian startup sells more than 100 beauty and cosmetic brands on its online platform and is now planning to sell all these products via a chain of multi-brand physical stores.

Google To Sell Technology To Andhra Pradesh Government

This was one of the interesting news which roll out in the Indian startup ecosystem. Google’s parent Alphabet Inc’s X research division announced that the Andhra Pradesh state government would buy its newly developed Internet technology which is capable of providing high-speed wireless Internet to millions of people without laying cable. X plans to have a small team based in Andhra Pradesh next year to help roll out the technology.

PhonePe Rolls Out Digital Gold Platform

This is another important Indian startup news of the week. Flipkart-owned digital payments platform PhonePe forged a partnership with SafeGold to launch a digital gold product through which users will now be able to buy and sell certified 24-karat gold via the PhonePe app. Rival Paytm had also unveiled a similar product in April 2017. PhonePe customers will get the opportunity to buy gold worth any amount, even as low as INR 1.

phonepe-digital gold-safegold

Xiaomi India Plans To Sell Electric Vehicles, Loans And More

Chinese phone maker Xiaomi announced that it is planning to enter into the Electric Vehicles and Payments Bank space in India. It is also gearing up to launch laptops, gaming consoles, lifestyle products and more. Having made its entry in 2014 through the Mi smartphone, India today is the biggest market for Xiaomi after China. It recently achieved revenues of $1 Bn from the country and believes that expanding into other booming industries in India has great growth potential.

Stripe Launches Operations In India

This is another startup news which made sensation this week. San Francisco-based payments startup Stripe launched its invite-only beta version in India. Anand Balaji, former Amazon India executive who was brought in last year to lead operations announced its entry in the Indian market. Currently, it is present in 25 countries across Southeast Asia, the Americas, and Europe and plans to capture the Indian market in the next 2-3 years.

DHL Ecommerce To Start Operations In India

German logistics company Deutsche Post DHL will work with parent DPDHL’s BlueDart service in order to develop a direct presence in India.To that end, former Reliance Infocomm’s Chief Marketing Officer Neeraj Bansal has been roped in to serve as the local Chief Executive of the logistics arm.

dhl-bluedart-logistics

The Netherlands To Collaborate With Indian Startups

This is an interesting Indian startup news which rolled out this week. The Netherlands is seeking the contribution of Indian startups in the areas of logistics, cleantech, and medical science. The Netherlands’ startup ecosystem has registered a growth of 31% in the past one year. The country is now looking for Indian startups to join the ecosystem and get benefitted from the same. So far, Singapore, Canada, the US and the Middle East have been the favourite destinations/export markets for Indian startups looking to cater to the global market.

Amazon India Claims Greater GMV Sales Volume Than Flipkart

The global retail giant’s Indian subsidiary has claimed a Y-o-Y growth of 66% in gross sales volume for the six month period between April-September in 2017, which is 1.5 times higher than Flipkart’s GMV sales volume for the same period. However, Flipkart has denied these claims owing to its GMV sales volume comparison with Amazon.

In another development, Flipkart reported a turnover of $2.3 Bn (INR 15,264 Cr) for the year ending in March 2017. This marks a 19% jump in the company’s annual turnover from $2 Bn (INR 12,818 Cr) in the previous fiscal year. As per its annual return filings, Flipkart India’s turnover in FY15 was around $1.4 Bn (INR 9,351.7 Cr), which in turn points to the ecommerce giant’s steady growth in revenues over the last few years. Also, the ecommerce behemoth successfully completed its fourth ESOP buyback programme with over 3000 past and present employees of The Flipkart Group participating in the buyback offer.

OYO Switches From Aggregation To Franchise Model

OYO now runs pure-play franchise business allowing hotel partners to run under the OYO brands. The move aims to reduce its operational costs and to improve serviceability. The company has also opened a new tech development centre at Telangana to support the technical expertise.

oyo asset management-budget hotel-hotel booking-real estate

SignEasy Launches Aadhar-Enables-E-Signature Solution

In order to deepen its penetration in the Indian SMB Market, the San-Francisco and Bengaluru-based startup used Aadhar framework to bring a solution that could bring more transparency and trust value to the e-signed documents. Currently, SignEasy claims to have over 140K customers across the 180 countries and with the launch of this service, it will further strengthen its presence in India.

Microsoft Brings Azure Stack To India

Microsoft announced the launch of its Azure Stack in the country. With this, Microsoft will be offering three types of cloud services to its customers: private, public and hybrid. 70 of the top BSE companies have availed Microsoft Azure services. The Karnataka government’s IT department has reportedly partnered with Microsoft to integrate artificial intelligence and advanced analytics into the state’s public healthcare system.

microsoft-azure stack-cloud-india

Other Indian Startup Stories Of The Week

Bengaluru To Get Public Wifi Hotspots On Republic Day

The Karnataka Government has announced that it will unveil public WiFi hotspots in Bengaluru on the upcoming Republic Day and will gradually expand the service in 11 municipal corporations over the next two months. It has plans to set up 5000 public hotspots throughout the state by May 2018.

Styletag Suspends Operations

The online platform that offered curated design wear via flash sales, has suspended its operations owing to a restructuring exercise. It is also working on expanding its product offerings and beefing up its vendor network. It is not clear on when the company will resume operations.

Paytm’s 2nd Edition Of 12/12 Festival Reports 3X Growth

This si another startup news which garnered media attention this week. The festival which was aimed at driving sales for offline merchant partners accepting Paytm contributed to over 1.5x increase in single-day revenue growth for retail brands like Big Bazaar, Pantaloons, Central, Reliance, Digital, and Woodland. It also saw the participation of local merchants and neighbourhood stores across tier II and tier III cities including Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Indore, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, and Kolkata.

OBOPAY Secures Pre-paid Instrument License From RBI

OBOPAY will now operate as a semi-closed loop wallet in the country.  The company will also be using the license in propelling the business in its B2B operations by co-branding the prepaid instrument with a partner brand.

Uber’s PREMIER Expands To 8 Cities In India

The most recent additions being Delhi, Hyderabad, and Vizag. Riders will be offered PREMIER as an in-app product option that serves as an upgrade to their current uberX experience. When booking a PREMIER ride, one can expect rides in select, high-comfort, economy-range sedans every time, to be driven by best-in-class driver partners endorsed by riders at affordable prices.

Express Bike Works Expands Footprints In Kerala

The store will be a one-stop solution for all two-wheelers, offering full-fledged services, including a 2-minute automated motorcycle wash, detailing, health check-up, express maintenance and 24×7 on-road assistance. EBW currently has a presence in Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand, Rwanda, and Colombia, apart from India.

Ola Partners With Hyderabad Metro Project

The cab aggregator announced a strategic partnership with Larsen & Toubro Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited (LTMRHL). Under this partnership, the ride-hailing startup has been on-boarded as the ‘Mobility Partner’ of the metro rail project. Through the association, the riders will be able to link their Ola money wallets with the metro app, Ola kiosks will be set up in the vicinity of the stations and the waiting time will be significantly reduced.

Karnataka Government Allies With Ola, Uber To Facilitate Loans To SC/ST

The Congress regime in Karnataka is collaborating with the cab-hailing firms in facilitating auto loans for members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes interested in driving taxis, as part of a larger welfare effort aimed at underprivileged communities. The government is offering a subsidy of Rs 3 lakh each to beneficiaries from SC/ST communities to buy cars. Banks will chip in the rest of the price of the vehicles by the way of loans.

Ecommerce Platform Moglix Expands To Mumbai, Ahmedabad

The Ratan tata backed firm announced its expansion in the two cities and is further is further stepping-up their presence to cater to industrial hubs in India, in line with its vision to transform the supply chain of the Indian manufacturing sector.

Mobycy Launches Its Dockless Bicycles In Delhi NCR

The startup flagged off India’s first-ever dockless bicycles in Delhi NCR. Mobycy is disrupting the mobility sector by introducing a unique and first-of-its-kind ‘Uber for bicycles’ model in India. Commencing operations with 5,000 Smart Bikes, the startup has made its dockless bicycles available across Gurgaon and spreading in parts of Delhi, Noida, and Faridabad. The current model of Mobycy makes dockless bicycling highly affordable at about Rs 10 per hour ride, or less.

Stay tuned for the next week’s edition of Indian Startup New Stories Of the Week!

You have reached your limit of free stories
Become An Inc42 Plus Member

Become a Startup Insider in 2024 with Inc42 Plus. Join our exclusive community of 10,000+ founders, investors & operators and stay ahead in India’s startup & business economy.

2 YEAR PLAN
₹19999
₹7999
₹333/Month
Unlock 60% OFF
Cancel Anytime
1 YEAR PLAN
₹9999
₹4999
₹416/Month
Unlock 50% OFF
Cancel Anytime
Already A Member?
Discover Startups & Business Models

Unleash your potential by exploring unlimited articles, trackers, and playbooks. Identify the hottest startup deals, supercharge your innovation projects, and stay updated with expert curation.

News Roundup: 12 Indian Startup News That You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [11 -16 Dec]-Inc42 Media
How-To’s on Starting & Scaling Up

Empower yourself with comprehensive playbooks, expert analysis, and invaluable insights. Learn to validate ideas, acquire customers, secure funding, and navigate the journey to startup success.

News Roundup: 12 Indian Startup News That You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [11 -16 Dec]-Inc42 Media
Identify Trends & New Markets

Access 75+ in-depth reports on frontier industries. Gain exclusive market intelligence, understand market landscapes, and decode emerging trends to make informed decisions.

News Roundup: 12 Indian Startup News That You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [11 -16 Dec]-Inc42 Media
Track & Decode the Investment Landscape

Stay ahead with startup and funding trackers. Analyse investment strategies, profile successful investors, and keep track of upcoming funds, accelerators, and more.

News Roundup: 12 Indian Startup News That You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [11 -16 Dec]-Inc42 Media
News Roundup: 12 Indian Startup News That You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [11 -16 Dec]-Inc42 Media
You’re in Good company