News Roundup: 8 Stories You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [26 October – 31 October]

This week, MakeMyTrip, GoIbibo and Yatra have delisted Oyo Rooms and Zo Rooms from listing and marketing hotel properties stating the reason that OTA sector is a highest margin category, and they don’t want to help their rival companies while taking a hit on their own business.

Let’s have a look at the important developments of the week:

India Turns Business-Friendlier Than Last Year; Still Behind Nepal, Bhutan & Sri Lanka

In the recent report from World Bank on ‘Ease Of Doing Business’,India is ranked 130th out of 189 countries; last year it was ranked 142th. The report also stated that it now takes 29 days to start a business in India, as compared to 127 days in 2014.

Flipkart Goes Offline With Assisted Ecommerce

Flipkart is planning to build its offline presence. Under Assisted ecommerce model, Flipkart wants to touch the next million population which is not Internet or mobile savvy.

Paytm Partners With Insurance Companies To Launch Insurance Renewals

Paytm partnered with insurance companies like ICICI Prudential Life, Religare Health, Reliance Life and Reliance General to assist consumers in paying their insurance premiums online, through mobile & wallet.

Punjab To Initiate Startup Fund Of $15 Mn: Progressive Punjab Summit 2015

Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal announced a startup fund of $15 Mn (INR 100 Cr) for young entrepreneurs at the valedictory function of Progressive Punjab Summit, 2015.

The summit entailed discussions on taking steps in building efficient processes, eliminating administrative hurdles and enacting favourable policy initiatives.

GrownOut Launches Data Insights Labs To Track Talent Movement Across India

GrownOut launched Data Insights Labs, a preliminary investigation platform which will help recruiters understand talent behaviour before they start the hiring process.

Quikr Launches QuikrServices

Quikr launched its vertical QuikrServices with a special focus on the unorganised sector of service providers across the country, that will provide easy access to reliable service providers across sub-categories such as home, travel, financial, health, fitness, beauty and event services.

Government To Engage Startup leaders For Drafting The New Startup Policy

Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) along with Niti Aayog is working on a new startup policy, and has been engaging Nasscom and other startup leaders like Nikesh Arora, Kunal bahl, Ritesh Agarwal and Mohandas Pai for recommendations to draft a detailed policy that is likely to be unveiled in December.

Let’s Have A Look At The Other Developments Of The Week

Myntra To Unveil A “Social” Version Of Its App Next Month

Myntra will re-launch its app next month in a new version that is said to be more social and emulate a mall shopping experience on mobile devices. It will be called Myntra V2 (short for version 2).

Alibaba Backed Quixey Launches Its Android Launcher In India

Quixey has launched android launcher by the name ‘Launch by Quixey’, that helps in app discovery and content search without downloading the native app.

Uber To Expand Operations In Punjab

Uber has signed a MoU with Punjab government to launch a peer-to-peer ridesharing pilot in Punjab in a bid to expand across more cities in Punjab.

Practo Enters Malaysia

Practo expanded its presence to Malaysian market. Its flagship products, Practo Search and Practo Ray will be available to users in Malaysia. It will have more than 350 clinics and 500 doctors listed on the platform.

Times Internet Launches Samayam In Tamil, Telugu & Malayalam

Times Internet has launched ‘Samayam’, a regional news, entertainment and lifestyle content destination in three regional languages viz. Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.

Amazon Gears Up For Heavy Investment In Indian Market

Amazon has announced its intentions to continue investing in the Indian market owing to its strong sales numbers and for expanding its seller base in the country.

Helpchat Crossed 1 Mn Downloads On The Android Store

The chat-based personal assistant app, Helpchat, recorded one million downloads since inception and registered maximum traction in Bangalore. The company also passed on $6 Mn worth of user requests to its partner businesses in last 3 months.

Ola Retains Market Leadership In Chennai

Ola witnessed 40% month-on-month growth in Chennai with over 25,000 vehicles registered on the platform. Chennai accounts for the second largest share in Ola’s one million daily booking requests, nationally.

GoDaddy Launches GoDaddy Pro Program

The program is launched for web developers and designers in India that will enable them with easy to use and automated tools to manage and monitor their customers’ accounts and grow their small business clientele

CarDekho and Coverfox Come Together To Help Users Get Car Insurance

Cardekho.com brings the convenience and ease of Coverfox’s proprietary insurance platform to millions of customers and dealers. The partnership will offer CarDekho’s customers/users auto insurance from Coverfox, in its ongoing focus to provide comprehensive information and services around cars in a quick and easy manner.

WudStay Strengthens Presence in South India with 15 New Cities

To further strengthen its presence in Southern India, WudStay plans to enter 15 more cities in the next two months. It aims to triple its current tally of 250 rooms in South India to 750 across the next 60 days.

Roadrunnr Launches Mailbox Service For Customers Of Ecommerce Companies

Roadrunnr launched Mailbox to reduce cost of missed deliveries by ecommerce companies that amount to more than 20%. This facility is currently available in 3 cities Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Now ‘Ask a Pro’ On UrbanPro

UrbanPro launched a new feature on its marketplace that will enable consumers to get their questions answered in over 1000 categories. It will allow consumers to address questions to the service professionals on the UrbanPro platform and receive relevant answers from the experts.

MakeMyTrip Announces ‘The Great Indian Getaway’

With the app only travel sale MakeMyTrip expects 5x traffic surge during the sale period and 15x surge during peak hours. The Indian Getaway will provide offers and discounts across flights, hotels and holiday packages.

ReGlobe Launches App-Based Platform “Cashify”

Cashify will have automated feature including support for a wide range of android devices. It will help users sell their old smartphones in a secure manner keeping their privacy in mind without exposing personal details.

Foodpanda India Announces New Product For Corporate Clients

Foodpanda has launched a corporate account product, specifically targeted at companies offering to pay for meals in the office. The foodpanda corporate product will offer various features specialized in making it easier for companies and employees to order meals in the office.

Akshay Chaturvedi Joins Housefull as joint CEO

Ex-Zigwheels business head joined hybrid furniture retailer, Housefull, as co-founder and joint CEO. He plans to to create a fresh brand identity, building back-end operation and increasing the stock keeping units on the site,

Snapdeal Hires Ashish Jain To Handle Post M&A Integrations

Snapdeal roped in Ashish Jain as senior vice president (SVP), investor relations and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) integrations. In his previous stint, Jain served as associate partner with Mckinsey & Company.

MakeMyTrip CTO Quits

MakeMyTrip’s chief technology officer, Sharat Singh has quit the company. The company recorded net loss widened to $12.2 Mn for this quarter from $4.8 Mn in the September 2014 quarter.

IRCTC  Expands Ecatering Service To Railway Stations

IRCTC has initiated a pilot project to provide e-catering services at 45 railway stations. The station-based ‘Food on Track’ service expands the train-based e-catering service to enable passengers book and receive meals at their berth while traveling.

The Viral Fever’s Co-founders Seek Legal Help To Settle Equity Woes

The Viral Fever’s founder Arunabh Kumar has been sued by his ex-colleague, Prashant Raj, who is demanding a 4% equity stake in the company and cash payment for his work with TVF. A judge ruled that Raj is entitled to compensation but not equity, which prompted him to file an appeal.