News Roundup: 11 Stories You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [14 December – 19 December]

To ramp-up its late-night delivery segment Zomato was in headlines for using porn websites for advertising in a bid to drive traffic on its site. However, the company later removed the ads from the said sites after facing public backlash.

With this, Micromax is close to launching its own mobile wallet through Yu Televentures,  striking a partnership with a payments firm.

Important Developments Of The Week

Snapdeal To Introduce Multilingual Interface

Snapdeal will be available in Hindi and Telegu from January 26, 2016, to help users overcome language barriers and shop online in their preferred regional language.

Ola & Uber Introduces Ride Share Facility In Delhi

While Ola Share will allow customers to travel with members of social groups, Uber launched private car pooling service which will allow private car owners to offer rides to passengers in need.

Flipkart Exits E-Books Category

Consumers will now not be able to buy e-books on Flipkart; however, their previous purchases will remain intact and can be accessed through Flipkart e-book app or via Kobo.

Lookup Partners With Twitter To Ensue Local Commerce

Lookup tied up with Twitter to launch @lookuplite for live, public conversations on Twitter’s platform. Users can now tweet out their requirements which Lookup will monitor  and send solutions within minutes.

Grabhouse Lays Off Over 100 Employees

As the company pivoted to a stronger technology solution model, Grabhouse was said to reportedly lay off over 100 employees from its team mainly from the operations team.

Paytm Ties Up With IRCTC

After e-ticketing, IRCTC has now partnered with Paytm to allow passengers to make online payments for food ordered through IRCTC’s e-catering services.

Quikr Launches Vernacular Language Support

Quikr launched vernacular language support for consumers to allow browsing, searching, posting ads and interacting with buyers and sellers in language of their choice. It has incorporated seven new languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati and Marathi.

Snapdeal To Offer Capital Assist Loans

Snapdeal will provide capital assist loans worth $1 Bn to its sellers in the next three years, just to ensure that the merchants stay loyal to its platform. Through this scheme, the ecommerce marketplace is looking to add about 1,000 sellers – every three months.

Eatlo Shuts Down?

The foodtech startup Eatlo, which was started in 2014, has stopped accepting  orders. The site and app too shows that it is currently not operational.

Other Developments Of The Week

Myntra’s Ex-Coo Launches Startup In Fashion Segment

Ganesh Subramanian, former Myntra COO has launched  a new venture called Stylumia Intelligence Technology that would track and analyse fashion trends. It would provide insights to fashion and lifestyle brands as well as retailers to make better decisions to cater to customers.

Bestdealfinance Rebrands As Rubique

Bestdealfinance.com, an online marketplace for financial products for individuals and SMEs, rebranded itself as Rubique focussing to create a platform to bring borrowers and lenders together eliminating uncertainties and reduce the turnaround time.

FlipClass Announces Nationwide Expansion

FlipClass has expanded to leading metros and tier II and III cities of India. The startup also launched its mobile platform ‘FlipTutor’ to link teachers in metro cities to students in smaller cities and towns.

Vista Rooms Launches Business spaces

Vista Rooms launched Vista Lounge, a network of affordable business centres and meeting spaces at its hotels across select properties in Mumbai. The company aims to cross 200 Vista Lounges in 2016.

WudStay Enters Into Long Stays Segmen

WudStay announced its entry into the Long Stays Segment by entering the Paying Guest Accommodation Space.  Starting with 50 PGs in Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kota, WudStay is targeting to double its inventory in the next three months.

Zoomcar Enters Chandigarh

Zoomcar started its operations in Chandigarh. Also, as for helping Delhiites reeling under heavy pollution and traffic woes, Zoomcar introduced a series of alternate options to make commuting smooth and easy. Zoomcar’s special designed package Zoom Commute will encourage corporate and office goers look for economic weekday commute option.

Jugnoo Starts Operations In Noida

As a part of its strategic expansion plan, Jugnoo launched its services in Noida. Owing to the influx of migrated students and working professionals in the area who are majorly dependent on local transport for daily conveyance, Jugnoo coincides with the existing requirements.

MyOperator Partners With Canon India

Building up an online technical support, MyOperator partnered with Canon India to augment Canon’s employee facilities with the integration of its toll free number into their system. As per the agreement, Canon India will be using its toll free number as a technical helpline number for its own employees. This association would enable Canon employees to resolve technical queries and issues at a faster pace.

ShopClues Launches Its Online Wedding Store

ShopClues launched an online wedding store on its platform. The portal will offer variety of apparel, jewellery, accessories, footwear and honeymoon essentials to choose from.