Nitin Kumar &Amp; Peerzada Abrar

Stories by Nitin Kumar &Amp; Peerzada Abrar

How Myntra plans to run India's biggest fashion sale

How Myntra plans to run India's biggest fashion sale

Rediff.com   16 Jun 2020

The 12th edition of EORS will be held from June 19-22. There will be a dedicated central virtual war-room for tactical problem solving across all phases of the event. Shoppers across the country will have access to over 700,000 styles from over 3,000 fashion and lifestyle brands. Myntra is expecting 3 million people to shop from the safety of their homes.

Swiggy lays off 1,100 as coronavirus hits business

Swiggy lays off 1,100 as coronavirus hits business

Rediff.com   19 May 2020

Backed by China's Tencent and Prosus NV, Swiggy has around 8,000 employees.

PE/VC investments hit 12-quarter low at $5.1 billion

PE/VC investments hit 12-quarter low at $5.1 billion

Rediff.com   28 Apr 2020

The quarter also saw exits worth $1.9 billion across 37 deals, 59 per cent higher YoY. This was driven by one of India's largest PE-backed IPO exit, the $1-billion partial exit by Carlyle in the SBI Cards IPO.

Classes in Cloud: Online teaching in lockdown times

Classes in Cloud: Online teaching in lockdown times

Rediff.com   16 Apr 2020

With the lockdown in force, live online teaching has become the order of the day, report Peerzada Abrar and Sai Ishwar.

Ecommerce cos hit roadblock as lockdown set to continue

Ecommerce cos hit roadblock as lockdown set to continue

Rediff.com   11 Apr 2020

What is aggravating the situation is that e-commerce firms are facing huge shortage of delivery personnel. They have not been able to bring back their staff to work, despite offering higher pay and Covid-related insurance packages.

Ecommerce firms ask govt for 6-month curfew passes

Ecommerce firms ask govt for 6-month curfew passes

Rediff.com   8 Apr 2020

The companies have asked for digital curfew passes as e-retailers feel if more lockdowns are ordered after April 14, it is extremely difficult and time-consuming process to acquire the passes from local authorities.

Consumer internet start-ups brace for salary cuts, layoffs

Consumer internet start-ups brace for salary cuts, layoffs

Rediff.com   2 Apr 2020

For now, Bounce, Shuttl, Fab Hotels, Instamojo, Zomato, Curefit, and HealthifyMe, among others, are going for salary deductions. Most of the consumer internet start-ups, besides those who are in the grocery delivery, education tech, and video conferencing business, would ultimately lay-off people and cut back salaries.

Beam me up, Scotty! Indian tech firm helped in Wuhan's Covid-19 fight

Beam me up, Scotty! Indian tech firm helped in Wuhan's Covid-19 fight

Rediff.com   30 Mar 2020

Thanks to technological support provided by BlinkIN, a Bengaluru-based intelligent visual-assistance company, engineers in Wuhan were able to remotely install air ventilation systems in two hospitals in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, reports Peerzada Abrar.

E-grocers resume work as states step in

E-grocers resume work as states step in

Rediff.com   27 Mar 2020

However, many of these firms were facing an uphill task of convincing the people on the ground to return to work, as many are apprehensive of their safety.

E-commerce deliveries come to a grinding halt

E-commerce deliveries come to a grinding halt

Rediff.com   25 Mar 2020

There is a lot of police action on the ground and even inter-state movement has been stopped, because of which deliveries of essential items via platforms, such as Flipkart, Amazon, Grofers, and Milkbasket, aren't happening. Food-delivery firms -- Swiggy and Zomato -- are facing similar challenges, according to the sources.

Start-ups scrape the bottom of the barrel

Start-ups scrape the bottom of the barrel

Rediff.com   22 Mar 2020

According to a survey by community platform LocalCircles, early-stage start-ups, funding dependent start-ups and many small businesses will soon be fighting for survival as the spurt in coronavirus cases hits them hard.

Online shopping sees spurt thanks to coronavirus fears

Online shopping sees spurt thanks to coronavirus fears

Rediff.com   15 Mar 2020

E-commerce companies are seeing an increase in demand for products such as fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, flour, rice, and lentils, and personal hygiene items like sanitisers and soaps and household cleaning products. Other products include instant noodles, baby food and Ayurvedic items. "There is even a huge spike in pet food," said a person.

How PhonePe restored its UPI after Yes Bank blow

How PhonePe restored its UPI after Yes Bank blow

Rediff.com   8 Mar 2020

After a gruelling 24 hours, the PhonePe team has fully restored UPI on the payment platform. The app is up and running again with ICICI Bank as its new partner with all payment instruments enabled.

It's official: Ola will go for IPO in next few years

It's official: Ola will go for IPO in next few years

Rediff.com   4 Mar 2020

The Bengaluru-based firm competes with US rival Uber whose lukewarm IPO last year has contributed to the lag in valuation trend among the unicorns across the Indian start-up ecosystem.

Nadella 'decodes future', calls to protect AI from bias

Nadella 'decodes future', calls to protect AI from bias

Rediff.com   26 Feb 2020

The Hyderabad-born Nadella says it's not the AI engine, but the teams that build it as well as the algorithms to make it intelligent have to be diverse and inclusive, so that the solutions they build do not show up any sort of 'unconscious bias' that they may have.

Amazon, trade bodies' courtroom battle may impact e-commerce policy

Amazon, trade bodies' courtroom battle may impact e-commerce policy

Rediff.com   24 Feb 2020

The case may drag for a few years, experts say, as CAIT and DVM have said they will appeal against the interim relief granted to Amazon.

Post devaluation, Quikr is no longer a unicorn

Post devaluation, Quikr is no longer a unicorn

Rediff.com   20 Feb 2020

Major shareholder Kinnevik, a Swedish investment firm, devalued Quikr by 45%, referring to the exaggerated revenue resulting from fraudulent transactions that rocked the company. Quikr is now valued at about $577 million.

1% TDS levy could make your ecommerce buys costlier

1% TDS levy could make your ecommerce buys costlier

Rediff.com   3 Feb 2020

Apart from making your purchases on these platforms expensive, it will also mean sellers will have to face the brunt of reduced cash flows amid already low margins for some. Experts said the proposal, which will take effect on April 1, 2020, and will be inserted as a new section in the Income Tax Act, is expected to affect the working capital of e-commerce companies and reduce cash flows for e-sellers.

Why PhonePe's fundraising process has hit roadblock

Why PhonePe's fundraising process has hit roadblock

Rediff.com   20 Jan 2020

Having grown swiftly since the acquisition of Flipkart by Walmart in 2018, it was looking at a valuation of $10 billion. However, factors such as lack of diversification, new e-commerce and data policies, as well as the overall investment environment, have slowed the process.

Microsoft selects 54 startups in India's Tier 2 cities

Microsoft selects 54 startups in India's Tier 2 cities

Rediff.com   14 Jan 2020

Some of them include Spider G, NeuroTags, Genrobotic Innovations, AI Aeronautics, Synersense, Dealshare and NanoHealth. 'Highway to a Hundred Unicorns,' the Microsoft for startups initiative, works closely with local governments to strengthen the startup ecosystem in each state.