Shivani Shinde &Amp;Amp; Aryaman Gupta

Stories by Shivani Shinde &Amp;Amp; Aryaman Gupta

Macro uncertainties may keep IT hiring in slow lane this fiscal year

Macro uncertainties may keep IT hiring in slow lane this fiscal year

Rediff.com   17 Jul 2023

India's information technology (IT) sector will witness subdued hiring in 2023-24 as macro uncertainties impact demand environment, with clients either taking a pause on spend or stopping discretionary spend, say human resource experts. To begin with, unlike earlier years, the three large IT players TCS, HCLTech, and Wipro have not provided any new hiring targets for the financial year. And Wipro has said that its hiring target will depend on the demand environment.

Zepto 'in talks' to raise funding, may become India's 1st unicorn this year

Zepto 'in talks' to raise funding, may become India's 1st unicorn this year

Rediff.com   13 Jul 2023

India may get its first unicorn this year as Zepto, which promises 10-minute deliveries, is in talks to get fresh funding that would take the start-up's valuation past $1 billion. The quick-delivery firm is looking to raise $150 million in a series E round, which will take its valuation to $1.3 billion. The round will be led by StepStone Group, a limited partner (LP) of Zepto's existing investor, Nexus Venture Partners, said media reports.

Primed for Prime Day, Amazon@10 goes from 100 product launches to 45,000

Primed for Prime Day, Amazon@10 goes from 100 product launches to 45,000

Rediff.com   11 Jul 2023

E-commerce major Amazon will host Prime Day - its annual sale event - in India on July 15-16. The company will launch over 45,000 products from over 400 Indian and global brands. The announcement of the Prime Day event in India comes at a time when 900 workers at Amazon UK plan to strike for three days (July 11-13).

Byju's CEO speaks to shareholders, firm to set up board advisory committee

Byju's CEO speaks to shareholders, firm to set up board advisory committee

Rediff.com   7 Jul 2023

Byju Raveendran, CEO and founder of the eponymous edtech giant, has told shareholders that the company will set up a board advisory committee (BAC). This was part of a discussion on July 4 with shareholders at an emergency general meeting (EGM). Raveendran also said that in the next EGM in three weeks will give details about BAC's members and composition.

Android probe: CCI 'protecting' Amazon, Google tells SC

Android probe: CCI 'protecting' Amazon, Google tells SC

Rediff.com   7 Jul 2023

Google, in its latest appeal to the Supreme Court, has said the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is protecting Amazon's interests after having complained that India's anti-competition body (CCI) had copied part of a European Commission ruling against it for allegedly abusing the market dominance of Android. The latest twist to the Google-CCI case comes as Google filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on June 26, against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT's) March 29 order. The tech giant's contention is that the NCLAT failed to apply the "effect analysis" part in the CCI order.

Byju Raveendran talks 'struggles', not layoffs

Byju Raveendran talks 'struggles', not layoffs

Rediff.com   30 Jun 2023

After assuring shareholders that Byju's is on a strong footing, Chief Executive Officer Byju Raveendran, after much delay, spoke to employees in a townhall session. In his first-ever address to employees since problems began at Byju's, Raveendran spoke about the resignation of auditors and board members, the Term Loan B dispute, and the future of educational technology (edtech). Raveendran also asked his team to 'rise above the noise' and work with resilience and determination.

Tata Comm to acquire NYSE-listed Kaleyra for $100 mn in all-cash deal

Tata Comm to acquire NYSE-listed Kaleyra for $100 mn in all-cash deal

Rediff.com   29 Jun 2023

Tata Communications on Wednesday announced that it would acquire NYSE-listed Kaleyra, a global omnichannel integrated communication services provider with a set of proprietary platforms offering targeted personalisation through messaging, video, push notification, e-mails and voice-based services, and chatbots. The acquisition is an all cash deal. Tata Communications has agreed to acquire Kaleyra at a price per share of $7.25, for a total consideration to Kaleyra shareholders of approximately $100 million, besides the assumption of all outstanding debt.

8 'gazelles' demoted to 'cheetahs', 19 out of Hurun Unicorn Index 2023

8 'gazelles' demoted to 'cheetahs', 19 out of Hurun Unicorn Index 2023

Rediff.com   28 Jun 2023

With the number of start-ups reaching the unicorn level falling drastically in 2023, the Hurun Unicorn Index said it has demoted eight gazelles - start-ups that were founded in 2000 and have the potential to go to unicorn in three years - to cheetahs.

Why TCS' mega deal with Transamerica came to an end

Why TCS' mega deal with Transamerica came to an end

Rediff.com   24 Jun 2023

India's largest IT services player Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) saw its $2 billion, 10-year deal with Transamerica Life Insurance Company come to an end even before the period was over. Transamerica is the subsidiary of American arm of Dutch insurer Aegon NV. This is not the first time such a long-term deal has been called off. Earlier this year, UK's National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), ended a $1.8-billion deal with French IT services player Atos.

Byju's sacks 1,000 more; count jumps to 3,500

Byju's sacks 1,000 more; count jumps to 3,500

Rediff.com   20 Jun 2023

India's largest edtech firm Byju's will fire 1,000 employees in a fresh round of layoffs across departments. With the latest round, total job cuts at the company have mounted to around 3,500. According to sources, fresh job cuts are an attempt by the company to improve its finances and work towards a path to profitability.

IIT Madras raises Rs 231 cr in funding from alumni, firms, donors in FY23

IIT Madras raises Rs 231 cr in funding from alumni, firms, donors in FY23

Rediff.com   20 Jun 2023

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) said on Monday that it had raised the highest-ever corpus of annual funds for the institution, garnering Rs 231 crore from alumni, industry and individual donors for 2022-23 (FY23). Its funding increased 76 per cent year-on-year (YoY) compared to Rs 131 crore in FY22, according to data shared by the institute. The number of donors contributing more than Rs 1 crore increased 64 per cent YoY.

Margins remain a pain point for organised FMCG supply-chain companies

Margins remain a pain point for organised FMCG supply-chain companies

Rediff.com   16 Jun 2023

Jiomart B2B is the latest among organised supply-chain companies to bite the bullet, shutting down its warehouses, and asking its employees to leave. Why are companies finding it difficult to sustain the supply-chain business? Experts point out that gross margins in supplying fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) are very low.

Edtech giant Byju's likely to lay off 1,000 more employees

Edtech giant Byju's likely to lay off 1,000 more employees

Rediff.com   9 Jun 2023

With debt woes and a legal case in the US courts, educational technology (edtech) giant Byju's is expected to be laying off more employees, according to media reports. According to The Morning Context report, Byju's intends to lay off 1,000 employees. This number, however, could not be confirmed by Business Standard independently. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on the reports.

TVs, Laptops, Phones May Cost More

TVs, Laptops, Phones May Cost More

Rediff.com   9 Jun 2023

The reason? Price of open cell panels has gone up 15%. One of the main components in the manufacturing of TV sets, open cells contribute to 60%-65% of the manufacturing cost.

India Has Highest Number Of Suspicious E-mails Per Day

India Has Highest Number Of Suspicious E-mails Per Day

Rediff.com   8 Jun 2023

Spear-phishing e-mails typically try to steal sensitive information, such as login credentials or financial information, which is then used to commit fraud, identity theft, and other crimes.

Sequoia splits into 3 independent entities, India biz now Peak XV Partners

Sequoia splits into 3 independent entities, India biz now Peak XV Partners

Rediff.com   7 Jun 2023

Venture Capital giant Sequoia India & Southeast Asia has rebranded itself to Peak VX Partners. The VC firm will now manage its assets under management (AUM) in the region of over $9.2 billion across 13 funds independently. The rebranding exercise followed Sequoia Capital's break-up into three independent entities across the globe. Besides Sequoia India & Southeast Asia, Sequoia China business has adopted the name HongShan in English (it will

Why Foreign VCs Have Shut Their Taps

Why Foreign VCs Have Shut Their Taps

Rediff.com   6 Jun 2023

Foreign investment in India's start-ups has plummeted 72 per cent to $4.58 billion so far, from $16.2 billion during the same period last year.

India employees ready to delegate more work to AI: Microsoft report

India employees ready to delegate more work to AI: Microsoft report

Rediff.com   2 Jun 2023

As artificial intelligence (AI) threatens to replace jobs, a new report from Microsoft has suggested that Indian employees are caught between a fear of losing jobs and an opportunity to reduce workload by delegating tasks to technology. Microsoft's Work Trend Index 2023 found that while 74 per cent of Indian employees are worried about AI replacing their jobs, 83 per cent would delegate as much work to it as possible, to help lessen their workloads. More than three in four Indian workers would be comfortable using AI not just for administrative tasks (86 per cent), but also for analytical work (88 per cent), and for the creative aspects of their role (87 per cent).

Gaming Is Not Just For India's Young

Gaming Is Not Just For India's Young

Rediff.com   1 Jun 2023

Meet Nilima Kalra, 79, Manju Roy, 80, Sumita Maan, 79, and Gurpreet Kaur, 75.

Rajesh Gopinathan bows out as TCS CEO, keeps mum on future plans

Rajesh Gopinathan bows out as TCS CEO, keeps mum on future plans

Rediff.com   31 May 2023

'I am confident that TCS's best years are ahead,' outgoing CEO tells staff in farewell email.