From $10 billion deployed in Indian start-ups in 2017, $6 billion went to unicorns
There is a new energy in 2015 and a new breed of young, ambitious innovators and entrepreneurs who are coming up with creative solutions to many of India's problems, says Mallika Kapur.
Vogo, which has a fleet of over 12,000 vehicles mainly across Hyderabad, Mysuru and Bengaluru, is also betting big on India's growing traffic congestion.
Ex-AAP strategist Shefali Misra to join Uber as head of public policy
Most of the unicorns or billion-dollar valuation firms including Flipkart, Paytm and Ola have had the maximum stakes owned by foreign funds. The founders of all these firms have either single digit stakes in their companies or in low double digits.
Mahindra launches e-mobility platform 'Glyd' to take on Ola, Uber. Targeted at office-going executives, it offers web-conferencing, curated entertainment and music content from selective partners.
Live commerce, quick commerce, group buying, WhatsApp commerce, dukaantech have made their mark.
'All these incidents go to show that the day of the anodyne, apolitical corporation is running out fast,' says Kanika Datta.
Hyundai, which is also toeing Maruti's lines, said special schemes are offered to engage the cab aggregators, including annual-maintenance-contract packages and extended warranty.
Reliance Retail has bought a 25.8 per cent stake in Dunzo, India's leading quick commerce player, for $200 million (around Rs 1,488 crore) as it looks to expand its presence in online grocery delivery business. Dunzo has raised $240 million (about Rs 1,787 crore) in its latest funding round that was led by Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) - the retail arm of Reliance Industries, the two firms said in a statement. Existing investors Lightbox, Lightrock, 3L Capital and Alteria Capital also participated in the funding round.
SBI Cards on Tuesday launched a credit card especially meant for transactions on e-commerce websites.
Leaders need to be ready to adapt to technological changes as quickly as possible, while they build the tech capabilities, Nadella said.
With a new $100-billion technology fund, SoftBank is likely to go after market leaders.
That's because India does not have a serious venture capital industry with an appetite for risk, observes T N Ninan.
The cloud kitchen market in India will hit $1.05 billion by 2023. Just 13% of the total market has been utilised so far.
HR Guru Mayank Rautela offers practical advice.
The Indian arm is the second largest unit for the company, crosses 500 mn trips milestone
Vijay Mallya, who faces prosecution in India, is reportedly in London.
Rediff readers share their experience about taxis and autorickshaws in India.
Uber and Ola both welcomed the move as a step in the right direction.
100,000 cabs and 45,000 autorickshaws would be plying on the Delhi-NCR routes to handle the rush.
India has a history of jugaad, and retrofitting vehicles is one such manifestation of the legendary Indian skill. Not so long ago autorickshaws and small Marutis used to strap on subsidised LPG cylinders and power themselves to a cheap ride. There were the odd explosions, lives were lost, but the jugaad continued. Then compressed natural gas (CNG) was introduced in Delhi following a court order. Initially, customised CNG kits were fitted to conventional (internal combustion engine or ICE) autos cheaply, enabling commuting at less than half of what you would cough up for diesel. The industry is better organised now with Suzuki and Hyundai designing CNG-fired vehicles, and Mahindra and TVS manufacturing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-powered three wheelers.
Even as the semiconductor shortage has limited the demand for new cars, the pre-owned car segment is seeing a surge. A preference for personal mobility, availability of multiple organised online platforms, including e-commerce channels, aggregators, and classifieds, have been fuelling growth. The growth rate of the pre-owned car market is expected to be 1.5x that of the new car market over the next five years.
The mines ministry has put a conditional offer to offload 10 per cent stake in Nalco, saying that the money accrued from such a sale would be invested in the PSU.
Investments are at risk if operators are unable to resolve concerns of authorities and customers after the rape accusation.
Palo Alto-based electric carmaker Tesla has initiated talks with the government on the modalities of setting up fully-owned retail outlets. The company needs to comply with the foreign direct investment (FDI) guidelines related to single-brand retail, including local sourcing norms, to sell directly in India. At least two other foreign majors - Apple and Ikea - were engaged in talks with the government long before the sourcing norms were eased under the single-brand retail route.
India's first true e-commerce marketplace is struggling for its survival and in it lies valuable lessons for pure play aggregators, say experts.
India Inc is facing threat from non-traditional sources.
As Indians start travelling in the new normal, strong recovery in smaller towns underscores success for ride-hailing giant's 'India to Bharat' strategy, which offers new products in regional markets.
The recent protests by employees of Urban Company and the case of a a Zomato delivery executive who died in a road accident point to the severely straitened condition of gig workers during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Budget 2021 had promised several measures to help the cause of gig economy workers, but most of them are yet to see the light of day. Even after a year, the country's gig workers continue to be without any social security cover or a minimum wage guarantee. "In Budget 2021, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the government is looking toward including migrant and gig workers for social security benefits," says Srinivas Kotni, managing partner, Lexport, a consulting firm. Parliament had passed the Code on Wages in 2019 and Code on Industrial Relations, Social Security and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions in 2020.
Drawn in by fuzzy promises about unleashing the entrepreneur in each of us and the benefits of being one's own boss, people find themselves instead oppressed by an algorithm, notes Rahul Jacob.
The problem is major, and the problem affects hundreds of millions of people. Ignoring it must have a sound reason. Ignoring it must in some way be more important than addressing it, notes Aakar Patel.
The company, which rents cars by the hour, day, week and month, has Mahindra E2O Plus and Tata E Tigor available on the platform for which it charges a subscription fee of Rs 15,000-20,000 per month.
A draft policy will be issued for public consultation in the coming weeks.
The ban on app-based taxi services will continue and vehicles violating it will be seized, the city government on Tuesday submitted in the Delhi High Court in New Delhi while Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd withdrew its plea against the December order stopping its operations.
As many as 81 per cent people support having rules for consumer e-commerce, but want more services-based platforms to have more clearly defined roles, a survey by community social media platform LocalCircles has found. The survey asked respondents to answer questions based on the recent draft Rules proposed by the ministry of consumer affairs. The responses found 81 per cent consumers wanting sales of products and services over electronic or digital networks to be governed by a set of electronic commerce rules.
The ride-hailing company will soon launch UberEATS, which has been testing food and grocery deliveries since 2014, in India. Alnoor Peermohamed reports.
The car was expected to have a price tag of Rs 10 lakh and launch was slated for this June.
The state governments of Karnataka and Maharashtra have also moved to exert more control on app-based taxi aggregators.
With the deal closing, SoftBank becomes an investor in two of India's largest on-demand cab service -- Uber and Ola.
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