Mobile Internet Startup MoMagic Receives Investment From FIH Mobile, A Foxconn Subsidiary

MoMagic Technologies, a Noida-based startup working on Mobile Applications and VAS with special focus on emerging markets, today announced that FIH Mobile Limited ("FIH"), a global technology company, has made an investment to acquire a 10 percent stake in MoMagic.

A subsidiary of Foxconn Technology Group, FIH is investing in MoMagic, a MediaTek-invested technology company, to further strengthen FIH’s business presence in India, and as part of the two companies’ shared goal of tapping significant business opportunities in the world’s fastest-growing mobile internet and smartphone market.

MoMagic Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is a technology company headquartered in NCR, India. Set up in the year 2011, MoMagic presently operates across 5 markets in South East Asia. Emerging, as a key player in the mobile Internet market and app ecosystem, the company ensures to be a revenue generator for its partner organizations: OEMs and ecommerce players -startups including production and gaming houses.

The investment also underscores FIH’s commitment to actively collaborate with technology companies in India to create a positive industry ecosystem for innovation and business opportunities. The investment in MoMagic is being made by FIH’s subsidiary, Wonderful Stars Pte. Ltd.

MoMagic, works across all the widely used mobile platforms and in the area of mobile Internet services, offering technology-backed innovative and analytically-driven marketing solutions to enterprises, startups and ecommerce players as well as better reach and service to customers.

Speaking on the investment in MoMagic, Mr. Charles Pan, Special Assistant to Chairman & Chief Investment Director, FIH Mobile Ltd., said, "Our investment in MoMagic Technologies is in line with our Group’s goal of strengthening FIH’s ability to tap the huge potential of the country’s emerging mobile Internet and fast-growing smartphone markets. MoMagic has been successful in building a strong customer base and deep understanding of the Indian market, and we believe that this investment will support FIH in building on our core competencies in innovative mobile technology solutions to better serve customers and consumers in this strategic market."

Mr. Grant Kuo, Managing Director of Indian operation, MediaTek Inc. Taiwan, said, "MoMagic is one of the very early companies in which MediaTek invested and continues to be a stakeholder. The company has seen exponential growth in the last two years and is standing on strong business fundamentals and values. MoMagic today has emerged as one of the key players of the Mobile Internet market. With the FIH investment, we see MoMagic advancing its technological and business edge and expanding as a market leader."

Mr. Arun Gupta, CEO and Founder MoMagic Technologies, said, "MoMagic’s growth has been based on strong business foundations and with FIH’s investment, those fundamentals are further strengthened. We see FIH’s investment as a catalyst for achievement of our business vision and aggressive expansion plans, and our goal to be amongst the key players in the growing smartphone and mobile Internet market."

"We also believe MoMagic’s inherent edge in the mobile Internet market can play a key role in the Digital India and Make in India initiatives", added Mr. Gupta.

Education ECommerce Startup Fastudent Raises Seed Funding From Group of Angel Investors

Noida-based Fastudent, an education e-commerce start-up, has announced that it has raised a round of seed investment from a group of marquee angel investors led by Mr. Ashish Gupta, Founder and Trustee at Ashoka University.

Founded by IIT-IIM alumunus, Gaurav Barman and Geetanjali Khanna, Fastudent claims to be India’s first complete education e-commerce start-up offering an innovative educational products aggregator – helps Students, Parents, Schools and Teachers across the bandwidth - from Play Groups to Post Graduation to fulfill their academic needs. It offers one of its kind e-commerce enabling technology platforms to enable education Institutes to bring e-Commerce in their own fold of offerings. The change drives a lot more convenience and access to high quality academic content for their students in Metros and Tier – 2 & 3 cities as well.

Gaurav Barman, built a career solving technology problems for global companies, and Geetanjali Khanna, is a retail industry veteran and an expert on operations and supply chain management, planned to use technology extensively to reduce the operational inefficiencies of the Indian education market. This enables access to the best quality of education products for education institutes across India, even in the remotest parts of the country.

This round of funding will be leveraged for team expansion, strengthening the technology and increasing the geographical footprint. The company plans to hire over 90 people over the next 6 months. Currently Fastudent offers more than 20,000 SKUs across 8 categories - Books & Stationery, Academic Accessories, Uniforms, Games, Sports, Digital products & Customized Merchandize. They intend to extend their categories to niche and focused 32 categories, in the coming months.

More than a million learners throng this e-commerce portal, looking for a variety of products apt for fulfilling their learning needs. Fastudent, currently services more than 20,000 pincodes all across India. They are rapidly expanding their operations and plan to acquire over 10 million paying customers by the year 2018.

Speaking on the funding, Ashish Gupta, Founder, adds "Fastudent is trying to solve a very fundamental problem of education which is the accessibility of academic needs. I am excited and happy about the fact that Fastudent is envisioning to make education reach the underprivileged sector where the core need of the education lies. The complementary skill-sets this dynamic duo brings on-board are unique and absolutely required for this business. In the last few months, the team has experimented on the minutest of details and the understanding of the business they now have, is unprecedented. They are working to enhance and bind the highly fragmented Indian education sector."

Geetanjali Khanna, Co-founder & COO, Fastudent added, "With Fastudent we aim to compliment the shift in consumption patterns of the education fraternity. The blended model of physical educational needs coupled with Consultative, Customized and Modularized Digital learning - that's our focus. We are working relentlessly to streamline the difficulties students go through on a daily basis and let them focus on what they do best viz study."

Beauty Services Platform StayGlad Raises Series A Funding From Bessemer Venture Partners and former CEO of Lakme India

Bangalore-based on demand beauty services platform StayGlad has raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding from Silicon Valley-based VC firm Bessemer Venture Partners and Anil Chopra, former CEO of Lakme Lever, according to a statement.

Glow Prime Technologies Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates StayGlad will use the freshly raised funds to expand operations and strengthen its technology backend.

With this investment, Anil Chopra also joins the board of StayGlad.

StayGlad brings standardised beauty services by vetted professionals on demand. The startup also have an app to connect beauty, make up service professionals with customers instantly at anytime and anywhere. Till date, nearly 60 beauty service providers have signed up with the startup.

Earlier in June this year, the startup had received an undisclosed amount of angel investment from Tracxn Labs, Delhivery co-founder Sahil Barua and other investors.

The startup was founded in 2015 by three IIT Kharagpur graduates, Kavish Desai, Shashank Gupta and Prateek Jain, who were working with Flipkart, Adobe and Amazon respectively, before starting StayGlad.

"Demand for beauty services is at an inflection point in India. Add to this the convenience of the service being delivered at home and it creates a large market opportunity. The category is synonymous with high order values, high gross margins and predictable customer repeat behavior," said Raghav Bahl, vice president of Bessemer.

StayGlad faces direct competition with the likes of GetLook, YLG Salon and Spa, Vyomo, Belita and VanityCube. Belita had raised $375,000 (Rs 2.5 crore) in angel funding through LetsVenture and Lead Angels in August.

The beauty and wellness space in India is growing at a rate of over 20% per annum, and thus its fast catching the fancy of investors. Recently, beauty and wellness startup Stylofie raised $250,000 in seed funding from Hong Kong-based Swastika Company Ltd. Earlier this month, Info Edge Ltd, the owner of recruitment portal Naukri, acquired 25% stake in on-demand beauty services marketplace BigStylist for about $1 million.

What To Do When Your Competitor Gets Funded?

When there are many fishes in the sea vying for the same thing, there's bound to be competition. It depends on you as a person on how you decide to tackle that competition. Whether you decide to take the competition as a positive or as a negative thing. It all totally depends on you.

And, when it comes to the startup world, the competition is fiercer than ever. Every now and then, we read news about an XYZ startup getting a funding of ABC amount from this and that investor. Such news pieces often leaves an entrepreneur wondering about where exactly is the future of his own startup headed to.

According to some market analysts, competition is good. Even if your competition gets funded an XYZ amount, don't get bogged down by this. In fact, take this as a positive sign of validation of your market sector. It helps in educating the people about why that particular sector is a promising one and ripe for disruption.

There are many live examples in the market where startups and entrepreneurs have been self-destructive by paying an unhealthy attention on their competitors and their leads and totally ignoring one's own customer and market opportunity. Always remember, your startup's competitors are the incumbent. Further, a Healthy competition is bound to keep you on your toes and deliver the best to the customer.

Sometimes, after seeing their competitors rise, companies and company owners end up making the following rookie mistakes. Make sure you don't repeat any.

• Don't try to copy each and every product release of your competitor



• Launching artificially in markets to compete on perceived "land grabs"



• Bad mouthing the competition in public



• Focussing more on the competition rather than on the customer

So, in the end, the question is, what should one do or how should one react when one of its competitors nets a big amount? Well, while there are no set guidelines or rules on how to react, following are some advices that one might consider.

• Focus on your own business, your own market and your own customers



• Reassure your company's employees that it’s healthy to have competitors.



• Reach out to your own investors and reassure them that you still feel good about your market positioning and your product.



• Start fixing your company's shortcomings, if there are any.



• Don't treat it as an emergency and rush into things that you might later repent.

So, Instead of taking your competitors success as a sign of your failure, take it as a positive sign for your market sector and remain optimistic that you might be next in line to receive that huge amount.

What To Do When Your Competitor Gets Funded?

When there are many fishes in the sea vying for the same thing, there's bound to be competition. It depends on you as a person on how you decide to tackle that competition. Whether you decide to take the competition as a positive or as a negative thing. It all totally depends on you.

And, when it comes to the startup world, the competition is fiercer than ever. Every now and then, we read news about an XYZ startup getting a funding of ABC amount from this and that investor. Such news pieces often leaves an entrepreneur wondering about where exactly is the future of his own startup headed to.

According to some market analysts, competition is good. Even if your competition gets funded an XYZ amount, don't get bogged down by this. In fact, take this as a positive sign of validation of your market sector. It helps in educating the people about why that particular sector is a promising one and ripe for disruption.

There are many live examples in the market where startups and entrepreneurs have been self-destructive by paying an unhealthy attention on their competitors and their leads and totally ignoring one's own customer and market opportunity. Always remember, your startup's competitors are the incumbent. Further, a Healthy competition is bound to keep you on your toes and deliver the best to the customer.

Sometimes, after seeing their competitors rise, companies and company owners end up making the following rookie mistakes. Make sure you don't repeat any.

• Don't try to copy each and every product release of your competitor



• Launching artificially in markets to compete on perceived "land grabs"



• Bad mouthing the competition in public



• Focussing more on the competition rather than on the customer

So, in the end, the question is, what should one do or how should one react when one of its competitors nets a big amount? Well, while there are no set guidelines or rules on how to react, following are some advices that one might consider.

• Focus on your own business, your own market and your own customers



• Reassure your company's employees that it’s healthy to have competitors.



• Reach out to your own investors and reassure them that you still feel good about your market positioning and your product.



• Start fixing your company's shortcomings, if there are any.



• Don't treat it as an emergency and rush into things that you might later repent.

So, Instead of taking your competitors success as a sign of your failure, take it as a positive sign for your market sector and remain optimistic that you might be next in line to receive that huge amount.

Mumbai-based Frapee Is A First of Its Kind Mobile Gaming Aggregator In India

What if I tell you that a Mumbai based startup now gives you a chance to combine the three biggest passions of your life, gaming, shopping and earning. Many of you would think that the 21st century has finally got me and I have lost it. Well, this is not the case. A startup called Frapee has actually been successful in bringing together the world of shopping, gaming and earning, together.

A first of its kind mobile gaming aggregator in the Indian market, the startup enables its users to earn discounts/cashbacks while indulging in gaming. They further provide points or 'Frapees' to the gamers for winning on these games, which can later be redeemed by the gamer against free coupons or exciting discounts of over hundred e-commerce and retail brands like Amazon, Jabong, Bookmyshow, among others that the startup has collaborated with. The points are provided to the users at no costs whatsoever to them. In simple word- More Gaming translates to More Earning, and more shopping.

The main aim behind Frapee is to help game developers monetize their products and gamers or users to achieve tangible benefits in their leisure time. Thus, making it a win-win situation for both the demand and the supply side.

Unlike its competitors, Frapee doesn't require its users to engage in brand promotional activities (eg. surveys, posting product images etc.) in order to gain tangible incentives of brands . Thus, proving to be a far more engaging platform to its users than its competitors.



Already being passionate about e-commerce and gaming, the team came up with Frapee during one of their brainstorming sessions. They came across that there was an existing requirement of hundreds of smaller, funky ecommerce startups to project themselves to the youth and create product awareness in order to enable purchase. That's when the concept for Frapee crossed their mind.

Aditya Sharma, Siddharth Shah, Gautam Udani and Yuvek Mehta are the men behind the brilliant concept. The startup is currently bootstrapped and self-sustaining with the initial capital put in by the founders. They also have an in-principle approval from an angel investor whose funds are still waiting to be used.

With 900+ downloads, without any marketing efforts, 80 brands with 400+ discounts or free coupons and Increase in games from 2 to 9 within one month, the startup seems to have started on a great note.

For the future, the Mumbai based startup is hopeful of getting onboard more than 100 games and 300 brands by the end of 2016. They also plan to launch an iOS version while continuously improve the existing User interface by adding features such as multi-player functionalities etc. With all their future plans put into action, they're hopeful that they will be realistically be able to reach the milestone of 50,000 users within a year.

Are gaming and e-commerce two of your greatest loves? Then, what are you waiting for?

Mumbai-based Frapee Is A First of Its Kind Mobile Gaming Aggregator In India

What if I tell you that a Mumbai based startup now gives you a chance to combine the three biggest passions of your life, gaming, shopping and earning. Many of you would think that the 21st century has finally got me and I have lost it. Well, this is not the case. A startup called Frapee has actually been successful in bringing together the world of shopping, gaming and earning, together.

A first of its kind mobile gaming aggregator in the Indian market, the startup enables its users to earn discounts/cashbacks while indulging in gaming. They further provide points or 'Frapees' to the gamers for winning on these games, which can later be redeemed by the gamer against free coupons or exciting discounts of over hundred e-commerce and retail brands like Amazon, Jabong, Bookmyshow, among others that the startup has collaborated with. The points are provided to the users at no costs whatsoever to them. In simple word- More Gaming translates to More Earning, and more shopping.

The main aim behind Frapee is to help game developers monetize their products and gamers or users to achieve tangible benefits in their leisure time. Thus, making it a win-win situation for both the demand and the supply side.

Unlike its competitors, Frapee doesn't require its users to engage in brand promotional activities (eg. surveys, posting product images etc.) in order to gain tangible incentives of brands . Thus, proving to be a far more engaging platform to its users than its competitors.



Already being passionate about e-commerce and gaming, the team came up with Frapee during one of their brainstorming sessions. They came across that there was an existing requirement of hundreds of smaller, funky ecommerce startups to project themselves to the youth and create product awareness in order to enable purchase. That's when the concept for Frapee crossed their mind.

Aditya Sharma, Siddharth Shah, Gautam Udani and Yuvek Mehta are the men behind the brilliant concept. The startup is currently bootstrapped and self-sustaining with the initial capital put in by the founders. They also have an in-principle approval from an angel investor whose funds are still waiting to be used.

With 900+ downloads, without any marketing efforts, 80 brands with 400+ discounts or free coupons and Increase in games from 2 to 9 within one month, the startup seems to have started on a great note.

For the future, the Mumbai based startup is hopeful of getting onboard more than 100 games and 300 brands by the end of 2016. They also plan to launch an iOS version while continuously improve the existing User interface by adding features such as multi-player functionalities etc. With all their future plans put into action, they're hopeful that they will be realistically be able to reach the milestone of 50,000 users within a year.

Are gaming and e-commerce two of your greatest loves? Then, what are you waiting for?

Former Indiagames CEO's Startup GOQii Raises $13.4 Mn Led by NEA and China's Cheetah Mobile

California-Mumbai based Wearable fitness devices maker GOQii has said it has raised $13.4 million in Series A round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and China-based Cheetah Mobile. Other investors who participated in this round are Great Wall Club (GWC), a grouping of Chinese and American investors and Singapore-based DSG Consumer Partners.

Goqii offers a wearable fitness wrist-band paired with remote personalized coaching app. The band collects users' activity and sleep data. A personal coach assigned to the user reviews this data and connects with the user via mobile app to guide them towards their health and fitness goals. The band itself is free, and users pay a subscription fee for personalized coaching.

The company, which currently caters to Indian market, will use the funds to focus on expansion in new markets globally and growth, GOQii said in a statement.

Earlier in July, Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma has invested an undisclosed amount in the startup.

Goqii was founded in 2014 by Vishal Gondal who previously founded the game development and publishing company Indiagames, which he sold to Disney in 2011 for $100 million.

After closing its beta Beta program in April 2014, GOQii became commercially available in India in August 2014.

GOQii's application also integrates with 35 major fitness bands including Jawbone, Fitbit, Garmin, Moov, Misfit and Sony. Users have to decide on a goal and chose a coach to guide them on the application.

Goqii is backed by angel investors like Amit Singhal (Google), Shriram Nene and his wife and Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit-Nene and had raised $2.5 million.

The company has about 1 lakh users of its platform, who pay anywhere upwards of Rs 4,000 for a three-month coaching plan.

International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that wearable device shipments will reach 76.1 million units in 2015, up 164 per cent from 2014. By 2019, worldwide wearable shipments is expected to reach 173.4 million units.

Ex-PayTM Executives' Startup Tooler Raises Pre-Series A Funding From Angel Investors

Delhi-based laundry services startup Tooler has raised an undisclosed amount in angel funding from a group of investors led by Raghu Khanna, founder and CEO of CASHurDRIVE and Sameer Gupta, former general manager of Paytm.

Founded in June 2015 by Vishal Gupta along with ex-PayTM executives Himanshu Arora and Sukanth Srivastav, Tooler is a professional laundry service startup with highly standardized and curated process of washing of clothes in laundry and dry cleaning.

The App based startup provides services of laundry, dry cleaning and home maintenance in the Delhi-NCR area. It provides users with most economical and quick services just via few simple taps on their smart phones and provide easy pickup, assortment, washing and ironing of clothes with 48 hours delivery at your doorsteps.

"With the company already handling 100 orders per day growing at almost 2x on weekly basis with close to 80% repeat orders. The company would further focus on new marketing and customer experience strategies after the recent funding round" says one of the cofounder Himanshu Arora.

Within the next six months, the company targets to deliver 10,000 orders in a month and across the GMV over Rs 30-35 lakhs.

Some of the other Indian players in the home services marketplace include Mumbai-based Justdial, Bengaluru-based Localoye and Housejoy, Gurgaon-based Near, and Delhi-based Urbanclap, Goodservice, and Noida-based Mr. Right.

According to startup data tracker Tracxn, two notable app-based home services marketplace startups have had funding activity this year - Mumbai-based Doormint raised $3 million (roughly Rs. 20 crores) in funding, while Taskbob raised $1.28 million (roughly Rs. 8.5 crores). Pickmylaundry raised a seed funding round in late August.

Grofers Raises $120Mn In A Fresh Funding Round Led By Softbank

Gurgaon-based yperlocal delivery startup Grofers has announced that it has raised $120 million (about Rs 780 crore) in a fresh funding round led by Japan's SoftBank Corp.

Russian entrepreneur and venture capitalist Yuri Milner and existing investors Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital also participated in the round, according to co-founder and chief executive Albinder Dhindsa. Apoletto Managers, a personal fund managed by DST Global's partners also participated in this new round, the third one this year for Grofers.

The recent round is likely to value the company slightly below $400 million.

Grofers, which is online delivery service that connects consumers with local stores, has raised $166.5 Million till date after 4 rounds of funding by Softbank, Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global.

According to sources, after the recent funding Grofers Softbank is expected to take 20-30% stake in the company.

In July, SoftBank announced that the firm will shut down its venture capital (VC) arm and avoid investing in early-stage firms.

In October 2014, SoftBank pledged to invest a total of $10 billion over a decade in India. Grofers is fifth investment of SoftBank in India over the past year after Snapdeal, Ola, Housing and budget hotel aggregation platform Oyo Rooms.

Grofers currently operates in 25 cities and gets about 30,000 orders in a day. The company lists all neighbourhood stores on its platform (from grocery shops to pharmacies), and employs a delivery crew of 4,000 people that is growing rapidly.

In April this year, Grofers has raised $35 million from existing investors Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital in its third round of funding and in the same month the company has acquired a Delhi-NCR based grocery delivery mobile app, My Green Box, for an undisclosed amount.

Founded in 2013 by IIT graduates Saurabh Kumar and Albinder Dhindsa, Grofers started delivering to end customers in November 2014.

Services Marketplace Startup Aarigo Is Different In A Way That Its 'Open'

In this fast-paced life, we're seldom able to focus on all the dimensions of our life and keep everyone happy. Most of the times, while we're able to take care of our personal life and relationships, it's our own home, health and beauty that takes the beating. Working on the principle of 'YOU is also important', is Aarigo, a Mumbai based startup.

Claiming to be India's first open market place for service, Aarigo helps by connecting all types of local service providers to service seekers. For example, if your toilet tap needs a quick fix, or you need an urgent beauty parlour appointment for a party, they're your go-to people. The customers are provided with the options of professional service provider on the basis of various parameters such as price, quality and reviews.

The process involved is quite simple. A customer seeking a particular service is simply required to browse that particular service over the Aarigo website. On search, a list of trusted service providers in their locality will be displayed on their computer screen. They can then choose the best service provider on the basis of his/her price, quality and service.

Taking inspiration from big tech giants such as Apple Inc., Facebook and Microsoft etc., about how they have continuously managed to evolve and improve their products, customer support, and technology, inspite of being market leaders, the Aarigo team aims to serve the customer with the best quality possible.

Encouraging people to move away from Yellow pages and random Google searches for services providers, Aarigo.com not only helps customers in saving time, and energy but also their hard earned money.

According to the startup, the USP of their services is that they are regularly updated and work in real-time. Aarigo is a person's one stop shop for his multiple local services needs. Currently, a customer can book every type of hyper local service providers within a minute, using Aarigo. There is no other company currently in the market providing all these features.

[caption id="attachment_102518" align="alignleft" width="383"] (L-R) Sushant Darekar & Amit Baravkar[/caption]

Aarigo is the result of the vision of two brilliant minds, Sushant Darekar, CEO & Co Founder and Amit Baravkar, CTO & Co Founder. Sushant is an MBA graduate from Wales University (UK), having worked for 3 years in London in an MNC. He currently looks after overall strategy planning and overall product development, and other areas.

Amit, however, is a B. Tech (Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering), BBA (Corporate secretaryship), M.Tech (Systems Management), Master of Business Laws. Since the year 2012 he has been engaged in various businesses. He currently looks after technological development and needs of the Aarigo.com website.

With more than 200 service providers and 5000 unique visitors within two months of the launch, the path ahead for Aarigo.com looks quite bright. They have also successfully processed orders and transaction of worth more than 50k within such a short period of time.

Currently bootstrapped, the startup is looking forward to raising funds and is in talks with various angles and early stage investor for the same.

Services Marketplace Startup Aarigo Is Different In A Way That Its 'Open'

In this fast-paced life, we're seldom able to focus on all the dimensions of our life and keep everyone happy. Most of the times, while we're able to take care of our personal life and relationships, it's our own home, health and beauty that takes the beating. Working on the principle of 'YOU is also important', is Aarigo, a Mumbai based startup.

Claiming to be India's first open market place for service, Aarigo helps by connecting all types of local service providers to service seekers. For example, if your toilet tap needs a quick fix, or you need an urgent beauty parlour appointment for a party, they're your go-to people. The customers are provided with the options of professional service provider on the basis of various parameters such as price, quality and reviews.

The process involved is quite simple. A customer seeking a particular service is simply required to browse that particular service over the Aarigo website. On search, a list of trusted service providers in their locality will be displayed on their computer screen. They can then choose the best service provider on the basis of his/her price, quality and service.

Taking inspiration from big tech giants such as Apple Inc., Facebook and Microsoft etc., about how they have continuously managed to evolve and improve their products, customer support, and technology, inspite of being market leaders, the Aarigo team aims to serve the customer with the best quality possible.

Encouraging people to move away from Yellow pages and random Google searches for services providers, Aarigo.com not only helps customers in saving time, and energy but also their hard earned money.

According to the startup, the USP of their services is that they are regularly updated and work in real-time. Aarigo is a person's one stop shop for his multiple local services needs. Currently, a customer can book every type of hyper local service providers within a minute, using Aarigo. There is no other company currently in the market providing all these features.

[caption id="attachment_102518" align="alignleft" width="383"] (L-R) Sushant Darekar & Amit Baravkar[/caption]

Aarigo is the result of the vision of two brilliant minds, Sushant Darekar, CEO & Co Founder and Amit Baravkar, CTO & Co Founder. Sushant is an MBA graduate from Wales University (UK), having worked for 3 years in London in an MNC. He currently looks after overall strategy planning and overall product development, and other areas.

Amit, however, is a B. Tech (Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering), BBA (Corporate secretaryship), M.Tech (Systems Management), Master of Business Laws. Since the year 2012 he has been engaged in various businesses. He currently looks after technological development and needs of the Aarigo.com website.

With more than 200 service providers and 5000 unique visitors within two months of the launch, the path ahead for Aarigo.com looks quite bright. They have also successfully processed orders and transaction of worth more than 50k within such a short period of time.

Currently bootstrapped, the startup is looking forward to raising funds and is in talks with various angles and early stage investor for the same.

India Launches Its First Virtual Police Station To Empower Women Afraid to Report Rapes In India

According to legal analysts, the biggest barrier that keeps Indian Women from reporting Sexual assault cases is the fear of the ill-treatment they will have to face at the hands of the police. Well, I myself being an Indian Women, can somewhere second that thought.

Understanding this fear rooted deep inside the minds of our country's women, Rajan Zaveri, a talented videographer, has helped produce an interactive online tool called - VirtualPolice.in or Virtual Police Station, that will help in lessening the fear and building their confidence back in the system.

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), in cooperation with the Rajasthan Police, has created the Virtual Police Station, a first of its kind tool built for police training and public education. This interactive multi-language program works both online and offline, and allows a user, be it a cadet in a police academy or a man, woman or child at home, to learn the duties, rights and responsibilities one should expect in a police station.



This Virtual Police Station makes use of 360 degrees video technology, which gives citizens a virtual tour of every corner of the insides of an average Indian police station. Combined with web architecture, videos, text boxes and vital legal resources, anyone can use this online tool to learn the laws and procedures relating to arrest, crimes against women, riot control, theft, and more. Users can also better understand the ranks, rooms and registers found in a police station, so that everyone gets on the same page to help create better policing across India.

According to Zaveri, the public perception about the Indian Police system is really bad. The situation is so bad that if anything does go wrong in the country, going to the police station is the last thing that the citizens want to do.

In such a situation, the device can prove to be a great tool for both, the police and the Indian Citizens. It might be successful in getting the citizens currently wobbly confidence back in the Police System of the Country.

The tool works in a very simple way. At the click of the button, you are inside the police station. It helps you by showing how the police must and must not behave with you when you go to file a complaint in the station. The tool also gives information about what the legal rights of the complainant’s are, including the right to demand the presence of a female officer. There are different scenarios depicted in the video to give a practical example of the same to the tool's users.

According to Vivek Trivedi, communication officer at CHRI, their main aim behind this tool is to transform India's police "from a police force to a police service."

From men and women complainants to community workers and law schools, the video tool can be used by anyone.

"We hope this video tool will de-mystify the police station and make it a less forbidding place when you need it most," said Maja Daruwala, Director, CHRI.

The CHRI plans to make the tool also available as a mobile application in the next phase.

India Launches Its First Virtual Police Station To Empower Women Afraid to Report Rapes In India

According to legal analysts, the biggest barrier that keeps Indian Women from reporting Sexual assault cases is the fear of the ill-treatment they will have to face at the hands of the police. Well, I myself being an Indian Women, can somewhere second that thought.

Understanding this fear rooted deep inside the minds of our country's women, Rajan Zaveri, a talented videographer, has helped produce an interactive online tool called - VirtualPolice.in or Virtual Police Station, that will help in lessening the fear and building their confidence back in the system.

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), in cooperation with the Rajasthan Police, has created the Virtual Police Station, a first of its kind tool built for police training and public education. This interactive multi-language program works both online and offline, and allows a user, be it a cadet in a police academy or a man, woman or child at home, to learn the duties, rights and responsibilities one should expect in a police station.



This Virtual Police Station makes use of 360 degrees video technology, which gives citizens a virtual tour of every corner of the insides of an average Indian police station. Combined with web architecture, videos, text boxes and vital legal resources, anyone can use this online tool to learn the laws and procedures relating to arrest, crimes against women, riot control, theft, and more. Users can also better understand the ranks, rooms and registers found in a police station, so that everyone gets on the same page to help create better policing across India.

According to Zaveri, the public perception about the Indian Police system is really bad. The situation is so bad that if anything does go wrong in the country, going to the police station is the last thing that the citizens want to do.

In such a situation, the device can prove to be a great tool for both, the police and the Indian Citizens. It might be successful in getting the citizens currently wobbly confidence back in the Police System of the Country.

The tool works in a very simple way. At the click of the button, you are inside the police station. It helps you by showing how the police must and must not behave with you when you go to file a complaint in the station. The tool also gives information about what the legal rights of the complainant’s are, including the right to demand the presence of a female officer. There are different scenarios depicted in the video to give a practical example of the same to the tool's users.

According to Vivek Trivedi, communication officer at CHRI, their main aim behind this tool is to transform India's police "from a police force to a police service."

From men and women complainants to community workers and law schools, the video tool can be used by anyone.

"We hope this video tool will de-mystify the police station and make it a less forbidding place when you need it most," said Maja Daruwala, Director, CHRI.

The CHRI plans to make the tool also available as a mobile application in the next phase.

First Time In India: An Airport Uses Augmented Reality & iBeacons To Improve Passenger Experience

There's something new in store for all the Mumbai travellers flying out from the GVK Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA). In order to up the ante of passenger experience, the airport has recently launched a new smartphone application that includes a number of advanced features. Among these, the attractive use of augmented reality technology, which provides passengers with information on nearby facilities as they walk through the terminal, is the one that stands out.

Using the app, passengers can select their flight on the app and opt to receive push notifications relating to their specific flight. A combination of Indoor Atlas and iBeacon technologies provides the platform for the magnetically modelled indoor maps. Interestingly, this is the very first time that iBeacons have been installed in an Indian airport.

For the unaware, iBeacon, as the name suggests is a protocol developed by Apple, which makes use of bluetooth low energy proximity sensing in order to transmit a unique identifier picked by an operating system or a compatible app. The identifier and several bytes sent with it is then used to determine the device's physical location, track customers, or carry out a location based action on the device such as a push notification or a check-in on social media.

With beacons, airlines can easily provide passengers with indoor directions, walk times to gates, lounge access and alerts about boarding. Knowing where a passenger is before sending information enables more effective communication.

Currently available for free on iOS (here) and Android (here) platforms, the CSIA plans to continue to develop and better the current application. For example, it plans on adding a taxi booking service and a virtual walkthrough feature in order to allow passengers to experience various sections of the airport on their smartphones.

[caption id="attachment_102522" align="aligncenter" width="600"] The new Mumbai T2 App features augmented reality, push notifications, airport maps and retail guides.[/caption]

Called Mumbai T2, the app is India's first-ever indoor navigation app with augmented reality feature to guide a passenger through the terminal building. In the coming months, the app would get more ambitious as it will coordinate information from multiple sources to tell you what time to leave for the airport.

After the flight number is keyed in, the app will give constant information on the relevant flight, including details such as delays, change in boarding gates and boarding time. "The app uses technology that creates magnetically modelled maps and provides location-based information to the passenger using their 3G connections or free Wi-Fi services available at the airport

"We constantly endeavour to provide world-class facilities at T2, and always strive to make it as easy as possible for air travellers to discover them. With the Mumbai T2 app, travellers can design their own customised experiential tour with a single click," said Rajeev Jain, Chief Executive Officer, Mumbai International Airport Limited, in a statement.

"Moreover, we being a ‘silent’ terminal, cutting down on public announcements, the app will be a very handy tool for passengers to keep track of their flight schedule through constant notifications," he further added.

First Time In India: An Airport Uses Augmented Reality & iBeacons To Improve Passenger Experience

There's something new in store for all the Mumbai travellers flying out from the GVK Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA). In order to up the ante of passenger experience, the airport has recently launched a new smartphone application that includes a number of advanced features. Among these, the attractive use of augmented reality technology, which provides passengers with information on nearby facilities as they walk through the terminal, is the one that stands out.

Using the app, passengers can select their flight on the app and opt to receive push notifications relating to their specific flight. A combination of Indoor Atlas and iBeacon technologies provides the platform for the magnetically modelled indoor maps. Interestingly, this is the very first time that iBeacons have been installed in an Indian airport.

For the unaware, iBeacon, as the name suggests is a protocol developed by Apple, which makes use of bluetooth low energy proximity sensing in order to transmit a unique identifier picked by an operating system or a compatible app. The identifier and several bytes sent with it is then used to determine the device's physical location, track customers, or carry out a location based action on the device such as a push notification or a check-in on social media.

With beacons, airlines can easily provide passengers with indoor directions, walk times to gates, lounge access and alerts about boarding. Knowing where a passenger is before sending information enables more effective communication.

Currently available for free on iOS (here) and Android (here) platforms, the CSIA plans to continue to develop and better the current application. For example, it plans on adding a taxi booking service and a virtual walkthrough feature in order to allow passengers to experience various sections of the airport on their smartphones.

[caption id="attachment_102522" align="aligncenter" width="600"] The new Mumbai T2 App features augmented reality, push notifications, airport maps and retail guides.[/caption]

Called Mumbai T2, the app is India's first-ever indoor navigation app with augmented reality feature to guide a passenger through the terminal building. In the coming months, the app would get more ambitious as it will coordinate information from multiple sources to tell you what time to leave for the airport.

After the flight number is keyed in, the app will give constant information on the relevant flight, including details such as delays, change in boarding gates and boarding time. "The app uses technology that creates magnetically modelled maps and provides location-based information to the passenger using their 3G connections or free Wi-Fi services available at the airport

"We constantly endeavour to provide world-class facilities at T2, and always strive to make it as easy as possible for air travellers to discover them. With the Mumbai T2 app, travellers can design their own customised experiential tour with a single click," said Rajeev Jain, Chief Executive Officer, Mumbai International Airport Limited, in a statement.

"Moreover, we being a ‘silent’ terminal, cutting down on public announcements, the app will be a very handy tool for passengers to keep track of their flight schedule through constant notifications," he further added.

NISAR Is Biggest Collaboration Of India's ISRO With NASA

In what could be seen as a big breakthrough for India, a NASA scientist on Monday announced that two of the World's most famous Space Agencies, NASA and ISRO, will come together to launch the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission.

Touted as the biggest collaboration between the two space agencies yet, the mission basically deals with building a 2,600 kg satellite that will "effectively make a time-lapse movie of the earth" while also keeping a close tab on the disturbances in the ice-sheet collapses, natural hazards and ecosystem.

NASA and ISRO first collaborated in the year 2005 during the Chandrayaan-I mission. During the mission, an eight-kilogram Moon Mineralogy mapper from NASA accompanied the mission, resulting in the "joint-discovery" of water on moon.

NASA was initially thinking about doing the mission all by itself or collaborating with either Canada or Germany. It was only in the year 2011 that NASA started talking to ISRO for the mission. According to Alok K Chatterjee, Mission Interface Manager and Launch System Engineer of NISAR project, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA, the NISAR mission is the biggest collaborative effort ever undertaken by the two agencies.



Chatterjee was recently present in Gujarat Science City for an 'outreach event' with other US-based scientists associated with the mission— including NISAR project scientist Paul A Rosen, Mark Simons, Ian Joughin, Scott Hensley, Paul Siqueira and Piyush Agram.

ISRO and NASA have very different roles to play during the mission. While ISRO will be providing the "spacecraft bus", S-band SAR payload and the launch vehicle, NASA, on the other hand, has the responsibility to provide the L-band SAR and the engineering payload that will cost over USD one billion. The mission is expected to be launched in 2020.

[caption id="attachment_102530" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Artist concept of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite in orbit.[/caption]

According to NASA, the NISAR project is currently in a "formulation phase”, which means they're just one step away from start building the actual hardware for the mission.

"This mission aims to create the world’s largest freely available remote sensing data set. It will create one petabyte of raw data every year, said NISAR project scientist Paul A Rosen.

The satellite being designed for the mission is being designed to function for a duration of 5-10 years. According to sources, the data collected form the mission could be used by the scientists to create models that could help in predicting changes in Earth’s topography.

We wish all the very best to ISRO and NASA for the mission. Great going, INDIA!

Story Of YatraGenie, An Online Bus Tickeing Cab Booking Firm With 200K Cab Rides Within 10 Months Of Its Inception

What would be the three wishes that a travel enthusiast would ask if he/she was given this chance by a genie? I think, cheap, safe and fast travel options would figure out as top three on the priority list of many. Making these true wishes of travel hungry people come true is a Bangalore based genie called YatraGenie.com.

Started in the year 2013, the company claims to be one of India’s leading online bus ticketing and cab booking platforms. YatraGenie provides a one stop travel solution to travel junkies looking for budget travels. Functioning on the motto of providing best service at the best price to its customers, the startup works on a commission based business model. Further, it differentiates itself in the market by making available hassle free and low-cost bus ticketing service.

For YatraGenie, it's customers security is its priority. Therefore, in the light of this, the startup has paid close attention to the RTA authorities mandated security measures like GPS tracking systems, panic buttons, background checks for certified drivers and live tracking.

[caption id="attachment_102505" align="alignleft" width="310"] Renil Komitla[/caption]

YatraGenie is the result of the great vision of Renil Komitla, CEO and Founder, YatraGenie Services Pvt Ltd. A leader, a dreamer, an idea accelerator and a sharp executor, Komitla is a Founder member of Paxterra Software Solutions. With a rich experience of working with high-profile companies like CISCO, STOKE, and Wichorus on his side, Komitla saw immense potential in the travel industry and came up with YatraGenie.

YatraGenie current services include bus services, cab facilities, hotel booking as well as tour packages. Next, they plan to start an information and deals section which will educate travellers about the possible kind of opportunities and places that they could explore and avail during their travel period.

The Startup has raised Series A funding from a well-known entrepreneur and Silicon Valley investor, Ash Bhardwaj. The funds raised are currently being used towards expansion of the business in Karnataka and to increase the market base in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

With current presence across 40 Indian cities and towns, YatraGenie aims to increase this numbers to 100 cities by the end of this year.

The startup has been successful in grabbing a lot of eyeballs in such a short people of time since its launch. Figures like 1,36,198 mobile downloads, more than 7 lakh customers, more than 2,00,000 cab rides and 1 lakh 10 thousand followers on social media rightfully reflect the startup's skyrocketing growth.

Story Of YatraGenie, An Online Bus Tickeing Cab Booking Firm With 200K Cab Rides Within 10 Months Of Its Inception

What would be the three wishes that a travel enthusiast would ask if he/she was given this chance by a genie? I think, cheap, safe and fast travel options would figure out as top three on the priority list of many. Making these true wishes of travel hungry people come true is a Bangalore based genie called YatraGenie.com.

Started in the year 2013, the company claims to be one of India’s leading online bus ticketing and cab booking platforms. YatraGenie provides a one stop travel solution to travel junkies looking for budget travels. Functioning on the motto of providing best service at the best price to its customers, the startup works on a commission based business model. Further, it differentiates itself in the market by making available hassle free and low-cost bus ticketing service.

For YatraGenie, it's customers security is its priority. Therefore, in the light of this, the startup has paid close attention to the RTA authorities mandated security measures like GPS tracking systems, panic buttons, background checks for certified drivers and live tracking.

[caption id="attachment_102505" align="alignleft" width="310"] Renil Komitla[/caption]

YatraGenie is the result of the great vision of Renil Komitla, CEO and Founder, YatraGenie Services Pvt Ltd. A leader, a dreamer, an idea accelerator and a sharp executor, Komitla is a Founder member of Paxterra Software Solutions. With a rich experience of working with high-profile companies like CISCO, STOKE, and Wichorus on his side, Komitla saw immense potential in the travel industry and came up with YatraGenie.

YatraGenie current services include bus services, cab facilities, hotel booking as well as tour packages. Next, they plan to start an information and deals section which will educate travellers about the possible kind of opportunities and places that they could explore and avail during their travel period.

The Startup has raised Series A funding from a well-known entrepreneur and Silicon Valley investor, Ash Bhardwaj. The funds raised are currently being used towards expansion of the business in Karnataka and to increase the market base in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

With current presence across 40 Indian cities and towns, YatraGenie aims to increase this numbers to 100 cities by the end of this year.

The startup has been successful in grabbing a lot of eyeballs in such a short people of time since its launch. Figures like 1,36,198 mobile downloads, more than 7 lakh customers, more than 2,00,000 cab rides and 1 lakh 10 thousand followers on social media rightfully reflect the startup's skyrocketing growth.

Noida-Based WeTravelSolo Lets You Do 'Real Life' Social Networking Through Travel

WeTravelSolo - On reading the company's name, many might infer that I'm talking about just another travel company in the town offering travel packages for different locations. Well, those who have already inferred this, are going to be left real disappointed, as Wetravelsolo is not a quintessential Travel Company.

Noida based WeTravelSolo focuses on making its users meet like-minded people in real life, through travel. The startup claims to be India's first online Solo Traveler Community, which organizes special interest Tours for Solo Travelers. Bridging the divide between the ever increasing online and offline world of people.

In the 21st century, as we starting growing up, we slowly slowly become so much self-occupied and caught up in our own lives that the social circle of our real life starts depleting, while the online one starts increasing at a good pace. Wetravelsolo was founded with an intention of curbing this very disorder of the fast-paced lives that we live in nowadays.

Traveling is considered as one of the most effective methods to meet new people with least inhibitions. We all have the urge to travel. While in some it's clearly visible, others have successfully been able to hide the itch under some or the other worldly pleasure like money, work etc.

In this 21st century world, it's no less than a task to find like-minded people to travel with you. Even if you're successful in finding some, it's highly unlikely that they would all want to travel with you at the same time, to the same place and in the same way as you want. www.Wetravelsolo.com solves this very problem of the current generation.

While Solo Traveling might look and sound very glamorous outside, it is very boring and difficult task in real. Further, whether people agree or not, even while traveling solo, most of us are looking for ways to meet new people. So, the Wetravelsolo.com team came out with a quick and permanent solution for this travelling problem. The startup helps connect solo travelers with other solo travelers and then lets them travel solo together with each other thus taking care of your on trip Experience.

The startup aims to build a Community for the Solo Travelers. It wishes to accomplish the same by joining the three aspects of the statement, Solo, Travel and Community with the power of technology.

Their main focus is to empower every traveler by the following aspects:
a. He/She can travel solo.
b. For every Solo Traveler, there is a community which connects with you and your passion for traveling.
c. Giving hand crafted budget, experiential or backpacking trips by other influential travelers.

With such a unique concept at hand, receiving funding hasn't been that much of a task for the company. They have received Seed funding from Frontline Strategy Limited, a Mauritius based investment company and . Ccube Angels, a Singapore based angel investors community. Both the investors have acquired a minority stake in the startup.

[caption id="attachment_102501" align="alignleft" width="275"] Shefali Walia[/caption]

WeTravelSolo was founded in the year 2014 by Shefali Walia, an MBA from Amity University. She was born and bought up in Ambala and moved to Delhi in 2008 after joining Amity University for her MBA. After completing MBA, she joined New Look Skin Care (New Look Laser Clinics) in marketing department. She has handled business and marketing strategy for growth of different reputed organizations till the time she came up with the idea of WeTravelSolo.

The current figures suggest quite a promising path ahead for the company. According to the figures, the startup has already been able to be build a strong community of 30000 Solo Travelers within such a short span of time. Further, their Community Mangers are talking to close to about 100 of Solo Travelers Daily.

The startup's immediate future plans includes coming up with their own Mobile Application which can prove to be a huge game changer for them and the travelling community.

So, if you always had the urge to travel but didn't have a group of like minded individuals to travel with, you now know where to follow your traveling passion.

Noida-Based WeTravelSolo Lets You Do 'Real Life' Social Networking Through Travel

WeTravelSolo - On reading the company's name, many might infer that I'm talking about just another travel company in the town offering travel packages for different locations. Well, those who have already inferred this, are going to be left real disappointed, as Wetravelsolo is not a quintessential Travel Company.

Noida based WeTravelSolo focuses on making its users meet like-minded people in real life, through travel. The startup claims to be India's first online Solo Traveler Community, which organizes special interest Tours for Solo Travelers. Bridging the divide between the ever increasing online and offline world of people.

In the 21st century, as we starting growing up, we slowly slowly become so much self-occupied and caught up in our own lives that the social circle of our real life starts depleting, while the online one starts increasing at a good pace. Wetravelsolo was founded with an intention of curbing this very disorder of the fast-paced lives that we live in nowadays.

Traveling is considered as one of the most effective methods to meet new people with least inhibitions. We all have the urge to travel. While in some it's clearly visible, others have successfully been able to hide the itch under some or the other worldly pleasure like money, work etc.

In this 21st century world, it's no less than a task to find like-minded people to travel with you. Even if you're successful in finding some, it's highly unlikely that they would all want to travel with you at the same time, to the same place and in the same way as you want. www.Wetravelsolo.com solves this very problem of the current generation.

While Solo Traveling might look and sound very glamorous outside, it is very boring and difficult task in real. Further, whether people agree or not, even while traveling solo, most of us are looking for ways to meet new people. So, the Wetravelsolo.com team came out with a quick and permanent solution for this travelling problem. The startup helps connect solo travelers with other solo travelers and then lets them travel solo together with each other thus taking care of your on trip Experience.

The startup aims to build a Community for the Solo Travelers. It wishes to accomplish the same by joining the three aspects of the statement, Solo, Travel and Community with the power of technology.

Their main focus is to empower every traveler by the following aspects:
a. He/She can travel solo.
b. For every Solo Traveler, there is a community which connects with you and your passion for traveling.
c. Giving hand crafted budget, experiential or backpacking trips by other influential travelers.

With such a unique concept at hand, receiving funding hasn't been that much of a task for the company. They have received Seed funding from Frontline Strategy Limited, a Mauritius based investment company and . Ccube Angels, a Singapore based angel investors community. Both the investors have acquired a minority stake in the startup.

[caption id="attachment_102501" align="alignleft" width="275"] Shefali Walia[/caption]

WeTravelSolo was founded in the year 2014 by Shefali Walia, an MBA from Amity University. She was born and bought up in Ambala and moved to Delhi in 2008 after joining Amity University for her MBA. After completing MBA, she joined New Look Skin Care (New Look Laser Clinics) in marketing department. She has handled business and marketing strategy for growth of different reputed organizations till the time she came up with the idea of WeTravelSolo.

The current figures suggest quite a promising path ahead for the company. According to the figures, the startup has already been able to be build a strong community of 30000 Solo Travelers within such a short span of time. Further, their Community Mangers are talking to close to about 100 of Solo Travelers Daily.

The startup's immediate future plans includes coming up with their own Mobile Application which can prove to be a huge game changer for them and the travelling community.

So, if you always had the urge to travel but didn't have a group of like minded individuals to travel with, you now know where to follow your traveling passion.

Meet 8 Startups Selected for TLabs' ‘Fall 2015’ Accelerator Programme

Noida-based TLabs, a startup accelerator and an early stage seedfund led by Times Internet, recently released a statement announcing its eight batch of start-ups that kickstarted in August, 2015.

Started four years ago in the year 2011, the new batch takes the accelerator's total portfolio count to 50 companies.

Apparently the startup received over 700 applications for the new batch. “Most of the companies that make it through our initial screening process have good traction to support their applications. Due to this, we are also receiving some very high potential startups for a seed stage round,” said Abhishek Gupta, head, TLabs in a statement to a website.

According to Gupta, selecting the August, 2015 batch was the toughest so far for his team in the four years of their existence. A major reason for this could be the quality of talent ditching their high paying corporate jobs and taking the entrepreneurial route.

Here's the list of the selected few for the new batch:

1) HopOn -

Employee Transport Management

Bangalore

It is a SaaS based intelligent platform that helps corporate companies in connecting to their Employees, Vehicle service providers and Transport administrators. Founded by Arvind Krishnaswamy, Kishore Sai, Rajath Raman and Vishwas Jayarama, the innovative startup helps companies to achieve automation of employee transport management, optimization of transport resources and transparency in billing/ invoicing.

2) Spoyl -

Social Fashion Marketplace

Bangalore

Founded by Bhargav Errangi and Sumit Agarwal, Spoyl is a buy and sell marketplace for everything in the fashion sector. A paradise for every fashionista, Spoyl provides its customers an opportunity to shop the exclusive designs from the closets of their favourite independent fashion makers and high quality local boutiques all across the country and sell yours too. One can list their items for sale within 60 seconds or less using the mobile Application.

3) Medaino -

IoT Wearable

New Delhi

It is an Internet of Things (IoT) wearable Device and that has the potential to revolutionise the way one continuously measures the key Body Vitals. Currently in Stealth mode, the technology can prove to be a path-breaking technology in the field of Medical/Lifestyle devices that will non-invasively monitor and measure a human body's key vitals.

4) Prokure -

Mobile app connecting retailers with ditributors

Gurgaon

Dhilbar Roshan and Shubham Agrawal realised one day that despite of all the e-commerce boom happening nowadays in India, the unorganized retail still accounts for a big percentage of the total retail business in the country. Prokure is a mobile platform with an aim to change this scenario by helping unorganized retailers in procuring their stock.

5) SuperDoc -

Online Healthcare Consulting

New Delhi

As the name suggests, SuperDoc is a startup set in the medical sector. Chaitanya Mehta and Abhishek Mane started SuperDoc, a mobile application to help people receive medical consultation from doctors absolutely free of cost on chat. Doctors on the platform reply to each patient’s questions within 30 minutes. The startup's aspires to be everyone’s health assistant on chat.

6) GetMyUni -

EdTech - College Reviews, Ratings and Student Competitions

New Delhi

It is a student hub, which empowers students during their entire student life. Right from helping them search for the right college to giving them opportunities for internships, projects, scholarships and then their first jobs, they take care of everything.

7) Pyck -

Online Courier/Logistics Service

New Delhi

Founded by Naman Vijay, Neelam Ahuja and Prashant Gupta, the startup is a Technology driven First mile logistics service. It picks up your package from the designated location, packs it and then sends it to the desired location using the most reliable cost-effective options available.

8) Cirtru -

Local Classifieds

Mumbai

It is a local classifieds platform from people you can trust. The Users on the platform are verified on the basis of their employer or university. Currently, users from more than thousands companies and universities are using the platform in San Francisco Bay Area.

So, if you think you have what it takes to be in the list, do apply next year. We will keep you updated on the application process.

Floor Cleaning Robot Available In India For Rs 25990

RedHawk 3.0 is the latest generation of floor cleaning robots launched by Milagrow. Having the largest main body dustbin, with a 1 litre capacity and also the largest main cleaning brush in the world, at 256mm wide, the robot cleans through the dirt like a hawk.

The robot acts like a saviour in the 21st century, where all of us are so busy with our respective life that we end up ignoring one of the most important part of our lives, the health of our house. Though we remember to take a shower daily ourselves but what about the houses that we live in? Who's making sure that our house is getting showered each day and getting rid of all the germs and dirt that make their way into our house. Enters RedHawk 3.0. With a Robotic 6th Sense, it requires minimal interaction between humans and technology and ends up saving a lot in terms of time and effort. Furthermore, the robot also comes with "Extra Dirt Sensors" which prioritizes cleaning in dirtier areas of the house. These extra sensors increases the suction and intensity of cleaning automatically whenever heavier dust is detected.

The RedHawk 3.0 also comes power packed with special health cleaning features like the HEPA filters and the UV bulb. By removing 99.97 percent of particulate matter and bacteria bigger than 0.3 micrometer, the High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) air filters meanwhile purifying the air while cleaning. On the other hand, the UV light sanitize the floor surfaces while cleaning, killing organic matter, such as bacteria, mold, and viruses in the process.



With a price point of Rs 25,990, the RedHawk 3.0 is a must buy for all those busy people out there who aren't able to make time for cleaning their houses. Its 6 cleaning modes plus a large wet cleaning mop of 210x105 mm are surely going to leave you mesmerised.

Besides Milagrow's RedHawk 3.0 model there is another lower model available at Flipkart for Rs. 21,990

The latest edition also has advanced 3rd generation features like Robotic Stair and Fall Sensing, collision and virtual wall detection, auto-self recharge, gyro and accelerometer sensors, self diagnosis, and an automatic speed adjuster. Further, the cleaning bot now comes with 15 accessories and a warranty of two years.

One can book a home demo of the RedHawk 3.0 in Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Delhi NCR, or Mumbai. One can also book a Skype demo anywhere in India.

Govt. Lauches 'E-Lala', An E-Commerce Portal To Help Small Traders

In June this year, we reported that Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), India's apex body of small traders, is developing an e-commerce platform called 'e-lala' on a nationwide basis to help small traders. Finally on Monday, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the e-commerce portal - e-lala.biz to promote and help small traders in India amid uprise of big e-commerce players in India.

Naidu complimented CAIT for e-lala initiative which is aimed at promoting the interests of 5.77 crore small businesses in the context of rapid expansion of e-commerce in the country.

The 'e-lala' portal is a direct interface between the consumers and the sellers. This means, there won't be any third party involved during the whole process, which will ultimately save the consumers money as they will not have to pay the commission component.

Launched in Nagpur by CAIT, e-Lala is the first e-commerce portal in the country "by the traders-for the traders". It is a location based portal wherein Traders from different cities are registered under their respective category of items. The Consumer has the option to either to buy online or from physical store of the chosen seller. Each seller at the portal has their own website and the liberty is given to the seller to operate the website either himself or prefers to operate by the portal.

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said it is a step towards the government's "Digital India" plan. The portal has set a target of getting on board 50,000 traders in 100 cities by March 2016.

He said online shoppers in the country are expected to increase from 34 million in 2014 to 100 million in 2016 and e-commerce has grown manifold from Rs 3,600 crore in 2011 to Rs 53,000 crore in 2015.

The portal has products across different categories including Food & Grocery, Electronics & Appliance, Furniture, Clothing and general merchandise.

For traders in India, e-Lala has features like Admin Panel for each retailer, Stock management, Payments through Credit Card / Debit Cards / Cash on Delivery, and Email and Phone alerts when the orders are placed by the consumer.

SAP, Nasscom Opens 25 Digital Literacy Centres in 12 Indian Cities

SAP, a German software product firm, recently opened 25 national digital literacy mission centres in 12 cities across India. The company opened the centres in partnership with the IT industry's trade body Nasscom.

The centres have been opened with an aim of educating and empowering Indian citizens with IT skills through the government's much ambitious Digital India programme.

Delhi, Udhampur (Jammu and Kashmir), Bengaluru, Nagapatnam and Tharangampadi (in Tamil Nadu), Karaikal (Puducherry) and Dehradun, Thatyur (in Uttarakhand) and Bhuj (Gujarat) are among the 12 cities where the digital literacy mission centres have been opened.

According to Dilipkumar Khandelwal, SAP Labs India managing director, the centres will work towards equipping men and women of the underprivileged communities with computer skills, teach them to use social media and how to make use of the internet to avail online government services like Aadhaar cards, PAN cards and ration cards.

SAP is also considering bringing its 15 computer training centres in India under the mission over the next two months in an effort to train more and more citizens. Approximately 7,000 men and women have been trained in these centres since January this year.

According to Khandelwal, SAP's long-term aim through these centres is to train about 100,000 citizens in digital literacy over the period of next three years. The company is fully committed towards the Digital India initiative as it believes it is essential to transform the country into a technology-driven entrepreneur superpower.

Nasscom, on the other hand, has already set up around 50 centres all across the country in partnership with various industry players. It further plans to increase the number of such centres to 125 across the country by March next year.
"The partnership with SAP epitomises industry's commitment towards Digital India. We encourage corporates to take SAP's example and utilise their CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds to strengthen the digital literacy initiative to bridge the digital divide," said Nasscom chairman Ganesh Natarajan in a statement to a national daily.

SAP, Nasscom Opens 25 Digital Literacy Centres in 12 Indian Cities

SAP, a German software product firm, recently opened 25 national digital literacy mission centres in 12 cities across India. The company opened the centres in partnership with the IT industry's trade body Nasscom.

The centres have been opened with an aim of educating and empowering Indian citizens with IT skills through the government's much ambitious Digital India programme.

Delhi, Udhampur (Jammu and Kashmir), Bengaluru, Nagapatnam and Tharangampadi (in Tamil Nadu), Karaikal (Puducherry) and Dehradun, Thatyur (in Uttarakhand) and Bhuj (Gujarat) are among the 12 cities where the digital literacy mission centres have been opened.

According to Dilipkumar Khandelwal, SAP Labs India managing director, the centres will work towards equipping men and women of the underprivileged communities with computer skills, teach them to use social media and how to make use of the internet to avail online government services like Aadhaar cards, PAN cards and ration cards.

SAP is also considering bringing its 15 computer training centres in India under the mission over the next two months in an effort to train more and more citizens. Approximately 7,000 men and women have been trained in these centres since January this year.

According to Khandelwal, SAP's long-term aim through these centres is to train about 100,000 citizens in digital literacy over the period of next three years. The company is fully committed towards the Digital India initiative as it believes it is essential to transform the country into a technology-driven entrepreneur superpower.

Nasscom, on the other hand, has already set up around 50 centres all across the country in partnership with various industry players. It further plans to increase the number of such centres to 125 across the country by March next year.
"The partnership with SAP epitomises industry's commitment towards Digital India. We encourage corporates to take SAP's example and utilise their CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds to strengthen the digital literacy initiative to bridge the digital divide," said Nasscom chairman Ganesh Natarajan in a statement to a national daily.

Rentomojo Raises $2 Mn In Pre Series A From Accel Partners and IDG Ventures

Rentomojo, Furnishing Solutions platform, headquartered in Bengaluru raised $2 million in Pre-Series A from Accel Partners and IDG Ventures India. Venkatesh Peddi from IDG Ventures India and Prashanth Prakash from Accel Partners join the board of Directors.

Rentomojo was founded in November 2014 by IIT Madras graduates Geetansh Bamania and Ajay Nain. The company had raised seed capital from London-based investors last year. Currently they operate in four cities: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Pune. Categories on the platform include Appliances, Furniture, Packages, Kitchen and Home utility, as well as two wheelers.

The company lets users rent furniture and home furnishings for a minimum period of three months.Headquartered out of Bengaluru, it currently has more than 50 employees.

Speaking on the occasion, Geetansh Bamania, Co-founder and CEO, Rentomojo said, "With urbanization, increasing incomes and declining savings among the working professionals, we are witnessing the birth of Access Economy with the advent of Airbnb, Uber, Rentherunway and the likes. We want our users to get an access to a personalized lifestyle without actually owning it. We work as a marketplace and keep this business asset light."

"We are delighted to have Accel Partners and IDG Ventures India as our partners in our mission to provide convenient and affordable solutions. The funds will fuel our expansion across the country."

"Rentomojo has a grand vision. Both Geetansh and Ajay have demonstrated excellent execution focus and passion to build out a strong technology platform. Their platform is witnessing exponential growth and it is exciting to be part of this growth" said Venkatesh Peddi, Executive Director, IDG Ventures India Advisors.

"This is an India innovation, led by young entrepreneurs, built on the philosophy of experience without owning. We are confident that there is an incumbent market for the business, which would help accelerate the business," said Prashant Prakash, Accel Partners.

In India, IDG Ventures has invested in companies such as Flipkart, Yatra, Newgen, Brainbees (FirstCry.com), Vserv, Manthan Software, Valyoo (Lenskart.com), Ozone Media and Actoserba (Zivame.com).

Cab Hailing Startup Zoomot Lets You Book A Seat Instead Of Booking Entire Cab

Taking away the commutation problems of daily commuters is a Mumbai based startup called Zoomot Service's Coolshare app.

While city like Mumbai is surely a land of dreams, it is also a land of heavy traffic, heavy pollution, crowded locals and surging taxi and cabs fares. Understanding these problems that a commuter had to go through on a daily basis is Zoomot services.

Zoomot's Coolshare is a revolutionary and noble way of Cab Sharing concept currently available for the Mumbai-Navi Mumbai-Thane region. For the first time, city commuters will now have an option to book a seat in a cab and not the entire cab.

The Zoomot fleet of cabs run on the fixed routes on fixed schedules. With an average frequency of 15 minutes, it can be a very convenient option for office goers. One just simply needs to log in to their Cool Share mobile application available on Google play store and book a seat on the desired route. The CoolShare's Android app is absolutely free to download.

The Zoomot Services have their own fleet of cabs which function on time and on defined routes and are very secure as the driver can't change his route midway. Their USP is to make their riders reach their destination fastest and in time and that too at a cost which is less than auto. Hence, by doing so people can now use the time which they earlier wasted on trains or waiting for taxis, engaging and interacting with their friends.

[caption id="attachment_102472" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Zoomot's Team Cool Share[/caption]

Randeep Singh – IIT Bombay, Youmit Singh- IIT Kanpur and Navneet Kumar – Symbosis, Pune, are the brilliant minds behind Zoomot Services. Having a combined experience of over 18 years, they all have an aim of making commutation a cake walk for the Mumbai citizens.

Currently, CoolShare does a 200 transactions per day on an average. With the seed funding done, it is currently in talks for Series A funding.

Cab Hailing Startup Zoomot Lets You Book A Seat Instead Of Booking Entire Cab

Taking away the commutation problems of daily commuters is a Mumbai based startup called Zoomot Service's Coolshare app.

While city like Mumbai is surely a land of dreams, it is also a land of heavy traffic, heavy pollution, crowded locals and surging taxi and cabs fares. Understanding these problems that a commuter had to go through on a daily basis is Zoomot services.

Zoomot's Coolshare is a revolutionary and noble way of Cab Sharing concept currently available for the Mumbai-Navi Mumbai-Thane region. For the first time, city commuters will now have an option to book a seat in a cab and not the entire cab.

The Zoomot fleet of cabs run on the fixed routes on fixed schedules. With an average frequency of 15 minutes, it can be a very convenient option for office goers. One just simply needs to log in to their Cool Share mobile application available on Google play store and book a seat on the desired route. The CoolShare's Android app is absolutely free to download.

The Zoomot Services have their own fleet of cabs which function on time and on defined routes and are very secure as the driver can't change his route midway. Their USP is to make their riders reach their destination fastest and in time and that too at a cost which is less than auto. Hence, by doing so people can now use the time which they earlier wasted on trains or waiting for taxis, engaging and interacting with their friends.

[caption id="attachment_102472" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Zoomot's Team Cool Share[/caption]

Randeep Singh – IIT Bombay, Youmit Singh- IIT Kanpur and Navneet Kumar – Symbosis, Pune, are the brilliant minds behind Zoomot Services. Having a combined experience of over 18 years, they all have an aim of making commutation a cake walk for the Mumbai citizens.

Currently, CoolShare does a 200 transactions per day on an average. With the seed funding done, it is currently in talks for Series A funding.

Government To Launch A Website For Innovators In India Seeking Govt. Help

Yesterday, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said at the Intel DST Innovate for Digital India Challenge that the Government will set up a dedicated website for innovators in India seeking government help to transform their ideas into reality.

"I have decided that there will be a separate, dedicated portal of my ministry dedicated to the innovators of India," IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said at the Intel DST Innovate for Digital India Challenge event in Delhi.

Hailing "jugaad", or the frugal innovation India has come to be known for in the course of its development, Prasad said the government plans to double the number of Common Service Centres (CSC) or information and communication technology (ICT) access points created under the National e-Governance Project.

Notably, under government's India Innovation Growth Programme there's already a website (since 2014) called IndiaInnovates.in which is a joint initiative of the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Indo-US Science and Technology Forum, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI); Stanford Graduate School of Business and the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas.

The website (IndiaInnovates.in) allows innovators in India to submit their innovations and expression of interest. The aim of India Innovation Growth Programme is to accelerate innovative Indian technologies into the global markets.

The minister, this time, however announced a different website from this one and it would be interesting to how the newly announced website and government's plan is different from what is already existing one and all it requires is little push and efficacy.

"We propose to double the number of Common Service Centres that number 126,000," the minister said in yesterday's

"There is a plan to convert the existing 125,000 post offices across the country into common service centres," he said.

"Frugal innovation along with government support will result in the turning of India," he added.

The purpose of the CSC project is to provide much-needed information and services to under served Indians in rural areas.

Speaking earlier at the event, senior vice-president of Intel Corporation Gregory R. Pearson said: “The Intel mission is to use the power of Moore's Law to bring smart connected devices to every person on earth.”

"Besides the democratisation brought on by digital, now it has also become affordable," he added.

News Publication House IndianExpress Invests In Four Tech Startups

Indian news media publishing company Indian Express has invested an undisclosed amount in four tech-based startups, first reported by VCCircle.

New Delhi headquartered publication house has invested in PayMango, Mister Homecare Services, Envoged and Spiral Content Solutions.

Notably, Indian Express had earlier invested in Chaldal, Bangladesh's largest online grocery delivery company.

The company is following its peers such as Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd, popularly known as Times Group, which is actively invests in Indian startups and has self-run digital properties such as MagicBricks.com through its Times Internet Ltd arm and also has startup accelerator called TLabs. Other media companies such as NDTV and HT Media Ltd have also invested to create their own digital ventures as an offshoot of their content businesses.

Founded in 1932, the media house publishes several widely circulated dailies including The Indian Express and The Financial Express in English, the Loksatta in Marathi and the Jansatta in Hindi. Its weekly entertainment magazine Screen, covering Indian film industry, also has a popular following.

Gurgaon-based startup PayMango India Pvt Ltd, which runs a mobile marketplace platform for local businesses to manage and market their customer base, was founded by IIT Delhi graduates Gajinder Singh and Ram Singla in June and had previously raised more than Rs 1 crore.

"For the country to reap benefits of the internet we need a Yumist, Grofers or UrbanClap in each locality. That’s how PayMango is providing local commerce wings to fly," said Anant Goenka, director, The Indian Express Pvt Ltd.

Mumbai-based Mister Homecare Services Pvt Ltd which runs web portal MrHomeCare.in, a we-based on-demand maintenance services for retail consumers and businesses. Founded in 2015 by brothers Rushabh and Sahil Vora the company is looking to build a strong back end to service the aggregators in the on-demand home services space, said co-founder and CEO Rushabh. Catering to Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore markets, it plans to expand its operations to Delhi and other markets soon.

Headquartered in Mumbai, Envoged is a social marketplace to shop and sell pre-owned luxury fashion. Its a curated social community bringing girls in India together to sell and shop clothes and accessories from their personal closets. The platform is a one stop solution to renew your closet regularly with this colossal marketplace to shop from & sell into, and be in vogue with the latest trends.

Envoged was founded in 2014 by Anandita Singh and Manisha Barnwal, both IIT-Kharagpur alumnus, along with Saahil Narang.

"Envoged makes luxury fashion affordable for the aspirational consumer in India," said founder Anandita Singh.

Spiral Content Solutions Pvt Ltd is another Mumbai-based startup funded by Indian Express. It is a content marketplace that curates Indian and international content and makes it available for brands to use on social media and other digital platforms.

Its first product, launched in January 2015 is Scatter. Scatter is a platform that brings a fresh stream of content and makes it easy for brands to use that content on their own community assets.