All Posts in startups

|In: Incubators|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Lot of innovations are coming up in the Fintech space and the launch of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) just makes the space even more competitive. One of the critical driving factors of the innovation in the ‘Financial Tech Space’ is due to the increasing penetration of mobile phones, affordability of internet (2G/3G) and sky-rocketing use of Digital Currency (Closed and Semi-Closed Wallets).

Gone are the days when you had to stand in long queues to get your bank’s pass book updated or withdraw/deposit money. In fact, all these activities including opening a new account are now possible with the click of a button !!! Though Payment Services (Paytm, Freecharge etc.), P2P Lending (EasySalary, LendBox etc.), Personal Finance Services (BankBazaar, Capital Float etc.) are some of the sectors that have seen major growth and investor interest; there is still lot of room for startups to innovate in the ‘Fintech Sector’.

A startup incubator from well known Financial Brand like Axis Bank, India’s third largest Private Sector bank could just bring a huge delight for entrepreneurs in the Fintech Space.

Thought Factory : Startup Accelerator from Axis Bank

Axis Bank has partnered with Amazon Internet Services, Payments product company VISA and Singapore based Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation to set up startup accelerator Thought Factory in Diamond District in Bengaluru. The major focus of Thought Factory would be Financial Technology Space and it would on-board it’s second batch of startups next month.

The incubated startups would be focusing on ideas built on emerging technologies like AI, Big data analytics, Block Chain, Robotics and much more. These ideas could take the consumer banking experience to the whole new level. The KPMG Fintech Report – 2016 also points that the next wave of Indian Fintech Startups would be from these areas !! First batch of startups are already live in Mumbai and the second batch will begin this month & they might be based out of Bengaluru.

The launch was attended by Axis Bank executives – Rajiv Anand, Executive Director (Retail Banking), Amit Sethi, President & CIO amongst others. Serial tech-entrepreneur Vishal Gondal, Founder & CEO of GoQii, Sanjay Swamy, Entrepreneur & prominent Angel-investor, Senior executives from VISA and Amazon Internet Services were also present at the event.

Commenting on the launch, Rajiv Anand, Executive Director (Retail Banking), Axis Bank said

We are excited about the way financial industry is evolving and how millennials are re-imagining the industry. ‘Thought Factory’, our innovation lab is an endeavor to build on the ideas of innovators that can radically change consumers’ life in Banking and beyond. With this initiative, we are creating a vibrant ecosystem of Global Banks, startups & tech innovators.

The Keynote Speaker of the event was Tenith Adithyaa, 18-year old inventor & innovator from Tamil Nadu who spoke about his inventions.

Thought Factory : Industry Partnerships

For the accelerator programme, Axis Bank has partnered with Zone Startups. At the end of 3-month long incubation programme, Axis Bank in association with Zone Startups would organize Investor Day to facilitate funding for the short-listed startups.

Thought Factory would also have external mentors on-board that would support the startups in their journey. It is also working with NASSCOM 10K, VC partners, Global Banks etc. in order to create a healthy and vibrant tech eco-system and to create a culture of ‘Co-Creation‘.

Additionally, Axis Bank has also launched ‘Hack for Hire‘ programme for identifying talent from across the country through Hackathons for the in-house innovation team at Thought Factory

Thought Factory : How to apply

In order to be a part of the Thought Factory, your startup needs to be a registered Indian entity trying to create it’s mark in the fin-tech sector. There is no cost & no equity (taken by Axis Bank) if your startup is selected for the Axis Bank’s Thought Factory.

To know more about Thought Factory Program, it’s structure etc., drop a mail to to thoughtfactory@axisbank.com or visit bit.ly/thoughtfactoryapply

Thought Factory : Fin-tech meets Health-tech

Though Digital Wallets have been widely adopted by the Indian consumers, contact-less payment via Wearables could see an up-trend with the #AxisActive. Axis Bank in collaboration with GoQii launched #AxisActive, a fitness band with which you can make Payments at PoS of retail outlets.

For every 70,000 steps you walk, you earn 500 Axis eDGE reward points. So go ahead, turn anytime into fitness time. #AxisActive is a perfect marriage of Fin-Tech and Health-Tech 🙂 Now, earn reward points for burning calories with this innovation from GoQii and Axis Bank. More information about #AxisActive is available here

Thought Factory : Closing Thoughts

Given the deep-rooted expertise of Axis Bank in the Financial & Banking sector, Thought Factory looks the right step taken by them to be a part of the vibrant tech-startup eco-system.

To know more about the Thought Factory Program, it’s structure etc., drop a mail to to thoughtfactory@axisbank.com or visit bit.ly/thoughtfactoryapply

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

It’s that time of the year again when the sparkling Ganpati brings the city alive. Zuver has rolled out a special package so that the customers make the most of the festivities and immerse oneself in the history of the festival.

Your Driver on Demand has come with an offer where you can book a driver to take the idols for emersion from your doorstep. Our professional drivers will reach you at the pickup time and drive you around in the comfort of your own car. The prices for the first 5 hours are Rs. 499 and Rs 70 over 5 hours.

There is an additional package which ensures its customers a safe and hassle-free drive to city’s famous Ganpati pandals. Your comfortable rides with a self-driven car by trained and skilled Zuver drivers are just a click away. This five hour package is priced for Rs. 1200

Furthermore, the drivers [or Captain as Zuver calls them] are presentable and amiable with soft skills; customers can rely upon throughout their journey. They ensure customers with basic car checks like battery, petrol, PUC etc., before starting every journey. Zuver recognises the need of customers and meet them with efficiency.

Ushering the spirit of Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai is always Splendid! This Ganpati enjoy the festive fervor with Zuver rides.

Zuver for Android and iOS is available here & here respectively.

About Zuver – Driver on Demand
Zuver is a start-up with a unique selling proposition –a service that promises reliable, skilled, well-trained ‘driver on demand’ at your doorstep. They aim to make their drivers the gold standard for industry drivers and create a new benchmark. This mobile-first company that offers the best in class service is on its course to expand its presence in other metros. Zuver, Your driver on demand is available on Android and iOS or at 022-43686868. For more information, please refer Zuver

|In: Funding|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Shaadisaga, a Delhi based online wedding services marketplace is taking the Indian wedding market by storm. This venture has recently closed an undisclosed amount of funding as a part of its Pre Series A round from ah! Ventures and other marquee investors. Industry stalwarts like Anupam Mittal (People Group), Kunal Shah & Sandeep Tandon, Dheeraj Jain (Redcliffe Capital), Rohit Chokhani (White Unicorn Ventures) along with other angel investors participated in this round.

Gone are the days when a wedding was merely an event in a person’s life, acknowledging the change in the living. It is soon becoming a milestone that marks the grandeur celebration of new beginnings and with each passing year, the show is becoming all the more interesting. From the pre-wedding photo shoots to inviting the gambolling celebrities, the wedding industry has witnessed a drastic change in the recent past and this is nothing but music to the ears of entrepreneurs like Himanshu Kapsime and Manish Garg, co-founders of Shaadisaga.

Shaadisaga, is an online platform that caters to the to-be-weds in terms of their wedding needs, focusing primarily on weddings ranging between INR 10 Lakhs to 1.5 crores. With the focus of being convenient and cost effective, Shaadisaga offers the couples and their families a host of wedding services, making itself a one stop shop solution for all the wedding needs.

Started by Himanshu Kapsime and Manish Garg, IIT-Delhi graduates, Shaadisaga truly understands that today’s users expect high degrees of personalization and cross comparison is the key to conversions. With requirements being tailored at every step, the company, with a strong team of 25 employees, offers its users an option to choose from a pool of around 2500 best vendors, as per their requirements and hire them directly with price and quality assurance  – The ShaadiSaga Seal of Trust.

ShaadiSaga Team
ShaadiSaga Team

Himanshu Kapsime, the CEO and Co-Founder of the organization is a 2012 graduate with prior experience in working with a US based MNC. He is actively responsible for managing the technological and product development portfolio for the company. Manish Garg, the COO and Co-Founder of the organization is a 2011 graduate with prior experience in working with an Indian startup unicorn. Apart from the co-founders, the company has a workforce of 10 employees with a permanent set up in Delhi.

Commenting on the unique proposition of Shaadisaga, Co-Founder Himanshu Kapsime said

At ShaadiSaga, we provide the best planning experience to couples. From idea & inspirations to hiring different service providers, we are focused on making the entire process a piece of cake. Couples are able to gain the same level of trust with us as they do when they hire services through reference of their own friends and family members. Our team uses technology to essentially bring the offline wedding planning experience onto an online platform, while adding convenience and cost effectiveness.

Manish Garg, Co-founder of ShaadiSaga, continued

ShaadiSaga is the best suited solution for couples to plan their wedding as they save around 20-30% of wedding budget and 2 months of planning time with us, while ensuring better quality and experience. We are currently 25 people strong team and will be adding more people as we expand in further cities.

Commenting on the investee company, Anupam Mittal, Founder of Shaadi.com opined

This is a high touch industry and a really tough business to crack.  It will take a determined & passionate team with loads of perseverance. I saw the commitment in Himanshu & Manish, so decided to back them.

Dheeraj Jain, Managing Partner of Redcliffe Capital said

The revenue of INR 50 lakhs per month and growing, stands testament to the incessant progress of the company. Given the astute business acumen of the core team at ShaadiSaga, we are excited to back these entrepreneurs and their journey to take Indian wedding industry by storm.

The recent fund infusion will be utilized for increasing the base of partners associated with the platform and building technologies ensuring better customer experience, faster on-boarding, smoother communication, and higher conversion rates.

Giving an investor’s perspective, Harshad Lahoti, Founder and CEO of ah! Ventures said Statistically the Indian wedding industry, valued at $40 billion, is proving to be one of the sturdiest in today’s market. Considering the high growth rate of 25-30% YOY, promising start-ups in this space were deserving investors attention and Shaadisaga was undoubtedly cut above the rest. From the very beginning, we witnessed Shaadisaga take calculated business decisions making them the rare breed of startups who knew their priorities. The venture focuses on taking one key step at a time, be it a technological advancement or on-boarding of key partners and that according to us has been the edge that sets them apart. We at ah! Ventures are confident of seeing Shaadisaga as a pioneer in this industry.

ah! Ventures is India’s first full-spectrum (seed, angel & VC) investment network and platform comprising of over 800+ investors, including some of the renowned angels and early-stage VCs. Founded in 2010, ah! Ventures has systematically disrupted the early stage funding ecosystem of India through its innovative approach toward startup investing. First of its kind initiatives like the CLUB ah! platform, ah! Angels (India’s largest angel network), ah! Seeders and ah! VC networks (India’s first seed & VC investment networks), have brought together and integrated the previously segregated startup funding lifecycle, under one roof. CLUB ah! platform today has over 12500+ startups, 725 seed/angel investors and over 85 VCs & institutional investors, making it one of the largest platform of investors and startups. The network also last year secured its first profitable exit from Ed-tech venture Harness Handitouch within 2 years of its investment. ah! Ventures has till date pumped in close to INR 90 crores in over 29 investments spread across varied industries and domains.

ah! Ventures is in the process of closing another investment in the coming week.

About Shaadisaga

Started by Himanshu Kapsime & Manish Garg, IIT Delhi graduates, ShaadiSaga truly understands that today’s users expect high degree of personalization and trust for their wedding planning. ShaadiSaga is India’s fastest growing online portal that enable couples to conveniently plan their wedding through vendor discovery and planning advice from wedding experts and visual inspirations. Users can choose from a pool of over 6000 service providers from venue to makeup and hire vendors as per their individual requirement, with price and quality assurance. For more information, please visit Shaadisaga

About ah! Ventures

ah! Ventures is a startup focused growth catalyst that brings together promising businesses and investors by creating wealth creation opportunities for both. ah!’s unique model serves investors, entrepreneurs and enablers through a unique blend of customized services, skill, and industry & domain experience.

Founded in 2010, ah! Ventures has systematically disrupted India’s early stage funding ecosystem through its innovative approach toward startup investing. First of its kind initiatives like the CLUB ah! network & platform, ah! Angels (India’s largest angel network), ah! Seeders and ah! VC networks (India’s first seed & VC investment networks respectively), have brought together and integrated the otherwise previously segregated startup funding life-cycle, under one roof. This, coupled with ah! Impact network, an impact investment network for investing in social enterprises and ah! Mentors network, a mentor network to assist startups in their growth and expansion, has today made ah! Ventures not just one of India’s most respected change leaders, but also a formidable industry force to recon with.

|In: e-commerce|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

The world’s first integrated logistics platform Vamaship have launched a new service of international e-commerce shipping for the gems and jewellery industry from Mumbai starting from Rs. 999 onward for door-to-door delivery at the India International Jewellery Show, in association with BVC.

In 9 months, Vamaship is now facilitating shipping of any commodity through air, ocean and surface, in India to over 10,000 pin codes and 200+ countries globally.

All current solutions for jewellery e-commerce were unviable for low value shipping and the new service will activate shipping for over 1000 Jewellers. The customer can book the shipment on the Vamaship website and track shipments through their mobile app and on the platform.

On this occasion, Bhavik Chinai, Founder & CEO Vamaship stated

We are delighted to announce the launch of our express cargo services, aiming to provide world class, secure and reliable services for the gems and jewellery at affordable rates starting from Mumbai. This service is paradigm altering product for the industry and are we are looking forward to creating many such innovative services in the future. BVC is a household name for jewellery logistics and leveraging the Vamaship technology on BVC infrastructure creates an unparalleled shipping experience.

About Vamaship

Launched in October 2015, Vamaship is a revolution in logistics that connects shippers with industry’s best logistics companies. Vamaship as a market place facilitates shipments to over 10,000 pin codes in India and to 200 countries from India. With a nationwide network of partners, Vamaship brings the best of technology and logistics to create a seamless shipping experience. For more information, please visit Vamaship

|In: Cabto|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

How many times you have encountered a situation where you are looking out for a cab on your favourite on-demand-cab app but not getting it due to huge demands or due to circumstances which are not under your control. In such scenarios, you launch the next Cab app and repeat the same set of actions 🙂

Multiple App Hops is a common issue that many startups are trying to address across various sectors like Ticket Booking, Cab Booking etc. Cabto, a Bengaluru based startup wants to make booking a cab hassle-free for consumers so that they do not have to download multiple apps [like Ola, Uber etc.]

In layman terms, Cabto is a Vertical Marketplace in the Travel Category. Today we have a chat with Syed Hidayath [Founder & CEO of Cabto] about Cabto, On-Demand Economy, Marketing, Entrepreneurship & much more. So, let’s get started…

Can you give a small background about you, your start-up and it’s founders ?

Cabto is founded by Syed Hidayath. Syed has a BE in Mechanical Engineering from BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore graduated in 2005. He comes with a decade of experience in IT industry.  A self driven professional having great passion for entrepreneurship.

He has gained enormous knowledge on the Cab industry over last 2 years and has been driving this ambitious project since inception. Syed is extremely passionate about solving the problems faced by customers in Travel industry & believes in providing a travel marketplace which will provide options to all categories in India.

When and how did your come up with the idea of Cabto ?

In end of 2014 I started using cabs instead of my car, the comfort of driver coming to your doorstep to pick me, not having to drive/looking for parking excited me  in addition to it being an economical option. But slowly as the demand started increasing, cabs got scarce. You had to hook into multiple cab apps to check cabs available around you.  This made me realize that we need a platform which lets us see all cabs available under one single platform. We started approaching Ola & other players in 2015 seeking for their data to address this problem to customers. This is how Cabto was born !!

Being a cab aggregator, what is the kind of partnership you have with on-demand cab companies like Uber, Ola etc. ?

Their API’s are integrated with Cabto so customer can get the information from all these companies in one single platform. We are on an affiliate commission model with our partners.

How does Cabto take care of customer complaints or discrepancies if any encountered by the customers ?

Cabto raises the customer issues to respective services providers & works with them to address the issues related to service.

What is the revenue model of CABTO [is it based on commission per ride] ?

Yes

How much has Odd-Even rule affected the entire Cab industry and taxi-aggregator startups ?

An odd even rule increases the demand for cabs greatly. With 50% private vehicles forced to stay out of the roads & these users have options like carpooling, public transport which are still not sufficient to serve such a demand. So great portion of these users switch to Cabs. There is a increase of 20%-30% in terms of bookings during odd even rule.

What is the Total Market Size of the Cab/Taxi aggregators or travel marketplace in India ?

According to Soft Bank, the organized taxi sector may be worth around $7 billion by 2020.

How is Cabto funded [Self funded, Angel, CV etc.] ?

Self Funded [Family & Friends]

What are some of the USP’s that Cabto has as compared to other taxi-aggregator apps available in the market ?

  • We are the first player to initiate talks with Ola on this model so we built this model working with our partners. So have deep understanding of this industry.
  • One of the top ranked app in play store with consist good ratings.
  • Fastest growing app in its segment. 2.3X growth month on month  in app bookings.
  • Aggregation of Outstation/Self drives/Ride shares/Women taxis/Shuttle/Auto/Bike taxis/Inter city
  • Plan to integrate public transport.

What are the initial challenges that you faced once you started working on the idea [or turned an entrepreneur]

Our biggest challenge was to convince the service providers for this model. We Spent over 6 months approaching out partners on this. Building a strong team covering all areas like technology, marketing, operations is really a challenge. We are glad over a period of one year we were able to build a great team which we believe can deliver to our vision of building India’s largest travel marketplace.

What are some of the growth hacking techniques that are being used for Cabto and some tips for our readers.

First & foremost build a great product. Once you accomplish this then it will sell on its own with little bit of awareness. Build a strong team by offering good perks/ESOP’s to keep them motivated to their highest levels, make your friends as your products marketing people.

Some insights into marketing [Lessons learnt while marketing Cabto] ?

Look for economical ways, Identify right target customer base and Spend your budget on this segment. Don’t overspend on offline campaigns initially as you may not be able to measure their results, research for best CPI options, focus on bringing awareness.

What are some of the qualities that entrepreneurs should look into while hiring their initial set of employees ?

Find initial hires who are self driven, masters in their job [You don’t need a team of coders if you can find a master coder]. Look for people who share same passion as you, who understand your vision & excited to be part of the process. At the same time make sure this is a job they are enjoying the most, a job they dreamt of. If not, they are already thinking of their next dream job & they may not be giving 100%.

Can you give some pointers on Scaling Up & Customer Acquisition [some take-away for entrepreneurs]

Address customer issues on priority, Focus in increasing organic growth, Spend every penny wisely, target the right customer base, take care of your critics,  bottom-line is build a great product which you can market with minimum budget.

When should an entrepreneur look out for external funding ?

When you have reached some traction & need heavy funds to accelerate your growth which you cannot pool in your circles.

On-demand companies like Uber, Ola are facing the heat for Surge Pricing, Government regulations etc. Would this not curb the overall growth of the on-demand economy ?

It will affect the revenue generation to some extent.  I feel surge pricing has already been re-modelled to keep pricing within the prescribed limited by government. The demand in this industry has skyrocketed as people want a vehicle to their doorstep in click of a button so it will not affect the industry.

Some tips for aspiring entrepreneurs and something that keeps you motivated everyday for your startup ?

Don’t just build a product, work on building a solution to an existing problem which still doesn’t exist. You can sell a solution but not just a product. Look for new sectors as you may already have enough competition in existing sectors. Also important to look for your passion, what you would love to work on. If you are passionate you will never regret it working on your dream 18 hrs a day.  Focus on building a great team, Look for experts in their field, Delegate work efficiently and Make them responsible & accountable for work. Slowly you need to start building teams who handle their own tasks which lets you focus on  higher level tasks.

An entrepreneur should have relentless passion to build a great product. You will face challenges everyday which will test your mental strength to highest possible stage. Always remembering the dream & reading motivational videos/articles helps you to  pass those hurdles.

Do give Cabto app a shot and share across your feedback/questions in the comments section. If you have any questions for Syed Hidayath about the app, entrepreneurship etc., email them to himanshu.sheth@gmail.com

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Contrary to popular belief, the genesis of technology focused startups and entrepreneurship India is longer than one thinks. The story perhaps begins in the mid-70s when companies like HCL and Patni Computers were founded. The 80’s saw another group of individuals leave their jobs to start a company that grew into the giant Infosys is today. Today the Unicorns are carrying forward that legacy.

The complete story of India’s entrepreneurial journey was never really told until recently, when Microsoft Accelerator pieced together the narrative in an e-book titled History of the Indian Startup Ecosystem. This e-book contains over 150 defining moments which shaped the thriving ecosystem that we see today.

Indian Startup Infographic
Indian Startup Infographic [Click to Zoom]
Four distinct phases of growth and maturity that have been traversed so far*

  1. Software Services and Global Delivery Model
  2. The Dotcom era
  3. Rise of Product startups
  4. Growth of startup ecosystem

Chronicling the history of the ecosystem was an 18-month long exercise which involved interviewing the industry veterans like Sharad Sharma, Ravi Gururaj and Bharat Goenka and perusing hundreds of documents, research papers and newspaper articles. As the story took shape, four distinct phases of growth and maturity came to light: The Software Services and Global Delivery Model | The Dotcom era | The Rise of Product startups and The Growth of startup ecosystem.

To know more about untold story and to download the e–book, visit https://aka.ms/indiastartups

[Source* – Microsoft Accelerator Blog]

|In: Funding|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

While everyone else is claiming it to be a funding slowdown, Indian Angel Network, world’s largest group of angel investors show no such signs. IAN announced an undisclosed investment in Bengaluru based movers and packers startup, Pikkol. Angel Investor, CEO & Managing Trustee B.PAC, Revathy Ashok and Raj Rathi led the round of investment on behalf of IAN with Raj Rathi joining the company board to further guide the team in becoming a leader in the moving and relocation industry in India.

Conceived as the brainchild of a group of enterprising young men, Pikkol is a technology centric relocation service provider where customers can generate tailor-made solutions for their relocation needs. They make use of strong analytics based technological back-end and logistics network for servicing the orders adding reliability and accountability through operational interventions.

In spite of a crowded relocation services market, there are hardly any players who offer standardized and quality relocation services. Pikkol was born out of extensive research done in the logistics and home services segment that helped the team identify the problems that consumers face while relocating.  Since the market is flooded with vendors with minimum expertise, it’s a challenge for consumers to find a trusted mover. With the aim to address this pain point, Pikkol was conceptualized in April 2015 by Deepu Chandran, Suraj Valimbe, Siby Mathew and Jayaram Kasivisweswaran

Deepu Chandran, CEO of Pikkol said

Currently, this unorganized industry is a constant source of dissatisfaction for customers. We felt that many of those problems related to accountability, reliability and transparency could be solved with technology and operational excellence. Customer experience is the key area that we majorly concentrate on. Really delighted that team IAN for backing us up.

The company plans to utilize the raised funds in product development and expansion. They will also be concentrating on enhancing capabilities of moving teams and continual behavioral and transactional training as part of their product enhancement.

The USD 2-3 Billion packers and movers market is highly unorganized and fragmented. With increased mobility of workforce and higher urbanization, relocation market is expected to grow at 10% per annum and reach USD 5 Billion by 2020. In developed markets relocation market is close to 0.2%-0.3% of the total GDP.

Raj Rathi, the IAN lead investor who is joining the board commented on the investment said

Relocating to a new place is already a difficult task. On top of that, when you have to deal with vendors who refuse to understand your situation adds more to the woes. This is where Pikkol will break the cluttered market. While the traditional players redirect their customers to other vendors without providing any post move assistance, Pikkol aims at providing standardized logistic services with both pre move and post move assistance.

They are using technology to create better experience for the customers. What makes them stand out from other vendors in the market is their customer centric approach which is rarely found in this segment. I am pretty excited to mentor them in their journey of being the market leaders.

While most of the online portals and traditional players in the industry claim to provide reliable packers and movers to customers but do nothing more than just passing customer details to vendors, Pikkol choose to be different and intends to usher a new wave of change in the relocation industry in India by being tremendously customer centric. Having serviced more than 10,000 moves to more than 40 destinations in India in the past one year, it incorporates innovative use of technology to identify and solve pain-points of this utility service by setting up benchmarks in service quality and transparency through data driven methodologies.

About Pikkol

Pikkol is a technology centric relocation service provider that offers standardized service experience and tailor-made relocation packages for customers. Its adaptive algorithm captures the inventory and computes the right truck size, packing requirements, and price to ensure that the process is completely hassle free for its customers. Pikkol seamlessly integrates with home service providers to ensure that pre-move and post-move services can be availed by the customer. The pre-move services currently include electrical, plumbing, carpentry, appliance un-installation and installation.

The booking system in Pikool , let the customer enter all details and make a booking in less than 5 minutes while a traditional move involves survey from vendor and multiple rounds of negotiation. The state-of-the-art adaptive algorithm which runs the backend of Pikkol system analyze the details and compute the right truck size, packing requirements, distance and special requirements to automatically quote the charge of the move. The system generated quotes ensures complete transparent pricing and the customer need not shell out any extra charges during the course of move. Assigning a personal move coordinator with every move and tracking the move at every stage ensures that all customer requirements are met and the service quality and standards are maintained. For more information, please visit Pikool

About Indian Angel Network

The Indian Angel Network is the world’s largest business angel group. With close to 400 investors from 10 countries, IAN’s presence spans 7 locations, which includes cities in India and UK. IAN has invested in startups from diverse industries/sectors. The investor group comprises successful and established entrepreneurs as well as dynamic CEOs. They not only invest in innovative startups but also provide valuable inputs on strategy, in addition to providing access to their vast global networks. IAN’s portfolio, with over 100-odd companies, spans 17 sectors across 7 countries. IAN portfolio companies have given 70x returns in 6 years, 21x in 30 months, 22x in 60 months, and 6x in 15 months; with ventures such as Druva, Stayzilla, and Webengage well on their way to become unicorns. For more information, please visit IAN

 

|In: Funding|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Hike Messenger, India’s only homegrown messaging platform and the largest Indian internet company by users, announced that it has raised a Series D financing of over USD 175 Million in a new funding round led by Tencent Holdings Limited and Foxconn Technology Group valuing the company close to USD 1.4 Billion. Existing investors Tiger Global, Bharti and the SoftBank Group also participated in this round. This is the fourth venture capital round and the biggest to date for Hike, taking the total investment to over USD 250 Million so far.

Talking about Tencent’s investment in Hike, Tencent President Martin Lau said

Hike deeply understands India; a highly diverse market with many nuances. It is on a mission synergistic to ours, which is to enhance the quality of human life through internet services. With our investment, Hike will be able to leverage our deep domain expertise in the messaging platform space to provide more value to its users in India.

Talking about Foxconn’s investment in Hike, FIH Mobile CEO, Calvin Chih said

Messaging platforms are where consumers and their social networks reside and represent significant investment potential, particularly in a market like India, where most people will access the internet for the first time on their mobile phones.

As a leading provider of mobiles technology and Internet of Things solutions, FIH Mobile understands the value that mobile platforms, such as Hike Messenger, bring to our business portfolio and our strategy for delivering cutting-edge products and solutions that meet the needs of our customers and consumers, enabling us to achieve sustainable business growth. Hike with its hyper-local strategy is clearly the company of choice for us to co-invest with our partners, SoftBank and Tencent.

Masayoshi Son, Founder, Chairman and CEO, SoftBank Group, the longest standing investor in Hike said

Hike is one of SoftBank’s best performing portfolio companies in India and we are happy to have stayed invested in it from the beginning. The team has reached an outstanding scale in a short span of 3.5 years. As an investor, we share their vision and are happy that they are moving ahead in their journey so quickly in a competitive environment.

Speaking on the occasion, Founder and CEO, Hike Messenger, Kavin Bharti Mittal said

I’m thrilled to announce this new milestone in our journey. Tencent and Foxconn both have pedigrees that speak for themselves and such an investment especially in today’s market just goes to show the strong foundation on which Hike is being built. The new fund raise is going to allow us to push Hike to greater heights and invest in areas that will be key to our long term vision and success

I’m also equally excited to have our existing shareholders Tiger, SoftBank and Bharti follow in this round who continue to show strong support in our long term vision. I must say it’s an incredibly exciting time to be at Hike. Not only do we get to wake up every morning everyday knowing that our work will impact millions of people, we now also have two incredible new partners to do that with, as we further our mission to bring India online.

Hike also has a roster of some of the most prominent people in the technology space as angel investors such as Adam D’Angelo, Founder and CEO, Quora; Aditya Agarwal, Vice President Engineering, Dropbox; Ruchi Sanghvi, erstwhile Vice President, Operations, Dropbox and Matt Mullenweg, Founder and CEO of Automattic Inc. and Co-Founder, WordPress.

100 Million Users. 40 Billion Messages Per Month – In January 2016, Hike had announced that it has a user base of a 100 million users. 95% of Hike users are based in India and 90% of them are young and below the age of 30. Hike users, on an average, exchange 40 Billion messages per month and spend 120 min. per user per week on the platform. Hike has been built for these young consumers around 3 key pillars:

  1. Local Expressive Content that includes Hike’s very popular 10,000+ stickers available in 40 languages, themes and multi-lingual user interface. The availability of the Platform adds to this piece as it makes relevant local content available for customers to enjoy and share with their network of friends. The Platform includes News in English and Hindi, Games (Beta) on Hike, Live Cricket, Coupons, Just for Laughs and Hike Daily.
  2. Emphasis on Privacy that includes the innovative feature Hidden Mode that hides chats quickly and elegantly and Favorites so customers can choose who sees last seen, display pictures and status updates.
  3. Data Constraints. Features such as Hike2SMS and Hike Direct are built for India. Hike2SMS helps send free SMS when there is no internet connectivity and Hike Direct helps share files without the use of internet.

Additional information

You can download the app at – http://get.hike.in For more information, please visit theHike Blog