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According to the recent filing made by Nasdaq-listed firm, <keyword id="54613" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="makemytrip">MakeMyTrip</keyword> will be issuing shares worth around $960 million for the acquisition of rival portal <keyword id="119765" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ibibo">ibibo</keyword> Group. 
 Ibibo Group Holding will also be cutting off its 14% stake in <keyword id="6356837" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Naspers">Naspers</keyword>' payments business PayU and 52% in business-tobusiness (B2B) online travel company <keyword id="3567866" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tek-Travels">Tek Travels</keyword> before the transaction ends, with MakeMyTrip entitled to a payout on these assets in five years. 
 
Ibibo group is mostly owned by South African media and internet giant Naspers (nearly 90%), with the remaining held by Chinese internet giant Tencent and management. 
 
These shareholders will be given 38.97 million shares, or a 40% stake, of MakeMyTrip as a part of the all-stock deal with Naspers cornering a third of the combined entity. 
 
The combined entity is expected to be valued over $2.2 billion. MakeMyTrip has already called in a meeting for approval of the transaction from its shareholders. 
 
In the quarters ending June and September 2016, MakeMyTrip continued the pace discounts and marketing expenditure spending a combined $100 million before announcing the deal to acquire ibibo. 
 But MakeMyTrip does not see this spending coming down, as it looks to increase penetration of online hotel booking increasing from 12-15% right now to 35-40% in the next two-three years, CEO <keyword id="368700" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajesh-Magow">Rajesh Magow</keyword> told ET in October. 
 
The acquisition will be adding more cash to MakeMyTrip's balance sheet, as ibibo shareholders Naspers and Tencent are expected to "contribute proportionate working capital upon the closing of the transaction., MakeMyTrip had cash of $167.2 million at the end of September.

MakeMyTrip to issue $960m worth shares to acquire Ibibo group

<keyword id="1489410" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-commerce-in-India">E-commerce in India</keyword> is once again grabbing the headlines and this time, for all the right reasons. Bangalore-based <keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword>, arguably India’s largest standalone <keyword id="1127700" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="fashion-e-tailer">fashion e-tailer</keyword>, has recently closed a <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> round worth $50 million from an investor consortium led by <keyword id="1430452" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="PremjiInvest">PremjiInvest</keyword>, the family office of the <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword> chairman <keyword id="6419840" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Azim-Premji">Azim Premji</keyword>. Myntra is also in talks with a clutch of investors to raise an additional $40 million at a higher <keyword id="51393" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="valuation">valuation</keyword>, according to an Economic Times report. So far, the <keyword id="2049121" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="E-commerce-firm">e-commerce firm</keyword> has raised $125 million in risk capital funding. Another fashion e-tailer that is also raising <keyword id="57924" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="big-money">big money</keyword> is Gurgaon-based <keyword id="6388367" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jabong">Jabong</keyword>.com, which is backed by Berlin-based <keyword id="1965711" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rocket-Internet-GmbH">Rocket Internet GmbH</keyword> – a venture arm of the Samwer brothers. The e-commerce firm is reportedly raising a fresh round of equity funding worth $100 million, of which it has already received $27.5 million from the British <keyword id="2049123" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Development-finance-institution">development finance institution</keyword> <keyword id="1613067" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="CDC-Group-Plc">CDC Group Plc</keyword>. 
 All this is good news for the cash-strapped Indian e-commerce segment. So we have taken a close look at the recent fundraising by the <keyword id="2049116" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-e-commerce-players">Indian e-commerce players</keyword> and identified five key trends that seem to be prevailing. Will they rule the <keyword id="2049126" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Fundraising-scenario">fundraising scenario</keyword> and determine the parameters of growth throughout 2014? Let us have a quick look. 
 
Growing big is the key priority E-commerce start-ups in India are finally coming of age and looking beyond the quickest possible exits. When Myntra closed $50 million in funding a couple of days ago, the company was immediately approached by its bigger rival <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> who had reportedly come up with an acquisition offer worth $200 million. According to a TechCrunch report, e-commerce giant <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> had also approached Myntra but the details of the proposed deal are not yet available. 
 Although rumours were rife that Myntra could be considering either of the deals as part of a bigger strategy, the e-tailer has decided to stay off the <keyword id="1949341" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Exit-route">exit route</keyword>. In fact, its ongoing talks for an additional round of funding worth $40 million clearly indicate that the company has in place some well-thought-out <keyword id="414633" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="growth-plans">growth plans</keyword> and big ones at that. The only other reason for back-to-back funding is to raise the valuation but at this point, Myntra doesn’t look like it is on the block. Neither has it decided to quit in a hurry like <keyword id="6359128" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Redbus">redBus</keyword>.in did last year. <keyword id="2049136" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indias-largest-bus-ticketing-firm">India’s largest bus ticketing firm</keyword> was acquired by the <keyword id="1643008" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ibibo-Group">ibibo Group</keyword> for around $125 million but the sale cut short a successful <keyword id="530125" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="entrepreneurial-journey">entrepreneurial journey</keyword> that could have become a $500 million business in terms of revenue and could have achieved a $1 billion valuation. 
 As for Jabong, the very fact that it is backed by Rocket Internet may tell the industry insiders a different story. Rocket is known in the market for its fast and furious build-and-sell business module, and the start-ups are essentially replicas of successful US businesses. But the kind of funding Jabong is raising right now shows that the company is in no hurry to down the shutters in India even though two of its four co-founders have recently left the company. Jabong started its India operations in 2012 and competes with key e-com players such as Flipkart, Myntra, <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> and <keyword id="6354743" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Amazon-India">Amazon India</keyword>, among others. 
 
Only <keyword id="2049143" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Core-expertise">core expertise</keyword> matters Internet giant <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> has already given us a case in point when it sold <keyword id="487941" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Motorola-Mobility">Motorola Mobility</keyword> to Lenovo for $2.91 billion, less than two years after paying $12.5 billion to acquire it. The deal is not a total financial loss as Google has managed to keep patents worth billions of dollars and expects to turn Lenovo into a manufacturing unit for its <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword> OS. But selling <keyword id="11148" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Motorola">Motorola</keyword> is a sure indication that Google should have focused more on its <keyword id="1430489" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Core-Competencies">core competencies</keyword> – search, software and selling ads – instead of developing hardware. 
 You will find a similar case here as Jabong has reportedly sold its <keyword id="2049146" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="logistics-arm">logistics arm</keyword> <keyword id="2049145" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="JaVAS">JaVAS</keyword> (Jabong Value Added Services) to Gurgaon-based QuickDel Logistics as part of its business restructuring and funding exercise. Jabong <keyword id="170488" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="co-founder">co-founder</keyword> <keyword id="536011" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Praveen-Sinha">Praveen Sinha</keyword> has also confirmed to the media that JaVAS is now an independent entity. 
 However, that brings us back to the basic question. Should companies try and provide end-to-end solutions to ensure a complete customer experience or should they focus on core competencies and leave the rest to the experts in those fields? We particularly raise this question as many Indian e-commerce firms are currently focusing on <keyword id="2049154" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Proprietary-payment-gateways">proprietary payment gateways</keyword> and customised logistics services in a bid to propel their services to the next level. However, such services can actually make you lose money unless a company is catering to a customer base as vast as <keyword id="6357395" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="eBay">eBay</keyword> or Amazon. 
 After JaVAS, the writing is definitely on the wall. The bells and whistles can always come in later, but the key focus must be core competencies. Of late, even <keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword> seems to be falling in this trap – its newest hardware products have ‘n’ number of <keyword id="2049161" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Incremental-features">incremental features</keyword> but real innovations seem to be eluding the iconic company. 
 
Investors showing better <keyword id="170907" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="risk-appetite">risk appetite</keyword> India’s e-commerce market is projected to grow sevenfold to $22 billion in the next five years, and investors, both national and global, want to have a piece of the pie. According to <keyword id="1981" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rahul-Khanna">Rahul Khanna</keyword>, managing director of the <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> firm <keyword id="218905" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Canaan-Partners">Canaan Partners</keyword> (India), e-commerce players in India (and everywhere else for that matter) require very deep pockets to scale up to the level of breaking even and hitting profitability. In this space, sales margins are typically low; volume is high, and logistics &amp; back office <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> only become viable when companies are catering to a very <keyword id="2049169" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Large-customer-base">large customer base</keyword>. Consequently, <keyword id="2049171" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Follow-on-rounds">follow-on rounds</keyword> are extremely crucial for sustainable growth. Now that big institutional investors like PremjiInvest and UK-based development <keyword id="25455" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="finance">finance</keyword> institution CDC Group are entering the arena, the much-needed <keyword id="2000080" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cash-burning">cash burning</keyword> is sure to propel growth to the desired level. 
 “E-commerce is fast maturing in India and that’s the main reason <keyword id="363248" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Global-Investments">global investments</keyword> are flowing in,” says another analyst. “When big players like Amazon show interest (the e-commerce giant has reportedly approached Myntra), investors are quick to sense the tremendous <keyword id="452394" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="growth-potential">growth potential</keyword> lying here,” she adds. 
 
Forget the buzz you are creating; it’s result time now Analysts, who have followed the course of events over the past few weeks, also point out another interesting trend. Be it Myntra or Jabong or other up-and-coming e-commerce businesses, it’s their <keyword id="2049173" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Growth-quotient">growth quotient</keyword> that has attracted <keyword id="2049174" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Big-funding">big funding</keyword>. In other words, start-ups who are delivering in a big way will get the valuable <keyword id="2049175" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Growth-dollars">growth dollars</keyword> as investors are now looking beyond the buzz and focusing on <keyword id="1730239" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="business-fundamentals">business fundamentals</keyword> and results. 
 Companies must have the numbers – in terms of customer base, <keyword id="169826" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="growth-figures">growth figures</keyword> and brand leadership – to justify the big money they are raising. For instance, Myntra expects to more than double its <keyword id="657194" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="gross-sales">gross sales</keyword> to over $250 million by March 2015 and the fashion e-tailer’s <keyword id="2049176" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Monthly-gross-sales">monthly gross sales</keyword> could touch $20-25 million by April this year. Myntra is expected to end the current fiscal with more than $100 million in gross sales and it is targeting $1 billion in <keyword id="6399113" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="GMV">GMV</keyword> by 2016-2017. Flipkart, which raised $360 million last year at a valuation of about $1.6 billion, is also projecting a GMV of $1 billion by 2015. 
 Jabong, too, has aggressive growth plans and the latest round will be used to strengthen its <keyword id="2049177" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Supply-chain-infrastructure">supply chain infrastructure</keyword> and enhance its <keyword id="2049178" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Technology-platform">technology platform</keyword>. According to industry sources, Jabong might have generated <keyword id="2049180" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gross-merchandise-sales">gross merchandise sales</keyword> of $100-150 million for the fiscal 2012-13. Other key investments in the Indian e-commerce space since 2013 included online marketplace Snapdeal raising about Rs 300 crore and baby care portal <keyword id="1615917" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="FirstCry">Firstcry</keyword> bagging Rs 92 crore. 
 
Inventory, <keyword id="6630005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="private-labels">private labels</keyword> are adding value 
With the lone exception of Snapdeal that runs a 100% marketplace, most of the big e-commerce entities in India are flourishing on a hybrid model – a strategic mix of inventory, private label and marketplace. In fact, Jabong has been doing all three for some time now, although a bit discreetly, and it could be now pushing hard to extract every penny from each of these categories. 
 
Myntra, on the other hand, focuses on both inventory and private label, with the share of private labels rising rapidly. A couple of years ago, the e-tailer acquired Exclusively.in Inc., the company behind the private label brand Shersingh.com and the fashion site Exclusively.in, in a cash-cum-equity deal. Myntra is reportedly eyeing more private labels to add to its portfolio as the margins are pretty high in this segment and add substantially to the profits. 
 
Bottom line: Is it a <keyword id="2049185" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Volatile-situation">volatile situation</keyword>? In one of her latest blogs in <keyword id="6359301" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Entrepreneur">Entrepreneur</keyword>.com, entrepreneur-writer Erika Trautman has nicely summed it up. “No matter how great the idea, if your start-up doesn’t create hard and fast results with analytics, targeted business solutions and mobile integration, it won’t survive in 2014. Launching a start-up can’t just be about how cool your product is. No business can subsist off just buzz and Press. This year, start-ups must focus on business fundamentals and start emphasising partnerships that generate results.” 
 
Can the Indian e-commerce players innovate, scale up and deliver (as the takeaways so amply illustrate) to justify the trust investors are now putting in them? Will there be new ventures to take up the gauntlet? Let us wait and watch. 
 
Image: Thinkstock Photos/Getty Images

Indian E-com Players
Are Raising Big Money; These 5 Takeaways Can Help You Understand What’s
Changing

It’s party time for travel websites. Online bookings are seeing double digit growth in spite of the low 3G penetration. According to a recent report by travel market research firm Phocuswright, India’s travel websites booked 39% of India’s travel bookings in 2014, and it’ll only go up. That puts India’s budding travel market almost at par with some of the mature ones like the US and Europe. 
 
While air accounts for around 50% of travel revenues because of its higher average value, hotels are also catching up. Online hotel bookings grew as much as 32% in 2014! Ibibo group founder and CEO Ashish Kashyap feels there is still space for fresh categories, “Newer inventories will always be created by micro-entrepreneurs. While around 80% of the market is in the business cities, the segment is beyond budget property. It features a lot of alternate accommodation.” 
 
Ride-sharing has picked up with players like Tripda, Blah Blah and Ryde. When asked what the possible market for it would be, Kashyap observes, “Ride replaces personal car travel. It’s the creation of a new market, and it’s expected to be huge. However, the exact potential remains unknown.” 
 
Kashyap claims hoteliers are growing savvier with the online penetration, “Ratings, reviews and public forums mean that hotels are now increasingly conscious of the service they offer. This has led to the standardization of quality in mid rung hotels.” 
 
Mobile continues to be the medium of choice for most, “60% of our transactions are via the mobile as opposed to 15% a year ago. That includes 45% via mobile for buses and 40% for air”, Kashyap maintains. 
 
When asked why flights and buses are slow to pick up Kashyap replies, “These are older markets. However, we believe that in a year’s time all categories will go 80% mobile.” 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Travel
increasingly moving online: Ibibo

Gurgaon based online travel services agency <keyword id="54613" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="makemytrip">MakeMyTrip</keyword> (MMT) has been eyeing a huge move into the online budget hotels market, for which it has held talks with <keyword id="2870818" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="FabHotels">FabHotels</keyword> and <keyword id="2913812" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Treebo-Hotels">Treebo Hotels</keyword>. The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/markets/heres-the-indian-travel-company-that-just-went-public-on-the-nasdaq/articleshow/56092065.cms">Nasdaq</a>-listed company wanted to pick up a strategic stake in either of the companies. However, its talks with Bengaluru-based <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/small-business/companies/budget-hotel-brand-treebo-is-a-value-for-money-affair/articleshow/56357162.cms">Treebo</a> didn’t yield any results despite an offer of $10-12 million. Now, MMT might be investing in FabHotels, founded by Vaibhav Aggarwal and Adarsh Manpuria in 2014. The deal could be worth five to ten million dollars, said <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/money/after-talks-with-treebo-fail-makemytrip-may-invest-in-fabhotels/articleshow/58353902.cms">ET</a> sources. Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/budget-2017-didnt-promote-muchof-tourism-in-india-heres-why/articleshow/56918518.cms">Budget 2017 didn’t promote much of tourism in India. Here’s why</a> If the deal goes through, MMT will be in direct competition with market leader <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/small-business/oyo-rooms-valuation-to-touch-850-million-this-will-be-the-size-of-its-funding/articleshow/58337939.cms">Oyo Rooms</a> and Priceline group-backed <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/small-business/companies/booking-com-is-providing-startups-in-tourism-sector-a-chance-to-go-to-amsterdam/articleshow/57253587.cms">Booking.com</a>. "The deal is likely to have a clause which will see the budget hotel brand only list with MMT-Goibibo combine. This way they get to lock them into exclusivity," said an insider requesting anonymity. Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/MakeMyTrip-to-issue-960m-worth-shares-to-acquire-Ibibo-group/articleshow/55807276.cms">MakeMyTrip to issue $960m worth shares to acquire Ibibo group</a> Talking of FabHotels, the Gurgaon-based budget hotel chain of 175+ hotels has <keyword id="144381" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Accel-Partners">Accel Partners</keyword> and <keyword id="192167" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Qualcomm-Ventures">Qualcomm Ventures</keyword> as its investors, and secured around $10 million in last funding round.

Makemytrip to soon enter online budget hotel space with investment in FabHotels

You might have never heard the name of <keyword id="3015094" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajat-Sethi">Rajat Sethi</keyword>, but several <keyword id="65833" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="MAs">M&amp;As</keyword> that have happened in India in the recent past have been a result of Sethi’s hardwork. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessi nsider.in/small-business/companies/voda-idea-merger-gave-india-incs-ma-tally-a-fourfold-jump/articleshow/58163035.cms">Voda-Idea merger gave India Inc's M&amp;A tally a fourfold jump</a> 
 
About a decade ago, Sethi helped a telecom giant in negotiating the terms and conditions of its $11-billion exit from India, a complicated transaction that not only involved Indian shareholders but also had overseas investment limits, future promises of exits, lock-ins related to performance, and various regulatory issues. 
 However, <keyword id="166105" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Hutch">Hutch</keyword> did exit successfully from India after <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/small-business/tech/softbank-may-pick-up-minority-stake-in-vodafone-india-heres-the-latest-development/articleshow/57306703.cms">Vodafone </a>acquired a 67% stake in it, and Sethi was the person to be credited. 
 
Ever since, Sethi has helped Vodafone a) make acquisitions so that it can expand its network in India, b) create <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/small-business/tech/Telecom-towers-in-India-are-getting-a-make-over/articleshow/55691591.cms">Indus tower</a>, the tower partnership Indus with two of its biggest rivals <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/small-business/companies/bharti-airtel-has-sold-10-of-its-stake-in-bharti-infratel-to-kkr-and-cppib/articleshow/57872873.cms">Bharti Airtel</a> and Idea Cellular, and c) transfer shares from Indian joint venture partners Essar, the Piramal Group and individuals like Analjit Singh and Asim Ghosh. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Vodafone-India-re-organizes-its-leadership-structure/articleshow/54463745.cms">Vodafone India re-organizes its leadership structure</a> 
 
When the time came for the merger between Vodafone and Idea Cellular, which would result in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/idea-to-merge-with-vodafone-india-time-to-say-hello-to-indias-biggest-telco/articleshow/57728557.cms">India's biggest phone company</a>, Sethi was the man to be remembered for being the legal advisor. 
 
Sethi, co-founder of S&amp;R Associates (2005) along with Sandeep Bhagat, is known to be calm, methodical and thorough, who usually is the first person to come to the office and the last to leave. 
 
"He is quiet, only speaks when it's needed but that is why when he speaks his words have gravitas," Deep Kalra, Makemytrip CEO told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/meet-the-calm-methodical-deal-maker-rajat-sethi-the-legal-brain-behind-some-of-indias-big-ma/articleshow/58159499.cms">ET</a>. Sethi had helped the travel portal in its merger with rival <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/destinations/Goibibo-enables-guest-houses-to-collect-digital-payments/articleshow/55687264.cms">GoIbibo </a>last year, a deal worth around $2-billion. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/India-based-MakeMyTrip-is-buying-ibibo-Group/articleshow/54922131.cms">India-based MakeMyTrip is buying ibibo Group</a> 
 In the telecom space, Sethi has navigated the $1-billion investment by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund in market leader <keyword id="6354287" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bharti-Airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword> in 2013. 
 
It was in 1999 that Sethi had met Bhagat at the law firm Pathak and Associates, after Bhagat had returned with a degree from Cornell Law School, while Sethi had just moved to corporate law from litigation. 
 
It was their idea to make it big that had them pursuing limited work, and the confidence in their work because of which they priced themselves on par with market leaders, promising quality and personal attention. 
 
Who knew then, that these two form a partnership that would help sealing the deals between some of world’s biggest and widely known companies. 
 
(Image source Bar and Bench)

Here’s Rajat Sethi, the man behind some of the most famous M&As in India

<keyword id="1868750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Hike-Messenger">Hike Messenger</keyword>, which recently entered India's elite <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Kavin-Mittal-Interview-Hikes-funding-from-Tencent-and-Foxconn/articleshow/53734195.cms">billion-dollar start-up club</a>, doesn't have a head for human resources, because <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Gizmos-at-Hike-for-better-work-environment/articleshow/53746091.cms">Kavin Bharti Mittal</a>, Hike’s 28-year-old founder, himself likes to double up as the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Want-to-work-at-Hike-Messenger-Kavin-Mittal-tell-you-4-qualities-hes-looking-for/articleshow/51010049.cms">HR head</a>, so that he can convey their vision to the staff in a better manner. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/A-comparison-of-Infosys-and-Hikes-billion-dollar-evaluation/articleshow/53772260.cms">It took Infosys 18 years to become a billion dollar company! Hike did that in just 3 years</a> 
 
This is the case with several start-up founders, who believe that no HR head can do the work better than them, or simply can’t find the right people for the job. 
 
"It's not that people are not smart or they don't want to do it; I think they don't know how. Talent in the country is built for the services industry. It's good and works for Infosys and TCS, but not for us," Mittal told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/hr-leadership/here-is-why-founders-double-up-as-hr-heads-in-their-startups/articleshow/53819003.cms">ET</a>. 
 Ashish Kashyap, founder of the ibibo Group, is of the view that for better HR operations at <keyword id="428085" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="start-ups">start-ups</keyword>, HR heads need to think of themselves as business partners rather than employees, since there is a difference in the paradigm of HR for traditional companies and technology start-ups. 
 
Also read: ​ <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/need-for-gender-diversity-at-workplace/articleshow/53822691.cms">Winning by promoting gender diversity at workplace</a> 
 
Sanjeev Aggarwal, cofounder of venture fund Helion Venture Partners, says that at least in the starting phase, start-up founders need to play the role of the HR head. However, once the business and product market is established, HR heads can be brought in. 
 
"In startups, you cannot have an HR head from a large organisation. HR needs to be a key function that understands the business. That's why you have founders doing pretty much everything in the beginning," said TN Hari, HR head at Helion. 
 
<a href="https://www.morganmckinley.ie/sites/morganmckinley.ie/files/styles/large/public/Copy%20of%20Copy%20of%20a%20structure%20with%20wooden%20cubes_2.jpg?itok=NW_2aJOx">Image source</a>

Start-up founders head HR operations themselves, but do you know why?

Google ‘top 10 Marketing Automation companies’ and the list that’ll appear will have billion dollar names like Hubspot, Salesforce and IBM. At a time when Indian <keyword id="35621" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="e-commerce">e-commerce</keyword> companies are estimated to spend as much as 70% of their revenues on marketing, an Indian e-commerce &amp; <keyword id="3395310" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="B2C-marketing">B2C marketing</keyword> software platform has earned the goodwill among several of these startups. 
 <keyword id="2998774" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Betaout">Betaout</keyword> has an impressive array of investors on board who have invested $2 million till now. Some of the names include <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vijay+Shekhar+Sharma&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vijay Shekhar Sharma</a> (founder and CEO, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Paytm&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Paytm</a>), Ashish Kashyap (CEO, Ibibo Group), <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Kunal+Bahl&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Kunal Bahl</a> (CEO and co-founder, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Snapdeal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Snapdeal</a>) and Phanindra Sama (co-founder, Redbus) among others. The interesting fact is most of these people were Betaout customers initially. 
 “Ours is a very niche product. The platform is built especially for e-commerce companies. Most loved our product so much they invested in the company”, <keyword id="419257" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ankit-Maheshwari">Ankit Maheshwari</keyword>, co-founder of Betaout smiles. 
 
The company’s proprietary software allows e-commerce companies to build user intelligence databases and provides tools to engage with users through email, on-site engagement, mobile push, live-chat, SMS, and through other channels. It enables e-commerce companies to increase conversions and personalize user engagement using real-time user persona and intent data. 
 
Ankit claims existing marketing tools in the market used by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">e-commerce</a> companies and B2B sites are general in nature and need a high degree of customization before delivering value, and Betaout differentiates itself by offering a customized set of tools tailored to the needs of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">e-commerce</a> players.

This Indian startup turned its
customers into investors

In a bid to bump-up their businesses, Indian hotel and travel companies are now offering last-moment booking services. The special deals majorly are to make-up for the current fall in the sales, discloses an Economic Times report. 
 These last-minute bookings or check-ins made within 48 hours provide 10-50% of the total hotel bookings in India. Over one third bookings made in Lemon Tree Hotel’s last-minute check-in are 20-25% of Park Hotels. <keyword id="240533" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sarovar-Hotels">Sarovar Hotels</keyword>, however, witnessed a 50-60% growth in this category in the last one year. 
 Patu Keswani, chairman and managing director of <keyword id="136437" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lemon-Tree-Hotels">Lemon Tree Hotels</keyword> says, "In the current environment, where all India occupancies are around 60 per cent, the last-minute bookings are very significant." 
 Dilip Puri, managing director (India) and regional VP (South Asia) at <keyword id="128636" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Starwood-Hotels-Resorts">Starwood Hotels &amp; Resorts</keyword> said that around 20% bookings at a hotel chain tend to be made at the last minute. "We are seeing consistent growth in the use of mobile phones to make hotel reservations," he further said. 
 Industry professionals believe that <keyword id="4758225" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Last-minute-booking">last-minute booking</keyword>s assume more significance for hotels during off-season. For instance, during monsoon, when people travel lesser and there is a drop in travel business. Last-minute booking boosts occupancy by 15-20% and here is what hotels basically do. They offer attractive deals like up to 60% discount or special packages just to perk-up occupancy. 
 "Being a perishable inventory for hotels, the revenue from room nights unsold is lost forever," said Amit Taneja, chief revenue officer at travel portal <keyword id="132652" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cleartrip">Cleartrip</keyword>. 
 
For travel portal Goibibo, 55% of hotel bookings are reserved for last-minute check-ins. "This number used to be 20 per cent a year ago," said Ashish Kash yap, group CEO, Ibibo. 
Image: indiatimes

Here’s what the travel and hotel industries are doing to attract customers

We are hopeful that the upcoming budget will be encouraging for the tourism industry as it has been over the last couple of years. Travel and tourism sector makes significant contribution to the economy in terms of revenue and job creation and a positive budget allocation for this sector will only mean more contribution to the GDP, increase in employment and India’s positive image on global tourism map. 
 
Travel Infrastructure and Safety are the two aspects that need urgent attention by the government. Tourist safety is a major concern in some states as some gruesome incidents came to the fore in the last couple of months. Spending on security should be increased at prominent tourist destinations. 
 
There should be focus on improving infrastructure such as hotels, road and rail connectivity to major tourist destinations to promote domestic tourism. There needs to be focus on improved sanitation and hygiene on main road routes and at heritage sites. Facilities like parking, access for disabled, tourist interpretation centres and security should be reinforced t prominent tourist destinations and heritage sites. 
 
Tax structure has been a contentious topic for a while now and getting clarity is what the tourism industry is eagerly awaiting. Relaxation in tax norms is something the industry has been looking forward to for quite some time now. There should be tax exemption for adventure tourism, medical tourism and on-line travel aggregators. 
 
Strong marketing initiatives should be looked at to market brand India on global level. India is probably one of the few countries that is teeming with diversity and can be promoted in more way than one to attract tourist and travellers from all corners of the world. 
 
The focus should be on creating the demand by showcasing India as business-friendly and traveller friendly destination. Medical tourism is another aspect that can be a boon for the industry and steps need to be taken to enable swift visa clearances for medical tourist. 
 
After the implementation of e-visas and visa on arrival for international tourist, government should look at working holiday visas and associate with developed and developing countries to promote two way flow of tourist and travellers. It is a two year programme and provides an opportunity for visitors to travel and work part time to fund their travel. 
 
The government should focus on incentivising and promotion of online payments by offering tax rebates to consumers making use of digital payment options. 
 
There should also be tax advantages to merchants who make high value transactions mandatory to be made digitally. This will also result in curbing the black money issue that the government is trying to tackle. There still seems to be an ambiguity with regard to the taxation on some of the service led online companies. We expect that there will be more clarity and simple taxation framework in place to address this issue. Also, with the Make in India campaign, there are ample opportunities created but with that the need for stringent laws to follow it are important. 
 
Largely the budget should provide a shot in the arm for tourism industry in India and take India on the top of travellers’ wish-list. 
 
(The article is authored by Ashish Kashyap, Group CEO, ibibo Group) 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Budget 2016: Travel experts tell us how India can attract more tourists

India is increasingly seeing a host of ingenious <keyword id="138263" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="startup">startup</keyword>s. While some may say the startup bubble would burst soon, as long as the money’s coming, the party’s on. 
 
Business Insider India ranks the top 10 most promising Indian <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=startup">startup</a>s. 
 
P.S: Flipkart and Snapdeal are excluded from the list as they’re too big to be considered ‘<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=startup">startup</a>s’ now. 
 
1. <keyword id="6362049" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ola-Cabs">Ola Cabs</keyword> 
Online taxi aggregator Ola is giving <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber">Uber</a> a hard time over who gets the biggest pie of the Indian market. This Mumbai-based startup has grown exponentially since it bought off rival <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=TaxiForSure+">TaxiForSure </a>for $200 million. 
 
2. <keyword id="6357120" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="PayTM">Paytm</keyword> 
What more do you need if you have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Alibaba">Alibaba</a> supporting you! <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Paytm">Paytm</a> has expanded from online recharge to become an online marketplace. While it’s retail business is a fraction of Amazon, Flipkart or Snapdeal, it’s undeniably the jack of all trades. 
 
3. <keyword id="1960231" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Housing-com">Housing.com</keyword> 
Housing.com has been in recent news for all the wrong reasons. However, with an aggressive marketing campaign and ambition to tap into global real estate business, investors clearly see a lot of muscle in the company’s claims. 
 
4. <keyword id="6381424" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Quikr">Quikr</keyword> 
This online classifieds website is doing pretty well. In April 2015, the company raised a whopping $150 million from Tiger Global and Steadview Capital Management among other existing investors. Valued at $1 billion, the company has also rolled out its special Quikr Cars ad campaign with Ranvir Singh. 
 
5. Mu Sigma 
This Bangalore-based analytics firm clearly breaks the list of internet-based startups. This one offers analytics to major companies across the world. 
 
6. InMobi 
This company, founded in 2008 is fighting against the likes of Google and Apple in the mobile advertising segment. The startup already has 750 million users across 160 countries. 
 
7. Zomato 
Zomato sits at top of the host of food tech startups India has seen. Its international expansion plans and venture into food ordering and transportation has ensured its leadership in the food-tech space. 
 
8. Zivame 
Zivame offered a niche choice for an already under-served segment. The unavailability of sizes, social discomfort and poor market penetration ensured Zivame.com took the market by storm. 
 
9. RedBus 
RedBus has made a mark on consumer minds, thanks to it’s targeted marketing campaigns and differentiation. Of course, it has now been sold off to the Ibibo group for a whopping $138 Million. 
 
10. ShopClues 
 
Founded in January 2011, Gurgaon-based ShopClues has big names like Tiger Global, Nexus Venture Partners and Helion Venture Partners backing them up.

Top 10 Indian startups that are going places

Founders of Indian start-ups who have tasted success early in their respective ventures and making money are now taking up philanthropy and using their skills and resources to upskill people and transform society. 
 Many entrepreneurs like Naveen Tewari, founder of In-Mobi, his former chief revenue officer Atul Satija, Phanindra Sama of <keyword id="6359128" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Redbus">redBus</keyword>, and <keyword id="1622254" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Satyen-Kothari">Satyen Kothari</keyword>, founder of Citrus Pay are using personal skills, time and resources that had helped them build their disruptive businesses. 
 
Economic Times reported that 37-year-old Tewari got together 100 alumni from his alma mater Harvard Business School ten years ago and mobilised about Rs 32 lakh to impart education in a village near Mathura. Currently, the village has three schools, proper roads and electricity. 
 
Now, apart from Wipro's Azim Premji and HCL founder Shiv Nadar, poster boys of start-ups are also getting on the social side. 
 
"For me, whether I have money or not, it is far more important that there is an intent behind a cause that's pure and can change the lives of certain people. If that's there, then you will be able to get all the resources required,” Tewari told the financial daily. 
 
Tewari's colleague Atul Satija, 39, quit InMobi in April to launch a non-profit organisation, Nudge Foundation, sinking in Rs 1.27 crore ($200,000) of his personal money to help upskill people. 
 
"Poverty alleviation is close to my heart. In my 20s, I decided I would get into social side at 60. By early 30s things were going okay in my career and I thought I could do it in my 40s," Satija, who previously was the head of wireless business for Japan and Asia-Pacific at Google, told ET. 
 
Satija said Nudge will work with illiterate and unskilled people and help them get jobs. "We want to take them out of the cycle they grew up in and make them semiliterate, skilled with a majority of focus being on life skills," Satija told ET. 
 
Sama, who was running bus ticketing firm redBus, left him with no mental bandwidth for much else. 
 After selling it to Ibibo Group in 2013 for about Rs 800 crore, he teamed up with Raju Reddy, former board member at redBus, to replicate the Sandbox model adopted by Hubli's <keyword id="6691921" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Deshpande-Foundation">Deshpande Foundation</keyword>, in their home-town Nizamabad in Telangana. The model brings principles of entrepreneurship to social causes, thereby fostering innovation. 
 
"I had no mindshare on the topic of social impact and I wanted that - it makes you a balanced human being," Sama told ET, unwilling to disclose personal resources he's parted with. 
 
ET reported that Nizamabad Sandbox has implemented 200 projects in the past year, each with about 20 people involved, translating to over 2,000 changemakers and two semi-companies. 
 
And for those like Kothari of Citrus Pay, who is still wired into their ventures full-time, the desire to give back is no less. 
The financial daily reported the emergence of peer-to-peer lending platforms such as Milaap and Kivah has created new credible avenues for the socially sensitive. 
 
Kothari has been active on Milaap since February last year, and lent about Rs 50,000 so far. 
 
"There is pride with this form of lending - it's not a handout for borrowers who feel they have to work hard towards paying it back. For lenders like me it creates a continuous exponential cycle of goodness because after 6-12 months I get the money back, which can be used to give out another loan,” Kothari told ET. 
 
Many (including primary schools teachers) gave him grants and loans to pursue a computer science degree at Stanford. "It's a question of strangers helping strangers and that's the big motivating factor," he said. 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

Poster boys of Indian start-ups are now taking up philanthropy

Till two years ago, more than 90% of online travel aggregator’s business was taking place on desktop with dominant share of contribution (+80%) from the low margin, low network effect category of airline tickets. The mobile has significantly changed this equation over the last one year. If I look at my portfolio of businesses, which is a strong representative in the Indian market (viz redBus and <keyword id="984795" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="goibibo">goibibo</keyword>), it has witnessed paradigm shifts with almost 50% of transactions now taking place on mobile; and that too, a large share is coming from native apps. 
There has been a lot of talk about “mobile commerce” and how it is changing the way businesses are being run; however, the impact it have had on the online travel category is more than what really meets the eye. Given that I have been right in the center of this evolution, I am going to attempt to share insights on what is driving this change and talk about trends that are changing the world of online travel—for better. 
 
 Mobile channel economics are more profitable 
In the desktop world, there is a high cost of traffic acquisition, including the use case of people searching for the company’s brand. Traffic sources would comprise direct type in (free), SEO (free), brand SEM (paid) and non brand SEM (paid), besides other paid sources such as Facebook, display advertising etc. Typically for a strong brand, SEM brand investments will account for anywhere from 25% to 45% of daily search advertising budget. Even for non brand SEM one would end up spending on returning users that could account for 20%+ of the traffic. These channel economics in comparison to native mobile are poor. On native mobile after overcoming the hurdle of installation, 85%+ transactions on a daily basis take place from repeat users that are part of the installed base. For these transactions there is zero cost of traffic. This makes per transaction unit economics on mobile healthier by almost 40% versus that of desktop. This is transformational for online travel commerce in the country. In reality, one can reinvest part of these enhanced margins back to the consumer in the form of “price benefits”, “loyalty” and “referral” which in turn drives mobile app adoption for “travel aggregators”. 
 
 
Hotels and bus categories are driving mobile app adoption 
Till a year ago, hotels transactions on mobile for goibibo accounted for 15%, but now this has significantly grown to almost 60%. Similarly mobile transactions on redBus have grown to 45% from 12% a year ago. On the other hand, air transactions on mobile for most players stand in the range of 20% to 38%. The reason for hotels and bus driving this trend is rooted in the fact that the booking behavior is changing to closer to check-ins and departure. 
 
40% of hotel bookings are for the same day check-in. Typically users are making hotel bookings at the last minute after they land in a city or town. Location context plays a very critical role. For example “Hotels near me”. As a result mobile becomes the only source for making a hotel booking. 
 
If I look at data goibibo’s hotel booking on mobile, the same has grown by 13x year on year versus air that has grown by 3x in the same period. 
This also means that mobile is driving transition of online travel businesses from ‘scale effects’ to ‘network effects.’ 
 
 User experience and user participation 
User experience is yet another factor that has played an important role in mobile adoption. Aspects such as “GPS locations”, “trackability”, “card storage”, “wallets”, “travelers check list”, “photo reviews”, “real time chat” etc are mobile only / mobile first features. There are two significant examples I would want to share. First is bus tracking feature on redBus mobile app. This enables travelers to track the bus location via their mobile app in real-time. Another example is of the ratings and reviews feature on the goibibo app. Consumers checking in to hotels are enabled to share real-time pictures of the properties; this helps potential bookers view photos shared by travellers and at the same time communicate amongst the community while on the go! 
 
The examples above clearly demonstrate the power of mobile in action. Something that was never possible on the desktop! 
 
Seller participation/ Seller facing apps 
I have talked about buyer/ traveler facing apps. However for valuable networks to be created, sell side apps are a very critical part of the evolution. Long tail of hotels/ budget accommodation owners, bus operator, taxi operators are also embracing the mobile revolution. These constituents have been enabled with mobile apps to manage their inventories, prices, content, ratings and reviews, accounts, payments etc. Thanks to mobile, more real-time inventory and prices are made available. This in turn drives trust amongst the buy side of the equation. In the past, it was only “Air” as a category that had moved its prices, inventory, reservation engines online, albeit sitting on legacy monolithic engines. However, mobile has given wings to categories such as accommodation/ hotels, buses, cabs, car sharing etc. by enabling the sell side of the equation to digitize their inventories, prices and catalogues. 
 
I would like to conclude this article by saying that “Mobile is not about porting the desktop to the small screen. It is about leveraging the real power of the mobile : Comprising : Location, Camera, user interface, communication, phone graph etc.” 
 
And it is only going to be the players leveraging this power that stand a greater chance to win! 
 
(About the author: This article has been contributed by Ashish Kashyap, Founder &amp; CEO, Ibibo group) 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

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