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Amid looming uncertainties, <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> co-founders <keyword id="219793" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kunal-Bahl">Kunal Bahl</keyword> and <keyword id="396598" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rohit-Bansal">Rohit Bansal</keyword> sent out an e-mail to employees saying the current phase is an "inflection point" for the company. They also asked the teams to take tough decisions in its pursuit of profitability. 
 
Reportedly, the communication, from Bahl and Bansal, comes at a time when Snapdeal is downsizing and shutting its non-core businesses so as to conserve cash and extend its runway as fresh funding has been hard to come by. 
 
Recently, the company announced the closure of its consumer-to-consumer marketplace Shopo last week and now the e-tailer has now disbanded its SD Instant team. 
 Launched across Delhi, Mumbai and <keyword id="6354321" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengaluru">Bengaluru</keyword> to deliver FMCG and daily essential goods, the service is now only operational in Gurgaon. 
 Snapdeal's cost-cutting drive has coincided with a string of senior level exits. The latest being <keyword id="1833544" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amit-Maheshwari">Amit Maheshwari</keyword>, fashion head of Snapdeal, who had been elevated as the CEO of Exclusively, the e-tailer's premium and luxury fashion goods platform, which was shuttered last year. 
 
Maheshwari has left the company after a four-year stint, sources aware of the development told TOI. He joins other old-timers who have recently quit including Tony Navin, Sandeep Komaravelly and Abhishek Kumar

This is what Snapdeal founders told their staff amid downsizing

Online fashion rental platform Flyrobe has raised around $1.7million in seed funding led by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Sequoia+Capital&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Sequoia Capital</a>. The deal was closed last year and the official announcement is expected to be made later this month. 
 
Biggies from the startup industry including <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Snapdeal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Snapdeal</a> founders <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Rohit+Bansal+&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Rohit Bansal </a>and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Kunal+Bahl&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Kunal Bahl</a>, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a> founders Sandeep Tandon and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Kunal+Shah&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Kunal Shah</a> invested in this round. The filings show Zishaan Hayath, co-founder of Powai Lake Ventures, and Abhishek Jain, former associate director at Temasek Holdings Advisors India were the other investors 
. 
What’s so special? Mumbai-based Flyrobe is an on-demand apparel rental platform that offers premium designer wear and branded outfits on rent. The company has joined hands with designer labels like Outhouse, Masaba Gupta, <keyword id="667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritu-Kumar">Ritu Kumar</keyword> and Shehla Khan. 
 
Who are these people? 
Omapal Technologies, the company that runs Flyrobe was founded in September 2015 by IIT Bombay alumni Shreya Mishra, Pranay Surana and Tushar Saxena. The founders – Sh 
reya Mishra, Pranay Surana, and Tushar Saxena have come together over the belief that ‘shared economy’ in fashion can work wonders. 
 
Before starting Flyrobe, Mishra was working as an analyst with Everstone Capital, Surana has earlier worked as a senior analyst at Deutsche Bank and Saxena was earlier chief technology officer at Triptainment Technologies. 
 
Troubled times for Sector 
The apparel rental space has been facing tough times recently. Ethnic market-place, Craftsvilla <a href="http://www.vccircle.com/news/technology/2016/04/28/ethnic-products-marketplace-craftsvilla-buys-clothing-rental-startup" target="_blank">acqui-hired</a> women clothing rental platform F2SO4 and Bangalore-based online apparel rental platform Klozee <a href="http://techcircle.vccircle.com/2016/05/13/online-apparel-rental-platform-klozee-shuts-down-co-founders-join-livspace/" target="_blank">closed</a> operations. 
 
Others startups operating in this space include Revamp My Closet, which was also recently acqui-hired by Spoyl, another online platform. 
 
Big Money to be made, apparently 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=PricewaterhouseCoopers&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">PricewaterhouseCoopers</a> estimates the global sharing economy will grow from $15 billion today to $335 billion by 2025. However, its yet to pick up big time when it comes to apparel. Transportation, accommodation, and food and beverages sectors are doing better. 
 
Flyrobe estimates the fashion rental market, including western and ethnic wear is worth $4-5 billion today. 
 
Rental economy picking up? 
In India, the idea of rented apparel has been reserved to graduation, fancy dress competitions and theme parties. 
 
However, as large scale immigration to bigger cities across the country picks up, investor interest too is growing. Back in November, furniture rental company <a href="https://www.rentomojo.com/" target="_blank">RentoMojo</a> raised $2 million in funding and Klozee raised a seed round from TracxnLabs and angels in August. 
 
<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/51891607.cms">Image Source</a>

This unique online apparel rental
portal just raised one of the largest funding rounds in recent times

Hyper-local logistics startup <keyword id="3004068" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Shadowfax">Shadowfax</keyword> has received an investment of about $300,000 in an angel round led by Indian entrepreneurs such as <keyword id="219793" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kunal-Bahl">Kunal Bahl</keyword> and <keyword id="396598" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rohit-Bansal">Rohit Bansal</keyword> of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Snapdeal">Snapdeal</a>, Zishaan Hayath of <keyword id="2385607" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Powai-Lake-Ventures">Powai Lake Ventures</keyword>, and <keyword id="289857" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Prashant-Malik">Prashant Malik</keyword> of Limeroad. 
 
 “We believe that improving the existing state of last mile delivery and hyperlocal logistics would enable all future business growth. At Shadowfax, we are looking to build India’s most formidable, credible and fastest merchant delivery service,” Abhishek Bansal, co-founder and CEO of Shadowfax, said in a statement on Monday. 
 
The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Gurgaon">Gurgaon</a>-based company has invested in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=technology+">technology</a> that uses multiple modes of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=communication+">communication</a> to provide relevant solutions. It employs integrated GPS tracking functions and algorithms in its product to improve the efficiency of the network. 
 “We have incorporated several features that leverage our proprietary end-to-end capacity planning algorithm to put the merchant directly in touch with the rider, geo-location for tracking orders, rider route planning, and order coupling,” said <keyword id="1308709" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Vaibhav-Khandelwal">Vaibhav Khandelwal</keyword>, CTO and co-founder, Shadowfax. 
 
Since its launch in May 2015, Shadowfax had an average delivery volume processing of about 3,000 orders a day and 120-150 outlets that are currently utilizing its service for last mile delivery in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Delhi-NCR+region">Delhi-NCR region</a>. The growth of the company has been driven through referrals. 
 
“We have already created a niche for our services in Delhi-NCR and are looking to strengthen our present team of 35+ employees and 350+ riders and expand into 10 more cities within the next one year,” said Abhishek. 
 
He added: “We have opted for a partial crowd-sourced model, where anyone who wishes to be a rider can join our rider pool. However, every rider is imparted vocational skill based training before deployment.” 
 
Shadowfax charges its customers on a pay-per-delivery model based on distance and required service quality. It provides merchants a flexible, technology-driven framework incorporating features such as automatic rider scheduling, seamless app communication, instant feedback, geo-based tracking, and location-based rider allocation. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Shadowfax gets funding from Snapdeal founders! Raises about $300,000

MUMBAI: The combined entity of Flipkart and <keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword> will soon launch a fashion incubator, a first of its kind move by an Indian startup, in its aggressive push to gain complete dominance of the fast-growing online apparel category. In typical venture capital-style investing, the e-commerce combine will select fashion entrepreneurs, give them a platform to retail and after six months to a year pick up equity stakes for up to a million dollars in the best performing brands. 
 Startup incubators are widely run by large technology companies, to spot new ideas and talent, but this would be the first such attempt by an Indian <keyword id="2180871" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="e-commerce-player">e-commerce player</keyword>. 
 
Flipkart-Mynta will look to select at least 3-5 such brands annually which can later be retailed on other platforms- online and offline-- said a top executive from the company. The first batch of the incubator is expected to roll out in July which will get on board as many as 20 such entrepreneurs. 
 “The idea is to create sizeable indigenous fashion brands by mentoring young entrepreneurs who do not have access to capital, supply chain and distribution platforms,” said <keyword id="705865" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mukesh-Bansal">Mukesh Bansal</keyword>, CEO, Myntra &amp; SVP, Flipkart Fashion. We want these budding designers to operate as independent entities in the long-term selling to even our rival e-tailers, Bansal told TOI. 
 
Having merged Myntra with Flipkart last month in a Rs 2,000 crore deal, Bansal said with increased focus on private brands, the combined entity may also evaluate acquisitions going forward to shore up its fashion portfolio. 
 
Abhishek Verma, business head at Myntra said they've roped in mentors for the first batch of the incubator. We’ve got fashion designers, entrepreneurs and successful names from the business of apparel to be a part of the programme. 
 
Myntra’s own set of brands clocking sales of upwards of $10 million include the likes of Dressberry and Roadster. We have an ambitious plan of building multiple hundred million-dollar private brands in the coming years but it’s not feasible to have such a large in-house team therefore, this incubator makes a lot of sense as we scale up our portfolio, Bansal said. 
 The fashion e-commerce category is poised to become the second largest, only after electronics, pushing e-tailers to adopt a frenetic paced growth strategy for the vertical. <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword>, the world’s largest online retailer, which is starting to get a toehold in the Indian e-commerce market recently forayed into the fashion and apparel category. 
 In the offline retail world, Future group’s founder <keyword id="44950" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Kishore-Biyani">Kishore Biyani</keyword> has been an early backer of several local fashion entrepreneurs who have gone on to create successful brands like AND and Biba. Biyani exited these companies last year only to make windfall gains from his early investments.

Myntra Set To Launch Fashion Incubator

As India gears up for its vibrant festive season, a notable surge in <keyword id="23052492" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="seasonal-hiring" source="keywords">seasonal hiring</keyword> is taking place across various industries, with gig roles leading the charge. According to data from job site Indeed, seasonal hiring is projected to rise by 20% this year compared to last, driven primarily by <keyword id="19990771" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="e-commerce" source="keywords">e-commerce</keyword>, logistics, and retail sectors, as companies prepare for heightened consumer demand. Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales at Indeed India, emphasised, "The festive season is a crucial period for businesses across India, and we're seeing a significant uptick in hiring for seasonal roles as companies prepare to meet heightened consumer demand." <h3 style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:14.0pt;margin-bottom:4.0pt;">What is gig work?</h3>Gig work refers to flexible, short-term, or freelance employment often facilitated by digital platforms. Unlike traditional full-time jobs, gig workers are hired on a project basis, allowing them to work for multiple employers or companies as needed. These roles are popular in industries like food delivery, transportation, and logistics. During India's <keyword id="21015356" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="festival-season" source="keywords">festival season</keyword>, when businesses experience a spike in demand, gig workers play an essential role in ensuring smooth operations across sectors like retail and e-commerce. <h3>Gig labour during festival season</h3>The festive season in India, spanning from September to December, is one of the busiest times of the year for businesses. As a result, companies ramp up hiring to cope with increased sales and customer demand. Seasonal roles in delivery, logistics, warehouse operations, and customer support see the highest demand, as businesses focus on timely deliveries, inventory management, and customer satisfaction. Indeed's data reveals that the top gig roles witnessing a rise in hiring this season include <keyword id="21462485" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="delivery-executives" source="keywords">delivery executives</keyword>, <keyword id="22103182" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="warehouse-workers" source="keywords">warehouse workers</keyword>, <keyword id="23052493" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="logistics-coordinators" source="keywords">logistics coordinators</keyword>, <keyword id="23052494" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="in-store-sales-executives" source="keywords">in-store sales executives</keyword>, and customer care executives. While major cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Delhi see a steady increase in demand for gig workers (18-20%), tier-2 and tier-3 cities like Nagpur, Jaipur, and Vadodara are emerging as key contributors, witnessing a hiring surge of 22-25%. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112999246" title="As fast as some jobs are growing, others are losing steam" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><h3><keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> major contributor</h3>One of the standout examples this festive season is Meesho, a leading e-commerce marketplace in India. According to sources, the platform has enabled around 8.5 lakh seasonal job opportunities, representing a 70% increase from last year. Of these, 5 lakh jobs were created within Meesho's seller network, while another 3.5 lakh jobs emerged in the logistics sector. Sourabh Pandey, CXO of Fulfilment and Experience at Meesho, shared, "This festive season, we are particularly thrilled to have enabled 8.5 lakh seasonal jobs, especially in tier-3 and beyond cities. Empowering SMBs, local manufacturers, and logistics providers to scale their business is resulting in meaningful economic opportunities that are driving financial inclusion in these regions." Meesho has reportedly also partnered with prominent third-party logistics providers such as Delhivery, Ecom Express, and Shadowfax to meet the increased demands of the festive season. These collaborations have not only expanded logistics capacity but also helped generate gig opportunities in first-mile, middle-mile, and delivery associate roles. Abhishek Bansal, CEO &amp; Co-founder of Shadowfax, commented, "We are particularly excited to nearly double our capacity across several value-added services, such as Reverse Quality Check-Based Pickups and Hand-to-Hand Doorstep Exchange. These efforts ensure smooth deliveries and returns during the festive rush." <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112720685" title="If you want to find a job, it&amp;#39;s time to specialize" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><h3 style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:14.0pt;margin-bottom:4.0pt;">The future of gig work in India</h3>The rapid rise in <keyword id="23052491" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="gig-hiring" source="keywords">gig hiring</keyword> reflects the evolving needs of today's consumers, particularly during high-demand periods like the festive season. The e-commerce industry, which saw a 35% rise in demand for seasonal workers, is expected to continue driving this trend, with logistics and retail sectors close behind. "The industries that are growing — e-commerce, logistics, quick commerce — are doing so because they're aligned with the needs and behaviours of today's consumers,” Sashi Kumar explains. “This is where the future of India's <keyword id="19916569" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="job-market" source="keywords">job market</keyword> could be heading". With a flurry of companies contributing significantly to job creation, particularly in tier-3 and tier-4 cities, gig work is becoming a vital source of employment across the country. As India's job market evolves, gig work is likely to play an even larger role in shaping the future of work, offering flexibility and economic opportunity to millions of workers. (With inputs from agencies)

E-commerce is expected to help seasonal hiring for gig roles surge by 20% this festival season: reports

New Delhi, Dec 5 () Logistics firm Shadowfax has raised around Rs 430 crore in a funding round led by e-commerce player Flipkart. 
Eight Roads Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, Mirae Asset Naver Fund and the World Bank-backed IFC also participated in the funding round, a joint statement by Shadowfax and Flipkart said.
Flipkart has an existing partnership with Shadowfax for delivery of products and the investment is part of Flipkart's strategy to build hyperlocal ecosystem by bringing offline 'kirana' stores within the fold of its business, the statement said.
 "By leveraging kirana stores and the deep delivery capabilities of Shadowfax and other Flipkart-led innovations, we are building a strong foundation to make inroads into a dynamic hyperlocal consumer market," Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said.
Shadowfax CEO Abhishek Bansal said with this capital infusion, Shadowfax plans to invest extensively in building long-term capabilities which are essential to developing an efficient and superior service quality ecosystem in Indian logistics. 
"This strategic integration with Flipkart and its global best practices will not only unlock huge opportunities for Shadowfax but will also enable us to innovate with the largest online platform in India and build core capabilities that can be democratized for the larger logistics ecosystem," Bansal said. PRS ANU
ANU

Shadowfax raises Rs 430 cr in funding round led by Flipkart

New Delhi, Dec 30 () Start-up technology-enabled car service provider GoMechanic on Monday said it has raised Rs 105 crore in Series B funding in a round led by Chiratae Ventures and Sequoia Capital.
 Orios Venture Partners was the other investor which participated in the 3rd round of institutional funding, GoMechanic said in a statement.
 The investment will be used to support expansion into 10 more cities by the end of 2020 in its EV thrust, brand promotion and in streamlining spare parts procurement, it added.
 Commenting on the fund raised, GoMechanic Co-Founder Kushal Karwa said, "The money raised will allow us to continue our aggressive geographical expansion besides investment in innovation to keep us ahead of the curve."
 GoMechanic Co-Founder Amit Bhasin said the current fundraise will reinvigorate the company's thrust in providing scalable technology first solutions for the USD 11 billion unorganised automotive repairs and maintenance market.
 Chiratae Ventures Executive-Director Ranjith Menon said, "India is among the largest car manufacturers in the world where bulk of the cars on the road are out of warranty. We are excited to work with the GoMechanic team addressing this huge gap in a technology first manner."
 Commenting on the company's investment in GoMechanic, Sequoia Capital India LLP Vice President Abhishek Mohan said, "In the 12 months since Sequoia India led the Series A, the company has scaled many times on the back of its asset light network of workshops and most importantly built true customer love. Given the massive market potential of USD 5 billion plus, we are excited to see what comes next."
 Earlier this year, GoMechanic had raised Rs 35 crore in a series-A round led by Sequoia Capital and Orios Venture Partners. In 2017, it had raised close to Rs 7 crore from Orios Venture Partners and Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.
 In 2016 the company has raised Rs 2 crore in angel funding from Dhianu Das. GoMechanic offers a platform for multi-brand car service centres. RKL SHW
SHW

GoMechanic raises Rs 105 crore in latest round of funding

New Delhi, Feb 4 () Industry body Amfi has sought clarification from relevant tax authorities with regard to the government's plan to scrap dividend distribution tax (DDT) on mutual funds and introduction of tax deducted at source on the income distributed by such products, officials said on Tuesday.
 Industry experts believe that the government's plan to tax dividend at the hands of investors could make dividend plans in equity and balanced schemes unattractive and investors may move towards growth plans.
 In addition, long-term investment plans such as equity-linked saving schemes and retirement products will be impacted too as the proposed tax regime has no deduction available.
 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2020-21 has proposed to abolish dividend distribution tax (DDT) on the dividend declared by companies and mutual funds to shareholders or unit holders.
 Once the DDT is abolished, the dividend amount will be added to investors' taxable income and taxed as per the individual tax bracket.
 Currently, mutual funds deduct the DDT and then hand over dividend to the unit holders.
 In addition, the minister introduced a 10 per cent TDS (tax deducted at source) provision on the income distributed by a mutual fund to its unit holders if such income exceeds Rs 5,000.
 The minister proposed the insertion of a new Section -- 194K -- in the Income Tax Act, which states "any person responsible for paying income arising from units of mutual fund or a specified company must deduct tax at the rate of 10 percent of such income", according to the Finance Bill 2020.
 Samco Head (RankMF) Omkeshwar Singh said a TDS of 10 per cent has been introduced under new Section 194K for a payout of Rs 5,000 and above, however it is not clear if it considers only dividend or capital gains as well.
 "Industry body Amfi has sought formal clarifications from relevant tax authorities since TDS on long-term capital gains for equities is exempted up to Rs 1 lakh," he said.
 "We would need to wait for more clarification on this subject. Further, the new proposed tax regime has no deductions available under 80C, which was being used by governments to encourage long-term investment-cum-savings, that (ELSS or retirement) may get adversely impacted," he added.
 Several industry officials also said the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) has sought clarification from relevant tax authorities in this regard.
 "With the removal of DDT on mutual funds, dividend income from mutual funds is now taxable in the hands of the investors at their relevant tax slabs (subject to a 10 per cent TDS)," said Kaustubh Belapurkar, director, manager (research), Morningstar
 "We think this will make dividend plans in equity and balanced plans unattractive from a tax perspective for investors in the higher tax brackets as investors in a growth plan are liable to pay a LTCG (long-term capital gains) of 10 per cent," he added.
 Naveen Kukreja, CEO and co-founder of Paisabazaar.com, "The government's move will positively impact a small segment of individual investors, who are not in the highest tax slab and were investing in the fixed income instruments under the dividend option," said 
 Abhishek Bansal, Chairman and MD, Abnas Group of Companies, said the proposal is a positive move
 "Earlier, DDT was levied twice, first when a company would pay a dividend to an asset management company (AMC), second when the AMC would declare its annual profits. These year-end profits declared by the AMC could be availed of in two ways by the investor who is a customer of the AMC: Either the investor could take the gains out as a dividend or it could be invested back into the fund. If the investor took the dividend route, he would need to pay DDT again," he said.
 "This has now been replaced by a single simplified tax in terms of the abolishment of DDT and 10 per cent TDS to be applied by the AMC to its investors. This is hence a positive move," he added.
 Bansal said that now, the quantum of savings that would result because of this step needs some clarification from the government on whether the TDS is to be cut on the income component or on the entire proceedings. Clarification on the same will surely be available over the next few days as the industry has requested clarity on the same. SP HRS

Amfi seeks clarification from tax authorities on removal of DDT, TDS introduction

New Delhi, Apr 3 () Several retail companies and multiplexes operating in large premises and malls are seeking a waiver and negotiating rentals as their businesses are severely hit by the lockdown imposed by the government to curb the spread of novel coronavirus. Several real estate firms and mall owners have also confirmed receiving requests from retail companies operating from their premises to negotiate the rentals in such difficult times. Their respective organisations, Retailers Association of India and Multiplex Association of India have also already raised the issue regarding the difficulties and challenges ahead once the 21-day long lockdown is lifted on April 14. "We have received letters and emails from almost all retailers to not bill for the month of April. This is very normal as how to bill the space, when someone is not using the space," Select CityWalk CEO &amp; Executive Director Yogeshwar Sharma told . However, he also added that at the same time, mall owners have also not got any benefit as "expenses as salaries, maintenance etc are running. It's a tough situation." When asked if the rental waiver request would be considered, Sharma said, "No one knows how long this would continue. There is no clarity on the issue as to whether all malls and cinemas would be allowed to operate or not. It would be premature to say anything about." The real estate firms and mall owners have already received rentals for March, as they get rent in advance for the month. Mukta Arts, which runs multiplex chain under the brand name ''Mukta A2 Cinemas' said that it is in discussion with mall owners over the unprecedented situation. "We are certainly in discussions with all our partners about how we can best handle the situation in a difficult time for everyone. Our agreements do provide for Force Majure and we are considering every option," Mukta Arts MD Rahul Puri said. Kishore-Biyani led Future Group, which owns and operates several retail formats which include popular Big Bazaar and neighbourhood food and grocery store chain, Easyday Club, has also approached the mall and property owners for waiver of rentals till the time, the business is closed. Presently, complying with the government orders, retail companies are dispensing only essential items which include packed foods and vegetables and some of the FMCG products. V-Mart, which operates stores mainly in tier II and III cities said it has also approached the companies seeking a waiver of the rentals and has plans to put rentals of the month of April on hold. "We have also sent a request to our landlords and have communicated to them about the business conditions in such unusual times. We have told them that under the situation we cannot pay rentals of the lockdown period," said V-Mart Retail Chairman and Managing Director Lalit Agarwal. He further said, "We would need their support even for the period after lockdown is lifted, as it would take some time to reach the normal footfall count at our stores. They would have to accommodate us on the rentals." According to the Retailers Association of India, rent and salaries to employees make a large part of the cost of retailing firms which are facing challenges due to mandatory closure of the stores. "RAI has retailers and mall owners as members. Our belief is that they should sit with each other and share the burden of the agreements because this is an unprecedented situation," said RAI CEO Kumar Rajagopalan. RAI has asked the government to provide several rebates on taxes and others. "Rental rebates would not happen unless there are some tax rebates and GST rebates. How can malls owners'' providers rebate to the retailer on hand while paying taxes on the other hand. Rental is an issue, where the retailers and the malls have to come together and sit on a table," he added. Everyone is expecting the situation to be normalised soon, once the lockdown is lifted and their stores and multiplexes become operational. Sharma, hoped that the situation would be normalised soon as "both are partners in the business. We have long term relations." Pacific Group Executive Director Abhishek Bansal said: "Yes, we have received some request from few brands, but it is too early to gauge the actual impact. We need to wait for some more time to come to any conclusion." Gaurs Group MD Manoj Gaur said: "We consider brands as our stakeholder and partner. Will try to help them to the extent possible, but it has been around 10 days only, so need more time to gauge the extent of losses. We also need to wait and watch the kind of relief measures that Government may announce for industry in coming days." India is presently going through an unprecedented complete lockdown of three weeks, ending on April 14, to prevent the spread of coronavirus. KRH MRMR

Retail Cos and Multiplex owners asks waiver of rent for lockdown period

<keyword id="6360722" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="ratan-tata">Ratan Tata</keyword>, Chairman Emeritus of <keyword id="46894" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tata-Sons">Tata Sons</keyword>, has recently invested an undisclosed amount in <keyword id="2779670" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tracxn">Tracxn</keyword>, the Bengaluru-based startup intelligence platform. 
 
With this development,Tracxn has joined the list of almost two dozen startups and tech companies that Tata has backed in the past two years, including Snapdeal, Ola Cabs, Paytm, Urbanladder, Xiaomi, UrbanClap and DogSpot. 
 
He is also involved with venture capital firms like Kalaari Capital, IDG Ventures India and Jungle Ventures in the capacity of an advisor. 
Talking of Tracxn, it has raised angel funding from Flipkart's co-founders Sachin and Binny Bansal, Delhivery's CEO Sahil Barua and $3.5 million in series-A funding from SAIF Partners. 
 
The company was founded in 2013 by former venture capital investors Neha Singh (ex-Sequoia Capital) and Abhishek Goyal (ex-Accel Partners), and tracks over 100 sectors including enterprise infrastructure, enterprise applications, technology, consumer, mobile, digital marketing, health, education. 
 <keyword id="2928014" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tracxn-Labs">Tracxn Labs</keyword>, an angel invest fund, and <keyword id="3401467" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tracxn-Syndicate">Tracxn Syndicate</keyword>, an angel investment group are also run by Tracxn, putting it in competition with Let's Venture, which is another fundraising platform that has been backed by Tata. 
 
In its clientele, Tracxn boasts of venture capital funds, private equity firms and corporate development teams who use the services provided by the company it to spot investment, merger and strategic partnership opportunities in different sectors. Some of these names include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, SoftBank, Google Capital, VMWare, GE and LG. 
 
In the past one year, Tracxn has increased its number of analysts assigned to exclusively tracking startups from 25 to 125. The client base has also seen a 400% increase to over 300 customers across 20 countries in the past 12 months. 
 
"Ratan Tata is a trusted household name &amp; his way of building things has played a critical role in how our thoughts shaped up in early days of our lives," Goyal told ET. "As we rapidly expand across geographies, his unconventional ways of building large companies with high diversity will be very useful," he continued. 
 
<a href="http://www.in.techradar.com/photo/47922351.cms">Image source</a>

Ratan Tata just invested in this startup intelligence platform!

<keyword id="6400882" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="TVF">TVF</keyword> is on a roll. With their Pitchers series and ‘Tu Beer Hai *ahem ahem*’ getting accolades across the country, they’ve recently launched the 2nd Season of Permanent Roommates. 
 For the uninitiated, <keyword id="2997521" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="TVF-Pitchers">TVF Pitchers</keyword> is about four friends, Naveen Bansal (Naveen), Jitendra Maheshwari (Jitu), Yogendra Kumar (Yogi), and Saurabh Mandal (Mandal) launching their own start-up. 
 
The series revolves around how these four friends rediscover what they really want from life and the challenges they face to get their off the ground. 
 Business Insider India spoke to <keyword id="1362593" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Arunabh-Kumar">Arunabh Kumar</keyword>, the CEO of The Viral Fever on how it all started. 
 
How did you stumble upon this idea? 
I wrote TVF Pitches back in July 2012. The idea back then was to write a startup comedy. 
 
It took us 3 years, but it couldn’t have been timed better. 2015 is when the startup boom happened, and we decided to tell an aspirational story rather than give it a comic treatment. That’s how it started, the rest is history. 
 
What was the core idea? 
For startups it’s always about pitching. The idea was to have a series on Pitchers - people who pitch till the evening and sit over a pitcher in the evening.People say Bangalore’s a copy of Silicon Valley. They couldn’t be more mistaken. 
 
What was your research like? 
I passed out of IIT Kharagpur in 2006, and 2008 was when a lot of this started. I remember meeting Abhishek, a friend who had invested in Flipkart, a company that sold second hand books. Me and Golu met a couple of startups in Bangalore. There were friends in IIT Bombay. 
 We wanted to keep it very real. That’s why we also got <keyword id="192201" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kunal-Shah">Kunal Shah</keyword> and <keyword id="219793" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kunal-Bahl">Kunal Bahl</keyword> to feature in it. 
 
What has the reaction been so far? 
‘Tu Beer hai’ has become the new startup phrase. One couldn’t have asked for more.The series has gone on to become the 22nd best show globally. Many more will discover it with the upcoming 2nd season. 
 
Next Season? When’s that? 
By the end of the year. 
 
Will you consider a TV Series like On Air with <keyword id="1875393" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="AIB">AIB</keyword>? 
We’re in talks with several networks, but that’s a different art form altogether. They’re (AIB) the best guys to do it. We generally work on fiction. 
 
What triggered the standup comedy boom in India? 
The credit goes to people like Rivaldo and AIB. That way people have started laughing, and developed a sense of humor. 
 
Creators have also realized it’s the easier thing to do over the tedious art direction and costume designing, writing and editing. 
 
If you write well and are a goof performer you can pick up a mike and get going! 
 
Do you think it was the tipping point of intolerance or the comic buildup that helped? 
I think it was a gradual buildup. The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=AIB">AIB</a> Roast controversy was really the trigger. When you have idols to aim to it makes the job so much easier. It helps the ecosystem. It’s a welcome change. 
 
What’s your idea of the under 35 young and progressive Indian youth? 
They’re sensible, honest and want to watch quality entertainment. 
 
It’s more than the horniness, booze and profanity. The problem really is that the content generators know only these. The creators need to work really hard. The industry can’t be lazy and replicate tried-and-tested models. 
 
Your advice to a to-be YouTuber. 
Enjoy the process rather than the result. 
 
If you enjoy making videos you’ll end up becoming a film-maker . If you like the idea of being a film-maker, you’ll end up being no one.

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