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As the country indulges in an orgy of festivities this <keyword id="188" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="Diwali">Diwali</keyword>, one can’t help but think of the air and noise pollution we cause by bursting firecrackers. However, Bengaluru-based hyper-local on-demand delivery service <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Roadrunnr">Roadrunnr</a> is celebrating Diwali in the most unique way possible! The startup is distributing ‘plantable bookmarks’ with almost every delivery they make on 11th and 12th November! 
 
The bookmarks will be gifted in packed biodegradable envelopes. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Roadrunnr">Roadrunnr</a>’s delivery boys will hand-over one biodegradable envelope with every order they deliver across Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. Customers can use these bookmarks and plant it in a pot as per the instructions on the envelope. In around 10 days they can look forward to a small plant blooming. A variety of seeds will be used so every customer will be surprised with a unique plant! 
 
Viral Chhajer, Head of Marketing &amp; Communications, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Roadrunnr">Roadrunnr</a>, says, “We are excited to launch this green initiative for Diwali and we will plant five trees for every bookmark planted by a customer. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Roadrunnr">Roadrunnr</a> team looks forward to planting more than 50,000 trees through this initiative.” 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Roadrunnr">Roadrunnr</a> will also gift merchants it works with bamboo plants in customized pots. This initiative is in association with ‘Nurturing Green’ and aims to promoting the green concept of gifting, decor and landscaping this festive season. 
 <keyword id="3601249" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Roadrunnr">Roadrunnr</keyword> currently operates in 11 cities and makes more than 35,000 deliveries per day. It was founded by Mohit Kumar and Arpit Dave who worked together at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Flipkart">Flipkart</a> earlier. 
 
Image credit: Roadrunnr

This Bengaluru-based Startup is celebrating Diwali in the most unique way possible!

As the festive season kicks off on Monday with big sales promotions, firms which provide last-mile services to ecommerce sites are encouraging their employees to go the extra mile. On offer are silver coins, cash, gift vouchers, gadgets, refurbished homes and the chance to upgrade skills to take on higher-level roles.
 

	These firms include Ola, delivery agencies such as Gojavas and Roadrunnr, and staffing firms such as Quess Corp and TeamLease.
 

	Wiser after the surge in business last year took them by surprise, companies want to make sure they'll be able to handle the extra load this time around.
 

	And a crucial aspect of that is motivating those at the end of the chain. "Compared to last year, when some of these sales saw a great deal of chaos, this time the level of preparedness on the part of the companies is much better," Rituparna Chakraborty, cofounder and senior vice-president, Team-Lease Services, a recruitment agency, told ET. "This in turn will also lead to people performing better and earning more." For example, a delivery person in Bengaluru earning a monthly salary of Rs 12,000 can boost that by 50-60% through incentives, Chakraborty said.
 

	Ola said incentives will help ensure that clients can get cabs when they want. "These initiatives motivate drivers to be more available on the platform during the festive season and will help us bridge the demand-supply gap," said Anand Subramanian, senior director, marketing communications.
 Hyperlocal delivery company Roadrunnr's best staff will get silver coins daily. Weekly incentives include kitchenware and electronic gadgets. The company's clients include <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> and Myntra. The top 10-15 Runnrs, as they are called, will also be trained in soft skills, spoken English and computers to help them in career advancement, said Aneek Mukherjee, director, Roadrunnr. <keyword id="103483" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Raj-Kumar">Raj Kumar</keyword>, 22, hopes he can be one of the winners at Roadrunnr. During the festive season, the number of orders can double to 30 on a weekday compared with 14-15 on regular days and about 20 on the weekend, he said. One of the top performers at his branch in Bengaluru, he said, "These initiatives make all the extra trips worth it." While India's online retail market is expected to grow to around $50 billion by 2020 from $4 billion at the end of 2014, according to industry estimates, competition among the top ecommerce sites such as <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, Amazon and Snapdeal will be at full pitch. And with online sellers focusing more on margins rather than discounts, companies will need to work harder on service. 

	They also need to make sure rivals don't poach their people. "Retention is the biggest challenge since the environment is tight. Everyone from old players to the new is fighting for a share," said Guruprasad Srinivasan, Quess Corp's CEO for people and services. The company provides delivery agents for the top ecommerce companies — staffing has surged to 20,000 from 3,500 in a year. Srinivasan said most ecommerce companies are paying bonuses and incentives this time round. Riders are also crucial for companies such as Faasos, which delivers restaurant orders placed on its website.

	 
	 
	(Image credits: clubpenguin.wikia)

This festival season has surprises in store for hard working employees!

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=tinyowl&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">TinyOwl</a>, the online <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=food+ordering+apps&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">food ordering</a> firm, has halted its operations in all Indian cities besides Mumbai. In Mumbai also, it will be available in select areas. 
 <keyword id="3601251" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TinyOwl">TinyOwl</keyword>, in its official blog, stated that it was temporarily closed for service improvement. “We are committed to return with an even better product for you in the near future,” the blog stated. 
 
The Mumbai-based platform operates in Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Navi Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Nagpur, Lucknow and Chandigarh. 
 
Recently, reportedly, TinyOwl was in news over its merger with hyperlocal logistics player Roadrunnr in an all-stock deal. 
 In the short term, TinyOwl will continue to operate its app in localities where order volumes are high, and phase out eventually to the new brand identity "<keyword id="3354183" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Runnr">Runnr</keyword>," a top executive had told ET. Runnr is expected to make its debut in coming weeks in Mumbai. 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

TinyOwl temporarily closes operations in all cities, only open in Mumbai

In a bid to make its customers’ lives easier, <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword> has been testing a hyperlocal website, which would help users discover services, like spas and wellness, event planning and pet services, in their geographical areas. 
 
The website is said to be working on the hyperlocal model, where vendors in a geographical area would upload details of their business through their Facebook page, which would then be visible to the users. 
 
"We're in the early stages of testing a way for people to easily find more Pages for the services they're interested in," a Facebook spokesperson said. 
 
Fb has been testing the site since November 2015. For credibility, it lets users rate and review a given service. 
 
As of now, it has its services listed under ten categories, viz. arts &amp; marketing, automotive, business services, financial services, event planning, home improvement, lifestyle, medical and health, pet services, and spa, beauty and personal care. 
 
Over two million small and medium businesses use Fb for their business, and the segment of hyperlocal services market has seen intense competition in the recent past. 
 Other popular platforms that offer such services in India are <keyword id="6381424" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Quikr">Quikr</keyword>, <keyword id="2811049" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="UrbanClap">UrbanClap</keyword>, Roadrunnr, Opinio, LocalOye and Zopper. 
 
<a href="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5138aa4decad048f17000001/silicon-valleys-top-startup-factory-once-funded-a-company-because-the-founder-looked-like-mark-zuckerberg.jpg">Image source</a>

A hyperlocal services website from Facebook aims to give tough competition to Quikr and UrbanClap

Think how you would feel if you were to go for an all-paid foreign trip, adventure sports getaway, food walk, foosball tournament etc. Several Indian <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=startups">startups</a> are playing a cool <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Santa+">Santa</a> to their employees this <keyword id="8206" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Christmas">Christmas</keyword>! 
 
Many like CodeNation, Wingify, Shop-Clues, MyDala, Wego, Roadrunnr, JoyByNature and BiteClub want to celebrate their successful journey so far, and what could be best than taking them out for short holidays. 
 
15-odd employees at Wego, a travel search site, are going to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Phuket+">Phuket</a> for a three night-four day trip for overperforming targets. 
 
Bengaluru-based resource aggregator Onetimejobs is sponsoring a family vacation to Ooty for its employees while tech startup Code-Nation recently took its employees for a 3-day watersports outing in Dandeli to unwind together. 
 Delhi-based Wingify is one company that takes its employees and their families on a <keyword id="20983" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Holiday">holiday</keyword> every year. This year, it is spending Rs 65 lakh to take some 130 people across its offices in Delhi, Pune and the US to Langkawi for four days of fun and games. 
 
(Image credit: AFP)

Startups play Santa to overperforming employees, line up foreign trips, food walks and what not!

This is purely a case of ‘once bitten, twice shy’. Learning from last year’s fiasco, India’s top engineering schools now prefer PSUs during campus placements than startups. 
 
As many startups deferred joining dates and some even cancelled the joining leaving students high and dry last year, engineering colleges this year are taking no chance. 
 The Indian Institutes of Technology (<keyword id="49737" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IITs">IITs</keyword>) are preferring Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) early placement slots this year, even Day 1. 
 
As per reports, the IITs are also trying to get in touch with ministry of human resource development to ask Maharatna and Navratna companies, such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, NMDC and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, to participate in campus placement this year. 
 "Until last year, we could not bring in PSUs and also many students were opting for startups. Our experience with the startups was not all good last year. This year, we want to bring in PSUs in the first week itself so that students get a chance to opt for stable jobs rather than pick up lucrative offers in startups," Debasis Deb, chairman of the career development centre at <keyword id="6364832" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IIT-Kharagpur">IIT Kharagpur</keyword>, told ET. 
 Last year, <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>’s fiasco and mismanagement by other companies like Peppertap, Zomato, Roadrunnr and Stayzilla resulted in massive disappointment. 
 The <keyword id="3656301" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="all-iits-placement-committee">All-IITs Placement Committee</keyword> recently blacklisted 30 companies, including startups, which went back on job offers. 
 
ET reported the IITs at Kharagpur, Roorkee, Bombay and Guwahati plan to offer PSUs Day 1. 
 
Kaustubha Mohanty of IIT Guwahati told ET, “We are leaving no stone unturned this year in inviting the PSUs. We are requesting them to come in the first week of December." 
 
Talking about salaries, even though PSUs will not offer stock options to candidates, the annual salaries offered will be of nearly Rs 10 lakh, about one-third of what is generally offered by Day 1 companies. 
 
In boom years, Day 1 firms have even offered upwards of Rs 40-50 lakh for top candidates. 
 
Anishya Madan, industrial liaison officer at IIT Delhi's training and placement cell, told ET, “It is not about the salaries alone, it is also about stability. We want students to get enough choice, especially in terms of working with core companies. With the ban lifted on PSUs coming to IITs, we are trying our best to give them a healthy mix from Day 1 itself.” 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

IITs are ditching startups, preferring PSUs during campus placements this year

The struggle to exploit possibilities in the eCommerce market is getting trickier for leading eCommerce firms. After <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword>, now <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> too is gearing up to get into hyperlocal/express local delivery system. 
 
The battle to reach out to the consumers faster is the focal drive for the hyper local delivery system. A report published in Economic Times said, Flipkart is firming up plans for its logistics unit, eKart, to take on competition from on-demand startups that promise to deliver products within an hour, typically by tying up with local stores. 
 The express local delivery system has recently been espoused by <keyword id="6354743" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-India">Amazon India</keyword> and BigBasket. 
 Flipkart Co-founder and chief operating officer <keyword id="6364080" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Binny-Bansal">Binny Bansal</keyword> in an interview with ET has said, “We are doing a ton of stuff (with hyperlocal).” Denying making any comments on company’s further plans he said, “We are serious about it. Hyperlocal needs to be done in the right way." 
 With on-demand startups such as Grofers and <keyword id="2809732" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="PepperTap">PepperTap</keyword> raising huge sums from investors, hyperlocal delivery has emerged as an operational category this year. These firms typically source and deliver products from partner stores closest to a buyer, posing a significant challenge to large online retailers like Amazon and Flipkart that aren't as agile. 
 
Flipkart, while it builds its supply chain capabilities, is also working with on-demand logistics startups Delhivery and Roadrunnr for hyperlocal deliveries, officials directly aware of the matter said, requesting anonymity. 
 
It seems like the officials have planned to stay mum as Flipkart, Delhivery and Roadrunner did now responded to the queries and denied to make any comments in the matter. 
 
Bansal said Flipkart will invest $80-100 million (Rs 510-640 crore) this year to strengthen its supply chain capabilities. "Supply chain is completely broken in ecommerce. The growth in the market is so much that we cannot absorb all the growth in eKart," he informed. 
 
The COO also said that eKart aims to hire at least 350 experts in product and technology to take its total strength in these areas to 500, without giving a specific timeframe. "We are building a solid team of experts - technology, supply chain design experts, and product experts in a huge way," he said.

Express Delivery is going to be Flipkart’s next big move

Following the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=forbes">Forbes</a> list of <keyword id="2051863" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="30-Under-30">30 under 30</keyword> list of <keyword id="310274" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Young-Achievers">young achievers</keyword> that was announced last month where 45 Indians found a mention, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=forbes+india">Forbes India </a>revealed its own 30 under 30 list today, featuring who they described as the cool kids. 
 
The list is a mixture of expected faces and a few new ones. It’s certainly not as exhaustive as the original list, but the list, in its third year now doesn’t fail to pack a punch. 
 Explaining their choices, <keyword id="6373044" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Forbes">Forbes</keyword> put out an article, saying “These young men and women not only fill us with admiration but also, to borrow an acronym from their generation, major FOMO (fear of missing out—yes, that’s a thing). 
 
To compound this angst, let’s remember this list is not exhaustive. It is impossible to cover the geographical expanse of this country and reach every potential candidate. But, as always, our aim is to find the best possible names that meet our three criteria: The extent of the impact of an achievement in a short span of time and its ability to disrupt the status quo; scalability of the business or line of work; and enough indication of being a long-term player. And, as with previous lists, well-established names as well as those who have access to an influential lineage are not considered.” 
 
To make it even simpler for readers, we decided to introduce you to the 30 change makers mentioned in the list, across the 13 categories. 
 
 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ritesh+agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</a> (22) the founder of <keyword id="2808667" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> found a mention under Ecommerce in this list and is the only one to be featured in the earlier list by Forbes as well. The other contenders in this section was Arpit Dave (23) and Mohit Kumar (27), founders of RoadRunnr and innovator Anirudh Sharma (26) were the other contenders in this category. 
 
Actress <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=richa+chadha">Richa Chadha</a> (28), film-maker Raam Reddy (26) and stand-up comedian Abish Mathew (28) represented the Entertainment category. 
Inshorts which has completely revolutionized the way news is consumed at the present found a mention in the Social Media, Mobile Tech and Communication category. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=harsh+songra">Harsh Songra</a>, the founder of My Child App, and whom Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg dedicated a post to is the youngest person to be on the list at 19. 
 
Equally lauded were Arunima Sinha (28) who took up mountaineering as an amputee after losing her legs in an accident in 2011 when thieves threw her out a moving train and Shreya Singhal (24), a vocal advocate for the speech of freedom and expression, especially on the internet. Singhal is a law student at Delhi University. 
 
Yash Bhanage (29), Founder and COO, Bombay Canteen dominated the food and hospitality category with his already popular Mumbai restaurant. 
 
According to Forbes, the research process was three fold- First, the staff of Forbes India conducted interviews with sources across relevant categories and analyzed media coverage at the same time. Second, applications were invited from entrepreneurs and professionals on forbesindia.com and third, word was spread on social media. 
 
This helped the team arrive on a longlist of 300 across 13 categories, which was then cut down to 100 after weighing in views of experts and from there the Forbes Team took over to make the final selection! 
 
Image credit: Forbes India

You Searched For "Roadrunnr" and got 8 results

This Bengaluru-based Startup is celebrating Diwali in the most unique way possible!

BI India Bureau

This festival season has surprises in store for hard working employees!

BI India Bureau

TinyOwl temporarily closes operations in all cities, only open in Mumbai

BI India Bureau

A hyperlocal services website from Facebook aims to give tough competition to Quikr and UrbanClap

BI India Bureau

Startups play Santa to overperforming employees, line up foreign trips, food walks and what not!

BI India Bureau

IITs are ditching startups, preferring PSUs during campus placements this year

BI India Bureau

Express Delivery is going to be Flipkart’s next big move

BI India Bureau

Meet the cool kids who made it to Forbes India’s 30 under 30 list

Poulomi Das

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