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For a young country like India, this is a great time to foster the start-up culture. Easy flow of capital, perfect place for innovation to thrive, more aware consumers and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Budget-2015-16-Customising-Make-in-India-to-get-Internationalattention/articleshow/46262058.cms">Government’s active participation</a> are the driving forces to the growth of the eco-system.
 

	But one wrong hurried step and everything will go down the drain. Learn the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/You-cant-beat-someone-who-doesnt-quit-Meet-the-FearlessFarah-of-e-commerce-who-plays-golf-and-loves-wine/articleshow/48956911.cms">start-up sutras</a> from the co-founder of one of the most successful start-ups in India, <keyword id="6377963" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Freecharge">FreeCharge</keyword>, Sandeep Tandon; in chat with Business Insider. 

	What is your opinion about start-ups and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/FlipkartDoes-An-Amazon-Offers-One-day-Delivery-Will-It-Trigger-A-Logistics-War/articleshow/27239134.cms">ecommerce space</a> in India? 
 The start-up culture in India is here to stay. It will hit its share of speed bumps, but will survive and evolve to be stronger. I see no reason why it will not rival <keyword id="6357722" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="silicon-valley">Silicon Valley</keyword> in all aspects. 

	With the ever increasing access to connectivity, there are business models possible in India today that could not have been viable just five years ago. With increasing smartphone penetration, India presents an amazing market opportunity with 300 million connected Indians. This has unlocked a vibrant start-up ecosystem from the young tech students who are coming up with new disruptive technologies to rule the market.
 

	Easy access to capital allows the Indian entrepreneur to think big.
 

	What are the difficulties faced by start-ups in India?
 

	Start-ups in general face a set of unique challenges whether in India or anywhere else in the world. Among these are market forces, technology viability, fundraising and attracting and retaining the right talent. In India these challenges are coupled by some of the regulatory issues and lack of clarity in policy directives. 
 

	As I continue to mentor start-ups, I hope to see that a better environment develops to offer the right advise to start-ups in corporate regulations and legal matters.
 

	Finally, improvements in the physical infrastructure will dramatically improve productivity, bringing down operational costs for these up and coming businesses.
 

	What kind of start ups, according to you, have the maximum potential in the current scenario?
 I love what hyper local starts up like Grophers and Peppertap have done in the on-demand grocery segment, <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> and <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> in e-retail and Ola and Uber in the shared economy. 

	They are all attacking large markets and changing consumer behaviour. These models do require large amounts of capital. Each of these companies has its own set of challenges as they scale their business models, but it’s exciting to see the innovation coming out of them.
 Personally, I feel we are yet to see start-ups that will disrupt some major segments in our economy. Healthcare and <keyword id="255607" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="100" keywordseo="education-technology">education technology</keyword> are two areas, I believe are currently underserved. These sectors are very bureaucratic, but I view them to have tremendous potential as well. 

	While we talk of services for the urban population, I feel rural India carries the most potential for a start up to make an impact not only economically, but socially as well. Technology enablement of rural India can change the course of this country. 
 

	What are the difficulties of raising <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> in India?
 Very often I see start up entrepreneurs too focused on raising capital. They view a <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> investment as success. While it’s a meaningful milestone it’s only the start of the journey for a start-up. Not the end goal. The first thing an entrepreneur should do is to identify the problem and then think deep about his/her solution around the problem. Spend the least amount of money to demonstrate that a minimum viable product has traction in the marketplace. 

	What factors should start-ups keep in mind before raising funding?
 Timing plays an important role in defining when to fundraise. First and foremost, start-ups should focus on the market and the value proposition of their product. Refine the product as much as possible and get initial market data before raising capital. This helps attract the right venture capital or strategic investor. You don’t want the investors to define your product. The investors are great resources to advise and broaden your network, but you cannot expect them to be operationally involved. They have many <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> and would not be able to efficiently manage if they spent time dealing with internal company issues. 

	Before raising capital, entrepreneurs should try to first use friends and family resources to put together the idea, to understand the opportunity and take advice from people in the industry that they want to serve. Understand the problem. Don’t force the idea.

	 
	(Image credits: ptbn)

Exclusive: FreeCharge co-founder Sandeep Tandon says it’s important for start-ups to first understand the problem and not force the idea to investors

From co-founding <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/He-dropped-out-of-his-MBA-course-but-cracked-a-400mn-deal-with-Indias-hottest-start-up/articleshow/46873888.cms">FreeCharge </a>to making it the most transactive e-commerce sites in India, <keyword id="127478" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sandeep-Tandon">Sandeep Tandon</keyword> did it all. Innovation and great planning is the key to the outstanding growth of his most successful venture in India. The game changed in April 2015 when <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/This-is-what-Snapdeal-shopped-for-Rs-2800-cr-on-Wednesday-its-most-expensive-purchase-till-date/articleshow/46860433.cms">Snapdeal</a> acquired the online mobile recharge platform in the largest <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Snapdeal-acquires-Letsgomo-Labs/articleshow/47677256.cms">e-commerce deal</a> ever in Indian market history, a whopping $400 million dollar deal.
 

	The game is not over yet, it seems. In chat with Business Insider India, Sandeep reveals about his new ventures fuelled by Modi’s Make in India campaign.
 

	How has your experience been in the Indian market?
 

	India presents a tremendous opportunity with its large base of youth entering the workforce and in turn the consumer space. The main thing which I like about the Indian market is that the people are aspiring and willing to learn. The talent pool is well educated and energetic. There are many opportunities for innovative business models to thrive and disrupt the norm. Western business models may work in India, but to be truly successful, they have to re-invent to adapt to the Indian sensibilities.
 

	Innovation in India will thrive with the discerning consumer who is brand conscious yet price sensitive and always loves a good deal. 
 

	Moreover, the large market enables an entrepreneur to quickly validate a new concept by getting some meaningful and timely feedback.
 

	What is your opinion about <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/7-incredible-things-that-we-can-imbibe-from-birthday-boy-Narendra-Modi/articleshow/48987595.cms">Narendra Modi</a> and the govt’s role in helping start-ups in India?
 It’s great to see the Prime Minister and the Government recognizing the evolving start-up culture in the country. There are lot of things that they could do to help the ecosystem. Like, make it easier to invest in start-ups, give them tax breaks, provide more government grants and start incubators around the country, not just in metro cities, where people can come and access mentoring resources. I am glad that that the PM also sees innovation and <keyword id="107737" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Entrepreneurship">entrepreneurship</keyword> as the key to jobs – this midset itself will be great for the eco system. 

	What are the projects that you are currently working on?
 I have always believed that the <keyword id="6395867" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="manufacturing-sector">manufacturing sector</keyword> in India has to expand in order to create jobs for the youth coming into the Indian workforce. The government’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Budget-2015-16-Customising-Make-in-India-to-get-Internationalattention/articleshow/46262058.cms">Make in India</a> initiative excites me as it can have a far-reaching socio economic impact across the country. It also, will provide a voice to Indian developed products.
 

	In this effort our group has set up an electronics manufacturing company - Syrma Technology. At Syrma, we provide engineering design and manufacturing services that can scale from supporting the next hardware start-up to multinationals with an established product pipeline. Over the last year, Syrma has partnered with some very unique Indian and Global companies that are due to launch very innovative products in consumer and industrial electronics.
 

	Another area of interest is healthcare here I believe that access to quality healthcare has to improve while at the same time costs should reduce. Our operating business – Infinx Healthcare has been working on some very interesting healthcare information technology products which we believe will reduce the overall cost of administering healthcare.
 

	Outside of our operating companies, I continue to invest and mentor start-ups in consumer Internet, m-commerce and pure play technology.
 

	What are your future initiatives?
 

	I really believe in Indian start-ups. I believe they can change the world we live in. And my goal is just to ensure all my time is spent in investing, inventing and driving new businesses that are solving India’s problems and thereby the world’s problems.
 

	I strongly believe in Make in India and that manufacturing needs to be done in India. You can’t just solve India’s problems through services industry; you really need a manufacturing industry.
 

	These are the two areas I am focussing on.

Exclusive: FreeCharge co-founder is already planning a killer new venture!

As high net worth Indians are interested in startups, <keyword id="2186498" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="IIFL-Wealth-Management">IIFL Wealth Management</keyword> is going to raise a fund of Rs 1,000 crore to be invested in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=startups+">startups</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=venture+capital+funds+">venture capital funds</a> in the country. 
 
The firm has roped in stalwarts from the startup sector as it aims to be first-off-the block amongst peers who are planning similar moves, reported the Economic Times. 
 "It's an ecosystem that we cannot ignore," said <keyword id="142120" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Karan-Bhagat">Karan Bhagat</keyword>, managing director of <keyword id="82050" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="IIFL">IIFL</keyword> Wealth. Bhagat said that about 40% of the corpus to be invested directly in startups or as co-investments with other funds while 60% of the capital will be allocated for investment in venture funds. 
 IIFL is a part of the Mumbai-based financial services company that also owns mid-market-focussed <keyword id="34499" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="private-equity">private equity</keyword> firm <keyword id="2186495" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="India-Alternatives">India Alternatives</keyword> and a slew of realty funds. 
 "Their clientele, who are hearing a lot about startups, (get) access to part of the action while <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> funds (can) raise money more quickly from HNIs (high net worth individuals)," said Aprameya Radhakrishna, co-founder of taxi aggregator <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=TaxiForSure">TaxiForSure</a>, who will join the investment board of the venture fund. 
 
Earlier this year, Radhakrishna sold his startup to market leader <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola">Ola</a> in a deal estimated at Rs 1,250 crore. 
 Others who will join the initiative include <keyword id="127478" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sandeep-Tandon">Sandeep Tandon</keyword> of online recharge platform FreeCharge (acquired by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Snapdeal+">Snapdeal</a> for Rs 2,800 crore) and Ashutosh Taparia of specialty women's healthcare company Famy Care (acquired by Mylan forRs 5,000 crore). 
 
Incubation centre: IIFL Wealth also plans to set up an incubation centre for startups and will invest Rs 25-50 crore in the fund itself which expects to make a first close by September. 
 
This move to set up a startup fund by one of India's largest wealth management companies — which manages and advises over Rs 75,521 crore in assets — could set a precedent for other financial services players such as Edelweiss Financial Services which is also eyeing the sector. 
 
Valuation have jumped: Valuation of e-tailers such as <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> and <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> have jumped 3-4 times in less than 12 months, outpacing market capitalisation of brick-and-mortar retailers like <keyword id="375475" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Future-Retail">Future Retail</keyword> and <keyword id="64373" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Shoppers-Stop">Shoppers Stop</keyword> by miles. While most of these businesses are funded by foreign capital, potential returns which could be made are also attracting domestic capital primarily from HNIs. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Another helping hand for startups! IIFL sets up Rs 1,000 crore fund for them

<keyword id="192201" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kunal-Shah">Kunal Shah</keyword> has just sold his four-year-old online mobile recharge venture FreeCharge, which he started with friend <keyword id="127478" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sandeep-Tandon">Sandeep Tandon</keyword>, to Snapdeal for a whopping $400 million, the largest deal to date in India's consumer internspace. Here is an excerpt from a Times of India interview with him. 
 
How did FreeCharge happen? 
 
The idea came when Sandeep (Tandon) and I were doing a marketing solutions company. Sandeep is an engineer by training, and has built businesses, and I have known him for 15 years. We learnt about interesting marketing techniques that drive consumer behaviour. We started PaisaBack that ran cashback and promotional discount campaigns for organized retailers. While running this, I found that 95% of the invoicing of a mobile store was recharges. I was always a postpaid consumer and never knew that recharges were that big. I realized then that a huge amount of traction could be gained in online recharges, especially if we could somehow make it free. FreeCharge was launched on August 15, 2011. One of our early partners was McDonald's and this helped build our consumer base quickly. When we started, there weren't many believers in this category. Even today it's not mentioned in any ecommerce report as a category. It feels great to be a pioneer. There are at least six clones now. 
 
Were the incentives you offered key to your success? 
 
We believe behaviour changes happen when there is an incentive or motivation of some sort. Consumers who are transacting offline need a little incentive to come online and transact. Giving coupons and subsidizing things make people do that. For the youth, it helps them multiply their pocket money. If you can get an extra burger with a recharge, it's a big thing for a coffee date. v How long can you keep giving such incentives? 
 
Incentives are sponsor advertisements from other companies. We merely position the incentive.We create footfalls for them.Merchants pay us to list their coupons. 
 
Why did you sell out? 
 If I were going home, it would be a sellout. I'm not going home. I'm continuing in FreeCharge as <keyword id="5645" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="CEO">CEO</keyword>, doing what I want to do, which is to build a great ecosystem. We have taken big targets. We grew 1,000% last year and we want to do even more this year. 
 
Why did FreeCharge move from Mumbai to <keyword id="6354321" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Bengaluru">Bengaluru</keyword>? 
 Bengaluru brings a very interesting mix of people who have worked in product companies and who have worked abroad. No other city has that level of talent.We had people from <keyword id="188699" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Zynga">Zynga</keyword> games coming into our company. We see amazing value coming from Bengaluru. But I think the talent pool is be ginning to emerge everywhere. 
 
<div style="page-break-after: always;">
	&#xa0;</div>
 
How did you come to be an <keyword id="6359301" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Entrepreneur">entrepreneur</keyword>? 
 The question should be the other way. How did I end up becoming an employee and not an entrepreneur from day one! Because I hail from a family of entrepreneurs and never wanted to work for somebody. But as it turned out, my first job, in marketing, was more like entrepreneurship. And the transition to being a <keyword id="2803078" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="full-entrepreneur">full entrepreneur</keyword> was natural. 
 
You did philosophy in college, and then dropped out of your management course. What drove you to take those steps? 
 <keyword id="6357940" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Paypal">PayPal</keyword> founder <keyword id="380555" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Peter-Thiel">Peter Thiel</keyword> is a philosophy graduate. Philosophy matters in life. As for dropping out, I was looking to learn the practicalities of running a business and I found little of that in college. But that is just me. It is not a recommendation for anybody else. Everybody learns differently. I was more inclined to learn practically than through theorems that were not relevant in all contexts. 
 
Based on your experience, what advice would you give aspiring entrepreneurs? 
 My biggest learning is that you should have a 'never say die' spirit. That is the crux of entrepreneurship. I don't think talent or smartness can make you successful. It is the ability to strive and survive every day that makes an entrepreneur. When you focus on the customer, you will realize that building a product is about making it a seamless and great experience. Every single time a transaction fails, it changes you as an entrepreneur. Relentlessly pursuing perfection makes you a different person. When you talk constantly to customers, you receive <keyword id="154361" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="feedback">feedback</keyword> that helps you develop a better product. There are millions and millions of people depending and believing in you. And that is your kick every day. You want to do better than yesterday. I always feel that money has to be a byproduct. Any entrepreneur who tries to optimize capital rarely makes money. If you chase perfection, money will follow. 
 
How many more ventures do you see yourself doing? 
 I don't know. I'm not done with the <keyword id="6374782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="journey">journey</keyword> yet. I'm sure we are going to build something really big. I know entrepreneurs who started at the age of 62 and became very successful. I am just 35.

He dropped out of his MBA course, but cracked a $400mn deal with India's hottest start up!

<ul><li>The company’s founders Sahil Barua and Kapil Bharati will get appraisals ranging between ₹2.5 crore to ₹10 crore.</li><li>However, three of <keyword id="11931339" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="delhivery" source="Orion">Delhivery</keyword>’s founders are missing from this appraisal process.</li><li>It spent ₹85.6 crore on employee benefits costs in the financial year 2021.</li></ul>Top executives and founders of logistics company Delhivery are set to get multi-crore hikes in their salaries pretty soon, the Gurugram-based startup revealed in its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed earlier on Tuesday. Delhivery — which was valued at $3 billion in March 2021 — intends to raise<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/logistics-startup-delhivery-files-for-a-nearly-1-billion-ipo/articleshow/87481889.cms"> ₹7,400 crore ($1 billion) with its IPO</a>. The proceeds of this issue will be used to strengthen the company’s technology stack, network and operations. The company’s DRHP has revealed that Delhivery has planned out appraisal for three of its top executives — Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sahil Barua, Chief Business Officer (CBO) Sandeep Kumar Barasia and Kapil Bharati, who is the cofounder and chief technology officer (CTO) of Delhivery. Barua and Bharati’s new salary will be in the range of ₹2.5 crore to ₹10 crore. Meanwhile, Barasia is scheduled to get an increment in the range of ₹4 crore to ₹12 crore. The appraisal does not include gratuity, medical insurance and other benefits the company offers. There will be additional benefits offered to the three executives on top of this. Delhivery cofounder’s salary and remuneration have increased in the first quarter of FY2022. Both the cofounders’ — Barua and Bharati — salary for Q1 of FY2022 was nearly as much as the remuneration for the entire FY2021. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Executive </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Designation </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Salary in financial year ended in March 2021 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Salary in April to June quarter </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Sahil Barua </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Cofounder and CEO </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹4.3 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹3.5 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Kapil Bharati </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Cofounder and CTO </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹3.9 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹3.4 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Sandeep Kumar Barasia </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">CBO </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹12.9 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹4.7 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Amit Agarwal </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">CFO </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹4.5 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹3.3 crore </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: <keyword id="12455579" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="delhivery-drhp" source="Orion">Delhivery DRHP</keyword> *Note: This includes salary and additional benefits This appraisal in accordance with the shareholders’ resolution dated October 15 and employment agreement dated October 13. The bonus would finally be decided by Delhivery’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. Three of Delhivery’s founders are still missing from the appraisal process Delhivery was founded by Mohit Tandon, Sahil Barua, Bhavesh Manglani, Kapil Bharati and Suraj Saharan in 2011. Two of the company’s cofounders — Manglani and Tandon — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/these-were-the-biggest-co-founder-exits-in-the-indian-startup-ecosystem/slidelist/84224683.cms">decided to step away</a> from the company, reportedly to meet regulatory requirements before starting their initial public offering (IPO) process. Cofounder Suraj Saharan, who is the head of New Ventures at Delhivery, was on a sabbatical in the financial year 2021. He did not receive any compensation from the company for fiscal 2021. Delhivery reported a revenue of ₹806.7 crore in the financial year 2021, with its loss mounting to ₹27.3 crore. It spent ₹85.6 crore on employee benefits costs, which includes salaries and wages, gratuity and more. The company has over 12,600 employees. Operations and network design is the biggest workforce in Delhivery’s employee mix. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Function </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Employees </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Operations and network design </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10,942 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Sales and business development </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">499 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Engineering, data sciences and product </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">474 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Customer services </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">375 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Other corporate functions </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">275 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Total </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">12,665 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/former-sbi-chairman-pratip-chaudhuris-arrest-will-lead-to-policy-paralysis-say-experts/articleshow/87482347.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" style="">The arrest of former SBI chief Pratip Chaudhuri may prevent bankers from making any risky decisions, say experts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/logistics-startup-delhivery-files-for-a-nearly-1-billion-ipo/articleshow/87481889.cms" style="">Logistics startup Delhivery files for a nearly $1 billion IPO</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/elon-musk-owned-starlink-forms-subsidiary-in-india-will-soon-apply-for-licenses/articleshow/87480590.cms" style="">Elon Musk-owned Starlink forms subsidiary in India, will soon apply for licenses</a>

IPO-bound Delhivery’s top executives are set to get an appraisal of up to ₹12 crore soon

<ul><li><keyword id="263867" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pravin-Jadhav">Pravin Jadhav</keyword>, the former managing director and chief executive officer of Paytm Money, has launched his own financial services platform – <keyword id="10825312" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="raise-financial-services">Raise Financial Services</keyword>.</li><li>Raise will offer financial services across financing, insurance, investments, payments and wealth.</li><li>The startup’s seed funding round is led by <keyword id="110875" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mirae-Asset">Mirae Asset</keyword> Venture Investments, which is an India-focussed fund launched by South Korean firm Mirae in January 2021.</li></ul>Pravin Jadhav, the former managing director and chief executive officer of Paytm Money, has launched his own financial services platform – Raise Financial Services. Jadhav, who had <a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2020/apr/02/paytm-money-founder-md-pravin-jadhav-quits-due-to-growing-differences-with-company-board-2124585.html#:~:text=BENGALURU%3A%20Founder%20MD%20and%20CEO,the%20company%20board%2C%20sources%20said.">reportedly</a> quit Paytm due to growing differences with the founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, has found his way back into financial services. “This time I am not starting from scratch, I am starting from my experiences. I have done it before, and I aim to do it again – raise the bar! This time even higher with Raise Financial Services,” he wrote in a <a href="http://www.beingpractical.com/2021/02/24/raising-the-bar-with-raise-financial-services/">blog</a>. Jadhav wrote that Raise will offer ‘technology-led consumer products &amp; infrastructure services to serve Indians with financial services (across financing, insurance, investments, payments and wealth).’ The startup has raised investments from Mirae Asset Venture Investments, which is an India-focussed fund launched by South Korean firm Mirae in January 2021. Raise is their first investment through the fund. It has also raised investments from Multi-Act Private Equity, Blume Ventures and US based early-stage investor Social Leverage, among multiple other startup founders. Here are some of the founders and startup leaders who have pooled in to invest in Raise, and interestingly many operate in the financial services space themselves <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Kunal Shah </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Cred, Freecharge </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Kalyan Krishnamurthy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Flipkart </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Amod Malviya &amp; Sujeet Kumar </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Udaan </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Sameer Nigam &amp; Rahul Chari </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">PhonePe </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"> Amrish Rau </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Pine Labs, Citrus Pay </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Sandeep Tandon </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Freecharge </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Anupam Mittal </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Shaadi.com </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Jitendra Gupta </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Jupiter, Citrus Pay </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Girish Mathrubootham </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Freshworks </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nischal Shetty </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">WazirX </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Kuldeep Dhankar </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Clevertap, Microsoft, Nokia </td></tr></tbody></table> The Mumbai-based startup is now hiring aggressively across leadership roles. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/a-candid-kavin-mittal-admits-his-mistakes-as-he-reinvents-hike-and-plans-fresh-fundraising-this-year/articleshow/81204449.cms">A candid Kavin Mittal admits his mistakes as he reinvents Hike and plans fresh fundraising this year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/carbonwatch-indias-first-mobile-app-to-calculate-your-carbon-footprint-falls-short-of-what-it-is-promising/articleshow/81203364.cms">CarbonWatch — India’s first mobile app to calculate your carbon footprint falls short of its promises</a>

Former Paytm Money CEO launches his own financial services platform with an investment from Mirae, and several other major startup founders

<ul><li>The company, which is a part of the startup world’s new favourite term – Dukaantech, helps Indian businesses go online and was launched at the peak of the pandemic. </li><li>Dukaan co-founder and CEO Suumit Shah, in an interview with Business Insider, talks about the growth he had never expected out of an app they had launched on a whim. </li><li>Dukaan is live on the Play Store again after being banned for over a month after a legal battle with <keyword id="7598194" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="khatabook">Khatabook</keyword>.</li></ul>For the barely eight-month-old Dukaan, it’s been a crazy ride. In just eight months, the startup has garnered millions of users, millions in funding, and landed in a soup with a legal battle with Khatabook. The company, which is a part of the startup world’s new favourite term – Dukaantech, helps Indian businesses go online and was launched at the peak of the pandemic. Dukaan opens Dukaan co-founder and CEO Suumit Shah, in a candid chat with Business Insider, talks about the growth he had never expected out of an app they had launched on a whim. During peak lockdown, Shah got a text from a Jockey outlet with a PDF file with all their items listed, and the text read that you can place your order on WhatsApp and they’ll deliver. This brought up two questions on Shah’s mind – why aren’t they using platforms like Shopify, what happens when they get over 50 orders or how will they keep track of them all. At this point, Shah was building a company called Rank, which had a tool that lets you know where your business stands on Google Search and other metrics. “We took a look at the market and decided to build an app that will make it easier for businesses to build their inventory. We built the app in two-three days and immediately started getting a lot of calls,” Shah told Business Insider. As the calls kept coming in and feature requests kept piling up, they realised that small businesses have their ways of creating catalogues and have different metrics. “People were doing anything to get back into the business,” Shah said and added that they found takers in people who were earlier opposed to online. Within a week, they had 25,000 orders, and by November, they had over 2.7 million stores created through their platform, which have processed a cumulative ₹100 crore in Gross Merchandising Volume (GMV). The legal battle with Khatabook For Dukaan, the fast-tracked growth hasn’t come without legal woes. The Khatabook-Dukaan legal battle became the talk of the town, as the former accused Dukaan of copyright infringement over the source code of the application. Khatabook was also running its own app called Dukaan by Khatabook. After an intense battle in court, Dukaan was ordered to take down its app from all platforms, including <keyword id="6369511" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="google-play-store">Google Play Store</keyword>. In an out of court settlement, Khatabook and Dukaan resolved the issue with <a href="https://entrackr.com/2020/11/khatabook-and-dukaan-resolve-issues-out-of-court/">Khatabook getting nominal equity in Growthpond </a>(Dukaan’s parent company). And after all that, Dukaan is now live on the Play Store again. Shah looks back at the entire legal battle and says that it has indeed been a roller coaster ride. “The issue isn’t there anymore, they allowed us to use the name Dukaan, and they’ll keep running their app; we will run ours. India is a huge market, and ultimately, the best product will win. These products need the hour, so the user will rely on the product, which helps you and gives you the output. For example, even when Paytm existed and had so many businesses, Khatabook came and created its own segment. Exactly that way, we have our own space and impact we are creating,” said Shah. Cashing in big cheques in a short time Dukaan has been one of those rare startups that has received significant funding within a month of its launch. While there are <a href="https://entrackr.com/2020/10/exclusive-dukaan-app-removed-from-play-store-after-court-relief-to-khatabook/">theories about the financing</a>, Shah says the money came their way because of the popularity of the product. “In one week, we were trending on top on the Google Play Store, investors were looking at that, and we got a lot of inbound calls. On the first call, we had a term sheet of $17 million. By the end, we had four term sheets on the table, and we had to choose who to go with,” he said. Dukaan has raised $6 million in seed funding co-led by Matrix Partners India and Lightspeed India Partners. The round also saw participation from angel investors like Haresh Chawla (Founding CEO Network18, Viacom18), Ryan Hoover (Founder, Weekend Fund and Product Hunt), Jitendra Gupta (Founder, Jupiter), Shashank Kumar (Founder, Razorpay), Sandeep Tandon (Founder, Freecharge), Prabhkiran Singh (Founder, Bewakoof.com), and Kunal Shah (Founder, Cred). But while Shah believes they aren’t growing too fast, he admits he never expected this coming. “In the beginning, a friend of mine knew someone who was a distributor for a big FMCG company. He gave me the deal that he will onboard 15000 stores and give me a 5% stake. I thought about the order; I actually considered it until I got 25,000 orders in a day. So I wasn’t expecting these numbers – the reality has been much better,” said Shah. “The kind of users were also not expected – people selling bakra on eid, panditji selling satyanarayana pooja ka saaman, these are things I hadn’t expected,” he added. But now, there’s a lot more to do Dukaan is back on the Play Store after being down for over a month, which means they have lost out on many incoming users. However, Shah claims that even while they weren’t on the Play Store, they have managed to remain a market leader as they helped the existing users. “By the end of March 2021, having 15 million merchants is what we are trying to achieve,” said Shah. And they are also coming up with new features to support merchants. “Right now, the basic app digitizes the business. The questions merchants have is how do I get more business. We will build small marketing tools that will help our users market their business — for example, WhatsApp stories. We have built a small tool where you can design WhatsApp stories and display your offers. The next funnel is how do we make sure the sellers get more reach. Online payment functionalities is another thing we are working on,” he shared. While Shah claims they made $1200 on day one, the focus is now not on revenue but on building the business. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/white-hat-jr-gets-a-partial-gag-order-against-pradeep-poonia-who-now-has-to-defend-a-hacking-charge-as-well/articleshow/79365073.cms">White Hat Jr gets a partial gag order against Pradeep Poonia who now has to defend a ‘hacking’ charge as well</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/oxford-and-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-is-70-effective-and-india-may-authorise-emergency-use-after-uk-nod/articleshow/79365393.cms">Oxford and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is 70% effective — India may authorise emergency use after UK nod</a>

INTERVIEW: Dukaan CEO gets candid about the clash with Khatabook now that the app is back on Google Play Store – aims for 15 million shops by March

Ed-tech startup <keyword id="6630114" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unacademy">Unacademy</keyword> raised $1 million in the latest funding round and was backed by Flipkart's <keyword id="225032" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sachin-Bansal">Sachin Bansal</keyword>, Binny Bansal, Paytm's <keyword id="198636" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vijay-Shekhar-Sharma">Vijay Shekhar Sharma</keyword>, and FreeCharge's <keyword id="192201" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kunal-Shah">Kunal Shah</keyword>. 
 The funding round was led by <keyword id="592779" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Blume-Ventures">Blume Ventures</keyword>, Stanford Angels India, WaterBridge Ventures, Traxcn Labs and a clutch of other angels, including Sandeep Tandon and Ashish Tulsian. 
 
The existing investors of Unacademy including Taxi4Sure’s Aprameya Radhakrishnan, redBus’ Phanindra Sama, CommonFloor’s Sumit Jain and Vikas Malpani (both CommonFloor) also participated. 
 
Unacademy is an education-technology based startup that allows educators to create courses on the platform. 
 Puducherry <keyword id="3547504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="lg-kiran-bedi">LG Kiran Bedi</keyword> is also an educator on the platform. 
 
"Within two months, the Unacademy Create app will be made available to all, so anyone across the world can create lessons in any language they like. After a thorough screening process, we will make the relevant lessons available on our platform that will be free for all to see," said Chief Executive Gaurav Munjal, who started Unacademy along with Roman Saini. 
 
To become an educator on Unacademy, you have to go through an interview process and the selection is based on their experience. 
 
Once selected, the educators create video courses of not more than 10 minutes on its platform, which are available to students for free. 
 
"In a short span of eight months, the founding team has proved that leveraging technology to empower its educators and students is a problem that can be solved effectively at scale," said Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal. 
 
The startup claims to have more than 300,000 students for over 2,400 online lessons and specialised courses through the platform. 
"The product is designed for both lightweight production and consumption-in that it's ingenious. This can change learning to an entirely different plane and kill a lot of ine ective institutional frameworks," said Karthik Reddy, Managing Partner, Blume Ventures. 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

Unacademy just raised $1 million and these are the top Indian entrepreneurs that backed this ed-tech startup

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

(<keyword id="1600315" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lookup">LookUp</keyword>'s Bangalore office)
 
 
Just last week, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Exclusive-Five-pieces-of-advice-from-Hikes-KavinMittal-that-every-startup-should-keep-in-mind/articleshow/50926451.cms">Kavin Mittal</a> unveiled <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/In-pictures-Ispent-two-hours-at-Hikes-new-office-and-I-wish-I-could-go-back-again/articleshow/50925928.cms">Hike Messenger’s new office</a> which looked straight out of your dream and less like an office and more like a vacation. 
 
Mittal was of the strong belief that a modern workplace should ditch the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Exclusive-Here-are-the-5-qualities-Hikes-Kavin-Mittal-looks-for-while-hiring/articleshow/51010049.cms">traditional outlines of a office </a>and reflect all that the company stood for- creativity, fun and work. 
 
He further added that the right environment makes as much difference as the right kind of people. 
 And, looks like he’s not alone. More and more <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword> are ditching their boring offices and redesigning their <keyword id="758423" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="office-spaces">office spaces</keyword> to reflect what they stand for. 
 
Expect lots of posters, more inspirational and funny quotes, comfortable lounge seating, minimalistic design and bright colours. 
 
 

	(FreeChai from <keyword id="6377963" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Freecharge">FreeCharge</keyword>)
 
For instance, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=freecharge">FreeCharge</a>, the digital payment platform and wallet player founded by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=kunal+shah">Kunal Shah </a>and Sandeep Tandon has ensured that its office design resonates the company’s ideology of collaboration and conversations, leading to great innovation. 
 
Every inch of the 22,115 sq, ft office area is designed by graffiti artists and comprises 187 workstations, 5 meeting rooms, a cafeteria, board room, two hanging seating units, informal couch settings, relaxo units and so much more. 
 
 

	(A relaxo unit at the FreeCharge office)
 
 
Each meeting room bears a water colour painting of personalities like cricketer Rahul Dravid, author and poet Rabindranath Tagore, the legend of music A.R. Rahman, the late Dr APJ Kalam and JRD Tata. These inspirational figures stand for leadership, triumph, resilience, and have had humble beginnings which are in line with the core values of FreeCharge, thus making it a perfect blend. 
 


	 (LookUp's office is comfort redefined)
 
 
On the other hand, LookUp, a personal assistant app that lets you directly chat with local stores to order food, buy groceries, make reservations and ensure home delivery at the drop of a text has designed its Bangalore office to to cater to the requirement of flexible and open workspaces for a young and dynamic team. 
 


	 (What a lovely place to work!)
 
 
According to Deepak Ravindran, CEO and Founder of LookUp, the vision was to design a space that was minimal yet confident and most importantly, efficient. 
 


	(A look at the cute telephone boots for Skype calls at LookUp's office)
 
Thus, the 5,000 sq feet of space encompasses standing desks, tables you can write on, cosy cubicles, indigenous plant species to improve air quality and differentiate, cluster of bright red old-school telephone booths for those Skype calls and last, but not the least- an amphitheater, which acts as a brainstorming arena by day and doubles up as a recreational hub by night.

After Hike, Freecharge and Lookup prove that the way
to an employee’s heart is through cool office spaces!

MUMBAI: The markets are on a roll, with the <keyword id="6484188" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sensex">Sensex</keyword> and Nifty making fresh life highs, led by gains in banks, auto and energy counters. 
 
The new life high for Sensex is 26,356.24; and that for Nifty is 7,865.85. 
 
The Nifty extended its winning streak for fifth consecutive session and hit an all-time high as FIIs continued to pump in dollars in Indian markets on expectations of pick-up in economy 
 
Sudip Bandyopadhyay, President, Destimoney Securities, is of the view that the market will continue to move upwards. 
 
“A lot of FIIs money is coming out of Russia into Indian markets through BRICS fund. Domestic investors are also entering the market and that is providing support,” said Bandyopadhyay. 
 
At 2:02 p.m.; the 50-share index was at 7,860.95, up 69.25 points or 0.89 per cent. It touched an all-time high of 7,865.85 and a low of 7,779.20 in trade today. 
 The S&amp;P <keyword id="35140" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BSE">BSE</keyword> Sensex was at 26,340.82, up 237.59 points or 0.91 per cent. It touched an all-time high of 26,356.24 and a low of 26,075.28 in trade today. 
 
Sandeep Tandon of Quant Broking is of the view that market went through consolidation in the last three months. It is light at the moment and looks set for next leg of upmove. 
 
The CNX Midcap Index rallied 1.27 per cent and the CNX Smallcap Index surged 2.10 per cent. 
 
Among the sectoral indices, the CNX Bank Nifty was up 1.49 per cent, the CNX Auto Index gained 1.02 per cent, the CNX Energy Index rose 1.42 per cent. 
 
The CNX FMCG Index was down 0.75 per cent and the CNX IT Index slipped 0.51 per cent. 
 BPCL (up 5.25 per cent), <keyword id="6355975" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Axis-Bank">Axis Bank</keyword> (up 3.11 per cent), <keyword id="45008" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tata-Power">Tata Power</keyword> (up 3.04 per cent), BHEL (up 2.91 per cent) and Tata Motors (up 2.87 per cent) were among the major Nifty gainers. 
 
ITC (1.92 per cent), Infosys (1.01 per cent), HCL Tech (0.80 per cent), HDFC (0.70 per cent) and TCS (0.68 per cent) were among the index losers. 
 
The market breadth was positive on the NSE with 1090 gainers against 425 losers. 
 
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers worth Rs 625.18 crore and domestic institutional investors were net buyers worth Rs 135.75 crore on Thursday as per the provisional data from the National Stock Exchange. 
 
D-Street highlights @ 2 pm 
 
Cairn India: Plan pipeline to connect field to Gujarat gas grid 
 
Cairn India: Sees significant gas volume potential in Rajasthan 
 
Cairn India: Raageshwari deep field may hold 1-3 TCF gas 
 
ET NOW ALERT: Top Gainer On CNX Small Cap Index Alok Inds Price:12.3 Change: +1.35 Percent Change: +12.33% 
 
ET NOW ALERT: Up For 2nd Day CNX SMALL CAP Price:4979.95 Change: +118.3 Percent Change: +2.43% 
 
ET NOW ALERT: Top Gainer On CNX 200 Index AIA Engineering Price:844 Change: +56.6 Percent Change: +7.19% 
 
Sources Say: JSW Energy in talks to buy Bina, Nigrie power assets of JP Power 
 
Sources Say: JSW Energy says: Continue to evaluate opportunities 
 
Sources Say: Bina Power Plant's EV is pegged at around Rs 3,500 cr 
 
Sources Say: Alert: JP's Nigrie Thermal Power project to have capacity of 1,320 MW 
 
ET NOW ALERT: All 12 lenders in Bank Nifty post gains
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Tata Motors To ET NOW: Plan to increase exports by 25% over the next 3 years 
 
Tata Motors To ET NOW: Co to launch 25 new commercial vehicles in FY15 
 
Tata Motors To ET NOW: Will spend Rs 1,200-1,500 cr this fiscal on new product development 
 
Tata Motors To ET NOW: Expect FY15 M&amp;HCV sales to be 10% higher than last fiscal 
 Adrian Mowat: <keyword id="16898" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Spike">Spike</keyword> in crude oil prices can derail India's growth story 
 
ET NOW ALERT: Hits Fresh Record High SENSEX Price:26297.42 Change: +194.19 Percent Change: +.74% 
 
Adrian Mowat: Underweight on consumer staples, defensive stocks 
 
Adrian Mowat: India's divestment programme has potential to take mkt higher 
 
@ 1 pm 
 
Quant Broking: Bullish on IT stocks on good US economic recovery 
 
Quant Broking: Not optimistic on auto stocks currently 
 
Quant Broking: Positive on mid-cap pharma, cement stocks 
 
Quant Broking: Bullish on pharma, cement, IT banks, PSU oil &amp; gas stocks 
 
Quant Broking: Market is poised for next leg of the bull rally 
 
ET NOW ALERT: Hits Fresh Record High NIFTY Price:7840.3 Change: +48.6 Percent Change: +.62% 
 
JUST NOW: Harsh Mariwala raises stake in Marico Kaya to 2.21% from 1.94% 
 
Atlanta: Signed an agreement with Gujarat Govt to set up entertainment city 
 Fin Min Sources: Alert: In 2008, UTI AMC deferred <keyword id="6354763" type="EVENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="IPO">IPO</keyword> plans 
 
Fin Min Sources: Alert: SBI, BoB,PNB,LIC currently hold 74% stake in UTI AMC 
 
Fin Min Sources: SBI, BoB, PNB to seek board approval to cut stake in UTI AMC 
 
Fin Min Sources: Government looking to list UTI AMC 
 
@ 12 pm 
 
Edelweiss Financial: Q1 IIP growth has been at 4%, indicating a sharp pick up 
 
Edelweiss Financial: Expect exports to grow at 7-8% on a monthly basis 
 
Edelweiss Financial: Need to monitor export demand from US, Europe &amp; Japan 
 
Edelweiss Financial: Trade deficit is not a concern at current juncture 
 
Edelweiss Financial: Agri output remains weak due to delayed monsoon 
 
Edelweiss Financial: Lower crude oil prices will help inflation to cool off as well 
 
Edelweiss Financial: Crude oil prices correcting is positive for twin deficits 
 
Mythili Bhusnurmath: IEA has stated oil consumption may be lower than last year 
 
Mythili Bhusnurmath: Most economic data is within consensus estimates 
 
Mythili Bhusnurmath: Economic data in Q1 has not been disappointing 
 
Mythili Bhusnurmath: Expect EXIM policy to be announced by end of the month 
 
Reliance Comm: Expect to bring down debt by another Rs 10,000 cr 
 
Reliance Comm: Net debt to EBITDA ratio to be below 2.5-3 levels 
 
Reliance Comm: Thrust on CDMA biz has helped achieve a turnaround 
 
Reliance Comm: Had a healthy revenue growth of Rs 4,571 cr, up 2% QoQ 
 
Reliance Comm: Net debt on books at Rs 35,500 cr from Rs 40,000 cr previously 
 
Reliance Comm: Raised Rs 6,100 cr in Q1 via QIP; Promoters invested Rs 1,300 cr 
 
@ 11 am 
 
Meghmani Organics: Have completed investments in capex for FY15 
 
Meghmani Organics: Aim to grow by 25% in topline &amp; bottomline in FY16 
 
Meghmani Organics: PAT likely to be around Rs 55 cr in FY15 
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Meghmani Organics: Expect a topline of Rs 1,550 cr &amp; EBITDA of Rs 250 cr for FY15 
 
Meghmani Organics: Target a business of Rs 600 cr for agro chemicals segment 
 
ET NOW ALERT: 1.21 Lk Shares Trade In A Block Axis Bank Price:382.7 Change: +4.9 Percent Change: +1.3% 
 <keyword id="6358584" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="HSBC">HSBC</keyword> AMC: Constructive on select financial stocks 
 
HSBC AMC: NPAs for banks will remain a overhang till economy recovers 
 
HSBC AMC: Expect a real change in economy only by 2015 
 
ET NOW ALERT: 50,000 Shares Trade In A Block Ambuja Cem Price:214.85 Change: +3.95 Percent Change: +1.87% 
 
HSBC AMC: Recommend being invested in quality stocks 
 
HSBC AMC: Will remain selectively invested in consumer stocks 
 
HSBC AMC: Oil &amp; gas stocks will move up if under-recoveries continue to fall 
 
HSBC AMC: Upside in auto stocks seem to be overstated 
 
HSBC AMC: Will adopt a wait &amp; watch strategy on oil &amp; gas stocks 
 
RCF Says: Need to look for overseas JVs for phospahtic fertiliser 
 
RCF Says: Govt is looking at restarting urea plants which have shutdown 
 
RCF Says: Gas availability &amp; pricing issues need to be sorted for fert sector 
 
@ 10 am 
 
Reliance Capital: Waiting for all bank licence guidelines before applying 
 
Reliance Capital: Expect profit growth of 15% to continue for AMC biz 
 
Reliance Capital: Commercial finance loans have grown by 10-11% on YoY basis 
 Reliance Capital: Premium growth in general <keyword id="35450" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="insurance">insurance</keyword> at 11% in Q1 
 
Adi Godrej: Govt's reforms need to be implemented quickly 
 
Adi Godrej: Hope GST is implemented by April 2015 
 
Adi Godrej: PM Modi's August 15 speech will have an impact 
 
Dimensions Consulting: Have been building position in Reliance Infra 
 
Dimensions Consulting: Jubilant Foods is an expensive stock at current levels 
 
Dimensions Consulting: Prefer Indian Oil &amp; BPCL to ONGC 
 
Dimensions Consulting: Remain bullish on Pharma, FMCG, IT sectors 
 
Dimensions Consulting: Will focus on quality stocks which aren't highly leveraged 
 
ICICI Direct: Prefer TCS to Infosys at current juncture 
 
United Bank: Bank consolidation will be positive for the sector 
 
ICICI Direct: New management of Infosys will be positive for stock 
 
United Bank: Bhushan Steel remains a standard account 
 
United Bank: Bankers to meet on Bhushan Steel loans today 
 
United Bank: Set a target of Rs 1,200-1,300 cr for recovering bad loans 
 
ET Now spoke to various experts and here's what they have to recommend for today's trade: 
 
Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com 
 
Yes Bank Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 575 and a stop loss of Rs 540 
 
Bharat Forge Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 790 and a stop loss of Rs 766 
 
IndusInd Bank Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 575 and a stop loss of Rs 540 
 
RIL Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 1040 and a stop loss of Rs 990
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Sandeep Wagle, Founder &amp; CEO, Power My Wealth 
 
Yes Bank Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 575 and a stop loss of Rs 544 
 
BPCL is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 688 and a stop loss of Rs 623 
 
AIA Engineering Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 910 and a stop loss of Rs 826 
 
Tata Motors Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 528 and a stop loss of Rs 480 
 
Prakash Gaba, CFT, prakashgaba.com 
 
HDFC Bank Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 845 and a stop loss of Rs 825 
 
Tata Motors DVR is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 370 and a stop loss of Rs 345 
 
ZEE Entertainment Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 285 and a stop loss of Rs 273 
 
Abhishek Karande, CMT, Technical Analyst - Institution Research, SBICAP Securities 
 M&amp;M <keyword id="6354241" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Financial-Services">Financial Services</keyword> Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 300 and a stop loss of Rs 248 
 
HPCL is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 465 and a stop loss of Rs 409 
 
UltraTech Cements Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 2850 and a stop loss of Rs 2610 
 
Mayank Mehta, Derivative Analyst, KIFS Securities 
 
IndusInd Bank Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 575 and a stop loss of Rs 525 
 
Hero MotoCorp Ltd is a 'SELL' call with a target of Rs 2450 and a stop loss of Rs 2600 
 
Lupin Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 1225 and a stop loss of Rs 1150 
 
A K Prabhakar, Independent Market Expert 
 
L&amp;T Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 1600 and a stop loss of Rs 1480 
 
Yes Bank Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 610 and a stop loss of Rs 538 
 
Rallis India Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 254 and a stop loss of Rs 214 
 
(Views and recommendations expressed in this section are the analysts' own and do not represent those of EconomicTimes.com. Please consult your financial advisor before taking any position in the stocks mentioned.)

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