Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

With the start-up industry getting a boost in Indian markets, experienced professionals as well as students are switching their interests to the fresh players. A recent report published in Economic Times makes the picture clearer by explaining how and why and from where these young firms are getting manpower? 
 The report says that higher risk and potentiality to identify the higher return capability is leading Indian executives to make the shift. Apart from that, autonomy and potentially handsome returns is creating ways for experts to give up less demanding jobs in the corporate world and to enter the high-risk, high churn <keyword id="2958974" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup-workforce">startup workforce</keyword>. 
 
The report also points out the shift as a ‘tough decision’ as it's not any easier to decide on the best time to join a start-up as they come in all shapes and forms which, in no time, turn out into an organizational structure as soon as they start growing. 
 
As per the experts, what matters the most is the stage at which you are joining it, which depends on what you are looking for. The results came after industry insiders evaluated the start-ups for risk, reward, and the talent that you bring to it. 
 <keyword id="2905804" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aneesh-Passi">Aneesh Passi</keyword>, <keyword id="170488" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="co-founder">co-founder</keyword> <keyword id="2905805" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Basil-Advisors">Basil Advisors</keyword>, which recruits C-level executives for new enterprises says, “Junior or mid-level employees might be interested in going to the bigger, established startups as a positive career move, but mid to senior-level executives are keen to join companies in the Series-A and B stage where they can build something bigger and meatier." 
 <keyword id="2958973" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TaxiForSure-co-founder">TaxiForSure co-founder</keyword> Raghunandan G says that the proverbial garage exists only at the ideation stage, before the startup has garnered any recognition. "You have to be extremely ambitious and aspirational to join a startup at that stage," feels the IIM-A graduate, who assembled a great core team that left the company once it was sold to Ola to found their own companies or take up senior roles in other startups. "You will be shadowing the employer and learn a lot of things, and will be more likely to get promoted," he added. 
 
If you are a senior executive thinking of jumping into the startup bandwagon, it may be better to wait until startups have found their feet and are in need of experienced managerial guidance. 
 
Image: thinkstock

Planning to switch to a start-up? Read this to know the right time for it.

<ul><li><keyword id="3518161" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="koo">Koo</keyword> is a microblogging platform and is available in English, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Bengali and Malayalam.</li><li>The barely 10-month old app Koo has now crossed over 3 million downloads, registering a 10X growth since December, 2020.</li><li><keyword id="6354616" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword> users are jumping on to the Made in India app Koo, as they dismiss the Jack Dorsey-led global social media giant over its recent controversies with the Indian government.</li></ul>The one app that everyone’s talking about on Twitter today is its Indian alternative Koo. India’s Hindu right wing upped its ante against Twitter, with #BanTwitter, they promoted the homegrown alternative, Koo, which led to a windfall. The barely 10-month old app Koo has now crossed over 3 million downloads, registering a 10X growth since December, 2020. Enjoying their moment in the sun are founders Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka, co-founders of Koo, which is a microblogging platform and is available in English, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Bengali and Malayalam. <div type="image" title="koo" msid="80788103" hostid="261"></div> It’s hockey stick for both Twitter and Koo The recent standoff between Twitter and the Indian government, which wanted the social media giant to ban <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/twitter-accounts-block-govt-notice-khalistan-sympathiser-pakistan-7179728/">certain handles</a>, has become a bane for Jack Dorsey and a boon for Koo. Twitter declined the Indian government’s request to ban certain handles of journalists, activists as doing so “"would violate their fundamental right to free expression under Indian law". Soon after, country’s top ministers like Piyush Goyal to bollywood actors like Anupam Kher and Kangana Ranaut, hundreds of verified profiles on Twitter are jumping on to the Made in India app Koo. “Last few days we have seen a hockey stick growth, we have got more users than we expected. It was unplanned, sudden and it’s very overwhelming but we are happy that people are willing to try out this Indian product,” said Bidawatka in an interview to Business Insider in the middle of what he describes a crazy day. <div type="twitter" handle="PiyushGoyal" handlename="Piyush Goyal" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1242114357682515971/x6zWYqzZ_normal.jpg" favoritecount="13089" retweetcount="3572" status="I am now on Koo. Connect with me on this Indian micro-blogging platform for real-time, exciting and exclusive upd… https://t.co/L09sLRtzDM" createdat="1612859791000" id="1359058583934013442"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="KanganaTeam" handlename="Kangana Ranaut" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1328363769848709120/RYB3_4Fd_normal.jpg" favoritecount="6829" retweetcount="1526" status="Your time is up @Twitter time to shift to #kooapp will inform everyone soon about my account details there. Absolu… https://t.co/lJNwf0zWh8" createdat="1612953243000" id="1359450551126269952"></div> And the <keyword id="10739078" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Koo-founders">Koo founders</keyword>, who admire Twitter’s product, found their app as one of the top trends on Twitter. “It's unfortunate that certain events have unfolded and you know, that things are being questioned. The fact that we can trend on that platform shows how democratic that platform is,” said Bidawatka. Both Bidawatka and Radhakrishna ⁠— are serial entrepreneurs, the latter having previously founded TaxiForSure and sold it to the unicorn Ola⁠— were always working on an Indian alternative to Twitter. But they didn’t think the opportunity would emerge out of a controversy. <div type="image" title="Koo2" msid="80788255" hostid="261"></div> A few months ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had mentioned Koo in his monthly address to the people. That brought the first big wave of users to the platform. Listen to this podcast with the founders of Koo, recorded after they won the Atmanirbhar app challenge by the Indian government in August, 2020. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> While they admired Twitter for the product that it was, the founders saw an opportunity. “Indians that don't speak in English were not well represented there, for example, there were very few Kannada, Tamil, tweets. Nothing close to the potential of our internet using population. We wanted to build an immersive experience on the product,” he said. The two men also run Vokal, a vernacular question and answer knowledge sharing app, they understood the languages space and found experts on their platform still missing a place to express their thoughts. “We know the vernacular story and power of Indian languages. The microblogging format is very all encompassing, it's easy to create and consume,” said Bidawatka. And that’s how Koo was formed. Koo also raised $4.1 million as part of its Series A funding recently from 3one4 Capital, Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures and Dream Incubator. While the valuation of the company, remains undisclosed, Bidawatka said they found the right set of investors who believe in their product, even if it's just 10-month old. And as users keep pouring into Koo, the 40-member team is on overdrive to keep things running. Even while there are teething issues, like every small company has. “We are dealing with the scale that has been thrown at us,” he said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/what-happens-if-the-government-bans-cryptocurrencies-should-i-sell-bitcoin-checkout-experts-views/articleshow/80782941.cms">“Should I sell my cryptocurrencies?” and other questions answered on India’s proposed Crypto Ban bill</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/india-is-considering-four-day-work-weeks-but-with-longer-hours/articleshow/80763247.cms">India is considering four-day work weeks but with longer shifts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/what-is-facial-recognition-technology-and-how-india-is-using-it-to-track-down-protestors-and-individuals/articleshow/80782606.cms">India is ramping up the use of facial recognition to track down individuals without any laws to keep track of how this technology is being used</a>

Twitter’s Indian rival Koo has crossed 3 million downloads as ministers and actors got down to promoting it⁠— the founders are ecstatic

<keyword id="1428790" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="TaxiforSure">TaxiForSure</keyword> CEO Arvind Singhal has resigned at the face of a reshuffling in the company. This comes just four months after the company was acquired for $200 million (about Rs 1,280 crore) by <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> Cabs. 
 
Pallav Singh has been appointed as the new CEO, and Singhal would continue in a n advisory role for the next three months to ensure a smooth transition. 
 
TaxiForSure has seen a mass evacuation of top company executives including co-founders Aprameya Radhakrishna and Raghunandan G, CFO Ganesh Venkataraman, CTO Amitava Ghosh, HR head Hari TN, CMO Randeep Singh and Product head Nitin Pulyani. At least 50 other mid-level executives have also quit from the company headquarters in Bengaluru. 
 
(Image credit: Indiatimes)

TaxiForSure CEO quits

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

The rumours about <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> cabs taking over <keyword id="1428790" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="TaxiforSure">TaxiForSure</keyword> were doing rounds for quite some time now, but today they have come to an end. According to a company press release, Ola, India’s leading mobile app for personal transportation, has acquired TaxiForSure, India’s second largest cab aggregator, for $200 mn in a cash and equity deal. With this acquisition, investors in TaxiForSure— Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and Helion Venture Partners—will roll over their stock into Ola. Presently, Ola has been funded by Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, <keyword id="270604" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sequoia">Sequoia</keyword> Capital, Steadview Capital and most recently, <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Softbank">Softbank</keyword> over its four rounds of fund-raising. It’s worth noting that even after the deal, Ola and TaxiForSure will continue to operate as separate entities. The leadership and all of the 1,700 employees shall continue to work with TaxiForSure, with <keyword id="359392" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arvind-Singhal">Arvind Singhal</keyword> (currently COO) being appointed the CEO. Aprameya Radhakrishna and Raghunandan G, the founders of TaxiForSure, will contribute in an advisory role for a certain period. TaxiForSure is currently in 47 cities with over 15,000 vehicles registered on its platform. Commenting on the deal, <keyword id="1543567" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bhavish-Aggarwal">Bhavish Aggarwal</keyword>, co-founder and CEO, Ola, said, “Ola and TaxiForSure share the same vision of revolutionising urban mobility. TaxiForSure has a great team and they have built a very exciting business in a short time. There's a lot of complementary value in the strategy TaxiForSure has followed. I'm very excited to welcome the TaxiForSure team onboard and look forward to working with them towards realising our common vision.” 

	Raghunandan G, co-founder and CEO, TaxiForSure, said, “TaxiForSure coming together with Ola will provide us with more opportunity than ever, to do what we do best. Post this acquisition; the combined entity will be strong enough and better capitalized to offer the best value to all our stakeholders, including our customers. This development ensures that industry attractiveness is preserved and the combined entity can race ahead and continue to create unprecedented value for all stakeholders.”

Ola has sealed the TaxiForSure deal for $200 mn

The Delhi Transport Authority (DTA) has discovered loopholes in the applications submitted by <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword>, <keyword id="1006428" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Olacabs">OlaCabs</keyword>, <keyword id="1428790" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="TaxiforSure">TaxiForSure</keyword> and NTL Call Cabs for licences to operate in Delhi. The transport department had sent ‘deficiency memos’ to these operators on January 24. 
 According to a media report, TaxiForSure, which had applied through its subsidiary Serendipity <keyword id="2704273" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Infolabs">Infolabs</keyword>, has the highest number of gaps in its application. On the other hand, OlaCabs had just a single gap. 
 
Media reports further suggest that Uber has not got the company registered. Some of the other things lacking in its application are an undertaking for parking, telephone number, email address and the address proof of its registered office. 
 
Uber says that it should come under the Information Technology Act as it is a technology-based platform and not a taxi company. 
Aprameya Radhakrishna, co-founder and director, TaxiForSure, said, “We are working on the clarifications sought by them and we are in the process to submit the same.” 
 
“We are confident that the government and the authorities will agree that our business model is unique and will be open to include regulations that are best suited for the new-age business model,” he added.

Transport Authority Discovers loopholes In Applications Of Uber, Ola, TaxiForSure

After working with a slew of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=startup">startups</a>, <keyword id="91242" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="amitava-ghosh">Amitava Ghosh</keyword> has joined <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=snapdeal">Snapdeal</a> as vice president-engineering and will lead development of intuitive technology solutions. 
 
Ghosh, who has over 17 years of experience in building web-based products and platforms. He will work out of the company's technology innovation centre in Bengaluru. 
 Before joining <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>, Ghosh was the chief technology officer at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=taxiforsure">TaxiForSure</a>. He headed the India engineering team of Tribune Digital Ventures earlier. 
 
In its press release, Snapdeal stated that under Ghosh's leadership the company has launched Newsbeat, a mobile application which provides personalised audio streams of news stories. 
 
Ghosh, who holds an MTech degree in biochemical engineering, was associated with Yahoo for almost a decade and was responsible for building platforms and user experiences for listings, media verticals, communities and social products. 
 
"We are building the strongest technology team at Snapdeal to create a future ready and innovative technology infrastructure. Customer service interface is one of the key verticals of our technology infrastructure and we are looking at strengthening it further to offer a superior experience to our customers," said <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=rohit+bansal">Rohit Bansal</a>, co-founder of Snapdeal. 
 
The company plans to double the strength of its technology team to 2,000 by the end of this year. 
 
Snapdeal has significantly ramped up its technology leadership team and has been hiring senior executives from across the globe. Latest to join include Anand Chandrasekaran, former chief product officer of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=bharti+airtel">Bharti Airtel</a> and Bhuvan Gupta, former chief technology officer of BSB Portal, a joint venture between Bharti SoftBank and Yahoo Japan.

Meet Snapdeal’s new VP-engineering, Amitava Ghosh

A day after US-based company <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> announced a $50 million investment in Hyderabad to set up a centre, its local rival <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> appointed former <keyword id="137231" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Vodafone-group">Vodafone Group</keyword> CEO <keyword id="292871" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Arun-Sarin">Arun Sarin</keyword> on its board as an <keyword id="6489950" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Independent-director">Independent Director</keyword>. 

	Bangalore-based firm Ola, the country's fastest growing mobile app for cabs and taxies, is looking to expand in the coming years, reported the Economic Times. 
 

	Experts are of the view that Ola is planning to take on the global giants like Uber in India and professionals like Sarin, who have more than 30 years of global management experience, can make a difference. 
 Ola CEO and co-founder <keyword id="1543567" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Bhavish-Aggarwal">Bhavish Aggarwal</keyword>, told ET: "Sarin brings a global perspective and a strong understanding of emerging markets like India. His experience in management and in growing large companies is invaluable to Ola." 

	The former Vodafone CEO would contribute in an advisory role to Ola's overall business strategy that would further drive growth and leadership of the firm, the company said in a statement today.
 Sarin was Vodafone's director between 2003 and 2008 and proved to be crucial in the firm's expansion in the emerging markets including India and Africa. He has also served on several boards including <keyword id="106488" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Bank-of-England">Bank of England</keyword> and <keyword id="6354544" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="KKR">KKR</keyword>. 

	"Ola is creating immense value in the transportation and mobility space in India. The company has scaled rapidly to benefit customers and partners using technology and innovative business models," said Sarin. 
 Earlier this year, Ola bought <keyword id="1428790" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="TaxiforSure">TaxiForSure</keyword> for $200 million in one of India's biggest e-commerce deals. The company is targetting 20 million customers by the year end. 
	(Image: Indiatimes)

Ola ropes in former Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin to fight Uber

<ul><li>The ride hailing app has acqui-hired Bengaluru-based <keyword id="7979481" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="pikup-ai">Pikup.ai</keyword>.</li><li>Pikup.ai uses <keyword id="107950" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="20" keywordseo="artificial-intelligence">artificial intelligence</keyword>, computer vision and sensor fusion to provides AI-powered solutions for businesses.</li><li>This acquisition comes right after <keyword id="6354720" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ola">Ola</keyword> set up a technology centre in the Bay Area in the US to drive next gen technological solutions in mobility.</li></ul>Indian ride-hailing unicorn Ola has acqui-hired (acquired along with the team) Pikup.ai, an artificial intelligence startup, for an undisclosed amount. Pikup.ai uses artificial intelligence, computer vision and sensor fusion to provides seamless AI-powered solutions for businesses. “As we advance on our mission to build mobility for a billion people, we are investing in futuristic technology solutions that will shape the future of mobility in India and the world,” said Ankit Bhati, Co-founder &amp; CTO, Ola in a statement. Ola has been investing heavily into technologies for its Ola Mobility wing. It had also recently set up a technology and innovation centre in the Bay Area. The company is planning to hire over 150 engineers at the new centre, to develop next-generation technologies in mobility. These engineers will be hired across domains like Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, data science, engineering, and product development. Ola has made several acquisitions in the past – food delivery startup Foodpanda, logistics startup Ridlr, rival ride hailing company Taxiforsure, transportation startup Geotagg and mobile payments platform Qarth. Ola has been racing ahead in the Indian mobility space, as it continues to be in a fight for the finish with its arch rival Uber. Ola isn’t just fighting Uber in India but also in global markets like Australia, UK etc. Both Ola and Uber have been investing into new technologies with multiple acquisitions. Uber had recently <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2019/uber-acquires-seattle-startup-mighty-ai-fuel-push-self-driving-cars/">acquired</a> Seattle-based startup Mighty AI, taking its self driving car vision ahead.

Ola buys another startup for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning solutions – beefing up for its fight with Uber

<keyword id="19483" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="IIM-ahmedabad">IIM Ahmedabad</keyword> just raised Rs 7.5 crore from alumni Raghunandan G, <keyword id="186752" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vishwavir-Ahuja">Vishwavir Ahuja</keyword> and Aprameya. While conservation, restoration and upgrade of the classrooms in the Heritage Campus is being supported by RBL Bank (Vishwavir Ahuja is the MD &amp; CEO of RBL bank), CR2 upgradation to state-of-art facility and maintenance at IMDC in the <keyword id="4731025" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="iim-a-new-campus">IIM-A New Campus</keyword> is being supported by co-founders of TaxiForSure — Raghunandan G and Aprameya R (PGP 2007 and 2008) — with funding of Rs 2.5 crore each. “RBL has significantly benefited from the quality education imparted at IIMA through several IIMA Alumni in the senior management team. RBL has always focused on excellence in the banking industry and is delighted to make a contribution of Rs 2.5 Crore for shared vision to support education excellence at IIM-A,” said Vishwavir Ahuja. Meanwhile, IIM-A director Prof Ashish Nanda said - “Alumni are a source of strength for the institute. They contribute in many different ways to support the Institute’s priorities. IIM-A deeply values their meaningful and significant contributions.” “Contributing to IIM-A is a proud moment for us as we owe so much of our success to this institute. Having graduated from this great institute, opened doors for us through our entrepreneurial journey. We could connect with IIMA alumni in the startup eco system who were strong guides during our TaxiForSure story and in fact, were our source of strength and also the worst critics to ensure that we always did the right thing,” said Raghunandan G and Aprameya R.

IIM Ahmedabad just raised Rs 7.5 crore from alumni

MUMBAI: Flush with funds and hungry for growth, a bunch of startups is gearing up to stake claim on talent at India’s top campuses. 
 
As placements unfold over the next few months at the IITs, IIMs and other institutes, these startups look on track to give traditional heavyweights a run for their money in the battle for talent. 
 
Ten startups that ET spoke to are collectively looking to hire more than 850 graduates across leading business schools, engineering colleges and graduate schools this fiscal. 
 From established names such as <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, TaxiForSure and <keyword id="1006428" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Olacabs">Olacabs</keyword> to campus newbies like Vizury and <keyword id="2463175" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="CodeNation">CodeNation</keyword>, almost all are hiring in greater numbers than before, armed with attractive pay packages and the promise of greater responsibilities and faster growth for potential hires. 
 
Barely six months after being registered as a company, enterprise software developer CodeNation is already one of the most coveted recruiters at engineering campuses such as National Institutes of Technology (NITs), offering salaries of Rs 24 lakh. One of the last to go to the campuses last season, it hired 12 engineering graduates in March 2014. 
 
This time, it plans to net the best early on from the IITs, NITs, IIITs (Indian Institutes of Information Technology), DTU (Delhi Technological University) and PESIT (PES Institute of Technology). "We went to campuses very late (last time), but do not want to do the same this time. We plan to hire 50 students from the best colleges," said Anuja Sivaram, head of operations at CodeNation. 
 Another relatively new name is Bangalore-based big data analytics startup Vizury. Last year, it went to two <keyword id="2470783" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="BITS-Pilani-University">BITS Pilani University</keyword> campuses with seven offers. The startup, which in June saw a third round of <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> totaling $16 million from new and existing investors, is planning to recruit more this year. "We plan to hire 25-30 engineers from IITs, BITS Pilani University, NITs and IIIT campuses for our product engineering team. Students will be working on cuttingedge analytics and advertising technology platforms," said Subra Krishnan, vice-president in charge of products. 
 
Taxi-service startup Olacabs, fresh after raising Rs 250 crore last month, is on an expansion mode. 
 
To drive its growth plans, the company is in the market for 100 new hires from IITs and IIMs, compared with 40 it recruited last year, said co-founder and Chief Executive Bhavish Aggarwal. 
 
Rival TaxiForSure, on its part, is heading to engineering campuses for the first time this year. Until now the company hired engineers laterally. "We will head to IIT-Madras and IIT-Bombay for the first time. Now we have five engineering managers who can train the new recruits and therefore there is sufficient leadership to hire from engineering campuses," said human resources head TN Hari. 
 While it hasn’t decided on the number of engineering students to be recruited, the startup will hire 25 from IIMs in Bangalore, <keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword>, Ahmedabad and Lucknow as well as the <keyword id="6357275" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-School-of-Business">Indian School of Business</keyword>. 
 Online retailer Flipkart, last year’s biggest <keyword id="41007" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="recruiter">recruiter</keyword> in the startup space, declined to share numbers for this year but is expected to at least match last year’s hiring tally. 
The Bangalore-based company, which made an entry into the ET Top Recruiters at B-schools survey for the first time this year, hired more than 275 students from across campuses, including 90 management trainees, 115 graduate trainees and 70 software development engineers last season. 
 
<div style="page-break-after: always;">
	&#xa0;</div>
 
What helps these startups attract talent other than strong hiring numbers is a vibrant work environment, and salaries that are as competitive as many established organisations. TaxiForSure, for instance, will be offering packages ofRs 8-10 lakh at IITs. At IIMs, salaries will range between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 25 lakh, compared with Rs 12-18 lakh last year. 
 Mobile marketing and communications startup <keyword id="416397" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ZipDial">ZipDial</keyword>, which intends to hire around 20 students this year, says while its fixed salaries may be slightly lower than market rates, top performers stand to make much more in terms of variable bonuses and employee equity grants. LimeRoad.com, which operates an online shopping platform for women, will offer employee stock option programmes. 
 Restaurant-guide startup <keyword id="830092" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato">Zomato</keyword> is offering around Rs 15 lakh a year while property listings portal <keyword id="1960231" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Housing-com">Housing.com</keyword> will be shelling out anywhere between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 18 lakh. 
 Mumbai-based Housing.com, which raised Rs 115 crore in a new round of funding in June, was in fact, a <keyword id="2470782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="first-day-recruiter">first-day recruiter</keyword> at <keyword id="2470784" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="IITKharagpur">IITKharagpur</keyword> placement rounds last December, sharing space with the likes of <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> and <keyword id="43340" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Oracle">Oracle</keyword>. 
 
This year, as well, several startups are likely to be among the first and second day recruiters at prestigious campuses, a privilege usually reserved for big-ticket recruiters. 
 
"The culture of entrepreneurship that startups provide, the growth opportunities and the challenging work environment are all very attractive to a number of students," said Punj Rajan, a student placement committee member at IIT-Kharagpur. "They actually want several startups to be among the companies slotted in the first few days of placements." Rajan had interned with Jabong.com during summer. Even B-schools are ready to make extra efforts to attract more startups. 
 
IIM-Bangalore last year organised a separate day for startups to come and hire from the executive MBA batch. "Startups often offer senior positions and if they need more time and rounds, we are ready to stretch for them. In the near future, we may have separate startup fairs for our flagship PGP batch too," said Sapna Agarwal, head of career development services at IIM-Bangalore. 
 
Not surprisingly, Advitiya Sharma, co-founder of Housing.com, says he has been flooded by invitations from top colleges. His plans are not firmed up as yet, but he intends to hire around 25 people from IITs and a similar number from IIMs across software, analytics, operations and tech roles. 
 
Another startup, Wooqer, has already made three pre-placement offers at Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur. It plans to hire 25 students across IITs and a couple of NITs, and intends to reach out to IIM-Indore, IIM-Bangalore, SP Jain Institute of Management &amp; Research and NMIMS soon. 
 
Salaries will range from Rs 13 lakh toRs 17 lakh. Other institutes including graduate and design schools are also being targeted by these startups. 
 
Upasana Nath, chief recruitment officer at Zomato, said besides the 40 students it will be hiring from engineering colleges like the IITs and senior leadership profiles from IIMs and ISB, it will be taking on board 200 for front line sales and content operations from graduate colleges in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Suchi Mukherjee, CEO &amp; co-founder of LimeRoad.com, said the startup intends to get 30-50 people from campuses alone. IITs in Delhi, Kanpur, Mumbai and Chennai will be the focus for technology and IIMs in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata for product managers, marketing and category managers.

Indian Startups Compete With Bigger Firms For Campus Recruits

Cab aggregator <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> posted a consolidated loss of over Rs 2,311 crore -- about Rs 6 crore a day -- during fiscal 2015-16, on account of heavy advertising and promotional expenses and high employee cost, as per a news report by PTI.The Bengaluru-based firm, which is locked in an intense battle for leadership with US-based Uber, has seen its losses widen about three times from Rs 796.11 crore in 2014-15, Ola said in a filing with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.<keyword id="2200842" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ANI-Technologies">ANI Technologies</keyword> -- which runs Ola -- did see its revenues registering a stellar growth at Rs 758.23 crore during 2015-16 compared to Rs 103.77 crore in the previous fiscal.Emails by PTI sent to Ola remained unanswered.<keyword id="2385099" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anchal-Agarwal">Anchal Agarwal</keyword>, co-founder of research and analytics firm <keyword id="4159482" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tofler">Tofler</keyword> said while the absolute amount of losses have indeed widened, the loss margin has "reduced considerably"."They spent almost Rs 8.5 for every rupee earned in 2014 -15. That number is down to almost Rs 4 for every rupee earned for 2015-16. With the pull-back in incentives etc in recent months, it's possible this has now dropped to levels at par with e-commerce companies that spend roughly Rs 2-3 for every rupee earned," she added.The consolidated numbers include financials of ANI Technologies, Ola Fleet Technologies (leasing business), <keyword id="1062211" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Serendipity-Infolabs">Serendipity Infolabs</keyword> (Taxi For Sure) and Zipcash Card Service (46 per cent ownership).In August 2016, Ola shut down the TaxiForSure (TFS) business, about 18 months after acquiring the rival for USD 200 million.As per the filing, Ola's losses were widened on account of employee related expenses rising over five-fold to Rs 461.60 crore in the said fiscal from Rs 85.16 crore in 2014- 15. Similarly, Ola expanded its advertising and promotional expenditure to over Rs 437.89 crore in 2015-16 from Rs 99.84 crore in the previous year.Both Ola and Uber have loosened their purse strings to bring more riders and driver partners on board, offering them discounted rides and incentives, in a bid to wrest control of the lucrative Indian market.Over the last few years, the explosion of smartphones in India the world s second largest telecom market in terms of subscriber base has made it more convenient for consumers to book a cab on the go through apps and secure payment options.Companies like Ola and Uber have made booking a taxi ride as easy as a couple of quick taps on the phone screen.Since ANI Technologies is not a publicly-traded company, it is not obligated to disclose quarterly performance. It has raised investments of over USD 1.5 billion from investors, including <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Softbank">SoftBank</keyword> Group, Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, Steadview Capital, <keyword id="270604" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sequoia">Sequoia</keyword> India, Accel Partners US and Falcon Edge.In November, Ola raised about USD 250 million from SoftBank, albeit at a lower valuation of USD 3 billion (compared to USD 4.5 billion earlier). The company's Board has recently approved a proposal to raise another USD 100 million from investors, which it said would be "primarily to fund its expansion plans".Ola, which has a presence in 110 Indian cities compared to Uber's operations in 29 cities, has been aggressively expanding its portfolio of services. It has a number of offerings like Micro (affordable), Mini, Prime (sedan), Lux (luxury), Outstation, Share (shared rides), Auto, Rentals, Shuttle (buses) and e-rickshaw. Ola, which claims to have over 6,00,000 vehicles across cabs, auto-rickshaws and taxis, is also placing big bets on new technologies like electric vehicles to stay ahead of competition

Bleeding bad: Ola roughly spent Rs 4 for every rupee earned during 2015-16

New York-based hedge fund <keyword id="60126" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Falcon">Falcon</keyword> Edge and <keyword id="6357722" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="silicon-valley">Silicon Valley</keyword> venture fund <keyword id="144381" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Accel-Partners">Accel Partners</keyword> are expected to join DST Global which is leading a soon-to-be-announced $400-million financing round in taxi hailing service <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword>, sources close to the matter told TOI. 
 Falcon Edge is expected to pump in around $20 million in the new round while <keyword id="2788417" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Accel-US">Accel US</keyword> will put $5 million, sources said. Accel US was an investor in TaxiForSure (TFS) and became an Ola shareholder post its recent acquisition. Ola's other existing investors -including Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, <keyword id="6497288" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Steadview-Capital">Steadview Capital</keyword> --are also participating in the new financing round. 
 
 The latest fund-raise is likely to value the company at $2.5 billion post the investment, as reported by this newspaper first in its February 26 edition. Russian billionaire <keyword id="303107" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Yuri-Milner">Yuri Milner</keyword>'s DST, a significant investor in e-commerce biggie Flipkart, is expected to hold just under 10 per cent stake in the four-year-old company , post the new round. 
 
 When contacted by TOI, Bhavish Agarwal, co-founder, Ola, did not offer any comments, while Falcon Edge could not be reached immediately for a response. Founded by <keyword id="2566840" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Richard-Gerson">Richard Gerson</keyword> together with <keyword id="2788418" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Navroz-D-Udwadia">Navroz D Udwadia</keyword> and James Minshull, Falcon Edge leads the pack of a new breed of <keyword id="42111" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Wall-Street">Wall Street</keyword> hedge funds, a Tiger Global offshoot, managing more than $4 billion in assets. Its India <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> include realty portal <keyword id="35061" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="housing">Housing</keyword> and <keyword id="2112984" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Newshunt">NewsHunt</keyword>, a mobile news aggregation service. 
 
 
Hedge funds like Falcon Edge, Valiant Capital and Steadview Capital, among others, funneled big money into Indian consumer internet companies last year, fanning the already frothy valuations of these tech startups. 
 The latest round of fundraise for Ola, founded by IITBombay batchmates Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati in 2011, would put it right up in <keyword id="819204" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="the-League">the league</keyword> of the most valuable internet firms domestically .Ola's $210-million fund-raise led by <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Softbank">SoftBank</keyword> in October last year valued it at $650 million -post-money -making the Japanese investor the startup's largest investor. 
 
The cab aggregator is present across 67 cities and has received $277 million of capital across five financing rounds. Its biggest competitor taxi-hailing app Uber had stepped on the gas in India by doling out huge discounts to riders. However, its growth has stalled considerably post the rape of a female passenger by one of its drivers last year in Delhi.

Ola Cabs to receive $400mn funding soon

Didi Kuaidi, China's largest taxi aggregator app, which is backed by internet behemoth Alibaba, would soon invest in homegrown Ola, thus making the <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> vs Ola battle bloodier than before. 

	Didi's investment in Bangalore-headquartered Ola comes close on the heels of it picking up stakes in San Francisco-based Lyft and Malaysia's GrabTaxi, signalling a global alliance against the cashrich Uber.
 People close to the development told TOI that Ola, formerly Olacabs, is finalizing the second tranche of $200 million of its $500 million financing round led by GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, Didi Kuaidi, and <keyword id="2649768" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Baillie-Gifford">Baillie Gifford</keyword>, a Scottish investment firm which is a shareholder in Flipkart, valuing the Indian cab-hailing app at $5 billion. 

	GIC, which put in a small amount when Ola scored $400 million led by DST Global earlier this year, is expected to pump as much as $100 million this time around while Didi mayinvest around $30 million. Russian billionaire Yuri Milner's DST Global is also likely to participate in the latest round, sources said. TOI had reported first, in its August 10 edition, about New York-based hedge fund FalconEdge, Softbank Corp and Tiger Global putting the first chunk of $300 million into Ola. Separate email queries sent by TOI regarding the financing round to Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder &amp; CEO of Ola, Didi Kuaidi and GIC did not elicit a response till the time of going to press. A spokesperson for Baillie Gifford said, "I am afraid that on this occasion we will not be able to offer any comment."
 

	"There's a lot of interest in this round and it may even get oversubscribed. As of now it's likely to close at $500 million.Things are still to be worked out fully," said a person privy to the matter. Even as Ola builds a bigger war chest, there has been talk of the Travis Ka lanick-led Uber looking to raise $1billion for India separately, just like it racked up $1.2 billion for China recently , two markets which are of enormous significance for the company . Uber, the most-valued tech startup worldwide at $51billion, also became the youngest privately-held company to cross the $50 billion valuation mark, beating Facebook's record in July this year.
 Despite being buffeted by regulatory hurdles, both Ola and Uber have been aggressively rolling out new services, discounting, announcing millions in investments along with introducing driver initiatives as competition to corner market share intensifies in Asia's third largest economy which has seen smartpho ne usage grow exponentially .The five-year-old Ola, which came to life in Mumbai, presently leads the domestic taxi app market and claims to be doing as many as 750,000 rides a day while Uber, while announcing its $1 billion investment plan for India, said that it aims to touch 1million rides over the next 9 months from the present 200,000. Ola's pole position got cemented earlier this year when it acquired its smaller rival TaxiForSure . A month before Ola acqui red TFS in India, China's largest taxi-hailing app <keyword id="2677023" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Didi-Dache">Didi Dache</keyword> merged with its closest competitor Kuaidi Dache, backed by internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings and in vestors like Alibaba, SoftBank and Tiger Global, to form a $6-billion transportation powerhouse. Didi Kuaidi is valued at $16 billion and is Uber's biggest competitor worldwide, having raised $4.4 billion in investor money. The Chinese taxi app has been aligning all of Uber's rivals to fight the startup which is spread across 300 cities globally. 
	 
	(Image credits: Indiatimes)

You Searched For "TaxiForSure co founder" and got 14 results

Planning to switch to a start-up? Read this to know the right time for it.

BI India Bureau

Twitter’s Indian rival Koo has crossed 3 million downloads as ministers and actors got down to promoting it⁠— the founders are ecstatic

Sanchita Dash

TaxiForSure CEO quits

BI India Bureau

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

BI India Bureau

Ola has sealed the TaxiForSure deal for $200 mn

BI India Bureau

Transport Authority Discovers loopholes In Applications Of Uber, Ola, TaxiForSure

BI India Bureau

Meet Snapdeal’s new VP-engineering, Amitava Ghosh

BI India Bureau

Ola ropes in former Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin to fight Uber

BI India Bureau

Ola buys another startup for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning solutions – beefing up for its fight with Uber

Sanchita Dash

IIM Ahmedabad just raised Rs 7.5 crore from alumni

Anushree Singh

Indian Startups Compete With Bigger Firms For Campus Recruits

Economic Times

Bleeding bad: Ola roughly spent Rs 4 for every rupee earned during 2015-16

BI India Bureau

Ola Cabs to receive $400mn funding soon

BI India Bureau

Ola-Didi Kuaidi to take on Uber together

BI India Bureau

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides