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IKEA is a consumer brand that anyone can relate to; it's homely, practical and futuristic which makes it very exciting for India because these are the values that compel us before purchasing anyway. 
 
So, when we heard that IKEA is opening its first store in the country next year, not only were we excited, but extremely curious as well. <keyword id="824043" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider">Business Insider</keyword> met with <keyword id="3922141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mikael-palmqvist">Mikael Palmqvist</keyword>, APAC Head, IKEA Retail to discuss what’s in store, (literally) at the upcoming IKEA store in Hyderabad. 
 
This is how he began - “We are very excited to open our maiden store in the country after textile- sourcing for about 30 years from here. The size of the store, the functionality of the products would be same, and around 5% of the products will be Indianized for meeting customer’s needs like the ‘tava’, idli maker and the pressure cooker.” 
 
Regulations 
 <keyword id="3922143" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="palmqvist">Palmqvist</keyword> emphasizes that IKEA is not a retail company, but a life-at-home company that sells solutions. For him, India is a very important market because not only is every home, room, and activity important, but the sheer size and diversity makes India like a continent for the company. 
 
Palmqvist also says that it took them around 4.5 years to get here but that wasn’t because of the regulations. 
 
He says - ‘’Our stakeholders here have always been supportive; in terms of FDI, e-commerce, and sourcing. Ease of doing business has increased dramatically.’’ 
 
‘Start and adapt’ is IKEA’s motto of the company everywhere, and in India as well. 
 
“We want to understand how the customer accepts IKEA and then go from there. If the customer wants to pay digitally or by cash, we will provide them with options’’ he adds on being asked to comment on the recent demonetization move and its impact on businesses. 
 
Diversity 
 The company also believes in emphasizing on diversity when they hire people and globally they ensure that 50% of the workforce is women. Currently, the company has collaboration with <keyword id="3922144" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="national-institution-of-fashion-technology">National Institution of Fashion Technology</keyword> which contributes design aesthetics to their collections. 
 
In terms of future pricing for their products, they claim to be accessible to all, and not just the middle class. They want to be competitive in pricing under ‘’Home furnishing for all’’. 
 
Online store 
 
E-commerce companies like HomeLane, Urbanladder, Pepperfry, Fabfurnish etc. might pose a threat to the Swedish giant, but Palmqvist’response - ‘’We are happy to build up the furnishing market with these players“ – shows the IKEA team is unfazed by the competition. 
 
Their website IKEA.in will be updated with inventory after the store has opened in full swing. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Bollywood-actor-Kunal-Kapoor-talks-about-Ketto-his-crowdfunding-startup-which-has-raised-Rs-40-Cr-for-social-causes/articleshow/55753955.cms">ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE - Bollywood actor Kunal Kapoor talks about Ketto, his crowdfunding startup which has raised Rs 40 Cr for social causes</a> 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/This-LinkedIn-survey-reveals-that-India-has-the-highest-level-of-sales-and-marketing-collaborations/articleshow/55749887.cms">Feeling inspired by the Indian homes</a> that the IKEA team visited, the company plans to make further investments in the country but over a few years, after more stores have opened. After Hyderabad, the company wants to open in <keyword id="57321" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Navi-Mumbai">Navi Mumbai</keyword> and so on. 
 
Biggest cafes 
 When we asked <keyword id="322364" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mikael">Mikael</keyword> to tell us how would an Indian feel after entering the first IKEA store, he said, “WOW! I want them to be surprised by how much we know about what they need. It’s smart and affordable.” The company is also planning to open the biggest restaurants in India with 1000 seats, where customers will get to taste typical Swedish delights. 
 
The company seems to<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/EXCLUSIVE-BigBaskets-co-founder-talks-about-hyperlocal-businesses-and-profitability/articleshow/55752379.cms"> be watching how you live, eat and work to create things</a> that you didn’t even know you needed. We can’t seem to wait to enter the much-hyped store!

EXCLUSIVE: IKEA APAC Head talks about what to expect from the upcoming IKEA store in Hyderabad

In July 2012, <keyword id="1870519" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ashish-Goel">Ashish Goel</keyword> and <keyword id="2480022" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajiv-Srivatsa">Rajiv Srivatsa</keyword> decided to start <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=urbanladder&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">UrbanLadder</a>, an online <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=furniture&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">furniture</a> site with over 1000 products across 25 categories carefully designed to align with anyone’s idea of a ‘beautiful home.’ 
 
At a time when the idea of buying furniture online was unthinkable, Goel and Srivatsa not only took a big leap, but also were confident that they would get people to buy furniture online. 
 
And, two years later, an investment by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ratan+tata&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ratan Tata</a>, the chairman emeritus of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Tata+Sons&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Tata Sons</a> in their venture gave the duo the boost that they needed. 
 Recalling that moment in 2014, Rajiv Srivatsa, COO and co-founder talks to Business Insider about how <keyword id="2539960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Urbanladder">UrbanLadder</keyword> got <keyword id="6360722" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="ratan-tata">Ratan Tata</keyword> on board as an investor. 
 
“Ratan Tata investing in Urban Ladder was definitely one of the high points for us. Infact, we were the second <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ecommerce&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">e-commerce </a>venture he invested in,” says Srivatsa. 
 
According to him, what worked for them was the fact that Ratan Tata’s philosophy of building a brand in India coincided with UrbanLadder. 
“He believes in a brand holding everything end to end, right from the supply chain to delivery and holding the design internally. These are also the things that we as a barnd identify with,” explained Srivasta. 
 
When asked what Ratan Tata liked about UrbanLadder the most, Srivatsa was quick to reply, “He liked our attention to detail- the nuances in our design the most. I think that kind of took him back to the times when he was into architecture. That is something he was relate to the most” 
 
His personal interest in furniture and his background in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=architecture&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">architecture</a> were a bonus, Srivatsa believed. 
 
Ratan Tata holds a degree in architecture from Cornwell University. Prior to UrbanLadder, he had also invested in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=snapdeal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Snapdeal</a>. 
 
Apart from Tata, UrbanLeader also boasts of investors such as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=SAIF+partners&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">SAIF Partners</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=kalaari+capital&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Kalaari Capital</a>, Steadview Capital and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Sequoia+Capital&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Sequoia Capital</a>. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

How UrbanLadder got Ratan Tata on board as an investor

The furniture market in India is worth $16 billion. The furniture and appliances rental is estimated only at a third of that. However, while the sector is growing at a sizeable 25% month-on-month, only 2% of the industry is currently online. 
 
With sharing economy being on the rise across sectors, the country has seen over 13 startups coming into the space in 2015 alone. The names include Wheelstreet, Etashee, Rentickle and Rentsetgo among others. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Rentomojo&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Rentomojo</a> is among these startups. It is a marketplace that offers furniture, furnishings, appliances and other home verticals that house hunters can book at affordable rentals. It works on an asset-light model, and makes anything from 40-50% of the rental fee as commission on every booking, with the rest going to the vendor. 
 
The company is currently in the market to raise fresh rounds. It raised $2 million in pre-Series A funding from Accel Partners and IDG Ventures India last year. 
 
Business Insider sat down with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Rentomojo&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Rentomojo</a> CEO <keyword id="3210543" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Geetansh-Bamania">Geetansh Bamania</keyword> to understand the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=online+rental&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">online rental</a> space better. 
 
Why could have caused the boom in <keyword id="3438857" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="online-rental">online rental</keyword> startups? 
As soon as an industry starts making money, people start trying to get in. This industry is here to stay because India is an income-constraint economy, with a maximum of 30-40k disposable income. That’s exactly why several <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">e-commerce</a> companies are suffering. 
 
There is also a bunch of migration from tier II and tier III to tier I cities. This is because of the renewed cash flow and new opportunities being created. People are changing cities every 3 years. Combine the mobility quotient with the income constraint, and you’ll see the renting model making a lot of sense. 
 
Owning vs. renting in the long term. 
When you think of the long term, renting does lose to owning after a certain period. However, our consumer is typically somebody who’s looking to have it for 12-16 months. Also, as we go forward as a company we’ll experiment with 24-48 months rental periods. We’ll continue to offer price bands that will seem lucrative to you. 
 
OLX and Quikr are going pretty hard on add-ons and advertising. <keyword id="864887" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Pepperfry">Pepperfry</keyword> and <keyword id="2539960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Urbanladder">UrbanLadder</keyword> now have EMI options. Are you worried? 
Our target segment is against the ownership model. You are bound to pay a pending EMI. However, renting allows you the flexibility to come out when you want. 
 
Inherently, rentals will always be lesser than EMI. That’s simple math. A <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Pepperfry&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Pepperfry</a> or <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=UrbanLadder&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">UrbanLadder</a> will have a sourcing cost, a gross margin and a final market price. However, our rental costs will always be lower as they are based on the sourcing cost, and not the market value. 
 
For second hand buying, from a unit economics perspective, I don’t know how lucrative a business it is to be in if you’re making money from relocation. 
 
Why not own some furniture? 
As the industry matures, we’ll be deploying several crore units a month. It’s not going to be scalable. Also, owning also comes with an inherent risk. 
 
The ease of operating a marketplace model is why we replicated it. That’s why our unit economics have been positive from day 1. 
 
<a href="http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/56cbe59ce4b062f6b59a4bef/0x600.jpg?fit=scale&amp;background=000000">Image Source</a>

Rentomojo CEO wants to make an online offer
you can’t refuse

Like any other startup striving to make work fun for its employees, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=urban+ladder&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">UrbanLadder</a>, the online furniture website too does offer the usual <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=employee+perks&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">perks to their employees.</a> 
 “We have free food for all our employees. There’s free breakfast, and lunch. We have fruits at 4 pm and snacks later,” says <keyword id="3397831" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajeev-Srivatsa">Rajeev Srivatsa</keyword>, co-founder and COO, <keyword id="2539960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Urbanladder">UrbanLadder</keyword>. 
 
But, what really sets the startup apart is their parental benefits. 
 
Srivatsa claims that almost 38% of their employees are women and thus it is imperative for them as a brand to undertake policies that help women at the workplace and the chief among them is their <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=maternity+benefits&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">maternity benefits</a>. 
 
As of April, the company has extended its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=maternity+leave&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">maternity leave</a> to twenty six weeks for their <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=employees&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">employees</a>. That is a whopping six months. 
 
Additionally, they also have the option of being able to take an extra three months of part-time work that the company hopes will act as a transitional period for all involved- the new mom, baby, the family and UrbanLadder. 
 
 
 
During this period, employees can choose to work upto 5 hours at an equivalent pay basis or opt for an additional three months of unpaid leave. 
 
Infact, these benefits also extend to those employees who choose to adopt or have surrogates. 
 
According to the company, the aim behind this move is to ensure that women don’t feel the need to take a break from their careers and then end up not returning to work full time. 
 
“We understand the difficulty in striking a balance between motherhood and work,” says the company. 
 UrbanLadder’s maternity policy even beats social networking giant <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword>’s rather generous policy. As of the moment, news mothers in the country are entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave from Facebook. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

This startup's maternity leave policy is the best thing to happen to working women in India

In July 2012, <keyword id="1870519" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ashish-Goel">Ashish Goel</keyword> and <keyword id="2480022" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajiv-Srivatsa">Rajiv Srivatsa</keyword> decided to take the plunge and start <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/How-UrbanLadder-got-Ratan-Tata-on-board-as-an-investor/articleshow/52649231.cms">UrbanLadder</a>, an online <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=furniture&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">furniture</a> website with the aim of making beautiful homes. 
 
“We decided to go online at a time when no one could even think that people would buy furniture on the internet,” says Srivatsa, highlighting the risk of their venture. 
 Thankfully for the duo, investors saw the Bangalore <keyword id="2539960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Urbanladder">UrbanLadder</keyword>’s potential and came calling. From <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=SAIF+partners&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">SAIF Partners</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Sequoia+Capital&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Sequoia Capital</a> to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=kalaari+capital&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Kaalari Capital</a>, Steadview Capital and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ratan+tata&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ratan Tata</a> himself, the <keyword id="3397759" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="online-furniture-website">online furniture website</keyword> became quite a hit. 
 
Add their efficient customer service and beautifully designed products to the mix and four years later, UrbanLadder has managed to establish itself as India’s leading furniture and home decor destination. 
 
The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=startup&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">startup</a> that raised 50 million in funds last year claims to be looking at another funding round next year of the same value with the hope of breaking even on their mind. 
 
“From the $50 million that we’ve received last year, we intend to pump in $15 million this year to expand and stabilise our brand,” Srivatsa tells us. 
 
An<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=iit&amp;sortorder=effectivedate"> IIT</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=iim&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">IIM</a> graduate himself, Srivatsa, the COO and co-founder of UrbanLadder talks to Business Insider about leadership, company strategies, the startup ecosystem and how tough it is to hire the right candidate. 
 
 
 
 
What was the idea behind starting an online furniture website like UrbanLadder? 
 
Four years back, we started out with one thought, ‘India has a lot of homes. Can we make those homes beautiful?’ 
 
When you take a call to start a business based on that vision alone and not anything else, the way you go about your business is very different. 
Our aim was to go about in a way so that the end product would be a beautiful home. This meant that we had to focus on three aspects in a very strong way. Those were- 
 
1. We had to get a product that was fantastic: When I say fantastic, I mean it had to be designed well and in a way that you’re proud of. But, there was a catch. The beauty couldn’t come at a very high cost. The beauty had to come at a cost which was meaningful and a quality which was long-lasting, because Indian customers value the quality, right? So product and beauty of the product was a very very strong point. 
 
2. Second comes the service: This is not one of those businesses where I just deliver the product outside the house and my job is done. It requires service as well. I need to help you install the product, arrange it in a way you like it and even help you take regular care of it. So essentially, in this category the service also becomes a part of the product. And, we had decided early on that our service needs to be top-notch so that the customer is worry-free. 
 
3. The third aspect was technology: To ensure that UrbanLadder reached as many people in as many cities as possible, we had to take it online. And, here the quality of technology played a very big part as it would help the customers visualise how our products would fit into their space. 
 
So, essentially brand UrbanLadder is nothing but an execution of these three aspects. 
 
How do you think these three core aspects helped UrbanLadder stand out as compared to other brands? 
 
The result of this was that we didn’t have to talk price or discounts. All that did the talking were our products. Giving discounts and indulging in crazy pricing would have made sense until a year back when people were still pumping money into businesses. It makes absolutely no sense right now because of the slowing down of the startup ecosystem and I’m proud that we stuck to our guts. 
 
One decision that you’d taken in the early years that you wish you could undo? 
 
We initially started with third party services for pour deliveries. The idea was to rely on these well established players and get them to help us with deliveries. But, it turned out to be quite a catastrophe and in one month we pulled back these delivery services from all over India and realised that we can’t make our brand happen if we depend on someone else. Our vision would go for a toss, our customer service score would go for a toss. So, we just decide to do it ourselves. That is how we started doing everything inhouse, right from the delivery to the installation. 
 
 
 
 
What would you say are some strategies that help UrbanLadder grow as a brand? 
 
Firstly, you would notice that any typical marketplace will generally have 50,000 or more products, but not us. We have a little over 4,000 products. That’s only because we don’t want to crowd our side with incessant product additions everyday but instead create value with each of our existing products. By having a slightly less number of products, we ensure that we’ve been thoughtful with every product that’s on the site. 
The second thing that I believe has helped us is our clear perspective on how we want to grow year on year. Last year, our business grew 3x. This year, our aim is to grow 2.7 x. The following year we’re looking to grow around 2.5 x. The reason you don’t see us making claims of wanting to grow 5x or 4x is because we want to grow in a way that would actually help profitability and allow us to hold the customer service experience really strong. 
 
UrbanLadder is about to complete four years of existence. What would you say are some of the decisions that has helped the brand through the years? 
 
We’ve always stuck to a pricing which is reasonable to a sustainable economic situation and that decision has helped us in establishing a fundamentally sound business that can shoot for profitability in the next two years. 
 
Does that also mean that you don’t take too many risks and play it safer than the others? 
 
We see risk very differently. For us, any innovation related to our three aspects is a risk. For example we just introduced a very ethnic Indian range on our website. UrbanLadder has never done anything like this before, so for us this is out of our comfort zone. 
 
We don’t want to have products that we later have to recall. We don’t want out customers to say, ‘I’m never going t buy this product’ Our aim to is to be very thoughtful with every product. That’s our priority. 
 
Tell us how UrbanLadder incorporates technology in its operations? 
 
Tech innovations are very important for us. Infact, we were the first ones to invest in AR/VR two years back. 
 
We have an app called Living spaces where customers can look how our sofa looks in their living rooms with the help of augmented reality. It basically happens by superimposing the model on a camera and that’s been a big proponent of how we sell so fast. This helps customers figure out how a product would look n their space. A big challenge with AR is that you have to ensure it doesn’t look fake because your surrounding are real. 
 
 
What would you say has worked for UrbanLadder that quite hasn’t for other players? 
 
I think, the scale at which furniture is bought on our website is something that no other player can boast about. We’ve actually managed to get customers to shop for furniture online. Plus, no other player has even managed to come half at par with the level of service that we offer. 
 
What are the areas you are looking to invest heavily this year? 
 
Our focus like always is to be thoughtful more than anything. But there are a few things that are a priority for us this year. One of them is to leverage what we already have, and especially our new interior business. 
 
Secondly, of late, sofas as a category are taking off so our aim is to have a wide range of sofas that are easily configurable. 
 
Additionally, we are also changing the interface visually on the website so as to ensure the customer buying experience is very different. 
 
Is hiring a difficult process for a company as unique as yours? 
 
It’s tough to find the right candidate when you’re a startup. A lot of people are not okay with the possibility of their job being at stake even if they perform well, though the number of people who are open to joining start-ups are much more now as compared to four years back. 
 
At UrbanLadder, what we try to do is instead of getting a lot of senior people on board, we look to hire MBA graduates with 2-3 years of experience and groom them in a way that they are able to make decisions tomorrow and face challenges. We have only 3-4 senior people in the company. 
 I believe, the media plays a big role here. They should start talking about stuff other than funding news. We need more success stories, learnings, how entrepreneurs have solved problems to get people to broaden their view of <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword> 
 
How do you think IKEA’S entry into the Indian market will affects players such as UrbanLadder? 
 
I’d like to believe that the Indian furniture market is big enough for every player to fit in. But, it all depends on execution. IKEA is a fantastic brand and their execution is top-notch so the challenge for us is to hold on to our value propositions, execute and innovate well. 
 
Have you thought about entering the office interior space? 
 
Not as of now. I mean, it is a massive opportunity, no doubt, But it’s also a very different segment that requires different products. But, I’ll never say never.

Exclusive: UrbanLadder
will be profitable in 2 years, will likely raise close to $50mn next year

‘If you’re someone who hates getting out of bed to get to work, this is the perfect job for you.’ 
 
When that’s the first line of a job description, you know you’re onto something. 
 
The job in question is of a ‘Sr. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Mattress+Tester&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Mattress Tester</a>’ at online furnishings portal <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Urban+Ladder&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Urban Ladder</a>. Posted on 30th March, it already has over 5720 views. 
 
So what’s life like as a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Mattress+Tester&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">mattress tester</a>? You’ll basically get to stay in bed pretty much the entire day and actually get paid for it. 
 
Here’s the official list of desired skill-sets: 
 
· A love for sleeping that would put Kumbhakarna to shame 
· Strong analytical skills and an insightful bent of mind 
· A good understanding of the best practices in mattress design 
· A passion for product quality and attention to detail 
· Demonstrated expertise in sleeping under varied conditions 
· A strong customer focus 
· A complete lack of enthusiasm and drive 
 
On a typical day, you’ll need to sleep on various <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Urban+Ladder&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Urban Ladder</a> mattresses to check for comfort and ease. 
 
Each mattress will need to be tested under different conditions, such as after consuming coffee and other caffeine-based drinks, after traveling long distances, as well as under different light and sound conditions. 
 
Wow, that’s quite something. 
 
Sounds like you? Like they say ‘don’t sleep on the opportunity’. Apply to <a href="mailto:sleep@urbanladder.com">sleep@urbanladder.com</a> with your resume and a cover letter! ;) 
 
<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/46570664.cms">Image Source</a>

This Job pays you to…Sleep!

The ecommerce market in India growing up vigorously, care for the employees is also on the rise. Online retail companies in India, mostly startups are very much keen on retaining their employees to get a better benefit in the long run. 
 After Pepperfry, UrbanLadder and Carat-Lane reported to be wooing people with equity options, its time for <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> to prove they aren’t far behind. As per a news report in The Economic Times, Snapdeal is seeking to ensure employee loyalty by rewarding about a third of its staff with stock options. In order to achieve this, it expanded the proportion of equity that can be distributed as options " to 10% from 6%. 
 
The ET report reads, these have been given to 1,200 workers adjudged as the top performers among a total 4,000. The numbers are much larger this time. Last year, the company gave these to 300 employees out of a total 1,200. "Only the top performers at Snapdeal have got stock options over and above the salary increments," Saurabh Nigam, vice-president (HR), of Snapdeal said the financial daily. 
 Also, Snapdeal is also in lookout for top techies of <keyword id="6357722" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="silicon-valley">Silicon Valley</keyword> just like Flipkart has been doing. 
 (Image: <keyword id="-101" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-Times">India Times</keyword>)

If you’re working for Snapdeal,
you are a special employee indeed

In a seed <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> round, deals and price comparison app Voodoo has raised $1 million (around Rs 65 lakh) from Saif Partners. 
 
The firm was founded by Mohit Mittal and Vijay Reddy and currently operates with a team of ten people and claims to have 1,200 downloads so far. 
 
Voodo enables people to get price comparison from 26 e-Commerce apps like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Flipkart-and-Snapdeal-are-at-it-again-but-this-time-for-friendly-exchange-of-tweets/articleshow/49334474.cms">Flipkart, Snapdeal</a>, Amazon, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber%2C+Ola">Uber, Ola</a>, Foodpanda and Zomato Order, among others. 
 
Voodoo has the potential to become one of the most popular Indian apps, and are really excited to partner with Mohit and the team on this journey, according to SAIF Partners Principal Mukul Arora. 
 
Voodoo Technologies, which launched the app last week, said the fresh funds will be used to build a unique mobile first global shopping experience. 
 
Mittal said there are so many mobile apps in every category and all of them have something amazing to offer. “Voodoo picks the best stuff from all of them and serves our consumers with the finest recommendations," he added. 
 In 2014, Mittal along with Reddy and another Manikanta Nikhil had founded offline <keyword id="115504" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="App-Store">app store</keyword> Preburn which was later acquired by now Snapdeal-backed Freecharge for an undisclosed amount. 
 
Besides Voodo, there are other players operating in this space which include <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber%2C+Ola">Junglee, PriceDekho and MySmartPrice</a>, which is backed by Accel Partners and Helion Venture Partners. 
 SAIF Partners is a leading <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> firm with over USD 4 billion under management and has <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> in around 40 companies including MakeMyTrip, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Amitabh-Bachchan-turns-73-on-Sunday/articleshow/49308365.cms">JustDial</a>, PayTM, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Amitabh-Bachchan-turns-73-on-Sunday/articleshow/49308365.cms">BookMyShow</a> and Urbanladder. 
 
The venture capital firm recently hired former Freecharge CEO Alok Goel for early-stage investments. 
 
In March, it had also raised $350 million for a new India-focused fund. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Voodoo raises $1 mn seed funding from Saif Partners

<keyword id="2067730" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Crayon-Data">Crayon Data</keyword>, a Singapore-based big data firm, is the recent one to join the league of a dozen startups that have raised funding from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ratan+tata">Ratan Tata</a>.
 This personal investment from the chairman emeritus of <keyword id="46894" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tata-Sons">Tata Sons</keyword> comes just three months after he joined as a senior adviser to Jungle Ventures, the Singapore-based VC which has invested in Crayon. "We are excited and honored. To meet <keyword id="6360722" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="ratan-tata">Ratan Tata</keyword> and have our vision validated by him is an accolade in itself," said Srikant Sastri, co-founder of Crayon Data. 

	The company, co-founded in 2012 by IIM Calcutta graduates Sastri and Suresh Shankar, has raised $10 million in funding from Singapore-based Jungle Ventures and Spring Seeds so far. It employs 100 people within offices spread across New York, Dubai, Chennai, Singapore and London.
 

	Crayon has an engine that helps large enterprises deliver personalized choices to their consumers. It is developing what it calls a "consumer taste fabric", which maps choices across 15 categories, using machine-learning and complex algorithms. This taste fabric is then mapped to vast internal (enterprise) and external (online) data sets to provide a set of personalized choices to consumers.
 Tata, after stepping down from an active role in the <keyword id="6355725" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tata-Group">Tata Group</keyword>, has become an influential investor in startups. He has put his money into several internet companies and startups including Ola, Cardekho, Paytm, healthcare platform Lybrate, lingerie etailer Zivame and women's clothing brand Kaaryah. In addition to Jungle, Tata serves as an adviser with Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures. He has invested in nearly a dozen of Kalaari's portfolio companies including <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>, UrbanLadder, Holachef, YourStory and Bluestone. 

	"We have always strongly believed in Crayon's proposition. Srikant and Suresh, with their years of experience in Marketing and Analytics, have always had a clear vision of the value Crayon can bring to consumer-facing enterprises," said Anurag Srivastava of Jungle Ventures said.

Ratan Tata invests undisclosed amount in Singapore-based firm Crayon Data

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

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