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About a week after the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, e-commerce giants <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>, and <keyword id="6357066" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ShopClues">Shopclues</keyword> unanimously hailed the government’s decision, because it halted to a great extent, big problem area-Cash on Delivery, forcing more and more people to transact online. 
 <keyword id="225032" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sachin-Bansal">Sachin Bansal</keyword> from Flipkart, Snapdeal's <keyword id="219793" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kunal-Bahl">Kunal Bahl</keyword>, <keyword id="118292" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sanjay-Sethi">Sanjay Sethi</keyword> from Shopclues and Pranay Jivrajka, COO at Ola, all of whom had gathered in the <keyword id="3857177" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="capital-city-delhi">capital city Delhi</keyword> for an event on digital start-ups said how this move has been positive for their businesses and will be positive for the economy in the long haul. 
 
Discontinuation of higher valuation notes has led to a 15-30% fall in COD orders. Sachin Bansal from Flipkart said,’ This move is forward-looking as we are moving to become data-focused as a company.' 
 
"At some point in time, it was (COD) at 70 % for us and then it came down to 50 per cent. It is now at 30 percent. While it might go up a bit, we expect the ratio to hover around the current level," Kunal Bahl commented. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/EXCLUSIVE-Olas-COO-talks-about-all-the-aces-to-take-on-competition-from-Uber-in-2017/articleshow/55477059.cms">ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Ola’s COO talks about all the aces the company has up its sleeves to take on competition from Uber in 2017</a> 
​ 
Snapdeal, which had acquired<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/The-pros-and-cons-of-e-wallets-like-Paytm-Freecharge-and-Mobikwik/articleshow/55437683.cms"> Freecharge</a> last year, said that the e-wallet has seen a tremendous increase in transactions and digital payments have made the operations processes smoother for them. 
 
"What is important is that we (in the sector) will have to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/In-a-first-Ola-launches-credit-for-ride-share/articleshow/55461416.cms">make digital payments more convenient, secure and rewarding for consumers," he added.</a> 
 
Following the announcement on the evening of November 8, most e-commerce companies had either limited orders or banned COD for some days. 
 
"It would take around 35 to 60 days for things to be normal. For us, tier-II and tier-III areas performed much better than metropolitans, as most of the orders from were paid in advance. Our COD percentage is actually a lot more in metropolitans," said Sanjay Sethi from Shopclues. He mentioned that in the first four days, there was a sale fall of about 15 percent but now it is normalizing. 
 
But why would these giants be so pleased with doing away with COD, which is a boon for consumers? Well, that’s because the cash received on delivery usually takes several extra days to process, therefore reflect on the books. Also, there is the huge problem of customers returning COD orders on account of dissatisfaction with the products delivered and not paying the amount, in which case it’s quite a loss for the company. 
 
COD never made much business sense but while being an innovation in this space, it was mostly a consumer winning over tactic employed by e-commerce players to increase footfalls.

Flipkart, Snapdeal and Shopclues agree: Demonetization
has been a boon in disguise

You can only imagine how a work day for <keyword id="45395" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-India">Google India</keyword> head looks like but we can tell you that, he’s now making the most of his commute thanks to better connectivity, more than ever. 
 <keyword id="824043" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider">Business Insider</keyword> caught up with <keyword id="249393" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajan-Anandan">Rajan Anandan</keyword>, VP, <keyword id="4405979" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="google-se-asia-india">Google SE Asia &amp; India</keyword> to understand how the internet landscape has changed in the past few months. 
 “India is the biggest market for us and it has a very diverse user base. We are always going to have a clear distinction between India and the US for the next several years,” says <keyword id="198577" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anandan">Anandan</keyword> on where India stands for <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword>. 
 
India currently has around 400 million internet users, 300 million of them are coming online through their smartphone which makes it the second largest internet market in the world after China. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/flipkart-raises-its-biggest-round-at-a-lesser-valuation-and-acquires-ebay-but-is-it-enough-to-steer-off-amazon/articleshow/58128005.cms">ALSO READ: Flipkart raises its biggest round at a lesser valuation and acquires eBay but is it enough to steer off Amazon?</a> 
 In the past few months, a lot of things have changed in the internet landscape with low-cost carrier <keyword id="2003276" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jio">Jio</keyword> coming in. The Google chief thinks that this has changed things tremendously for the entire telecom sector, “There is now an enormous user base that’s spending its time online, with network providers also upgrading their services and not just giving more for less. Our mission in India is to make information accessible to everyone and that means reaching out to the massive 1.3 Billion population in the country. The Internet for everyone is the goal,” said Anandan. 
 
The first challenge for Google is Access and they’ve tackled that with providing high-speed public Wi-Fi at railway stations and after covering 110 stations, we now have 5 million Indians accessing it every day. With 500, 000 Indians accessing the internet with Google India for the first time, the company plans to extend it to 400 stations by the year 2018. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-ace-angel-investor-sanjay-mehtas-true-life-experiences-that-makes-his-investments-in-startups-fool-proof/articleshow/58061818.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: Ace Angel Investor Sanjay Mehta’s true-life experiences that make his investments in startups fool-proof</a> 
 With revolutionary projects like Smart Cities, Google is partnering with the government at <keyword id="3025354" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pune-Smart-City">Pune Smart City</keyword> to provide high-speed Wi-Fi. 
The other concerns are connectivity and affordability and while currently, there at 125 million 4G subscribers and 150 million 3G subscribers, there are still issues like patchy connectivity. 
 Google is trying to get a lot of its services like <keyword id="10879" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="YouTube">YouTube</keyword>, Maps and even Chrome offline to make the internet more accessible to most Indians. There’s Search Lite which detects how slow is your network and works accordingly. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/read-what-rohit-bansal-and-kunal-bahl-mailed-snapdeal-employees-amidst-flipkart-acquisition-speculations/articleshow/58108189.cms">ALSO READ: Read what Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl mailed Snapdeal employees amidst Flipkart acquisition speculations</a> 
​ “Google is building new products like recently released YouTube Go which are specifically designed for Indians. With only 15 million women villagers online, we are working to bridge the gap with Google Sathi where women teach other how to use the internet for the betterment of their lives,” <keyword id="6355561" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajan">Rajan</keyword> says proudly proclaiming that there are 80,000 Google Saathis across 60,000 villages that they’re working in. 
 The next milestone for this technology behemoth is reaching half of India's villages with <keyword id="4408602" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="google-saathi">Google Saathi</keyword> and making the internet accessible to the people who need it the most, not just for information but for opportunities to a better connected life.

Exclusive: Here’s what Google VP Rajan Anandan said about Jio’s Impact on the Telecom Sector

<keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> announced its largest fundraising round today and with $4.6 billion already in the kitty from investors like Tiger Global, Naspers Group, Accel Partners and <keyword id="794823" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="DST-Global">DST Global</keyword> among others. 
 
The e-tailer mentioned that this capital was raised at a post-transaction valuation of $11.6 billion, a drop from $15.2 billion valuations in May 2015 when it had last raised funds. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-ace-angel-investor-sanjay-mehtas-true-life-experiences-that-makes-his-investments-in-startups-fool-proof/articleshow/58061818.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: Ace Angel Investor Sanjay Mehta’s true-life experiences that make his investments in startups fool-proof</a> 
​ This funding round signals a victory for new Flipkart chief <keyword id="6379357" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kalyan-Krishnamurthy">Kalyan Krishnamurthy</keyword>, who has tried to turn around its fortunes since rejoining in June 2016. Now there is an Increased pressure on the CEO to deliver the much-awaited Flipkart initial public offering (IPO) in the coming future. 
 <keyword id="6357395" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="eBay">eBay</keyword>, which is also a minority investor in <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>, is investing $500 million in Flipkart in this deal, with the acquisition of <keyword id="161767" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="eBay-India">eBay India</keyword> by the behemoth. The value of the Indian unit isn't known but the viability of buying a C2C platform for the biggest B2C business in India points to experimentation on its platform which might not be wise with <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> racing ahead in India. 
 eBay India will continue to operate separately as a unit of Flipkart much like retailers Myntra and <keyword id="6388367" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jabong">Jabong</keyword> and the mobile payments app PhonePe. 
 
Flipkart and Amazon now serious contenders in India’s $15 billion online retail market which might even see the sale of Delhi-based Snapdeal to its biggest competitors if reports are to be believed. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-an-angel-investor-whose-midas-touch-with-crypto-currency-is-redefining-the-future-of-start-up-investments/articleshow/58062121.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: An Angel investor whose Midas touch with Crypto-currency is redefining the future of start-up investments</a> 
 According to investors, this resurgence by Flipkart means that the battle of sales will be more closely fought but it doesn't necessarily mean that acquiring more companies will add to <keyword id="6442005" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bansal">Bansal</keyword>'s kitty as they are far from profit. 
 " This deal reaffirms our resolve to hasten the transformation of commerce in India through technology,” Flipkart founders <keyword id="225032" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sachin-Bansal">Sachin Bansal</keyword> and <keyword id="6364080" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Binny-Bansal">Binny Bansal</keyword> said in a statement. 
 
This hastening process still needs to be well-considered by the Bansals who are overlooking the entire ecosystem created by Flipkart. 
 <keyword id="212412" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tencent">Tencent</keyword> which is a Chinese gaming company has previously invested in startups like Hike and <keyword id="1165142" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Practo">Practo</keyword> — is coming on board as a strategic investor. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/read-what-rohit-bansal-and-kunal-bahl-mailed-snapdeal-employees-amidst-flipkart-acquisition-speculations/articleshow/58108189.cms">ALSO READ: Read what Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl mailed Snapdeal employees amidst Flipkart acquisition speculations</a> 
​ 
“This strategic partnership enables Tencent to participate in the exciting opportunities in e-commerce and payments in India. We look forward to helping Flipkart to deliver compelling experiences to users throughout India, and to contribute to the development of the internet ecosystem there,” said Martin Lau, Tencent President. 
 Tencent rival <keyword id="302749" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Alibaba">Alibaba</keyword> with affiliate <keyword id="2702533" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ant-Financial">Ant Financial</keyword> owns a huge stake in Paytm's e-commerce marketplace Paytm Mall and is debuting in India this year. 
 
eBay said in a statement that Flipkart will acquire eBay’s buyers in India and they will remove the number of active buyers in India when the acquisition is completed. eBay had disclosed a total 167 million global active buyers in the fourth quarter of 2016. 
 This fund raise will spell out the fate of Indian e-commerce market even though with this fund-raise Flipkart has become less of an Indian company. Registered in <keyword id="6356662" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Singapore">Singapore</keyword> and now boasting an array of foreign investors, the company is less 'Indian' than <keyword id="6354743" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-India">Amazon India</keyword> which is an Indian registered company.

Flipkart raises its biggest round at a lesser valuation and acquires eBay but is it enough to steer off Amazon?

The conservation and promotion of India’s art and cultural heritage aren't a national matter nor is it a big concern of the government. <keyword id="719465" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ayaan-Ali-Bangash">Ayaan Ali Bangash</keyword>, a known Sarod player thinks that Indian government is not needed for increasing popularity of Indian arts and culture,”It is very important to be connected to our roots but if you’re not able to capture the audience with your music, then you can’t blame any third party for not promoting your art.” 
 Very few corporate companies notably want to promote art and culture and <keyword id="28126" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="HCL">HCL</keyword>, foraying from it’s IT space, has been organizing HCL Concerts for over 18 years, dedicated to identifying, evolving and promoting talent rooted in the glorious heritage of Indian classical performing arts. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-ace-angel-investor-sanjay-mehtas-true-life-experiences-that-makes-his-investments-in-startups-fool-proof/articleshow/58061818.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: Ace Angel Investor Sanjay Mehta’s true-life experiences that make his investments in startups fool-proof</a> 
 
Concerts under the umbrella of HCL Concerts are organized regularly in Delhi NCR, Chennai and Lucknow across various venues throughout the year. These concerts are free to attend and are often enriched by the presence of luminaries in the field of Indian classical performing arts. 
 “You don’t know the kind of audience that your art will attract; Indian classical music is a sort of genre that sees a different kind of people and art has no space for clichés,” said <keyword id="6517626" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shubha-Mudgal">Shubha Mudgal</keyword>, who believes that HCL concerts have been marketed well to attract all kinds of people from all walks of life. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-an-angel-investor-whose-midas-touch-with-crypto-currency-is-redefining-the-future-of-start-up-investments/articleshow/58062121.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: An Angel investor whose Midas touch with Crypto-currency is redefining the future of start-up investments</a> 
 Over the years, HCL Concerts has evolved into a unique platform for the exceptionally talented veterans as well as upcoming artists – be it dancers, vocalists or instrumentalists. Over 400+ artists have graced this platform and have contributed towards reinvigorating the Indian classical performing arts. While there have been spellbinding performances by legends such as Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Pandit Vishwamohan Bhatt, HCL Concerts has also provided a platform for the rare genres of performing arts like Dhrupad, Rudra Veena, and <keyword id="4401683" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gaudiya-nritya">Gaudiya Nritya</keyword> to name a few. 
 
The recently concluded HCL concerts was a special one with it spanning over 3 days in Delhi NCR across Delhi, Gurgaon, and Noida. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/read-what-rohit-bansal-and-kunal-bahl-mailed-snapdeal-employees-amidst-flipkart-acquisition-speculations/articleshow/58108189.cms">ALSO READ: Read what Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl mailed Snapdeal employees amidst Flipkart acquisition speculations</a> 

	 Artists like <keyword id="1277440" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amaan-Ali-Bangash">Amaan Ali Bangash</keyword>, Ayaan Ali Bangash, Kaushiki Chakraborty, Niladri Kumar, Purbayan Chatterjee, Rakesh Chaurasia, Shubha Mudgal and many more notable one were a part of this concert series and they had very interesting insights about what works and doesn’t in the current scenario when it comes to Indian traditional music. 
	 
	Amaan Ali Bangash, who is a popular Sarod player said that the perception that Indian classical music isn’t cool,” Very few classical musicians appeal to the audience whether it is Indian or otherwise. You might like Jazz as a genre even if you like one artist. The key is to find the artist or instrument that inspires you in Indian classical music. I don’t agree that Indian classical music is dying.”

Indian Classical Music needs a platform to shine and the government isn’t it

Amidst speculations of acquisition by <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> gaining traction, <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> co-founders have emailed their employees to not fret about their jobs and upcoming appraisals. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-an-angel-investor-whose-midas-touch-with-crypto-currency-is-redefining-the-future-of-start-up-investments/articleshow/58062121.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: An Angel investor whose Midas touch with Crypto-currency is redefining the future of start-up investments</a> 
 <keyword id="219793" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kunal-Bahl">Kunal Bahl</keyword>, CEO &amp; Co-founder, Snapdeal emailed his employees on Sunday relaying that they acknowledge the speculations that are taking place but nothing will threaten the employees’ upcoming appraisal and that the appraisals will be better than the year before. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-ace-angel-investor-sanjay-mehtas-true-life-experiences-that-makes-his-investments-in-startups-fool-proof/articleshow/58061818.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: Ace Angel Investor Sanjay Mehta’s true-life experiences that make his investments in startups fool-proof</a> 
 
Read the entire mail below. 
 
- 
 
Dear Team, 
 
There has been a lot of media reporting and speculation around Snapdeal recently. 
 While our investors are driving the discussions around the way forward, I am reaching out to let you know that the well-being of the entire team is mine and <keyword id="714" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rohit">Rohit</keyword>'s top and only priority. We will do all that we can, and more, in working with our investors to ensure that there is no disruption in employment and that there are positive professional as well as financial outcomes for the team as the way forward becomes clear. Let me repeat, your well-being is our #1 priority. 
 
In the interim, the annual performance review process is nearly complete and you will the receive the salary revision and promotion letters (where applicable) over the next two weeks. Given the incredible progress we have made around our profitability journey as a company, the overall increments this year are higher than those offered last year. 
 
Please do feel free to reach out with your suggestions and concerns. Stay awesome! 
 
Thanks! 
 
Kunal &amp; Rohit

Read what Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl mailed Snapdeal
employees amidst Flipkart acquisition speculations

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-Commerce+">e-Commerce</a> companies <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> and <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> have invested around Rs 1.8 crore and funded the designer of board games MadRat for children. Sachin Bansal and <keyword id="6364080" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Binny-Bansal">Binny Bansal</keyword> of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Flipkart+">Flipkart</a> made their investment in November last year while Snapdeal's <keyword id="219793" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Kunal-Bahl">Kunal Bahl</keyword> and Rohit Bansal did that recently. 
 
"They (the other investors) started smiling when I told them both <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Snapdeal">Snapdeal</a> and Flipkart are participating. 'How did you manage that?' was their first question," <keyword id="2975978" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="MadRat-Games-Pvt-Ltd">MadRat Games Pvt Ltd</keyword> CEO Rajat Dhariwal told the Economic Times. 
 
Kunal Bahl and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Rohit+Bansal">Rohit Bansal</a> didn't have any issues over their competitors investing in the firm, said Dhariwal, an alumnus of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+Institute+of+Technology-Bombay+">Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay</a> and <keyword id="6421753" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Carnegie-Mellon-University">Carnegie Mellon University</keyword>. 
 Participants in the funding round of about $1 million (about Rs 6.2 crore) included the founders of IT outsourcing firm <keyword id="23555" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Globallogic">GlobalLogic</keyword> - Rajul Garg, Sanjay Singh, Manoj Agarwala and Tarun Upadhyay. Vikas Choudhury, promoter of <keyword id="2975485" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Pivot-Ventures">Pivot Ventures</keyword>, investment banker Sandeep Bordia and equity crowd funding site Globevestor have also put money into the company. 
 
"Innovation is at the heart of MadRat Games," said Binny Bansal, the single largest investor in the round. The company has Ravi Vora, CEO of the strategic brands group at Flipkart, on its board. 
 
Snapdeal declined to comment on the personal investments of the founders. 
 
According to Dhariwal, investors see potential in MadRat. "Everyone is building brands in-house. In the children category, I think the two companies see us as a top brand," he said. 
 
The company, which will launch a crowd funding campaign on Kickstarter in August as part of efforts to go global, is looking to compete with the likes of global giants Hasbro and Mattel. 
 
 Before setting up MadRat in 2010, Dhariwal taught kids for four years at <keyword id="2975487" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rishi-Valley-School-in-Andhra-Pradesh">Rishi Valley School in Andhra Pradesh</keyword> along with co-founder Madhumita Halder. Their experience showed them that children learn best when lessons are not forced down their throats. 
 
For instance, a jigsaw puzzle is usually discarded after being solved a few times. MadRat has sought to build on this, adding card games based on the pictures in the jigsaw or getting players to hunt for tiny characters hidden in the puzzle with a magnifying glass. 
 
Rajul Garg said: "What we found promising in MadRat was the team's sharp focus on becoming 'the' brand known for providing wholesome entertainment for kids." 
 
The games are priced between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 and are available in 400 stores in 10 cities — and on Flipkart and Snapdeal. The company said it has sold 60,000 units of the five games it launched in January. 
 
"Learning should be like osmosis. It should happen without them (kids) knowing about it," said Dhariwal. The market is large, with the Indian toy industry expected to expand to Rs 13,000 crore in 2015 from Rs 8,000 crore in 2013, according to a report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ASSOCHAM">ASSOCHAM</a>). 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Flipkart & Snapdeal in rat race! Both invest about Rs 1.8 crore in MadRat Games

<keyword id="2238518" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="LetsVenture">LetsVenture</keyword>, which was was founded in 2013 by Shanti Mohan and <keyword id="110507" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sanjay-Jha">Sanjay Jha</keyword>, is an online <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> platform that is redefining early-stage investing in India with a host of business world biggies like Infosys cofounder <keyword id="44604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nandan-Nilekani">Nandan Nilekani</keyword>, <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>'s Kunal Bahl, Wipro's Rishad Premji, Manipal Global Education's Mohandas Pai, Freshdesk's Girish Mathrubootham and Snapdeal cofounder Rohit Bansal among the other marquee individuals who pooled together an undisclosed investment. 
 
As per an industry report, 18 investors participated in the latest fund-raising exercise of LetsVenture, which includes Accel Partners, People Group's Anupam Mittal, Times Internet, Singapore Angels and IDG Ventures India. 
 
"Just like the last 10 years was about creating doctors and engineers, this decade will be about creating entrepreneurs. It's a foundational period now. I hope LetsVenture succeeds in this and I make money off that," Anupam Mittal told ET. 
 
Talking about the expansion plan, Shanti Mohan, CEO of LetsVenture, said that the funding marketplace will be using the money from the latest Series A funding round to bring in more investors on its board from across the globe. In 2014, LetsVenture raised Rs 4 crore from a group of 21 angel investors. 
 
According to Mohan, “LetsVenture has unlocked a new category of angel investors online-entrepreneurs-turned-investors, second-generation family businesses and global Indians who are actively looking for a trusted marketplace to discover high-quality” last year. 
 
Up until now, LetsVenture has 1,200 investors from 20 countries and has raised $17 million ( Rs 109.9 crore) for 53 startups, the business daily reported. It plans to double its team to 40 people by the end of the year. 
(Image: BCCL)

LetsVenture’s is getting its cash registers ringing with big money coming in!

<ul><li>Zynga’s <keyword id="205426" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mark-pincus" source="Orion">Mark Pincus</keyword>, Coda’s <keyword id="1749672" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shishir-mehrotra" source="Orion">Shishir Mehrotra</keyword> and serial entrepreneur <keyword id="12598127" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="elad-gil" source="Orion">Elad Gil</keyword> have invested an undisclosed amount in <keyword id="44033" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hike" source="Orion">Hike</keyword>.</li><li>The development comes after Hike raised capital from top angel investors, in August 2021, for the first time in five years.</li><li>Earlier this year, Hike decided to close down its flagship messaging app and focus on the gaming segment.</li></ul>Messaging platform and super app Hike, which shut down its core operations in January this year, has now raised capital from three marquee investors— Zynga’s Mark Pincus, Coda’s Shishir Mehrotra and serial entrepreneur Elad Gil. The transaction details of this deal remain undisclosed. The development was announced by Kavin Mittal, chief executive and founder of Hike, on Twitter. The development comes after Hike raised capital from top angel investors, in August 2021, for the first time in five years. Several big names like Tinder’s co-founders Justin Mateen and Sean Rad, SoftBank Vision Fund’s chief executive (CEO) Rajeev Misra, Tribe Capital’s Arjun Sethi, Zeta’s cofounder Bhavin Turakhia, Cred’s Kunal Shah, Snapdeal’s Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal and South Park Commons’ Aditya Agarwal participated in this round. Hike was founded in 2012 and was considered one of the fastest growing unicorns (company valued at or over $1 billion) back then. It was valued at <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/hike-raises-175mn-in-series-d-funding/articleshow/53720179.cms">$1.4 billion </a>during its last fundraise of $175 million in 2016 despite its inability to generate any revenue from operations. Earlier this year, Hike decided to <a href="https://m.economictimes.com/tech/technology/hike-shuts-down-hike-sticker-chat-to-pivot-to-other-social-products/articleshow/80328203.cms#:~:text=Kavin%20Bharti%20Mittal%2C%20CEO%20of,data%20from%20within%20the%20app.">close down </a>its flagship messaging app and focus on the gaming segment. “The rapid technological evolution over the last few years has paved the way for massive disruption in social and gaming. There’s little to separate these two categories. Gaming is now inherently social, evolving into a new way for people to hang out and interact in the virtual world,” Mittal said in August 2021. The company, in its previous press note, also mentioned that it will be looking to experiment with social and cryptocurrency. It also added that a part of the capital raised to expand its product strategy and hire across functions. It has a team of over 160 employees that are working across 50 cities in India. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/india-to-get-6g-by-2023-end-or-2024-indias-communications-minister-says-while-the-country-still-waits-for-5g-rollout/articleshow/87883592.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">India to get 6G by 2023 end or 2024, India’s communications minister says while the country still waits for 5G rollout</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/jio-is-slowing-down-in-the-race-to-500-million-subscribers/articleshow/87862415.cms" style="">Jio is slowing down in the race to 500 million subscribers – a goal set by none other than Mukesh Ambani</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/vodafone-idea-has-lost-nearly-a-billion-dollars-every-three-months-this-year/articleshow/87669146.cms" style="">Vodafone Idea has lost nearly a billion dollars every three months this year</a>

Kavin Mittal’s Hike bags another funding to experiment with gaming, crypto

<ul><li><keyword id="44033" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hike" source="Orion">Hike</keyword> had raised $175 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion in 2016.</li><li>The company was known as the fastest growing unicorn despite its inability to generate revenue through operations.</li><li>Earlier this year, Hike closed its flagship messenger to focus on the gaming segment.</li></ul>One-time messaging platform and super app Hike has raised funding for the first time in five years. This development comes almost eight months after the company decided to<a href="https://m.economictimes.com/tech/technology/hike-shuts-down-hike-sticker-chat-to-pivot-to-other-social-products/articleshow/80328203.cms#:~:text=Kavin%20Bharti%20Mittal%2C%20CEO%20of,data%20from%20within%20the%20app."> close down </a>its flagship messaging app and focus on the gaming segment. Several big names like Tinder’s co-founders Justin Mateen and Sean Rad, SoftBank Vision Fund’s chief executive (CEO) Rajeev Misra, Tribe Capital’s Arjun Sethi, Zeta’s cofounder Bhavin Turakhia, Cred’s Kunal Shah, Flipkart’s Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal and South Park Commons’ Aditya Agarwal participated in this round. The company did not disclose any financial details of the funding round. <keyword id="6567188" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kavin-bharti-mittal" source="Orion">Kavin Bharti Mittal</keyword>, founder and CEO of Hike, said, “The rapid technological evolution over the last few years has paved the way for massive disruption in social and gaming. There’s little to separate these two categories. Gaming is now inherently social, evolving into a new way for people to hang out and interact in the virtual world.” Hike will use this funding to expand its product strategy and hire across functions. The company has 25 open positions at the moment. It has a team of 160 employees that are working across 50 cities in India. The company will use this funding for its recently launched online gaming vertical Rush and said it will experiment in other domains like social and cryptocurrency. The company was founded in 2012 and was considered one of the fastest growing unicorns in the country. A unicorn, in startup parlance, is a company valued at or above $1 billion. Hike was valued at <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/hike-raises-175mn-in-series-d-funding/articleshow/53720179.cms">$1.4 billion </a>during its last fundraise of $175 million in 2016 despite its inability to generate any revenue from operations. <div type="image" title="Hike raises money for the first time in five years to experiment with crypto &amp;amp; gaming" msid="85588763" hostid="261"></div> The company had been trying to find ways to montinse its messaging app and even decided to launch a super app, combined with other services like digital wallet, ticket booking, e-commerce and more. However, it did not pay off. The company decided to shut off the messaging app in January 2021. Instead the company decided to focus on HikeLand, which is a virtual hangout zone launched by the company in June 2020. The company plans to generate revenue from Hikeland through in-app purchases. HikeLand is now rebranded as Vibe and would continue to offer interactive social media experience. Meanwhile, Rush is a mini games platform that offers casual games. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/khatabooks-valuation-touches-600-million-with-zero-revenue-to-show/articleshow/85586956.cms">Khatabook’s valuation touches $600 million with zero revenue to show </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/swiggy-sharechat-byjus-lead-the-funding-race-as-indian-startups-raised-6-5-billion-between-april-and-june/articleshow/85583697.cms">Swiggy, ShareChat, Byju’s lead the funding race as Indian startups raised $6.5 billion between April and June</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/ikea-products-would-now-be-even-cheaper-in-india/articleshow/85585775.cms">Ikea products would now be even cheaper in India</a>

Hike raises money for the first time in five years to experiment with crypto and gaming

The BPO and Aviation sector had ushered in a new kind of recruitment. It used to hire people in large numbers and the recruitment process used to be quick, thanks to the cut-throat competition and mushrooming of companies all across the country. Following the same suit, the new entrant is eCommerce startup. 
 
As per a news report by The Economic Times, the recruitment teams of startups and ecommerce firms consist of information technology specialists, analysts, marketing professionals and staffing heads who previously hired in large numbers for the BPO and aviation sectors. 
"Competition is so fierce that positions have to be closed in 3 weeks as compared to a turnaround time of three months in other industries. Diversity of profiles, sheer volume and pace is the challenge," Saurabh Nigam, VP (HR) of Snapdeal told the ET. 
 
Snapdeal, now four times the size it was a year ago in terms of staff strength, has a recruitment team which is divided according to profiles like technology, supply chain, and customer support. 
 
The tech recruitment team at Snapdeal has 35 employees who are former employees of companies like Microsoft and Adobe. 
Those from DHL and shipping companies look at supply chain openings and recruiters with BPO and KPO experience have been hired to take care of customer support posts. 
 
To ensure they remain motivated and hire the best candidate, some firms have even created special incentives for their recruitment teams. To encourage aggressive strategies, companies such as TinyOwl Technology and Knowlarity have decided to incentivise their recruitment team. 
 
Last quarter, TinyOwl announced that for every candidate placed exclusively by the team of 10, there will be monetary rewards over and above salary and variable pay. "In one quarter the turnaround time dropped by 25-30%. This will keep the firm motivated to work within the budget and get 300 more on board," Tanuj Khandelwal, co-founder told the financial daily. 
Online restaurant locator, Zomato for example, will hire 10 more recruiters to their team of 25, while ShopClues is looking forward to another six to seven appointments to add to their team of 10 and is exploring role enlargement and expansion for key performers, Sanjay Sethi, co-founder and CEO, said to the ET. 
 
"Our HR team is incentivised with quarterly incentive programmes based on hiring targets," he adds. The company is planning to double its staff strength from the current 700 to around 1,500 by March next year. 
 
Then there are others like Jombay who prefer their business leader to do the hiring and not depend on recruitment teams. "The business heads speak the language, they are the face of the teams and hire with support from staff," Mohit Gundecha, CEO and founder told the financial daily. 
 
In some cases, the bosses decide to get into the game. A third of Snapdeal's hiring is through social media with founder Kunal Bahl posting key openings through platforms like Twitter. 
 
(Image: Reuters)

​Ecommerce is competitive. Even when it comes to recruitment

The trailer of <keyword id="2499664" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shaandaar">Shaandaar</keyword>, Vikas Bahl’s upcoming movie, is collecting rare reviews ever since its release. The movie, which is about a destination wedding, stars Shahid Kapoor as Jagjinder Joginder and Alia Bhatt as Alia, along with Pankaj Kapoor, Sanah Kapoor, Sushma Seth, Sanjay Kapoor and others. 
 
Here is the trailer: 
 
 
 Destination weddings are always fun, given the mix of two cultures that one experiences. Here in, we have a look at some of the destination weddings that took place for real in <keyword id="143" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood">Bollywood</keyword>. 
 
1. Raveena Tandon 
The actress chose a palace hotel in Udaipur, situated at the banks of Pichchola Lake for her wedding to distributor Anil Thadani. 
 
2. Kunal Kapoor 
The swanky actor got married to Naina Bachchan (Amitabh Bachchan’s niece) in a beautiful beach wedding in Seychelles. 
 
3. Hrithik Roshan 
The Greek God married long-time girlfriend Sussanne Khan in Bengaluru, at Golden Palms resort, reportedly owned by Sussanne’s father Sanjay Khan. 
 
4. Celina Jaitley 
The blue-eyed beauty got married to Austrian hotelier Peter Haag in a 1000-year old monastery in Austria. 
 
5. Lara Dutta 
The actress got married to tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi in a beach wedding at Goa, at the luxurious Taj Aguada Hotel. 
 
6. Kalki Koechlin 
The Ooty-born actress chose her hometown, a perfect hill station in Southern India, as the place for exchanging vows with her husband Anurag Kashyap. 
 
7. Rani Mukerji 
Even though nothing much is known about the actress’s marriage to producer-director Aditya Chopra, we know that Italy is a beautiful place to get married.

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