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<ul><li>The reported acquisition of <keyword id="6434843" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="freshmenu">Freshmenu</keyword> could happen for $60 million. </li><li>Oyo and Freshmenu have a common investor – Lightspeed Venture Partners. </li><li>The hospitality unicorn has big dreams – it wants to become the world’s largest hotel chain in two years. </li></ul>Indian hospitality unicorn Oyo Rooms is <a href="https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/oyo-in-talks-to-acquire-freshmenu-for-60m/68104058">reportedly</a> looking at venturing into foodtech by acquiring cloud kitchen startup Freshmenu. The acquisition, which could be valued at $50-60 million according to ETtech, will mark Oyo’s entry in the food space. Freshmenu, as a cloud kitchen startup (accepts only online delivery), has its own kitchens and delivery. Since its launch in 2014, the startup has gone on to have over <a href="https://yourstory.com/2019/01/freshmenu-funding-lightspeed-ventures">27</a> kitchens across Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. In November, <a href="https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/startups/freshmenu-revenues-jump-72-to-rs-122-3-cr-even-as-losses-remain-flat-in-fy18/66868516">ETtech</a> reported that Freshmenu had seen a jump in its revenues to 72% at ₹122.3 crore in FY18 compared with ₹71 crore in FY17. Oyo and Freshmenu have a common investor – Lightspeed Venture Partners – and <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/oyo-rooms-may-invest-in-freshmenu-to-enter-food-delivery-business-3571111.html">reportedly</a>, it is Lightspeed that has brought the two startups together. Oyo Rooms has big ambitions – it wants to become the world’s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/former-indigo-chief-is-aiming-to-make-the-6-year-old-oyo-the-worlds-largest-hotel-chain/articleshow/67536612.cms">biggest</a> hotel chain in the next two years. Introducing F&amp;B services will help the hospitality chain to offer more to its consumers. Meanwhile, Freshmenu works with Zomato and Swiggy and receives most of its orders from the two platforms. The hospitality startup Oyo had turned into a unicorn in 2018 after it received a funding of $800 million at a valuation of $5 billion. It has also made a mark globally in China, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and is even considering entering the big league with its entry into the US markets. In China, it become one of the top 10 hotel chains in just one year of operations. “Globally, we have reached over 4,58,000 fully controlled leased and franchised keys (rooms) with a realised value run rate of $1.8 billion,” said its CFO Abhishek Gupta to <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/sme/oyo-grows-over-4x-on-year-to-1-8-billion-claims-adding-more-rooms-than-top-3-hotel-chains-combined/1480527/">Financial Express</a>. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/former-indigo-chief-is-aiming-to-make-the-6-year-old-oyo-the-worlds-largest-hotel-chain/articleshow/67536612.cms">A 6-year-old Indian startup wants to be world’s biggest hotel chain</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oyo-rooms-is-the-most-valuable-hotel-chain-in-south-asia-after-softbank-investment/articleshow/65964564.cms">OYO Rooms is the most valuable “hotel chain” in South Asia after Softbank investment</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/this-24-year-old-dropped-out-of-college-won-funding-from-peter-thiel-then-raised-480-million-for-his-startup/articleshow/65910683.cms">This 24-year-old dropped out of college, won funding from Peter Thiel, then raised $480 million for his startup</a>

Oyo wants a bite of foodtech, may acquire Freshmenu: Report

<ul><li>Established <keyword id="982553" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-startups">Indian startups</keyword> are looking at ways to expand their boundaries and are thus encroaching each other’s territories. </li><li>Investors too have been backing up these expansion plans. </li><li>So, it brings up the near possibility of a consolidated market in India.</li></ul>India has grown to be the world’s third largest startup ecosystem, with over 20 unicorns some of which have already established a global foothold. But as India’s number of startups keeps growing, there’s also another unique problem that exists - established startups are looking at ways to expand their boundaries and are thus encroaching each other’s territories. Most recently, <keyword id="6358977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="swiggy">Swiggy</keyword> made news for venturing into grocery delivery, a segment that has been dominated by startups like BigBasket and Grofers or even the delivery services startup Dunzo. Oyo is reportedly looking at entering the foodtech sector by acquisition of Freshmenu to offer more services to its customers. Paytm which has managed to stay in the news throughout last year for good and bad news, has already been experimenting by venturing into several different verticals like e-commerce (Paytm Mall), ticketing (giving competition to the likes of BookMyShow and MakeMyTrip), and of course, how can one ignore its big entry into the world of banks with the payments bank. So what’s making these startups force an entry into another’s territory? Vivek Durai, founder of paper.vc, a data platform for business intelligence and innovation, told Business Insider that one of the reasons could be simply laziness. “It means they did not have a well-thought out plan to achieve brand and product superiority in their growth vertical. It means that their financing rounds have involved significant amounts of introspection about their ability to sustain in a lead purely on the basis of their existing value proposition,” said Durai. But there’s a silver lining. Investors too have been backing up these expansion plans of startups, proving that these startups are showing space for growth beyond their current segment. And Durai says this is the other reason - an organic one. “The territories they enter are 'features' in a product roadmap and are logical next steps to deliver better value to customers which signals alignment,” he said. While startups might not be consciously encroaching into each other’s segments for growth, what it essentially boils down to is how they are planning their growth. Neha Singh, co-founder and CEO of data analytics platform Tracxn believes that it’s a product-oriented approach – whether these companies are focusing on a single offering or multiple. “In the US, companies are typically focussed on one particular product while Chinese companies have a different approach where they diversify much earlier. Which one is a better strategy is still an open debate especially when India has seen both sides of the coin,” said Singh. The choice between single strategy or multi-strategy approach has been seen in various Indian companies. “When you initially start with one product and then diversify, companies realise it’s difficult to handle and obviously, their burn increases. So while companies can meet with success on the multi-strategy approach, they might sometimes go through a heartbreak too,” said Singh. For example, a BookMyShow has essentially stuck to its basic offering of booking tickets, while a Paytm has diversified into multiple different segments. And there’s one lesson to learn – Paytm has the backing to burn cash. It remains to be seen what works out in the Indian market but with acquisitions and mergers heating up the Indian startup space, there strikes the pertinent question – is the Indian startup world headed towards consolidation? “Eventually, yes. But given that the market itself is evolving, growing slowly – the middle class is still too small compared to China. The need of the hour is to kickstart a production-based economy where Indians are able to spend more money simply because the Indian economy is benefiting from export income,” said Durai. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/paytm-takes-on-airbnb-makemytrip-oyorooms-and-trivago-with-its-latest-offer-hotel-bookings/articleshow/67755276.cms">Paytm is competing with almost everyone in Indian e-commerce</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oyo-rooms-eyeing-acquisition-of-freshmenu/articleshow/68112104.cms">Oyo wants a bite of foodtech, may acquire Freshmenu: Report</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/swiggy-and-bigbasket-will-battle-softbank-and-mukesh-ambani-in-online-grocery/articleshow/68204293.cms">Online grocers are back in business in India with billions more to burn – and that may be good for consumers</a>

Do Swiggy, OYO, and Paytm lack Silicon Valley’s planning and conviction?

<ul><li><keyword id="830092" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato">Zomato</keyword>'s latest feature 'On Time or Free’ offers users the chance to avail a full refund on the order if it’s late. </li><li>Zomato also rolled out a TV campaign on the same featuring South Indian star Vijay Devarakonda. </li><li>Restaurant owners and delivery partners won’t even be notified when an order falls under this category for them to follow the due course for every order.</li></ul>Remember Domino’s 30 minutes or free policy? Well, Zomato just rolled out a similar policy for all of its orders – promising a free order if it isn’t delivered within the time mentioned. If you are one of those who goes all out on Zomato chat support when your order is running late, you can now actually hope for your order runs late. Zomato's latest feature 'On Time or Free’ offers users the chance to avail a full refund on delayed orders. “Our presence across India allows us to serve millions of people every month and interact with them in multiple ways. These interactions have time and again proved that timely delivery is one of the main ingredients in rendering a great food experience to our users,” said Sandeep Anand, CMO- <keyword id="6376068" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="food-delivery">Food Delivery</keyword>, Zomato. Anand added that they have been working with partners on the backend to reduce the average delivery time. “We have designed this offering taking into consideration multiple order touchpoints and diverse food offerings on our platform,” he said. Users will have to click on this feature while placing an order to get the refund. However, in order to keep its restaurant partners and delivery executives happy, Zomato said that both parties won’t even be notified when an order falls under this category for them to follow the due course on every order. Zomato also rolled out a TV campaign on the same feature South Indian star Vijay Devarakonda. “When I heard about the concept behind ‘On-Time or Free’ I immediately resonated with it as a customer. I hope people enjoy availing it as much as I enjoyed bringing it to life with the Zomato team,” said Deverakonda. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zomato-may-reportedly-buy-ubereats-and-get-some-money-from-uber/articleshow/72734078.cms">Zomato may reportedly buy UberEats – and get some money from Uber</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/oyo-zomato-amazon-and-flipkart-are-in-trouble/articleshow/72235917.cms">Oyo, Zomato, Amazon, and Flipkart are chasing growth but the very foundation is shaking</a>

Zomato will now give you your order for free if it doesn’t reach on time

<ul><li><keyword id="6358977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="swiggy">Swiggy</keyword> delivered 1.5 million food orders in March only on cycles. </li><li>The maximum delivery partners in cycles were in Bangalore followed by Mumbai. </li><li>Swiggy is also piloting delivery through EVs. </li></ul>Indian delivery <keyword id="6362513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups">startups</keyword> have been taking a turn towards “green” delivery by switching to <keyword id="6354973" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="electric-vehicles">electric vehicles</keyword> and cycles. <keyword id="3105315" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Foodtech">Foodtech</keyword> unicorn Swiggy introduced food delivery on cycles in 2017, and it seems to have finally taken off now. Swiggy reported that in March it delivered 1.5 million food orders on cycles. In tier 2 and 3 cities like Surat, Belgaum, Guwahati and Lucknow over 20% of Swiggy’s delivery partners use cycles for delivery. In India, 10,000 delivery partners use cycles, with maximum cyclists in Bangalore followed by Mumbai. “A couple of years back, we initiated concerted efforts to make millions of our deliveries more sustainable for the environment. With close to 10,000 delivery partners on cycles each day, we have found that in some of our cities, the average travel time for a delivery partner on cycles is even lesser than bikes or scooters,” said Srivats TS, VP, Marketing, Swiggy. Swiggy’s competitor Zomato too had introduced delivery through bicycles in February 2019. According to <a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/zomato-enrols-bicycles-e-bikes-for-delivery-in-12-cities/">reports</a>, Zomato had partnered with startups like Mobycy, Yulu, Zoomcar’s PEDL among others to start the delivery service. The next mile of delivery For delivery startups, fast innovation is defining their stand in the industry. Swiggy is piloting the use of Electric Vehicles for its deliveries in 10 cities. Last year, Swiggy’s delivery partners in cities like Delhi and Lucknow carried out deliveries on e-rickshaws. The company’s official statement said that the adoption of EVs will reduce the running cost by 40%. Going one step ahead, Zomato had earlier <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/zomato-acquires-drone-delivery-startup-techeagle/article25671762.ece">acquired</a> drone startup TechEagle innovations. With this, the startup is reportedly testing delivery via drones. Meanwhile, logistics startup DOT which offers last mile delivery through e-vehicles has been ramping up its business and is also looking at a <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/logistics/logistics-startup-dot-eyes-rs-365-crore-revenue-in-fy20/article26356832.ece">revenue </a>of ₹360 crore by 2020. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/ubers-ipo-filing-in-the-us-cites-ola-zomato-and-swiggy-as-threats-to-its-india-business/articleshow/68882407.cms">Uber’s IPO filing in the US cites Ola, Zomato, and Swiggy as threats to its India business</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/from-swiggy-vs-bigbasket-to-paytm-vs-bookmyshow-indian-startups-are-growing-by-becoming-rivals/articleshow/68351389.cms">Do Swiggy, OYO, and Paytm lack Silicon Valley’s planning and conviction?</a>

Swiggy rides the green wave, delivers 1.5 million orders on cycles; electric vehicles are next

<ul><li>OYO, which already has 50 hotels in the US, has invested $300 million to expand its presence. </li><li>It will soon enter New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.</li><li>Softbank founder Masayoshi Son, who is one of the biggest backers of the startup, has said that OYO will be able to achieve its aim of being the world’s largest hotel network.</li></ul>Indian hospitality unicorn OYO is investing as much as $300 million to expand its footprint in the United States. The $5 billion company is already the largest network of hotels and rooms in South Asia, and the second largest in China. Now, it is looking to enter big markets like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It already has 50 hotels across 15 states in the US, with 350 employees. It is currently present in cities like Dallas, Houston, Augusta, Atlanta and Miami. “We are convinced there is unlimited potential for rapid growth in our newest home market, the United States,” said <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword>, Founder &amp; CEO of OYO. With its expansion in the US, OYO claims it has already created 1000 jobs. The six-year old startup has been eyeing international growth for over two years. OYO expanded its business in China in 2017, and it has paid off. China is now one of its biggest markets. These aggressive growth plans support OYO’s ambition to become the world’s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/former-indigo-chief-is-aiming-to-make-the-6-year-old-oyo-the-worlds-largest-hotel-chain/articleshow/67536612.cms">biggest</a> hotel chain. It is <a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/hospitality-unicorn-oyo-may-raise-1-bn-to-turn-decacorn/">reportedly</a> in talks to raise $1 billion to reach a valuation of $10 billion. And in this quest for global expansion, the company has the backing of big investors like the Japanese investment bank Softbank as well as Airbnb, which used to be a competitor in the hospitality until April 2019 when the Silicon Valley star decided to invest in OYO. Now, OYO is looking to spread its wings in the US which is one of the biggest markets for Airbnb. In a general shareholders meeting, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/oyo-may-become-largest-hotel-network-in-the-world-softbank-s-masayoshi-son-119062000123_1.html">said</a> that OYO will soon become the world’s largest hotel network. It was Softbank's investment that led OYO into the Indian unicorn club with a $5 billion valuation in September 2018, a huge jump from the $900 million valuation it had until then. In April 2019, it announced a partnership with Japan-based SoftBank Corp and the SoftBank Vision fund expansion in the country. It runs housing rental service called OYO Life in Japan currently. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/home-renting-giant-airbnb-invests-in-indian-unicorn-oyo-rooms/articleshow/68670636.cms">Airbnb picks up a stake in its Indian rival Oyo Rooms</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oyo-rooms-eyeing-acquisition-of-freshmenu/articleshow/68112104.cms">Oyo wants a bite of foodtech, may acquire Freshmenu: Report</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/former-indigo-chief-is-aiming-to-make-the-6-year-old-oyo-the-worlds-largest-hotel-chain/articleshow/67536612.cms">A 6-year-old Indian startup wants to be world’s biggest hotel chain</a>

OYO is making a march to the top US cities with $300 million and blessings from Softbank and Airbnb

<ul><li>Oyo launches a SOS button for its consumers. </li><li>The unicorn startup also has a trained Oyo Safety Response Team. </li><li>With a pilot project in Gurugram currently, the service will soon be available across 25 cities in India.</li></ul>Indian unicorn hospitality startup <keyword id="2550719" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-Rooms">Oyo Rooms</keyword> has <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/technology/report-oyo-launches-industry-first-in-app-sos-button-here-is-how-the-feature-works-2728644">launched </a>a SOS button for its users. The in-app SOS button will help users staying in Oyo hotels or partnership hotels to alert authorities during an emergency situation. The hospitality chain has also trained a 24x7 OYO Safety Response Team (SRT) which will be able to help consumers. The app will also initiate a call with local law enforcement authorities if the situation arises. A pilot of the SOS button has already been launched with Gurugram and will soon be made available in 25 cities. With increasing number of women and solo travellers in the country, the feature has been long due. “We believe that this will enable guests especially women and solo travellers to feel secure further encouraging travellers to travel to and within India," <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/technology/report-oyo-launches-industry-first-in-app-sos-button-here-is-how-the-feature-works-2728644">said</a> Aditya Ghosh, CEO - India and South Asia, OYO Hotels and Homes. Oyo, which is the largest hotel chain in South Asia, aims to be the world’s biggest hotel chain. “We will have one million rooms inventory into our fold in the near distant future. I think, it should happen in a year and a half,” Ghosh had told the news agency PTI on January 15. The company had recently raised $100 million from China’s ride-hailing <a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/chinas-didi-chuxing-invests-in-oyo-brings-billion-dollar-funding-round-to-a-close/">company</a> Didi Chuxing, in continuation with the $1 billion fund Oyo was raising. Oyo’s valuation stays at $5 billion. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/former-indigo-chief-is-aiming-to-make-the-6-year-old-oyo-the-worlds-largest-hotel-chain/articleshow/67536612.cms">A 6-Year-Old Indian Startup Wants To Be World’s Biggest Hotel Chain</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oyo-rooms-eyeing-acquisition-of-freshmenu/articleshow/68112104.cms">Oyo wants a bite of foodtech, may acquire Freshmenu: Report</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/solo-travel-in-india-rises/articleshow/67936872.cms">More Indians are travelling solo than ever before</a>

Oyo's new SOS button promises to make Indian hotels safer

<ul><li><keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> has announced a Joint Venture with <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Softbank">Softbank</keyword> Corp and Softbank Vision fund to launch <keyword id="7496028" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Oyo-Hotels-Japan">Oyo Hotels Japan</keyword>. </li><li>Softbank has been an investor in OYO since 2018.</li><li>OYO had recently announced its funding from Airbnb as well.</li></ul>Indian hospitality <keyword id="152045" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unicorn">unicorn</keyword> OYO has announced its partnership with Japan-based SoftBank Corp and the SoftBank Vision fund to expand its business in Japan. The new venture called Oyo Hotels Japan will be led by Prasun Chaudhary, one of OYO's founding members. OYO had recently announced its housing rental service in Japan called Oyo Life. The company’s official statement said that their business in Japan would “empower small and independent asset owners in Japan with its rapid transformation capabilities and integrated hotel / ryokan management system powered by advanced AI technology.” Softbank has been a loyal supporter of OYO. The Japanese investment firm has been one of OYO's investors since 2015. It was Softbank's investment that led OYO into the Indian unicorn club with a $5 billion valuation in September 2018, a huge jump from the $900 million valuation it had until then. OYO which had expanded its business in China in 2017 had already made China one of its biggest markets. Now, with its entry into Japan it aims to get closer to its dream of being the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/former-indigo-chief-is-aiming-to-make-the-6-year-old-oyo-the-worlds-largest-hotel-chain/articleshow/67536612.cms">world’s biggest hotel chain.</a> “OYO is already the most preferred brand in the budget to mid-segment hospitality space in several global markets, where our operational expertise in revenue management, and distribution, through both offline and online channels, has helped us gain significant momentum,” said <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword>, Group CEO &amp; Founder, OYO Hotels &amp; Homes. OYO had recently announced a strategic investment from global giant Airbnb. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/home-renting-giant-airbnb-invests-in-indian-unicorn-oyo-rooms/articleshow/68670636.cms">Airbnb picks up a stake in its Indian rival Oyo Rooms</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oyo-rooms-eyeing-acquisition-of-freshmenu/articleshow/68112104.cms">Oyo wants a bite of foodtech, may acquire Freshmenu: Report</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/former-indigo-chief-is-aiming-to-make-the-6-year-old-oyo-the-worlds-largest-hotel-chain/articleshow/67536612.cms">A 6-year-old Indian startup wants to be world’s biggest hotel chain</a>

OYO partners with Softbank to create a joint venture for its Japan business

<ul><li>The CAIT is seeking probe and has alleged that <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> and <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> are avoiding a tax liability. </li><li>Meanwhile, <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword>’s troubles continue with hotel owners alleging unethical practices followed by the company. </li><li>Following the <keyword id="92417" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="NRAI">NRAI</keyword>’s path, the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR), which has 8,000 members nationally is also claiming to have logged out of <keyword id="830092" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato">Zomato</keyword>. </li></ul>India’s biggest startups have been solving its systemic problems to build businesses. But the system has now started revolting and it could be another trouble that they have to solve. Startups like Oyo, Zomato, Amazon, Flipkart which have all disrupted traditional setup are now facing challenges that come with overtaking a market. Here’s a look at how trouble is brewing for the companies. Amazon and Flipkart Amazon and Flipkart are united in a rare case – where they both are facing a protest from the Confederation Of All India <keyword id="6371444" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="traders">Traders</keyword> (CAIT). While trader protests have been a part of the e-commerce journey so far in India, it has intensified with the CAIT now seeking a <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/cait-seeks-probe-into-alleged-avoidance-of-tax-liability-by-amazon-flipkart-11574620469832.html">probe </a>against Amazon and Flipkart. The CAIT alleged that Amazon and Flipkart are evading tax. It said that the companies are selling products for much lower than their fair price value, thus avoiding a larger GST cost. “Since FDI is governed by the FEMA and the Reserve Bank of India, it is demanded that an another enquiry may also be initiated on pattern of receivable funding and its disbursement," CAIT <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/cait-seeks-probe-into-alleged-avoidance-of-tax-liability-by-amazon-flipkart-11574620469832.html">said.</a> Earlier, the CAIT also organised a nationwide protest against the deep discounting of products on Amazon and Flipkart. OYO OYO brought Indian budget hotels online and shot to fame thanks to its many customers. But hotel owners who they work with are alleging that OYO’s practices are unethical. Recently, a Bengaluru hotelier filed a cheating case against Agarwal and six others claiming that the OYO hasn’t paid him his dues. According to the complaint, OYO was supposed to pay ₹7 lakh a month for room bookings but failed to do so since May 2019. OYO responded stating that it would fight back with a complaint against the hotelier for "using improper legal means to sensationalise a civil dispute and get attention". “This matter is currently sub-judice, and we are not at the liberty of commenting on specifics. Having said that, we strongly refute the claims made in the complaint that has been wrongfully filed against our founder and six other office bearers, based on false allegations and exaggeration on a regular commercial dispute,” the company said in a statement. The case of the Bengaluru hotelier is not isolated. Similar reports have surfaced from across the country against <a href="https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/why-many-hotel-owners-across-india-are-agitated-oyos-business-model-106154">OYO</a>. Zomato Indian foodtech unicorn has had a rough few months thanks to one of its bestselling features – Zomato Gold. The National Restaurant Association of India protested against the feature saying that Zomato advertised the ‘elite’ feature which turned out to be a mass product. This resulted in thousands of restaurateurs logging out of Zomato. The foodtech aggregator had shut down the logout movement by not offering discounts for its gold membership. However, it also extended the service for home delivery, where users could avail the 1+1 and 2+2 offers. Now, following the NRAI’s path, the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/hotels-/-restaurants/8000-strong-hotels-body-to-shun-zomato-gold-delivery/articleshow/72215761.cms">(AHAR)</a>, which has 8,000 members nationally is also claiming to have logged out of Zomato because of Gold on delivery and other issues like unavailability of delivery executives.

Oyo, Zomato, Amazon, and Flipkart are chasing growth but the very foundation is shaking

<ul><li>LinkedIn ranked companies that are chased by Indians to work with and stay for longer once onboard — and Flipkart tops the list. </li><li>The report assessed members on four parameters — interest in the company, engagement with the company’s employees, job demand and employee retention. </li><li>Internet companies including Amazon, Zomato, Ola and Alphabet have been dominating the top spots.</li></ul>Technology and Internet companies continue to dominate the top places to work in India, according to the latest annual Linkedin survey ranking Indian companies. While e-commerce giant Flipkart jumped to the first position from second last year, several other homegrown giants — Zomato, Swiggy and Freshworks — featured prominently among the top 25 companies preferred by Indian professionals.. Given that more millennials and even GenZ are now joining the workforce, Indian companies appear to be paying increasing attention to work culture in addition to offering better wages and exposure to the most sought-after skills. The report analysed over 610 million LinkedIn members, gauging job seekers’ interest in the company, employee engagement, job demands, and employee retention. Here are the top 25 companies <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-companies-2019-where-india-wants-work-now-editors-india-/?published=t">ranked</a> by the company. 1. Flipkart (Walmart) Walmart-owned e-commerce company Flipkart gave rise to many millionaires after its acquisition. The e-commerce giant, which has a headcount of over 13,000 employees in India, has been ranked first by job seekers. In fact, according to a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/in-india-flipkart-tops-the-fairness-quotient-for-gig-economy-workers-report/articleshow/68593359.cms">recent report on gig economy platforms</a>, in terms of working conditions, Flipkart topped the charts. 2. Amazon Even as the new e-commerce norms come into effect in India, global retail giant Amazon, has still been on a hiring spree in India with nearly 1,950 job postings, as on April 2. Presently, the company has 50,000 employees in India. It competes neck and neck with rival Flipkart, and has recently made a foray into offline segment as well, setting up <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/amazon-plans-to-open-over-100-kiosks-across-malls-in-india-report/articleshow/68579967.cms">kiosks in malls</a>. 3. OYO Hotel chain Oyo has been diversifying beyond its flagship hospitality business. Its latest acquisition of Innov8 mark its entry into the food market and co-working space. The company is also in talks to acquire FreshMenu. As a long term goal, the hotel chain is aiming to overtake Marriott, five years down the line. It has 7,000 employees in India, according to LinkedIn. 4. One97 Communications (Paytm) One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, ranks fourth on the list. It boasts of flexible and informal work culture, and has apparently removed restrictions on blocking calendars, encouraging impromptu meetings. 5. Uber With a more sustainable approach, Uber aims to put 1 million green cars on Indian roads by 2022.The ride-hailing firm Uber has a headcount of 1,700 employees. The company is reportedly planning to double the new hires in the products and engineering domain. 6. Swiggy Food aggregator Swiggy, a recent entrant to India’s unicorn club, has been hiring in the areas of sales, operations and business development. The company, which has 6,000 people onboard in India presently, is also reportedly planning to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/swiggy-in-talks-to-acquire-ubereats-india-operations/articleshow/68110377.cms">diversify</a>. 7. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) India’s largest IT services company, TCS, has grown four-fold since 2007. The company has been increasingly hiring fresh graduates via <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/wipro-campus-placements-to-double/articleshow/67719782.cms">campus placements</a>, and added nearly 27,000 employees last year. 8. Zomato The food-tech unicorn, which claims to cater nearly 21 million monthly orders, is also a top employer. Its hiring has focused primarily on skills including AutoCAD, employee engagement and web content writing. 9. Alphabet (Google) Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has gravitated back to elite campus hires after two consecutive non-hiring years. The company is reportedly actively looking for engineering, machine learning, algorithms and media &amp; communication candidates. 10. Reliance Industries With Jio sweeping the Internet market and disrupting the telecom space in India, Reliance Industries has claimed the 10th position. Among its employee perks is a 24*7 assistance to an employee’s family in case of emergencies like road accidents and fire. 11. EY The company has a strength of 42,000 in India. Focussing on digital transformation, the company plans to hire 2,000 new professionals across AI, blockchain and analytics domain. 12. Adobe To keep its employees happy, the company lets its employees set aside 25% of their earned salary for stock purchase at discounted rates twice in a year. 13. <keyword id="136162" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Boston-Consulting-Group">Boston Consulting Group</keyword> (BCG) With more people interested in offshore placements, this comes as a benefit to its employees, the company offers over 25% to work outside their native country at least once a year. Recently, the company hired fresh <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/accenture-bcg-dominate-campus-placements-at-business-schools-in-india/articleshow/68045145.cms">MBA graduates</a> from India’s elite colleges — including IIMs. 14. YES Bank As it plans to expand its footprint in India over the next two years, the company is aggressively looking to hire PDS beneficiaries, along with automating the loan approvals to ease the process. 15. IBM The company has a headcount of over 100,000 in India with maximum hires taking place in the engineering, Information Technology and Consulting domain. The company is also considering cascading style sheets (CSS), HTML, jQuery skills. 16. Daimler AG Breaking the monotony, the automotive company plans to come up with 52 new products in 2019. The fastest-growing skills in the company are MySQL, Javascript and Python. 17. Freshworks Here’s a company that has an eye for alternate talent at work. The company, for instance, is open for engineering hires who are social or full time musicians. Most of the new hires in the company have been from sales, engineering and product management. 18. Accenture Accenture has been one of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/accenture-bcg-dominate-campus-placements-at-business-schools-in-india/articleshow/68045145.cms">top employers</a> in the engineering domain. To retain talent, the company allows sabbaticals providing them with the opportunity for higher education. Also, employee benefits for women include an hour off during workdays to look after their children below the age of 15 years. 19. Ola The cab aggregator is focussing on bringing green cars to the Indian market. Most of the new hires in the company are for engineering, operations and business development skills. However, being a cab service provider, the company has seen demand for skills including automotive design. 20. ICICI Bank Breaking the stereotypes, India’s second largest private bank looks to cut hierarchy system to boost accountability and efficiency in the bank. Digital marketing and engineering have emerged as top skills. 21. PwC India Management consulting firm, PwC India, the company welcomes employees from not just accounts and taxation background but diverse fields such as journalists, environmentalists and design thinkers among others. 22. KPMG India One of the largest accounting firms in India, KPMG has been offering overseas assignments to nearly 3,000 employees across 100 countries in order to keep the attrition rate minimum. Accounting and consulting have been the most in-demand skills for the company while looking to hire new talent. 23. Larsen &amp; Toubro Keeping the right gender balance, the engineering conglomerate claims to have male female remuneration ratio at 1:1. The construction company has also been hiring skills such as Python coding and financial services. 24. Oracle India is Oracle’s sixth largest market in data management space. The company is looking to hire IT and engineering skills, as it plans to open its first data centre in India. 25. Qualcomm As the company eyes Indian markets, it will create 10,000 jobs in the country by establishing its largest facility outside the US, according to the <keyword id="4894774" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="linkedin-report">LinkedIn report</keyword>.

Here are the 25 most popular workplaces in India, according to LinkedIn

<ul><li>Big Indian startups have been in the public eye for many controversies thanks to the concerns raised by various <keyword id="946463" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="industry-bodies">industry bodies</keyword>. </li><li>From ban on sales to stopping discounts, industry bodies have picked a fight against startups. </li><li><keyword id="830092" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato">Zomato</keyword>, Oyo, Flipkart and Amazon have all been affected by the same. </li></ul>Indian startups have a growing problem at home – industry bodies from different sectors are now up in arms against discounts and deals. From Zomato and Oyo to Flipkart and even the global retail giant Amazon is caught in a fight. Here’s a look at all that’s gone down between industry bodies and startups in just the last month. Restaurants vs online aggregators All seemed to be going well between Indian restaurateurs and online aggregators until last month. The National Restaurant Association of India, which has over 500,000 outlets as members, woke up to the many deals presented by the likes of Zomato, <keyword id="6358977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="swiggy">Swiggy</keyword>, EazyDiner, Dineout etc., and said that the excessive discounts offered by the delivery apps are throttling their businesses. Zomato bore the brunt of the restaurants’ ire – from the logout movement to social media uproar from hoteliers It had also faced protests from its delivery executives, who were not happy with the pay cuts from the aggregator. The foodtech unicorn paused on its Infinity Dining feature and curtailed the Zomato Gold program but the restaurants remain animus towards the firm. Despite many attempts to thaw in the frosty relationship there is no resolution yet for Zomato and Swiggy. Hotel associations against Oyo Oyo Hotels &amp; Homes in the past few years has grown at a rapid pace to have its signboard up in every big city, and many small towns-- adding up to 270,000 rooms across the country. But in its fast acquisition of buildings and hotels, some traditional hoteliers have raised concerns about ‘illegal practices’. Oyo is battling legal complaints from a Bengaluru-based hotelier accusing Ritesh Agarwal, the founder, of cheating and breach of trust. A month ago, hoteliers too began boycotting Oyo but the Delhi High Court ruled the case in favour of the $5 billion startup. The good ol’ e-commerce fight Indian e-commerce has long been in the eye of public dissent from industry bodies. The likes of Flipkart and Amazon were the first to be hit because of their deep discounting which allows them to acquire customers faster. With the festive season around the corner, Flipkart and Amazon both have massive sales coming up. Flipkart is in fact getting ready with its annual sale – The Big Billion Day Sale. However, now the Confederation of All India Traders is demanding a <a href="https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/e-commerce/e-tailing/ahead-of-diwali-sale-cait-says-ecomm-giants-flouting-rules/71167595">ban </a>on these sales. The CAIT is an industry body for over 7 crore traders. The body has alleged that the two e-commerce giants are violating the Foreign Direct Investment rules with their massive ad campaigns. It has also written to Union Minister Piyush Goyal regarding the same.

India’s biggest startups are faced with growing resistance from industry bodies

<ul><li>The logistics tech startup has raised $395 million with a renewed valuation of $1.6 billion. </li><li>SoftBank has reportedly picked up a stake of 22.4% in the company. </li><li>Other investors include Carlyle Group and Fosun International. </li></ul>After months of speculation, logistics tech startup Delhivery has finally joined the <keyword id="3009432" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="unicorn-club">unicorn club</keyword> after raising $395 million from <a href="https://www.vccircle.com/softbank-carlyle-invest-395-mn-as-delhivery-joins-unicorn-club/">SoftBank</a>. The latest round of funding takes Delhivery’s valuation to $1.6 billion. Last week, the company and its investors made headlines after SoftBank received the approval from Competition Commission of India to take hold of 22.4% stake in Delhivery. Other investors in the round include US-based private equity firm Carlyle Group and Chinese conglomerate Fosun International. Delhivery also has Tiger Global, Nexus Venture Partners and and Times Internet as its investors. SoftBank-Delhivery talks had been going on since <a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/softbank-may-invest-245-mn-to-lead-delhivery-to-unicorn-club/">last year</a>, with a lot of back-and-forth between the duo regarding the stakes in the company. Delhivery had also been contemplating an Initial Public Offering, which will now be put on hold with the new investment. The logistics solutions company founded by Sahil Barua, Mohit Tandon, Suraj Saharan, Kapil Bharti and Bhavesh Manglani, had managed to create a stronghold in India with its partnership with e-commerce unicorns like Flipkart and Paytm among others. Japan-based SoftBank has a strong presence in India with investments in multiple unicorns and startups in the country. The SoftBank Vision Fund concentrates on Indian startups, with the firm having earlier said they had missed the bus on many Indian startups because of not having an India office. “Investors like Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and DST Global spotted these companies at the right time. We were a tourist investor. So opening an office lets us handhold our companies closely. We missed them before they became unicorns, which we did not with Oyo and Policybazaar. We want to put $100 million when these companies are valued at $500 million,” SoftBank executive VP Rajeev Misra had told <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/missed-many-unicorns-as-we-were-tourist-investors-softbank/articleshow/68089128.cms">ET.</a> See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/swiggy-and-bigbasket-will-battle-softbank-and-mukesh-ambani-in-online-grocery/articleshow/68204293.cms">Online grocers are back in business in India with billions more to burn – and that may be good for consumers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oyo-rooms-eyeing-acquisition-of-freshmenu/articleshow/68112104.cms">Oyo wants a bite of foodtech, may acquire Freshmenu: Report</a>

Delhivery becomes India’s first unicorn in 2019, thanks to SoftBank

<ul><li>Paytm now offers hotel booking with its acquisition of NightStay. </li><li>Earlier in January, Paytm had announced its entry into food delivery. </li><li>It already operates in the ticketing business with Paytm Movies, e-commerce sector with Paytm Mall.</li></ul>Paytm is one of the frontrunners of Indian startups and a leader in the digital payments in India. But it’s also competing head-on with almost every other business in the e-commerce space. In the last one month, the company has entered two new major segments – hotel booking and food delivery. On January 30, Paytm announced the acquisition of <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/paytm-enters-hotel-booking-business-buys-nightstay/articleshow/67748857.cms">NightStay</a>, a four-year platform which helps users book hotel rooms and offers last minute deals. While MakeMyTrip and Oyo Rooms have been dominating the <keyword id="864750" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hotel-bookings">hotel bookings</keyword> space, the recent acquisition of NightStay will help Paytm become a one-stop shop for its over 230 million users and the potential ones. Paytm already competes with MakeMyTrip in offering flight and train tickets. Vijay Shekhar Sharma took on BookMyShow when Paytm started selling movie tickets in 2016. <a href="https://techcircle.vccircle.com/2018/10/30/kept-on-its-toes-by-paytm-bookmyshow-slips-deeper-into-the-red-in-fy18">BookMyShow</a> revenue growth dropped to 27% in 2016-17 from 85% a year earlier. Earlier in January, Paytm had also announced its<a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/paytm-joins-hands-with-zomato-to-offer-in-app-food-delivery-service/story/310921.html"> partnership</a> with foodtech unicorn Zomato to enter the food delivery segment and take on rival Swiggy. With the Paytm Mall, the company has a foot in online retail- from apparels and accessories to electronics, footwear, and fitness equipments to name a few. However, its success has been limited. Even with massive cashbacks and discounts, Paytm Mall had not been able to make an impact yet with reports reflecting that the company’s losses went up by <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/paytms-parent-company-one97-communications-widens-net-loss-to-rs-1490-4-cr/articleshow/66402994.cms">270%</a> last year mainly because of its e-retail arm. The <keyword id="1705292" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-e-commerce">Indian e-commerce</keyword> segment is already crowded with Amazon and Walmart fighting it out, and now, Reliance Industries also planning to enter the market. While there were rumours of the company planning to scale down its e-commerce operations, founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma had told <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/paytm-has-no-plans-to-leave-mall-business-vijay-shekhar-sharma/articleshow/67681312.cms">ET</a> that “it has no plans to leave the mall business”. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/amazon-walmart-owned-flipkart-set-back-by-new-e-commerce-rules-that-help-mukesh-ambanis-reliance-retail/articleshow/67751026.cms">Mukesh Ambani may be the surprising winner from India's new rules hurting Amazon and Walmart</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indias-new-e-commerce-policy-has-rivals-flipkart-and-amazon-teaming-up-to-counter-the-new-directive-and-the-republic-day-sale-will-probably-be-their-last/articleshow/67366996.cms">India’s new e-commerce policy has rivals Flipkart and Amazon teaming up to counter the new directive — and the ‘Republic Day’ sale will probably be their last</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/in-india-amazons-fight-is-not-just-with-flipkart-but-with-paytm-google-pay-and-truecaller/articleshow/67456165.cms">In India, Amazon's fight is not just with Flipkart, but with PayTM, Google Pay and Truecaller</a>

Paytm is competing with almost everyone in Indian e-commerce

In today’s Internet age, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Social-is-dead-What-146-startup-pitches-showed-me-about-the-next-wave-of-tech-companies/articleshow/48690592.cms">Indian start ups</a> are focussing largely on the needs of aam admi. Be it affordable food to budget hotel rooms and the availability of day-to-day products at affordable rates, start ups have brought about a drastic change in the middle-class lifestyle. Seeing this trend, even venture capital investors have tweaked their funding strategies. 
 
Take for instance Orios Venture Partners, which is planning to invest in companies that cater to this vast demographic. 
 
Besides these factors, the growth of the startups will also be driven by 200-300 million people who will be ready to shop online in next 2-3 years due to easy access to smartphone and reasonable data charges. 
 
"It's not just about the 70-80 million of the Indian population that are currently online. It's about the 200-300 million strong middle-class population that will be (online) in two-three years and will need a slew of products built for them," Rehan Yar Khan, general partner at Orios Venture, told The Economic Times. 
Indian venture capital firms are getting inspired by Chinese and the US startups that cater to the mass market. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Heres-how-the-investors-and-startups-are-arguing-over-valuation/articleshow/48681008.cms">Startups</a> such as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=oyo">OYO Rooms</a> and Zo Rooms offer budget hotel stays beginning at less than Rs 1,000 a night, and food-tech venture Yumist offers meals at less than Rs 100. 
 
Orios, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Matrix+Partners+">Matrix Partners</a> India and Lightspeed Venture Partners are already injecting money in startups that serve a broader demographic than just the affluent urban population, seeking investment opportunities in sectors as diverse as bus aggregators, loan providers, online used two-wheeler retailers and refurbishment startups. 
 
"Entrepreneurs have begun to understand the Indian online audience, and if you want to build a large company, you have to offer a product that caters to every single consumer segment," Tarun Davda, director at Matrix Partners, told the financial daily. 
Orios has backed food-tech venture Yumist, which began operations in October, and online accommodation marketplace Zo Rooms that launched this year. In June, Matrix Partners led a $6-million series-A round of funding in affordable hotel chain Treebo that started operationing in March. 
 
While such business models are still evolving, investors nonetheless want to pick stakes early to avail benefits of lower valuations, as well as to be among the first to back potential winners in various categories. 
 
(Image: India Times) 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Top-10-Indian-cities-to-launch-your-startup/articleshow/48683673.cms">Also Read: Top 10 cities to launch your start ups</a>

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