<ul><li>An <keyword id="9292225" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="iit-roorkee-student-shivank-agarwal">IIT Roorkee student Shivank Agarwal</keyword> has reportedly built an app called <keyword id="9292226" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mitron-TV">Mitron TV</keyword> and it now has over 5 million downloads in just one month of its launch. </li><li>The short video platform made in India has a 4.7 star rating on Google Play store. This comes at a time when the popular video platform it is a copy of – <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword> has a rating of 1.4 star. </li><li>Deepak Abbot, co-founder of Flat White Capital and former Sr Vice President at Paytm called the word “Mitron” the growth hack for the app. </li></ul>There was a time when memers in India looked forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi beginning his speeches with the word “Mitron”. Such is the popularity of the word and the love of Indians for TikTok, that an IIT Roorkee student <a href="https://www.techradar.com/in/news/mitron-app-gives-tiktok-a-challenge-will-it-sustain-though">Shivank Agarwal</a> has reportedly built an app called Mitron TV and it now has over 5 million downloads in just one month of its launch. Deepak Abbot, co-founder of Flat White Capital and former Sr Vice President at Paytm called the word “Mitron” the growth hack for the app. <div type="twitter" handle="deepakabbot" handlename="deepakabbot" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1197371543287816192/pYK77Tn7_normal.jpg" favoritecount="4207" retweetcount="1517" status="IIT Roorkee student has quietly released a Tiktok clone called “Mitron TV” a month back and it has not only achieve… https://t.co/txNOVkL4nO" createdat="1590413529000" id="1264912138826584066"></div> The short video platform made in India has a 4.7 star rating on Google Play store. This comes at a time when the popular video platform it is a copy of – TikTok has a rating of 1.4 star, because of several factors including the fact that it is a Chinese app. TikTok’s rating took another beating <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/tiktok-gogole-play-ratings-fall-to-1-3-stars-after-4-million-comments/articleshow/75842653.cms">after the YouTube vs TikTok fight</a>. But Mitron is not the only app reaping from the benefits from the fall of TikTok. Another content platform Bolo Indya is now claiming to be a “Made in India brand for all creative minds and content creators, especially those who want to ‘go local’” aligning itself with PM Modi’s ‘Atma Nirbharta’ (self reliance) initiative. The app is also building on TikTok’s fall and has witnessed a three-fold increase in its daily downloads in the last 10 days. “Bolo Indya has received over 300 emails by the users on its support to provide users the features like Tiktok and be used by them as an Indian app for creating short videos (majorly allowing 15 sec videos, background music and in-app camera),” said the company. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/mukesh-ambani-youngest-son-anant-ambani-joins-reliance-jio-as-director/articleshow/75996072.cms">Mukesh Ambani’s youngest son Anant Ambani who said “Reliance meri jaan hai” joins Jio Platforms as Director</a>

IIT Roorkee student’s TikTok clone app Mitron TV is riding high in downloads because of its association with PM Modi’s favourite word

<ul><li>Earlier, the user only had options to pay through credit or debit cards. </li><li>The app major said using UPI users can now purchase monthly or quarterly prepaid subscriptions for <keyword id="10879" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="YouTube">YouTube</keyword> Premium and YouTube Music Premium.</li></ul>The video-sharing giant YouTube added a new UPI feature for users to pay and access its premium content on video sharing and music platforms. Earlier, users had to pay via credit or debit cards and the introduction of UPI will bring convenience. “This will enable users to make their transactions, directly from their bank account, using their unique UPI ID,” said a statement from Youtube. <div type="image" title="Youtube UPI" msid="75156390" hostid="261"></div> The app major said using UPI users can now purchase monthly or quarterly prepaid subscriptions for YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium. They can also buy and rent their favourite movies, and pay for premium features like SuperChat and Channel Memberships to engage with and support their favourite YouTube creators. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="75151960" title="Capgemini India, Cognizant and others who are giving salary hikes in times of Coronavirus" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> A large number of Indian prefer UPI over debit cards The UPI is an immediate real-time payment system developed by the <keyword id="6383340" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="national-payments-corporation-of-india">National Payments Corporation of India</keyword> (NCPI). It was introduced in April 2016 as a pilot project and is regulated by the <keyword id="6354335" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> (RBI). <keyword id="2736678" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unified-payments-interface">Unified Payments Interface</keyword> or UPI, is one of the most popular payment systems in India. Apart from banking apps, there are several popular third-party apps like PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm and Amazon, that support UPI. According to the Reserve <keyword id="6355303" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="bank-of-india">Bank of India</keyword>’s annual report, UPI recorded 1.2 times higher transactions in 2018-19 than the transaction done via debit cards. The report noted that there were as many as 5.35 billion UPI-based transactions, compared to 4.41 billion debit card payments. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/tcs-cognizant-capgemini-and-other-top-giants-who-are-not-letting-go-of-their-new-hires/articleshow/75136446.cms">TCS, Cognizant, Capgemini and other top giants who are not letting go of their new hires</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/accenture-launches-people-work-connect-to-help-fired-employees-find-jobs/articleshow/75144624.cms">Accenture launches People+ Work connect to help fired employees find jobs</a>

Youtube allows payments via UPI to access its premium content

<ul><li>The Sanjiv Goenka-led RPSG group has bagged the Lucknow franchise of the IPL.</li><li>Goenka is happy about the purchase and confident that the investment will be profitable.</li><li>Here’s everything you need to know about the Kolkata-based business tycoon.</li></ul>The Sanjiv Goenka-led RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG) has bagged the new Lucknow franchise in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) for a whopping ₹7,090 crore – close to a billion dollars – marking a return for the company to the world's biggest T20 league. The RPSG group was founded by <keyword id="6355523" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sanjiv-goenka" source="Orion">Sanjiv Goenka</keyword> in 2011, after RPG Enterprises, founded by his father Rama Prasad Goenka, was divided between Sanjiv and Harsh Goenka. The RPSG group is a Kolkata-based conglomerate and its major businesses include CESC, a power generation and distribution company, the 120-year-old music company Saregama and the recently launched snacks brand Too Yumm! The company also operates Spencer’s retail chain, Nature’s Basket, Woodlands Hospital, Harrisons Malayalam and several other companies, making it a total of 22 companies. According to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/sanjiv-goenka/?sh=541d14966301">Forbes</a>, Sanjiv Goenka has a net worth of $2.7B (approx. ₹20,250 crore). The RPSG group reported a revenue of ₹26,634 crore as on March 31, 2021 and has assets worth over ₹47,000 crore. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Goenka’s love for sports" comment="subhead" text="Goenka’s love for sports">Goenka’s love for sports</cmsannotation> For Sanjiv Goenka, winning the bid for Lucknow may not be just an investment. Goenka’s love for sports is evident from his other ventures as well. <div type="image" title="E5E3B7AD-FE67-4B15-87BE-3FE36E975B49" msid="87277605" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Sanjiv Goenka with Robbie Keane.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Sanjiv Goenka holds a stake in the ATK Mohun Bagan football club, which is a part of the Indian Super League (ISL). Sourav Ganguly, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is also a co-owner of the ATK Mohun Bagan. The group is also involved in table tennis and owns the RPSG Mavericks Kolkata, which is part of India’s biggest table tennis league, the Ultimate Table Tennis League. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Sanjiv Goenka’s second stint in IPL" comment="subhead" text="Sanjiv Goenka’s second stint in IPL">Sanjiv Goenka’s second stint in IPL</cmsannotation> <div type="image" title="4A1F6760-2CCE-41A2-A1E1-4D8BDC7B4640" msid="87277431" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Sanjiv Goenka in Rising Pune Super Giants jersey.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG is no stranger to the Indian Premier League – it had a two-year stint in the IPL after it bagged the Rising Pune Supergiant franchise for IPL 2016 and 2017, after Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended from the tournament for two years. Since 2017, Goenka has been eyeing a return to the IPL. In 2016, the team had an average outing, ending up seventh on the table with just five wins. After this, Goenka took the bold decision of dropping Mahendra Singh Dhoni from captaincy and handed over the reins to Steve Smith. This decision turned out well for the team and the team went on to the finals, losing the title to Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai Indians by the barest of margins – just 1 run. Goenka has returned to IPL with the acquisition of IPL’s latest franchise, Lucknow. The RPSG group had bid for Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Indore. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="We’ve done our math, says Goenka" comment="subhead" text="We’ve done our math, says Goenka">We’ve done our math, says Goenka</cmsannotation> Soon after the BCCI announced that the RPSG group had won the bid for the Lucknow franchise, Goenka spoke to Cricbuzz. Here are some of the key takeaways from the <a href="https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/119559/weve-done-our-math-sanjeev-goenka-after-7090-cr-bid-cricbuzzcom">interview</a>. Speaking about why the group selected Lucknow despite winning the bid for both Ahmedabad and Lucknow, Goenka said, “We have operations in Uttar Pradesh. We do power distribution there. We have a very big presence in the northern state. Closer by in Chandigarh, we have the power distribution rights. So for North India, that becomes like a hinterland.” Goenka also revealed the math behind the decision to bid over ₹7,000 crore for the team. “I will probably be paying only ₹3,500 crore in 10 years. It is because I will be getting ₹3,500 crore from the BCCI from the broadcast rights. In the next five years, I may get more [from the BCCI]. The net present value of that is ₹2,100 crore. That means I have got an IPL team for ₹2,100 crore. Tell me, is it good or not?”. In an <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/expect-lucknow-ipl-team-to-command-rs-10000-crore-valuation-in-5-years-rpsg-groups-sanjiv-goenka-7625691.html">interview</a> to Moneycontrol, Goenka revealed that he expects the franchise to be worth over ₹10,000 crore in five years. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/meet-girish-mathrubootham-founder-and-ceo-of-freshworks/articleshow/86453777.cms">Girish Mathrubootham, the son of a retired bank officer who built a $13 billion company in just 10 years</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/murali-divi-the-billionaire-scientist-behind-divis-labs-is-richer-by-6-billion-and-counting-since-the-pandemic/articleshow/86749881.cms">Murali Divi, the billionaire scientist behind Divi’s Labs, is richer by $6 billion, and counting, since the pandemic</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/iron-man-vijay-shekhar-sharma-put-his-own-money-on-the-line-to-launch-paytm/articleshow/84468805.cms">‘Iron Man’ Vijay Shekhar Sharma put his own money on the line to launch Paytm — and ten years later the company is ready to go public</a>

Sanjiv Goenka makes a billion dollar comeback to the world's biggest T20 stage

<ul><li>Launches with 9 hyper casual android mobile games.</li><li>Games currently available on the platform are Airlift, Arrow Master, Jump Jump, Flap Up, Candy Mash, Bubble Blast, Street Racer, Slide &amp; Glide and Plus Minus.</li></ul> MX Player has launched its in-app gaming feature that hosts 9 hyper casual, easy to learn HTML 5 Games which you can enjoy even without data or internet access on your android phones. The games currently available on the platform are Airlift, Arrow Master, Jump Jump, Flap Up, Candy Mash, Bubble Blast, Street Racer, Slide &amp; Glide and Plus Minus The app is further enhancing the platform experience by introducing a loyalty program that rewards its core users with ‘MX Coins’. Through this virtual currency, MX users will now get various benefits like: <ol><li>Access to premium content</li><li>Exclusive benefits and discounts on some of the leading brands like PayTM, Myntra, Oyo, Fasos, Box8, Grofers, Zivame, Cult.fit, ixigo, Zoomcar, 1mg, easemytrip and many more</li><li>Participation in game tournaments with the opportunity to win real cash!</li></ol>Elaborating on the same, Karan Bedi, CEO, MX Player, said, “Our vision is to fulfil every entertainment need of our user base and adding gaming as a feature to our platform is yet another step in that direction. We are constantly striving to push the envelope - be it with our selection of originals, our curated library of diverse premium content, by integrating audio music and now gaming – we are remaining true to our vision of everytainment. With this move, we want to engage with the nearly 300 million online gamers in India, while also giving our existing users an engaging and fresh experience. By the end of the financial year we will have at least 30 games live on our platform” Adding onto Bedi’s point, Vivek Jain, COO at MX Player said, “Our customers are overwhelmingly telling us that they want more entertainment use cases in the app. We are humbled by the rate at which video streaming and audio music is being adopted. We are very bullish about the gaming industry in India and expect it to exceed $5 Billion by 2022. We will continue to invest in not only building more India specific games but also in building new and innovative platform features on top of gaming like tournaments, 1-on-1 battles &amp; various social features to make the experience more engaging.”

MX Player adds gaming to its offerings with 9 android mobile games

<ul><li>After coronavirus lockdown, dining experience at restaurants will not remain the same as before. </li><li>Social distancing norms will be in place as restaurants reduce their capacity by half and bring in new rules for dining. </li><li><keyword id="14108" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hard-Rock-cafe">Hard Rock Cafe</keyword>, which has 7 restaurants across India, has drafted a plan to ensure 3-feet distance between guests and servers. </li></ul> Restaurants in India have been shut for over 40 days now, with only some working in minimal capacity for takeaways. According to <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/coronavirus/coronavirus-lockdown-covid-19-india-economy-jobs-6364568/">reports</a>, as many as half a million restaurants might not survive the extended lockdown. And restaurants are cognizant of the fact that survival won’t come without practicing strict social distancing norms. India’s restaurants are now preparing a post-covid-19 plan to open up. And the dining experience at these restaurants may not be the same as before. A 3-feet distance A large number of restaurants say they are likely to limit the maximum number of people at their restaurants at a particular time. Hard Rock Cafe, which has 7 cafes in India, told Business Insider that it will reduce its capacity by ensuring at least three-feet distance between the guests and a 6-feet distance between tables. <div type="image" title="Capture66" msid="75592105" hostid="261"></div> They are also planning to roll out contactless menu and payment services, as well as providing disposable menus. Furthermore, Hard Rock, which is famous for its live music events, said there will be no such large gathering events for a long time post Covid. Whereas, Bengaluru-based Magnolia Bakery India will encourage people to take away than dine at the cafe. “Our tables are lined up in the front of our space. At this point, our plan is to remove every alternate table at the bakery to make sure that everyone is seated at a safe distance,” <keyword id="2915271" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="zonu-reddy">Zonu Reddy</keyword>, co-founder Magnolia Bakery India told Business Insider. Contactless dining Another new normal post lockdown will be contactless dining. Some of the restaurants are signing up with food aggregators to offer customers to order and pay bills without any human contact. Foodtech unicorn Zomato <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zomato-announces-contactless-dining-with-qr-codes-and-digital-payments-in-a-post-lockdown-world/articleshow/75218983.cms">recently</a> launched its ‘contactless dining’ feature where people can order from the menu by scanning a <keyword id="1011037" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="QR-code">QR code</keyword> on the table. Soon after, digital payments leader Paytm <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/paytm-launches-a-zomato-like-contactless-dining-feature/articleshow/75423268.cms">too launched</a> a similar feature. “Guests will be entertained on the basis of bookings and the menu orders can be done with aggregators through online apps. The sitting arrangement will be made keeping in mind that each guest will be seated at least in a distance of one metre,” said <keyword id="281359" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Basab-Paul">Basab Paul</keyword>, the owner of '<keyword id="9179626" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mia-cuccinna">Mia Cuccinna</keyword>' and 'Invincible Boudoir et <keyword id="4267684" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="jardin">Jardin</keyword>', Mumbai. With most restaurants adapting technology and moving to contactless dining, will also mean that thousands of jobs will be at stake, various restaurant owners told Business Insider. According to reports, as much as 7.5 million jobs in the restaurant industry will be gone with the coronavirus pandemic. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zomato-announces-contactless-dining-with-qr-codes-and-digital-payments-in-a-post-lockdown-world/articleshow/75218983.cms">Zomato announces contactless dining with QR codes and digital payments in a post-lockdown world</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/youre-stuck-cooking-at-home-long-after-lockdown-ends-as-half-a-million-restaurants-may-shut-down/articleshow/75177455.cms">You’re stuck cooking at home long after lockdown ends as half a million restaurants may shut dow</a>n

From Hard Rock Cafe to a Bengaluru bakery⁠— disposable menus, no live bands, half the number of tables, and fewer waiters are part of the post-COVID strategy

<ul><li>2020 is going to be a watershed for brands to enter audio. We have already seen a few mainstream brands do some experiments in 2019. </li><li>And this year, <keyword id="254100" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amit-Doshi">Amit Doshi</keyword>, Founder &amp; CEO, IVM Podcasts expects to see many more brands to start seriously investing in integrations on existing shows as well as in branded content initiatives. </li><li>He further walks us through the growth trajectory of podcasts and the future it holds in India. </li></ul> ‘The podcasting industry’ – a fancy word for a handful companies – in India, it is about to come of age. 2020 is the year where we are going to see the world of media consumption change in a significant way. Digital audio, which has so far been dominated by Music consumption, is poised to see talk content take off. It's always been our contention at IVM Podcasts that people in India were suffering from a lack of content, i.e. supply. Once they discovered the medium audiences have been incredibly loyal and sticky. In 2020 I see a few things playing out: Explosive Growth in Audiences and Content Podcasting has been a primarily English language, urban phenomenon in India so far. This is poised to change in 2020 and change in a dramatic fashion. As more people are looking at additional forms of digital content consumption, we will start to see more and more creators of regional language content emerge. Even though its primarily English the audience growth is impressive, we more than tripled our audience base in 2019. When we supercharge this growth with application of programming in the languages people are most comfortable in, I believe we are at the bottom of that anticipated hockey stick. Where have you been all my life? For those of us who enjoy listening to podcasts it becomes one of the main ways we consume media. In the US a regular podcaster hears about 7 hours a week of podcasts. That’s an extraordinary number. At IVM Podcasts we have done a few listener surveys and one of the main takeaways for me has been how recently people have started consuming podcasts and how big a part of their consumption diet it has quickly become. 85 % of our listeners heard their first podcast after 2015, and still the average number of podcasts consumed is over 7 a week. New Platforms emerging and old platforms doubling down We will see the emergence of new consumption platforms in 2020, whether its fresh new apps, smart speakers, internet connected car systems, smart exercise machines or something we cant even think of right now. We will also see older platforms like OTT Music apps, OTT video apps, podcasting apps all start to double down on podcasting. The economic arguments for why a music app should look at podcasting seriously are well documented and still hold true in today’s environment. Now this is being validated across the world and we expect Indian platforms to follow suit. Enter the Advertisers 2020 is going to be a watershed for brands to enter audio. We have already seen a few mainstream brands do some experiments in 2019. In 2020 I expect many more brands to start seriously investing in integrations on existing shows as well as in branded content initiatives. Last year we had some great companies like Intel, Storytel, Accenture, Motilal Oswal, Aditya Birla Mutual Fund, PayTM Money and more start looking at the space. After their initial activities most of these brands have been pleased and want to intensify the association with the medium. Some of the best ad recall rates, and audience understanding of a complicated brand message were demonstrated through these campaigns, and we are excited to see more brands join in. Enter the Corporates I believe that one of the big drivers for the business is internal company podcasts. Podcasting is an incredibly intimate and authentic medium. I believe this solves a big problem at large organizations, where the rank and file typically do not have a great deal of access or insight into top managements thinking. As a way of setting culture, and passing company wide goals a regular short podcast to be deployed over a company intranet is going to be a gateway for many new listeners. It has never been more exciting to be a part of this “industry” - to see what we have in front of us, we can feel the accelerating interest, we can see the audience growth. - By Amit Doshi, Founder &amp; CEO, IVM Podcasts

Podcast industry in India: Opportunities for 2020

<keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> marks ten years in India, this month and it’s been quite a ride for the company that employees over 8000 employees and 27,000 delivery staff. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/paytm-now-allows-you-to-buy-and-sell-gold-at-the-best-prices-across-india-without-any-extra-fees/articleshow/58394784.cms">ALSO</a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/paytm-now-allows-you-to-buy-and-sell-gold-at-the-best-prices-across-india-without-any-extra-fees/articleshow/58394784.cms"> READ: Paytm now allows you to buy and sell gold, at the best prices across India, without any extra fees</a> 
 
The e-commerce giant has on-boarded very interesting people who are pursuing different hobbies despite being a part of the real-time live e-commerce world. These people have either taken a sabbatical from work or are pursuing hobbies that can be aligned to the work they do at Flipkart which they find liberating. 
 
<a href="http://Sellers on Flipkart use this service to decrease the delivery time by one-day minimum">ALSO READ: Sellers on Flipkart use this service to decrease the delivery time by one-day minimum</a> 
 
From playing football to playing music, these people are an inspiration to people who want to have a life away from work. 
 
Check out their Flipkart stories. 
 
Image credit: Arjun Paul

Flipkart
has on-boarded many multi-talented people in the past ten years. Here are their
stories.

<ul><li>PWC’s recently released report states that Indian monthly podcast listeners reached 40 million at the end of 2018, which was a 57.6% increase over 2017’s 25.4 million</li><li>Marketers are slowly experimenting with the medium, with the aim of presenting consumers with targeted content</li><li>The coming in of Spotify has helped increase the buzz around podcasts in India</li></ul>Over the past few years, the kind of content consumers are seeking out and accepting has seen a vast change. Today, it is all about engaging content that they can relate to. Content that can be consumed on-the-go has also seen a huge gain in popularity. It is perhaps this evolution that is making podcasts an increasingly favored content medium for consumers. While podcasts enjoy a huge popularity in markets like the US, India is also slowly waking up to it. Now almost all news publications have their own podcasts. Moreover, music streaming platforms that are witnessing a good growth in the country are also increasing their podcast offerings. Even the numbers are encouraging. Research by IAB and PwC stated that US advertisers spent an all-time high of $479 million on podcast ads in 2018, up 53% from $314 million the year prior. While the Indian market is still at a nascent stage in terms of its uptake of podcasts, PWC’s recently released report titled ‘Global Entertainment &amp; Media Outlook 2019-2023 India’, stated that Indian monthly listeners (defined as people who listened to at least one podcast in the last one month) reached a total of 40 million at the end of 2018, which was a 57.6% increase over 2017’s 25.4 million. In terms of consumption of podcasts, India ranks number three, following the US and China. Owing to the growing increase in audio-streaming services in the country, podcasts offer a massive opportunity for brands to reach out to its consumers, where they can target listeners with personalized content. The Story So Far It was in 2016 that Audioboom, a leading audio platform for hosting, distributing and monetizing content was launched in India. That was also the time when Jio had launched in the country and everybody got access to cheap, affordable data. However, that was when video content was seeing an explosion. “There was a lot of focus on video at that point in time and when we went to talk to people about focusing on audio as an on-demand platform, we were scoffed upon. People couldn’t see the opportunity that we could see in the model back then. However, things have become better since the second half of last year. Today, there is a lot more acceptance, people know what we are talking about and they want to hear us out,” says Aman Goklani, Head of India operations, AudioBoom. From 2016, when it received about 200,000 listens a month, the platform has seen a substantial increase in its monthly run rate. “From 200,000 listens in a month in 2016, we today stand at around 1.7 million listens each month. We ended June of this year with about 2.5 million listens. So, we have seen more than 10x growth since we launched,” adds Goklani. While in the larger scheme of things, Goklani maintains that 2.5 million listens is not a very big number, he adds, “A video can get these numbers in probably a few days. However, in our scheme of things, we are the largest, in terms of numbers, in India.” To put things in perspective, globally the UK-based audioBoom gets around 70 million listens in a month, with the US accounting for 60% of its listens. If one were to delve deeper into the reasons for this sudden increase in enthusiasm around podcasts, <keyword id="2904495" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sreeraman-Thiagarajan">Sreeraman Thiagarajan</keyword>, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), <keyword id="5557033" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Agrahyah-Technologies">Agrahyah Technologies</keyword> that owns and operates Hindi podcast platform, aawaz.com says that there are several. “India has been an audio-first country for a long time. The term podcast is new in India. However, all our radio stations have been coming up with audio content on their platforms for the longest time. Even in the past, shows like Purani Jeans have always been around. However, the sudden excitement around podcasts is because of multiple reasons. Firstly, global podcast companies are now looking at India. BBC, NPR, Audible, Google podcasts and Spotify have been operating in India for the past 6-7 months and have brought in some excitement,” he says. He also points to the fact that non-music content is picking up pretty well in India. “Imagine you’re in the mood to listen to some devotional content, or want to listen to a horror or romantic story. People consume a lot of content on video but if they are busy and don’t have the time to watch something, they could still listen to content. So that is what is giving us a lot of traction,” he adds. The increasing demand for smart speakers in the recent past has also been an important reason for the growing enthusiasm around audio content. The opportunities ahead Globally, Spotify has been talking a lot about the opportunities around podcasts. It has also been investing a lot on acquiring podcast companies. Closer home, music streaming platforms like Gaana and Saavn are also trying to promote the podcasts that they have to offer. So, what are the opportunities for brands here? Prashan Agarwal, CEO, Gaana says, “Podcasts are a great channel for brands to tap into a highly engaged niche audience. Most savvy marketers understand the difference between top-of-the-funnel and bottom-of-the-funnel campaigns, and appreciate the role for the top-of-mind recall. This is where this genre can serve as a great platform for brand building, with streaming players and publishers helping marketers navigate ways to seamlessly integrate their brands into the narrative.” Gaana runs some popular podcasts on its platform including Mirchi Murga by Naved, Kahanibaaz by Ashish Vidyarthi, Ek Rang Ishq Ka and others. Apart from this, they also source aggregated content from podcast platforms like IVM and Audioboom. Speaking about the opportunities he sees in the medium, Amarjit Batra, Managing Director India, Spotify says, “In India, podcasting is very young, but we see immense potential given the immersive and intimate nature of the medium. Factors such as increase in commute time, higher awareness around streaming, and India’s position as a knowledge economy establish that there is enough scope for podcasts to become mainstream in India. We believe that the future of audio is limitless and the potential growth of podcasts as a new form of audio storytelling is garnering steady popularity amongst the urban audio streamers in India. Our goal is to work with the ecosystem of creators, brands, and partners to address these challenges so that there is a wider understanding and acceptance of this new and relevant medium.” He further adds that while the podcast segment is still at a nascent stage in India, marketers have shown interest in experimenting with the medium. “We've had brands and advertisers show interest because they believe in the audio format for user engagement, and have seen how well podcast advertising works in our other markets.” Meanwhile, podcast network IVM, which is working on popularizing the medium among consumers and marketers, has already worked with brands like PayTM Money, Aditya Birla Mutual Fund, Motilal Oswal. Speaking about why brands are seeing value in podcasts, Amit Doshi, Founder &amp; CEO, IVM Podcasts says, “There are two primary opportunities for brands to work with podcasts - promotions on content that is being created and distributed by us and creating their own branded content. We have seen forward thinking brands like PayTM Money, Aditya Birla Mutual Fund, Motilal Oswal, Accenture, Storytel, Savaari etc. are already working with us. Increasingly, we are seeing interest from other brands as well in using this space to achieve their objectives.” <keyword id="3054169" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Varun-Duggirala">Varun Duggirala</keyword>, Content Chief and Co-founder, <keyword id="2951846" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Glitch">The Glitch</keyword> hosts an IVM Show called ‘Advertising is Dead’ where he speaks to leaders, creators and experts from all ends of the media, entertainment and advertising space to understand the new media world order. On how brands can make the most out of the medium, he says, “Podcasts present a unique opportunity for brands to seamlessly integrate themselves into very focussed content pieces which can be developed and distributed at scale with a much lower cost barrier. Also, advertising within episodes themselves can very easily be blended into the storyline/narrative of the episodes themselves so the value chain of the content imbibes the value chain of the brand. Unlike video content, podcasts allow consumers to blend content into their daily schedule in a way that doesn’t demand 100% focus but still blends into your content consumption habit cycle especially during commutes, mornings/late nights as well as mid-day breaks.” According to industry estimates, currently the cost of podcasts could lie between Rs 4,000-6,000 per minute. So for a lot of marketers looking at reaching out to an engaged audience, podcasts could be a comparatively cost effective option, too. Storytel India has worked on multiple host read campaigns both on IVM and audioBoom. Speaking about the kind of value the brand saw from the partnership, Sukirti Sharma, Marketing Manager, Storytel India, says, “Podcasts hook the listening audience, people who are already in the habit of listening and are familiar with the format. Also, it is somewhat about personalised choices and therefore brings in different kinds of audience. With each genre or discussion type, you attract a different kind of audience ie those interested in history or those who want to listen to the topical issues of the changing culture among the urban Indian. With myriad topics, it attracts diverse listening communities. Podcasts have their own unique space. We are in the business of telling stories and we believe that audio is the future. Podcast is a part of that audio world and has its own unique space so we would certainly use podcasts again in the future.” For the longest time, lack of awareness was a big challenge for the podcast industry. However, with more and more people talking about it, both globally and in India, brands finally seem to be warming up to the medium.

Are Marketers Warming Up to Podcasts in India?

Mushfiqul Alam/NurPhoto via Getty Images The "Jio effect" is changing the internet. <ul class="summary-list"><li>Something is happening in India which could completely reshape internet culture. Millions of Indians gained regular access to the internet for the first time over the past three years.</li><li>This is thanks to the "Jio effect," after regional mobile operator Reliance Jio launched extremely cheap data tariffs in 2016, costing as little as Rs 15 ($0.21) per GB.</li><li> Indians went from consuming an average of 700mb of data per month to 11GB, according to Counterpoint Research analyst Neil Shah.</li><li>This has led to unintended consequences like Indian music label T-Series overtaking YouTube star PewDiePie to become most-subscribed YouTube channel.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>The "Jio effect" is little known outside India, but it's already reshaping the way Silicon Valley does business. The phenomenon is named after the arrival of Reliance Jio, a mobile network operator that launched in 2016 with extremely cheap data plans. The network was founded by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and the telco went from zero customers to becoming the biggest mobile operator in the world with more than 300 million subscribers. To put this in context, Reliance Jio's customer base is about as big as the entire US population. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Industries, his wife Nita Ambani, their son Akash Ambani and daughter Isha Piramal pose at the wedding ceremony of Akash, at Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai. Jio's radical move was this: making 4G available to millions of Indians for free in 2016. It began charging nominal amounts for data in 2017 and, by then, the Indian appetite for internet content knew no bounds in part thanks to the availability of budget Android smartphones. Initially, Jio made no money, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/reliance-jio-and-reliance-retail-may-help-mukesh-ambani-rils-quarterly-earnings/articleshow/70274830.cms">but it has now become profitable</a>. "Jio has changed the consumption habits for hundreds of millions of consumers," said Neil Shah, an analyst at Counterpoint Research. "More people are using smartphones as their first device, unlike developed markets where the PC is the first device." Shah estimates that thanks to Jio's pricing, Indians have gone from consuming just 700MB of data per month to 11GB. This would let you watch about 30 episodes of "Game of Thrones." "You can get around 28GB of data for just a couple of dollars," says Shah. "And in that sense, once you have cheaper data and a smartphone, you're going to consume more content." Reuters Unlike the West, Indian smartphone adoption is still growing in the double digits as people buy their first internet-connected device. "More and more people are using smartphones as their first device, unlike developed markets where the PC is the first device," says Shah. This is significant. According to Pew Research, <a href="https://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/">around 81% of Americans own a smartphone</a>, meaning there isn't much room to grow. The smartphone probably isn't their first internet-connected device either. Most consumers outside of India won't have really noticed what this means for the wider internet, but one incident really put the Jio effect on the map: this year's battle between Indian record label T-Series and Swedish vlogger PewDiePie to become most-subscribed YouTube channel. Getty PewDiePie, also known as Felix Kjellberg. T-Series is a long-established Indian record label, producing music videos in various Indian languages as well as highly successful blockbuster films, all targeted at the home market. PewDiePie, by contrast, is a 29-year-old gaming vlogger and representative of a specific Western YouTube demographic - the self-referential, meme-loving, and occasionally offensive gamer. Up until March 2018, PewDiePie, real name Felix Kjellberg, was by the far the most popular YouTuber and inspiration for hundreds of other smaller creators who riffed off his offbeat humour and occasionally tasteless pranks. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/t-series-interview-how-beat-pewdiepie-youtube-2019-8?r=US&amp;IR=T">How T-Series went from making cassette tapes to dethroning PewDiePie and becoming the biggest channel on YouTube</a> But the cumulative impact of millions of Indians discovering their favourite Bollywood music on YouTube kicked in, and T-Series became the most popular YouTube channel. It has cemented its lead five months on, with 108 million subscribers versus PewDiePie's 98 million. Because cheap bandwidth is essentially unlimited, Indians are treating YouTube as their de facto streaming service, according to Shah. With access to the internet for the first time, they're turning to YouTube to find their favourite Indian language songs. "Most users have warmed up to YouTube to consume content, not just video, but music," he says. "They are going to YouTube rather than Spotify. People like T-Series or Star Network are seeing growth in video as well as music content." Neeraj Kalyan, president of T-Series, told Business Insider: "The recent growth of internet in India has increased the consumption of Indian content and, because of the decreased data costs, increase internet penetration, and higher bandwidth, this has been a real catalyst. "In 2016, there was mobile internet available in tier one or tier two cities, but now it's in tier three to tier five cities and villages, which had never experienced internet. So now the consumer is excited, and he's experimenting with everything, and it's resulted in an increase in consumption." It isn't just YouTube. India is now producing its own Silicon Valley-style internet giants, such as retail firm Flipkart - majority acquired by Walmart for $16 billion - online supermarket Grofers, payment firm Paytm, and Uber rival Ola. Stephen Lam/Reuters Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Silicon Valley is also feeling the impact of the Jio effect. Facebook, for example, began talking about the Jio effect indirectly in late 2016. The firm first mentioned the impact of cheap data in India on its Q3 2016 earnings call when CFO Dave Wehner said: "We're seeing the introduction of low price data plans in markets like India and Mexico contributing [to user growth]." Facebook would continue to talk about the impact of India's "promotional free data plans" on its user growth in every subsequent earnings call for a year. And the firm has described India as its biggest growth market in every quarter since Q3 2016, according to call transcripts analysed by Business Insider. Google is also playing nice with Jio. Its CEO Sundar Pichai attended the wedding of Akash Ambani, son of Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani, earlier this year. And the firm has been flagging the <a href="https://abc.xyz/investor/static/pdf/2017_Q1_Earnings_Transcript.pdf?cache=91f0790">massive growth in Indian Android users</a> since early 2017, not long after the launch of Reliance Jio. The firm said there more than 300 million new Android users from markets such as India and Brazil. <a href="https://abc.xyz/investor/static/pdf/2019_Q1_Earnings_Transcript.pdf?cache=ebdc584">At the beginning of this year</a>, the firm said India was the fastest-growing market for YouTube. Its companion app, YouTube Music, had more than 15 million downloads. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-meteor-shower-perseids-orionids-leonids-2018-8">A spectacular meteor shower is coming - here's what you're actually seeing</a></h3> <pre style="display: none;">function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</pre>

How the 'Jio effect' brought millions of Indians online and is reshaping Silicon Valley and the internet

Former Vodafone chief executive <keyword id="292871" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Arun-Sarin">Arun Sarin</keyword> could have picked any major Indian corporate boards to be a part of. After all, the 61-year-old, who is on board of corporate mammoths like Cisco, Charles Schwab and Blackhawk Networks, and has in the past worked as a senior adviser to global asset manager KKR &amp; Co. However, he chose two <keyword id="982553" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-startups">Indian startups</keyword>, and would now mentor taxi-hailing app <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> and music-streaming company <keyword id="2060236" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Saavn">Saavn</keyword>. 
 
Sarin is not only signed on as an adviser for these two companies, but has also invested undisclosed amounts in them. 
 
"It's a huge trend. Everybody wants to be associated with a startup at this point, especially those that are changing the rules," Sunit Mehra, managing partner of Hunt Partners India, which is an executive search firm, told ET. 
 
In the recent past, leading Indian startups like Flipkart, Paytm, Snapdeal and Urban Ladder have attracted big names from the corporate sector and have succeeded. They now have big names that advise and mentor them, and continue to raise billions of dollars in funding. 
 
Snapdeal founders, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, have Akhil Gupta, who is the VC of Bharti Enterprises and executive chairman of Bharti Infratel. Similarly, Paytm, led by Vijay Shekhar Sharma recently added Neeraj Arora, WhatsApp's global business head, and Ruchi Sanghvi, former VP (Operations) at Dropbox, into its board. 
 
However, for many startup founders, it’s not only about adding glittering names to the board, but also about the connections and advices on strategy that these names carry with themselves. 
 
Decades of managerial and troubleshooting experience comes handy for startup founders, who get benefit while entering new categories and geographies and managing cash and investor relations. 
 
<a href="http://i.idnes.cz/06/112/org/LHC171655_Vodafone_Arun_Sarin_03.jpg">Image source</a>

Ex-Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin to now mentor Ola and Saavn

By 2021, the total number of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=mobile+subscriptions&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">mobile subscriptions</a> in India is expected to reach approximately 1.37 billion, claims <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ericsson&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ericsson</a>. 
 
In its recently released <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Internet-of-Things-is-going-to-overtake-mobile-phones-by-2018/articleshow/52553579.cms">Ericsson Mobility Report</a>, it also highlights key trends and forecasts on mobile traffic, consumption, consumer behavior and technology uptake specific to India and its users. 
 The report goes on to state that mobile broadband is set to dramatically increase, with <keyword id="28168" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Smartphone">smartphone</keyword> subscriptions and total mobile traffic expected to increase four-fold and fifteen-fold respectively from 2015 to 2021 – reaching 810 million smartphone subscriptions and mobile traffic of 4.5 ExaBytes (EB) per month. 
 
Data traffic per active smartphone is expected to increase five-fold from 1.4 GigaByte (GB) per month in 2015 to 7 GB per month by 2021. That’s not all; it also predicts that in 2021, 99 percent of the region’s mobile traffic will be from data. 
 
The report also highlights some key <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=smartphone+trends&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">smartphone trends</a> noticed in the country: 
 
1. Streaming music is a popular form of entertainment: In India, streaming music and watching videos are the most popular forms of entertainment on smartphones. Around 50 percent of smartphone users stream music on <keyword id="383661" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mobile-Apps">mobile apps</keyword> every week, and more than one in two internet users watch short online video clips on a weekly basis. 
 
2. India’s favourite apps: Among Indian smartphone users, <keyword id="790242" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="WhatsApp">WhatsApp</keyword> Messenger is the top mobile app, in terms of the number of Indian consumers, followed by <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> Search and YouTube. E-commerce apps such as <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, Paytm and <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> are growing in popularity in India. 
 
3. Internet activity is catching up with global levels: In India, one out of three internet users goes online daily, compared to almost half globally.5 However, the nation’s internet usage is catching up, and those aged 16–34 years old have a high dependence on online access. 
 
4. Data is king: Data is gaining prominence over voice for smartphone users in India as data speed is considered as the most important factor in determining both network performance and smartphone users’ satisfaction with their operator. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
·

India smartphone trends: Whatsapp is the country's favourite app, followed by Google and Youtube

A balmy Saturday afternoon in Delhi’s Connaught Place. Cut to an up-market café in the Inner Circle. It’s too early for the evening’s party crowd. Young couples fill most seats, cooing sweet nothings. The smell of hookah lingers. My guest is a <keyword id="32574" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="hacker">hacker</keyword>. He recently took down an entire travel startup. Ever heard of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=StayUncle&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">StayUncle</a>? Yeah, them. 
 
For the uninitiated, this New Delhi-based startup has tied up with hotels. Unmarried couples can rent rooms here for a duration as short as 8-10 hours. The idea here is to help them find affordable accommodation, minus the judgmental stares. 
 
My chap arrives. Nope, nothing like Hollywood. No hoodies, no hesitation, no mystery music in the background. He’s a 16 year old school kid. I offer him a seat, positively shocked. What followed would make for a killer film-script. 
 
“I got a call. He asked me to take down <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=StayUncle&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">StayUncle</a> and offered Rs. 5000 ($75) in return. I did it at 11 pm that night. 30 minutes in, I started reading about them (<keyword id="3320068" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="StayUncle">StayUncle</keyword>). It was a noble idea. I stopped the attack mid-way, and contacted Sanchit. The employer called me several times the next morning. I didn’t pick up his call ever again.” 
 This lad had taken down more sites than he can recall. I ask him how it feels to work as an online mercenary, accepting money from anonymous clients. “It’s common in the field of <keyword id="6357115" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="hacking">hacking</keyword>. My targets are usually individual sites. They run on free hosting. This was the first business site I took down.” 
 
While this may startle most of us, he says getting these 'assignments' isn't really tough, mentioning a forum where such work is readily available, <a href="http://hackforums.net/">HackForums</a>. It’s an online forum to connect with a '<a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=h4x0r">h4x0r</a>' (hacker). Drop in a message. Someone accepts your assignment. Once the job is done, you pay the money. This is one among hundreds of such forums, and it’s not even Darknet. 
 
“Everybody is anonymous. People are known only by their usernames. I typically never disclose my number. I just do my initial research, and quote the price. This guy asked if I was Indian, and then for my contact number.” 
 StayUncle founder-CEO <keyword id="3320069" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sanchit-Sethi">Sanchit Sethi</keyword> confirms the incident. “It was 18th of April this year. I got a call from a hacker. He admitted to taking our site down, and that he was hired by one of our competitors. He said they might do it again.” 
 
Well, they did. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=StayUncle&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">StayUncle</a>’s website was pulled down by another brute-force attack a month and a half back. 
 
“We were going crazy. Finally, I asked help from one of my cousins, a senior tech guy. He found all our ports were shut down, our securities disabled. Thankfully, our database was safe. Somebody clearly hacked into our systems again”, Sethi says. 
 
This isn't the first time. App-based taxi hailing service <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ola</a> was allegedly hacked by a group by the name ‘TeamUnknown’. <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> denied its database was ever breached and that any hacker group ever contacted them. It did admit though that the test server, which is used internally, had been hacked. In recent months, hackers have exploited security flaws in several other Indian startups including online restaurant search provider <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Zomato&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Zomato</a> and music streaming app Gaana. Most Indian startups still remain apprehensive of ethical hackers. 
 
My guest says brute-force attacks don’t help now. “A <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Paytm&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Paytm</a>, Flipkart or <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Snapdeal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Snapdeal</a> has multiple servers. If one goes down, the other takes off. That’s server rotation. If you don’t have a lot of servers, you can’t take down theirs”, he observes. 
 
The hour seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. My guest stood up to leave. We shook hands and parted. 
 
A simple Google search will reveal a breeding ground for script kiddies. Most have little knowledge of the tools they use or how they work. These are ready-made and easily-found tools on the internet that can do some serious harm. The more hardcore ones can dedicate hours a day scanning the internet for computers that are vulnerable to a security hole. They can then exploit that and use what is known as a 'rootkit' to give them 'root' (or total control) over a computer. 
 
With the likes of Ola and Paytm waking up to the value of bug bounty programmes, denial seems to be in the air. As evening fell, I couldn’t help but feel worried. 
 
In an age where you can set up shop at the touch of a button, that’s all it takes to bring down one as well. A guy, a laptop, and 5000 bucks. 
 
<a href="https://sophosnews.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/anonymous.jpg?w=780&amp;h=408&amp;crop=1">Image Source</a>

I
met the 16 year old Hacker who took down StayUncle for Rs. 5000

New Delhi-based is now a part of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/A-Twitter-cofounder-nailed-the-scope-of-Facebooks-fake-news-problem-with-one-screenshot/articleshow/55588599.cms">Facebook’s </a>developer-focused program 'FbStart' which caters to the early-stage and <keyword id="3899856" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-focused-startups">mobile-focused startups</keyword>. 
 <keyword id="3899855" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Partiko">Partiko</keyword> <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword> app allows users to discover events like Nightlife, Music, Food, Drink, Wine, Concerts, Experiences, Sports, Travel, and Startup in Delhi-NCR region. The startup will be expanding to other cities like Mumbai and Bangalore. 
 
The idea is the brainchild of an IITian from Roorkee Amanjot Malhotra, who worked with a couple of tech start-ups after graduating in 2013 and before kickstarting his entrepreneurial stint. 
 
His app as of now recommends an everyday personalised list of Delhi events for users at the location of their choice. Also, it helps them find trending events for the coming weekend, weekdays or any major holidays in advance. 
 
Amanjot was determined to build a product which allowed easy event discovery in metropolitan cities. Apart from ticketing, the platform also provides white-branded solutions to large scale event organisers such as website, mobile apps, experiential products etc. 
 
Another interesting feature is that Partiko allows users to personalise their feeds by tags and interests. Notably, the platform has also integrated other popular social platforms which allow the users to share their posts on other platforms which expand its reach. 
 
Currently, the company is bootstrapped and it is in talks with investors to raise a seed round in the next 3 months. The upcoming funding will be used for app development, hiring, merchant acquisition as well as for marketing purposes. 
 Under the <keyword id="3899854" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="FbStart-program">FbStart program</keyword>, this bootstrapped startup which launched its web platform ‘Partiko’ in August this year, will receive services and credits worth $40,000. 
 The services will include mentorship from Menlo Park-headquartered <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword>’s engineering teams and services from its partners like Amazon Web Services, Annie, Dropbox, Adobe and MailChimp. 
 
Partiko has another credit to its name, and that is - It has also been a finalist for the payTM 1 Crore challenge this year and is currently working on a sponsorship marketplace EventsCrunch, which will be launched in the first quarter of 2017. 
 
It currently has over 15,000 users. The startup is now focusing on MUNs, startup, college and music events and also plans to expand to Mumbai and Bangalore. In the next 6 months, the platform plans to go social and aim to engage more users. Also, the focus will be on to take the revenue in eight digits. 
 
The team says - “First of all FbStart program helped us curb down on our server billings which have sky-rocketed without even marketing the platform, also it will be an added boost and receiving mentorship from the pioneer of social networking will be a huge opportunity as we too are focusing on the similar segment in the longer run.” 
 
They further added that their current focus is to enhance user-experience and grow the user base. 
 
The startup will face competition from Bookmyshow, explara and meraevents which are already big and established players in the market. However, the founders believe that their product will be able to offer much more in the coming months and also there is always room for improvement. 
 
In August, ET had reported that the Mark Zuckerberg-led company has distributed more than $21 million worth benefits to startups in India and more than $50 million worth benefits to startups in Asia through its FbStart program.

Meet the Delhi-based bootstrapped startup which is going to be mentored by Facebook experts in California

<keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> is consistently being bandied as the next major growth market for all smartphone companies, but there is one company that’s really struggling to crack India. The company in question is the most valuable one in the world -- <keyword id="6354427" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="apple">Apple</keyword>. According to CounterPoint’s latest report, Apple’s market share has dropped to an all-time low in India, with its share of the smartphone market dropping to below 2%. The problem is a combination of the nature of the Indian smartphone consumer, Indian laws and Apple’s stubbornness. This quarter Xiaomi and Samsung have emerged as the defacto leaders with their combined market share in India pushing 30%. Samsung managed to regain its lead in India with a share of 29%, up from 24% in the previous quarter, as per a report by Canalys. Xiaomi also grew to 28% market share in the country. While Tim Cook has reiterated often that India is a key market for the Cupertino-based giant, Apple has hit a new low in India, which is clearly the most important smartphone market outside of China. Pricing doesn’t allow Apple to compete for market share in India The problem for the company is that India is primarily a sub Rs 15,000 market, while the cheapest <keyword id="6354606" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="iPhone">iPhone</keyword> – the iPhone SE costs Rs 26,000, and runs three-year-old hardware. Apple doesn’t make cheap products because it doesn’t want to be perceived as a mass market smartphone brand. The Indian market is wildly different from the one in the United States, Europe and even China, which is Apple’s favourite market off-late. These markets are dominated by the operators and their contracts, where users can get the latest and greatest iPhone for about the same Rs 15,000 amount, put in as down payment. The space for phones that cost more than Rs 30,000 is just 4% of the Indian smartphone market. And that is commanded by OnePlus, followed by Samsung. Even if Apple were to get 100% market share in the premium space, it would still only command 4% of the market. Even when competing on price, older iPhones like the 6S and 7 lose out to newer phones from companies like OnePlus on both marketing and also technical capability. Indians tend to buy phones on the basis of specifications and even some of the newer models lose out to brands like OnePlus in the premium segment as the iPhone 6S and 7 models are perceived to be inferior. Hardware disadvantage Apple’s hardware disadvantage swells up when one talks about the cheapest iPhone models in this country. Apple simply doesn’t have a product in that price bracket, the sub-Rs 20,000 zone, and that’s the price point where the market for new smartphones is exploding. While the cheapest iPhone, the SE, costs Rs 26,000, it’s not the best selling iPhone here. It is the iPhone 6, which first popped up in 2014...and here we are in 2018. There are two reasons for this -- first, the iPhone 6 has a bigger screen (4.7-inch) which is more to the liking of Indian users; and second, design-wise, it’s not too dissimilar from the iPhone 8 which came out at the fag end of 2017. With the entry of Reliance Jio in India in late 2016, Indians have developed a voracious appetite for consuming video on the go. The iPhone SE, which uses the design of the iPhone 5 and 5S, has a rather small 4-inch screen. Newer phones like the Redmi Note 5 have much larger 5.99-inch screens. That’s a difference of 2-inches and considering mobile video, it's a huge one. The iPhone SE and iPhone 6, which are the two cheapest iPhones in India also have dated cameras. Nowadays, phones like the Honor 9 Lite and Redmi Note 5 Pro also offer dual cameras with an iPhone X-like bokeh mode -- something these older, cheaper iPhones can’t hope to match. Network conditions in India are often quite poor, connectivity wise, which results in smartphones consuming more battery. Apple’s iPhones have never been known for battery life. The most affordable iPhone in India (iPhone SE) has a meagre 1,624mAh battery, while phones half its price are pushing battery packs that are more than double the size. iPhones also don’t offer hardware features that are popular in emerging markets like ours. For instance, there is no support for dual SIM cards, and there is no support for expandable memory. With newer models like the iPhone 7, iPhone 8 and iPhone X, there isn’t even a headphone jack -- something competitors like Samsung and OnePlus are providing to customers in the premium segment. Apple hasn’t been able to push its design as a premium advantage either, as Chinese smartphone manufacturers have aped iPhone-like designs on almost all their phones. In fact, the design of the iPhone X has been democratised by Chinese smartphone makers. For instance, the iPhone X-style notch display can be found even on new phones like the Honor 9N that starts at just Rs 13,999 while offering dual cameras on not only the back but also for selfies, and also providing a battery that’s almost twice as big as the iPhone SE. Even their software is designed in a way that Android looks more like iOS. Android modifications from vendors like <keyword id="6357456" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="huawei">Huawei</keyword>, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo follow the same basic iOS-like design language. Software disadvantage It’s bad enough that many Android smartphone makers have designed their software to mimic the look and feel of iOS, but Apple’s problems are compounded by the fact that its own services perform poorly in India or are non-existent. Apple Maps is perhaps the biggest no-show. It doesn’t do turn-by-turn navigation in India and its mapping coverage is abysmal in the country. It is a matter of fact that Apple Maps can’t be used in India as a reliable tool for commuting. Apple Pay isn’t available in India at a time where digital payments are taking off in the country. Paytm and Google’s Tez payments systems are taking off in India massively. Samsung launched Samsung Pay in India last year. Apple Pay is dependent on NFC, while Samsung Pay uses a combination of NFC and magnetic secure transaction (MST), which mimics the magnetic signal a credit or debit card makes to a POS machine. Siri, on most days doesn’t understand the Indian accent as well as the Google Assistant, and nor can it do much. Heck, <keyword id="10387" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword>’s Cortana and Amazon’s Alexa do a better job and this is despite the fact that Apple was the first company to deploy a virtual assistant. While Apple’s services hobble on its own trophy -- the iPhone -- its competitors -- Google, Amazon and Microsoft have their services performing better on iOS. For mapping, most people use Google Maps. For search, Google Search becomes the default, and for productivity, Microsoft’s Office crushes Apple’s iWork apps. Rarely, you’re using Apple software on the iPhone in India. Even Apple Music, which is one of the rare examples of an Apple service doing well in the country, has been flanked by local competition like Ganna.com, Jio music, Wynk and Saavn. All of whom have a free tier. On older iPhones, Apple’s iOS updates have also crippled the experience of the iPhone. A couple of years ago, there used to be a strong argument in favour of the iPhone as it would perform well for over two years. Apple’s recent updates have made older iPhones inferior in comparison to newer Android phones that cost the same. Apple is addressing this issue in this year's iOS 12 update, which makes huge performance improvements to older iPhones, but it could be too little too late. The app store also doesn't make life easy for users as it demands a credit card for a user to even download free apps. That's not the case on the Google Play store. Apple has been late in localising services for India The larger issue here is that Apple isn’t localising its services for India in the way it has attempted to for China. This is indicative of the fact that Apple hasn’t taken the time or put enough resources behind localising its services for this country. Samsung and Huawei have R&amp;D centres in India customising services for the market. Xiaomi also prioritises and customises products for India. Apple opened an App Accelerator in Bangalore and a facility for Apple Maps in Hyderabad only in 2016. Google has had software and services being developed out of India since the mid-2000s, while Microsoft has been in India since the early 90’s. This has, in turn, inhibited Apple’s ability to quickly pivot. Its biggest competitor, Google, on a platform level, makes products for India. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said last year, “India shapes how we build products. If something works in India it will work globally.” And this philosophy can be seen in the customisations that Google has made to core services like Android, Maps, YouTube, Search and even payments. Its next billion division has made “Go” editions of Android, YouTube, Search and Maps, which are designed to work better on low power phones and poorer network conditions. They have even invested in KaiOS that powers feature phones like the Jio Phone creating its own versions of YouTube, Google Search and Assistant in India. For Apple to replicate its China success in India, it has to do a lot more than what it did in China. Even in China, Apple’s momentum has slowed so it has a steep slope to climb there as well. In China, Google and Amazon are almost non-existent. In India, they are big players. Apple isn’t able to compete with Google with regards to services. Most people use Google services which are part of all Android phones and one doesn’t need to buy a comparatively expensive iPhone to enjoy them. Apple and the Indian government: Frenemies? Apple hasn’t seen eye to eye with the Indian government for long. Apple expected concessions for manufacturing in India. It never made headway with that. While it lobbied for tax concessions -- brands like Xiaomi, Oppo and Huawei all got on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ programme which grants locally assembled phones some tax concessions. Only recently, Apple has started manufacturing both the iPhone SE and iPhone 6S in India. There are some reports that Apple has locked in a deal with one of its ODM vendors to manufacture even the iPhone X, but that’s not happening right now. The price variance between the iPhone X and the new Samsung Galaxy S9+ is quite startling. The iPhone X tops out at a whopping Rs 1,07,999 while the latest Galaxy S9+ tops out at Rs 69,000 for its top-end model in India. That’s almost a gap of Rs 40,000 which ironically is the cost of the 128GB model of the OnePlus 6 which is currently the best selling smartphone in the premium segment in this country. In the US, the iPhone X costs $1,149 which is around Rs 79,000 and the Galaxy S9+ costs $792 (around Rs 55,000). This points towards the fact that India is the most expensive place to purchase an iPhone and also the fact that Samsung’s phones have a huge price advantage in India that they don’t enjoy even in the US. And a lot of this is due to the fact that the S9+ is assembled in Samsung’s factory in Greater Noida (a satellite town outside New Delhi) which also happens to be the largest smartphone manufacturing plant in the world. The iPhone is further hobbled by the fact that it has an international warranty and India has a bubbling <keyword id="395545" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="grey-market">grey market</keyword>. It’s totally possible for someone to buy an imported iPhone for much lesser than the official price in India and still enjoy global warranty on the product. For years, Apple has been hoping to get permissions to set up its iconic Apple Stores in India. Indian law stipulates that single brand retail can only happen when products use 30% raw materials that are locally sourced -- that’s a hard problem to solve for Apple. That’s led to it selling its phones via resellers who often have discounted products to move inventory, thereby diluting Apple’s premium identity. In order to move more affordable iPhones, the Indian government has also rejected Apple’s plan for selling refurbished iPhones in India. More recently, Apple has been deadlocked in a stalemate with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in India over the installation of its spam reporting app on the iPhone. The telecom regulator has been reported to be taking extreme steps which could result in the iPhone being blocked from telecom networks in India if Apple doesn’t play ball, but that seems to be changing. An update in iOS 12 could possibly pave the way for an extension in the iMessage app for the TRAI to push out its spam reporting feature. The big takeaway is that Apple’s brand positioning makes its life hard enough in a market where feature phone sales are still growing, however, it hasn’t helped its own cause by not investing in India in a timely manner and also not adopting and partaking quickly enough in initiatives of the Indian government which has put it at a disadvantage with regards to lobbying.

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