Digital India

Understanding the Difference Between Company Name and Trademark

Since trademarks are inherently associated with brand identity and brand value, it is not surprising that a lot of people, laymen and businessmen included, think it is the same as a business name. Also interchangeably known as trade names', business names have often been misunderstood as granting complete legal protection to all trade-related aspects of the company, including the said business name and or logo, sign, symbol or any other feature the company might be using as a trademark to sell...

The Importance of Cross Border eCommerce for India

Cross Border eCommerce has taken the world by storm and it is mostly driven by sellers from China, USA and Europe. There is a good reason why sellers from these countries have identified the opportunity presented by this cross border online trade faster than sellers and manufacturers from, say, India. These countries in themselves are aggressive global leaders in manufacturing, innovation and have global ambitions to start with.

Create an Awesome Brand and Successfully Market to Millennials

Millennials are the most educated, open minded and dynamic demographic that exists. They are independent and have started making their purchasing decisions. For a marketer, they are the most lucrative set of audiences for marketing any product or service. However, the set of characteristics and traits they possess make them the unique people to market or sell. One can't use the same marketing strategies to lure them into a brand or acquire, convert and retain them for long.

All You Need to Know About Influencer Marketing for Your Brand

Who are Influencers Influencers are active bloggers or social media buffs who advocate brands & have a niche marketing approach. Why Influencer Marketing The rise of the Influencers.To survive in today's cut throat competition brands need to be updated with the latest technologies & trends. Gone are the days when consumer buying patterns were influenced by celebrity endorsements. Aware consumers today relate trust more on the reviews of common man.

Scope of Automobile Classifieds in India: The Story of Autoportal

Image Source Motorward Autoportal.com launched as a vertical online classifieds portal in automobile category, is chasing the expected growth in online advertising in India. It was initially launched in Ukraine by Anton Rublevskyy and expanded to India to seek further growth. iamWire got in touch with Autoportal India's spokesperson, Sagar Das, to get an insight into where the company and the market are headed.

Shopping Wish launches Scandid, an app for price comparison through barcode scanning

ShoppingWish, an online price comparison site has launched a fast and convenient barcode scanning based price comparison app for India, Scandid. It is useful for both online and offline shoppers. While shopping in the conventional brick and mortar retail stores, it is a common practice in the western countries to check up the price of a product online on their phones, using a simple barcode scanner app. Now, that is possible for the people in India too.

Funding Wire: Mobikon, Curofy, Schoolguru, Scandid, Zuper Meal and Cube26

Mobikon Raises New Round of Growth Funding from Life.SREDA & Qualgro Mobikon has raised undisclosed growth funding from Life.SREDA and Qualgro Image Source Facebook Mobikon is a customer engagement and marketing platform for restaurants that was founded by Samir Khadepaun and Salil Khamkar, has raised undisclosed growth funding from Life.SREDA and Qualgro. The company will use the funds to expand in South East Asia.

Headphone Zone: A Niche eCommerce Store for Audiophiles

It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything , said Plato. There existed a time when music was not portable. There was no way one could walk with a band playing in their pocket. But over the last few decades, thanks to technology, music is mobile, accessible and listened to way more than ever, and much of it through headphones or tiny earplugs.

Visual Blogging Platform Bluegape Raises $600K from Times Internet and Others

Image Source Gurgaon based Visual Blogging Platform Bluegape has raised 600,000 from ah Ventures, Rudy Gopalakrishnan of Fidelity and Times Internet. Barclays Capital India has been advising Bluegape & helping in getting connected with right investors. The deal has been closed on ah ventures' equity investment platform, CLUBah.com. Ayush Varshney, Co-Founder & CTO added, We will use the money on technology and for expanding our engineering team.

How Digital Advertising Industry is Growing in India

Businesses that confine themselves in small social shells hardly enthral their prospects with innovative products and services. Because people don't like reserve and introvert brands, they respond to brands that communicate with them again and again. Marketers who are aware of this rationale make every possible effort to make their presence felt in the biosphere of their target audience. And, the smartest among are those who chose the communication medium as per the choice of their prospects.

Autodesk's Pixlr Photo Editor Introduces Desktop Versions for Mac and Windows

Autodesk has introduced Pixlr in a new desktop edition for Mac and Windows that allows users to edit their pictures, after opening free pixlr account and applying effects, overlays, stickers, borders etc. The new desktop version offers a collection of tools like fun stylize filters to make sketches and watercolor paintings of photos as well as Introducing Influence Masks to correct and apply advance editing to images. Recently, Autodesk had also unveiled Pixlr Express App for iOS and Android.

How to Gamify Your Life to Quickly Accomplish Big Goals

Is your life a video game, filled with challenging quests and new adventures Or has your life become somewhat stale As most people get older, they lose their childhood sense of wonderment and openness. Most people stop growing and settle for reality as they see it. But life doesn't have to suck. Growth doesn't have to be slow. Your life can become like a game where you pursue greater obstacles, learn new skills, and have thrilling experiences.

Programming Languages for Social Networks - Which One to Choose?

We can hardly imagine our life without social networking websites like Facebook, Flickr, Pinterest, etc. Such websites have become much more than news portals or tools linking people from all over world they are now sources of income not only for their owners, but also for businesses that use these networks to build their online presence. With many businesses being interested in running their own social networking websites, development of such websites is gaining traction right now.

How to Obtain the Perfect Relation Between Sales and Marketing?

There is way too often a disconnect between sales and marketing . So, before we align them together, it's important to know their definitions and the differences between sales and marketing. What exactly are sales and marketing Sales is basically the exchange of a commodity for money or it's the action of selling something. Marketing is the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.

Urban Clap Raises Rs10 Cr in Seed Funding from SAIF Partners and Others

The Founders -(from left) Abhiraj Bhal, Varun Khaitan and Raghav Chandra Online marketplace for day to day services, UrbanClap has raised Rs. 10 crores in funding from SAIF Partners, Accel Partners and the founders of Snapdeal, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal. The company which currently operates in the Delhi-NCR region plans to utilize the funds in strengthening its technology and team as well as to scale the platform to more service categories across cities.

Urban Clap Raises $25M from Bessemer Venture Partners and Others

UrbanClap has raised 25 million led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from existing investor- Accel Partners and SAIF Partners. With this round of investment, the company is valued at 100 million. The one year old company has raised a total of about 37 million so far. After raising 1.6 million in seed funding in April, UrbanClap secured 10 million in series A funding from SAIF Partners and Accel Partners.

This Gurgaon Based Healthcare Tech Startup is Running a Virtual Hospital

Advisor Healthcare aims to bring a change to the Healthcare industry in India through its Virtual Hospital , where it provides video consultation to connect care seekers and care providers for basic health issues. The Gurgaon-based digital healthcare startup, was founded in July 2015 by Piyush Kumar, Sumit Vijay and Amritpal Singh.

Applozic: A Plug n Play Product to Embed Whatsapp-Like Chat Functionality in Your App

Shown Above Applozic Team Mobile apps are seemingly becoming an engagement strategy for most digital businesses. Whatever may be the nature of the service or product, every Internet entrepreneur inevitably does hear the question Do you have a mobile app '. This is despite of the popular trend that getting app downloads isn't an easy thing. Companies invest heavily to get app downloads and to further retain their customers by increasing features to keep them engaged.

BroEx is a Startup Disrupting How the Broker Community Interacts

BroEx Team The real estate brokerage market in India is currently dominated by 500,000 independent brokers and agencies and generates 6.5 billion in brokerage fee income for real estate sales and rentals annually. The fragmented nature of the market restricts the ability of industry stakeholders (brokers, builders, and customers) to collaborate effectively. One such startup where people can locate brokers and property of choice is BroEx.

My Dream Store: An eCommerce Startup that Lets You Monetize Your Creativity

A dedicated destination for anyone and everyone to create and sell custom merchandise, that is what Karthik Venkat and Satish Bala have created in the form of My Dream Store. It is a crowd-funded merchandising platform that allows individuals to create and sell high-quality T-shirts. Founded in April 2014, and based in Hyderabad, the startup is primarily targeting college students through its platform. It is catering to two different sets of audience A.

India Reads: An Online Space Which Provides Books on Rent

IndiaReads Team Launched with a philanthropic vision, IndiaReads is an online book rental platform, where students and readers in general, can rent books and save money. The company was founded in December 2009 as a library subscription platform. It went live as a book rental website in August 2014. Founded by Gunjan Veda IndiaReads is building a sharing economy of reading & learning resources.

5 Ways of Offering Great Customer Service Through Social Media

If your customers are using social media, we don't need to spell it out for you you should be in social media, too. And you probably are interacting with your social community already. Watch what you say. The trouble with social media, however, is this although social websites boast of a huge capacity to boost your business, extra precaution must be taken regarding how you position your brand using your online accounts. Posts, whether negative or positive, can quickly go viral.

6 Awesome Lead Generation Techniques That Work

Running out of leads - is a common complaint which a majority of sales reps raise in their organizations. Only salesmen understand the true joy of having a solid lead in hand. Lead generation has been in the sales business since the beginning of trade. Merchants used to travel far and wide to meet their potential clients for the purpose of business just on the hopes of hints and references.

Mobile App Marketing - Important Strategies That Lead to Success

Did you know that there were approximately 2.8 million applications in the Google Play store, whereas Apple's App Store had 2.2 million apps as of March 2017 Today, your application is not alone, that is competing for users' attention. To get the desired attention from users and targeted audience, you need to develop a next-level of application that stands out from other apps. Moreover, you can't release your application without any feedback from customers or any real app marketing strategy.

List of mPOS Machine & Solution Providers in India - How to buy one?

Point of Sale systems have come a long way from where they were a decade back. At a time when smartphones are becoming payment instruments, Mobile Point of Sale or mPOS technology is evolving simultaneously. Now that the Indian Government has taken a major step towards making the economy cashless, it has become a requirement for businesses to start accepting cashless payments as well. Installing an mPOS is a convenient, cost effective and a holistic approach to do so.

How To Stay Motivated Even If Your Goals Seem Out Of Reach?

I have set my goals and trying to meet them and they seem to be out of reach and I'm growing frustrated. With each passing day, nothing changes, and I keep thinking as to how long can I be positive and not give up Self -doubt has been sinking into me, the negative thoughts are preventing me to progress. Is this something that crosses your mind frequently Staying motivated is the hardest act when life isn't progressing as you would want it to.

Real Estate CRM Solutions Provider Agentdesks Raises $2.95M in Seed Round

Agentdesks, a mobile-only customer relationship management platform for real estate agents , has raised 2.95 million in seed funding from a group of investors including Sierra Ventures, Cota Capital and Vegas Tech fund. (source) The raised capital shall be channelized towards bolstering the company's technology and strengthening the team. Agentdesks was founded by Biju Asokan with Vijay Bharath and Sanya Gurnani in 2014.

How GOSF turned out for Indian ecommerce Industry?

Google India Partnered with several ecommerce companies organized Great Online Shopping Festival 2012 , later this week this event gave an opportunity to Indian consumers to purchase products on discounts offered by the various ecommerce companies partnered with Google India for GOSF. Google India partnered with more than 90 ecommerce sites to provide discounts and offer deals to the customers.

How much ecommerce startups should invest in technology?

You have a great idea and a team of co-founders and you are ready to start up, but with so much competition, there is constant pressure to deliver innovative ideas and use the best of existing technology to embark one's existence. It takes a lot of hard work and sweat to run a start-up technology.

FIFA Fever hits eCommerce

With the FIFA 2014 World Cup fever hitting India, Online retailers Fashionara.com, Jabong.com, Flipkart, Myntra etc. are bringing to town a selection of men and women merchandise in team colors for all soccer enthusiasts. These collections include t-shirts for men, boxers, track pants, shorts, football and caps amongst other items.

Fashionara.com Changes its Business Model; Launches F.lea Bazaar with 200 sellers

Online retail portal Fashionara.com has announced the launch of F.lea Bazaar, an online marketplace that brings together a curated collection of the off-beat, eclectic products from select sellers and boutiques. With this move, the company has also effectively changed its model from being a pure play fashion portal, to a curated marketplace.

Is India a seasonal / festive led eCommerce market? Perspectives from leaders in Indian Online Retail

Amit Maheshwari, Snapdeal eCommerce companies like Snapdeal.com offer competitive prices throughout the year making products more affordable than offline stores. However the festive season does bring in a greater wave of enthusiasm for all the companies including eCommerce companies. This a global trend which is being witnessed in different parts of the world.

Top 5 Cities In the Indian Startup Ecosystem

Indian startup ecosystem has really taken off and come into its own driven by factors such as massive funding, consolidation activities, evolving technology and a burgeoning domestic market. The numbers are telling from 3,100 startups in 2014 to a projection of more than 11,500 by 2020 , this is certainly not a passing trend. It's a revolution. And it's going to change the way the markets are working today in India.

Fundingwire - Mobile Gaming Startup Play Simple Games Secures $4M & More Funding Updates

Shown Above Team PlaySimple Games Fundingwire is your quick dose of notable funding announcements for the Indian technology ecosystem. Firms featured in this segment include PlaySimple, GoZefo, GramCover, Active.ai, Scienaptic and ElasticRun. Mobile Gaming Startup PlaySimple Games Secures 4MBangalore-based mobile gaming startup, PlaySimple Games, has raised 4 million in Series A round of investment led by SAIF Partners and IDG Ventures India.

Kalaari Capital Launches its Third $290M India Fund

Image Source Vani Kola led venture capital firm Kalaari Capital has launched a new India fund of 290 million (Rs. 2000 crore). It's the company's third firm in nine years. The company has fully deployed its previous fund ( 160 million) and invested in more than 60 startups in the country such as Snapdeal, Urban Ladder, Myntra, Zivame, Bluestone, etc. With its third fund, the company has already made a few investments. The investments from its first fund ranged between 1 million and 2 million.

#Fundingwire: Apps Daily Secures $2M from Kalaari Capital & More

Fundingwire is your quick summary of notable investments made in the technology space. The firms which have recently raised investment include Don't Scratch Your Head, AppsDaily, NXF Digital, Pitstop, Quickli and SpectraVR AppsDaily Secures 2M from Kalaari CapitalMobile app development and distribution company AppsDaily Solutions Pvt.

Mobile App Development Company Apps Daily Raises $16M in Series C Round

Image Source appsdaily Mobile app development and distribution company, AppsDaily has raised 16 million in Series C round led by Zodius Capital with participation from existing investors including Russian VC fund Ru-Net, IndoUS Venture Partners (now Kalaari Capital) and Qualcomm Ventures. The company aims to utilize the raised funds to expand its product offering, launch its digital platform, expand its retail distribution reach and make some key hires to strengthen its management team.

Look at IIT Kharagpur's Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2016

Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) is IIT Kharagpur's annual international corporate convergence organised by its Entrepreneurship Cell. It is one of the largest student-level Entrepreneurial summit in the country. GES 2016 was scheduled from 8 Settle' in alliance with OnePlus Co-presented by Augray, driven by Mahindra Rise and powered by 10,000 Startups and in association with Bloomberg.

Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone Invests in Indian Hyper Local Startup LookUp

Shown Above Twitter's Co-founder Biz Stone (L) and LookUp's Founder & CEO Deepak Ravindran (R) Local commerce mobile messaging app Lookup, has announced a Series A investment of 3 million from Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone and some other investors. Post investment, Biz Stone has joined the team as an advisor. This hyper local startup had raised 382,000 till now before this investment. The company claims to have over 3 million message exchanges every month.

#Fundingwire: Helpshift Raises $23M in Series B; Creditvidya Raises $2M & More

FundingWire is your quick daily dose of notable investments made in the technology space. The firms covered in this segment include Helpshift, Creaditvidya, Kaalari capital, Intgrea,Listup, Kae Capital and KrazyBee Helpshift Raises 23M in Series BHelpshift Inc., a startup that makes customer support software for mobile apps, on Tuesday said it has raised 23 million in Series B funding from Microsoft Ventures, Salesforce Ventures and existing investors Intel Capital, Nexus Venture Partners,...

#Dealwire - Cloud Computing Firm Nutanix Acquires Pernix Data & Calm.io & More

Dealwire is your dose of notable M&A and partnership deals in business and technology space. Firms covered in this segment include Nuantix, Pernixdata, Calm.io, SBricks, HomeCues, Rackspace, Apollo Global Management, Quikr, Zapluk, Curefit, Cult, FullContact and Profoundis Labs Enterprise Cloud Company Nutanix Acquires PernixData & Calm.ioCloud computing firm Nutanix has acquired California-based PernixData and Bengaluru-based Calm.io as it prepares itself for an IPO.

#Fundingwire - Urban Ladder Raises $3M in Venture Debt; Unacademy Raises $1M Led by Blume & More

Shown Above Urban Ladder Co-Founder Rajeev Srivatsa Fundingwire is your dose of notable investment announcements in the technology ecosystem. Firms which have recently raised investment include Urban Ladder, Unacademy, ShaadiSaga, Advenio Technosys, GuaRented NearU, Encashea, Octo.ai, TAC, Notesgen and Zzungry. Urban Ladder Raises 3M in Venture Debt from Trifecta CapitalFurniture eCommerce firm Urban Ladder has secured a venture debt of 3 million from Trifecta Capital.

Kalaari Capital Invests Series A Funding in a Weight Loss and Fitness Startup Truweight

Hyderabad based a weight loss and fitness startup, Truweight has raised series A funding from venture capital firm Kalaari Capital. The amount of funding which has not been disclosed, will be used to develop a mobile app and to strengthen its presence across India. It was started by Co-founders Vishnu Saraf and Megha More.

Funding Wire: Stockroom.io, Grabhouse, Quifers and Cloud Lending Solutions

Hyderabad Based Startup Stockroom.io Raises 70,000 in Seed Round Hyderabad based startup Stockroom.io has raised a seed funding of 70,000 Image Source Facebook Hyderabad based startup Stockroom.io ( Stellar Software Technologies Pvt Ltd) has raised a seed funding of 70,000 from an angel investor. The startup was founded by Naren Krishna (CEO) and Ashish Kumar Sahoo (CTO). Naren is an alumni of BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus and Ashish is an alumni of IIIT Bhubaneswar.

10 Notable Women in the Indian E-Commerce Ecosystem

While e-commerce is still young in India, it has seen a number of startups evolving into big companies in a short period of time. Although no single person or a company has emerged as a single leader, a number of individuals together have become the face of this sector in this country. B.R. Ambedkar once said, I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.

Kalaari Capital Invests $4M in Scoop Whoop to Bolster Video Production

New Delhi-based two-year-old internet media and news startup, ScoopWhoop has raised 4 million from Kalaari Capital . ScoopWhoop's plans to use the latest round of funding for aggressive expansion of its video production unit, ScoopWhoop Talkies. The startup that is trying to become BuzzFeed of India started in November 2013. The company plans to use the latest round of funding for aggressive expansion of its video production unit, ScoopWhoop Talkies.

Artomatix: AI-Enabled Startup Employing Example Based Art Creation For Gaming Companies

The purpose of a game is to deliver a captivating interactive experience to its users. If we delve games that have made a huge success out of themselves we'll find just one common trait- Design. People can call it Fancy Technology', but we all know it's the fascination of technology that attracts users the most. Then comes the graphics part, where smoothness and asymmetry concoct an effective broth.

How We Are Building Medzin as an On Demand Healthcare Assistant

Lazy about visiting a doctor or Pharmacist Then here's Medzin, a one stop solution for healthcare assistance, bringing accessible and affordable healthcare to everyone at their fingertips. Medzin is the brainchild of me and my 3 co-founders Madhav Shankar (COO), Suyash Mohan (CTO) and Raghav Sarda (CFO). Just a year ago, Medzin sowed its seeds back in Delhi NCR when we ourselves faced the problems of the high cost and unavailability of medicines.

Concierge Service Startup Wishup Gets Seed Funding from Tracxn Labs, 500 Startups and Others

Delhi-based concierge service startup, Wishup has raised a seed round of funding from TracxnLabs, 500 Startups and Mato Peric. Additionally, the company also saw funding from a host of Angels through TracxnSyndicate. The startup, which has been operational on Facebook Messenger and its Helpline number (+91-7676766666), also announced the Beta launch of its Android app, which will provide its users with another option to use its services.

Evolution of Fitness Industry in India - Riding High on Growth!

First things first, the health and fitness industry in India is poised at an inflection point, with high market fragmentation, stupendous market potential and end-to-end overall growth. Several new business models are emerging to disrupt this industry. The fitness and wellness sector in India has come a long way from the days of the local akhadas' to wrestling now being a part of the international Olympics, with India actively taking part in it and winning medals for the country.

Zodius Capital Raises $110M to Invest in 8-10 Internet and Technology Startups

Mumbai-based investment firm Zodius Capital has raised 110 million for making investments in Internet and technology companies. It plans to invest 11-16 million in 8-10 Indian startups by end of this year. This is Zodius's first tranche of its 500 million fundraising partnership with Avendus Capital to set up Zodius Capital II. As per a report by ET, the firm also plans to raise the second tranche by the end of this year or early next year.

Suffering From Business Anxiety? Here Are 6 Solutions You Should Live By Every Day

Have you ever had a day in a business where one minute you're elevated, on top of the world and next minute you're back on the ground Yeah, me too Owning a business brings so many ups and downs. All in one day. Sometimes within a few minutes. As an entrepreneur, you're at war with evil uncertainty every day. Will we bring in enough money to pay the staff this month Will that investment pay off Will we lose clients And then, business anxiety kicks in.

Exclusive: Zopnow experiences 75 % repeat purchases, claims to become profitable soon

Zopnow.com, a Bangalore based etailer of grocery and FMCG products has seen gradual growth since its beta launch in November last year. Of late, Zopnow has been experiencing rise in demand of organic products and Italian condiments along with soap, home cleaning utilities which form a part of more than 75 of the orders. Speaking about the growth of the company Mukesh Singh, Co-Founder & Zopper, Zopnow.com said At this stage we are not disclosing the actual number of customers or basket size.

Pepper Tap set to expand Services in Tier-2 Cities

Indian grocery delivery startup PepperTap, is all set to enlarge its service spectrum by penetrating into tier-2 cities that include Ahmedabad, Surat, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Kolkata. The company will be associating with around 25 grocers in each of these cities to make its operations live in the entire city at one go. After its success in Delhi NCR and Pune, PepperTap is now tapping the unexplored markets of tier-2 cities.

Grocery eCommerce Scenario in India: Overcoming Challenges, Competition and Threats

The year 2015 started with a plethora of investments happening in the hyper local' space, be it food delivery, home services or logistics. On the same front, a number of new grocery delivery firms were also seen sprouting and scaling up. The veterans in this space BigBasket, ZopNow etc. too garnered attention from VC investors.

Zop Now co-founder, B.K Birla quits

The issues among the co-founders running a company is not something new when it comes to e commerce businesses, the way company is being run, policies, terms, etc are few things which led to issues among the co-founders. Having co-founder in a business who perfectly blends with your thinking and mindset is somewhat a difficult task, as if these don't match it not only affects the personal relations but the future of company as well.

Startup Founders' Wishlist for ‘Budget 2016'

2015 was a fast-paced stellar year for Indian startups, as the ecosystem observed significant growth and a torrent of capital flowing from domestic as well as global investors. Over 7.3 billion was invested in Indian tech startups across multiple sectors last year. In fact a very active participation was being displayed by the government itself to fuel entrepreneurship and also created policies to support startups.

These 40 Startups Will Pitch in the SURGE to Become ‘The Startup of the Year'

SURGE is Web Summit's first conference in India. In 5 years, Web Summit, held annually in Europe, has grown from 400 attendees to over 42,000 from more than 134 countries. It's been called the best technology conference on the planet . Here are the startups that will be pitching in the event to get the title of the best startup in 2016 Ziotiv Technologies Founders Mani SVS & Mallikarjun Sarvepalli The company is currently operating its online car service platform Carmozo.

Twitter Acquires Artificial Intelligence Startup Whetlab

Source Twitter has confirmed its acquisition of Massachusetts-based artificial intelligence startup, Whetlab, in order to accelerate the company's own in-house efforts on bolstering the analytics capacity. The deal was disclosed in a tweet by the Twitter engineering team. Terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed. But Twitter will gain access to the startup's technology and its small team, while Whetlab's current product will be discontinued from next month, as reported by ET.

The Race For AI: Google, Twitter, Intel, Apple In A Rush To Grab Artificial Intelligence Startups

This column has been curated from CB Insights blog Nearly half of the AI companies acquired since 2011 have had VC backing. Nearly 140 private companies working to advance artificial intelligence technologies have been acquired since 2011, with over 40 acquisitions taking place in 2016 alone (as of 10 7 2016).

Rockethomes: A Construction Solutions Marketplace Startup

Building a house can be the most cumbersome task in life. It involves a series of steps, which are meant to be taken one at a time. Let alone settling the hectic process of choosing a location and buying a plot, the real challenge begins with the hunt for a good contractor, procuring construction materials and picking the right home fittings. But thanks to technology and the introduction of online marketplaces, one can now economize on time, energy and money invested in this process.

Bharti Airtel Launches Wynk Games Offering Android Paid Games For Free

By launching Wynk Games, Airtel has become the first Indian company to host over 2000 games in an app based platform. Bharti Airtel on Tuesday announced the launch of Wynk Games' with over 2000 titles. The company has been pushing content through its Wynk brand, for streaming movies and music, and now it plans to capture the mobile gaming segment. By launching Wynk Games, Airtel has become the first Indian company to host over 2000 games in an app based platform.

The Subtle Art Of Reaching Your Potential

If you're trying to reach your potential, when should you double down on your strengths and when should you mitigate weaknesses One view is that if you work on your weaknesses you'll end up with a lot of mediocre weaknesses. This is terrible policy. You can do fine in life if you are really good at math and just passable at English. Or exceptional at marketing and only mildly competent at finance. I can barely use Excel and it's not destroying my life.

Home Service Provider Door Mint Raises $3M Co-led by Helion Ventures and Kalaari Captial

Image Source After raising angel funding in April, Mumbai-based home service provider DoorMint has now raised 3 million in its series A round. Co-led by Helion Ventures and Kalaari Captial, the investment will provide the resources to DoorMint to expand its current service network in Mumbai as well as establish its presence in other metro cities. Doormint is also looking to hire new talent in its team across marketing, operations and technology.

Hyper Local Consumer Services Platform Door Mint Raises Angel Funding

Image Source GooglePlayStore Mumbai-based on-demand hyper local consumer services platform DoorMint which provides utility services at people doorstep, has raised angel funding. The round was led by Powai Lake Ventures, and the startup is in talks with VCs to raise the next round very soon. With the raised funding, the company plans to include more service categories such as laundry services etc. The startup plans to go pan Mumbai soon.

Commerce Startup Renowala.com Raises Funding from Logtally

ECommerce Startup Renowala.com Raises Funding from Logtally Yet to be launched Hyderabad based eCommerce startup, Renowala.com has raised angel funding from the promoters of software technology firm Logtally for a 15 stake in the company. Besides the investment, Hyderabad based Logtally will provide the tech-support to Renowala that includes web and app based technology. Renowala is an eCommerce platform looking at revolutionising the home improvement service experience for Indian customers.

Snapdeal to Increase Investment in Logistics

Snapdeal's Co-Founder Rohit Bansal (Image Source) Snapdeal's Co-Founder Rohit Bansal on Monday announced that their eCommerce company Snapdeal will be spending more on logistics and technology to compete with Amazon and Flipkart. The change of paradigm in the online shopping sector has given rise to more demands, from a pin to a car, today everything is available online. Due to the increasing demand of a variety of products it becomes hard to deliver the products on time.

Letsbuy Closes Shop: Redirects Traffic to Category Pages on Flipkart

Letsbuy.Com, a multi-category etailer, has been closed, with the traffic being redirected to specific category pages on Flipkart. The company was acquired by Flipkart in the first half of this year for an undisclosed amount. The move forms a part of a 2-step integration strategy by Flipkart where, they first began with integrating the checkout process on Letsbuy and have now closed the site by redirecting traffic to Flipkart.Com.

6 Tips to Make Freelancing More Productive

People think that freelancing is the best option when it comes to enjoying the freedom and working on your own terms. You do not have a boss to shout orders at you, the work can be done from the comfort of your home, and you can even work while traveling- but it all comes at a cost You have to learn to discipline yourself, have a grip on your time and practice to stay focused on the important tasks of your job.

Learning One of These 5 Career Skills Will Come Handy in The Future

If you hear that The Best You Learn, the foremost You Earn , you recognize there's nothing impossible in this world to induce the success factor. Firstly after I began to learn digital resources online at an early age of twelve, I could not examine the skills area required to induce that factor in my career and that suits for my passion.

Flatle: Revamping the Online Real Estate Market

For most people buying a flat is one of their biggest investments. So, one needs to be careful and sure on the flat they are looking for. In this age where everything is online to put users at ease, finding a flat is not that difficult, although, finding a property which fits according to the budget of the user might be a problem. Paying the broker's fee feels an extra burden on the buyer, though they are the one who discover the possibilities of finding the next best thing.

Infuse Venture launches ‘Power Start', a bootcamp for cleantech and renewable energy startup ideas

During the last few years, India has witnessed the entry of several tech startups coming up with different products services under the bandwagon of clean technologies. From electric chullas to solar-powered LED lights to electric cars and water purification systems, startups have shown that cleantech enterprises can make money, scale in size and do social good at the same time.

#Fundingwire: Athletto Raises Angel Funding; Didi Chuxing Raises $7B & More

Fundingwire is your quick summary of notable investments made in the technology space. The firms which have recently raised investment include Didi Chuxing, SoundCloud, GrabOnRent, Athletto, Saavn, Greytip, and Silvan Athletto Raises Angel FundingSports technology platform Athletto has raised an undisclosed angel funding from industrialist Mr. Atul Ingle.

Culture Machine Raises USD 18M in Series B Funding Led by Tiger Global

Image Source culturemachines Culture Machine, an Asian digital video network, has raised USD 18 million in Series B funding led by Tiger Global, Zodius Capital and Times Internet Limited. The company had previously raised USD 3.5 million in Series A funding from Zodius Capital and Times Internet Limited.

Mobile Video Production Firm Yogurt Labs Raises $115K in Funding

Image Source YogurtLabs Mobile video production firm, Yogurt Labs has raised 115,190 (Rs 72 lakh) in convertible notes from a group of investors, including Silicon Valley-based angel investor Nick Adams, and Kiran Bhat to expand their business. Other investors who participated in the round include Family Pot Investments LLP a fund set up by two London-based financiers, Devin Kohli and Grant Bergman. Founded in December 2014, the startup makes professional quality video clips with a smartphone.

B2B eCommerce Firm OfBusiness Secures Rs 75 Cr & 6 More Funding Updates

Shown Above - Team OfBusiness Fundingwire is your dose of notable investment announcements in the Indian technology ecosystem. Firms which have recently funding include OfBusiness, Indifi, FitMeIn, Comet, Doctor Insta, Urban Piper and Wooplr. B2B eCommerce firm OfBusiness Secures Rs 75 CrGurgaon-based B2B commerce platform for SMEs, OfBusiness, has secured Rs 75 crore in an investment round led by Zodius Technology Opportunities Fund with participation from existing investor Matrix Partners...

7 Hacks That Will Boost Your Business's Bottom Line

Bottom line under pressure You need a combination of more sales, better financial management with a dose of creativity.You can have as many fancy, complex definition of a business's bottom line as you want but it comes down to this it's how much money you make when all your bills and overheads are paid. Keep your overheads low and a tight grip on spending and investment, and you should have a healthy bottom line.

Startups and ideas across the globe that got funded in the passing week

Apart for digital and eCommerce, the past week witnessed the funding deals spread across various sectors including Technology, Mobile, Social commerce and Video. Also, some startup apps like Depop, a social shopping app Mapbox, a cloud based app, and many more also got their share in this week's funding. As compared to the previous weeks roundup, the current week was marked with one of the largest fundings of the month, USD 150 Mn by Xero, a San Francisco based online Accounting SaaS provider.

Chat Based Mobile App Goodservice Raises $ 1.6M from Sequoia Capital

Image Source Goodservice, a chat based mobile app that lets people to get anything on demand, has raised 1.6 million seed funding from Sequoia Capital. The firm plans to use the funds to invest in technology and to expand its scale of operations. Goodservice offers customers a single destination to get anything done, on chat.

10 Cool Ways On How to Make a Mobile Wallet Hotter This Year

Today's mobile-savvy generation that thrives on technology for everything starting from shopping for online grocery ordering to apparels, shoes, baby products, ordering cabs to paying bills etc., are forever hooked on to their smart phones to fulfill the basic needs of life. With such evolution in the buying and selling landscape, their money has also gone mobile today.

#Fundingwire: Social Networking App Tantan Secures $32M; Dedrone Raises $10M & More

FundingWire is your quick daily dose of notable investments made in the last 24 hours. Invested firms covered in this segment- PurpleHealth, Tantan, & Dedrone PurpleHealth Raises 100K from Katabole Technology Venture Mumbai PurpleHealth.com, Health On Demand platform, has raised 100,000 in a round from Katabole Technology Venture. Founded in 2014, PurpleHealth.

Top Methods to Follow for Being a Successful Online Entrepreneur

Becoming an entrepreneur is not a hard thing, but where you take your company under your leadership is what matters. This is what people will differentiate and compare. Are you fulling all the responsibility of being a businessman Or do you think that online businesses are way different than past If you have more related questions that are underestimating you and your great thoughts, then these words are all about enhancing online entrepreneur skills.

Lingying: LinkedIn's Chinese connection

Moving ahead in the race of social networks, LinkedIn has now launched a localized version of itself in China. The country still has a ban on other western social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. Thereby, now LinkedIn can gain an upper hand by increasing its presence in the populous country. On Monday, the company launched a beta version of its site in Simplified Chinese to reach the local audience, and its called (Lingying).

5 Values That Define a Cockroach Startup

While the startup ecosystem took time to take off in India, the country is now the fastest growing and third largest startup ecosystem in the world. In the last few years the country has seen the fortunes of many entrepreneurs change overnight with new unicorns coming to the fore and hogging the limelight. However, as the dust begins to settle, the worldwide shift in focus from unicorn startups to cockroach startups is now becoming more and more evident in India as well.

Significance of social media for online retailers

In the offline retailing world, direct contact with the customer cues for the establishment of trust, but in case of online retail two way interaction is a boon. Social networks gives online retail brands this opportunity to form a relationship with the customers and also allow them to interact with the consumers individually, providing platform for building trust, loyalty and revenue from the digitally aware consumer.

The Importance of Market Research for a Startup

Be on a lookout for alarming and warning signals, so you can take corrective measures before it is too late Your idea seems revolutionary and could do wonders when launched in the market. It feels' like the answer to everyone's problems. This gut feeling is the basis of your new venture, but before you delve further, wouldn't it be a wise idea to sit back and support your instinct with valuable data.

5 Brands that Have Trademarked Colours

Being a layman, I have no clue what colours indigo or lavender look like. But I can recognise the worldwide brands represented by these colours. Colour is important in branding because it is the foremost thing that people remember when they look at the logo. To achieve the recognition brands have to peg their signature colour. A specific Pantone colour in the brand identity of a specific type of product. But don't get confused with the colour of brand and a colour trademark.

What Your Small Business Needs to Know About the Facebook Algorithm

Facebook continues to reign king of social media. The company recently announced a staggering 1.28 billion daily active users and nearly 2 billion monthly active users in its first quarter. The Facebook algorithm determines what each one of those 2 billion monthly users sees in their News Feeds when they log in. If you want your audience to see your content, you'll need to understand Facebook's algorithm and adapt your social strategy accordingly.

Gifting Startup Giftxoxo Buys Mumbai-based Actizone

Bangalore-based gifting company, Giftxoxo which is owned and operated by Nreach Online Services Pvt. Ltd, has acquired Actizone, a startup focused around discovery and booking of kids related activities. As part of the deal, Actizone's founder Rajat Varma is joining Nreach to lead the sales & business development in Western India market. Post acquisition, Actizone's founder Rajat Varma will join Nreach to lead the sales & business development in Western India market.

Giftxoxo Acquires Local Experience Discovery Platform Yipeedo

Giftxoxo and Yipeedo team Sumit, Kushal, Manoj, Dhiraj and Shalini Giftxoxo, the experiential gifting company has acquired Yipeedo, a start-up focussed on helping city dwellers to discover and book leisure activities. Giftxoxo owns mobile app Frogo. As per the deal, founders of Yipeedo, Shalini Nautiyal and Dhiraj Kathuria will bring their software product development experience to the Frogo team and spearhead the product together with the Giftxoxo founders.

Great Expectations: Entrepreneurs and Innovation in Indian Agriculture

I had the opportunity to moderate a panel on agri-tech at Tiecon-Delhi last month. It is an emerging area in terms of start-up investment in India, with huge potential as a market and in terms of alleviating poverty, enhancing rural employment, and driving economic growth. Agriculture in India is approximately 15 of GDP amounting 350B in annual output. For the Indian economy to grow at 8 9 annually, the agriculture sector needs to significantly increase its productivity.

Some Popular Online Digital Marketing Courses and Certifications

The number of enterprises that provide astonishingly ingenious products and services in today's day and age is snowballing. What makes a handful of these innovators truly stand out is their MARKETING. Effective and creative marketing is what helps firms realize its true potential by fully understanding the needs of their customers. So it is not surprising that Marketing is one of the most enviable career choices of the 21st century.

Should Startups Focus on Profitability or Not?

There are certain topics that even some of the best journalists can't fully grok. One of them is profitability. I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, They're not even profitable To grow faster businesses need resources in today's financial period to fund growth that may not come for 6 months to a year.

7 Marketing Techniques Learnt From Successful Entrepreneurs

Shown Above Gordon Moore, co-founder and Chairman Emeritus, Intel Corporation A famous saying, I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent by Thomas Edison reveals the one of the secret tip to become a successful entrepreneur.

Mobile Apps vs Mobile Web - What to Choose for the Best UX

There are currently around 4.8 billion mobile phone users around the world. By 2019, that number is projected to grow to over 5.07 billion. With mobile device usage increasing at hyper-speed, it is more important than ever for companies to be optimized for mobile. When smartphones and tablets emerged as forms of personal computing it signaled a sea-change in the world of information technology.

6 Effective Business Strategies To Beat Top Competitors In Your Industry

Have you ever wondered why some brands needs to work extra hard to get a few customers, while the launch of some brands brings immediate customers Talking point The Apple Inc ., after a lost PC battle to Microsoft , appreciably went from the production of Apple-1 desktop computer, to the production of modern smartphones.

5 Ways Young E-commerce Businesses Can Leverage You Tube

With a user base of more than one million, presence across 30 countries and availability across almost every device- makes YouTube one of the most preferred marketing vehicle for the entrepreneurs of Gen C-the generation of today's connected consumers. In the past few years, from a portal to share videos, YouTube has taken the position of a SEO tool, and a platform to reach the target audience, especially the Youth.

Israel Startups Deal RoundUp: Tapingo Gets $22M; Moment.me Acquired by Wix and More

Israel-based Mobile Food ordering App Tapingo Raises 22 million in Series C Round Image Source tapingo Israel-based mobile food ordering app, Tapingo has raised 22 million in series C round led by Qualcomm Ventures. DCM Ventures, Kinzon Capital, and existing investors Khosla Ventures and Carmel Ventures also participated in the round. This brings the total capital raised by the three-year-old company to 36 million.

Quik Wallet Secures $1.6M Funding from Snow Leopard Ventures

Image Source Mobile payment service QuikWallet has raised an amount of 1.6 million from Snow Leopard Ventures. The raised amount will be used for scaling the team, technology, and company's merchant base. The company has plans of raising 5 million soon, as reported by ET. Mumbai based startup was founded in 2012 by Yudhajit Nag Sen and Mohit Lalvani. QuikWallet is a platform focused on enabling payments offline for merchants and consumers.

Liv Quik, a mobile payment technology startup raises funding

LivQuik, a Mumbai based mobile payment startup company has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Snow Leopard Technology Ventures. The funds will be used to ramp up the team in Engineering, Operations and Marketing. With this funding, Christopher Leigh kolenaty, partner at Snow Leopard Technology Ventures has joined the board of LivQuik as its additional director.

Liv Quik to launch mobile wallet solutions for merchants and consumers

LivQuik, a mobile technology startup, is soon to launch their mobile wallet. QuikWallet, which will allow its users to store their payments and loyalty cards on their handset, offers the flexibility to go shopping without any need to carry cards, cash or a wallet. QuikWallet is a smartphone app which allows to make payments at coffee shops, hotels, restaurants, retail outlets and several other shopping platforms.

4 Steps to End Negative Habitual Thinking

I've been going through a spiritual awakening. I am remembering my own power and realizing how liberating it is to know that I can manifest anything I want because my thoughts create my reality. But one morning I woke up and realized something was still wrong. Why wasn't I waking up excited in the morning, even after my awakening Why wasn't I springing out of bed with excitement If this is truly an awakening of my own power and I know what makes me happy, then why am still thinking the same...

Twitter Officially Launches its ‘Retweet with Comments' Feature

Image Source CloudFront Twitter has officially launched its retweet with comment' feature, that allows users to retweet with a comment of their own in a separate box. The new feature allows users to embed a tweet in their own tweets, which lets them get around Twitter's 140-character limit when they add commentary of their own. As per a TOI report, the new feature is currently available for the web and iPhone app, and soon will be available on its Android app.

14 Strategies To Accelerate Your Personal Growth By 1,000%

First, personal evolution is a choice. It's not genetic. It's an overall approach to life. It's a mindful understanding of how the internal and external influence and shape each other. Second, don't mix up causes with effects. Most people believe, for example, that confidence is a cause of success. A comprehensive meta-analytic review paints the opposite picture, showing that confidence is a byproduct of positive choices.

You Need Clarity of Purpose to Succeed

Your direction defines what you do every day. Clarifying not only your purpose but your direction reinforces your ultimate life purpose. You should have a clear understanding of what you want next month, next quarter or next year. Think about it When you feel unclear about a goal, you have difficulty achieving it. And if you don't know why you should do something, you lack commitment to taking action.

Willpower Doesn't Work. Here's How to Actually Change Your Life.

Many people think that what the addict needs is willpower, but nothing could be further from the truth. Arnold M. Washton, Ph.D. If you want to make any permanent change in your life, willpower won't get you there. Whether you want to get healthier, stop using social media so much, improve your relationships, be happier, write a book, or start a business willpower won't help you with any of these things.

If You Are Serious About Achieving Success…Master Your Mindset

If you've ever failed at reaching any goal in life, the problem could all be in your mind. That's how important your mindset is. Your mind is your most powerful force. The stories you tell yourself and the things you believe about yourself can either prevent change from happening or allow new ideas to blossom.

Teewe Developer Mango Man Raises $1.75M Funding

Image source techcrunch Bangalore-based home entertainment hardware maker Mango Man has raised 1.75 million in seed funding round from Sequoia Capital and India Quotient Fund. Mango Man aims to use the newly acquired funding to enhance its current product lineup, develop new hardware scheduled to be launched later this year and expand internationally, as reported by TechCrunch Speaking about the funds raised, Co-founder and CEO of Mango Man Consumer Electronics, Sai Srinivas Kiran G said, We...

#Deal Wire: Jugnoo Acquires Sab KuchFresh; Zapluk-Pamperazi Merger & More

Dealwire is your dose of notable M&A and partnership deals in business and technology space. Firms covered in this segment include Jugnoo, SabKuchFresh, Edcast, Zapluk, Pamperazi & Salesforce. Jugnoo Acquires SabKuchFresh to Strengthen Hyper-Local Delivery ServicesOn-demand auto-rickshaw aggregator Jugnoo has acquired SubKuchFresh for an undisclosed amount to strengthen its recently launched grocery delivery service Fatafat'.

Crowdfunding Platform Bitgiving Raises Funding From Angels

Delhi based crowdfunding platform, Bitgiving, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from various angel investors including Harminder Sahni (founder of Wazir Advisors), Krishna Mehra (Co-Founder at Capillary Technologies), Sanjay Bakshi and others.The funds will be used to scale up the team, enhancing the product and marketing.

Q&A with Samar Singla, Founder of Jugnoo

Where Ola and Uber failed to aggregate three wheelers, Jugnoo made it possible. Where many failed to gain traction in tier-II and tier-III cities, Jugnoo has given a new perspective towards user acquisition. This is an exclusive interview with the founder of auto aggregation app Jugnoo, Samar Singla . An avid traveler and a photographer who likes to document the mundane and the everyday world.

The Secret Recipe to Bake a Successful Hyperlocal Startup

The startup ecosystem in India has witnessed major growth and development in these past few years. Being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India has laid forth a high-yielding and productive foundation for budding entrepreneurs to realise diverse business goals and maximise their reach to the masses.

Hyperlocal Startups - The Story So Far

2014 witnessed the rise of Hyperlocal delivery startups, over 110 were founded in last two years. More than 280 million has been invested since then and majority funding across horizontal and food delivery segments. Owing to its spending power, Delhi tops the list for hyperlocal startups followed by Bangalore and Mumbai. Sequoia is the most active investor in hyperlocal startups. Its portfolio includes Grofers, PepperTap, TinyOwl, Roadrunnr & 1mg.

Indian Overseas Bank has Launched mPOS Solution Bijlipay

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has partnered with Chennai-based Skilworth Technologies Pvt. Ltd and has launched a mobile Point-of-Sale (mPOS) solution under the brand Bijlipay. The mPOS solution is targeted at small and medium enterprises across the country. Skilworth Technologies added that it has partnered with the Frankfurt stock exchange-listed WireCard AG to create this solution. Bijlipay's mPOS devices is being manufactured by the UK-based Spire Payments.

Don't Waste Time, Use These Strategies To Run Your Business

As the old saying goes, time is money, and wasting time is equal to wasting money in the business world. Time is a valuable resource that you'll often find you don't have enough of, so why waste it Unfortunately, many businesses do. This isn't intentional you don't set out to waste time. Instead, you do it accidentally. You use outdated business models, older equipment, and other time-intensive things.

Have 15 ideas To Change Your Life. Do you Have 5 Minutes?

I'm the last person to say that life is easy. I don't think that's the case at all. But there's one thing I've learned in recent years that changed everything. They way you THINK determines the outcome of your life. But thinking is hard. That's why we don't do it often enough. Helen Keller said it best People don't like to think, if one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant. I'll show you 15 thoughts about life that will forever transform the way you live.

What makes Entrepreneurs?

Image Steve Jobs What do you say about the highly successful entrepreneurs the Fords, the Gates, the Jobs, and the Warren Buffet's of this world That they were great visionaries, inventors, risk takers, creators, leaders and profiteers. Yes, they were all that, but they were also great opportunists. And they don't know the meaning of quitting.

5 Of The Best Growth Hacks By The Top SaaS Companies

Of all possible hacks, growth hacks reign supreme. Facebook, Uber and AirBnB are just a few of the top companies that were built by growth hacks. Some of the top Saas Companies were, too. Growth hacking is all about getting as many users as possible by spending as little money as possible and doing so in a way that continues to grow your business over time. Again, they key is to do so without needing to spend much of anything.

Top 9 Customer Experience Trends to Stay Competitive

In the modern scenario, businesses strive to create the best experiences for its buyers by being more customer centric. Those brands, which manage to excel at delivering the best customer experience are tasting success more frequently than others. Over 82 percent of companies consider customer experience as an important competitive differentiator and a significant measure for performance.

Learn to Manage Your Attention, and Managing Time Will Take Care of Itself.

A key habit I've noticed in successful people repeatedly, is that they are ruthless in managing what they pay attention to. Sources of distraction today are plentiful and with everything becoming digitized, are only exponentially increasing. I'm sorry to be crass, but your mind is like an egg, ripe for fertilization and every ping, push notification, email, call, text is yet one more opportunity for your mind to be literally penetrated.

Visually Intelligent Bots - The Future of Fashion Personalisation

This column is by Rohan Manthani, VP Products, Streamoid Technologies Customers shopping online struggle with discovery, then deliberation, and finally transaction retailers must reduce friction in all of these aspects of the shopping experience. A perfect storm of technological events is giving birth to new interfaces for interaction with retailers and brands.

Commerce Logistics Company Delhivery Secures $85M Led by Tiger Global

Shown Above Delhivery Founders Mohit Tandon & Sahil Barua Image Source Mindyourbusiness Delhi based eCommerce logistics services company, Delhivery has raised a Series D round of 85 million led by Tiger Global Management with participation from existing investors, Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Nexus Venture Partners, and Times Internet Limited.

Dialabank: A Startup Trying to Bring the Banks Closer to Customers

Above Shown Dialabank Team What is Dialabank Dialabank is a Financial Helpline where the company provides eligibility and price comparison for financial products. The startup also serves as a national aggregator for the financial institutions by providing them with clients as per their acquisition model. Founded in January 2012, by Gaurav S. Khurana, the company works similar to that of Justdial, however, only for the financial sector.

Budli.in- Changing the way of selling used gadgets

With technology growing at a fast pace, from smartphones and iPod to google glass and smart watches, even the relatively new products are becoming outdated fast. Now, the question that is left dangling is what to do with the old gadgets . Although, there are several sites where a user can sell his her used gadget. But to judge the correct selling price and predict the time as to when the item will actually get a willing customer, is quite difficult to estimate.

#Funding Wire: Niki.ai Raises Investment from Ratan Tata & Unilazer; BHiVE Workspace Closes $1M and More

Shown Above Team Niki.ai FundingWire is your quick daily dose of notable investments made in the last 24 hours. Invested firms covered in this segment- Niki.ai, BHiVE Workspace, Parentlane, TaxiVaxi, Appie, SmartQ, Schoolwear.in and Fundamentor Niki.ai Raises Investment from Ratan Tata & Unilazer VenturesBangalore-headquartered AI based app startup Niki.ai has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a follow up seed round from Ratan N.

Flipkart launches its payment gateway service, Payzippy

It looks like, Flipkart's techie founders, who earlier went on to mess around with inventory model retailing as business have now finally found their cup of cake in technology by first moving to the marketplace model, and now launching a payment gateway service. Under a new registered company Flipkart Payment Gateway Services (FPGS) Pvt. Ltd., Flipkart team has launched its online payment solution, PayZippy (www.payzippy.com) to earn from transactions happening not just on Flipkart.

Flipkart Bids Goodbye to Chief Business Officer Ankit Nagori & Myntra Founder Mukesh Bansal

Soon after the revamping of the top management at Flipkart, its head of commerce, Mukesh Bansal and its Chief Business Officer Ankit Nagori have put in their papers. It has been reported that they have quit to start their own ventures in the coming months. Ankit is starting his own venture in the sports domain, reportedly Flipkart co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal are the first investors of his company.

Mobile A/B testing startup Appiterate raised funding

Delhi based Appiterate, which helps mobile developers to A B test their products has raised a seed funding from SAIF Partners and a bunch of angel investors including Greg Badros (ex-VP, product & engineering, Facebook) and Prashant Malik (ex-Facebook, co-creator of Apache Cassandra). According to Techcrunch's Pankaj Mishra, who first reported the news, the deal size is expected to be over USD 500k. Appiterate uses WYSIWYG editor for A B testing of iOS and Android apps.

Flipkart Acquires Appiterate to Strengthen its Mobile Offerings

Flipkart, Indian online marketplace, has announced the acquisition of Delhi-based Appiterate, a mobile engagement and marketing automation company. In line with its Mobile First' focus, this acquisition strengthens Flipkart's presence in the area of mobile technology. Post the acquisition, Appiterate's mobile marketing automation platform will be integrated into Flipkart's mobile app. This will help in targeting of users based on their activity on the app and website.

Hybrid eCommerce Firms Gaining Investors' Attention

Voylla has raised 15 million funding from Peepul Capital Image Source Facebook Jaipur-based online portal, Voylla that offers jewelery and accessories for women, men and kids, has raised 15 million in funding from private equity firm, Peepul Capital . Earlier, the company had secured around 2 million from Snow Leopard Technology Ventures and undisclosed angel investors.

Voylla raises INR 2.5 Crores from Snow Leopard Technology Ventures

Designer jewellery and accessories portal Voylla.com has raised INR 2.5 crores from Pune-based Snow Leopard Technology Ventures. With this investment Chris Kolenaty, Partner, Snow Leopard Technology Ventures, will join on Board of Directors of Voylla. Commenting on the deal, Vishwas Shringi, Founder & CEO, Voylla.

6 Tips to Glocalize Your Business

With the advent of disruptive technologies and the penetration of Internet, the polarising concept of local and global is gradually fading away. The world has turned into a single market, which means the competition has no limit. To survive in this scenario, it has become mandatory for new age entrepreneurs to think globally and act locally.

The Transition from Print Media to Social Media Marketing

How many of you remember what marketing was like before all the TV commercials, the Facebook Twitter Instagram posts etc I'm sure it took a few seconds to recollect your thoughts. If you do, then you're one of the few lucky (or rather unlucky) ones to have witnessed the social media revolution and how it enabled business owners and retailers to take their marketing campaigns to the next level.

Nissan to sell cars online - what's the opportunity ?

Japanese car major Nissan which sells a range of vehicles in India has recently announced that the company will make its entire product line up available for purchase via internet. The idea is to simplify the purchase cycle and allow customers to buy Nissan cars over the comfort of online shopping. As per The Economic Times, the company said that customers will now be able to book their cars by making payments online by using their credit cards.

Do consumers really need fast delivery? Are we setting the right expectations?

The growth in the Indian eCommerce industry has leveraged companies like Myntra, Snapdeal, Flipkart etc. to provide their consumers the facility of same day delivery. Also, with the entry of International players such as Amazon and eBay, competition to acquire, retain as well as satisfy online buyers has been on rise in the past few years.

6 Keys To Combat Challenges In Entrepreneurship

Often when you see successful entrepreneurs around you, the wringer to ask as what has led to their success, can be a question of great concern. The truth is the equation of being successful is consistent hard work, persistence and hiring good people. Nevertheless, as an entrepreneur there are many challenges that are faced, and to rise high, you must overcome these demurs.

4 Growth Hacking Strategies for eCommerce Businesses

ECommerce industry is dynamic and growing faster than ever. In this fierce competition, you need smart and creative marketing strategies to gain greater visibility and sustainable growth. Here, growth hacking plays an important role. Growth Hacking' the term was originally coined by Sean Ellis in the year 2010. Since then, growth hacking has become a marketing buzzword and every eCommerce store is trying different tips for growth hacking.

Basics of Digital Marketing for Startups

Digital marketing is the most affordable marketing tactic which a bootstrapped, as well as a well-funded startup, can use to reach their target audience for their brand. The successful marketing of your product or services digitally depend completely on how smart and innovative your digital campaign is Even in digital marketing, you must not enter blindly into it as it will waste all your time, money and manpower.

Stuttering Startups: Legal Hazards You May Want To Avoid

This guest column is authored by Shubham Patil, Founder and CEO of BusinessWindo Starting a startup and running the business would bring up several challenges throughout. It is common to face failure at the beginning of any enterprise. As an entrepreneur, your tenure would be marked with initial hiccups and hit-n-miss opportunities. Legal matters are one of the leading junctures which an entrepreneur often overlooks, often leading to hassles later on.

How to Choose the Correct Payment Gateway for Your Business?

As online businesses are seeing meteoric and consistent growth, the need for payment gateways is increasing too. A payment gateway works to provide an essential secure link between an eCommerce website and the banking system. It is impossible to begin an online business without an efficient payment gateway. The recent commitment of the government to veer the model of the economy towards a more cashless structure is a major step in boosting payment gateways for online businesses.

Social Media For Business - What You Should Be Doing

As the social media websites are booming, they are also providing the businesses with opportunities for creating a great web presence. The social media strategy might differ from business to business however one can be sure of acquiring great returns through these influential platforms. It is true that there is a connection between social media optimization and the ROI of your business.

Top 8 Free and Easy Website Builders

Are you looking for an easy tool to build a professional website for you It's really impossible for a small business to succeed or even to survive without establishing its presence in the digital world. Do not worry about that, we have got a solution for you. Just have a look over the characteristics of the Top 8 Free and Easy Website Builders listed below 1. WordPressA world wide well-known brand that, confidently reviews itself for acquiring the power about 27 of the internet.

Alibaba Buys Majority Stake in Online Marketing Company AdChina

Chinese e-commerce company, Alibaba has bought a majority stake in online marketing company, AdChina for an undisclosed deal amount. Post acquisition, AdChina will work with Alimama and Aliyun, Alibaba's cloud computing business, in order to together create an end-to-end marketing service. As per an ET report, Alibaba's investment will help AdChina to enhance its competitive strengths in its existing businesses.

The State of Dev Ops at the Start of 2017: Panel Discussion

The word or rather, the contraction is simple DevOps . But DevOps, which refers to the increased communication and collaboration between development and IT operations, is an ever-changing, sometimes complicated term. While dev and ops used to be siloed into separate philosophies, practices, tools, and work flows, they're merging into one. The result A more efficient, reliable process and product.

Fundraising from Venture Capitalists: Dos and Don'ts for Startups

Let us revisit the do's and don't's of approaching a VC investor Industry estimates suggest that nearly two startups are born daily in India adding to the already existing pool of strategically placed companies knocking at the doors of various investors to fund their startups to growth and expansion routes.

5 Tactics to Promote Your Venture on LinkedIn Without Spending A Buck

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of LinkedIn The choice of words might differ from individual to individual, but the crux would certainly be- a business-oriented social networking platform, essentially designed for developing professional relations, having industry discussions and job hunting.' However, there's way much more to LinkedIn's offerings than just facilitating professional network building.

Augmented Reality: Impact of the Revolutionary Tech in the Field of eCommerce

When we talk about the year 2016, it was definitely a year of revolution when platforms like virtual reality added quality and authenticity to the major digital platform through updated technology. Whether we talk about social media platform or our favorite Google likes last year has definitely turned the pages of history to a change which seemed impossible in the pivotal years before.

Web Design Trends Being Followed in 2017

The web is evolving rapidly with all latest technologies and techniques. Ever improving tools allow for easier design interfaces and interactions. Here is a list of top 10 web design trends in 2017. Beginning of new web designThe traditional web design sense is no more a better choice as the role of design as to make the page attractive to the audience. But now, the web design has been transformed into a lot more.

How to Activate Extreme Self-Confidence and Destroy Chronic Anxiety and Fear

When I was growing up, I had virtually no self-confidence. A chronic stutter had convinced me to keep my mouth shut better not speak at all than speak and get laughed at. Heavy pornography usage had eroded my ability to connect with people I would frequently make huge conversational gaffs when I'd try to hold a conversation. Look out, huge butt coming through I cackled stupidly as a girl I liked walked past me to her seat during a football game.

Warren Buffett's “2 List” Strategy: How to Maximize Your Focus and Master Your Priorities

With well over 50 billion dollars to his name, Warren Buffett is consistently ranked among the wealthiest people in the world. Out of all the investors in the 20th century, Buffett was the most successful. Given his success, it stands to reason that Buffett has an excellent understanding of how to spend his time each day. From a monetary perspective, you could say that he manages his time better than anyone else.

Top 7 Graphic Design Trends Used In 2016

Here are some of the most amazing trends in graphic design seen in 2016 FLAT 2.0Impacted by minimalism, Bauhaus and the Swiss Style flat design trend represents a clean, colorful, big typography and white space look. It looks great simple and clean, and also loads faster. Now, popularity of flat design has spread and grow from UI design to areas like illustration and surface pattern design. Website with flat 2.

SBI To Introduce its Mobile Wallet Solution Called ‘SBI Buddy'

The State Bank of India has announced that it is looking forward to launch its mobile wallet solution dubbed SBI Buddy' within this week. The new wallet will be available to non-SBI customers as well. As per reports, SBI has come into a partnership with various merchants to let users access the merchants' store directly via the Buddy' app. Notably, SBI had uploaded a document with FAQs regarding this initiative along with a web page which was subsequently pulled down.

Xiaomi Unveils its First Wearable Device - a USD 13 Fitness Band

Chinese smartphone maker, Xiaomi has unveiled today its first wearable device, a fitness band for USD 13, including sensors for tracking various health metrics and can even act as an alarm clock. The market availability and international launch plans of the fitness band are still undisclosed. This fitness band launched by Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun, explaining that he had tried a lot of competing similar devices in the past but none ever stuck.

Pre-Owned Luxury Wear eCommerce Portal Zapyle Raises $1M in Seed Round

Zapyle.com, a platform that enables users to buy and sell pre-owned luxury wear, has raised 1 million in seed funding from a group of real estate firms and investment companies in Bangalore. Image Source The raised capital would be used to bolster its team, introduce new features on the mobile app and acquire customers, as confirmed by the startup's Founder and CEO, Rashi Menda. Zapyle was founded in May 2015 by Menda, an alumna of University of Minnesota.

Here are the 4 Startups Indian Express Has Added in its Portfolio

To widen its exposure to digital businesses, Vivek Goenka-owned publication house, The Indian Express Group has invested an undisclosed amount in four startups PayMango, Mr. Homecare, Envoged and Spiral Content Solutions. It's competitor BCCL is known for investing in Indian tech startups through its digital arm Times Internet. Hindustan Times too has launched an accelerator program for digital media and ad tech startups in June 2015.

“India is going to have .bharat domain name” -Govind, Coo Nixi

Internet based business in India is all time high in the light of recent exuberance in the entire ecosystem. There are several efforts that are being made by organization like NIXI and ASSOCHAM to encourage the business over internet. NIXI (National Internet Exchange of India) primarily incepted to care of peering of ISPs among themselves for the purpose of routing the domestic traffic within the country.

16 More Startup Metrics by Andreessen Horowitz that Entrepreneurs Should Track

A16Z shares a fresh set of 16 metrics for startups (Source) A few weeks ago, we shared some key startup metrics (16 of them, to be exact) that help investors gauge the health of a business when investing in it. But to repeat ourselves for a moment Good metrics aren't just about raising money from VCs they're about running the business in a way where founders can know how and why certain things are working (or not), and then address them accordingly.

Facebook surprises Wall Street with 53 percent increase in revenues since last year Q2

Facebook Inc. has given its investors a reason to celebrate with the recent announcement of its Q2 earnings performance results, reporting a 53 increase in revenue to 1.81 billion from 1.18 billion in the second quarter of 2012. Also, the maximum revenue is being generated by its advertising business representing 88 of total revenue and a 61 increase from the same quarter last year.

Facebook marketing is least satisfactory for brands, says Nate Elliott Forrester

Facebook, amidst the Wall Street predictions about its projected earnings for the Q3FY14, have might got a blow with the recently released research by Forrester Analyst Nate Elliott. In an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, he has stated Facebook is failing marketers . The statement at first seems weird considering the USD 4 Bn revenue collected from advertising last year and the way it is being looked upon by the marketers as an access provider to the largest audience in media...

What Is a Botnet Attack and How to Identify It?

These days, organizations are becoming a desirable target for attackers just because their networks are not properly patched and secured behind their firewall, leaving them easily vulnerable to various direct and indirect attacks. In addition to these direct and indirect attacks against networks, the number of victims is also steadily increasing. Examples of these indirect attacks include HTML exploit vulnerabilities or the attacks using malware in Peer-to-Peer networks.

Most Popular Logos; What Do They Have in Common?

When it comes to identifying your business, the first thing probably is your brand logo the consumer will think of. Sometimes a logo's hues are part of what makes it so recognisable. While designing the brand logo, your primary concern should be the message behind the logo. According to research, people make a judgment about a brand in less than 90 seconds. 1. COLOUR Choosing a colour combination for your brand is one of the most impactful things you can make for brand development.

5 eCommerce Checkout Tricks to Win More Sales

According to Baymard Institute's Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics report, 27 of US online shoppers abandoned their carts in the past quarter primarily due to the complicated or too long checkout process. This means over two-thirds of carts never made it through to checkout. If we take a look at combined e-commerce sales of 738 billion in the US and EU, the potential for a 35.

6 Things All New eCommerce Store Owners Should Know

You're likely in Google SandboxGoogle's Sandbox is an interesting beast, it's a testing phase that Google puts your eCommerce site through in the search results. The more popular your targeted search terms, the longer you will be in the Sandbox. Essentially, Google takes a little time to suss your site out, trial you in different positions. See how you stack up against the competition and how customers react to your site.

Startup Competitive Advantage - How to Validate Your Business Idea and Position Your Saas Product?

How did you come up with an idea for your startup Did it hit you like a ton of bricks during a sleepless night I bet you got so excited that you had to instantly go online and explore the competition. Did it all start with you being a customer of your current competitor wondering, Jeez, why can't they make their product faster easier cheaper Eventually you and your team created your own better product.

On Social Media, Be Human or Don't Bother!

Marketing communications have long been talked about and taught as fine balance of science and art. I have found it to be all about Common Sense . In the last decade, we have seen the rise of social and digital media to the extent that as of today there are 2.80 billion global social media users in 2017. It is only natural then that marketers have chosen to follow their target audiences and established their social media handles, haphazardly so at times.

Why Having a Video Marketing Strategy is Important for Marketers

There is a huge deluge of video content on social media platforms and popular video hosting services such as YouTube. The upbeat news is that many digital marketers have realized the importance of live video strategy that can grant opportune times. However, there still remains a good chunk of content marketers who focus solely on lengthy blog posts and not on videos.

Leadership in the Age of Social Media

Social media has infiltrated into our lives, way beyond the level of personal communication between individuals. It has become a lively and busy environment for companies and professionals to do business, expand their network and bridge the communication gap between brands and potential customers. There are so many ways in which top level professionals and leaders can expand and solidify their leadership position by harnessing the power of social media.

How To Build The Most Effective Sales Force For Your Business

Sales is an integral component of any business. As one of the few profit centers within an organization, building an effective sales team is critical to growing your revenues. Yet, sales training is not a focus area many companies. One study found that less than three percent of buyers trusted their sales reps. A major reason for this is because sales development representatives (SDRs) are often not trained to view themselves from a prospect's perspective.

How to Increase Your Self-Confidence & Trust in Yourself

There was a time when I didn't know what self-confidence was. But I didn't know that I didn't know what self-confidence was. I thought being awkward, anxious and unsure of myself was totally normal. Now that I'm in a new stage of my life (recent college grad, heyo), I've been thinking about confidence a lot lately. The truth is that most of us don't have self-confidence because we lack self-awareness.

Quick tips and tricks about customer support in eCommerce business

Essentials These 10 things are essential to e-commerce customer service Create a FAQ section (it will not only help your visitors answer some questions fast, but will also serve as a SEO tool with the opportunity to target long-tail keywords) Add live chat support (should be operational during customers active hours) Choose helpdesk solution to grab messages from all sources (omnichannel support) Set up confirmation and update emails Be ready to provide 24 7 support if your clientele is...

5 Hacks to Make Fearless Life Changing Decisions

You can't make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen. This is what Michelle Obama once said. As a little kid, there are many things that we're scared of. We're scared to cross the road. We are afraid of getting near the dark part of our house. Why Because we still don't have any idea on what will going to happen if we will take the risk of trying. We are just kids still inexperienced and na ve. When we grew up, those fears started to multiply.

7 Email Marketing Trends You Ought to Know About

Have you ever wondered why people still question the potential of Email Marketing There has been more than enough proof with the progress of time that Email Marketing is here to stay and is ever evolving. With Marketing Automation gaining ground, emails have become the most sought-after digital marketing tactic. THE EMERGENCE OF EMAIL MARKETING Imagine how it would be to be stuck with post mail marketing.

Smart and Simple Ways to Find Inspiration and Motivate Yourself

Get inspiration from the general population in your lifeInvest less energy with adverse individuals who dependably take a gander at the dull or unconcerned side of things. Also, invest a greater amount of the time you have now arranged for with eager or propelled individuals and let their vitality stream over to you. Get the inspiration from individuals you have succeededTry not to constrain yourself to only the inspiration you can get from the general population nearest you.

These 11 Rules Will Change Your Life Forever

There are people on this planet who wake up every day and don't know why. It's those who ask this question and follow through with action that live happy, healthy, productive lives. Pay attention By the end of this post, you're going to have to make a choice . Most people click on posts like this because they want to be happy.

12 Reasons Why Have You Been Unable To Achieve Your Goals

All of us have goals that we would like to achieve. While some of us can't reach our goals because of lack of action, some of us can't achieve them even though we are working towards them. Reasons Why You Can't Achieve Your Goals 1 You Failed To Set a GoalMerely having a desire to achieve something will not help you. Your desire must be well-defined, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. Proper goal setting is necessary if you want to achieve your goals.

How To Use Content Marketing To Grow Your Brand Online

It is so fascinating to note that a whopping 70 + of consumers use the internet to purchase products or services in the US, according to Mintel's research. What this implies is that over 200 million individuals have access to your online footprint As a small business entrepreneur, you might be pleased of your business' online presence but the question is, are you always creating and distributing interesting content on the web As a matter of fact, many small business owners are more focused on...

Advice On Anxiety No One Tells You

Tomorrow and plans for tomorrow can have no significance at all unless you are in full contact with the reality of the present, since it is in the present and only in the present that you live. Alan Watts Enough is enough. You and I need to have a conversation. Why is it that some people heal their anxiety and some don't Is it because of their race Or their geographic location Maybe it's because they make more money No, no. Those don't sound right.

9 Proven Ways to Get Twitter Followers for Your Brand

Are you new to Twitter Or do you want to get Twitter followers If you have searched Google about this then you must have found advices like Engage with people Share good content Be active blah blah blah But the good news is, I have brought something unique for you today. Here are 9 practical ways which I myself have started implementing, and I have got amazing results as well. 1. Follow othersMake it a habit of following 50 accounts every day.

7 Ways Big Data Influences Mobile App Sales

Big data has been long-time influencing the way businesses operate resourcefully helping them gain immersive access to information, stats and details of significant value and strategic importance to their purpose of trade. Over the generations it has been a reason for businesses to resourcefully and influentially target users and form customer bases studying, analyzing, inferring, processing and utilizing data from various sources to help them get enough information resources and knowledge...

Product Development Tips For Young Indian Entrepreneurs

With some of the sharpest minds from the country occupying top positions in Silicon Valley, Indians have truly carved their niche as front-runners in terms of innovation and technology. This belief has further been strengthened with the rise of the Indian start-up ecosystem, which is offering solutions to global business problems through some of the most innovative products.

Content Marketing For B2B Businesses

Are you running a B2B Business Do you have long sales cycles Do you want to be involved with your customer throughout this long consumer journey Are you experiencing a dip in your marketing efforts If the answer to all these questions is a Yes, then it is time to explore Content Marketing. Before we discuss how to do content marketing for B2B business, let's establish key needs of such a business Sales is the key No sales, no business, no survival.

China Innovation: 10 Mobile Apps in China to Know

In my previous post about 5 things I learned while working in China for 14 months, I noted how China's innovation in technology is stunning. Copying a popular app directly to China does not work only when a validated need is combined with proper localization by the right team at the right timing.

Fin Tech Startup GIBL Wants to Make Insurance Tech More Intuitive

FinTech ecosystem in India has been blossoming since the last couple of years. While payment tech firms have existed for over a decade now, there has been a lot of development in other FinTech verticals as well. The subject of discussion here is the insurance tech space, where online companies are cutting short the lengthy process of negotiating with brokers and banks followed by endless documentation exchange, to allow consumers to buy insurance policies with just a few clicks.

8 Mistakes that Kill Startups

In the Q & A period after a recent talk, someone asked what made startups fail. After standing there gaping for a few seconds I realized this was kind of a trick question. It's equivalent to asking how to make a startup succeed if you avoid every cause of failure, you succeed and that's too big a question to answer on the fly. Afterwards I realized it could be helpful to look at the problem from this direction.

Design your Personal Growth

Over the years, I've been so lucky to work on teams that support my growth. Most notably, I've learned so much from Percolate, Dropbox, and leadership coaches. I've tried lots of growth frameworks and found the best ones promote self discovery and focus. In recent conversation, I discovered many of my friends are trying to grow, but struggling to make progress. I dug deeper and realized, growth frameworks are not widely known or practiced.

Is Online Fitness Industry in for Long Haul or is it a Fad?

Almost all the markets that were highly fragmented and disorganised have recently been going through some kind of consolidation and evolution thanks to technology and more specifically Internet'. The Internet has burrowed so deeply into our social fabric, today many companies in the B2C segment from lingerie to furniture, sell their goods and services online. Health & Fitness industry is yet another segment that has been witnessing such an evolution.

10 Points to Check if That New Business Opportunity is Worth Your Time

There are different types of business opportunities and no two of them are the same. Some have a better scope of making money and some offer exciting learning opportunities. How do you decide which is the right opportunity for you Before choosing the right biz op, you might want to ask yourself the following questions. 1.

Targeting the Youth With Influencer Marketing Can Help in Gathering Real ROI

Overview of the influencer marketingInfluencer marketing is the form of marketing where the influencer (a person with a sizable no. of followers) is used to promote one's products and brands. Marketing of this kind is getting more and more popular every day. According to a survey, over 84 of the marketers are planning to launch at least one influencer marketing campaign within 12 months.

Top 3 Things You Wish You Knew Before Coming Up with a Digital Marketing Plan

You want to ensure that all your hard earned money is spent at the right place and in front of the right people, and developing a super-duper digital marketing plan under such circumstances is quite arduous. You can read a lot on what you should be doing and that surely will help you setting up the right framework needed, however, here are some pointers on what to avoid while coming up with a digital marketing plans so that you don't end up wasting most useful resources.

This Simple Strategy Decreases Anxiety And Fear

There is so much uncertainty, not only regarding personal issues, but also global and political issues. This uncertainty often leads to worry. Some estimate that people spend nearly six years of their lives worrying about the future. Ironically, a primary regret in older people's lives was the time they spent worrying, according to Cornell professor Karl Pillimer, who interviewed over 1,200 elderly people. Over and over Pillimer heard the same thing.

5 Important Funding Tips For Entrepreneurs

Venture capital investing in the US reached a staggering 59.8 billion for the first half of 2015 and is expected to break records by end of year. Up north, Canada is also making major strides (thanks in part to emerging government funding and tax incentive programs for new businesses). In the first half of this year Canadian VC investments hit 1.19 billion the highest in over a decade.

How Emotion Helped Grow Our Startup to 4 Million Users in 24 Months

Most people would answer with a simple yes or no. On one side of the argument are people who believe you should test everything. They say you should trial Google AdWords and see if people click on your ad. If they don't, you might not have a viable business. On the other side of the argument people point to Henry Ford's great quote If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses . To grow our startup, Canva, to 4 million users in 24 months, we did both.

How To Master And Solve Network Marketing Rejections

How To Master And Solve Network Marketing Rejections.I am going to give some insights on how to prepare yourself to face network marketing rejections daily, and also how to manage them professionally. You should be able to manage your energy and the energy of the conversation you are having with your prospects. It is advisable to study your potential prospects before you ever approach them.

5 Ways to Keep a Check On Personal Finances

Once you start earning, it is an exciting time in your life, these years are also crucial in terms of your finances. You wish to spend freely on fashion labels and explore the city. But, when you sit down to check up on the finances you regret spending on stuff that you shouldn't have bought instead, you could have traded-off for more valuable things.

Thinking of Scrapping Your Mobile Website? It May Not be a Good Idea!

158 million people That is the number of app users in India. Second only to US in the usage of shopping apps. Enough to make you think about sabotaging your mobile website and to push your mobile app like Myntra did. With 90 of it's traffic and 80 of its sales already coming from mobile, going app only was a better bet for Myntra. They made the transition seamless by giving better deals while purchasing from the app and by withdrawing the mobile website.

Guidelines for Your First Job Interview - Do's and Dont's

After your college has bade you farewell and you've said your last goodbyes to all your friends and teachers, in the hope of making them proud, you know you are at a turning point of your life and about to start your career. You're telling results that mirror your aspirations and expectations from friends and family could be overwhelming and you could feeling bloated of enthusiasm on your first interview, making you nervous.

How To Be Free From All Emotional Blocks And Fears

You live in a box you've carefully constructed to protect yourself. So have I. We all have. Literally, you have designed every detail of your life to protect yourself from the fears and internal conflicts you aren't willing to face. In his book, The Untethered Soul , Michael Singer gives the analogy of a person with a thorn in their arm. This thorn happens to be pierced right on a nerve.

7 Strategies That Will Help You Eliminate Procrastination

There is a high chance that you might be procrastinating on something important while reading this article, (which is a bit paradoxical, but bare with me). This is good. Here you will learn simple strategies which you can use from this moment on to eliminate procrastination and get results.

5 Ways of Ensuring Successful Business Partnerships

Once I was asked a question are you happy or how is your married life fancy that It is not that marriages are easy, the stress involved is merely about managing expectations. How you manage expectations is basically about how effective your communications work. With 15 years in to operations, a good chunk of our business came from partners who are also in the same line of business.

If You Want to Manage your Time More Effectively Place a High Dollar Value on It

A few days ago I decided to try a little experiment. I looked at what I got paid for a one hour speaking gig and decided to treat every hour of my day as if it was worth that amount. When I did that, it became quite easy to avoid distractions, do deep work, and say no to everything that's not aligned with my essential priorities.

How to Crush Your Goals , According to Harvard Research

Only 8 of people are able to actually achieve their New Year's goals let's fix that. Every new year is an opportunity to draw up a fresh blueprint of ourselves and our goals. This sounds good in theory, especially after one-too many champagne flutes at a New Year's party. In practice, though, our best intentions often never make it off the ground. Studies actually show that only 8 percent of people stick to their goals they set each year.

5 Fitness Rules Entrepreneurs Should Follow

Fitness by default comes with some other benefits than just the exterior physical appearance. I remember being a skinny kid growing up. But I always had the aspirations to be fit. Trust me for a beginner that first step seems the hardest to get on the fitness road. Very much like that first step an entrepreneur takes towards his startup. My entrepreneurship lifestyle has a lot of fitness rules incorporated by default.

India is Primed for the Chat Bot Revolution

On my way to work in Bangalore last week (I'm an intern at a chatbot company), I was listening to Radio One, an Indian radio station, when I heard an ad for a competition. At first I didn't think much of it. Phone-in radio shows are nothing new in India. But then the radio show host said something curious WhatsApp us your messages at I realized that, in India, WhatsApp isn't a feature or an app like Uber or Swiggy but rather a basic utility like Internet or cell reception.

5 Spiritual Lessons I've Learned from Entrepreneurship

This column is by Charlie Ambler, Founder, Dailyzen It's been about one year of my being an actual entrepreneur . I started an online retail business (not related to Daily Zen, which I consider more a hobby than a business) in July of last year with a few grand and a lot of work. I've learned more in the past 9 months than I have at any other critical juncture in my life. I expect the mistakes, successes and lessons (all intimately intertwined) to continue.

Microsoft to Acquire LinkedIn in An All-Cash Deal Valued at $26.2B

From Left to Right Jeff Weiner, Satya Nadella and Reid Hoffman Microsoft and LinkedIn have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire the latter for 196 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at 26.2 billion, inclusive of LinkedIn's net cash. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2016. LinkedIn will operate as an independent entity with Jeff Weiner as the CEO, reporting to Satya Nadella.

How to Use Email Marketing to Improve Customer Retention

Email is one of the most cost effective ways for online businesses to stay in touch with their customers. Moreover, emails offer a one-to-one approach to connect with users and thereby, compared to other forms of marketing, is much more personal in nature. This very trait makes it a suitable form of communication to draw back lapsed customers and users. Using email marketing, businesses can regain lapsed customers with win-back campaigns and target new customers based on segmentation.

Deal Roundup: Fractal Analytics Acquires Mobius Innovations; Chinese Startup Aixuedaui Raises USD 40M and More

Fractal Analytics Acquires Mobile-based Context-aware Big Data Startup Mobius Innovations Image Source mobius.ai India and US-based pure-play analytics provider Fractal Analytics has acquired Singapore's mobile-based context-aware Big Data startup, Mobius Innovations for an undisclosed amount. As per a VCCircle report, this acquisition will enable Fractal's clients to drive hyper-personalised customer conversations on mobile platforms through real time learning using customer context.

Will You Prefer Launching a Product Before Your Company Registration or Vice Versa?

Earl Nightingale once famously said, Everything begins with an idea. Following her simple yet beautiful words, man, like he has so prodigiously done in the past and will continue to do so in the glowing future, continues to challenge the norms of the society and bring forward new ideas every now and then. While some prosper, some falter, man continues the tradition to reap in the benefits and sulk in the deficits to make his life worthwhile.

The Truth About Being An Entrepreneur

In my industry investing in startups the great debate of our time is whether or not unicorns really exist. Valuations matter, of course, but this shouldn't be the dialogue that defines our industry because there are many more interesting conversations to be had. The best founders are not launching a startup as a get-rich-quick scheme.

How to Save Money Running Your Startup

Years ago I wrote a blog post on how to save money running your startup, and it was one of the most popular things I've ever written. I thought I would take a second stab at this without reading my original piece from 7 years ago as an experiment in how much has changed. Outsource your HR payroll to a company like Zenefits & ZenPayroll. Previously, I used TriNet and other PEOs, but those startups charged a whopping 100+ per month per employee. That's like 1,400 per year per person.

Facebook Introduces Hyper-Local Ads for Offline Stores

Facebook has launched a new feature called Hyper-Local Advertising to make advertising for local businesses easier and more effective local awareness ads. Advertisers can set a radius as small as a mile around their business and ads will show up on peoples's phone or web browser. The service will be live for US business owners in a few weeks, and around the globe in the next few months.

Twitter to Raise USD 1.3 billion in Debt Offerings

According to a form filling, San Francisco-based company, Twitter Inc. has announced that it plans to raise USD 1.3 billion in its first debt offering by issuing convertible senior notes. The company plans two offerings worth USD 650 million, half the debt will be due in 2019, and the other half in 2021. In initial purchases, it is expected to to buy up to USD 100 million in each of the offerings.

India : Entrepreneurs Solving Big Problems

In 2015, India overtook the US in the number of internet users. A billion Indians will be connected to each other, and to the rest of the world, by the end of this decade. They will be able to learn about the latest advances in science and technology, obtain Masters degrees from top universities, learn best practices in agriculture, sell their crafts and services to the world, and demand better governance. Never before has India and the rest of humanity been so connected.

Digital India to Become $1T Business Opportunity: RS Prasad

At annual India 2016 conference organised by Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School in the city recently, IT and Communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad stated that Digital India campaign (launched by the Prime Minister of India), will be a 1 trillion business opportunity. This combines the requirements of telecoms, IT ITES and electronics manufacturing centre.

How Brands Can Attract Organic Reach on their Websites via Social Media

Leveraging social media may seem simple, but its surprising how very few brands get it right. Especially when you are a startup strapped for cash, leveraging this powerful medium can be your biggest channel for high quality, customers at little or sometimes no cost. Here are some ways brands can attract organic reach on their sites via social media.

Outlook: India Mobile Gaming Market 2015

Changes have been occurring rapidly and dramatically in India's digital ecosystem since 2014. Technology companies are increasing their focus on mobile with each passing day. Gaming sector is one of the biggest sectors that contribute to the digital economy, like it does in China. It has largely contributed to the success of Chinese digital economy since the PC Internet era.

Facebook Launches Crowdfunding Enablement Feature for Non-Profits

Introducing New Tools for Nonprofits from Facebook on Vimeo. Social media website Facebook has launched an option which let nonprofits get donation. People will be able to donate for a cause without leaving the website, in just a few clicks. People can now donate on whatever cause they support, be it educating the unprivileged, animal relief or helping people recover from natural disasters Facebook is also going to launch a Donate' button which will be coming to your news feed.

Top 5 Digital Marketing Trends Ruling India

India being the second largest Internet Population already and Internet Industry growing at the rate of over 20 Year Over Year offers a huge opportunity for those who are planning to get into this industry. With a PM that is supporting the digitization of everything with campaigns such as Digital India and e-governance, improving technologies such as 4G penetrating into market and fact that we are biggest youth population that loves to spend most of their time on internet we can compare this...

Michael Evans Appointed as the President of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has appointed Michael Evans, a former top Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive, as the President of the company. Evans will be focusing on the company's international expansion strategy, initially seeking to build partnerships with brands, retailers and product owners in Europe, the Americas and Asia to help them sell in China. Of late, Alibaba is promoting cross-border eCommerce as a growth driver as the country's online-retail market grows increasingly competitive.

Commerce Platforms Offering New Business Approach to Lifestyle Industry

So much so that retail sales worldwide including both offline and online will reach a mind numbing 22.492 trillion this year And this is going to continue witnessing a steady growth over the coming years with sales touching 28.300 trillion by 2018. These figures by e-Marketer as part of its first-ever worldwide forecast of the global retail market and retail eCommerce sales show just why everyone is fighting to succeed in this extremely competitive industry.

Digital Marketing Platform Super Awesome Raises $7M in Series A Funding

UK-based kid safe' digital marketing platform SuperAwesome has raised 7 million in series A funding led by Twenty Ten Capital. The raised funding will be used to accelerate the growth of its team in North America and to continue expansion in Southeast Asia. The other investors including Henry Chamberlain, Jamie Kirkwood of IBIS TMT, Sandbox & Co and existing investors including Hoxton Ventures also participated in the round.

Gray Routes, a mobile solutions startup for enterprise distribution problems raises funding

Mumbai based mobile solution startup, Gray Routes Innovation Distribution which develops mobile applications helping companies to automate their distribution operations in the field of FMCG, telecom and logistics sectors has recently raised 100,000 from a group of angel investors based in Bangalore and Silicon valley. The name of investors however, has been kept undisclosed at the moment.

Facebook bug leaks contact information of its 6 million users

According to the latest revelations of Facebook, a technical bug was inadvertently sharing the contact information of its users since last year. So far approximately 6 million Facebook user's personal information has been compromised with this technical bug. However, as per the company the information in those cases was shared only to 1 person who is already known to the affected user, outside his her Facebook circle.

Indian digital advertising spend snapshot & projections by IMRB: A report

Indian online advertising market is expected to reach INR 2,938 Crore by March 2014, states the latest report released by Internet and Mobile Association of India and IMRB International. The report states that the online advertising market, comprising search, display, mobile, social media, email and video advertising, has grown by 29 YoY to INR 2,260 Crore by March, 2013. It was valued at INR 1,750 Crore in FY 2011-12.

Accel Partners lays hands on another Indian ecommerce player; invests in Bookmy Show.com

Global Venture Capital firm Accel partners have once again backed up an Indian e-commerce player Bookmyshow' by investing a capital worth INR 100 crore (US 18 million), according to distinguished media reports. Accel partners has invested in other Indian E-commerce companies like Babyoye, Myntra, Flipkart' etc. in past, showing their faith on Indian E-Commerce Market. Continuing the trend they have bought a significant stake In Big Tree Entertainment Pvt.

Mary Meeker's 2015 Internet Trends Report is Here - Smartphones Drive Over 41% of Indian eCommerce

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) has published 2015 Internet Trends report. It shows internet users has risen from 35 million in 1995 to more than 2.8 billion today. The research report by KPCB analyst Mary Meeker provides information on almost everything from the rise of mobile video to buy buttons on social networks and how Millennials are influencing the workforce. The report highlights interesting facts around the growth of mobile internet in India.

Tamil Nadu based Yammy Apparels launches Inky Ponky.Com, an eTailer of Kids Apparel & Toys

Yammy Apparels India (P) Ltd, a Tamil Nadu based company has launched www.inkyponky.com, an e-tailer of branded kids apparel. InkyPonky aims to become a one-stop site for leading kids wear brand in India and since its launch in mid-April, has experienced over 2000 visitors and done brisk business. The company is also among the first to have a video-catalogue for all its products which provides a better feel to the customer about the product quality and look.

Hey Biz: A Mobile Marketplace to Connect SMEs with Customers in Real Time

HeyBiz is a mobile marketplace for products and services, which connects both customers and businesses on mobile phones with a real time chat facility. The app was launched in January 2015 by Bhartesh Chibbar , an engineer by education, who has previously worked in Cisco and Co-founded Rocketalk. Using the app, the customers can find the relevant businesses and can initiate a chat real time with the chosen trader without disclosing personal contact details.

NY Based Ecommerce Site Etsy Files to Go Public; Aims to Raise $100M

New York-based, e-commerce website for handmade goods, Etsy has filed a S1 form to go public and is aiming to raise at least 100 million. The amount it intends to raise can be more than, but that's the number given for now. Founded in 2005, Etsy is a website that focuses on handmade and vintage items, as well as art and craft supplies. The items include art, photography, clothing, jewelry, edibles, quilts and toys. The company charges users a flat listing fee and takes a commission of 3.

Auto Classifieds Portal Car Dekho Raises USD 50M from Hillhouse, Tybourne and Sequoia

Auto classifieds portal, CarDekho has raised USD 50 million in a fresh round of funding from Chinese funds Hillhouse Capital and Tybourne Capital with participation from Sequoia Capital, which had picked up a 20 percent stake in the company when it invested USD 15 million in 2013. The new funds will be used towards brand building and marketing.

Google Opens Fit SDK; Launches Fit App to Capture Fitness Data at One Place

On Tuesday, Google announced the release of Google Fit APIs for Android, Android Wear and the web for developers to build and publish apps for users on Google Play. And along with that it announced the launch of Google Fit app on Google Play for smartphones, tablets, Wear, and on the web at https google.com fit. Google Fit Android App will capture all the activities throughout the day like walking, running and cycling as well as displaying key fitness data.

Squad Run: A Startup Building Mobile Enabled On Demand Workforce For Businesses

Businesses and organizations have always suffered with the problem of hiring and retaining a talented workforce. Also, they face problems in completing repetitive tasks which require huge capital and operational costs and scalability of recruited workforce. With headquarters in California and New Delhi, SquadRun aims at providing cost effective solutions to these problems, by breaking them into several smaller parts and leveraging crowdsourcing, mobile technology and gamification.

Airtel Launches Music Streaming App Wynk for Android and iOS

Indian Telecom company, Bharti Airtel, has launched a new music streaming service named Wynk, currently available on Android and iOS platforms, as per an NDTV Gadgets report. Wynk has a library of 1.7 million regional and International songs in eight languages (English, Hindi, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali). Like many other music streaming apps, it also allows users to share their favorite songs and playlists on social media sites like Facebook.

Google announces beta launch of a HTML5 creative designing tool, Google Web Designer

Web designs, Ads and Animation all form a core part of the content websites. The latest technology to work on these creative elements is based upon HTML5, described by Google as universal language for building beautiful, engaging content that can run across desktops, smartphones, and tablets . In the last few years, the search giant has taken a lot of initiatives in making this technology powerful yet easy to use.

Traffline, a real time traffic mobile app

While basic driving directions are available in maps since a long time, the ability to offer real time traffic updates as well is a new trend. But where other such applications offer traffic information in the form of red and green highlighted lines on the map, Traffline a product of a Mumbai-based startup, Birds Eye Systems offers slightly more.

Location based mobile audience targeting platform Ubimo raises USD 2mn

Israel based, Ubimo, a startup that helps advertisers in location based mobile audience targeting has raised USD 2 mn in seed round led by Pitango Venture Capital along-with the participation of serial entrepreneur and angel investor Eyal Gura. Ubimo allows advertisers to leverage location based data and programmatic buying, to efficiently manage media across multiple locations and events. Ubimo was founded with a sole mission, to transform mobile advertising.

Shop Clues debuts on web, registering a Facebook like every 90 sec

ShopClues.com, a managed market place led by one of the global veterans in internet space, Sandeep Aggarwal has opened its beta version for all and sundry, prior to this ShopClues has been selling through Facebook and to a close beta group . The venture had already raised 2 million in funding from unknown global investors last year, said to be serial entrepreneurs and employees of some of the finest internet companies.

More Indians bond strongly on social networks with brands, smart phones to lead social engagements: Neilsen

In one of the startling findings on social media users in India by Neilsen, a global information and media company revealed that the number of social media users on mobile phones are expected to exceed those accessing similar sites on personal computers in the coming year. The finding suggests that as more Indians log on to social media sites, they also engage with brands online. The report states that brand engagement is also influential in the buying process.

How Virtual Reality Will Transform Facebook And Social Media

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are real hot potatoes at the moment, and understandably so. They undoubtedly have the potential to revolutionize the way that we interact with each other, and with machines, in the digital world. Facebook's 2bn purchase of Oculus, one of the leading developers of consumer VR headsets shows the confidence and high expectations opinion leaders have of this emerging technology.

How Much Does It Cost to Develop An Augmented Reality App

It is expected that Augmented Reality will hit an all-time high by the year 2020. According to the latest report that presented by Digi-Capital, AR is all set to be three times as profitable as VR is and especially for enterprise users. By 2020, Augmented Reality is expected to grow by 35 with the expected revenue to reach 100 billion. There is no surprise that the total of the business sector is jumping on the AR trend.

Indian Startup Canvazify is A Pinterest for Team Ideas

Pune based a collaboration platform for team ideas, Canvazify was started in January 2014 by Abhijit Mhetre (CEO), Niket Puranik (CTO), Akshay Nahar (CMO) and Megha Mhetre. It is collaboration platform for teams to collect, brainstorm, and act on ideas from anywhere anytime. The startup helps teams stay focused and trace the evolution of ideas through its visual journey map.

Who Are Making it Big: Top 10 Startups with Highest Valuations

21st Century is all about the emergence of promising startups across the globe. While there are a number of startups raising millions from VCs and Angels everyday, the area of focus of this article remains only those top 10 most valuable startups irrespective of categories, who have made it big within a short span of time. Image Source The Wall Street Journal The above image shows top 10 startups out of the 73 valuable startups which have been listed on the WSJ website.

5 Stoic Exercises That Will Make You A Better Entrepreneur

Very few ancient philosophies can be traced back to an entrepreneur, but one can Stoicism . Around 304 BC, a merchant named Zeno was shipwrecked on a trading voyage. He lost nearly everything. Making his way to Athens, he was introduced to philosophy by Crates of Thebes, a famous Cynic, which changed his life. Within a few years, Stoic philosophy would be born. As Zeno later joked, I made a prosperous voyage when I suffered shipwreck.

Indian Insurance Industry: Opens Up For Foreign Players

With the Indian parliament hiking the FDI limit in the insurance sector from 26 to 49 , the scope of investment and growth for foreign players is seeing an all time high. This decision was taken to facilitate consolidation within the market and support the infusion of capital which was much needed. Currently it is being estimated that the Indian insurance industry will need more than 8 billion worth of capital to improve its solvency standards and increase the penetration levels.

How to Prepare Your Business for a Shaky Economy

The market is down. Down up Nasdaq down. What is the real state of the economy Everybody has a different opinion, and the answer is probably a blend of many different opinions. In any event, the negative reports have been numerous enough to be a sign that you, as a business owner or manager, would do well to prepare your company to weather economic ups and downs.

How Can I Sell My Product Online?

Thanks to advent and exponential growth of e-commerce in India, this is a question many entrepreneurs are asking themselves every day. Selling products online is not as difficult as it sounds and by following a few steps, you can begin your journey as an online seller. Given below is a step-by-step guide on how to set up your online selling account and start selling products online. 1.

Twitter's New Audience Insights Tells You Your Followers' Demographics, Interests and Behavior

Image Source Twitter has unveiled a new analytics tool called Audience Insights that helps users and advertisers discover valuable insights about their followers and the people who have engaged with their organic tweets. The dashboard provides aggregate information about user demographics, interests, lifestyle, purchasing behavior, TV viewing behavior, and mobile footprint. It can help users to decide how to target potential customers on Twitter.

23 Smart Ways To Increase Your Confidence, Productivity, and Income

Success isn't just having lots of money. Many people with lots of money have horribly unhappy and radically imbalanced lives. Success is continuously improving who you are, how you live, how you serve, and how you relate. So why won't most people be successful Why don't most people evolve The more evolved you become, the more focused you must be on those few things which matter most. Yet, as Jim Rohn has said, A lot of people don't do well simply because they major in minor things.

Google Teams Up with Carriers for Google Wallet; Buys Mobile Payments Company Softcard

Image Source Gpsoftcard.com Google has announced a deal with AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, to get the Google Wallet payments app pre-installed on their partner mobile handsets. Also, Google is buying technology firm Softcard, a mobile payments app backed by the same carriers. As part of the deal, the Google Wallet app will come pre-installed on Android phones sold by these carriers in the US later this year.

How to Get Smarter Every Day

Everything a smart person knows, they learned from somewhere at one point or another. Getting smarter doesn't necessarily mean a huge commitment of time and energy every day. If you can consistently train your brain to adapt to new situations and information you will get smarter with time. Work on your personal prioritiesIn five minutes, you could decide what to do next week.

11 Useful Tricks to Increase Mobile Conversion Rate for E-commerce

Want to attract and convert more smartphone users Well, consider yourself lucky because Google reports that more searches now originate from mobiles than desktops. There's just one problem the conversion rates for a mobile platform is generally less than half of desktop rates. According to Google, most smartphone users avail products from their intended brand or company, while only 9 percent browse an app or website that does not fulfill their needs.

7 Things You Can Learn From WeChat Product Development

We tend to think of Chinese companies as imitators rather than innovators, but is this fair App developers and designers may look at other apps for inspiration on new features, but most only look to well-known apps like Facebook Messenger and Snapchat. Take Messenger for example. We got excited about its Snapchat-like Messenger Day, Venmo-like Payments, ride-requesting Transportation, and Event Reminder. These are useful features, they solve our day-to-day problems and make our life easier.

How Gift Cards Consumption has Evolved with eCommerce Growth in India

Impact on gift cards market with growth in eCommerce. (Source) eCommerce is growing at an alarming pace in India and has been making remarkable impact all over the country. India is a billion people nation with web mobile penetration of over 60 . In the next couple of years, we can see that everyone will move online for business.

5 Noteworthy Sales CRM Softwares for Startups

Investing in startups has become popular as they offer a lucrative opportunity for the investors to earn money quickly. Having said that, these companies achieve a high rate of growth in a short time span, which makes it necessary to implement as many software tools as possible, to precisely measure performance and make some tweaks to improve it.

Flipagram Raises $70 Million to Compete with Snapchat and Instagram

Flipagram, which is commonly inferred as a fusion of Instagram, snapchat and YouTube, has raised 70million in Series B round led by Sequoia, with participation from Kleiner Perkins and Index Ventures. Image Source No official comment regarding the valuation has been passed by the company yet. However, as Tech Crunch reports, the company had been eyeing 300 million. Flipagram's technology lets the user weave images, music, and video into moving stories of their lives.

How to Build a Strong Network on LinkedIn Efficiently?

If you are looking to market your product or brand in the Social Media, then comes in mind a few networking sites. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest are a few of them on my personal list. But, what would be your strategy if you needed to improve your Business or to build a professional relationship in the B2B (Business to Business) Industry I personally recommend LinkedIn to be the best choice which had helped me to grow my network by building the right connections.

You Tuber ‘Pew DiePie' Makes USD 4 Million a Year

Felix Kjellberg, a 24-year-old Swedish YouTube user who had created PewDiePie channel five years ago, now earns USD 4 million in a year. He has more than 27.8 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, more than established gaming channels like Machinima, which has just under 11.5 million. Last year, this channel became the most watched on YouTube. He posts videos of the games he plays, while commenting on them outrageously as he plays along.

Is There Really Any Scope For Online Art Marketplace in India?

Source In the past couple of decades, the interest of people in Indian artwork has risen dramatically across the globe. They have started recognizing it, thereby increasing its commercial value. The art industry has suddenly witnessed a growing demand for skilled artists and fine works of art . In this scenario, the invasion of eCommerce has played an important role in the revival of the Indian art market.

Arvind Group Launches its E-commerce with Custom Clothing Brand ‘Creyate'

Arvind Internet Ltd (AIL), a start-up by the Arvind group, has launched its online custom clothing brand Creyate. Kulin Lalbhai, Executive Director of Arvind Ltd, is driving the e-commerce initiative at the company. Elaborating on AIL's vision, Kulin Lalbhai, Executive Director at Arvind Ltd said, Arvind Internet Ltd will be the vehicle that will enable Arvind's e-commerce vision.

Chinese Search Engine Company ‘Baidu' Planning to Invest in Zomato, Bookmyshow & Big Basket

Chinese search engine company Baidu is looking for stakes in Indian startups like restaurant search and service provider Zomato, Online ticket booking platform Bookmyshow and grocery delivery platform Big Basket. Baidu Founder Robin Li Yanhong (Image Source) The Nasdaq (listed as BIDU) listed company which has a cap of 60 billion is aiming to tap the rising' Indian market by funding startups working in Online to Offline space (O2O).

How Much Should I Spend On Facebook Ads?

How much should I spend on Facebook ads As a freelance digital marketing consultant and Facebook ads specialist, this is THE most frequently asked question I hear. It's a really bad question (I'll explain why) and also impossible to answer with a specific monetary value. When it comes to advertising on Facebook, or even social media in general, it seems like many business owners and entrepreneurs have heard too many stories about going viral' or some other miracle.

#Fundingwire - Mysun Bags $2.5M in First Investment Round & 10 More Updates

Fundingwire is your quick summary of notable investments made in the technology space. The firms which have recently raised investment include MYSUN, 3Dexter, YuMiGo, Trilyo, EPaathSala, BabyChakra, ShieldSquare, Coppre, Graviky, FirstCry and Rooter. Solar Panels Marketplace MYSUN Secures 2.5M in First Investment RoundNew Delhi-based marketplace for reviewing and purchasing solar panels, MYSUN, has secured 2.

Things To Know About Social SEO For Twitter

What is Social SEO Social SEO is improving our social media presence and driving traffic to website using various social media platforms. Twitter still can be helpful with Google SEO Here is HowHonest and Natural Links in content in this case also, content will be the key factor, we need to create the content with proper outbound links.

5 Creative Marketing Tools to Help You Grow Your Startup

Innovating your business is crucial in order to remain competitive in your industry. Innovation doesn't have to mean a complete overhaul of your products or services, you can simply innovate the way you market your business. Here are 5 creative marketing tools that every business should try out Generate content ideas with Buzzsumo Buzzsumo is a content resource used by many marketers around the globe on a daily basis.

How These Entrepreneurs Built Empires Worth Millions

Shown Above Sridhar Vembu, Founder and CEO of Zoho Corporation We live in an era where many of us rather majority of us wish to become entrepreneurs. Additionally, many of these budding entrepreneurs aspire to create the next Amazon or Uber too As much as that may sound a bit crazy but it actually is quite possible A few right tricks from the hat and you'll be there Becoming a millionaire is not that difficult anymore, given the availability of resources.

Reliance's Jio Money gets mobile wallet license from RBI

Reserve Bank of India, the apex body that governs Indian banking related activities has given a mobile wallet license to Reliance Payment Solutions, a subsidiary of Reliance for its prepaid payment instrument i.e. Jio Money. The license comes in when other companies like Idea Cellular and Flipkart (PayZippy), are awaiting a license for their prepaid wallets. The development was first reported by Medianama.

List of Mobile Wallets & UPI Payment Apps in India

India is facing a cash currency crunch, and until the gap is met by new currency, situation will remain for most of the population. Nonetheless, thanks to the evolution of digital payments there are several ways to skip the paper currency with the help of our smartphones. Here is a list of mobile apps that can be used to making payments online, at certain offline merchants, P2P transfers, bank transfers etc.

How J.K. Rowling Turned Failure Into Massive Success and You Can Too

Rowling went from being on welfare to a household name see her tips on overcoming setbacks in your life. When many of us hear the name J.K. Rowling, our thoughts immediately turn to her multi-million dollar literary empire, her extraordinary international success, and of course, a boy wizard. Yet few people have failed as hard as J.K. Rowling has. Before that boy wizard was just an idea of a paper napkin in an Edinburgh cafe, she was living off food stamps, divorced, and jobless.

5 Time Management Tips Facilitating Employees Achieve Work-Life Balance

Work life balance has become greatest concern in this competitive and fast business scenario. The work demand and pressure of performing and delivering results are increasing day-by-day. This proves to be a big challenge on employee's mental health and hampers their social life as well. Because of this, many employees opt to quit their work which is certainly not a solution. To counter it in a positive manner, few time management tips should be followed.

8 Life-Changing Audiobooks You Don't Want To Miss Out On

This book is more interesting than you. Few things are more interesting than a good audiobook. Nevermind TV, Netflix and video games. My idea of a good time is a long walk with a great audiobook. About ten years ago, way back in the days of the iPod, I started listening to podcasts, seminars and audio programs. As an aspiring poker player, I remember converting certain video content from poker training sites into mp3 format so I could listen to it as I went for walks.

How To Eliminate 90% Of Your Regret And Anxiety By Thinking Like A Roman Emperor

Rockefeller, Amelia Earhart, and Ulysses S. Grant have in common They each possessed the talent of turning obstacles into opportunities drawn from the Stoic ideologies of Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. While living our lives, it's very likely that you will run into some pretty distressing events, and at other times it'll seem like everything is running exactly as it should with very few discomforts.

23 Things Everyone Can Do To Create A Life-changing Morning Routine

As you open them, you find yourself in a room with only a desk and a chair. You approach towards, you see a book, which has your name on it. For the first couple of seconds, you are struck in awe. And questions start appearing What is this Do I read it, or not After debating with your inner voice, you decide to sit down. And you open it. The title Of the book is My Unfulfilled Dreams. Now you are baffled.

How to be 1% Better Every Day The Kaizen Approach to Self-improvement

Compounding is the greatest mathematical discovery of all time. Albert Einstein The quest to become a better version of yourself often feels like a roller coaster ride. It's hard. And it's usually so uneven. You can end in failure. But life is a journey, not a marathon, so you always have another opportunity to restart and improve. Many people practically look out for secrets, tricks, and hacks that will make EVERYTHING better right now. But unfortunately life doesn't work that way.

How to Work 40 Hours in 16.7

I used to work a lot 60, 80, or even 100 hours a week. I let my work be a big part of how I defined myself. I wore those insane hours like a badge of honor I loved telling people how busy I was and how much I had to do . Sound familiar Looking back, I realize I used my work to try and fill a void in myself. The problem was that this void was like a black hole. No matter how many hours I worked, it never seemed to fill it up. If anything, it made me feel worse. One day I'd had enough.

For Healthcare Entrepreneurs in India, Opportunities Lie in Filling the Glaring Voids

Healthcare tech india Image Source For Sarita, 35 and her family of six living in a village of Bihar, accessibility of a doctor was a major concern. The family had to travel almost 35 kms to reach the district hospital. They travelled first on a bullock cart to the nearest bus stop, and following the bus journey, walked another 30 minutes to finally reach a doctor.

Simple Guide to Create DIY Internet Marketing Strategy

Running a business is hard and comes with its challenges, amongst other things you always want to make sure you're in the best position to attract new customers. Internet Marketing is one such way where you can market your business to customers locally or half way through the globe.

Mid Year Review - Top Marketing Trends in 2017

The world of digital marketing is constantly evolving. In order to remain relevant and competitive in the industry, marketers must stay on top of the latest marketing trends and predict what strategies will be effective and on trend in the future. We dug into some of the biggest digital marketing trends you should paying attention to.

8 B2B Digital Marketing Strategies You Should Never Miss Out

This guest column is by Siddharth Hegde, Managing Director, Ethinos Digital Marketing Making a statement that a B2B business has a lot to gain from an effective digital marketing strategy in today's context may sound a bit pass . While most discerning marketers already know this, the burgeoning number of enterprises wanting to hop onto the digital marketing bandwagon provides enough reason to take a deep dive into this subject and resurface with facts, renewed assertion and belief that this is...

11 Contemporary Social Media Marketing Trends You Should Know About

Let's see 2016 saw some big leaps in social media. Facebook launched 360-degree video and photography Google introduced Allo and Duo augmented reality became commonplace through Pok mon Go, and WhatsApp introduced video calling. And with more than 2.3 billion worldwide users of at least one social media platform, we are probably in for a bigger ride for social media marketing in 2017.

Digital Marketing KPIs For Dummies

Entrepreneurs work passionately on creation, developing new ideas & designing, which are one side of the growth coin the other side is commercialization. The knowledge of Digital Marketing helps to achieve commercial goals & as an aware startup founder one will have power over not letting digital marketing agencies take you for a ride. Digital Marketing has become the need of the hour for everyone.

Engaging Industry Influencers for Digital Marketing

Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook With the advent of the internet, marketing has undergone a tremendous transformation. A company's web presence, their social media marketing strategy and their SEO strategies have, just in a space of a few years has become a critical success factor.

Why Successful People Spend 10 Hours A Week On “Compound Time”

One question has fascinated me my entire adult life what causes some people to become world-class leaders, performers, and changemakers, while most others plateau I've explored the answer to this question by reading thousands of biographies, academic studies, and books across dozens of disciplines. Over time, I've noticed a deeper practice of top performers, one so counterintuitive that it's often overlooked.

Things You Didn't Know About Inbound Marketing

Alright, you had a great 2016 marketing your business online and publishing content regularly. You did it all to have your customers knock your door rather than spending hefty amounts on picking them in. However, have you really strategized your inbound marketing plans As we have moved into another year, it is the right time to assess your inbound marketing efforts.

Art Marketplace Cupick Closes $120K Seed Round Via Term Sheet.io

Source Seven months old startup, Cupick has closed a 120K seed round through a portal TermSheet.io, that connects angel investors and founders to close seed round with zero-friction. Several angel investors from the US and India participated in this round. These include JKN Partners (an angel syndicate), JK Patel, Sushil Agarwal from India and Kalpesh Shethia, Rajeev Mudumba, Dinesh Tadepalli and Sudheshna Vuppala from the US.

Paintcollar: A Startup that Connects Art with Lifestyle

What is Paintcollar Founded in September 2014, Mumbai based Paintcollar is a marketplace that offers designer merchandise created by artists.The startup provides a platform to the artists, where they can turn their artwork into products like prints and t-shirts and sell them online, setting their own profit margins. In its essence, its an online community for artists to share their creativity and earn while offering customers refreshing new designs on a variety of products.

Red Bus.in Partners with Uber to Offer Free Rides to the Bus Stops

RedBus.in Indian bus ticketing platform announced its partnership with Uber an on-demand cab transportation app, to together present an offer to its customers. The offer is that one has to book a bus ticket using the redBus mobile app, to avail 2 free rides to the bus stop valued at Rs. 300 each in any of the following cities Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi & Chennai.

Flipkart launches Pay Zippy consumer wallet, partnered with several eCommerce stores

Flipkart, which launched its Payment gateway services in July this year, has launched a customer facing version of it. It will allow users to store their card information just once and use it on Flipkart and other partnered websites. The idea is to let consumers have a faster and smoother online payments by allowing customers have transactions across stores without entering their card information each time. The company targets 1 million customer signups by June 2014.

Flipkart raises USD 200 mn from existing investors against all doubts for its business model

E-Commerce player Flipkart has raised one of the largest investment of USD 200 million from existing investors including Tiger Global, Naspers and Accel Partners. This might be the last round of VC funding for Flipkart, as Sachin Bansal has earlier commented upon the company's plan for an IPO after raising one more round of funding. Flipkart was valued at USD 1.02 billion in the last round of investment led by Naspers, which invested USD 102.

Pune Based Machine Learning Startup Hugefly Raises Angel Funding

Machine Learning Startup Hugefly Raises Angel Funding from Temasek Holdings' Director, Others Image Source, Facebook Pune-based machine learning startup, Hugefly which provides online search services to eCommerce firms, has raised an undisclosed amount of angel funding from Mayank Singhal, Director at Temasek Holdings' and others. Raj Iyer, CEO and CMD of icustommadeit and Mohit Gulati, co-founder of Oliphans Capital also participated in the round.

Flipkart launches its comprehensive Android application

Flipkart, finally getting rid of its older HTML5 website, recently launched its first native android app. This move by the market leader surely highlights the need for a stronger presence on mobile as Flipkart users have been waiting long for its release. Flipkart did have an Android, iOS and Windows 8 app but just for ebooks. The other major online shopping stores like eBay, Snapdeal and Yebhi already have their mobile shopping apps up and running.

#Dealwire - Italian Firm Ubiquity Buys Bangalore-Based Solutions Infini & More

Shown Above Dario Calogero, Founder and CEO, Ubiquity & Aniketh Jain, Co Founder and CEO, Solutions Infini Dealwire is your quick dose of notable M&A activity in the technology ecosystem. Firms covered in this segment include Ubiquity, Solutions Infini, Lendingkart, KountMoney, Freshdesk, Chatimity, vMobo, Binge, MakeMyTrip and Ibibo Group.

Which payment gateway will you choose?

When a retailer goes online, the first thing he she worries about is the transaction of the payments. As making and receiving payments is not exactly in real time like in offline scenario, the need to make these transactions safe and secure becomes the prime need for an ecommerce venture. Here comes the role of the payments gateways. With the growth of ecommerce, the retailers in India have recognized the value of Online Payments.

Times Group Allocates Brand Capital for icustommadeit.com

Pune based merchandise startup icustommadeit.com has raised 4 million of brand capital from Times Group's Brand Capital, Siddhivinayak Skyscrapers, an industry veteran and Dinesh R. Challa, IIT Roorkee alumnus in its Pre-series A funding round, as announced by the company. Icustommadeit has offered a substantial amount of equity to ad-for-equity media investor Times Group's Brand Capital to advertise its brand and offerings through various media publications of Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd, which...

Fundingwire - Shopkirana Closes Bridge Round Led By Incubate Fund & More Funding Updates

Shopkirana fundingFundingwire is a quick summary of notable investment announcements from the Indian technology ecosystem. The firms which have recently raised funding include Shopkirana, MyAdvo, Seamovation, Innoplexus, E-Vegetailing, BigHaat and BlueBook. Shopkirana Closes Bridge Round Led By Incubate FundIndore-based platform for retailers, Shopkirana, has secured an undisclosed amount of investment, led by Japan-based Incubate Fund.

Printland.in Raises Undisclosed Amount of Funding from Sidbi Venture Capital

Image source Printland Digital India Pvt Ltd, the parent company of online printing solutions startup Printland.in, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). The newly acquired investment will be used towards the growth of the business for better customer experience through investment in technology, launch of new products and acquisition of new clients, according to VCCircle.

Startup Showcase: Software Suggest, Mozart Singh.com, Pick Parcel.com and Transround

Software Suggest SoftwareSuggest.com is Indian market place for business software. It provides a quick review of the most suitable software to help in streamlining business processes for India's enterprises. SoftwareSuggest eases organisations from those tedious software decisions, with software available for Accounting, ERP, CRM, HRM, Campus Management or e-commerce.

Fashalot to Raise $5M; Autorickshaw Hailing App AUTOnCAB Shuts Down & More

Marketwire is your quick summary of notable market movements in the technology industry. The firms covered in this segment include AUTOnCAB, Fashalot, Creador Capital, Dream World Digital, Rocket Internet & Jabong Fashalot Is Raising 5M in Fresh FundingFashalot, an O2O location-based fashion and store discovery mobile platform, is in talks with venture capital firms to raise up to 5 million Series A funding.

4 Startups from Startup Tunnel Investors Should Watch Out For

Startup Tunnel's Four Graduated Startups Truelancer, Amicus, Jobspire and CollPoll Image Source New Delhi based Startup Tunnel (STun) is an early stage incubator that provides customized mentorship to startups and helps them with product definition, market validation, product launch, customer engagement, and early stage funding. Startup Tunnel built its first batch of startups between December 2014 and February 2015, and launched them in April 2015.

Dream Wallets: A Startup Trying to Become the Kickstarter of India

Crowdfunding is an act of funding a project or a venture by raising money from the crowd. Today, the process is either carried out by live events or via internet. The act is basically performed to empower innovative projects, social causes, social awareness, tech products services etc. A crowdfund campaign is not only about raising money, it's more about working towards an idea, a cause, that the people want to see planted in the society.

DONE By NONE is DONE?; Puts a ‘?' on Web Exclusive Private Label Business Models

A few years ago in India many saw the opportunity of stepping onto the e-commerce bandwagon, with online retailers like Flipkart, Myntra, Snapdeal, Jabong etc leading this train, many smaller retail companies emerged too which were able to find their own place among online consumers but sooner than later they were not able to cope up with the money hungry business that is e-commerce. Online private label DONE by NONE is the latest in the line of such companies.

Truecaller's Smart Dialer App Truedialer Launched for Android

Sweden's Truecaller, an online collaborative phone directory has unveiled a smart dialer app Truedialer for Android. The newly launched app offers relevant information about people a user wants to call and saves information to their phonebook for later use. Similar to its sister app, this too requires an active data connection. Few months back, the app was launched for Windows phone 8 and recently got updated with real-time Caller ID features for Windows phone 8.1 users.

Mobile Assistance App Bucker Gets Seed Funding

Bucker, a mobile assistance app that serves as an assisting layer over the existing apps on one's devices, has raised a seed round of undisclosed amount lead by angels from Silicon Valley and 50k Ventures. The other backers of the round include Munish Jauhar of IAN, Pulkit Jain of Vedantu, Rohit Narang of Singapore based 314 Capital.

On Demand Beauty Services Startup Get Look Raises Angel Round of Investment

Shown Above GetLook Team GetLook, a beauty service provider at home, has raised an undisclosed amount of angel investment. The raised amount will be used for expansion to 6 more cities in next 2 months, for marketing purpose, building up the technology, and to arrange a professional GetLook kit for all beauticians. Founded in April 2015 by Gaurav Maheshwari, Ronak Sharda and Vatsala Kothari, GetLook is an on-demand marketplace through which a user can order any beauty service at home.

Dealwire - Online Pharmacy Netmeds Acquires Pluss and More Tech M&A Deals

Shown Above Pradeep Dadha CEO & Founder, Netmeds Dealwire is your dose of notable tech M&A and partnership deals in business and technology space. Firms covered in this segment include Netmeds, Pluss, Quikr, Grabhouse, Ctrip, Skyscanner, Symantec, LifeLock, Google, QuikLabs, Facebook and Faciometrics Online Pharmacy Netmeds Acquires Competing Startup PlussChennai-based online pharmacy, Netmeds, has acquired Delhi-based hyper local startup in the same space, Pluss.

True Caller is Raising $100M at $1B Valuation

Image Source Caller ID app, Truecaller which now has 150 million users is raising around 100 million at a 1 billion valuation that is expected to be lead by previous and new investors. Till date, the company has raised around 80 million. It is backed by Atomico, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sequoia Capital, Access Partners and Open Ocean.

This Mumbai Based Startup is Taking Artificial Intelligence to Real World Environment

Team Fluid AI AI has started becoming synonymous with automation for several digital firms. The technology is making its impact in different sectors in different ways. Now there are firms building AI for eCommerce to boost customer engagement and personalisation on online stores. In several cases, machine learning driven & data empowered chatbots can be more effective at recommendations, than a human sitting at the other end of a live chat box.

How eCommerce has Changed the Way People Buy Cosmetics Online

Image Source With advent of lifestyle channels as well as international magazines coupled with increasing wealth and foreign travel in the last few decades, Indians became more aware of not only regular daily use brands but also premium brands. With the beginning of eCommerce era, shopping couldn't have been more convenient than at a click of a button.

Hotify: A Machine Learning & Personalisation Based News App

Hotify has launched its mobile app currently on Android platform Founded in January 2015 in Bangalore, Hotify is an engine that aims at bringing recommended, relevant and timely content from across the web to its users. At present, it is serving this purpose through an Android mobile app . It is an attempt to uplift the user experience of discovering, reading and sharing content via simple intuitive manner, against rising information clutter on Internet.

#Dealwire - Shopclues Acquires 2 Startups to Enhance Seller Support & More

Dealwire is your dose of notable M&A announcements in the technology ecosystem. The firms included in this segment include Shopclues, UpGrad, Pyoopil, FirstCry, Mahindra Retail, BabyOye, Play Your Sport, DirectGround, MSG91, ToSMS, Google, FameBit, Facebook and InfiniLED. Shopclues Acquires 2 Startups to Enhance Seller SupportGurgaon-based eCommerce marketplace, Shopclues, has acquired 2 startups in a deal which is yet to be announced officially.

Fitness Mobile App Fitso Raises $200K in Angel Round from Droom CEO, Others

FITSO, a fitness mobile app, has raised 200,000 in angel round of funding from Varun Khurana, Ex CTO, Grofers Samar Singla, CEO, Jugnoo and Vinay Bansal, CFO, Wildcraft. Gurgaon-based Jogo Technologies Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates Fitso, will use the funding raised to strengthen its technology backbone and expand operations to multiple cities. The company is launching services in Mumbai on January 17.

Home Shop 18 Revenue Registers 22% Growth As it Hits Rs.450 Cr in FY 14-15

TV18 Home Shopping Network Limited, which owns and operates HomeShop18 has reported its latest revenue figures for FY 14-15. Total revenue figure stood at Rs. 450 crores compared to Rs.368 crores in previous fiscal, registering a growth of 22 . The loss figures doubled from Rs. 84 crores in FY 13-14 to Rs. 175 crores FY 14-15. Financial Performance The revenue from operations stood at Rs. 444 crores which grew by 23 over the previous year.

“We did a 10x growth since January and doing almost 1000 orders a day”, Sridhar Seshadri, CEO, Hushbabies.com

Hushbabies which was started in 2009, operating in baby-products and parenting category was acquired by Lapis last year. Recently it has also received investment from Indo US Venture Partners and it has grown from 100 orders per day to 1000 orders per day in six months. Iamwire interacted with Sridhar Seshadri, CEO Hushbabies who has earlier worked with Google, ICICI, RangDe, and TCY and joined the Board of Hushbabies this January. Below are the excerpts of the interaction.

Incubate Fund Launches a USD 91M Fund For Seed Stage Startups in Japan and Asia

Japanese venture capital firm, Incubate Fund has launched a new USD 91 million fund named Incubate Fund III, which will carry out large-scale investments for seed stage startups in Japan and Asia. The investors in this fund include INCJ, Yahoo Japan Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Tencent Holdings, Sega Sammy, Mistletoe, Mixi, Tokyo Broadcasting Holdings, Development Bank of Japan and with participation from other private investors.

Can These Bus Aggregation Startups Become Bigger than Cab Hailing Apps in India?

After Redbus was incepted in 2006 (and later acquired by Ibibo Group), not many players were seen entering into the same space. At the same time, cab aggregators like Ola and Uber found India to be a viable land to scale up their model. However considering that only a small portion of the population can actually afford to use this form of on-demand transportation, a wide market is open for ride-sharing businesses.

Indian Mobile Learning App iProf Hits 1M Downloads

Image Source iprofindia Indian mobile learning marketplace app, iProf has achieved 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store in a period of 4 months since its launch. iProf application is available on Android platform giving users features like courses from India's renowned teachers, unlimited practice tests, videos & notes Library, quick discussion board & doubt clearing service.

Lets Venture Raises Series A Round of Funding from Accel Partners and Others October 19, 2015 by Varnana Choudhury

LetsVenture's investment has redefined early stage fund raising in India above shown- Shanti Mohan(source) LetsVenture, which helps startups raise early-stage investments in India (just like AngelList), has bagged a Series A round of funding led by Accel Partners and Anupam Mittal of People Group.

This Noida-based Startup is Trying to Evolve P2P Logistics

Founded in September 2015 by Vikrant Pathak and Gaurav Tyagi , Noida-based Qikship , is an on-demand shipping platform that claims to enable users to ship anything anywhere from their comfort of home or office within 45 minutes. The startup holds the vision of disrupting the logistics industry with technology and make shipping a fun task.

Healthiply: A Startup Driving Behavioural Change For Preventive Healthcare Needs

The economic afflux to analyse the healthcare services has been used for many decades. With WHO ranking India 112 out of 190 countries, the country seems to be in a deep crisis and desperately needs a system that could not only help people in urban areas but rural areas too. Our country faces a growing need to resolve health concerns in specific areas like STDs, Malaria, etc.

Practo's Revenue Surged More Than 10 Times! And There's More to It

Practo is a healthcare startup, owned and operated by Practo Technologies Private Limited, which offers patients and doctors a platform to interact. It enables patients to search for doctors and book appointments and offers a practice management tool to the doctors. With over 15 lakh monthly users and a global presence, Practo has disrupted the healthcare segment by offering a way for doctors and patients to connect. Financial Performance Practo reported a 13X jump in its revenue in FY 14-15.

Ecommerce SaaS platforms in India and their comparison

The current decade for Indian ecommerce has led it to a pioneering stage. It is not only grooming in the domestic markets but is also developing as a huge market attracting world leaders in ecommerce. However, for medium and small retailers having low budgets, its difficult to make huge investments to make their entry in the online retail space, establish their authority and provide services such as cash on delivery, interest free EMIs etc.

Multitasking is Ruining Your Life and What You Can Do About It

Multitasking is the opportunity to screw up more than one thing at a time. Anonymous There is no doubt in my mind that multitasking, that seemingly harmless ability to juggle multiple distractions and projects at once, is secretly waging war against your life and holds the potential to ruin your career in the process. Think I'm being harsh Keep reading and then decide what's really at stake for you.

Guide to Paying Influencers on Social Media

Influencer marketing is netting social media movers and shakers some big bucks, and nearly half of brands expect to ramp up their influencer marketing budget. If you're one of those brands, how do you make sure you're spending it wisely Beyond the general rule of thumb that tweets are the cheapest and videos are the most expensive type of influencer content, how much to pay influencers depends on a variety of factors Reach Influencers with larger audiences can charge...

Ways to Measure Customer Experience for Your Mobile App

Customer experience is one of the critical factors. There are many techniques adopted by the app developers for measuring customer experience of the mobile app. The unhappy customers in most of the cases, never come back to you the moment they are dissatisfied. Customer satisfaction is not as straightforward as measuring it is to measure revenue streams and visitors for your website, This makes it hard to set up goals.

20 Actionable Mobile App Metrices to Check for your App

The android app developers must follow several measurements to perceive how their application is doing. Measuring the execution of an application is entirely vital. If you have reasonable stacking times, glitches, or accidents, it will affect the client encounter too and eventually influence your objective. Here is what you need to be tracking Downloading numbers Downloads are a reliable sign of how your application is getting along. It is a metric that estimates client commitment.

6 Common Mistakes Native Mobile App Developers Make and How to Avoid Them

Day-by-day, the mobile app development industry is becoming more competitive and in the upcoming years, it is going to explode and be more competitive than ever. Yes, you read it right. The competition among applications is constantly increasing. Currently, there are approximately 2.8 million applications at the Google Play store, whereas Apple App Store has more than 2.2 million apps as of March 2017.

The 7 Deadly Sins of a Scarcity Mindset

According to Wikipedia, the notion of scarcity is that there is never enough (of something) to satisfy all conceivable human wants, even at advanced states of human technology. The Wikipedia page discusses scarcity in the context of resources. If you review the concept above, you could easily relate it to the everyday wants and emotions of your life happiness, money, sex, good health, and freedom. Most of you would agree you could use a little (or a lot) more of one of those things.

5 Practical Life Improvements for Self-Help Haters

The best way to fight airy-fairy self-help suggestions are wage war with practicality. Here are my top 5 ways to do that 1. Adjust your goals into your existing life, not the other way around.Every time I've failed at something, it's because I tried to squeeze it into an area of my life where it just won't fit. Start small. I know you'll want to go all in, but go all in on something little at first, then get bigger.

5 Business Strategies That Will Boost Your Sales

Maybe you have succeeded in turning a great idea into an existing business that is a step in the right direction but if people do not get people to purchase your product or service, then you do not really have anything. Sales are what validate a business it is the reason that every business is established.

Best iPad Apps for Pro Designers

The iPad has now become one of the most useful and a fantastic tool for the designers. Making an ease of work, you can ink out your ideas at anywhere on your iPad. It allows you to document your thoughts, ideas in a finished piece of art with the use of productive resources. Numerous apps can help designers to get an ease in their work, but which one to download and which not to download is where you can make the most use of your iPad.

3 Reasons Why You Should Advertise on Social Media

One of the keys to having a successful business is promoting your company. Advertising is everywhere nowadays. Billboards, TV, newspapers and magazines are all great ways to show off your business, but why is social media the best way Here's a few reasons why Social Media is cheaper than any form of advertising. Way cheaper, in fact. As a business, you want to spend the least money you can reaching as many people as possible. Social Media is the way to do that.

Mastering Your Motivation

A few years ago, as I sat through the presentation for a startup company, it wasn't clear to me what was driving the business. There didn't appear to be an overarching mission for the company and they didn't seem to be addressing a specific problem. Genuinely curious, I asked the founder what motivated him. He was visibly flustered by this question, and it wasn't surprising when the company folded a few months later. There is a deep linkage between motivation and success.

How to Build a Kickass UX for Your Chatbot?

Before I start Why should you read this Well, I have engineered the UX of more than 15 bots and know a thing or two about consumers preferences. Apart from this, I am part of a team which is developing a platform for developers to make chat-bots and have tested over a 1000 bots for the same.

Why Mobile Will Win First in VR

Long before Oculus Rift appeared on the scene, I went to the 1993 Macworld convention in Boston and saw an image of VPL Research's Jaron Lanier fully clad in his trademark dreadlocks, VR headset and gloves. It stopped me in my tracks. Asking questions about that one image and the technology it showcased led me to attend my first TED conference (which in turn led me to First Round) and kicked off a 20-year fascination with virtual reality. Fast forward to today.

Mock Bank Buys Web Development Firm Litoro to Strengthen its Product Portfolio

Bengaluru-based startup, MockBank that helps you prepare for the tests for various government job positions, has acquired Vijayawada based startup Litoro, to strengthen its tech team. The deal amount is still undisclosed. As part of the acquisition, the entire team of Litoro will move to Bengaluru at MockBank's office and its Founder Suresh Bala will join the company as head of the engineering team.

Hyperlocal Mobile Solution Provider Daily Ninja Raises Funding Led by Taxi ForSure CoFounder Aprameya

Bangalore-based DailyNinja, a hyperlocal mobile solution for all needs that are subscription based, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by Aprameya Radhakrishna, co-founder of TaxiForSure. The round also saw participation from six angel investors including Naman Sarawagi of FindYogi and Afsal Salu, co-founder of Delyver (acquired by BigBasket) among others.

Mobile-only Startup Dazo Raises Funding from Founders of Common Floor, TFS, Red Bus and Others

Image Source Dazo Bengaluru-based food tech startup Dazo (previously called Tapcibo) has raised a new round of funding from Sumit Jain (co-founder and CEO, CommonFloor), Aprameya Radhakrishna (co-founder, TaxiForSure), Alok Goel (former CEO, FreeCharge). The round also saw participation from Rajan Anandan (MD, Google India), Amit Agrawal (Country Manager, Amazon India), Vinay Goel (Director Product Management, Google Maps & Local), Gaurav Munjal (Co-founder and CEO, Flatchat) and hospitality...

Acqwire: Magicbricks Acquire Realty Analysis Platform Properji & Ola Corral Mobile Payments Platform Qarth

Magicbricks.com, reality portal, has acquired property analysis platform Properji.com for an undisclosed amount. Magicbricks will be coming up reports with more than 10,000 projects in six metros. The reports are aimed at easing the decision making process of the buyers. Bangalore-based Properji started its operation in 2013, since then it has been working to provide detailed research reports to buyers. The company stands as the first acquisition of Magicbricks.

Google's You Tube Buys Mobile Video Editing Startup Directr

Google owned YouTube has acquired Boston-based mobile app company, Directr for an undisclosed amount. Post this acquisition, the Directr team will join the YouTube Video Ads Team. YouTube will leave the app in the App Store, but make it entirely free. While the initial app is currently free, additional features are available via in-app purchases, reports The Next Web.

Shiny Object Syndrome- A Distraction or Perk for Entrepreneurs?

Shiny Object Syndrome (S.O.S) Unheard of concept It is everywhere and easily recognisable. You may see it in action or known by other names. Shiny Object Syndrome comes into existence when you have to grab the bull by the horns to take the ownership of what you want. Shiny Syndrome has its perks, but it can be detrimental at times. What is Bright Shiny Object Syndrome Shiny Object Syndrome is the new It which can be anything that distracts you from your task. S.O.

These 6 Indian Startups Got Picked By Facebook for FBStart Program

To aid the start ups dealing in tech arena, Facebook has launched FBStart two years back. This programme assures mobile developers all over the world access to free tools and services that could help them grow their companies.Of the 50 million in benefits the company distributed to to Asia Pacificstart ups, 20 million went to mobile apps in India. India has the largest Facebook international developer community of any other region in the world.

3 Reasons Negative Emotions Serve Us

After my article, 4 Steps to End Negative Habitual Thinking came out, it was met with a lot of positivity. However, there were some responses I received that prompted me to clarify a few points. Negative emotions should NOT be avoided or ignored. The article was simply about shedding light on the habitual process of thinking negative thoughts not having negative thoughts and emotions themselves.

Working Together for Scale - The Story of Freecharge and Sequoia Capital

Freecharge Founders Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon (Source) More often these days, startups are realising the value of choosing the right investors. It is essential to have an investor who doesn't only bring funds to the table but also experience and mentorship for the startup. A healthy relationship and good synergies between the Founders and the Investors are a necessity for a startup to scale up.

Faaso's Changes its Model; Becomes a Chef Aggregator on Lines of Holachef and Biteclub

Image Source CityShor Pune-based food delivery startup, Faaso's has tied up with local chefs in Mumbai and Pune with an aim to provide gourmet cuisines to its customers. As per an ET report, the company has rolled out this model across 28 fulfillment centres in Mumbai and 25 in Pune, also looking to replicate it in Bengaluru, Chennai and Ahmadabad as well as in the current quarter.

Trends, Challenges and Opportunities in Online Healthcare Ecosystem

Source Moving forward Health 2.0 We entered the digital healthcare space involuntarily when the term health 2.0 was introduced in early 2000s. This was evidence enough that healthcare was predicted to join forces with the World Wide Web. Little did we know, fifteen years later there would be more ways than imagined to connect with potential patients.

Tweeting, Posting, Pinning - How Social Media is Changing Healthcare

Image Source Freepik An upper-class married woman in her early 30s', Mrs. Kapoor (name changed) was surprised and slightly taken aback when she received a friend request from her help, Krishna. The story doesn't end here. Since Mrs. Kapoor lives in a joint family, Krishna regularly uses Facebook messenger to ask everyone what they'll have for breakfast from the comfort of his kitchen.

LinkedIn accused of breaking into users' email accounts, a class action lawsuit has been filed

Professional social networking site LinkedIn is facing a legal lawsuit. A group of its users have filed a complaint alleging that the company breaks into users' email and sends out LinkedIn requests pretending to be the actual person. However the company falsifies the accusations of hacking or breaking into its users' accounts. As of June 2013, LinkedIn reported to have acquired 225 million users. Each user is given an option to import desired contacts from their Gmail or Yahoo mail account.

TATA Announces eCommerce Platform Tata CLiQ; Tiger Global Reduces Stake in Amazon and More

Tata Unistore, a Tata group business venture, today announced the launch date of eCommerce platform, Tata CLiQ MarketWire is your daily roundup of biggest tech movements of the day. This segment features news from Tata Group, Tiger Global, Amazon & Jugnoo Tata Group to Launch eCommerce Platform CLiQ on May 27thTata Unistore, a Tata group business venture, today announced that their new fashion & electronics eCommerce platform, Tata CLiQ , will open to consumers on Friday, 27 May, 2016, across...

Compare Asia Raises $40M Funding Led by Goldman Sachs

Image source compareasia Asian financial services comparing websites operator Compareasia Group has raised 40 million funding in series A round. The round was led by Goldman Sachs Investment. The round also included participation from other investors including Nova Founders Capital (a venture firm that is also one of CompareAsiaGroup's founders), Jardine Pacific Ace & Company, Route 66 Ventures, Zynga-founder Mark Pincus, and Owen Van Natta.

Stalk BuyLove Raises Investment from Former Rocket Internet Partner Mato Peric and Others

Fashion eCommerce Portal StalkBuyLove has raised funding to accelerate its growth New Delhi-based StalkBuyLove, an online fashion brand for women apparel, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from a group of 10 international investors including Mato Peric, former CEO of Rocket Internet's global eCommerce portfolio. The company will use the funds to further accelerate its growth, invest into its talent base and strengthen its supply and fulfilment structures further.

Teenager Sends Terror Threats to Home Minister on Twitter; Countrymen Discuss #Biggest ThreatToIndia

In the recent Bangalore bomb blast case, the latest development that has come up are terror tweets by a teenage boy. A Hindu boy was nabbed late on Monday by the city police for sending out terror tweets in which he threatened more bomb blasts in Bangalore, as per an HT report. The boy is an engineering student, he created a fake Twitter account in the name of Abdul Khan and claimed the responsibility of the Bangalore blast.

The Greatest Sales Deck I've Ever Seen

A few months ago, my friend Tim took a new sales job at a Series C tech company that had raised over 60 million from A-list investors. He's one of the best salespeople I know, but soon after starting, he emailed me to say he was struggling. I've landed a few small accounts, Tim said. But my pitch falls flat at big enterprises. As I've written before, I love helping teams craft the high-level strategic story that powers sales, marketing, fundraising everything.

Myntra acquires Fitiquette, virtual fitting room technology

Online Fashion & Lifestyle e-retailer Myntra.com has acquired Fitiquette , a developer of virtual fitting room technology, in an undisclosed amount of funds. This has been the third acquistion of Myntra within 6 months after it acquired New York based Exclusively.in and its private label brand, Sher Singh.com in last November. A note on Fitiquette's website confirms the acquisition.

7 Startups Passionate about Keeping India Healthy

As per IBEF latest report, Indian healthcare sector is growing at a 15 CAGR to reach 160 billion by 2017 and 280 billion by 2020. The industry is growing at a tremendous pace owing to its strengthening coverage, services and increasing expenditure by public as well private players, estimated at a CAGR of 5 during FY 2008 15 to 70 billion by 2015. Startups operating in this space are making it easier for people to avail healthcare services to stay fit.

Accelerate your growth with the right accelerator

Incubators and Accelerators are two commonly available startup support systems, and as a startup you must know what they are. Incubators have long prevailed in indian startup ecosystem however what is relatively new and exciting is Accelerators As the name suggest, they put you on acceleration towards growth. In the years leading up to the dot-com bubble, several incubator programmes started focusing on IT-based startups.

How to Prepare for the Next Wave of Entrepreneurship

Steve Case is the co-founder of America Online, the company that democratized online access. Steve is currently the chairman of the Revolution investment firm and also the Case Foundation. President Obama named him Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship. Additionally, Steve has chaired Startup America and Startup Weekend, initiatives to promote entrepreneurship. In short, he's a billionaire. But let me tell you a story that will give you a better insight into the man.

Why Your Marketing Toolkit will be Incomplete Without Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing strips the sales component of your product and makes it look more human friendly. What is influencer marketing It is one of the few questions that will keep a marketer up at night. One word that answers the question is Influencers . Its all about influencers. So why is it so much about influencers People have become allergic to marketing. Even a small piece of marketing jargon triggers their inner shield and throws your product into their mind's dustbin.

Hyper Local Mobile Commerce Startup Lazy Lad Joins GHV Accelerator; Raises $100,000 in Seed Funding

Gurgaon based GreenHouse Ventures Accelerator (GHV) has selected the first startup for its accelerator programme. Mobile startup LazyLad that helps create a direct platform for local retailers to sell to customers has secured seed money of 100,000 along with the induction into GHV. The team of three IIT graduates Co-founders Saurabh Singla, Paresh Goel, and Ajay Sethi.

Twitter, a Major Tool for Spreading Terrorist Propaganda : Study

A study undertaken by Washington-based Brookings Institution, and financed by Google Ideas, reveals that about 50,000 Twitter accounts are being handled by the Islamic State terror group. The attempts of the aforementioned social networking site, to thwart the terrorist propaganda is going futile despite severe measures. The renowned US research institute has declared the case, a worrying indicator of the outfit's reach on social media .

Twitter acquires Spindle, a social discovery startup

Twitter on Wednesday has acquired Spindle a mobile based app which provides local search and help users know what's happening nearby. However, the terms of acquisition haven't been disclosed. We're very proud to announce that Spindle has been acquired by Twitter Every time we've experimented and looked beyond local discovery, we've been amazed by the breadth and quality of content shared on Twitter.

Optimising for Mobile eCommerce - The Challenge that Won't Go Away

Mobile eCommerce is rapidly rising to become the dominant force in the online retail industry, with over 2 billion people using their mobile phones for eCommerce transactions by the end of this year. In the US, it is estimated that mobile eCommerce sales will grow by 40 between now and 2018. It is therefore imperative for those with any kind of online retail business to cater for this growing industry.

Content: Humans v/s Search Engines

Yes, content the most hearable terms whenever you think about making or optimizing your website as per the guidance of search engines. But do you actually know what does SEO rich content means Or how to write a rich & wealthy content for your website to increase traffic & productivity. So these are the various FAQ comes under the mind of a newbie. And if you are a newbie, then this post is absolutely for you. So here we go. What does Content Mean for Humans Content means a lot for a website.

How to Perform Local SEO Audit

Every business competes in local market to appear on top of localized results on SERPs needs local SEO audit at some point. Local SEO works slightly different from ordinary worldwide SEO and requires some different techniques. To win in today's cut-throat local market world, it is essential to understand where your business stand and develop the award-winning strategy to stick to the top position.

Top SEO Tips For Mobile App Developers To Improve Search Ranking

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is an activity that optimizes separate web pages or the whole website to make them amiable to obtain the higher ranking in the search results. All the vital search engines rank web pages or websites on the basis of certain factors that influence its ranking thus, Search Engine Optimization aims at producing the perfect signals on the websites or web pages.

Top 6 Best Practices for Mobile App Testing

To err is human, except when it comes to customer experience and there certainly is no room for mistakes when you have a multitude of competitors waiting for that one point where your service lags and they can magnetize your valuable customers. Your customers are undeniably the lifeline of your business and they won't forget the bitterness of poor quality, even after getting several chunks of sweetness like good customer support or quick turnaround time.

How Digital Marketing Storm Hit India

The autumn of 2014 will be remembered as the time when the perfect storm struck. It was the time when a number of forces came together to shake business in India from its very roots. Businesses across sectors, public and private, large and small and even political parties witnessed history being written in front of their eyes. The early adopters flourished, the smart set quickly followed them and the naysayers still live in denial.

How Making the Most of Social Media Took My Business to the Next Level

For a long time I treated social media as an afterthought for my business. I thought it was just for people to chat with their friends. I was making a huge mistake. What I didn't realise was that having an active presence on social media could be huge for my business. When I finally stopped taking it for granted my business started to see the benefits. We're going to look at how.

Xiaomi Launches its Telecom Network Mi Mobile in China

Xiaomi has ventured in to mobile operator services after launching two prepaid packages for customers in China Source Taking a step ahead of its smartphone and wearable business, Chinese hardware company Xiaomi has ventured into launching its own mobile operator service. The company has become a MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) with Mi Mobile, launch which will allow Chinese users to buy SIM cards online. Mi Mobile', Xiaomi's mobile offering, has two packages.

3 Social Media Marketing Sins Startups Should Avoid

Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment . Rita Mae Brown Mistakes are inevitable if you are trying something new. It is not necessarily a bad thing as the experience you earn from your mistakes is probably the best lesson of your life. As startups, you are bound to make some mistakes. Call it inexperience, impatience or ingenuousness, startup founders often end up doing things they should have avoided in the first place.

News Roundup: AAP goes online, Bookmycab's Android app for Mumbaikars, Ebook for visually impaired kids

After failing with its Janata Darbar, AAP becomes tech-savvy will now take complaints online AAP's leader and New Delhi's CM, Arvind Kejriwal after facing a near- stampede like situation in his so called Janata Darbar , has now decided not to hold any more such events on road. The people grievances will now be taken online as well as via phone and post. We will use technology now.

7 SEO Trends that will Shape Internet Marketing

As the online world is already in motion for 2017, it is the perfect time for a retrospection on what changed last year and what is probably going to change now. Since optimization is a multilayered organic process, you would find several individual perspectives on 2017. Trend forecasting in SEO is a complex task. It is mainly because of the apparent ambiguity maintained by search engines and partly due to the unpredictable character of internet.

How to Do Faster Indexing for Website and Blog in Google Search?

It is a dream of every website owner to gain more and more organic search traffic to a website. Do you also wish to do so Your answer will be undoubted yes. If you've created a new website or a blog, the first thing you need is to show up in the search result. One of the ways you can get your site or blog indexed by Google taking the tortoise approach i.e. just makes the start and sit back idly waiting for the result to happen naturally.

An eCommerce Marketplace Base Stands on AI & Data Sciences

ECommerce is one dynamic sector that has revolutionised the way consumers shop in this ever-evolving world. Everyday eCommerce companies are trying their best to bring better shopping experiences from offline to the online space, by offering unique ways to discover products consumers are looking for. The newer and younger eCommerce sites are going a step ahead by curating show windows online mimicking a retail store.

Exclusive: eBay sees significant rise of women shoppers, Mobile assistance commerce set to rewrite Indian online journey

In an Exclusive interaction with iamwire, Muralikrishnan B, Country Manager, eBay India pointed at three strong online shopping trends that eBay India has been witnessing over last few months. According to Muralikrishnan, More women shoppers are shopping with increasing shop value at eBay across categories like Jewellery, Kitchen & Home appliances, Home, D cor & Furnishing . Currently some of the industry experts estimate that around 35 to 40 percent women shop over internet.

Yet to be launched shopclues.com raised $ 2 million from unknown foreign angle investors

Yet to be live horizontal online B2C market place co-founded by erstwhile Wall Street analyst Sandeep Agarwal, has raised over 2 million in funding from international angel investors reports techcircle. The name of the international angel investor has not been disclosed, however angel is said to be serial entrepreneurs and early employees of some reputed internet companies.

Time Blocking: Improve Your Focus And Get More Meaningful Work Done

Do you have a list of priorities or goals that you want to achieve this year And do you struggle with allocating time to them I'm no different. Life can be messy. Most of us juggle a lot of different things at the same time. Even though the simple solution is to stop juggling, it's not always realistic. Or even needed. What if you could do more things without losing your time It's possible. But you must work in an organized way.

Local Circles Gets Funding from Dalmia Bharat MD, Puneet Dalmia

LocalCircles, Indian citizen engagement platform, has announced that Dalmia Group Managing Director, Puneet Dalmia has become an investor in the company after its investments from Anand Mahindra and Nadir Godrej. The funding amount is still undisclosed. The new funding will be used to expand its presence, strengthen technology and hire more talent.

Event Handling Apps RoundUp: Flap App, Evite and Eventbrite

Image Source FlapApp is a platform where a user can create and manage personalized events like birthday, wedding, baby showers, social gatherings, corporate parties meets etc. and can also discover events (Concerts, Exhibitions etc) happening in their city or at the location of their choice.

Ebix acquires Bangalore based Healthcare Magic

Atlanta based international supplier of software and e-commerce solutions, Ebix, on Wednesday, announced the acquisition of HealthcareMagic. The company paid USD 6 million in cash with a contingent earn out of up to USD 12.5 million payable after 2 years. Post acquisition, the portals' services will be integrated into Ebix's A.D.A.M. Health Division. A.D.A.M. is a business unit of Ebix focused on providing multimedia health content.

‘Vine' Founder Dom Hofmann Introduces ‘Peach' Messaging App For iOS Users

Socialising is one of the most common traits found in human beings, this is one of the reasons why apps like Whatsapp, Snapchat etc have gone viral all over the world. As technology improves and advances, the mobi-tech companies dealing in messaging apps are coming with something new, just everyday.

Photo Sharing Startup EyeEm Raises $18M in Series B Round

Image Source EyeemBlog Berlin-based photo sharing startup, EyeEm has raised 18 million in series B round led by Valar Ventures with participation from existing investors Earlybird Ventures, Passion Capital, Wellington Partners, Atlantic Labs and Open Ocean Capital. The raised funding will be used to accelerate the expansion of its recently launched photo marketplace. EyeEm Market had officially launched in the U.

Big Data Startup Social Media Broadcasts Raises $1M Led By 500 Startups

Social Media Broadcasts raises funding to build on its social big data analytics service called Klarity (Source) Hong Kong based social media analytics startup, Social Media Broadcasts has raised its seed funding of 1 million from 500 Startups. The funding also saw participation from veteran local entrepreneurs Danny Yeung, formerly of Groupon and now heading SXE Ventures, and Yat Siu of Outblaze fame.

Top 10 Blockchain Podcasts to Listen to

From fundamentals to technical, here's the list of best blockchain podcasts. Year 2018 has seen lots of ups and downs in blockchain and cryptocurrency space. The price of cryptocurrencies initially went up in the first half of the year and then came steep downhill. The striking part is that the underlying technology Blockchain is gaining more and more traction everywhere organizations, governments, individuals and even students are spending more time in researching and developing software and...

Sephora's Parent Company LVMH Acquires eCommerce Startup Luxola

Image Source Global luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, which runs cosmetic company Sephora has acquired eCommerce startup Luxola, for an undisclosed amount. Luxola the Southeast Asia skincare and cosmetics eStore was founded in Singapore in 2011 by entrepreneur Alexis Horowitz-Burdick. Luxola is currently active in 11 markets and carries over 250 unique brands.

Meet the Top 12 Finalists & Winning Startups of IBM Smartcamp Challenge for Fintech

In association with Edelweiss IBM held its Smartcamp Challenge on Saturday, to find the best Fintech startups in India. The global technology firm has now announced the list of 12 most innovative startups it shortlisted from the hundreds of applications it got. The shortlisted startups got to pitch in front of a panel of CIOs & investors in Fintech space, which included personnels like Pranav Parikh, Head of Private Equity, Edelweiss angel investor Sanjay Mehta Arihant Patni, Founder,...

Twitter acquires payments infrastructure company Card Spring

Twitter Inc. has announced that it has acquired San-Francisco-based payment startup, CardSpring for an undisclosed amount. The other terms and conditions are still undisclosed. Post acquisition, CardSpring will continue to grow its platform and work with their publisher, financial, and retail partners to create new, innovative commerce experiences for consumers.

Twitter Moves Ahead with its E-commerce Plans; Engages Stripe to Put Buy Button in Tweets

After a 7 months of discussion, Twitter and Stripe have finally decided to work together to put a Buy' button in tweets. Later this year, Twitter users can expect to find a Buy' Button in tweets to enter their billing and shipping information for purchasing products on Twitter, as per a report by Re Code. Also, in July, payment startup, CardSpring for an undisclosed amount, thus indicating that the social media company is pretty serious about enabling e-commerce for its users.

Fundingwire: DFC Spice Fund & Micromax Informatics Invests in Tran Serv, Fashion Social Network Roposo Raises $5M & More

InTouchApp Raises Funds From Blume Ventures Mumbai InTouchApp, contact management application, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Blume Ventures. Founded by Sarang Lakare, InTouchApp Contacts is a simple contact manager. The Blume team has known and tracked Sarang and InTouch for a while now. We've personally been obsessed about finding or supporting a team that saw the problem that we do.

BECK Friends: A Peer to Peer Delivery Service Allowing You to Earn While Traveling

Sending a parcel abroad could be one exorbitant affair, let alone the issues one generally faces with the weight of the package and the time taken for its delivery. Here's a startup which has identified this problem, and wants to resolve it with the help of technology.Founded in November 2015 by Deep Malhotra, along with Rahul Basu, Mayukh Basu & Shikha Pandey, who joined the company later, BECK Technology Ventures Pvt.

5 Tools for Augmented Reality App Development

The Augmented Reality technology upgrades our real world by adding a digital layer of information to it. It makes use of a direct view of our existing environment and mixes it with sound, GPS data, graphics or video. Its use in human interactions is increasing every day. When it comes to augmented reality app development, app developers work with augmented reality libraries with open-source API to make their app development process simpler.

Mobile Messaging: The Stakes Have Been ‘Hiked'

With a USD 175 million fundraise, Hike messenger has just upped the game in the mobile messaging market. Loaded with cash and backed by the global bigwigs which include Bharti, Softbank, Tiger Global and now Tencent, the app is gunning for the pole position which has so far been firmly sitting with Whatsapp. Hike already has 100 million registered users in its fold and manages traffic of 40 billion messages on a monthly basis.

Hike deals with Airtel - offers zero data charges for three months, updates Android app

Instant messaging app, Hike, has recently got into agreement with Airtel for Zero data charges being applied for using the app by Airtel customers for three months. The terms of the deal have been left undisclosed. Airtel's all new and the existing customers will be able to use Hike for free for a period of three months. For new users the offer will remain for three months from the time of downloading the app whereas for the existing customers the offer period will be marked from September 1.

Rise of Online Food Ordering Startups in India: Opportunities, Challenges and Innovations

Image Source Timescity India is not simply emerging, it has emerged, said US President Barack Obama. The entire startup ecosystem in India has changed tremendously over the past ten years. People now opt for the road not taken they have shunned the conventional jobs by pursuing out of the box ideas as their career choices. Off late, the trend of food startups and online grocery has been catching the spotlight. India seems to be having a growing appetite for such startups.

Chatbots for Restaurants - A Better Customer Experience

Image Source BotandBot According to a Gartner report, customers will manage 85 of their relationship with the enterprises without interacting with a human by 2020. This indicates that a majority of human interactions will be automated in the future. And, chatbots are perceived as a crucial technology in this direction. Several organizations across the world are using chatbots to provide a human touch to their customer communication.

Deal Wire: Kulzy, Zeppery and Greencart

Kulzy.com has raised over 1 million from Seedfund and Bedrock Ventures Source Facebook Noida-based a networking website for the advertising and marketing community, Kulzy.com has raised over 1 million from Seedfund and Bedrock Ventures . The startup has also raised an additional funding of more than 300,000 from media and advertising industry professionals including Bobby Pawar, managing director and chief creative officer, Publicis South Asia MG Parameshwaran, executive director, FCB Ulka...

10 Machine Learning Online Courses For Beginners

This column has been curated from Hackerlist blog The following is a list of, mostly free, machine learning online courses for beginners. 1. Machine Learning by Andrew Ng (Free)First, and arguably the most popular course on this list, Machine Learning provides a broad introduction to machine learning, data mining, and statistical pattern recognition. Topics include Supervised learning (parametric non-parametric algorithms, support vector machines, kernels, neural networks).

Credihealth Raises Funding from Twitter India Exec Rajat Malhotra

Credihealth has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Rajat Malhotra, the Director of Engineering at Twitter India Image Source Gurgaon-based Credihealth, an online healthcare marketplace which was started in January 2014, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Rajat Malhotra, the Director of Engineering at Twitter India. The startup aims to utilize the raised funding for technology improvement.

Top 5 OTT Trends to Watch Out For!

Streaming services have grown rapidly over the past few years with several OTT Streaming Services competing neck to neck to offer the best mix of audio and video content. So what's the latest buzz in the world of OTT Let's take a look. 1) Live Streaming is growing and will be ginormousThanks to easy access to apps like YouTube, DailyMotion and Vimeo, it's literally cakewalk to pick up a smart device and watch videos available in a wide variety of categories.

Top 7 iOS and Android Apps for Seamless Home Automation

The simplest way to understand technology's underlying purpose is its utility. If something can be designed to solve a problem or make a process more efficient, technology can go a long way to improving our lives. With the inception of IoT (internet of things), the future of smart devices has arrived. But the ecosystem of these devices is quite expansive and complicated without a single one-size-fits-all solution.

Staples Opens Up its Online Store for SMEs and Consumers in India

Image Source meerainfotech International stationery brand Staples has today opened up its online store for SMEs and consumers in India, dealing in its entire range of business supplies and consumables. Staples India, Founder & Co-CEO, Shailesh Karwa says that Staples' Indian portal, was dealing with large enterprises only across India till now and they did not serve small or mid sized businesses.

Women's History Month: Celebrating the Young Revolution

It's in the click of my heels, the bend of my hair, The palm of my hand, the need for my care, Cause I am a woman, phenomenally. - Maya Angelou According to Forbes, the concept of power can be nebulous, with women even more so. As of January 2015, 10 women served as heads of state and 14 as heads of government. Women currently hold 23 (4.6 ) of CEO positions at S&P 500 companies. Of a total 1,826 global billionaires, 197 are women 11 of the total.

Fundingwire - B2B eCommerce Marketplace Bizongo Raises $3M & More Funding Updates

Shown Above Bizongo Founders Fundingwire is your quick dose of notable funding announcements in the Indian technology ecosystem. The firms which have recently raised investment include Bizongo, EasyPolicy, Medzin, vImmune and The Gourmet Jar. B2B eCommerce Marketplace Bizongo Raises 3MMumbai-based B2B marketplace, Bizongo, has raised 3 million in investment from IDG Ventures & existing investor Accel Partners.

How To Discipline Your Mind For Greater Success

Nurture Your Mind You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace. Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes Most problems result from your thoughts about a situation outside of your control. Allow me to unpack this in more detail. Reflect on an area of life causing you frustration. What if you were to hand it to an outsider and ask them to assess it from their perspective Would they feel the same about it Of course not, because they are less invested in it than you are.

Online Store for Organic Farm Produce Lumiere Raises Seed Round of Funding

Bangalore-based seed-to-table organic product firm Lumiere Organic Venture Pvt Ltd has raised Series A funding from 20 undisclosed investors in a crowdsourcing exercise. The financial data of the funding round has not been disclosed. Lumiere has two physical stores in Bangalore besides an online store where customers can place orders and get them delivered.

Commerce Platform for Organic Products Joybynature Raises $1M from Mumbai Angels, Others

Image Source Delhi-based Joybynature, an eCommerce platform focused on organic and natural products, run by Pavitra Retail (P) Ltd, has secured a pre-Series A funding of 1 million from a Mumbai Angels, Contrarian Vriddhi Fund, and other individual investors. New round of funding will be utilized for private label launch, senior level talent acquisition, marketing and technology ramp up.

Payoneer Forum New Delhi Edition: Exploring the Scope of Freelancing in India and More

On Saturday, Payoneer hosted its second Forum meet in India. The event brought together a mind-boggling audience of professionals, consultants and entrepreneurs to network and listen to our expert speakers and panel, offering a combined experience of 40+ industry years. The need for such events grow every year as more people are moving into the freelancing world to experience the freedom of laptop lifestyle .

Tagalys: A Startup that Provides On-site Search as a Service for e-Commerce

What is Tagalys Founded by Antony Kattukaran in May 2014 along with Palaniappan Chellapan- who serves as the company's CTO, Tagalys is an on-site search service for all e-commerce companies to help streamline the search . This onsite search' acts like a sales person keeping visitors engaged with relevant products and filters.

Japan-Based Cookpad Acquires Indian Startup Cucumbertown

Source Japan-based online recipe network Cookpad has acquired Indian online recipe sharing startup Cucumbertown. However, the terms of the deal have not been disclosed but this is among the larger acquisitions that Cookpad has made. The acquisition will help the Indian startup Cucumbertown to expand its reach to international markets as well as monetise the platform. The service is being rolled out to select bloggers.

Yral: Helping Brands Connect with Celebs For Advertisement

Yral (pronounced viral') was founded in Jan 2016. It is a joint venture between global digital marketing agency Adlift and YouWeCan Ventures. While the former is an online marketing company specializing in ROI driven search engine optimization, SEM and link-building, the latter is a VC firm by Yuvraj Singh to help exceptional entrepreneurs tap new opportunities. The platform seamlessly connects advertisers with celebrities by leveraging their social media network.

Samsung Mobiles Go Offline When the World is Going Online

Samsung Electronics has decided to take the conventional retail route while rest of the world is moving online. In a battle of offline v s online, the offline handset retailers have been suffering because of their online counterparts since they offer heavy discounts online on the purchased products.

WS Retail's Ekart Logistics to Spin Off and Become a Wholly Owned Company

WS Retail is looking to separate its logistics arm Ekart into a wholly-owned subsidiary before Flipkart goes for an IPO in 2016. WSR was set up by Flipkart's founders in 2010, but they soon sold off their stake when they became a marketplace to comply with FDI norms, and it became a retailer on the online store. EKart , which was earlier a dedicated logistics partner for Flipkart, is handled by WSR and caters to other e-commerce companies as well.

Flipkart's Big Billion V/s Snapdeal's Routine Offer: Customer De-Acquisition?

Flipkart's much awaited Big Billion Day happened today. One could have hardly missed the massive advertisements both online and offline. From billboards to newspaper ads to Television to online ads, Flipkart managed to cover every marketing spot to spread the word about its mega birthday sale. Result It succeeded in bringing customers to its site for sure, however disappointed them in return.

Snapdeal Pumps in $20M into eCommerce Logistics Firm GoJavas

Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd owned Snapdeal has made an investment of 20 million (Rs 131 crore) more in logistics firm QuickDel Logistics Pvt Ltd, which operates under the GoJavas brand. In March 2015, Snapdeal had entered into a strategic partnership with GoJavas. It was also speculated that the company is looking out to buy a small stake in the logistics firm for a deal amount of Rs 150-200 crore.

Funding Wire: Zappka Raises $100K, Vanity Cube Raises $300K & Others

A startup can take different avenues to raise funds, from crowdfunding to approaching investors, each way has it's own way of influencing the market. As the tech-startup environment in India is heating up, more and more people are turning into angel investors, HNIs and are ready to take risks. Zappka & Vanity saw some serious amount put in them.

Mobile Only Realty Platform Plabro Raises $350K from Flipkart Founders and Others

Image Source Gurgaon-based a mobile only real estate platform, Plabro has raised 350K in first round of funding led by Flipkart Founders Sachin Bansal & Binny Bansal, Sol Primero, Outbox Ventures, and angel investor Sangram Singh. With this new funding, the company aims to widen its footprint across country, and also plans to add data analytics as a key feature on the app to provide market insights to the agents and support the knowledge base of customers.

Top 7 Illustration Websites to Get Your Design Inspiration Dose From

Artwork by lunarcity The illustration is the art that creates the context of something to attract people towards it. For example, the illustration of a woman's body on the cover of a magazine creates many contexts. The smiling face will mean she is happy and there is some reason for it why she is happy and the gloomy face means she is unhappy and again there is some reason that has made her unhappy. This context created through graphic illustrations can be used in product designs.

Table Hero Bags $1M in Seed Round Led by growX Ventures

TableHero, an Operating System for small local businesses, has raised 1 million in seed funding, led by growX Ventures. The OS includes a suite of products that simplify website and digital presence management reservations, bookings and appointments and payments, loyalty and customer management. The company was founded by serial entrepreneur Deap Ubhi, who founded burrp (sold to Network 18) and guided FreeCharge as COO (sold to SnapDeal).

Mobile App Development Lifecycle Guide that Every Developer Should Bookmark

When it comes to mobile app development, every step of the process is as vital as the next. Cutting corners anywhere can cost the final product stability and user interest. As mobile app developers, it is important to maintain an understanding of each step of the mobile app development lifecycle. This will provide you with the ability to maintain focus on the task at hand while not missing key aspects of the development process.

Guide to Accelerate Your Mobile App Development Timeline

Almost all the businesses of different industries have realized the importance of having a mobile application. Having a high-end mobile application for your business can benefit you in many ways like reaching targeted audience, build a strong brand, connect better with customers and deliver more value to them. Without one, you may face problems like conveying a message to your customers, introducing new product or service in the market, etc.

Do you have the right EQ to become a successful entrepreneur?

Till the 1990's the measure of an individual's potential was their IQ (Intelligence Quotient). It was a test to measure intellectual intelligence to assess the level of a person's cognitive abilities. However, studies showed that people with high IQs were not necessarily successful at work and life skills.

12 Examples of Big Data Analytics In Healthcare That Can Save People

Big Data has changed the way we manage, analyze and leverage data in any industry. One of the most promising areas where it can be applied to make a change is healthcare. Healthcare analytics have the potential to reduce costs of treatment, predict outbreaks of epidemics, avoid preventable diseases and improve the quality of life in general. Average human lifespan is increasing along world population, which poses new challenges to today's treatment delivery methods.

Mobile A/B Testing Service Apptimize Raises $4M in Series A Funding

California-based mobile A B testing service Apptimize has raised 4 million in series A funding led by Costanoa Venture Capital, and brings Apptimize's total funding to 6.1 million. Previously, the firm had secured 2.1 million seed round in January 2014. The new funds will further revolutionize the mobile development process by enabling product managers, designers, marketers, and developers to make instant updates to their mobile apps without having to code or redeploy their apps, Apptimize...

10 Online AI Chatbots You Can Converse With

Image Source Cultofmac We are living in a century where technology dominates lifestyle artificial intelligence (AI) is one such example. It is an intelligence exhibited by machines or software to help make humans' life easy. Apple brought its AI assistant SIRI into our daily lives, and Google and Microsoft have also came up with their own version of AI known as Google Now' and Cortana' respectively. The concept and application of AI is evolving.

7 Neat Tips to Nail App Store Optimization

What is ASO App Store Optimization (ASO) is the process of optimizing your mobile app to rank higher in the app store search results. The mechanics of ASO involve understanding your target audience, researching the right search keywords you want to rank for and optimizing your app for these keywords. The objective is to increase the visibility of your app for the target keywords and thereby drive more traffic to your app page in the respective app store.

IndiaMART Raises Series C Round; Matrix Partners Backs Finomena; VR Startup Smart VizX Secures $500K & More

IndiaMART Raises Series C Funding to Help Indian MSMEs Get Online and Improve Ease of Doing Business eCommerce company, IndiaMART has raised Series C round of funding led by Amadeus Capital with participation from Westbridge Capital, the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund, managed by Quona Capital in addition to Intel Capital, the existing investor in the company. The company will use the raised capital to further strengthen its leadership position in the B2B segment by scaling up Indiamart.

NDTV's eCommerce Arm Indian Roots Raises $5M at $85M Valuation

Image Source IndianRoots NDTV Ethnic Retail Ltd, a subsidiary of the NDTV Ltd, which operates the group's eCommerce venture, IndianRoots, has raised a fresh round of funding of 5 million at a valuation of 85 million led by Jaipur-based KJS Group. The new funds will be used to scale up the portal's logistics and delivery mechanisms, expand its marketing activity with the aim to be the market leader in Indian fashion in the year ahead.

Why Do Venture Capitalists Need to See Atleast 2 Co-Founders?

Why Do Venture Capitalists Need to See Atleast 2 Co-Founders ' originally appeared on discussion network Quora. Below is the answer by Auren Hoffman, CEO, SafeGraph Investors will pay more for a deal the less risk it has. Of course, investors are looking for upside potential (and usually spend a lot of time on that), but they also spend a massive amount of time on risk factors. Do you have revenue That de-risks it Do you have a functioning product that looks good That de-risks it.

Konotor and PiQube Graduate from Pay Pal's Start Tank

PayPal today announced the graduation of the second batch of startups from its incubation centre Start Tank . The batch includes user engagement startup Konotor and HR focused startup PiQube which had joined its incubation programme November 2014. In April 2015, Chennai-based PiQube raised 500K in funding from private investment company HR Fund, while Konotor recently got acquired by Freshdesk. About Konotor A product of Demach Software India Private Limited.

The Technology Behind How Prisma Works

Technology has come a long way ever since the invention of modern computers. It has been conquering different areas where humans were once thought to be the only resort. Computers can perform a host of functions now, many of which are impossible by humans. However, art is something we least expected technology would ever be associated with. Prisma, a photo editing app launched in June 2016 has completely proved our thoughts wrong.

Smartican: A Social Networking Startup that Connects Like Minded People

What is Smartican Smartican is a youth oriented open social media platform, which lets people meet and interact with new and interesting people, showcase themselves as well as their content to a wide audience, share their thoughts and views with the world, and explore anything and everything possible. Founded in January 2013, by Charak Almast, Aastha Almast, Mani Dev Gyawali and Abhishek Puri. The product was launched in November 2013.

The Football Mind- A Social Networking Platform for Football Enthusiasts

The origin of football in India can be traced back to mid-nineteenth century when the game was introduced by British soldiers. At one point of time, it was the national sport of India, played by the teams of the Indian Army. Gradually, clubs were soon established around the country. Several football clubs like Calcutta FC, Sovabazar, Mohun Bagan and Aryan Club were set up in Calcutta around the 1890s. Calcutta, the then capital of British India, soon became the hub of Indian football.

SwitchMe: Platform to Save Home Loan Interests By Switching Banks

Home loan transfers is a difficult process, demanding a lot of time and energy. You have to spend weeks gathering information, putting your documents together and visiting the lender time and again to get the process completed. In the meantime, your life is put on hold. Here's a startup which has identified this pain point, and attempts to make this process a hassle-free affair and on top of that, help you save on your home loan.

Inno TecTing - The Combination That Could take your Business to the Next Level

The success of an organization depends on multiple factors. While strategy, human resources and company culture form the key factors for the success of an organization, there are other important factors that are needed to take the organization's success to the next level. Success doesn't imply simply gaining monetary benefits but adding value to the business which would benefit both the organization and its consumer base. And how could one add value to its business without innovating.

Why Disconnecting From The Internet Improves Your Focus

With your smartphone, you have the world at your fingertips. Sounds great, right NOT. Most people don't use technology but are rather used BY technology. Apps, games, videos, articles, commercials, TV-shows, are all designed to keep your attention. So without you knowing it, you waste countless of hours every single week. Your attention is all over the place, but not at the right place. To be everywhere is to be nowhere.

7 Inspirational Movies Every Entrepreneur Should Watch

It can be hard to stay inspired while working, especially as an entrepreneur. You start out with big dreams and aspirations but in the face of all of the hard work you may lose sight of why you even started in the first place. Luckily there are lots of ways to find your inspiration again, and one great and simple way to do so is by watching a really great movie.

Digital Marketing: A New Age Career Choice Among the Youth

Digital marketing is emerging as the one of the principle features of the modern corporate era. The dynamic, upcoming industry of digital marketing is fast-gaining momentum as a promising career choice, especially among the youth. Helping companies stay ahead of the curve by utilizing the commercial perspective of modern digital media is taking the world by storm. This massive marketing platform is poised to become the most sought-after profession among the youth.

The Value of Personalization in Mobile Commerce

Image Source Core Digital Works Myntra recently shut down its mobile website completely and became an app only store. Others seem to be following cautiously. With 75 of Internet access moving to the mobile phone, it is very clear that it will be the device for commerce in the coming years. There are some inherent aspects about shopping on mobile phones which will gradually become the focus of all organizations looking to engage with the mobile shopper.

Facebook Rolls Out a New Mobile App ‘Facebook Groups'

Facebook seems to be focusing on mobility more than ever. First Social Network, then so on. Now in order to make its users more social, Facebook is launching a new free mobile app for its Groups feature on Android and iOS devices that lets users to quickly create, join and navigate between groups on a mobile device. When users open the app they will find all Facebook Groups at one place and can quickly move between each group.

Goodlife has stopped taking orders, looks like another eCommerce casualty

Online lifestyle retailer Goodlife seems be moving towards a shutdown as the website has stopped taking new orders and a note is being displayed on the website which reads Temporarily, we are not taking any new orders on Goodlife.com. Though the reason behind the same is unclear, but if we go by the industry speculations, Goodlife was going to shut the webstore and was going through a cash crunch situation in its operations. The following note is being displayed on the website.

Importance of Digital Marketing for a Startup

Conventional wisdom says that you build great products and it will sell on its own. More so in the online tech world wherein Google, Facebook, Amazon hardly advertised their core services, at least when they were a startup. People used their products, were delighted by the performance, and asked their friends and family to test it out. Hence there was no need for the founders to spend any money or resources in trying to market their products.

The Top eCommerce Trends That Will Define 2017 in India

1 Multi-platform strategy is here to stayWe saw mobile traffic taking over desktop traffic for most brands in 2015 including giants like Google & Facebook. With affordable smartphones & data prices resulting in mostly mobile-only internet user base, many had expected mobile to wipeout desktop platform leading to the rise of app-only or mobile-only businesses.

Brand Management: 5 Effective Principles

With digital marketing becoming an influential approach for most brands, the importance of brand management is often underrated. Simply put, brand management is the science of creating a positive relationship with the target market. However, it also entails the various facets of the customer's association with the brand and even the relation to the purchasing process.

7 Tips by World's Richest Man Jeff Bezos to become a Great Entrepreneur

Jeff Bezos founder of Amazon.com, founder of Blue Origin aerospace company, owner of The Washington Post, and currently the richest man in the world, has reached heights of unparalleled success. But what goes on in the mind behind this super human level of success How does the way he thinks set him apart The following seven quotes from Jeff Bezos himself can shed light into the psyche of his entrepreneurial mind 1 Big things start small. The biggest oak starts from an acorn.

5 Tips For Being a More Mindful Leader

No matter your age or stage, when it comes to the workplace, everyone leads. From managing the morning meeting to running a company of thousands, strong leadership, at various levels, is essential to any organization's success. But just what makes an effective leader Business leaders can create happier, healthier and more efficient workplaces by adopting mindfulness practices, says Udana Bandara, Lead Scientist at Rakuten Institute of Technology and founder of the Rakuten employees'...

An Easy Business Idea for Indian Summer

Have you ever wanted to go back to school only so you could get summer vacations If you dread stepping out during summers like most of us do, then we have something for you. Summer in India is largely merciless. Due to the geographical positioning of the country, summer months in India can be long and uncomfortable. So, what can you do As an adult, you have to take that morning bus or train and get to work and no matter how much or how well you prepare, the heat still gets to you.

The Goldilocks Rule: How to Stay Motivated in Life and Business

It was 1955 and Disneyland had just opened in Anaheim, California when a ten-year-old boy walked in and asked for a job. Labor laws were loose back then and the boy managed to land a position selling guidebooks to visitors for 0.50 a piece. Within a year, he had transitioned to Disney's magic shop where he learned tricks from the older employees. He experimented with jokes and tried out simple magic routines on the visitors.

When Not To Pick A Freemium Business Model

The basic essence of business is to sell a product or service that customers are willing to pay for. But thanks to the influx of venture capital in recent times, a growing number of business owners seek traction and growth before they actually start making money. A business that has millions of free users is typically valued higher by VCs than an alternative with just a few hundred paying customers. This is true even if the latter is more profitable than the former.

Facebook Changes Lets you Choose whose Updates You Want in the News Feed

Facebook now facilitates its user to have more personal News Feed. The social networking site has introduced a new set of tools which is designed to enable its users to control exactly what they see in their News Feed. The new tools are only available on Fb's iOS app currently. The biggest amend made in the News Feed is to prioritize who to see first, which allows the users to select which pages and people you always want to see at the top of your News Feed.

Chronicles of a Discount Loving Online Shopper: From Baby Products to Hotel Bookings

I am a shopaholic, and have been from many years. However, it has been a long time since I shopped anything in a retail store. Who doesn't love the sound of discounts and sales In fact first thing in the morning I have made it a habit to check my inbox for any online deal that may interest me. The thoughts of dragging my feet from one store to another burning petrol, were shut off long back. When my wife and I had our baby, online retail stores were my best friend.

Self-Management vs. Time Management: What You Need to Know

Back when I was in university, I was pretty lax about managing my time. If I had a mid-term or final coming up, I was notorious for waiting until the week of the exam to crack open my books to read the assigned material. Actual studying occurred during a feverish cram session the day before the test. It was the same for papers. Again, I would procrastinate until the deadline was looming, and then churn out the essay with a burst of energy at the last minute.

Why Voice Tech is About to See Major Love From VCs

Over the past few months, it's been all but impossible to escape the growing buzz around voice technology. From Amazon's Echo to Google Home to Apple's HomePod , it seems like everyone's getting into the game. SNL even jumped into the conversation by releasing its own parody featuring an Echo Silver for the greatest generation.

How to Retain Your Business Email Subscribers

Email subscribersOne of the marketing ways to attract more customers is sending emails. Many companies offer their clients some benefits in exchange for their email addresses. That is done with the objective to encourage this client return to your company or service again. It is a proved fact that 48 of recipients do make purchases either online or in the store after they get a commercial email.

Reasons Why Mobile Apps Have Become Sophisticated

Mobile application trends are the same as web application trends. Which is why they can be traced to a greater degree of traditional software changes. An important disparity, nevertheless, is that mobile apps are usually documented and categorically seize the privilege of the outstanding characteristics a specific device gives. For example, a gaming application can be possibly documented to make use of the iPhone's instrument made for detecting vibrations.

6 Things You Need to Recover From Every Day

Less than 1 of people are living according to the principles science described herein. However, I'm confident that if you apply these recovery principles to your life, you'll live a more engaged, meaningful, and productive life. Being busy and being productive are far from the same thing. Most people are trying to do too much. The desire to keep up has them doing more, living less, and deceiving themselves into believing they've actually made progress.

What Private Equity Funds Can Do For Your Company?

Private equity is a general term used to portray a wide range of funds that pool cash from a group of investors to collect millions or even billions of dollars that are then used to obtain stakes in organizations. Actually, private equity is same as venture capital with a little difference. Private Equity is a collection of funds trolling for mature, income producing organizations needing some rejuvenation to become worth substantially more.

Up-skilling Might Help You Save Your Career in Indian IT Sector

You can't run away from this fact, ladies and gentlemen Kalyug has officially arrived in the job market. Jobs that around a decade ago were considered sunshine sectors are today among the ones having abysmal growth, declining opportunities with no visible signs of recovery in the near future.

Getting Out Of Your Own Way: Mindset Hacks For Entrepreneurial Success 


What makes someone a great entrepreneur You have to be able to connect with people, build solid relationships, and bring your products and services to the world with passion and joy. To make all that happen, you need to love what you do, sell with confidence, and believe in yourself.

Android Application Development - The Entire Process Explained

Requirement gathering, analyses, and thorough researchBefore the company begins with the design and development of the android application, a thorough research, and information gathering is performed in order to decide a foolproof plan. This stage usually answers the following W's.

Personalized, Contextual & Mobile First Marketing to Drive Greater ROI for Advertising

Today, tech-savvy customers aren't interested in receiving bulk SMS or emails. Not only do these not stand out, but they don't provide the level of customization modern customers need, which can harm the outcome of your campaign. Today's customers are more discerning than ever, and they expect the product and service information companies deliver to them to take this into account.

How to Increase Efficiency In Your Logistics Company using Mobile Technologies

Information and communication technology has changed our lifestyle beyond all recognition. Today we got such abilities that compared to the life of the last century would be considered magic. Mobility has become one of the main factors of human development. Everybody now has got a full office close at hand on their mobile phones. It takes us less time to talk or text someone, check our mail or send instructions, track the parcel or pay the bill.

Cash Flow and Liquidity Management for Small Businesses

Behind what could seem like a bunch of numbers and metrics, lies the beating heart of any business big or small. It all comes down to transactions, growing your income and cutting down on your costs investing and saving meeting your duties in time and collecting your rewards. Assets and liabilities. Why Should You Care About This Liquidity and cash flow management are far more than economic theory.

The Three-Pronged System to Create a Sustainable Business Strategy

An effective business strategy has three parts. One part involves knowing who your target audience is. You truly know your audience when you can make decisions for them, says Tim Ferriss. But just knowing your audience is not enough to formulate a strategy. Your offer is another significant part. It must be one which your target audience cannot ignore. If you know your audience well enough, nothing can stop you from designing an irresistible offer. Right.

7 Ways to Elevate Your Business Performance with Mind Mapping

Make a data dashboard for simple access to key assetsMind mapping is a brilliant beginning stage to be utilized as a method for designing access to key data, or assets significant for the business. This can be effortlessly accomplished using a mind mapping program to help the capacity and adaptability, in planning a mind outline will fill in as a data dashboard.

24 Things You Need To Do To Heal Your Life From Anxiety

The opposite of addiction isn't sobriety, it's connection. The same is true for anxiety. Anxiety is being disconnected from the present moment, other people, or yourself. Usually all three. You must reconnect with your life. 2. You must give yourself permission to want what you really want. There is no way around this.

7 Strategies Entrepreneurs Can Use to Boost Discipline and Execute Effectively

Startup entrepreneurs love to quote Thomas Edison's famous saying, success is 1 motivation and 99 perspiration . Whilst anybody can be temporarily motivated to build the next great company, it's only those with true persistence, determination, and discipline who actually make it happen. In this article I'll discuss 7 specific strategies you can use to maximize your discipline, be more productive, and more effectively execute on your most important ideas.

How to Hire the Right Service Providers for Your Company

You cannot be an expert in every field of your work, and here is where the expert team steps in. Expert team, or service providers, is a team of professionals in a certain area that will take care of your project. They tend to focus on one thing and master it, and such service can be really beneficial for you. At DashBouquet we know the importance of making right choices and hiring right people, so we came up with some recommendations on hiring service providers.

Where To Start When You've Procrastinated On Your Goals For Too Long

Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday Don Marquis 109. That's the number of days that passed, since I published my previous article. Now, I could give you a couple of well-rationalised excuses, and twice that number of bad ones (like the fact that my imaginary dog ate the digital draft of my article). Joke aside, I felt disappointed in the moment I calculated how many days have gone by, without sharing my knowledge, thoughts, and experience with you.

Native Ads Aren't Complicated

Native Ads Online ads are obtrusive, obnoxious and annoying This one sentence summed up the feelings of a majority of the 20,000 participants from 12 countries participating in the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and Oxford University's joint research. I'm pretty sure that if you were asked to share your thoughts on the matter at hand, they wouldn't be very different. A page that would otherwise load in half a second takes almost ten seconds to load when loaded with banner ads.

16 Startup Metrics: A Cheat Sheet by Andreessen Horowitz Blog

Image Source We have the privilege of meeting with thousands of entrepreneurs every year, and in the course of those discussions are presented with all kinds of numbers, measures, and metrics that illustrate the promise and health of a particular company. Sometimes, however, the metrics may not be the best gauge of what's actually happening in the business, or people may use different definitions of the same metric in a way that makes it hard to understand the health of the business.

29 Email Marketing Tips and Advice From Experts [Infographic]

Email is the hottest trend of marketing Using email as a marketing tool will help you to stay ahead of your competitors. It helps you to build close relationship with customers subscribers, gather buyer's data, and improve your marketing ROI. If you're a serious marketer or business owner, you just can't afford to miss this opportunity. It's more important than ever. But you need to do it right. Avoid irritating your prospects with sales or self-promotional pitch.

How to Keep Staff Motivated When Deadlines Are Due

Motivated staffWhen the pressure is on at work, staff can often lack motivation, perhaps feeling too overwhelmed by the task in hand and opting to procrastinate instead. As an employer, you'll want to motivate staff. This involves making them feeling valued and giving them the time to rest when needed, to increase their productivity.

The Simple Way I Beat Procrastination

You're sitting in front of a keyboard, but the words aren't coming out. You're trying to begin that project, but there is no clear starting point. The cause may be a lack of motivation, creativity, or even just urgency. Some people call it resistance. It's frustrating. Debilitating even. And as time passes, the only thing that seems to change is the hour on the clock. We've all been there, and although it can be innocent, there are generally consequences.

14 Confidence Quotes to Help You Beat Self-Doubt and Reach Your Goals

Do you ever go to bed mad at yourself because you spent all day avoiding your most important goals As creatives, we all have things we want to make, launch, write, record goals we long to achieve. But we tend to procrastinate. We don't make daily progress. Some people call us lazy, but I don't think that's the problem. We're smart and hardworking. What we're missing is the confidence to sit down and get started. So in this post, I'll be sharing some quotes about confidence to inspire you.

How to Start a Business without Quitting your Job

Each of us has got a craving at one point or other to start our own business. Maybe you want to follow your childhood dream, or perhaps you have a great hobby that you would like to convert into your business, or maybe just so that you can earn money without having to answer to your superior. Although the feeling of having our own business is exciting, very few of us take the next step to start the business.

4 Naysayers to Ignore When Starting Your Business

Warning to all future entrepreneurs You're going to be hearing a lot of criticism . It should be part of the job description, in fact Start a company you believe in, work long hours, and spend half your time listening to people question your business (or sanity). Most of the time, you should be open to that criticism in order to address holes in your business strategy you may be too close to see objectively.

Essential Mobile App Testing Practices Every QA Should Follow

Everyday, thousands of apps are launched. Over time, the tech industry is speeding up and making smart and big changes rapidly such as new OS versions, a bunch of new devices, development platforms, frameworks and many more. In all between this, a mobile app tester job has become much more complex and challenging. So in this blog, we are going to share some hacks of mobile app testing that will make app testers job much easy.

Online Store Purplle.com Secures Funding From Ivy Cap

Mumbai based, Beauty and skincare e-retailer, Purplle.com has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from IvyCap Ventures. The startup had also closed a Series A funding in 2013 by non-VC investors. IvyCap is in the midst of closing its new INR 900-crore fund and has deployed INR 250 crore from its first fund across six startups that are mostly in the tech space.

10 Interesting Sales Ideas From Hubspot's Chief Revenue Officer

One Simple Idea For Startups By Stephen Key At the end of last year, I was invited to participate in an all-day discussion with a small group of sales leaders from high-growth tech companies. The goal of the day was to share the challenges we are facing, instigate discussion around potential solutions, and collaborate on best practices we are seeing across the industry. As a sales leader, it is hard to justify time out of a busy quarter for learning along these lines.

Grocery eCommerce Firm Red Mart Raises $26.7M to Expand in SEA

Image Source RedMart, a Singapore based online grocery service has closed a 26.7 million round in preparation for an upcoming Series C which will be used to expand across Southeast Asia. The round was led by existing investors Garena, SoftBank Ventures Korea, Visionnaire Ventures, and Facebook co -founder Eduardo Saverin, with participation from new investors named Far East Ventures This freshly raised capital has brought the total amount of investment raised by the company to over 50 million.

Three Pieces of Advice to Build Confidence for Public Speaking

I do a lot of public speaking and there's no arguing that I'm pretty good at it. I hit the stage as a 30-something somewhere in 2006 and it was instantaneous I loved the stage and the stage loved me back. It came naturally to me, so I play to that strength. It's why I come off as someone who is very comfortable on stage or in front of the camera. I just love it. I know a lot of you out there aren't always the biggest fans of public speaking.

Six Reasons Storytelling is an Essential Skill for Entrepreneurs to Master

It's no coincidence that the most prosperous businesses are the ones that are the best at storytelling. So it makes sense that telling stories is an essential skill for ambitious entrepreneurs to master. But why is it so important We asked Harrison Monarth, a top executive coach who works with leaders and businesses on effective communication, to fill us in. 1. It helps you stick in people's minds Harrison says By telling a story, you create context that helps people remember.

5 Important Softwares to Improve Customer Experience

When Bain & Co. examined 326 firms, they found that 80 of the companies believed that they delivered superior customer service but only 8 of the customers agreed with what the companies said. Companies do strategic planning and implement accordingly to improve the quality of their services which in turn shall increase customer acquisition rate. As business communication is one of the important aspects of customer service, companies use various softwares to upgrade this communication process.

Social Media, Brute Force Attacks, Passwords, Fake WAPs & Protecting Yourself

Social media accounts are online assets, which no matter how big you build them, can still be a liability. This liability comes from how they can be exploited by hackers, especially when you do not take the proper steps to protect them. You need to put as much effort into protecting your online assets as you do building them. You don't need an entire IT team to do this, keep reading to learn the basics of what you need to do.

What is GST? And What Could be its Impact on the Indian eCommerce Avenue

With 352 votes in favour, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill has finally been passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The fierce opposition displayed by the Congress, the BJD and the CPI(M) on Tuesday did not translate into any roadblock for the government. GST would replace all the indirect taxes levied on goods and services by the Central and State governments with a single nationwide sales tax. It is aimed at being comprehensive for most goods and services.

10 Ways to Organically Market Your Brand on Instagram

With more than 300 million users, Instagram is now the world's no.1 image and video sharing platform that offers a significant opportunity for businesses to reach to more number of users without having to invest in paid ad space. Online marketers are desperately trying to solidify their presence on Instagram and explore its potential to reach to more prospective customers.

Delhi Police Launches Himmat Android App for Women Safety

To make the city safer for women, Delhi Police has launched an Android mobile app named Himmat, that allows smartphone users to call police control room by shaking the phone or pressing the power button twice in an emergency. The app can be downloaded free of cost from the Delhi Police Website and also from the Google Play Store. To use the app, a user needs to register at the Delhi Police website.

How You Can Stop Procrastinating and Kickstart Your Startup Now

As the saying goes great things come from small beginnings , every big company we know today like Facebook, and Google started as a startup. Most of them began with just a small budget, limited manpower, and few to no investors at all. If you're currently in the process of building a company, struggling is normal, even tech giants such Apple went through that very challenging phase. So, if you think that it's impossible, it's actually not.

Lingerie brand Bwitch goes online, offers bulk trading too

Genesis Colors, which operates Bwitch lingerie brand in India, has launched its ecommerce store Bwitch.in. Currently it features around 110 products under four different categories named as bra, panties, nightwear and shape wear. The Bwitch has launched its Indian website bwitch.in with an Indian ecommerce service provider Net Distribution. Net Distribution claims to operate several online stores ranging from large to mid-size stores.

Snapdeal Celebrates April Fool's Day in October; Gives Customer a Surprise of a Lifetime

A new tale has been added to the list of humorous stories available about the Indian e-commerce websites. Usually buyers complain about the products that haven't been delivered, or sizing issues or not product not looking as shown in the image. But, this time Snapdeal has scaled new heights of customer satisfaction (in a satirical way) by delivering something which the customer has never dreamt off.

Yahoo Japan acquires ecommerce portals of Venture Republic

Yahoo's CEO Marissa Mayer after getting her hands over 21 startups, has now added another one to her list. This time Japan based, Venture Republic Inc., through its Japan business arm, Yahoo Japan', as reported by Sd Japan. The news came in just after the acquisition of Rockmelt, a social web browser by Yahoo Inc. Financial details of the deal were still undisclosed. Venture Republic was founded in 2011 by Japanese businessman Kei Shibata.

Some Reasons Why Freelancing Is Not the Best Decision for Everyone

Being a freelancer seems like a dream job for many people. You are able to work from home (or wherever you feel comfortable), on your own time, choosing your own clients and making nice revenue in doing so. Freelancing is much more complicated than that and most people who try freelancing tend to give up after a few weeks because it's not the nirvana they were hoping for.

The World's Top 100 CEOs on Social Media: What You Can Learn

Arianna Huffington. Who's your favorite business leader Do you follow her on Twitter Read all of his posts on LinkedIn and Facebook And do you ever wonder why some of them seem to be everywhere at once Chances are it's because that person has mastered the art of getting the word out on social media. Recently, my company helped rank the top 100 CEOs from around the world, based on the quality of their social media presence. Below are the top 10 from the full list.

Entrepreneur - Are you Dreaming Success or Solutions?

Entrepreneurship is an extremely interesting journey. It is almost like a Bollywood masala flick with all the excitement & action for the hero (you the entrepreneur) to do the unthinkable. Likewise, it has its own set of lows, disappointments and frequent bouts of despair when things don't work out the way you thought they will.

3 Effective Ways to Optimize Your Facebook Business Page

Marketing always plays a crucial role to enhance a business. It is that indirect expense which leads to a direct income. From posters to T.V ads and from football jerseys to Facebook, we see new and interesting marketing strategies everywhere. Facebook, alone covers 21.7 of global online marketing space. So, here I'll tell you some exciting ways to optimize your business strategies using Facebook. 1.

Bid Goodbye to Wallets: Mobile Payments are the Future!

Source Why Near Field Communication (NFC) spells the new wave for money transactions in India India is very different in terms of demographics as compared to its western counterparts. Its retail industry is highly disorganized and its significant presence in rural India makes it very different in terms of the prevalent shopping and payment culture. The cashless modes of payment like credit cards, debit cards, etc.

How to Make the Best Use of Integrated Digital Marketing

One of the hottest discussions taking place in the digital marketing circuit is how to bring synergy across all online channels such as website, social media platforms, blogs, e-mails, SEO, etc., for a consistent and deeper engagement with customers Another widely discussed topic is how to integrate traditional marketing and digital marketing in order to enhance the effectiveness of marketing strategy.

Brand Building: Love in the Time of Likes

In this age of digital abundance, companies are finding it increasingly difficult to differentiate and stand out from the crowd. The connections in the digital world are so easy that a product or service is exchanged between various hands at the same time. There are frequent new entrants and copy-cat businesses due to extremely low entry barriers.

7 Communication Skills Every Entrepreneur Must Master

Your success as an entrepreneur is determined in large part by your ability to communicate. You can be the best at what you do, but if you're not communicating effectively with clients, staff and the market, then you're missing opportunities. There are many different ways to look at communication in the small-business world from the individual formats such as writing and speaking, to different contexts such as client communication and employee management.

Tips on Writing an Effective Resume After a Sabbatical

In the fast-paced cut-throat competition-laced work environment of today, taking a break from one's career is not something unnatural. Rather, it is quite common. The reasons can be far varied and many be it motherhood, family reasons, ill health, education, travel or pursuing a lifelong dream, people often take a sabbatical. However, such a break is still not very well accepted by employers.

Startup Story of Chhattisgarh Based Search Engine Zoolley

I am an alumnus of SRM University, Chennai. The idea came up while studying in second year while pursuing college. I started my first venture RXDirect (Retail X Direct), before that I was working from the first month of my college in an MNC BPO, to earn money for my college fees. When it was hard to manage the time and energy to manage college and full time work in a call center, I decided to start his own firm. I left the call center after one year of work.

How Augmented Reality Can Change the Way We Do Business

Any modern business which wants to interact with its clientele or possible clients should have such environment which can improve its presentability and user experience. augmented reality gives business a great opportunity to not only convey their product and service information but in quite entertaining and direct way possible. Augmented reality was the term which was first used in 1990 by Tom Caudell, who was a researcher at Boeing, an aircraft manufacturer company.

How to Influence People: The Most Overlooked Secret

Sounds easy, right It's not. True leadership is rare, because most people aren't willing to do the one thing they need to grow their influence. What do the world's best leaders know that the rest of us don't How do you become an influencer without feeling like a sleazy salesman How do you connect with important people and get your reputation to spread People sometimes ask me how I've been able to do interviews with in-demand celebrities like Steven Pressfield and Chris...

Fin Tech Startup Connaizen Raises Angel Investment from Umang Moondra & More

FinTech Startup Connaizen Raises Angel Investment from Umang MoondraSingapore-headquartered and Delhi-based Connaizen, has raised an undisclosed amount of investment from ex-Citibank Singapore MD, Umang Moondra. The firm helps banks & marketers leverage consumer spending data to target them better. The firm is gearing up to go live with four out of the top 5 private banks in India.

10 Key Distinctive Traits Of Financially Successful People

Last week a friend and I were discussing about money management. Some people could handle it well, while some could not. The ones who could manage their finances well could control their lives, while some others are continually struggling to get out of their bad loans no matter how much money they earned. Financial freedom can be achieved by anybody, regardless of their income level.

6 Habits That Will Make You A Successful Entrepreneur

If you are looking for the technical business tips that can get you the leg up within your respective niche look away. I know, that's a harsh disclaimer to share at the beginning of the post, but entrepreneurship is about much more than just running a startup. Serial entrepreneurship and most successful entrepreneurs are successful over and over again (and not afraid to fail more on that later) comes from always looking to do things differently from the conventional order, not just in business...

How Taking Pride in Your Work Could Positively Impact your Career Growth

It's review time and there is a lot of talk about how the appraisals will go. Here is how taking pride in your workplace can impact your growth. I have been on both sides of the table. Like a lot of professionals, I have constructed opinions on how people speak about what they do and their choice of career. A small inadvertent comment, a carelessly dropped sentence, body language, all lead to formulation of opinions.

Mobile User Authentication - How to Go About it

Whenever the topic of security is discussed by IT, the major focus is on encryption. Well, scrambling sensitive user data to keep it safe from data thieves is certainly a great practice to start but so of the equal importance is user authentication process. During the process of authentication, at least a single party must prove its identity to the other one.

Maximize Your Campaign Effectiveness With Influencers

Influencers are individuals who are active on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or blogs. True influencers have a certain impact on their followers and, when chosen carefully, can boost your brand's image and visibility in the market. Contrary to the past, companies nowadays now employ the help of influencers more often than they do with conventional celebrities.

How to Transform Your Stress Into Insane Productivity, According to Harvard Psychologists

Stress is sometimes unavoidable here's how to turn it into your best friend.We know that stress is bad for us, and that it causes everything from health problems to lost productivity. However, while there are proven ways to reduce stress, sometimes it's unavoidable in this journey called life. In fact, if you're doing great things, it's inevitable. That's why new research suggests that much of that stress we encounter can actually be harnessed in positive ways and turned into productivity.

Deep Insight Into Top Mobile Engagement Trends

Today, the number of people accessing the Internet through mobile devices have clearly surpassed those making use of desktops. There is no exaggeration in saying that approximately 60 percent of Google's ad revenues used to come from mobile ads. Due to this, eMarketer is anticipating that mobile advertising spend to overtake the complete number of television ad by the year 2020.

How to Build Technology that Feels Like a Friend

Recently, I needed to book a lunch meeting. To help coordinate, I asked Amy to assist and cc'd her on the email. Amy, I wrote, please help us find a time to meet. Let's plan for sushi at Tokyo Express on Spear Street. Amy looked at my calendar, found an open time suitable for everyone invited, and booked the meeting. Amy works just like a human assistant, except she's not human. It's an AI bot made by X.ai, a company specializing in scheduling assistants that respond to natural language.

4 Ways To Practice Gratitude And Welcome Abundance In Your Life

When it comes to attracting abundance in all its forms (love, money, joy, happiness, etc.), the most important thing we could possibly do is put ourselves in vibrational alignment with that which we want. But what about the nitty-gritty of this How on earth do we vibrationally align with our desires One word GratitudeGratitude is one of the most important components of attracting abundance and the more you can be grateful for, the more powerfully you bring your desires to you.

Our Experience with App Store Search Ads

Search Ads are defined by the three things simplicity, relevance, and results. Search ads feature simple setup. These are designed to be effortless, smart, and flexible for small and independent developers. It depends on you how much time you want to invest. You will anyway get results even if you invest minimum time. There are certain steps involved in setting up the search ads in iOS.

Why Deep Work Helps You Get More Done in Less Time

Ever since I spoke with Cal Newport about the rules for focused success in a distracted world, and read his most recent book, I've become an evangelist for deep work. It's enabled me to Finish a 45,000-word manuscript in 6 months Read more than 100 books in a year Write 100's of articles, while also working on a book The more deep work I do, the more I'm convinced of its effectiveness. And it's something that helps you to get far more done in far less time.

The Importance of Landing Page Optimization for Small Businesses

What is Landing Page Optimization Landing page Optimization (LPO) is the process of increasing conversation on a landing page by improving elements of the landing page. LPO is a subset of Conversion rate optimization (CRO- Increases the percentage of conversation). And methods like A B testing are involved to improve the effectiveness and experience of a Landing Page. Why is Landing Page Optimization Important Key component of online marketing campaigns are Landing Pages.

Startup Starter Tools - 9 Must have Apps for Startups & SMEs

When you run a startup or a small business, you want things to function effectively. Besides having an amazing team to support your endeavour, you also need apps that make your life easier and help you do everything from keeping a to-do list to delegate tasks to employees & stay on top of your business expenses. There are thousands of apps out there that can help you in everyday tasks and be ahead of all the new barriers coming your way.

Embracing These Brutal Truths About Success Will Immediately Improve Your Life

These lessons are hard to swallow, but they'll radically improve your success and make you a stronger individual. Ask any successful entrepreneur how they got to the top, and they'll tell you they had to face plenty of harsh truths and realities to get there. This isn't meant to be intimidating it's empowering Plenty of ultra-successful people have had to face harsh lessons and obstacles in the moment, but you have the luxury of time and preparation.

Guidelines for Better Time Management and Getting Things Done

I never appear to have enough time to do a lot of things that I need. The thoughts that keep me up at night, my long lasting dreams and goals appear to stay just dreams. However by one means or another I have enough time to get the most recent scene of South Park or look through Facebook. Why Since it's simpler to block out on the sofa. Sounds familiar I've been researching about time management practices to exchange some of my poor habits for good ones.

5 Common Mistakes Mobile Advertisers Should Avoid

Most of the advertisers are continuously cramming the buzz word Mobile First these days and pushing the same with a lot of capital. The need to keep mobile at the first position emerged when the number of smartphone users in the world rose significantly. Now, there are approximately 2 billion smartphone users globally. But, still many fail to embrace expected results.

10 Things I Had to Give Up to Heal My Anxiety

Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own. - Bruce Lee To achieve something great, it is more important to focus on what you need to take away rather than what you need to add. Although there is a certain fetishization with productivity in modern society, I believe adding habits is a form of procrastination. If you are anything like I used to be, you tend to overcommit.

Travails of an MBA on an Entrepreneurial Journey

For the last 5 years or so it has indeed become a style statement to introduce yourself as the founder of a startup company. It's like being Sharmaji ka beta ' for the 1st time in your life. However, behind the glitter and glamour associated with the words there is plethora of struggles which we turn a blind eye to, almost always.

Lessons an Entrepreneur Can Get from Candy Crush

For all the hustlers, dreamers, go-getters and more than that doers, motivation comes to them in different forms, either in Intrinsic form or in Extrinsic form or in both the forms. Talking about motivations coming from Extrinsic sources, I found Candy Crush as one of the best source of inspiration if contemplated minutely. Take a move to get a reward You took an action, and got rewarded, another possibility opens and the loop continues.

You Don't Control The Outcomes Of Your Life, Principles Do.

You don't control the outcomes of your life. You don't control how other people will respond to you. You don't control your health. You don't control how much money you make. Principles control these things. Said Dr. Stephen R. Covey, We control our actions, but the consequences that flow from those actions are controlled by principles. If you consistently put unhealthy foods in your body, your body will become unhealthy. You body is a natural system governed by principles.

The 3 Stages of Failure in Life and Work And How to Fix Them

One of the hardest things in life is to know when to keep going and when to move on. On the one hand, perseverance and grit are key to achieving success in any field. Anyone who masters their craft will face moments of doubt and somehow find the inner resolve to keep going. If you want to build a successful business or create a great marriage or learn a new skill then sticking with it is perhaps the most critical trait to possess.

The Transformation from Ease of Doing Business to a Digitally Healthy Bharat

The budget 2017 has laid a foundation of an enterprise and business pro India . Important factors to boost GDP are thought of the Union Budget 2017. Most important elements such as young demographic dividend, skill development, women employability, digital education, transport have been well accounted for. Also, it is reflected that the burden of taxation is more evenly split with all demographies of the society.

Launching your First Mobile App? Things to Keep in Mind!

The digital landscape is changing rapidly, leaving many entrepreneurs confused about the best strategy to launch and market their apps, especially on mobile. Following are three common questions that invariably come up during my conversations with young entrepreneurs Best time to launch an app We've build the core functionality.

Keep Innovating Your Business Model According to Actual Consumer Need

The customer experience is the next competitive battleground - Jerry Gregoire. Customer is King is one of the most used clich in business world. 95 of the businesses that exists today are customer-centric. No matter whether they are large corporations or small businesses, most of the innovation that takes place in the industry is done keeping the customer in mind- to improve customer experience and satisfaction.

How I Stepped into Entrepreneurship - My Success Story

There are stories of successful women entrepreneurs, emerging in India. There are several others wanting to start their own companies. At some point in a woman's life, there comes a moment that tests her who she is, who she wants to be, where she will go next. There was a moment in my life which made me realize that I was just wasting my time on unnecessary things and was capable of doing exceptional considering my talent.

Kinds of Media You Should Share on Instagram for Branding

All of us are aware of the effective ways of interaction and the relevant engagement strategies for Instagram. But you have to be very careful about the content you post. You simply cannot mess this up. There are some kinds of pictures which are known to do exceptionally well on Instagram and there are also certain pictures that really suck. Here are some genres of pictures which could be posted on Instagram for boost in engagement and branding.

When You Fail To Achieve Your Goals, Try Systems Instead

Do you set high goals for yourself If you're ambitious, or if you simply want to do a lot of things in life there's something you might have experienced Goals can sometimes be counterproductive. I see it a lot with the highest achieving people. When you want to live a meaningful life, you quickly feel like you need to do a lot of things, and set many goals. I also like to set a goal before I start something, so I know what direction I'm heading.

Why Is Budgeting and Forecasting Important to Your Business?

Budgeting and forecasting are two of the most important tasks you can do for your business. They are also two tasks people rarely look forward to. Taking the time to make an actionable budget and to properly forecast can mean the difference between failure and success for your company. When done poorly, budgets and forecasts not only become useless, but they also become highly misleading.

How to Take Over the World or at Least Your Company From the Inside Out

In a *shocking* bit of news, I recently learned this Not everyone is a superhero entrepreneur running his own show. This world (believe it or not) still has plenty of people . On the off chance that you aren't working 4 hours a week on some beach, slamming back cocktails with your high profile clients who you sell novelty Pac Man lunchboxes, you might find this guide helpful.

How to Become a Master at Public Speaking, According to The Guy Who Runs TED Talks

The Curator of TED Talks shares his secrets to creating a compelling story and influencing groups. Whether you're pitching to a VC firm or just talking to a small group of people in the office, public speaking is a pretty big key to success. The point is, we all have to do it so we might as well try to get good at it. The good news, according to Chris Anderson, the curator at TED Talks (who has been helping people become master presenters for 30 years), is that giving a good talk is coachable.

Aggressive Patience & Entrepreneurship

Businesses are created to solve problems. The problem you want to solve when starting a company serves as the foundation you build all of your product and service ideas on. Your goal is to create the best solution for the problem you want to solve. In school, we're trained for instant feedback and results. Life is much different. Starting a company, executing on a vision, and solving hard problems are much different. These things take time. Imagine that your problem is a dartboard.

Young Entrepreneurs Should Stay Grounded to Handle their Success Well

The concept of entrepreneurship is on an upswing in India. In recent times, it has become the primary career choice for many as opposed to somewhat being a Hobson's choice career till even about a decade back. Many young people, having amazing new ideas are choosing to execute them by plunging into entrepreneurship early on in their professional lives.

Things All Entrepreneurs Should Learn from the Japanese Culture

There's so much the world taught us that grad schools didn't. There's so much our roots imbibed in us that letting go seems difficult. We walk today knowing we are good at what we do, but we also know there is always something to learn. For an outsider the Japanese culture does seem a little exhausting, but when you see how this translates to everything they do, it will fascinate you. Nihon kenchiku to inspire your UI Let me break it down for you.

10 Things Successful Entrepreneurs Don't Do Themselves!

Time is a entrepreneur's most valuable commodity. Yet one of the biggest problems for small businesses and startups is that the founders are wasting their time trying to do it all. We euphemistically say we wear lots of hats but the truth is that entrepreneurs are often trying to save money by doing it all themselves. This can be a huge mistake. There are some things that are better done by professional and are better delegated or outsourced.

21 Powerful Business Lessons For First Time Entrepreneurs

Lessons I have learned in the last couple of years building a startup and freelancing. I have been fascinated by the Startup Weekend concept the first time I took a part in it, back in 2012 in Aarhus, Denmark. Since then, I have grown significantly on the matter of entrepreneurial mindset, improved my networking and people skills, connected with so many inspiring individuals and their unique stories, failed a lot, discovered new things and learned to enjoy my life no matter what happens.

Six Things Startups Need to Know About Venture Capitalists

Every startup needs capital money it can use to either get off the ground or ramp up growth. The most important and the most valuable way to fund the business is to sell your product or service. And for the vast majority of companies, this might be the best way to grow. But if you want to grow quickly, funding your business through sales may take too much time. There are different ways to raise money, and each method usually comes into play at different stages of a company's growth.

App Stores Are Not The Places To Reach Every Mobile User

There has been a revolution in the mobile phone industry which has become more user-centric in the recent times. The major mobile phone platforms like iOS, Android, Windows, and Blackberry have their own app stores to cater to the users. These app stores host mobile apps and games and offer a one stop place to download and update the apps. The developers can register themselves on these stores and contribute to the list of apps and games.

10 User Interface Design Principles that Mobile App Developers Must Follow

Banking app concept by Ondrej Kostol k With an over populated app market to cope with, you have few seconds to impress the users with your app. These few seconds have to be made counted or your prospective user will look for the alternatives that are available in large numbers. The first impression should be therefore, imposing and must offer some unique elements that no other app does.

Buzz4Health: A Social Media Platform for Medical Practitioners to Communicate, Collaborate & Learn

Founded by Hitesh Ganjoo and Tushar Gupta, and launched in March 2015, New Delhi-based Buzz4Health is a customized professional platform for doctors and medical students, which lets them collaborate through real medical cases and other continuous medical education content. The platform has been incepted with the idea that a doctor's education never ends with a degree a medical practitioner needs to stay updated with the latest information on new drugs, research, approaches and emerging evidence...

Best Advice I Ever Got About eCommerce That Changed Everything

I met this man, who was in his late 50s, accidentally while visiting San Francisco. It turned out that he is a super experienced eCommerce professional who owns now 19 online stores across the US and 6 stores in the UK. We agreed on taking a pizza at his favorite restaurant at Stockton Street and discussing eCommerce. Unfortunately, his only wish was that he would remain nameless for any articles. I accepted this condition. However, what he taught me changed everything and it was worth it .

Mobile App Marketing: What Matters Most?

You check your smartphone more often than anything else, right Yes, it grabs quite a lot of time and still you do not regret since most of the apps on your handheld device serves a crucial purpose for your life in one way or the other. From tracking your workout to booking a ticket to reading a book or watching a movie, practically all day long you are engrossed with mobile apps.

Successful Entrepreneurs Understand the Difference Between Motion And Action. Do You?

Ernest Hemingway One of an entrepreneur's greatest strengths is their relentless pursuit of a goal. But few realize how this differs from most of the population. Watching others try to solve problems reminded me why entrepreneurs are different. Progress Report I happened to be sitting in my wife's office recently as she was on the phone to my daughter in college.

8 Ways Billionaires and Elite Athletes Perform at the Highest Level

Musk is willing to make any sacrifice to manifest his worldview in the long-awaited future The middle-ground has all but dissolved, leaving you in one of two positions among the leading few or mediocre many. Your relationship with technology will either facilitate unthinkable opportunity and growth or keep you on the wrong side of average.

Top 5 Programming Languages for Mobile Application Development

Programming language plays a big role in determining how frustrating or enjoyable the entire mobile app development process will be for you. There are some commonly preferred languages that all developers veer towards and then there are some languages that the native platform is built upon. As smartphone sales are ready to hit the 1.4 billion mark in 2016, the industry for mobile applications also expands.

The Harsh Truth Of Rapid Personal Growth

A young man had recently purchased a pick-up truck. Needing some firewood, he thought it a great opportunity to test his new truck. After driving up the snowy mountains and out of cellphone service, he found a spot to park near some trees. He pulled off the road to park and got stuck in deep snow. Desperate, he tried everything he could to get out. Switching from reverse to drive and spinning-out his tires, his truck got deeper and deeper stuck.

Ease of Payment Experience is Key to Creating a Successful Business

One of the many reasons why retail eCommerce companies are gaining popularity in India is that it saves the time of consumers who don't wish to stand in checkout lines at physical stores. Even at a famous restaurant, after good food and service, if the customer is kept waiting for the cheque and further payment, it's more likely to ruin the overall dining experience.

Content Marketing - It's Going to Get Weird

In the hit science-fiction movie The Matrix , Neo (The One) is about to enter a virtual simulation of the real world. Morpheus, his teacher and guide, tells Neo before he enters the simulation, This is going to feel a little weird. And that's exactly where we are with content marketing.

How to Create Content That Drives Sales

Human attention span has fallen to 8 seconds from what was 12 seconds at the beginning of this century, such was proven in a research study conducted in Canada that surveyed over 2000 participants and studied the brain activity of 112 others. This is even shorter than the attention span of a goldfish which has an attention span of 9 seconds.

GoJavas Looks for Buyers; Ola Wants to Acquire Bike Taxi Startups & More

GoJavas in Talks with Pigeon Express for its AcquisitionLogistics firm GoJavas which had suspended its operations last week, is now in advance discussions with courier service provider Pigeon Express for an acquisition. Besides Pigeon, the company has also reportedly held discussions with its biggest stakeholder Snapdeal, and other logistics firms for an acquisition.

Business Models in Internet of Things

Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of things connected to each other and refers to an ecosystem comprising of objects, connectivity and application services. There are a number of projections on the size of the market by 2020 and the projections vary significantly but all projections agree to a minimum of 1 trillion plus addition to economic activity due to IoT. This is a big number and driving almost every company (even remotely related to IoT) to encash the IoT hype.

Entrepreneurs Should Sell Vision, Not Valuation

Adam Osborne became a Silicon Valley legend when he introduced the world to the first portable personal computer in 1981. But instead of becoming the Google of the 80s, Osborne prematurely announced the next generation of his breakthrough Osborne 1, and the anticipation of what was to come destroyed the sales of his cash cow. He watched his company fall into bankruptcy just two years later.

Cloud IT Opportunities for Your Business

The rise of cloud technologies promises to do for your business what the concept of mass production did for manufacturing in the early 20th century. In essence, cloud tech allows businesses (of all sizes, and from all sectors of the economy) to lower costs and boost collaboration (within the organisation, and with vendors contractors), by making it easier to create a synergy of shared resources.

10 Ways To Get Your Motivation Back After Getting Knocked Down

It happens to the best of us At some points in our life, we are going to burn-out or totally get knocked down from something that we felt was going to work out but didn't. Our confidence gets rocked and we feel like all the efforts we put into something was a waste of time. We get in a major bummed-out state and don't seem to have an ounce of energy to get ourselves out of it. I get it I think we all can relate to feeling this way one time or another.

The Science Behind Procrastination And How You Can Beat It

Procrastination has been around since the start of modern civilization. Historical figures like Herodotus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Benjamin Franklin, Eleanor Roosevelt, and hundreds of others have talked about how procrastination is the enemy of results. One of my favorite quotes about procrastination is from Abraham Lincoln You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. The funny thing about procrastination is that we all know that it's harmful.

Why Microsoft's Acquisition of LinkedIn Would Not be Another Nokia Story

It has been less than a week and social media is abuzz with the news of LinkedIn's acquisition by Microsoft. The deal that was finalized for a whopping 26.2 billion dollars is the largest software acquisition ever made. The move that is predicted by many as a catastrophic failure is in truth a well-planned move that would prove beneficial for Microsoft in the long run. When Mars Meets VenusWe all are aware that LinkedIn and Microsoft are as different as chalk and cheese.

7 Qualities You'll Never See in Millionaire Entrepreneurs

Looking to make it to millionaire status Simply do as the rich do. You'll never find these seven qualities in millionaires-and we're sharing why. 1. They Aren't TV JunkiesMillionaires don't spend their time indulging in Netflix binge-watching. Instead, they substitute tube time for books. From Elon Musk to Warren Buffet, many famous entrepreneurs are known to spend many hours a day reading.

[Video] 50 Entrepreneurs Share Priceless Advice

Entrepreneurship is a journey which frequently involves a series of missteps and mistakes before finally nailing the right idea or business. In this process, many capable minds give up. However, the remaining few who don't, and those who are persistent through the toughest of times, are the ones whose names are written in golden letters. But how to do it Well, one of the best ways to it is by learning from others from your predecessors who have been there and done that.

Influencer Marketing as A Strategy

Influencer Marketing can play an important role to build trust in a brand. Who's an influencer will differ they can basically be anybody today, but what defines an influencer is the same It's the scale of reach he or she brings. Social media has brought a vehicle for influencers, enabling experts and celebrities alike to extend their fanbase way beyond what used to be possible. This is what to look for when defining your influencer strategy.

Entrepreneurs: Read this Whenever You Feel like Giving Up

Here are 58 powerful quotes that have kept me focused and moving forward as an entrepreneur since 2001. The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it Michaelangelo The biggest challenge you have is to challenge your own self-doubt and your laziness. It is your self-doubt and your laziness that define and limit who you are.

4 Pointers on Building Future Tech by Satya Nadella for Indian Entrepreneurs

Microsoft's Chief Satya Nadella is back to his homeland briefly on a trip. In an event organised by Microsoft on Monday, the executive addressed a room full of young entrepreneurs and students aspiring to change the world. Nadella started speaking about the goal to build future tech by stating the importance of dreaming. Here are 4 notable takeaways for Indian startups from his speech earlier today 1.

The Secret Ingredient to the Best Startup Fundraising Pitches

I've listened to thousands of fundraising pitches in my six years so far at Redpoint. Some with demos, some without. Some with hockey-stick charts, and others just an idea. I'll never forget one meeting when the founders presented an entirely hand-drawn deck on 12 pieces of paper. The extent of founders' creativity is hard to over-state. Most founders do cover the essentials of a pitch in their presentations.

Five Questions About The Future Of Chatbots

Facebook launched the messenger chatbot platform, which like Slack, Telegram and others, presents a big market opportunity for startups to innovate. In addition, the companies and products that determine how to most efficiently distribute their product on these new platforms will benefit from user curiosity and less competition, both of which result in lower cost-of-customer acquisition.

Government and Startups : Will the Union Budget Influence Entrepreneurship?

RailTel partners with Google to set up Wi-Fi network at 400 railway stations Telangana T-Hub, the biggest start-up incubator inaugurated Nasscom partners with govt to hold Startup India, Stand up India' event With the morning newspapers carrying such headlines, one thing is certain the Government of India is willing to undergo a makeover. A makeover of mindset, technological infrastructure and its strategy of harnessing the energy of its world's largest youth population.

5 Reasons Why You Should Specialise in eCommerce

ECommerce is growing, so are opportunities for skilled technical professionals (Source) eCommerce in India is an ever growing sector, opening up new possibilities as its penetration in the country increases. Its effect has been felt not just in retail, but in other sectors like technology, logistics etc. as well. And as it expands its wings, the need for experienced skilled tech professionals becomes greater.

Experiential Branding - Success Formula in eCommerce Paradigm

Brand name and presence is very essential to grow. (Source) We have been witnessing the death of well known brands like Nokia, but hardly any new brand have emerged. It is becoming extremely difficult to build a new brand, as a matter of fact, in the consumer and consumer durable category, market is quite saturated with all kinds of brands. In essence there are three kinds of brands namely 1.

What Do LPs Think of the Venture Capital Markets?

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. While I'm not an LP, the following post represents my discussions with more than 100 LP firms specifically ones that do fund VCs and full survey data from 73 firms, so I've tried to capture the essence of what I've learned.

Be Real With Real Estate Digital Marketing

Technology has always played an important role in our lives and has grown in all the sectors of the society. When taking a closer look at the digital disruption happening across sectors, the closer targets seem to be factors immediately affecting our lifestyle, like retail, healthcare, finance and real estate. Today, not only IT Industry but the Real Estate Market also has online advertising systems and SEM to reach their audience where they are not able to reach with their organic methods.

Every Successful Entrepreneur Had These Skills

What is Entrepreneurship It is the ability to flourish, organize, and command a business model involved with risks in order to a get a profit. It is an engine, which, when combined with Land, Natural Resources, and Capital can drive the economy in a positive manner. Entrepreneurs are characterized by their vision, their innovative techniques or methods and the capacity to handle unseen risks. These are also the essential prowess to make a mark in the global market.

Social Listening: A Key for Successful Business

Each day your audience is getting more involved and engaging in conversations. They're using social media to voice opinions about things they like or dislike. To consumers, social media is a passage for true articulacy. To businesses, social media is the way to reach out to the right audiences and gain advocacy. With this in mind, it is important to use social listening wherein you're able to track what is being said about your brand and industry and who is speaking to you.

Delhi Based Casual Social Network Hubhopper Raises Funding

Hubhopper is a community where users interact and share trending stuff on the Internet, also the website suggests content and lets the users decide if it's good enough or not Delhi based social network startup Hubhopper has raised an undisclosed amount of funding. The funds will be used for the improvement of the website and team expansion. They are also planning to research and build on facilitating more user adaptive features to provide further user control.

From Inactive to Influencer: 9 Stages Of Employee Social Maturity

Throughout my career I've been fascinated by how people engage with each other in business. I'm always up for trying those personality studies and tests to try and figure out my business profile and where I best fit into an organisation. I trained thousands of employees at SAP to build their personal brand online as part of a huge global effort to shift the organisation to become a social business.

Vinod Khosla Never Said Indian eCommerce Companies are Overvalued

Bad journalists print what they want Vinod Khosla (Source) A fortnight ago there was a buzz in the digital media that Vinod Khosla, Co-Founder Sun Microsystems and Khosla Ventures, said that the Indian eCommerce unicorns are overvalued. Quoting Business Standard as the source, several media houses covered that Vinod Khosla said so in a statement, and questioned the valuations of firms like Flipkart and Snapdeal.

Paytm Gets Aggressive About Bridging Offline and Online Business Spheres

Paytm has been one of those companies which keeps on rolling out something new every other day. What started as a recharge portal in 2010, has now resonated into a bigger conglomerate of services. Even though it now has an eCommerce marketplace among its list of offerings, its still most popular because of its wallet which it has integrated with several other companies.

10 Key Metrics that Every Digital Marketer Should Know

As most business functions have gone online, there are more and more companies investing increasingly high amounts of money in all things digital. At a stage where everything right from advertising, to marketing and selling- has reached digital platforms, it is even more critical to truly understand where these companies are deriving maximum profits from. Putting in bucks blindly on digital outreach strategies is probably not the wisest decision.

Amazon Plans $5B Investment in India, set to launch Subscription-based eCommerce Services

Image Source After committing 2 billion investment to support its Indian growth in 2014, now Amazon has announced another massive 5 billion investment over the next few years. It has also announced several other service launches in India including Amazon Prime by the end of this year. The company is set to add instant video and subscription-based e-commerce services for Prime users, as ET reports.

6 Ways to Engage Shoppers on Social Media

Image Source Freepik The onset of online shopping has created a revolution in the retail sector. Customers can now browse multiple items at a number of stores, all while seated in the comfort of their homes. In this scenario, consumer behaviour towards online shopping or browsing has drastically evolved to more than just concrete facts or somebody else's opinion it's now a hobby and you could also call it a passion for some eCommerce connoisseurs.

The Next 5 Big Things in eCommerce

Image Source Freepik In our always-on, globally connected economy, it is important to not confuse a trend with a fad. Fads are short-lived, with trending on Twitter hashtags being the digital equivalent of a mayfly, while trends, particularly in the marketplace, are often around for longer periods of time.

Mobile Grocery Startups - Change the Game!

Source Fiscal Year 2015-16 started with a bang for Grocery Startups in India. Over 50 million got invested in April 2015 itself in different startups related to Grocery. Why this sudden rush Probably there is an expectation that next unicorn will come from this category, reading from the success of Instacart in US which is valued at 2 Billion+.

Future Group to Launch an App for Big Bazaar

The Founder and CEO of Future Group, Kishore Biyani is set to launch an app for Big Bazaar to give a competition to its eCommerce counterparts in India. This move is a price-cutting strategy that brick-and-mortar stores have been struggling to come to terms with. Biyani in an interview stated, We are launching a price-match offer where if you shop from us and anybody else is selling cheaper than us at that moment, we will automatically give credits in your account anything online or offline.

Snapdeal Aims to Make Up 10 More Investments in FY15-16

Shown Above Snapdeal Founders Kunal Bahl & Rohit Bansal Image Source wordlypost After acquiring mCommerce payments firm Freecharge earlier this month, now Indian eCommerce company Snapdeal is aiming to make up to 10 more investments this fiscal year, to take on Flipkart and Amazon. The company has earmarked 60 of its budget for technology and acquisitions, and targeted buyout opportunities in the mobile and data analytics space.

Enterprises & the Curious Case of Zero Cost of Mobile Data for their Customers

Image Source In this age of cut-throat competition, where enterprises are adopting every possible tactic to allure more and more customers to their web based businesses, a new tactic has emerged recently to attract mobile device users called Free Data'. The companies pay for the data consumption by their customers occurring when they browse through their website or app.

What Does your Company Lose Without Time Tracking Software?

Image Source Time is the important asset of every company because it often equals earned or lost money. Everybody wants to their profits, right Check what makes your company lose money and time, and how we can eliminate those problems with the help of time tracking. What makes your company lose money and time 1) Paperwork Since the dawn of time companies have been tracking employee time and attendance using timesheets or punch cards.

How to Promote an Event Using Social Media

Image Source Freepik One of the most powerful tools to gain exposure, in a world that is obsessed with the World Wide Web, is Social Media. This is irrespective of what you are hosting it could be a physical conference or an online event. In simple words, it entails finding the best social media hacks to promote an event through online networking. Promoting an event online has transformed completely after the introduction of social media marketing.

Opportunities, Challenges and Scope of Clean Energy in India

Image Source Econ 101 Technology of tomorrow does not lag on any parameter from the technology of today. That phrase often hasn't been true in cleantech innovations. Solar has always been cleaner than coal but wasn't cost effective, until recently. Recycling made no economic sense until an entire industry popped up to mint back those valuable metals out of smart phones.

Challenges in Working Capital Management for SMEs

Image Source Freepik Working capital in its simplest form refers to the liquidity available to a company. In large organizations, there are experts spending hours dedicated only to working capital management. However, in smaller organizations, start-ups or SMEs, handling this vital business metric can often get quite tricky.

Is Profitability Still a Distant Dream for eCommerce Biggies in India?

According to a report published by Goldman Sachs, Flipkart and Snapdeal collectively need to raise Rs 1.27 lakh crore over next five years to sustain growth. While raising funds may not be difficult, investors are enamored with Indian e-tailers, the estimate indicates they would need to continue achieving top line momentum of more than 100 growth even as profits elude.

Microsoft's New Face Detection Tool, Guesses Your Age and Gender from Your Photo

Microsoft has launched a set of new machine learning APIs in public beta under the name Project Oxford' and it's How-Old.net demo for this service went viral. This service uses some of the new developer services that are a part of Project Oxford'. This new facial analysis tool tells the user about his her age and gender. The user needs to upload the photo of his her face and then it automatically figures out the age and gender of the person in the picture.

After the Big Battle Over Net Neutrality, Internet.org Opens to All Developers & Entrepreneurs

Facebook on Monday announced that Internet.org, an initiative designed to bring people in emerging markets online, is opening its windows to entrepreneurs and developers who want to build services that integrate with it. The offer has a set of strict clauses attached to it. The users have to adhere to the three core principles laid by Internet.org- Firstly, Facebook asserted that all supported services must allow for the exploration of the broader Internet wherever possible.

7 Critical Business Mistakes that eCommerce Startups Must Avoid

Image Source eCommerce has been around for a while now, and on a frequent basis more and more players are entering this market, and most are failing at it despite of the experience and expertise founders bring which they think is sufficient to crack this model. Although the reasons for failure of such startups vary, here are 7 common critical mistakes that they make and should avoid. 1.

Facebook is Testing a New Dialer App with Automatic Call Blocking

Image Source Android Police Facebook is testing a new, Android-only dialer app named Phone, that shows user information about who's calling and automatically blocks calls from commonly blocked numbers. Yes, it does sound like a Truecaller rip-off The app is marked FB-only' and a Facebook's spokesperson confirmed it's existence to VentureBeat, he said We are always testing things and have nothing to announce at this time.

8 Must Have Apps for Entrepreneurs

Image Source Pixabay With the growing number of entrepreneurs across the world, the need to keep a track of the related aspects of the emerging businesses is a mandate. Travel schedules, client presentations, numerous data platforms, deadlines for the team etc. There are indeed so many aspects in the constraint of time that an entrepreneur has to keep a check on.

India to Have 213 Million Mobile Internet Users by June 2015: IAMAI

The number of Mobile Internet Users in India is expected to reach 213 million by June 2015, according to a report Mobile Internet in India 2014', released by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International. The data in the report shows a constant rise in the number of Mobile Internet users, and if we go by these figures then the future of mobile Internet looks bright in India.

Flipkart Closes USD 150M in Funding from Qatar Investment Authority

After securing a commitment of USD 180 million by Hong Kong-based investment firm Steadview Capital on Tuesday, Indian e-commerce website Flipkart has closed USD 150 million from Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). According to the sources familiar with the deal, this investment is also a part of the third round of fund-raising done in November 2014. QIA is a new investor in Flipkart, which valued the company at around USD 11 billion.

Microsoft Gives @messenger Handle to Facebook as MSN Messenger Shutting Down

Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger is shutting down from October 31st and the software company is passing its official Twitter handle to Facebook later this month for the social network's own Messenger service. After October 31st MSN Messenger users will need to use Skype, bringing an end to 15 years of the service. Now that messenger is part of Skype, on Sept 30th, the Messenger twitter account will transition Facebook.

Hootsuite Closes USD 60 million in Series D and Acquires Voice technology Company Zeetl

Social media relationship platform, Hootsuite has raised USD 60 million in Series D funding round at a valuation of USD 1 billion. The round was led by Boston-based unknown investor as well as existing investors including Insight Venture Partners, Accel Partners, Silicon Valley bank, Fidelity Investments and OMERS Ventures. The latest round brings the total funding of the company till date to USD 284.9 million in 6 funding rounds from 9 investors.

Facebook Officially Launches Truecaller's Rival App ‘Hello'

Last month iamWire had covered that Facebook is testing a new truecaller app in stealth, and today the social networking site Facebook has made its Caller ID solution app Hello' official. The app uses Facebook database to identify unknown callers or to offer details of local businesses and people. As for privacy concerns, Facebook only shows information of people that they have already shared it with the app user or publicly on Facebook.

US Citizen Groups File Complain against Youtube Kids for showing ‘Deceptive' Ads

Image source readme Google has been accused of blurring lines between ads and content in its Youtube Kids app, by Consumer watchdog groups. The complaint has been filed to Federal Trade Commission, which alleges that Google has broken a number of broadcasting rules, including mixing commercial and other content in ways that are deceptive and unfair to children and hosting videos from individuals with undisclosed links to products they are endorsing.

Newshunt Acquires Mobile Analytics Platform Company Vauntz

Image Source Vauntz India's home grown news reader app, NewsHunt has acquired mobile analytics platform company Vauntz, for an amount which is not disclosed publicly. As a part of the deal, the Vauntz team will play a crucial role in building the next generation platform for Newshunt. The Co-Founder and CEO of Vauntz, Shreyas Desai told YourStory that they are looking for more of such acquisitions this year.

Pinterest Bans All Affiliate Links; Blocking Monetization for Bloggers

Image Source Marketingland Website Pinterest has starting removing affiliate links, redirects and trackers on pins. Without affecting any posts on the platform, all the tracking pins shall be removed. This will restrict bloggers from earning a percentage of share which they used to previously, when the shoppers clicked on the links they shared.

Mobility in ERP: Need for Anytime Anywhere Access

Users of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software are now increasingly demanding device-centric mobile technology. This was the finding of a recent global study of over 1,500 business professionals by Redshift 97 of its respondents said that ERP would be improved in the future if it was more accessible out of the office. Originally the focus of ERP software was to centralise key processes such as manufacturing, supply chain, customer service, HR and finance.

Flipkart buys Myntra : What the industry has to say

Both Flipkart and Myntra, since their inception, have seen a growth that every startup aims to achieve in the eCommerce space. They have been successful in luring not just the investors, but also the Indian consumer, which is now getting confident in buying online. A few experts of this nascent industry had some comments and views to share on this historic' deal, these are mentioned below.

Facebook to Come Up with Apps on Virtual Reality

Image Source Oculus After having bought Oculus for 2 billion in 2014, Facebook now looks forward to developing apps on virtual reality (VR). This may include contents from its own users as well as a few supplied by celebrities. Facebook's Chief Product Officer, Chris Cox at the Code Media conference, recently held in Laguna Niguel, California, eulogized the revolutionary innovation of virtual reality and revealed that the social networking giant is keen on progressing with its exploration in...

Crowd Studio: A Graphic Design Crowdsourcing Platform for Startups

Image source CrowdStudio Website What is CrowdStudio Founded in 2014 by Vivek Raghavan, Jaseem Thayal Shareef and Nitin Bekal, CrowdStudio is a Kochi based startup that serves as a curated graphic design platform for startups and small businesses. The startup with its crowdsourcing service connects business who need design with experienced freelance designers at an affordable price.

NY based social media analytics firm raises $40M

Sprinkler, in order to fuel its projected growth of 300 this year has raised a series D round led by ICONIQ Capital. Existing investors viz. Intel Capital and Battery Ventures also participated in the round. The total funding with this round has come to USD 77.50 million. Earlier the firm raised three rounds of funding viz. USD 5 million (Series A, 2012), USD 15 million (Series B, Feb. 2013) and USD 17.50 million (Series C, Nov. 2013).

Redhead Redemption: 9GAG Launches its Own Mobile Game

Asia-based, a image and video led social media website, 9GAG has taken a step into mobile games by launching an Android mobile game app Redhead Redemption'. The current GooglePlay statistics show that it has over half a million downloads as of now with a rating of 4.6 rating. This Android game is a a Zombie slaying action game. The name holds uncanny similarity to a console action game called Red Dead Redemption, although the story plot is quite different.

IoT is Not Science Fiction Anymore - B.K. Yoon CEO Samsung Electronics

Image Source global.samsungtomorrow.com In Consumer Electronics Show 2015, Samsung Electronics announced that Internet of Things (IoT) will be its big mission for the next five years where it plans to interconnect all its products from home appliances to mobile phones. IoT is ready to go It's not science fiction anymore it is science fact, said Samsung Electronics CEO B.K. Yoon said.

Nirvana Digital surpasses 1 billion views on You Tube

Nirvana Digital, a multi-channel YouTube network in India, has announced that the company has crossed 1 billion video views mark on its YouTube channels. It currently owns more than 200 YouTube channels and over 50,000 videos. Our billion-view milestone proves that YouTube is an incredible medium for brand advertisers and video content owners to reach out to audiences effectively.

Xiaomi's Fitness Wearable Partner Huami Raises USD 35M in Series B

Xiaomi's fitness wearable partner, Huami has raised USD 35 million in series B funding led by Banyan Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Morningside Capital. This round valued the company at USD 300 million. Xiaomi itself didn't put any money into this newest round but had contributed to its series A funding with participation from Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun via his Shunwei China Internet Fund at the beginning of this year.

Bengaluru Police Sends Notice to Twitter in Light of The Mehdi Masroor Biswas Arrest Case

Bengaluru police has sent a notice to Twitter after arresting Mehdi Masroor Biswas, who was operating a Twitter account in the support of the ISIS. According to The Times of India report, Mehdi Masroor Biswas, 24, via his twitter account ShamiWitness had allegedly sent out thousands of tweets in support of ISIS. The police has not yet disclosed or confirmed any details about the notice. Police commissioner MN Reddi on being probed on the matter only said, I neither deny nor confirm it.

5 ways coupons can help you promote your online store

Coupons can be a vital element of online store's marketing plan. Coupons are basically tools which can be used to encourage your customers to behave in a way that is best for your business. And if you make the customer feel that they have been rewarded for their interaction with you, they will not only remember this experience positively, but will likely return to your online store again and again.

Xiaomi Changes Business Model in India; Redmi Note and Redmi Note 4G to Be Available Offline

After introducing the Mi3 and Redmi 1s phones, Chinese smartphone manufacture Xiaomi, has launched two new smartphones in India Redmi Note & Redmi Note 4G priced at INR 8,999 and INR 9,999 respectively. Slightly deviating from its usual Flipkart flash sale strategy, the company will make the devices available at physical stores by partnering with Airtel India.

Monetization: The Biggest Challenge for India's Digital Mobile Ecosystem

During 2014, India has the potential to become the world's biggest smartphone market. Consumers want to access entertainment and other digital content through smartphones, and smart device ownership is growing at an unprecedented rate. Yet while the digital divide is diminishing, another challenge is becoming worrisome for digital content merchants Monetization.

Google Donates USD 10M and Mark Zuckerberg Donates USD 25M to Fight Ebola in West Africa

To add to the global efforts of fighting against Ebola, both Google and Facebook are doing their bit by donating to charitable organisations and encouraging their users to do the same. Earlier this week, Mark Zuckerberg donated USD 25 million to fight deadly Ebola disease in West Africa, and soon after launched a campaign (shown above) to invite all its users to also contribute to the cause.

Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone Launches ‘Super' Picture Sharing App; Says It's Just for Fun

Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone has launched a new app Super for Android and iOS devices that allows users to share pictures, thoughts, ideas, statements and recommendations with friends as well as social networking sites Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. Super is a casual app that allows users to share pictures using pre-defined tags such as The Best, the Worst, I Am, Check Out and much more.

Social media continued to grow, reach 90 Million by End of Year; may become game changer for election 2014

A recent report by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International, says that number of social media users by December 2013 will be 91 Mn, showing an overall growth of 17 per cent since June 2013. Considering there are only 160 Mn Internet users in a country with a population of over 1.23 Billion, 91 Mn makes up less than 8 of the total population.

Facebook Apps Settings Page Gets New Layout

Facebook has updated its App settings page with a new design and improved controls for the apps. Users can visit Settings Apps on the web interface to find out all the apps after login their Facebook account. The new layout is having a list of connected apps (See below) and users can edit permissions and remove the individual app.

NSIC Launches a B2C Ecommerce Platform For MSMEs

In order to promote and develop SMEs, Indian Government Agency, National Small Industries Corporation Ltd. (NSIC) has launched a B2C ecommerce platform, MSME Shopping, as reported by Financial Express. This portal is expected to be used to sell both Retail products as well as Industrial equipment machineries online. It aims to help micro, small and medium enterprises to launch their products.

Mobile Payment Company Square Acquires Food Delivery Startup Caviar

Mobile payment company Square has acquired San Francisco-based food delivery startup, Caviar. The deal amount is still undisclosed by the companies but according to The New York Times reported on Friday that the deal, which was first reported by TechCrunch, will be valued at USD 90 million in stock. Post this acquisition, Square deepens its commitment to providing independent sellers with services that make it easier for them to grow their business.

Silverpush - helping businesses with ad-retargeting technology on mobile platforms

With most businesses already being familiar and investing heavily on retargeting of their web-based ad campaigns mobile retargeting in Indian market is more or less a topic of confusion if talking of its availability. While the technology to enable retargeting being technically possible, the industry is still at a very premature level and most of the advertisers in mobile space rather stick to simple display advertisements only.

Wal-Mart goes online in India on Martjack Enterprise SaaS

Wal-Mart India, the Indian subsidiary of the leading retailer in the world, Wal-Mart stores Inc., has launched its eCommerce store recently. The eCommerce platform is powered by MartJack Enterprise, offers an interactive online shopping site where registered members of Wal-Mart India's cash & carry business can place orders at their convenience. The Wal-Mart eCommerce platform reaffirms MartJack's mission to realize eCommerce ambitions of enterprise retailers.

Google's You Tube Reportedly agrees to acquire Twitch for USD 1 billion

Google owned YouTube was reportedly in talks to acquire video game-streaming site, Twitch, although the Wall Street Journal claimed that the deal is still in early stage and the closure might take time. But now Google has reached an agreement with Twitch to acquire the live streaming video platform for an amount of USD 1 billion. With this move, Google aims at boosting the services of its live streaming service. San Francisco based, Twitch was launched in 2011 by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear.

[Guest] Mobile Commerce: Power on the Move

Every person you meet on the street walks around with a swanky Smartphone and every moment is journaled on Instagram and checked-in' to on Facebook and Foursquare. With this being the norm of the day, it isn't surprising to see that people are turning towards mobile devices to even do their shopping From then to now Mobile Commerce raised its head in 1997 with pay-through-SMS facility.

Miss Universe Thailand, gives up her title, due to Social Media fire

Weluree Fai' Ditsayabu, Miss Universe Thailand 2014, renounced her title on Monday. Due to the remarks she made on pro-government supporters viz. supporters of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, termed as red shirt activists as dirty evil and that they all should be executed , ceased fire her with comments on social media questioning her looks and whether she deserved the title of Miss Universe, as reported by gbtimes.com.

Making hiring more real-time, Gotkaam introduces a #tagged 140 character resume

At the beginning of a career or during the process of changing jobs, the thing which is of prime importance for both the job seekers and the recruiters is the Resume . However a candidate sometimes miss out on good opportunities as either the resume is not able to portray the skillset that he she possess or the company's job requirements are not clear.

LinkedIn Going Strong on Mobility; Expects Half Traffic from Mobile Devices

LinkedIn gets 43 traffic from mobile devices now, but it expects it to touch 50 soon due to the global trend of mobility catching pace. Earlier, it had opened R&D centre in Kartnataka and new office in Banglore. Also, it launched feature for brands to create Follow Company Botton' and introduced checkIn under its talent solutions. The website had recently launched University Pages on the portal and opened its doors for high school students.

Google launches World cup website- easy followup for FIFA lovers

Google has actually made it easy for the FIFA lovers to follow up with the matches and get instant updates of the happenings. It has launched World Cup website, as a part of its google trends section, to make it easier for its fans to get news on the latest stats, player news and live game updates in one spot. In addition, users will have the ability to see match lineups and other information without even having to search. Google has worked on the functioning as similar to that of twitter i.

You Tube to buy Twitch for USD 1 billion

Google owned YouTube is reportedly in talks to acquire video game-streaming site, Twitch for more than USD 1 billion, per Verge's Kwame Opam. With this move, Google aims at boosting the services of its live streaming service. However, as said in a Wall Street Journal's report, the deal is still in early stage and the closure might take time. San Francisco based, Twitch was launched in 2011 by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear.

Twitter users to grow by 60 percent in India this year: eMarketer

Its been said that emerging markets such as India and Indonesia will play a major role in this growth. By the end of year 2014, both will surpass the user base of UK with 18.1 million and 15.3 million users, respectively. Its user base in US is maturing, but it still held the top position in terms of user base. Also, it accounts for nearly three-quarters of Twitter's total ad revenues in 2013. As per the study, however, the data still represents just over 20 of all Twitter users worldwide.

Yahoo acquires Admovate, continues it's mobile startup acquisition spree

Yahoo on Wednesday has added one more company to its clan, this time it's a mobile advertising startup Admovate. The acquisition amount, however, has been kept undisclosed at this moment. Without disclosing much information about its future plans in regards to this acquisition, Yahoo has mentioned that the idea behind acquisition is to use Admovatels talent rather than its product.

Path, a social networking app connecting the closest of friends and family

As Indian market continues to be a hotspot for upcoming iPhone and android apps, a lot of messaging apps are getting popular in the country. In line with existing brands such as Wechat, WhatsApp, Hike, Line, etc. another app that is making a significant place among users is Path. Launched in Nov. 2010 by former Facebooker Dave Morin, the app's unique functionality allows user to access updates to and from multiple networks such as Instagram, Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter.

ICICI partners with Movida to allow customers pay bills, recharge and buy cinema tickets on mobile

Indian private sector bank, ICICI bank has inked a deal with Movida, the joint venture of Visa Inc. & Monitise, to utilize Movida's mobile payments service for the Bank's customers. With the deal, ICICI Bank payment card holders can now pay bills, recharge prepaid airtime and buy cinema tickets directly from their mobile device.

15 Free Widgets that are a Must-Have for all Online Stores

Ecommerce in India is a wide and open playing field, but hardly an even one. There are 2 kinds of online stores out there- there are the biggies, backed by rock-solid tech teams and deep pockets that can build any feature almost overnight. And then there are the SMBs which run their online stores on 3rd party ecommerce platforms like Zepo, Martjack or BuildaBazaar, slightly hindered as far as features are concerned. But there is always that one tool that you can easily explore i.e.

Narendra Modi launches mobile application for India272

In an effort to take BJP's Mission 272+ to a wide range of volunteers across the country, Narendra Modi has recently launched the mobile app of India272+. The app is available on the Google Play Store and can be downloaded free of charge on Android devices. The mobile app enables volunteers from across the country to participate in the open forums and share their ideas thoughts on upcoming speeches by Narendra Modi.

Worldwide PC, Tablet and Mobile Phone Shipments to Grow 4.5% says Gartner

Worldwide combined shipments of devices including PCs, tablets and mobile phones are projected to grow by 4.5 in comparison to 2012 to reach 2.32 Bn units this year, according to Gartner. Shipments of traditional PCs i.e. desk-based and notebooks is expected to reach 303 Mn units with a decline of 11.2 in comparison to 2012. Whereas, the PC market, including ultramobiles, will witness a fall by 8.4 during the current year in comparison to 2012. Mobile phone shipments are projected to grow 3.

Sokrati integrates Facebook Exchange with its personaAds platform

Ad technology and analytics company, Sokrati, has recently announced the direct integration of its personaAds platform with Facebook Exchange. The integration will allow advertisers to showcase specific products which individual users are most likely to purchase, based on their usage patterns on the advertisers' website. Retargeting helps marketers to reach users who have shown interest in their brand or product.

Smartprix.com - a yet another price comparison startup or something better?

Price comparison websites have tried to revolutionise the way people shop online. Acting as consumer champions, these sites help shoppers to find the best deals online, while saving their time and money in the process. Their convenient and relatively straightforward usability, also spares shoppers from having to trawl individual websites or making multiple phone calls.

Key Learnings from LinkedIn's Series B Investment Pitch by Reid Hoffman and Linkedin

Challenge, Excitement and Passion- are the three key words that define an entrepreneur in any part of the world. While starting up, a lot is told to them about the How, What and Why' of running a business, and in most cases taking inspiration from the existing successful business models is the key thought. However, most of the success stories go right to the end without unfolding the real part, i.e.

Sygic launches free offline navigation mobile app in India, in collaboration with Mapmy India

Sygic, a provider of offline mapping and navigation systems, brings free navigation app for Android devices in India. The app is powered by map data from MapmyIndia, a company which provides data for maps of India. The app was initially priced at INR 1399, but now the company has made it free of cost to make it available for the millions of users in the nation. However, the iOS version is currently still paid. The app doesn't require an active data connection for navigation.

Money On Mobile to raise USD 50 Mn from Calpian Inc.

Money On Mobile, an Indian subsidiary of Calpian Inc., the US based mobile payment services provider, plans to raise USD 50 million from its parent company, as disclosed in a recent SEC filing. The move was first reported by Medianama. The company has applied to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to raise funding directly from Calpian Inc. The approval is necessary as MMPL is regulated by Reserve bank of India (RBI).

ICICI ‘Pockets', enabling users to send money over Facebook

ICICI has always been a step ahead in using technology as its forte to be an all purpose bank for its customers. Last year, cashing in on the popularity of social networking site Facebook, the bank launched Your Bank' Facebook app. This allowed bank's customers to view their savings account details and statements while on Facebook, as well as order a cheque book and upgrade debit card.

There are 143.20 mn internet subscribers through wireless phones : TRAI Q1 Report

Telecom Regulatory authority of India (TRAI) has recently announced its performance indicator report for Q1, 2013, nearly continuing with the last quarter trend. Here are the key highlights from the report 1) Total subscriber base The total telephone subscribers in India registered a growth of 0.28 in quarter ending March 31,2013 leading to 898.02 million subscribers from 895.51 million in Q4,2012. This reflects year-on-year (Y-O-Y) negative growth of 5.61 over the same quarter of last year.

Yahoo acquires mobile video platform Qwiki

Continuing with the Yahoo's acquisition spree, Marissa Mayer now step on to mobile video platform, Qwiki as announced on the Qwiki blog. Just like tumbler, Qwiki will also be working as an independent entity with Yahoo and will join Yahoo at New York office. Though the terms of acquisition are still undisclosed, as per the reports, it is estimated to be around 50 million.

Open Xcell Technolabs launches cloud based drop shipment management tool

The demand and orders coming from ecommerce channel to any seller often require deployment of right process and management to fulfill the requirements. So in order to fill the gap between ecommerce players and their suppliers, a Gujarat based product development and outsourcing company OpenXcell Technolabs has developed a cloud based drop shipment management tool for small and medium businesses called as YFS India.

Now manage mobile through PC and also share its internet for better productivity via Mobogenie

Chinese game development company, Beijing Gamease Age Digital Technology Co. Ltd, has recently announced their new Android application for the Indian market Mobogenie. The app is useful in managing the Android phone through desktop and also to use PC Internet while downloading app or ringtones on the phone. Mobogenie will provide basic syncing, backup and restore features that user needs on day to day basis.

Twitter partners with WPP to increase its advertising revenues

Within two months of its partnership with Starcomm Mediavest group, Twitter had now entered into a global strategic partnership with Starcomm rival WPP. With this deal WPP will be looking to tap in Twitter for data-driven marketing. WPP companies will also be leveraging Twitter data across a number of initiatives to deliver more effective campaigns, enhanced targeting and more real-time insight to clients.

Facebook eying to redefine its ad market, will kill sponsored ads unit

Facebook seems to be all set to revolutionize its ad market with series of recent announcements as now the company plans to kill its sponsored ads' ad unit which was introduced last year and add twitter-like hashtags instead. In an effort to prove that social networks are as important to advertise as Televisions, Facebook has introduced new tools to help big brand name advertisers target their messages more effectively.

Youtube crossed 1 bn monthly visits, planning to add a subscription fee for channels

Youtube, the all pervasive video site has become the hot bed for Online Advertisers, As per a filing by financial times, Google will be charging a subscription fee for some of Youtube's specialist channels to add a new revenue stream in digital video market, official announcement of the news is expected as early as this week . The subscription fee can start from as little as 1.99 that will allow channel operators to create different content such as TV shows, movies.

MakeMyTrip mobile app exceeds one million downloads

MakeMyTrip has recently announced that its app has surpassed 1 million download mark. The free app which is available across all platforms was initially launched on Blackberry, and later was introduced to both iOS and Android versions in May and June, last year, respectively. The company has also launched App Vintage', an offer to push more downloads for its app. Where on, for each MakeMyTrip app download the company is giving away free travel vouchers worth INR 5000.

Google plans to buy Waze, might outbid Facebook

Google is considering to buy Israeli mobile satellite navigation startup Waze Inc, as per the claims. This might drag Google and Facebook in a bidding war. Earlier Facebook offered as much as 1 bn to add Waze on board. The possible buyout was in continuous spotlight in several Israeli and international publication since last few months.

Growth in Consumer durables demand and ecommerce a good fit; Assocham reports overall market to grow to INR 52,000

As per a recent report by ASSOCHAM, the consumer electronics and durables sector in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of about 15 per cent and grow from Rs.34,000 crores to reach Rs 52,000 crore by 2015 fuelled by rising demand from the Indian middle class as well as growing sales through the online retail format.

RockASAP brings shopping mall on mobile

Ltd, India's leading provider of Value Added Services (VAS) solutions has introduced Digital books on Mobile' feature on its newly launched site Rockasap.com. With the help of this M-commerce application users can download books, get instant shopping alerts, search, select and order favorite products and services on mobile and pay either through online or Cash on delivery mode via RockASAP.com. Rockasap launched its beta mode site four months ago.

Email Marketing for Online Retail

According to the e-Marketing Outlook 2013, survey by Octane Research, Email continues to be effective marketing channel with a staggering 99 of the respondents revealed that email marketing programs were effective in meeting desired goals in 2012. With email marketing's ability to bring in immediate clickthroughs, makes it an important medium of communication for online retail companies in comparison to other offline organizations.

Crowdsource your brand building

Crowdsourcing Easy step towards building brand Imagine having 100s and 1000s of brand promoters instead of competent team of 5 to 10. Imagine the difference between the two, undoubtedly your competent team has very good understanding of promotion but at the same time engaging crowd for the same would not harm your interest in any ways. However, you may filter some innovative, effervescent, invigorating and path breaking brand building ideas from the crowd.

Paytm to Enter into Grocery eCommerce Segment with ‘Zip'

Alibaba-backed payment platform, Paytm is set to enter the online grocery market under a new vertical that will be headquartered in Bengaluru. The company is floating a new app called Zip to connect users to both local offline as well as online grocers. A beta version of the new app is to be launched tonight. Through affiliate Ant Finacial Services, Alibaba is infusing 575 million in Paytm, and Paytm plans to use a part of the fresh funding in its new grocery etailing.

How Fitness Startups are Creating Waves in the Indian Startup Ecosystem

Worried about gaining weight if you stop going to the gym Are you looking for a swimming class in your vicinity or want to indulge in resistance training to stay fit If hitting the gym, jogging on the promenade, or swimming does not sync well within your current schedule, then what are the other options that may help you stay in shape and lead a healthy life With the young and old alike be it working professionals, kids, housewives and college-goers turning fitness conscious, online platforms...

How Facebook timeline could transform your brand page

If you have a Facebook page for your business, chances are that you have already felt the buzz surrounding the latest Facebook display program Timeline. On February 29, Facebook made the much awaited announcement that the Timeline feature was ready to go live for brand pages. It also announced that brands would have till March 30 to prepare themselves for the transition and make the switch voluntarily, after which all brand pages would automatically be converted to the Timeline program.

Exclusive: Liberty rolls out its online store

Liberty, one of the top 5 manufacturers of leather footwear in the world has unveiled its online store libertyshoesonline.com in India. Currently the website showcases 503 products across men, women and kids categories. It offers its own private labels such as Fortune, Gliders, Coolers, Windsor, and Force 10 along with signature collection by HrithikRoshan and Flexo-tec for men. It also has specials for women and kids.

The Hottest Startup Sectors

Source- Crunchbase Series A sector latency trends 2015. Source- Crunchbase Which of the 16 major start of categories in information technology will reap disproportionate share of investment dollars in 2016 And which sectors are closely guarded secrets shielded by seed investors, that may have their breakout year this year Using Crunchbase data, I analyzed share of dollars commanded by each of these 16 categories over the last five years to understand the...

The Skill That Grew My Company 600%

I started my first company when I was 17. Between then and now (I'm 34), I've founded 5 additional companies and have managed hundreds of people. A few of my companies were small and my previous company, BigCommerce, is quite large, with almost 500 people. I've learned a lot about people along the way both about myself and the people that I've been fortunate to hire.

Relevance of Social Media Channels for Small Business

It was in the year 1997 that the first recognised Social Media channel came into existence and now, two decades later, it has become of the most favourite ways to socialise and to stay in touch with people. Just to illustrate the popularity of Social Media, a survey says that 79 of the total internet users are active on Facebook.

7 Things You Need to Stop Doing to Be More Productive, Backed by Science

When I was 17 years old, I used to work and study for about 20 hours a day. I went to school, did my homework during breaks and managed a not-for-profit organization at night. At that time, working hard landed me countless national campaigns, opportunities to work with A-list organizations and a successful career. As I got older, I started thinking differently. I realized that working harder is not always the right path to success. Sometimes, working less can actually produce better results.

Facebook Launches Snapchat like Slingshot; Available only in US for now

After launching its own email service four years back, Facebook has now launched new iOS and Android app named Slingshot to rival Snapchat app. The newly launched app allows the users to sign up for the service with their mobile phone number and connect with friends in their phone's contact list without requiring Facebook accounts. Currently, the app is available in the US for iOS and Android devices.

How Snapchat Transformed Social Media

In 2015, our country manager for emerging markets was the CCO for iProspect in Malaysia, leading a campaign for the largest cosmetics brand with the objective of driving footfall to stores nationwide. It turns out that Snapchat and it's time sensitive images had a big role to play as a digital coupon that could only be availed at outlets instead of online.

Influencer Marketing Trends

With social media becoming ubiquitous, today's generation follows social media stars as closely as movie stars and sports celebrities. As a result, businesses of all sizes increasingly engaged social influencers as part of their marketing strategy to connect with the social and mobile first consumers in 2015. Several major studies were carried out during the year to understand the efficacy of this channel.

Dealwire - Snapchat Acquires AR Startup Cimagine for $30-40M and 10 More M&A Updates

Dealwire is a quick summary of notable M&A and partnership deals in business and technology space. Snapchat Acquires AR Tech Startup Cimagine for 30-40MSnapchat has reportedly agreed to buy Israel-based augmented reality platform, Cimagine, for a deal amount between 30 million to 40 million. Cimagine was developed by True Marketless. It allows consumers to visualise tangible products like furniture in a specific environment using AR technology.

8 Ways To Boost Your Brand on Social Media

Social media marketing If you own a business, website or even a simple blog, then you already know how much of an impact social media marketing can have on the success of your business if not, then you need to get on track as soon as possible, as there has never been a better time to get your business noticed by social media users. The number of people who have at least one social account has increased by 21 between 2015 and 2016, with more than 2.

How Real-Time VR Will Transform Influencer Marketing

In the digital age, gadgets are constantly evolving, and we can perhaps scarcely imagine what will be the next big tech must-have. Many of us still reminisce, though perhaps not fondly, over the Jurassic Era sounds of pre-broadband AOL, or our first brick cell phone, or dare I say, our first Walkman. The internet and portable technologies have undeniably come a long way in a short amount of time.

China's WeChat Introduces In-store Payments for Nine Retail Chains

Tencent backed instant messaging app, WeChat has been reportedly updated with in-store mobile payments for nine retail chains across China and the feature will be officially opened on September 15. Initially, the feature is expected to be roll out to nine vendors include DQ ice queen, NUS pharmacy, Rainbow, One Plus One, Lotus (South China), good neighbors, Baby Room, Minsheng Department Store and NUS 365.

Facebook Testing its Virtual Assistance Called Moneypenny

It seems like Siri, Cortana and Google Now could get some serious competition as Facebook is soon to come up with its own Virtual Assistant called Moneypenny, a hybrid feature that helps users complete tasks like buying products and services online. Image Source Moneypenny is named after the James Bond franchise character who serves as M's secretary.

8 Cool Ways Mobile Will Get Hotter in 2016

Mobile has been the star of the year 2015 and will continue to shine through 2016. In my opinion, these are the key trends that will drive the mobile marketing industry in the coming year Smarter data, sharper results Today, we are living in an On-demand economy' and companies such as Airbnb and others have made the concept of shared economy a reality. Similarly, in the mobile marketing space, data-pooling will become a reality in the coming year.

Lightspeed Venture Partners Raises Two Subsequent Funds of $750M & $500M

Early stage investment fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, has raised two new funds. According to the SEC filings, the first was seen around 715 million while the later was found to be 500 million. The 500 million fund will be used for later stages startups. Ravi Mhatre (Partner and Founder at LSVP) This is a 16 year old venture firm based in the Silicon Valley. Its last investment came in two years before when it raised 350 million and 650 million subsequently.

Facebook to acquire Whatsapp for USD 16 billion, its sole investor Sequoia explains why

In an announcement earlier this morning, Facebook revealed that it has shaken hands with Whatsapp to acquire the latter for USD 16 billion, including USD 4 billion in cash and approximately USD 12 billion worth of Facebook shares. Whatsapp's entire team of 50 members will be joining Facebook and an additional USD 3 billion in restricted stock units to be granted to them.

The Growth of Social Media: How Can it Impact Your Marketing?

There are so many social media platforms on the internet right now. Some of the popular social media networks are Facebook, the Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and others. As the number of people having access to the internet are growing at a rapid pace, the members on such platforms are also growing at a rapid pace. According to statistics, Facebook already has more than 1.7 billion members worldwide, and it's still increasing.

Ghost Mail: Self Destructing Emails Anyone?

Image Source Techpwn Owing to the rise of privacy concerns in the 21st Century, self destructive messages have gained popularity. Snapchat is one such photo messaging platform, and has become the third most popular app among millennials. A number of ephemeral messaging apps have been seen after Snapchat caught up, Facebook too plunged into this area with its Slingshot' app.

Outlook: Mobile Apps in India V/S China and US

Three things that have become essential for daily life in India are English, mobile phones and Internet. Mobile Internet is not only a commodity but a lifestyle, it changed the way people communicate (Whatsapp), travel (Uber), order food (Zomato), stay (AirBnB), date (Tinder), study (Udacity), shop (Flipkart), protect their privacy (Leomaster) etc. Every business is connected with the consumer through Internet.

Youtube Lead Generation Strategies

It's no secret in marketing circles that video is one of the most powerful ways to convey your message and build your brand online. Video is simply the most engaging form of content your brand can create. Don't believe me Well, this assertion is actually backed by some pretty impressive data.

5 Social Media Campaigns That Businesses Should Learn from

Social commerce helps a brand to remain responsive throughout the engagement process and enables it to contain the customer acquisition cost. Furthermore, one can also monitor critical reception to the product or service, and listen to the reviews and comments about the brand on social media. That said, if you're not sure about the ROI behind integrating social media into your selling strategy, the following five examples will educate you about how businesses are using the power of social.

5 Tools Startups can Use for Digital Marketing

For a business to succeed in today's world, it is important to have a strong digital footprint within the Internet. Therefore, when a business is defining its marketing plan, it must incorporate a solid digital strategy. Without a digital marketing strategy in place, new client acquisitions, brand visibility, and impactful revenue generating opportunities will likely be damaged. Following are 5 tools which could come in handy in the execution of a good digital marketing strategy- 1.

Linkedin Launches Sales Navigator App on iOS

After launching Sales navigator as a standalone product in July this year, LinkedIn has now introduced its mobile app, but to iOS only. Analysts, seeing the trend, have found out that social selling is increasing its value in terms of generating opportunities, achieving targets and increasing productivity. With over 3 million professional profiles and more than 2 million company pages, LinkedIn Sales navigator will help sales professionals leverage these benefits at the maximum.

41 LinkedIn Tips that You Must Use in Order to Become Zero to Hero

LinkedIn is a no new term for any of us these days. Whether you are looking for a new job, building up your network, growing your business or are a recruiter looking up for best candidates for your company, LinkedIn is one such platform that can help you with all of these in a very efficient manner.

[Video] A Fireside Chat with Ryan Holmes, CEO, Hootsuite

For a business to succeed in today's world, it is important to have a strong digital footprint on the Internet. Therefore, when a business is defining its marketing plan, it must incorporate a solid social media strategy, without which in place, new client acquisitions, brand visibility, and impactful revenue generating opportunities are likely to be damaged.

Naaptol launches another business model as Naaptol Club.com

Naaptol.com had started its business as online comparison site. Later it forayed in to other business model and started an online store. But now it has entered in to yet an entirely different business model with its recently launched www.naaptol.com club. Through this new business model (club) naaptol is going to target consumers looking for luxury and fashion brands.

Branch Out vs LinkedIn: Tussle for professional networking space

Branch out a professional networking site from Facebook has made its way to India. BranchOut is basically a professional network very similar to LinkedIn that is created as an application that hops on to Facebook and its 600 million users. BranchOut is a web application users can find on Facebook and it is very well knitted with vast experience of social networking. The application is easy to use as Facebook is already widely used by people for social networking.

ICICI Launches Twitter Based Funds Transfer Facility for Users

Image Source Bidnessetc ICICI Bank has launched a new facility which allows its customers to transfer money via Twitter. Customers can use their Twitter accounts to make payments, get prepaid mobile recharges and to check their bank balances. All that a user has to do is to subscribe or follow the bank's Twitter handle and register for the facility, as reported by The Times of India.

11 Free Tools and Services That Every First-Time Entrepreneur Should Use

I bootstrapped my startup Jodilogik and launched the application in late 2015. I am a first-time entrepreneur who gave up a well-paying job to start a company. That meant a few things 1. I quickly realized the value of drinking water to quell hunger. 2. I was happy to attend every wedding and birthday party to build up my fat reserves. 3.

Panorama of the Mobile Broadband Landscape of India

With the scampering growth in innovative technologies and the Digital Revolution, the need to stay aware, connected, compact and mobile has become an imperative. And the factors which act as the enablers of this need are- the penetration of Internet and smartphones. India is a highly fragmented and diverse marketplace in terms of income, education, profession and interests.

The Future of Digital Advertising in India

The success of a brand in the business world depends significantly on marketing and advertising the former brings brands closer to their target audience while the later elevates them in the action-packed market which runs on animated ideas and innovations. Since 2006, advertising is evolving drastically due to the advent of social media and advancement of the digital technology this evolution is blissful for all those who are ready to anticipate and adopt the change.

How to Generate Higher ROI with Digital Marketing

If you running an online store or an offline business with some internet awareness, you might have heard of these terms Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Online Marketing. Let's dive in and understand Internet Marketing a little better. Internet or Digital Marketing is a data oriented, result oriented (pay for your results) form of marketing.

Mobile Ad Tech Company InMobi Raises $100M in New Debt from Tennenbaum Capital Partners

Mobile ad tech company, InMobi has raised 100 million in new debt from a group of lenders by US-based Tennenbaum Capital Partners. In total, InMobi has received around 60 million, of which 40 million has been used to clear the debt raised last year from Hercules Technology Growth Capital (HTGC), confirmed a source closely involved in the deal. InMobi is one of the very few ad tech companies which is operational in multiple countries.

Fundingwire - Media Tech Company Amagi Raises $35M & 8 More Investment Updates

Courtesy Amagi Media Labs Fundingwire is your roundup of notable investment announcements in the Indian technology ecosystem. Companies which have recently raised investments include Amagi Media Labs, Pocket Aces, Fitpass, Trading Bells, IdeaForge, Ten3t, Serv'd, MoEngage and Qacco. Media Tech Company Amagi Raises 35MBengaluru-based Cloud Broadcast and Targeted TV advertising firm, Amagi Media Labs is raising a Series D round of 35 million led by Emerald Media.

Mobile Advertising Platform InMobi Partners with APUS Group For Global Growth

India based mobile advertising platform InMobi, and China Based APUS Group have announced a long-term partnership to help each other increase their market shares. InMobi will share its expertise in India to help APUS establish a larger footprint in India, enabling an increased user base and market share.

Native Ads - Promises and Challenges

Quartz, a news site with a refreshing reading app like design has been making a lot of buzz recently. The design is optimized for all devices and unlike any other news website, Quartz shows only instream ads. There is no noise of ads when you are looking at content and when you look at the ads, there is no content to distract you. You will see a glimpse of this layout in Indian news site scroll.in, the ads are still to come though.

4 Social Media Marketing Trends for 2017

In the present digital marketing landscape, social media marketing has emerged as one of the most indispensable tools for marketing products and services. Here are some statistics supporting same. In 2016, social media sphere enjoyed more than 2.3 billion active users and more than 1.9 billion active mobile social users. More than 83 of marketers have already utilized social media marketing to boost their sales and gain better brand identity.

10 Google Tools to Help You Market Your Business

Google tools Having an online presence is essential for firms of all sizes, but you don't always have to spend a fortune in doing so. Luckily Google offers a treasure trove of powerful tools that are free to use and perfect to grow your business online. Google My BusinessOne of the best marketing resources for any business, this free tool is absolutely essential for local SEO and helps you appear in related search.

The Need of Video Marketing for Small Businesses

Video marketing businesses have found video to be extremely successful when it comes to revealing your business to the target audience. (Source) Author Zafar Rais, CEO, MindShift Interactive Fixing on an advertising budget and deciding how to expend it can be among your most demanding judgments. Advertising options have changed and expanded considerably over the past few years, and updating your strategy definitely means taking advantage of the new and dynamic digital marketplace.

Ecommerce portal All SchoolStuff.com bids farewell

Gurgaon based e-tailer of educational and school supplies, AllSchoolStuff.com has been shut down, as per a message displayed on the site. The company which had scaled down operations over the last few months, and had been trying to raise capital, has finally had to close its operations.

Chatbots and The Future of Marketing

The journey of digital marketing has been intriguing and quite interesting. Marketing in the 2000s was dominated by SEM and SEO. In the early 2010s it moved to marketing via FB and other social media channels. And, most recently we've seen mobile marketing rise and plateau as users have stopped downloading new apps. As we all know, we are now in the era of messaging. And naturally, marketing and interfacing with the consumer is taking advantage of this novel platform in the form of Chatbots.

Does Fashion eCommerce Industry Need a Dose of AI to Evolve Itself? Indian Startup Streamoid Thinks So

Shown above Team Streamoid Even though Fashion is the most popular category shopped online, it's still a hard game to crack. Fashion eCommerce companies always have an opportunity to up sell to a customer they have acquired, the tough part is to figure out how'. Personalisation & gamification are now two commonly used techniques by these firms. It's impossible to miss the You may also like' recommendations that show up everywhere once you buy or just visit an online retailer.

10 Content Marketing Strategies for Startups & SMEs

Content marketing The substance marketing is unfathomably present in the business world. It is utilized by a portion of the best marketing associations on the planet, including P&G, Microsoft, and Cisco Systems. In any case, it is additionally created and executed by small businesses and one-man looks the world over.

10 Online Marketing Podcasts You Should Listen To

We all have a daily routine and 24 hours don't seem to be enough. Do you remember when you just could lay down and enjoy a book, in a moment of silence Well, it surely seems a long time ago. Nowadays, we don't have the extra time to spend hours on reading something, to get information, but that shouldn't mean that we don't have to feed our brain. In the past year, an old player has been back in town podcasts. What once seemed to be a dying medium is back.

Top App Trends 2014: A Report by App Annie

2014 saw a steep rise in the growth of mobile apps and app stores. It witnessed numerous new trends taking shape be it the rise of casual gaming or the emergence of messaging platforms as the dominant option for publishers looking to expand into new regions. As 2015 is still unfurling, many mobile app startups have already raised huge investments.

The Newest AI Tools for your Business

Forget the artificial intelligence doomsday storylines you've seen in Terminator or The Matrix AI is gaining traction and is here to help you in ways you couldn't have dreamed of. It's time to move past Siri and find out how AI can help you with your business. If you haven't already begun integrating it into your everyday life, you're falling behind the curve. You might have already had contact with AI without realizing.

20 Metrics All Entrepreneurs Must Measure From Their Social Media Marketing

So many tools, so many metrics, but which are the right ones for a startup As an entrepreneur, it is impossible to evade the need for social media marketing in the modern day business environment. Running a digital marketing company and having worked with a number of startups, I've seen entrepreneurs focus on all the wrong metrics all the time. Vanity metrics such as likes and followers hold importance when it comes to making you look cool among your friends.

Facebook banned FCUK and Cadbury India for violating codes

Facebook, an immensely popular social networking site has withdrawn the official Indian pages of fashion house FCUK (French Connection United Kingdom), chocolate conglomerate Cadbury India's Buornville for violating the codes of governing hosting of such pages and halting the social media promotion on which these brands have been thriving on. Facebook has a promotional guidelines' which every brand must glue to while publishing offers and contests on their fan pages.

Growth is Getting Hard from Competition, Consolidation & Saturation

The end of the cycle One of the best essays written last year was Elad Gil's End of Cycle referencing our most recent 2007-2017 run on mobile and web software, and the implications for investing, startups, and entrepreneurs. Although he doesn't directly talk about it, the end of a tech cycle has major implications for launching new products, growing existing product categories, because of a simple thing It gets much, much harder to grow new products or pivot existing ones into new markets The...

4 Qualities of a Successful Email Marketer

Email marketing is not very easy to dabble into, but if done right, it can really turn things around for you and your business. Email marketing is all about paying attention to the little details that you might think will go unnoticed but they usually make a huge impact. These details all together make up a huge difference in the success of your campaign and on your business as a whole.

Chatbots: A Guide for Enthusiast Developers

This guest column is by Amit Arora, CEO, Miracle Group A chatbot is a program meant to mimic human responses and interact with people as a human would. Tay, a chatbot attached to an artificial intelligence developed by Microsoft's Technology and Research team and Bing search engine team was not only designed to do just that, it learned about human conversation from the internet by interacting with people on Twitter.

The Industries Most Positively Affected by the Chatbots and AI Technology

Among those who are exploring new technology in businesses, chatbots are extremely popular. Developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have empowered another age of chatbots that are taking over all areas, commercial centers, and corporates. Bots can alter as per the back-end assortment of artificial intelligence this enables brands to help out the client. Chatbots are evidently superior to chat software, which can often feel like a one-dimensional conversation.

Five Things Marketers Must Do To Prove Digital Marketing ROI

Digital marketing initiatives can impact a business in many ways. Amongst other things, they can enhance lead generation, customer acquisition, retention, cost of operations, and customer lifetime value, as well as improve brand perception. Some of these initiatives can be short-term and generate tangibly favorable outcomes, while others yield better results in the longer run and end up benefitting the brand directly as well as indirectly.

Upwardly Secures Seed Funding And Launches a Comprehensive Financial Advisory Platform

Shown Above Team Upwardly Financial advisory startup Upwardly.in (Triskaidekaphillia Solutions Pvt. Ltd) has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from a clutch of senior finance industry executives to drive growth and traction. Upwardly's bouquet of investors include Sreeram Iyer, chief operating officer at ANZ Bank for 20 countries, Suvo Sarkar, senior executive vice-president and group head, retail banking and wealth management at Emirates NBD, and Anita Gupta, head of equity...

What are Micro-Apps and Why You Should Know About Them

There is no question about it the mobile app market is a mature one already and fast approaching saturation. Actually, we may have reached that point. There are strong statistical numbers to back up this claim. According to the annual roundup study conducted by Business of Apps The average smartphone owner spends 2.8 hours per day interacting with apps, 8 out of 10 users use a maximum of 3 apps on a daily basis, The app category that users engage with most frequently is social networking.

4 Benefits Of Using a Financial Planning App

I hardly see anyone going to a mall to buy a laptop or the latest phone. We as customers have evolved, who refuse to wait in long queues and want things right here right now. We are juggling too many tasks at hand to meet our daily deadlines for our simple living. The launch of the app era has brought a welcome advancement in our busy world. This change slowly has helped us to be on our toes and ahead of our peers in some way or the other.

Mobile First World: Marketers Must Make the Leap Now

Mobile marketing As marketers, the only survival strategy we have is to envisage and adapt to change. The past few decades have witnessed several evolutions in the world of marketing. And yet again, given the surge in digitalization and evolving consumption patterns, we yet again stand at precipice, set to make the shift in our marketing initiatives. With India leaving behind USA to become the second largest base of smartphone users, marketers are urged to refocus their marketing strategy.

Things Not to Say in a Startup Job Interview

Applying for a job in a startup and applying for a job in a corporate, are qualitatively different things. Demands of both are different and the mindset you'd require to perform well at both of them is different. If you have already decided to work for a startup despite all the hurdles that may await you on your way, here are a few tips about things to avoid saying and doing during your startup job interview process.

How Our Facebook Chatbot Started As a Social Project and Went Viral Globally

I am one of the founders of a Delhi-based startup called NearGroup. In July this year, we developed a Facebook messenger bot that allows users to chat anonymously. The chatbot connected users with other users without disclosing either of their identities. Often people want to talk out, seek counselling, advise etc. without being judged. There are several online portals which are coming up around the same lines.

Strategies to Increase Stickiness of Your Mobile App

Mobile apps have gained huge momentum because they allow customers to have all the information at their fingertips, and allows brands to stay close to their users. There is nothing wrong in saying that if your business is online and you have an app that can be downloaded by your users on their devices, your business has the chance of making a good impression.

Attend Tech Bharat to Explore B2G Opportunities for your Company

In the last decade, India has come up as a third leading startup ecosystem in the world in terms of value and numbers, behind China and the US. Much of it, it owes to energetic entrepreneurs and their startup teams. Also worthy of mention are the investors and backers who have helped fuel new breed of startup corporate giants in the country.

Why Figuring Out the Right Business Plan is Crucial for Startups

There are several factors that determine the fate of a startup. Having the right business plan is amongst those key factors. In fact, every startup germinates from an idea and grows to reach fruition from the mould of its business plan. During the course of its journey, there may come a time when it may outgrow this mould or need a new one. Yet, making a business plan is that first critical step to make sure that a startup does not get carried away on a wave of optimism and passion.

3 Things Entrepreneurs need to know about Blockchain Technology

When the internet was new, we saw a paradigm shift and entrepreneurs who were ready to make the switch at that time got benefited a lot, but there were certainly a less number of people who trusted that things could be bought over the internet, they just saw it as a fancy way of communicating with others. Just like that Entrepreneurs are divided into 2 parts one believing and trusting the technology that enables a secure trustless network and the one considering it as a fad.

13 Mental Models Every Founder Should Know

Mental models are to your brain as apps are to your smartphone. Just like apps, there are a ton of mental models. They help you make decisions, solve problems and see the world in an entirely new way they basically make your brain more useful.Charlie Munger, Elon Musk and many others have stated that you've got to have a collection or latticework of models in your head to be able to make sense of the world around you. Trying to remember all the facts is not a winning strategy.

Focus On Learning and Creating Rather Than Entertainment and Distraction

Extraordinary people seek education and learning. -Benjamin Hardy Most people are distracted right now. They're distracted while they're at work. They're distracted when they're with family and friends. They're distracted at the gym, on their commute, and even in the shower. The mediocre majority will continue going through life this way, never experiencing the fullness of a life filled with deep focus and purpose.

How I Got Motivated to Make My Startup A Success

When I started my first startup motivation was a bit hard to come by. You see, having a boss was easy. I have someone who relied on me and someone to give me a little kick when I needed it. Then suddenly I was my own boss with nobody to account for but me. For some, that might sound liberating. And I thought it was to start with. But I slowly realised that self-motivation wasn't something that came naturally. So I started looking for help and inspiration wherever I could.

For Entrepreneurs Who Don't Know What They Don't Know

Interesting that there are many things we do not know as entrepreneurs, marketers and dreamers. The catch though, is you or your teams have to possess three qualities 1) an acute sense of awareness of the environment, 2) the ability to observe and seek patterns in the business moments and lastly, 3) a well-cultivated sense of humility that will empower you to learn.

Benefits of Cloud ERP for Small Businesses

As a business owner, if you ask me where I belong, I would tell you we belong to the cloud. Oh did I say it wrong I meant crowd No I think I was right. It is cloud. All businesses are rapidly migrating to cloud for faster and easier access to their company data, which they further use for team communication and get top of the fly insights to make important business decisions.

Lessons from MIT on How to Start a Business?

How to start a business Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash Every time I study something interesting or do an online course, I have this habit of documenting it. Majorly for two reasons first, to test my learnings and second, to go through the crux of the subject to recall things when required. The course I recently undertook was on Entrepreneurship by Massachusetts Institute of Technology .

Why You Should Consider Android Instant Apps for Your Business

Last year at its I O conference, Google announced the launch of Android Instant Apps. If Android Instant Apps are to be described in one sentence, it is basically a feature that will allow users to open any app simply by tapping a link without downloading or installing it. You can say that Android Instant Apps are lite versions of Android native apps.

The Mobile Web Strikes Back with Progressive Web Apps

By now, you might have heard about the whole hype around Progressive Web Apps being the future of mankind and that they would save the endangered species from extinction, bring world peace, end poverty, end hunger and what not But is the hype really worth it or is it just another ephemeral buzz word Well to be really honest, all this hype really got my attention. I am the CTO of Purplle.com which is India's 1 beauty destination.

How to Keep Mobile Apps Lean?

At Naukri we always target to keep the the app lean in terms of size. Size can be measured as - APK download size Users often avoid downloading apps that seem too large, particularly in emerging markets where devices connect to often-spotty 2G and 3G networks or work on pay-by-the-byte plans. App size on phone Smaller the app size, more are the chances when competiting with remaining apps for staying in the user's phone for a long time.

How to Create The Next Business Success Story

Success entrepreneur When the going gets tough, the tough get going, but how do you get going when you face a rough time during your business journey. Success definitely lies after a bunch of hurdles and all you need is patience, persistence and determination to get across where the grass is green and the sky is blue.

What is the skill of Entrepreneurship all about? Why startups are emerging like never before?

Following the suit of the 9am-5pm job becomes inevitably mundane over the period of time. While some learn to adjust and mould themselves accordingly, some breakthrough and opt for entrepreneurship. However, even if there are 100 individuals who decide to take the route of entrepreneurship there are merely 50 that succeed.

Pitfalls that Make Audience Hate your Mobile App

The world of mobile apps is on a continuous rise where millions of mobile applications are present in the market and the figure has no looking back. But, the market that discovers some hundreds of thousands of apps every year faces some serious downside with a plethora of it are failing miserably.

How to Build a Digital Marketing Plan for a Startup?

As is the case with big corporate companies, SME SMBs, and startups won't be having a big budget to perform their digital marketing activities. The question is how do these plan the digital marketing activities with low investment and reap the maximum benefits None, underestimate or question these companies' preference in opting for online marketing.

7 Ways for Growing Engagement in iOS Mobile Apps

Mobile apps are no longer an extension of websites. There are plenty of companies which exist in a mobile only or a mobile first format. It is imperative for developers to follow the best practices, and stay up to day with the latest trends in app usage. In the same light, here are the ways for growing engagement on iOS apps. Some techniques are valid for Android apps as well. 1. Push & Local Notifications 2. Mobile App Deep Linking 3. Localization & Internationalization 4.

#Fundingwire: Ola Discloses $57.3M Investment Raised From Vanguard Group & More

Shown Above Bhavish Aggarwal, Founder & CEO, Olacabs Fundingwire is your quick summary of notable investments made in the technology space. The firms which have recently announced their investment include Ola, Stellar Value Chain, Tricog Health and Go-Jek Ola Raised 57.3M in Investment From Vanguard Group in DecemberBangalore based Ola has disclosed in RoC filings that it raised Rs.384 crore ( 57.3 million) in December 2015 from US-based investment management firm Vanguard Group.

Screwcash: Fintech Startup Trying to Make Mobile Payments a Win-Win Situation for Everyone

Shown Above Screwcash Founders Sarabjot Singh & Raksh Anand One of the Indian mobile wallet firms recently came out with a television commercial showing a small retail store in India accepting wallet payments. This wasn't just a hypothetical scenario that the company was trying to promote, but a change that's actually happening in India.

Mobile Computing Firm ‘Alef Mobitech' Raises $5M from Tata Capital Innovations Fund

Tata Capital Innovations Fund (TCIF), has invested 5 million in mobility computing firm Alef Mobitech. Alef will use the funds for business development and marketing. Alef Mobitech Inc develops mobile software based networking solution for the mobile industry. The company offers services like mobile networking, cloud computing, content and applications. (Image Source) The company is a fully owned subsidiary of US based Alef Mobitech.

DIY eCommerce Platform Kart Rocket Raises $6M from Bertelsmann India

ECommerce solutions provider, KartRocket has raised 6 million in funding led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) with participation from existing investors, Nirvana Digital India Fund, Nirvana Digital Investment Holding Co Ltd, US-based 500 Start-Ups and Singapore's Beenext. The fresh investment will help the company in product development, talent acquisition, seller ecosystem development and performance marketing.

#Deal Wire: Twitter Acquires AI Startup Magic Pony & More

Dealwire is your dose of notable M&A and partnership deals in business and technology space. Firms covered in this segment include Microsoft, Wand labs, Yatra, mGaadi, Samsung, Joylent, Twitter and Magic Pony. Twitter Acquires AI Startup Magic PonyTwitter has bought London-based AI startup Magic Pony Technology for a reported 150 million as the company moves to strengthen its position in image-sharing, video and live video.

The State of Entrepreneurship

New to the startup scene and entrepreneurship and want a quick overview of the major trends and activities in the space Keep reading. Below is a brief synopsis from the first part of my graduate thesis on startup studios. After a few years of working in the space I wrote this to synthesize the major facts and trends that I felt become common knowledge' once you spend time working in the startup community.

#Fundingwire: Schedulers Logistics Raises $6M in Series B; LEAP India Secures $3M & More

Fundingwire is your quick summary of notable investments made in the technology space. The firms which have recently raised investment include Schedulers Logistics, LEAP India & Gladiris Technologies Schedulers Logistics Raised Series B Round from GVFLCold chain logistics firm Schedulers Logistics has raised Rs. 6 million (Rs.40 crore) in Series B round of funding. The investment was made by Gujarat-based venture fund, GVFL. The firm had previously raised 2 million from Aspada Capital in 2014.

10 Factors To Master On Selecting The Best Mobile Prototyping Tool

Today the market is flooded with n number of prototyping tools for mobile. Every day when we go hunting for one of them, we stumble upon a dozen more and sooner or later tend to forget the one we found which was suitable for the purpose thereby making the comparison even more difficult. But just as we need the right tool to carve the best sculpture out of the stone we need the appropriate tool for mobile as well.

Gullak: Mobile Startup Making A Million Users Keep Expenses Under Control

Keeping a balanced expense can help one stay on track and sleep better at night. We all mean well when we plan out our budget, but without discipline, information, diligent logging of income and expenses, we tend to go overboard with spending. Now when the number of payment modes has extended beyond cash & swiping cards, expense tracking has become harder than before.

Modspace: A Make-in-India Modular Furniture Startup Attempting to Revolutionize Your Home

Founded by Jatin Paul, Avijit Marwah, Pallavi Paul and Mehaa Seth Marwah, Gurgaon-based, Modspace.in was launched in June 2015. It is an online furniture company, delivering internationally designed modular kitchens and home goods specifically customized to suit varied tastes and lifestyles. Keeping today's evolved Indian consumer in mind, Modspace manufactures the products entirely at its own state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with wood and equipment imported from Germany and Italy.

Fundingwire: Fitness Startup Raises Funding From Mukesh Bansal, Marijuana Delivery Platform Raises $2.1M From YC &

Chennai LogFuze, SaaS platform, has raised 250,000 in seed funding from angel investor Siva Ramanathan. Founded by Venkadesan Velu and TK Gayathri in October 2013, the Chennai-based company is a cloud-based machine data analytics platform. The startup was later launched in the US in July 2014. Ramanathan, a seed investor, works in NetApp, US. He has more than 15 years of experience and has worked with other companies like Pfizer, CSC, Wipro Infotech and STIC in past.

ZULOC: An App Startup Enabling Proximity Based Professional Networking

Founded in 2015 by Karan Walia, ZULOC is a proximity based professional networking app that lets you discover and engage with professionals on real time basis. It is a mobile platform built with a vision to help you in making your next hire or finding your next job or closing a business deal right from your phone promptly.

C2C Real Estate Portal Homers.in Raises its First round of Funding

Launched in May 2015, Gurgaon-based C2C online real estate marketplace Homers.in has raised its first round of funding from a group of investors including Devesh Rai G, Founding Team member ShopClues & Founder WYDR.in Amitpal Bhutani, Principal Technical Program Manager Amazon US and Rajesh Aggarwal, Founder and CEO FHO Communications and ex Group President Dentsu India. Homers.in provides direct C2C connect via extensive multi-level verification and complete transaction support.

State of Entrepreneurship: Too Many Startups, Too Little Traction

T's not exactly an industry per se, but from where I sit, the startup industry is in a bubble of epic 1999 proportions. Where do I sit Across from literally several thousand entrepreneurs a year, usually in groups of 2, 5 or 25. In the past six months, I've been with startups in New York, Oklahoma, Moscow, France and Spain, to name a few.

Karo Sell: An App to Buy & Sell Pre-owned and New Lifestyle Stuff

KaroSell is a free Android mobile app that user can use to buy and sell pre-owned and new lifestyle products for men and women. This is a marketplace for apparel, accessories, fitness goods, luxury goods, products for kids, collectibles, wedding clothes and accessories, and books. It connects buyers to sellers in just 3 clicks. KaroSell help sellers to enjoy the sale of any lifestyle product with categories like collectibles, wedding wear, books, luxuurry brands etc.

SMAC: What, Why and More

With the confluence of innovative technologies, we are entering into a new landscape with a plethora of fresher and better possibilities, a time-space which we know of as the Post-Digital era. The evolution in the area of technology has changed the face of business. Dynamics like social media, mobility, analytics and cloud computing have collaboratively boosted the fundamentals of business infrastructure, adding to the deftness within the enterprise and in the market.

Bitcoin Mobile Wallet App Zebpay Launches in India

Image Source Zebpay GoogleStore Bitcoin mobile wallet app, Zebpay has announced its launch in India. The app allows people to transact and invest in the crypto-currency. It would let Indians to buy, send and receive bitcoin, and even spend it to shop products. Users can simply send bitcoins to contacts using their mobile numbers, rather than having a bitcoin address.

‘Mobile Apps, Potential Target of Cyber Attacks' - McAfee Report

Image Source workingnets With the development of technology, a tremendous rise in smartphone usage has been observed. Whether its for booking a cab, keeping a track of birthday, surfing the net, ordering food, or using maps for direction, man has developed smartphone dependency to make life easier, faster and smoother. You name it and you have it with you on your smartphone. Apps are a tool for convenience. The fundamental purpose of apps is to offer a swift and hassle-free usage.

Software Developer for Sales Personnels Mind Tickle Bags $12.5M in Series A

MindTickle which is a cloud-based software developer for sales representatives, has raised 12.5 million in Series A round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates with participation from Qualcomm Ventures and its existing investor Accel Partners. Nasscom estimates that Indian IT players' share in global marketing-tech industry can grow to 45-55 billion by 2025. (Image Source) The raised capital would be used to further develop its technology.

6 eCommerce Startups Parents Should Explore for Their Children

Even with the emergence of multiple eCommerce sites in India, the options to buy things for kids from remain low. While a few niche portals like FirstCry, Mom&Me, Hopscotch exist, horizontal marketplaces become the next best option when it comes to this segment. However there are a few companies which are dedicated to cater to children with their own offbeat products. Some even have monthly subscription model, where people can have a new activity kit for their kids every month. Have a look 1.

[Video] Business Strategy and Monopoly Theory for Startup by Peter Thiel

Video Business Strategy and Monopoly Theory for Startup by Peter Thiel, Image Source This video is part of the series of lectures by Sam Altman (President, Y Combinator) and Dustin Moskovitz (Asana Co-Founder). In the previous video, Adora Cheung, Homejoy Co-Founder talked about the development of a scalable product, identifying user needs and giving solutions to the problems faced by a startup in their product's growth.

Subscription eCommerce Portal for Men The Man Company Raises Angel Funding

The Man Company provides subscriptions for grooming products for men Image Source The Man Company, Indian content-based subscription eCommerce platform for men's grooming and essentials, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from angel investors Karan Bajwa, MD Microsoft India Amanpreet Bajaj, Country Manager, India, Airbnb and Manish Vij, Founder CEO, SVG Media.

5 Indian Startups that Help You to Stay Fit

With the growth of location based service aggregation startups in the country, a new niche segment has emerged leveraging this principle marketplace for gyms and other fitness centers. Startups operating on these lines are making it easier for people to discover and enroll into membership programs to get fit.

Head Honchos to transform professionals' LinkedIn profiles

LinkedIn, with more than 277 million members, is currently a source of building professional relationships in multiple ways. However, its not possible for all to take an advantage of this easy looking' platform, especially during the job hunt. The reason being- lack of ability to create an effective personal profile on the social platforms. HeadHonchos, a New Delhi based job search and career portal, now allow professionals to seek help with their LinkedIn profiles.

Fitness Discovery Platform Fitternity Raises $1M from Exfinity Venture Partners

Image Source Mumbai-based online fitness discovery platform, Fitternity has raised 1 million in its first round of funding from Exfinity Venture Partners for expansion in new cities. The new funding will also go towards operations and marketing as well as technology enhancements. The company was started in January 2014, it has listed over 7,500 centres and collaborated with 1,500 service providers in Mumbai and Pune since its inception.

Why Mobile Advertising is Moving Towards Rewarded Video Ads on Gaming apps

Numbers, it is said, do not lie one look at the statistics often reveals the truth. Consider the growing influence of mobile phones on the global business landscape. With smartphone users accounting for almost half of the world's population and 75 of its total internet consumption at present, mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets have already usurped desktops and laptops as the go-to consumption medium.

[Video] This 10 Year Old Speech by Steve Jobs Still Inspires Budding Entrepreneurs

Steve Jobs (1955-2011, 56), the CEO & Co-founder of Apple and Pixar Animation Studios, gave this inspirational speech to Stanford University graduates on June 12, 2005. 10 years have passed since, and the words are still relevant for the entrepreneurs trying to make it big. Below is the speech he is delivering in the video above. I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college.

Alibaba's eCommerce Competitor JD Invests $70M Series C Round in Fruit Day

Image Source After making an investment of 171 million in Chinese ERP software firm Kingdee a few days back, Alibaba's eCommerce competitor JD (JingDong) has now led a 70 million series C round in FruitDay, a company that sells fresh fruits and vegetables across China. The other investors, Susquehanna International Group (SIG) and ClearVue also participated in the round. JD has also invested in vacation and tourism booking site, Tuniu and U.S. based wearable startup, Misfit among others.

Alibaba's eCommerce Competitor JD Invests $171M in ERP Software Firm Kingdee

Image Source Alibaba's eCommerce competitor JD (JingDong) has announced that it will invest 171 million in Chinese ERP software firm Kingdee, for about 10 of the shares. Both firms have entered into a strategic partnership and the transaction is expected to be closed in second quarter of 2015. JD wants to further explore its eCommerce and logistics IT solutions.

Softbank Leads $13M in Japanese eCommerce Startup Origami

Image Source Origami Japanese eCommerce startup Origami has raised 13 million in series B funding led by SoftBank, Credit Saison and angel investor Makoto Takano. The company aims to utilized the new funding for recruitment and enhancing the user experience. As per a TechinAsia report, along with this investment, the company has also partnered with SoftBank Group and Credit Saison to fuel its online-to-offline (O2O) focused mobile shopping experience.

Mobile Fashion Marketplace Poshmark Raises $25M from Mayfield and Others

Image Source Poshmark California-based mobile fashion marketplace, Poshmark has raised 25 million in series C round from Mayfield, Menlo Ventures, Inventus Capital, Union Grove venture Partners, Shea Ventures and SoftTech VC. The company had also launched its app for Android and iOS users, where any woman can buy, sell and share her personal style.

Indian Mobile Gaming Industry and More - In Conversation with Saurabh Aggarwal CEO Octro

Image Source gamesindustry A report by Newzoo claimed that 2015 would prove to be a significant year for the mobile games market, making it one of the most lucrative sectors. Considering the same, iamWire got in touch with Saurabh Aggarwal, CEO Octro, to seek some insights into the current status of mobile gaming industry in India and its future. Octro has been quintessentially making the mobile versions of traditional offline multiplayer games like Teen Patti, Tambola etc.

Twitter Introduces Offer Coupons in Tweets; To Also Provide Tweet Analytics

Twitter is introducing a new service called Twitter Offers, which will allow companies to share in-store and online deals coupons and discounts right from a tweet. The deals will appear in promoted tweets, and anyone on Twitter will just have to click a button to claim them. The service will start in US, and if the credit card is already stored on Twitter, the deal will get associated with the card and will automatically be redeemed once it's used to purchase.

Mobility Coupled with Uberization of Services Will Drive India to be a Leader in M-Commerce: Rajesh Sawhney

With mobile being considered as the driver of online commerce in India, and Global Mobile Internet Conference just around the corner, iamWire caught up with GSF Accelerator's Founder Rajesh Sawhney, to hear from him where is mobile commerce in India headed. Below are the excerpts of the conversation. Where is the evidence currently that m-commerce is growing bigger than online commerce in the country Most of the people in India have mobile phones, and they are going to buy on mobile.

BRIC Nations to lead in retail by 2022, Mobile Commerce will become the mainstream shopping - Economist Intelligence

Source Economist Intelligence Unit By 2022, the emerging countries of China, India, Russia and Brazil will become four of the six largest retail markets in the world, states the new report generated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The report predicts that the US will be the next largest market at US 4.5 trillion, followed by India (US 4 trillion), Japan (US 1.6 trillion), Russia (US 1.5 trillion) and Brazil (US 1.2 trillion).

Facebook Forces Users To Download a Separate Messenger app

The social networking site, Facebook is about to stop the messaging feature in its main iOS and Android apps and expected to pushing users to download its standalone messenger app. It offers a better experience with more ways of keeping in touch with your friends via voice messages, video, and stickers. The company had already pushed messenger in Europe and plans to roll out it to the everyone after seeing positive results.

Matrix Partners invest in ecommerce gifting startup Chumbak

Bangalore based design led consumer products company has raised undisclosed funds from Matrix Partners India, in participation with existing seed investor Seedfund. The company plans to utilize the investment to expand its offline footprint and enter into new product categories as well as increase contribution of its online revenues. Earlier, the gifting venture has raised USD 10 million Series A round in seed funding from Seedfund in mid 2013.

Fly Fit - a fitness tracking band for your ankle

Fitness.jpgNo wonder most of the wearable devices available today are focused on fitness and one thing that's common among them is that they mostly come in the form of a wrist band. But FlyFit, another wearable health tracking device tries which is currently running its Kickstarter campaign, tries to stand apart from the crowd by attaching itself to a different body part the ankle.

Paytm to foray into online retail via mobile app

One97 Communications, a New Delhi based mobile internet company will soon foray into online retail via a mobile market app, reports ET. The company plans to go live by the month's end, offering apparel for men, women and kids home decor deals and accessories. The new launch will replace the company's existing Paytm app with the mobile market app, while retaining the name.

After Gati, DTDC goes eCommerce way, how should its eCommerce clients react?

After launching a specific arm for managing eCommerce logistics, courier service provider company, DTDC Courier and Cargo has now itself forayed into eCommerce by launching a web-store powered by Martjack. Shop.dtdc.com is an initiative by DTDC Retail Limited a subsidiary of DTDC Courier & Cargo, and had gone live in August this year.

Pax Play - on a mission to make mobile social games more interactive

If you ever ask a gaming freak what he or she likes the most about a game, you would realise that it's not always the game itself but the social engagement factor which keep the players hooked. With social gaming picking up around the globe, Mumbai based PaxPlay, is also trying to capitalize on this trend.

Run-n-Read, a perfect companion for ebook users while running or travellin

Travelling in an Indian metropolitan city is a nightmare for daily commuters. According to a survey, traffic jams in NCT Delhi take up almost 90 minutes of a commuter's time on an average everyday. People try to make the most of it by either making work calls or by reading. But the uneven potholed roads make reading while travelling quite a task in India. One solution to this problem is to switch to audiobooks,but for the avid readers this might not be a preferrable option.

Malabar Group, Good Earth and Siyaram's to launch online stores: Reports

The growing internet penetration and an increase in the number of people buying products online has made a number of offline players to think of an online strategy to expand their presence and reach the tech genre. Recently three renowned offline players, i.e. jewellery retailer Malabar Group, textile company Siyaram's and home decor retailer Good Earth, have revealed their plans to launch respective ecommerce stores. Malabar Group Headquartered in Kerala with an yearly turnover of USD 2.

Facebook rolls out new tools to allow media organizations surface public conversations

Facebook, in line with its recently launched products such as hashtags, embedded posts and trending topics, has rolled out two new tools, viz. the Keyword Insights API and the Public Feed API, as disclosed in a recent blog post. These tools will allow news organizations to integrate Facebook conversations into their broadcasts or coverage by displaying public posts of real-time activity about any given topic. The Public Feed API displays a real-time feed of public posts for a specific word.

Angel List raises USD 24 million in funding, announces Syndicates

California based AngelList, a platform that helps startups in fund raising, has also cracked their own funding round. As per the reports, AngeLlist has raised around USD 24 million at USD 150 mn valuation led by Atlas Venture & Google Ventures along-with 100 other institutions and individuals. Some of the renowned names who invested in the company include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Marc Andreessen, Max Levchin and Ev Williams.

WeChat to bet on multiplayer games as its first monetization strategy

Instant messaging app, WeChat in a move to engage more users, has now introduced games on its platform. The new offering has launched a beta version of a game called LinkLink, as reported by Technode. Tencent already has online multiplayer games on its Web portal called QQ Games, but for the first time a game has been launched on both its platforms i.e. Mobile QQ and WeChat. The beta version of the game will allows users to share the game to their friends list.

IRCTC selects Yebhi as its ecommerce partner

IRCTC, the subsidiary of the Indian Railways after Catering, Tourism and Online Ticketing services which had earlier announced its plans to enter ecommerce by using a white label model had chosen the holding company of Yebhi.com as its partner. In February this year, IRCTC has opened a tender to shortlist a white label solution provider for its online retail platform. In White Label Model, the back-end jobs are outsourced whereas the front-end ones are owned by the company itself.

Offer Mandi, an online business directory of offline merchants

The world is going digital understanding this, Indian ecommerce ecosystem has recently witnessed inception of numerous startups helping offline businesses go online. The market indeed is promising, as offline stores continuously seek for new and innovative ideas to acquire online customers. Following the trend, a Noida based startup has come up with a solution.

Mobile ad platform Adnear shifts base to Singapore to take on SEA markets

Adnear, location aware mobile targeting platform has announced the launch of its operations in Malaysia and Indonesia. Also, it get its global headquarters shifted to Singapore from India as reported by Techinasia. The reason for the shift are company's plan to expand into SEA markets as per CEO Anil Mathews. According to him, with Singapore, considered to be one of the most mobile-connected cities globally, they will be able to better serve their regional partners and customers.

The importance of product descriptions and cataloging for ecommerce

Do you own a professional ecommerce website Are you selling your own items and products to a worldwide audience It is really amazing how far you can go once people begin to start purchasing your products and more people learn about your offers. But the biggest problem that most ecommerce businesses face is not knowing how to boost their conversion rates.

Seedfund picks up stake in Kerala-based Innoz, a mobile search engine provider

Seedfund Advisors, an early-stage venture capital fund started in 2006 by Pravin Gandhi, Bharti Jacob and Mahesh Murthy, has picked up a significant minority stake in Innoz, a provider of mobile search engine services. Deepak Ravindran, Co-Founder & CEO, Innoz Speaking with Iamwire about their partnership with Seedfund, Deepak Ravindran, Co-founder & CEO of Innoz, said We're happy to partner with Seedfund and benefit from their mentoring and guidance.

How the Internet of Things Changes Business Models

Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of things connected to each other and describes an ecosystem including objects, connectivity and application services. There are an of projections on the size of the market by 2020 and the projections differ considerably yet all projections agree to a minimum of 1 trillion-plus addition to economic activity as a result of IoT. This is a large number and driving almost every firm (even remotely related to IoT) to encash the IoT buzz.

Cash Crunch - Curse Or Boon For eCommerce?

ECommerce is thriving worldwide however it is as yet confronting hindrances in inclining up in India. India's eCommerce market was worth about 3.9 billion in 2009, and is relied upon to cross 100 million check by end of year 2016. As per a review led by the Internet and Mobile Association of India, the online business segment is evaluated to achieve Rs. 211,005 crore by December 2016.

How to Build a High Velocity Development Team

This curated column is authored by Eric Elliott, Founder, Parallel Drive Your market every market is being disrupted by transformative new technology. Not just better apps, but quantum leaps in tech evolution that will redefine the human experience. Be the quantum leap, not the roadkill. You need to bake learning & constant transformation into your dev team's DNA. There's just one problem Your organization is afraid of change. Shipping changes to production can be scary.

Show Me the Money: 8 Tips on Securing Startup Funding

This is an influencer post by Gary Swart, General Partner at Polaris Partners You've built what you think could be the next best thing the product everyone needs, only they don't know it yet. In order to take your company to the next level and bring your product to market, you need funding. I've been at this juncture, learned lessons the hard way from past startups, and also helped oDesk raise four rounds of financing.

Get CarXpert: An Attempt to Make Your Routine Car Servicing A Handy Affair

Your car is way more than just a luxury. It is the biggest enabler of your daily chores. From commuting to office to dropping kids at school from running errands to taking a long romantic drive with your partner, it facilitates them all. Given the list of services that your vehicle offers to you, and the fact that your lifestyle is acutely dependent on your car, you are obliged to take proper care of of its health, thereby ensuring your own safety.

Rent SetGo: A Mobile Marketplace Catering to the Travel and Leisure Space

In this age, where the needs and wants are not the same thing, people tend to make their lives more comfortable. It's always difficult for a middle class family to afford luxuries, students to get vehicle without telling their parents etc. Also, if someone likes to play guitar and wants a guitar that is off the chart for his budget, doesn't always know How to deal with the problem'. It's always difficult to buy something without even trying, the tendency to rent is now on a verge to grow.

Data Analytics Startup Realbox Wants to Become Google Analytics for Offline Businesses

Offline business owners are deprived of the user level intelligence and business analytics that online companies easily get due to technology. In order to empower offline stores with a tool that can help them gain more insights about their business, Realbox came into being. Delhi-based data analytics startup, Realbox was founded in March 2015 by Saurabh Moody, Preksha Kaparwan and Arjun Sudhanshu.

How Social Media has Changed the Concept of Celebrity?

Shown Above Kim Kardashian Lives of the rich and the famous are no longer mysterious or inexplicable they are out in the open for all to consume. In today's world, being famous means agreeing to give up your privacy to a large extent. Social media has allowed a common person to become the superstar they always looked up to.

What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Silicon Valley?

I am sure you must have come across the mythical place known as Silicon Valley where dreams and fortunes are made broken in the tech world. It's been an amazing confluence of geography, culture, networking and chance that have made it the tech capital of the world, and I think most people would agree they do things a little differently there. So here is a small post that emphasizes on what rest of the business world can learn from here to be smarter and more competitive.

Commerce 2020: Top Five Predictions

Fusion of digital and brick and mortar The world is moving from brick and mortar to digital commerce. However sellers need to keep exploring the ways to increase customer base and also retain the high demanding customers. The missing personal link in digital commerce will be filled up with the addition of brick and mortar set-up. This will be in the form of place to do trials, alterations, shipment pick-up drop-off centers, complaint redressal, products showcase, cross selling and alike.

Advantages of Hybrid Mobile App Development

The mobile application industry is rapidly emerging in all viewpoints, i.e. platforms, technologies, devices, network models, features, etc. For new businesses, sometimes it is really hard to cop-up with all these emerging technologies. However, when it comes to mobile app development, the businesses can choose from these three different perspectives Native mobile app, web app and hybrid mobile app.

7 Things Entrepreneurs Should Avoid Doing this New Year

This guest column is authored by Anjli Jain, Managing Partner at EVC Ventures If you are an entrepreneur you have probably been through tons in 2016. It doesn't matter whether you were Elon Musk or the small local entrepreneur starting his new venture with nothing more than few landing pages and 50 paying customers. Entrepreneurship is one of the most enduring tasks you will ever face. Which is why an entrepreneur should know how to relax.

Why Digital Marketing NOW is All About Letting Go of Old Practices!

It's easy to come up with new ideas the hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out-of-date. Roger von Oech The famous American author, speaker and inventor of creative toys Roger von Oech couldn't have summed up the importance of creativity and new ideas in a better way. This statements holds true for every creative field and more so for the creative and ever evolving field of online marketing .

#Fundingwire: Healthkart Raises Rs.80 Cr in Series E; Voonik Raises Rs.20 Cr in Debt Funding & More

Fundingwire is your quick summary of notable investments made in the technology space. The firms which have recently raised investment include Healthkart, Voonik and Medinfi. Healthkart Raises Rs.80 Cr from Sequoia Capital India, Kae Capital & OthersIndian eCommerce portal for health & fitness products Healthkart, has raised Rs.80 crore in Series E round of investment.

How to Reduce Stress on your Startup Team

There's been some really great posts on founder stress and burnout but it's not a complete picture. Something I've felt that hasn't been covered that well is the stress on everyone else in a startup. Founders have it rough and they take the brunt of the stress at a startup but they also stand to gain the most when things go well. It's the roller-coaster lifestyle we've chosen for ourselves and the sacrifices we've willingly undertaken to chase our dreams.

#Dealwire: Mobikon Acquires Online Marketing Platform Mass Blurb & More

Dealwire is your dose of notable M&A and partnership deals in business and technology space. Firms covered in this segment include MassBlurb, Mobikon, PadhoPadhao and Rise India. Online Marketing Platform MassBlurb Acquired by Mobikon F&B customer engagement and marketing platform Mobikon has acquired Mumbai-based MassBlurb, an automated online marketing platform for restaurants. A mixed equity and cash deal estimated to be around 2.

Prepathon - A Test Preparation Mobile App by PaGaLGuY

ELearning has been hailed as revolutionary in the area of higher education, for it not only renders the convenience of gaining knowledge remotely, but also for the fact that it democratizes education in terms of cost and accessibility. Despite the academia being a little skeptical with this trend given the concern of quality dilution, the popularity of online education is only growing amongst students.

Fxchng: Online Classifieds Startup Leveraging Social Media Credibility

People go online to consume content, be it an advertisement, picture or basic text. It's always the content that attracts people. Without content no portal can exist. The main agenda of every advertisement is customer acquisition. Every now and then we need to post advertisements- be it for selling, for buying or for discovering. That's when the online classified industry comes into play, where listing advertisements is absolutely free and effective if used with an attracting content.

B2C Marketing Automation Service Providers ‘Blue Shift' Raises $8M

BlueShift, B2C marketing automation vendor, has raised 8 million in Series A led by Storm Ventures. The company had previously raised a funding of 2.58 million from New Enterprise Associates and Nexus Venture Partners. Where Nexus Venture Partners also participated in the this round. Blueshift targets personalisation based on visitor interests, purchase patterns and browsing behaviour. (Image Source) The investment will be used to accelerate sales and marketing efforts.

EdTech Startup Springboard Raises $1.7M in Seed Funding from a Clutch of Techpreneurs

Bengaluru and US-based Springboard (formerly SlideRule), an EdTech company has raised 1.7 million in seed funding . Investors in the round include Allen Blue, co-founder of LinkedIn John Katzman, founder of The Princeton Review, 2U and The Noodle Companies Naveen Tewari and Amit Gupta, founders of InMobi Kartik Hosanagar, Wharton School professor 500 Startups, serial entrepreneur Kashyap Deorah and others.

Twitter buys MoPub - a mobile ad company for USD 350 mn

Twitter, in an effort to position itself as an effective platform when it comes to mobile advertising has acquired MoPub, a San Francisco based startup that helps publishers manage their mobile ad inventory. The deal is said to be 350 million in stock, according to several media sources.

Men's apparel brand Indian Terrain launches online store

Indian Terrain, one of the leading men's apparel brand, after embarking 13 years of offline existence has recently launched its ecommerce vertical to expand its offerings online,even though the brand was already selling online via web-stores like Myntra, Flipkart, etc. The brand which had relied on multiple channels to sell goods, was offering its products via various mediums including departmental stores, traditional menswear retail outlets, factory outlets, and through multi-brand e-stores,...

Case study of yebhi.com

Incepted in August 2009, Yebhi.com is a one fashion store, that follows the principle of BUY FIRST & SELL LATER, in order to ensure the latest, and quality product offerings to its customers. The core differentiator of Yebhi.com is its standardized quality deliverables, which are so influential, that they have been enhancing the credibility of the overall Indian eCommerce eco system over and over. The company's policy to Buys First and Sells Later is unique among other online stores. Yebhi.

5 Stupid Simple CRO Hacks to Increase Sales

We analyzed thousands of sites and found that there's just one ridiculously simple objective for all online businesses improving Conversion Rates . Whether you want your visitors to subscribe for your emails, download your e-books or buy your products, you would definitely want your conversion rates to be as high as possible. In fact, a Conversion Rate Optimization report by Econsultancy reveals that 53 per cent marketers believe that improving conversions is their highest priority.

Commerce Shipping Mistakes that Can Cost You a Fortune

ECommerce shipping is a difficult subject enough already, and committing mistakes in this niche can cost you not just a ton of money but a huge dent in business and customer relationships. Movement of freight is an everyday operation, and so money and time are involved more than anything here. Here are some mistakes that can be avoided Poor packagingShipping goods include a lot of fragile materials as well.

Emerging Trends in Mobile Payments Processing for 2017 & Beyond

Mobile payment Mobile devices handle everything. From online shopping, to errands and paying bills. Just name it, your mobile devices can complete everything within seconds. It's just a click away. Businesses have been wise to make the use of the mobile for as many payments as possible, because these devices travel with us everywhere. Consumers need not to worry when conducting personal tasks as it is easy and handy now compared to a decade ago. No more waiting in lines at the ATMs.

Do You Have the Right CEO to Run Your Business Until the End?

Many people don't know that I actually became Chairman of my first company and relinquished the CEO role before the company was sold. It's a topic I'm well versed in personally and I understand the difficult emotional decision of whether to hand the reigns to someone else of the baby you've struggled so hard to launch into the world.

Social Media Food Community Food Talk India Raises $500K in Seed Funding

Headquartered in Gurgaon, Digital Food Talk Pvt Ltd, which runs an online food community Food Talk India and Food Talk Plus app, has raised a seed investment of 500,000 from a private investor. This investment will help us launch the Food Talk Plus mobile application in a big way, by strengthening our core with an in-house tech team and creation of a comprehensive marketing plan said serial entrepreneur Shuchir Suri, CEO and founder of Digital Food Talk Pvt Ltd.

Future-gazing: Indian eCommerce

ECommerce has become one of the undisputed mainstays of the Indian economy the sector is poised to grow at a 41 CAGR over FY'15-'18, according to a recent Goldman Sachs report. Our sense is that within a decade, India's consumption GDP will be 2.5 trillion, of which, 10 will be online and eCommerce will play a definitive role in addressing this 250 billion consumption gap.

Why This is Not the Right time for eCommerce Companies to Go App Only

Enhanced experience Mobile apps give superior experience to customers, it's faster and feature pact. (Image Source) Over the last couple of months, I have been reading & listening to lot of senior digital executives on the pros and cons of why go only Mobile App Only' approach. While the senior experienced online entrepreneurs have a point to prove based on what direction they wish to take their eCommerce business but this is leaving a lot of brands and new online retailers in a state of...

Evolving Trends in Ecommerce

Ecommerce in India is approaching its high point in 2014. The market is growing at rapid pace and already Flipkart, India's leading ecommerce website has hit 1 billion in GMV run rate. SnapDeal and Amazon are said to follow suit soon. The industry is also seeing great amount of investor interest as well as potential of foreign players. Here are some of the evolving trends in ecommerce in 2014. 1.

How to Turn Your Email Subscribers into Brand Promoters

Customer acquisition and retention are the traditionally advertised benefits of email marketing. Automation software allows companies makes keeping in touch with customers at every stage of the buyers' journey simple and cost-effective. Yet, an often overlooked potential for email marketing is the ability to transform your list from passive readers to active promoters.

The Art of Focus: Why Entrepreneurs Need ‘Focus' More Than Anything Else

I'd like to make the argument that FOCUS is the most critical component when it comes to achieving goals. When Steve Jobs famously came back to Apple in 1997, was his first mandate to make the iPod or iPhone No How many people know that Jobs spent FOUR YEARS cutting unsuccessful products, reducing costs and improving operations with Tim Cook, Apple's COO (now CEO) before he ever released the iPod He got EVERYTHING else out of the way before Apple could start innovating again.

5 Mobile Applications Every Student Needs

TEDExplore more than 2,000 TED Talks from remarkable people, by topic and mood, from tech and science to the surprises of your own psychology. Features on Android Browse the entire TED Talks video library, with subtitles in over 100 languages. Listen to episodes of the acclaimed TED Radio Hour podcast, a co-production of NPR and TED. Log in to your TED profile to sync saved talks on all devices. Bookmark talks for later.

Here's How Green Business Startups are Leveraging Online Selling

In a country as enterprising as India, it is not surprising to find various socially conscious entrepreneurs going that extra mile to care for the environment. Many of these entrepreneurs come from diverse backgrounds with different cultural upbringing and yet, very often they have one thing in common their idea of leveraging the internet to set up eco-friendly sustainable business models.

4 Most Surprising Industries Using Chatbots Applications

Chatbots, in case you aren't familiar, are software programs that automatically chat with human beings. Their history dates back to the 1960s, when a machine program known as Eliza was able to respond to specific types of phrases with pre-scripted quotes. Over the course of decades, computer scientists and programmers attempted to create more sophisticated chatbots, able to truly understand what people are saying and generate novel responses all while seeming human but it's been an incredibly...

How Chatbots are Uncovering True Customer Intent?

Artificial intelligence chatbotsThe competitive business landscape that we live in has seen multi-billion dollar companies spiralling down the market. The reason can simply be attributed to a business's inability to understand its customers. One recent example has been Nokia, whose CEO's heart-breaking admission of defeat took the internet by storm.

You Need To Know: Careful Branding Can Make Entrepreneurs Outshine Big Enterprises

It is great to meet triumph right after facing the challenge. But it is much better to share such experience with others so that they could also learn something and take advantage from that experience. There are management books about establishing a brand to boost businesses. But there are small business entrepreneurs who still ask for advice in obtaining the profit or expertise. They bear in mind that knowing the right tips will start a new captivating brand identity for their firm.

How to Start a Business with No Experience

Ever looked at a new app or a website and thought to yourself, I could have thought of that. Often, the simplest ideas are the most popular. Maybe you have one of these ideas yourself. It's tempting to go into business for yourself, but consumers are often unsure of how to approach this. When you're young and inexperienced, the concept of starting a business sounds like something complex, reserved for those with advanced degrees and years of experience. Fortunately, this is not the case.

Future of App Development - Native Apps or Web App?

This guest column is authored by Gaurav Manchanda, Co-founder TryKaro.com Today all digital businesses is moving towards native mobile apps. Most of the companies are creating their platforms which are app only. And they have significant reasons for having app only platform over web based platforms Reasons Why Mobile Apps Have Become So Popular1) Increased User InterestWhen you develop an app, it gives you an easy way to showcase your products or services to your customers and prospective...

Wearables - The Next Big Trend in Mobile Payments?

Main ImageThis guest column is by Audrey Zack, Marketing Associate, MobiCommerce Wearable devices, fashionable technology or the fashion electronics are usually accessories that incorporate computer and advanced electronic technology with practical function and features. They are the good examples of IoT (internet of things) as they are part of network of physical things that are embedded with sensors, software's, electronics and have connectivity operations such as exchange of data with...

Mobile Affiliate Marketing Trends in India and Around the Globe

In the last 5 years or so, with the boom of mobile devices, mobile content and traffic has grown exponentially. This also leads to rise of mobile advertising. According to eMarketers, mobile ad spending will hit 100 billion in 2016. Among the 100 billion pie, one of the oldest' form affiliate marketing, is estimated to take up 10-15 , reaching 10- 15 billion.

9 Ways to Merge Offline and Online Marketing for Positive Results

There seems to be an internal struggle in the marketing world over whether a company should use traditional offline marketing strategies given the prevalence of online marketing in the digital age. An unfortunate result of the struggle is the misconception that offline marketing no longer has a place in the modern world. Yet nothing could be further from the truth.

Jet Set Clean: Promises Door-step Delivery of Laundry within 24 Hours of Pick Up

Laundry is a chore no one likes to do with enthusiasm, especially not people who already lead busy lifestyles. 3 out of every 5 working professionals consider laundry to be the most procrastinated task part of their daily routine. The existing alternatives of a maid doing the job or a home washing machine are also cumbersome and following up with the local dhobi is an irritation. There also exist premium laundries which are exorbitant and do not offer doorstep pickup or delivery.

Why Risky Behavior Is Indispensable for Entrepreneurs?

Risk-taking is a part of entrepreneurial life. Entrepreneurs must know when to seek loans, when to expand, when to risk a steady salary in favor of self-employment and how to judge the potential benefits of taking a risk. Entrepreneurs have to have a risk-taking spirit, because not taking risks can't even get off the ground, forget the further growth.

7 Web Designing Trends You Should Know About

Each and every year the web designing industry goes through some sort of evolution cycle that's quite relevant and inspiring. Something that looked modern and fresh yesterday can appear dated seemingly overnight, and trends once dismissed as irrevocably pass can unexpectedly cycle back in vogue. And that is the reason why one should always follow the trends. It allows you to learn about the new visual worlds, which sooner or later can be integrated with your graphic language.

How to Increase Social Media Engagement With Chatbots

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash Numerous mechanical patterns influencing organizations today that have turned out to be to a great degree powerful, for example, chatbot promoting to expand engagement. The advancement of web-based social networking and boundless utilization of cell phones have totally changed the business scene for expansive and little organizations. Online networking engagement as turn into the greatest pointer of an organization's presence.

How to Steer Ahead of Your B2B eCommerce Competitors - 10 Kickass Ways!

Consistent, accurate and rich product content is the foundation of a successful B2B eCommerce website Market Researchers Frost & Sullivan stated in one of their reports that the US and China will be the largest B2B eCommerce market by 2020. India is still on its way to catch up in this race. Here are 10 crucial tips that will make you understand why a robust eCommerce technology solution is essential to stay ahead in your B2B business. 1.

7 Ways To Make Your Email Marketing Stand Out

Marketing is the foremost tool for endorsing any brand. Whether you are backing your business or trying to make it reach your consumers, in today's era, email marketing is considered as the most efficient and convenient technique to contact people. But when one busy day a person opens his her inbox and encounters a good number of marketing emails, it frustrates him her to the core. The reason behind is that those emails are rather irrelevant or didn't have any exciting content to read.

Three Life Changing Business and Leadership Lessons In Less Than 5 Minutes

I had a meeting with a prospect for 30 minutes, or less, when I started a new chapter of my life to work as an entrepreneur. I learned 3 most important lessons in that meeting from the prospect who is a serial entrepreneur. These 3 lessons in leadership and business helped me a lot and today in this article which would be shorter than a 5 minute read, I'd like to share those with you. I hope it helps you grow your thinking and approach as a business professional. 1. Go Step By Step.

How To Determine KPIs For Mobile Apps? - An Insight

Kpis mobile apps Developing a mobile app is just a phase to get your business out in the front and make it available to users. The real purpose of the app and the struggle to get it on people's devices are the challenges one has to face to meet the actual business propositions and generate profits. In the beginning, it's fascinating to see a huge number of app downloads for your app which is good but shouldn't be taken for granted and be relied upon as a success metric for your app.

How the Trends Affect Mobile App Development

Mobile app development trendsWhere is mobile app development going in future Right now, we can not say anything at this moment. Because mobile industry has seen an immense changeover in past recent years and we expect more in future. The revenue of mobile app industry is growing equally along with their users. Obviously, Android and iOS applications have dominated the market and haven't left any chance for competitors to break down their legacy.

Entrepreneurs! Don't React to Drama, Be The Act

Entrepreneurs struggle Movie The Godfather JOHNNY FONTANE It's too late, they start shooting in a week. VITO CORLEONE I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse. Now you just go outside and enjoy yourself, and ah, forget about all this nonsense. I want you to leave it all to me. and in the end we all know Don Corleone does keep his promise by getting Johnny the role in Mr. Woltz's movie though by sacrificing Woltz's horse in the bargain, but all in a no-nonsense way.

Flexing It Launches ‘Feebee', Its Version Of Glassdoor for Freelancers

Hiring is something that every company needs to go through. The idea and thinking of the market is on a verge of a flip, from hiring full timers to taking up freelancers. People can see the rise of Startups in India, these startups need to manage funds accordingly and not spend a lot into hiring.

Branch Metrics Raises $35M in Series B Led by Founders Fund

Branch Metrics, the deep linking solution for app developers and marketers, has raised 35 million in Series B funding led by Founders Fund. The existing investors including New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Pejman Mar Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Zach Coelius, Ben Narasin, and new investor Madrona Venture Group also participated in the round. Since its founding, the company has raised 53 million in venture funding.

Running Towards Your Business Goals and Never Achieving? You May Be Driven By Fear

Business goals fear Are you stifling your dream of owning your own company just because you are too scared to give up the security of a job You are one of at least 10 million other people, working 9 to 5 jobs, who are driven by the fear of plunging into the unknown world of startups. And in most of these cases, once you do manage to muster the courage to quit your job, you will be driven by the right now syndrome.

How to Create an Effective Customer Acquisition Plan for Your Business?

How can I plan effectively to acquire more of my target customers As a marketing consultant, this is one question I used to come across a lot. Especially, the startup businesses that want to meet with the potential investors need to be very clear about this aspect in order to prove the effectiveness of their business approach.

10 Most Common Misconceptions About Blogging and Bloggers

Many of us enjoy what a slew of blogs have to offer on a daily basis, with many of us assuming that it's something anyone can try their hand at. While blogging can be both fun and rewarding, it's important that we look at the misconceptions that circulate the Internet. 1. Blogging Is EasyOne of the most common misconceptions is that blogging is easy. However, blogging requires a great deal of research, writing and marketing. As such, the art of blogging can become quite a cumbersome task.

Why Technology is a Breakthrough Factor in the B2B eCommerce Space in India?

E-procurement is a fast hit with the Corporate India and the businesses in India are fastly moving towards adapting to technology. Corporate giants are gearing up to become digital in all the aspects including procurement which saves a lot of time and money, of course. But, going online is not always the best way to tackle timelessness. It could be fast, it could be efficient and it could be less expensive to use but the current procurement technology is not the only solution.

SMBs Don't Need An Annual Event For Marketing: Google India eCommerce Head

Nitin Bawankule, Director of Industry (E Commerce, Retail, Online Classifieds, Technology, Education and Government) at Google India (Image Courtesy LinkdIn Profile) In a recent announcement by Google, the yearly online shopping festival Google Online Shopping Festival (GOSF)' has been cancelled. Nitin Bawankule, Director of Industry (eCommerce, Retail, Online Classifieds, Technology, Education and Government) at Google India in its official blog made the announcement on November 3.

How To Get Your eCommerce Website Load Faster

User experience matters and for the same purpose your eCommerce store should load fast on user devices. In the current world when going online is not that difficult there is still something that most of the businesses forget, i.e. to optimize their online store so that it opens fast even with high number of views and visitors. The best way to analyze your current website speed is to check for your Google Page Speed Score.

Mobile Payments Platform FTCash Raises Pre-Series A from Ivy Camp Ventures

FTCash , a mobile payments platform for micro merchants in India has raised Rs. 1 Crore in pre-series A funding from the IvyCamp Ventures. The funding is primarily for aggressive customer and merchant acquisition along with product development. Founded in late 2014, the company enables cashless transactions and allows the merchants customers to use multiple payment options wallets, cards, net banking etc., under one platform.

5 Simple Hacks to Boost the Sales of your eCommerce Startup

Starting an eCommerce business is no easy feat, since you have limited resources at hand and a lot to accomplish. But once you are able to get the sales cracking, you know you'll won half the battle and are on the right track, since it is the revenue you generate as a result, that'll prove the fuel for your venture. Here are some simple hacks to boost the sales of your eCommerce startup. Site Speed Let's dive into the first and foremost important growth hack, i.e., site speed.

Truebil, an Online Marketplace for Second-Hand Cars Raises Rs 3.18 Cr from Kae Capital and Anupam Mittal

Truebil, an online marketplace that offers a curated collection of used and pre-owned cars, has raised a seed round of Rs 3.18 crore from Kae Capital and People Group Founder and Angel Investor, Anupam Mittal. Image Source The company plans to utilize this investment to develop a robust technology to enhance the end-user experience and further expand to other cities in the country.

So Netflix Enters India..Now What?

The American video streaming giant Netflix', which captures 20 of the video streaming sector in the European and American Market, has now entered India and also to another 130 countries. The announcement was made at Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2016 in Las Vegas. This is good news for the fans that have been following the website, waiting for it or even using VPNs to get through it.

Online Movie Portal Hero Talkies Raises its First Round of Funding from Actor Suriya

S Aathitiyan and V. S. Pradeep, Chennai-based a legal entertainment startup HeroTalkies.com, an online streaming of Tamil movies, has raised its first round of funding from actor-producer Suriya's 2D Entertainment and a group of High Net-worth Individuals (HNIs).

Customised Furniture Portal Custom Furnish Raises Rs.30Cr from Agnus Capital

Hyderabad based CustomFurnish, an eCommerce venture in the furniture and home furnishing space, has raised Rs.30 crore in a fresh round of funding from Bangalore based family office Agnus Capital. This is the second round of funding raised by the furniture etailer founded by Madhukar Gangadi just eight months ago. The startup plans to use the new funding for upgrading the technology base and strengthening its logistics to reach a wider customer-base across the country.

Worst Piece of Advice Indian Entrepreneurs Have Received

In the ongoing decade the success stories of Internet and technology companies in the country have motivated a large number of individuals to break the monotony and start up their own ventures. At the same time, the failed business models, shut downs, distress sales have brought into light the hardships and the challenges in having a structure that's scalable and sustainable.

Mobile Technology Startup Keep Trax Raises $1M in Seed Funding Led By Naya Ventures

Image Source keeptraxinc KeepTrax Inc., a location based mobile technology company that helps people automatically record, retain, and recall all the places they've visited, has raised 1 million in seed funding led by Naya Ventures. The company is headed by Kedar Benegal. Its patent-pending technology platform converts people's physical location visits into curated event pins that digitally capture and organize details such as location name, address, dates, times, durations, photos, calendar,...

Why is Page's Alphabet More than Just a Business Strategy?

The sudden restructuring of Google and the creation of Alphabet (overnight ), has certainly left the global tech pandits in utter bemusement. The effect of this change has perhaps been felt the most by Indians. Thank you Sundar Pichai for making an average Indian student's life even more difficult. (Just kidding). On a serious note, hearty congratulations, if at all, you ever stumble upon this article. Image Source Without deviating much, let's dig into the why' of the topic.

Top Five CRM Software Reviews in 2015

Image Source In the current economic times, businesses are keen on implementing ways to keeping track of clients and valuable lead information to sustain a strong customer base. One of the easiest ways to implement such a strategy without feeling the complexities that come along with data management is implementation of CRM (Customer Relation Management) systems. There are several CRM systems available today, and it is a good idea to check out some of the best in the market.

Flipkart & Myntra Shut Down Their Mobile Websites to Push Mobile Apps

To become mobile-app only shopping platforms, Indian eCommerce players Flipkart and Myntra have shut down their mobile websites. Users are now directed to Google's Play Store and iOS' app stores to download the application. The desktop-based sites are still functional though both companies are considering shutting them over time, to move sales entirely to the mobile app. A Flipkart spokesperson told LiveMint that With the app, customers can stay logged in to Flipkart at all times.

Mobile Survey Platform Pollfish Raises $2.5 Million from Odyssey Venture Partners and Others

Greece-based mobile survey platform Pollfish has raised Series A funding round of 2.5 million. The round was led by Odyssey Venture Partners, PJ Catalyst, Woodside Group and several unnamed angel investors. Image Source The company was founded in 2013 and with this investment, the total fund raised till date comes to 2.8 million.

Mobile Marketplace for Used Cars ‘Zoomo' Raises $5M from SAIF Partners

Image Source Bangalore-based online marketplace of pre-owned cars, Zoomo has raised 5 million in series A round from SAIF Partners, a venture capital firm with over 4B under management. The investment will be used to strengthen their operations, technology and product leadership in their niche. In December 2014, the company had received 1 million in seed funding led by SAIF Partners.

Teritree, a Digital Marketing Startup Raises $140,000 Funding

Image source Bangalore based Digital marketing and personalisation startup, Teritree Technologies has raised 140,000 (Rs 89.71 lakh) in its first round of funding, led by Mauritius-based investment fund KCL and a group of 10 angel investors who include top executives from Microsoft, Cisco, Facebook, HP and IBM. Teritree will use the funding to improve its technology and also increase hiring.

Dos and Don'ts for Online Stores for GOSF 2014; What the Industry has to Say

Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF) is experiencing a consecutive rise in takers every year, due to an increase in online shoppers in the country. It has started to get recognition as the day when all the e-commerce companies together give heavy discounts. 10th to 12th December 2014 will be the third for GOSF, and the online players should have a better planning than last two years to avoid the mistakes being committed in past, and disappointing the consumers in return.

India Based Product Research Site 91mobiles Raises USD 1M funding

Online gadget research and comparison site, 91mobiles has raised close to USD 1 million in a pre-Series A round from a set of investors led by India Quotient. The round of funding had participation from Anand Lunia led India Quotient, and a few other individuals including Umang Kumar, founder & CEO of Gaadi.com, and Krishna Motukuri, ex-CEO of Tradus.com.

Mobile Payments: Trends, Roadblocks and Workarounds

Mobile payment is expected to be the most accepted mode of payment in the future, but, recent findings show that the current pace of adoption is slower than expected. Currently in India, there are less than 10 (60 M people) of the banked customers who have registered for Mobile payments.

50,000 Members Strong Facebook Group Eat Treat Raises $3,50,000

Source Facebook group EatTreat raised an investment of 3,50,000 from 15 investors confirmed Arjun Sawhney who runs a Delhi based public relations and brand consultancy firm The Communication Council-Green Goose Design' and is the admin of the group. Divitas Capital, filmmaker Homi Adajania, Fashion Editor Bandana Tewari, Interior Designer Sussanne Khan, Kalyani Saha ( Dior Couture, India), Editor Nonita Kalra, restaurateur Andrea Aftab and wife Pia Pauro (Directors at EATINC and proprietors of...

4 Online Networking Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make

Image Source Freepik There are innumerous ways of networking and no one way works for all. However, there are certain networking principles that one must know and various techniques that one can select. One of the most important points to consider before embarking on networking techniques is to take a look at the networking mistakes.

Securing the future of Mobile Payments in India

India has come a long way in adopting the mobile phone as a communication device, from the days when one had to visit a STD booth to make a call and owning a telephone was a luxury. Today, India is in the throes of the mobile revolution with its M-Commerce market size estimated to be be approx USD 2.5 billion in 2014. India's tryst with mobility With 904.

Walmart to go online in India with an eCommerce marketplace

US-based retail chain, Walmart, is ready to expand its presence in India by going online. As reported by ET, a team of 15-17 people under Walmart India's COO Arvind Mediratta have been working on developing an electronic platform that is expected to go live in the next three to four months. The platform would have a marketplace model similar to that of Amazon and eBay.

Mobile Banking is Handy. But is it Safe?

The boom in the global economy and the digital revolution has unleashed a surge of scope for mobile banking. With the scampering growth in technology, the concept of carrying cash and wallets has become obsolete. Now is the hour of digital banking, carried out via mobile apps. The process is speedy and hassle-free, making monetary transactions easier and convenient than ever. However, with technology advancing to newer avenues everyday, security has become the most important matter of concern.

LinkedIn Buys and Shuts Down Refresh.io

Image Source refresh.io A professional networking website, LinkedIn has acquired and will be closing down Refresh.io, that surfaces insights about people in user networks right before they meet them. The deal value is still undisclosed, however, this appears to be an acqui-hire with 12 of Refresh's current team of 15 expected to join LinkedIn in Mountain View.

Facebook Introduces Riff, A Video Sharing and Collaborating App to Engage Users

Image caption macrumours Facebook has released a video collaboration app Riff, which lets the users shoot 20 second short videos and then add tags to it. The tags will share the video to friends, collaborators and other concerned people who can then add their own videos to form a thread of such videos.

Commerce Marketing Technology Startup ‘Custora' Raises $6.5M in Funding

Image source custora New York- based eCommerce marketing software Custora, which focuses on predicting consumer behavior has raised a funding of 6.5 million. The funding was raised in series A round led by Foundation Capital including Greycroft Partners and Valhalla Ventures. The American startup was founded in 2011 and the new funding is aimed at developing the platform more quickly and scaling up sales and marketing of the software.

Airbnb Finally Responds to Nina Mufleh with Words of Appreciation

Image Source thenextspeaker A creative and innovative approach may just be the key to snagging your dream job in the ever-competitive job climate, proves Nina Mufleh. Nina, originally from the Middle East, has been living in San Francisco for a year now. After making futile attempts to land a single interview with Airbnb, despite submitting a number of job applications, she decided to take her job search to the next level by creating an incredible resume that mirrors Airbnb's website.

‘Qyk', Mobile Marketplace for Local Services Raises Angel Funding

Image Source Qyk GoogleStore Founded in October 2014, mobile marketplace for finding local services, Qik has raised angel funding from a group of angel investors including early investors of Ola, Housing and Delhivery. Investors include Zishaan Hayath (co-founder of Toppr and Powai Lake Ventures), Abhishek Goyal (CEO and co-founder of Tracxn.com, ex-Accel Partners) and Sahil Barua (CEO and co-founder of Delhivery).

Pinterest Raises $367M; Set to go Beyond $1B Mark in Total Funding

Image Source Pinterest US-based Pinterest, a visual discovery platform, has raised 367 million in its latest round of funding from undisclosed investors. The image sharing and bookmarking website further aims to raise 211 million in the G series of fund raising. By expectations the accumulated funds raised in this round would be over 577 million, which would comfortably surpass the 1 billion mark in total funds raised since Pinterest's founding in 2010.

Twitter Launches Quick Promote Advertising Tool For SMBs

Image Source Twitter Blog Twitter has launched a new advertising tool Quick Promote for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to get their better content in front of more people on Twitter. The new feature allows businesses to promote tweets directly from their analytics dashboard. It works in a manner similar to sponsored posts on Facebook.

Indian ecommerce space may get some relief with signs of new big investors

New set of investors are ready to make their debut with the existing and even new startups in the Indian ecommerce space, in order to explore the developing internet space in the country. Canadian Pension plan fund (CPP), telecom giant Singtel and Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth funds are in talks with larger startups and companies like Flipkart and Myntra, to explore investment opportunities in the local market, as stated by ET.

How do you increase organic CTR for eCommerce Sites against Google Product Ads?

One of the biggest challenges that most ecommerce sites face when it comes to online marketing is to maintain a healthy and progressive CTR rate. Competition in the web space is stiff these days and with Google Product Ads being main rivals, the techniques and strategies employed have to incorporate efforts that help maximize results against such odds.

Email Marketing Startup Iterable Raises $1.2M in Seed Funding

Image Source iterable San Francisco-based email marketing startup Iterable has raised 1.2M in seed funding from Merus Capital, 500 Startups, 605 Ventures, AngelList, TEC Angel Fund, and China Rock. The new funding will be used in expansion, hiring, growth and adding mobile features, such as push notifications and SMS support.

Effective management of reverse logistics is crucial for Ecommerce business success

What is obvious when you think about ecommerce is the supply chain that always ends up with the delivery of goods to customers. However, there is another leg of the supply chain which deals with the flow of products back to the manufacturer. This is referred to as reverse logistics and is an inevitable evil in the ecommerce industry.

India among the fastest growing ecommerce market - A Report

According to the latest report generated by industry body ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) and ComScore, India has now entered into a list of fastest growing Internet markets ranking third among the fastest growing markets worldwide. Presently, internet user base in India is approximately 125 million, among the BRIC Nations, India has been the fastest growing market adding over 18 million internet users and growing at an annual rate of 41 .

Lime Tray Secures Series A Funding from Matrix Partners

Delhi-based Alchemy's LimeTray has closed an undisclosed amount in Series A funding round led by Matrix Partners with participation from Umang Kumar, CEO of Gaadi.com Ankur Warikoo head (APAC) at Groupon and Ankur Singla, CEO of Akosha. According to Founder & CEO of LimeTray, Akhilesh Bali, the company want to enable more and more restaurants to come online and solve critical business needs using its platform.

Are Mobile Payments really the Future of Transactions?

Apple Pay created a buzz equivalent to the launch of the new iPhones, and that too when it is not available worldwide. And soon after Visa launched a token service for securing mobile payments, once again only available in US. When the buzz in the industry is that m-commerce in India is going to be bigger than e-commerce, then why is the country still left behind in international innovations in mobile payments.

Twitter launches a new mobile ad feature with Visa, Adidas

Twitter has added a new video-sharing feature on mobile with two of the World Cup advertisers, Visa and Adidas, as reported by Mashable. Last month, the feature had already been tested with the film A Million Ways to Die in the West , allowing the user to simply share a video when you use a hashtag. It also offers a new way to further spread the message with promotional videos. Earlier, the company had launched Pay By Tweet' service with American Express and Keyword-Targeting ad feature'.

How online retailers can acquire customers through content marketing

Don't go away we will be back in a minute, is the familiar refrain you come across even from celebrity hosts of TV shows while announcing commercial breaks. Why is it that customers prefer to flip channels and move away from the carefully crafted TV commercials The reason is obvious. Customers today would no longer approve of marketers intruding into their privacy with their labels carrying tall claims of product superiority, service excellence, etc.

Indian eCommerce market will reach USD 56 Bn by 2023: Assocham Survey

A few years back, when a segment came up with the idea of selling things online, nobody was sure whether the concept would be able to attract audience or not. But, in the last couple of years, the Indian eCommerce industry has given a space to flourish not only the existing platforms but also some of the very niche categories. Recently, Assocham did a survey of around 3500 traders and organised retailers in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

AKG Technologies launches adspringr to create auto- customized targeted Facebook ads

AKG Technologies, a Philadelphia based social media company, has recently launched its new Facebook Ad Manager and optimization tool adspringr . The tool is built with an objective of optimizing cost and improving productivity and to help in increasing the scale, performance and ROI of Facebook Ad Campaigns. With branches in San Francisco, Houston, Mumbai and Delhi, the company had recently raised an angel round of funding of 350,000 from investors from US, UK and Turkey.

Mobile sector in India to contribute USD 400 Bn to GDP by 2020, will generate 4.1 Mn jobs: GSMA

According to the recently released report by GSMA, made in collaboration with BCG, Indian mobile economy is growing rapidly and will contribute approximately USD 400 Bn to the country's GDP and is going generate 4.1 Mn employment opportunities. Currently the mobile economy in India is worth USD 130 Mn (INR 1.27L), this means that by 2020 it is going to take a leap of 408 . The figure below shows the rise of the contribution of mobile economy in India to the country's GDP.

Flipboard flips users to eCommerce

You are reading a digital magazine and suddenly come across a new handbag. You want to purchase it. What will you do Go on different eCommerce websites, search for the same or similar bag and then order it, right But what if you could order it instantly from the magazine page itself Flipboard has now made this possible by introducing shopping catalogues on its platform as announced in its blog recently.

Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone to launch Jelly

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone after founding Xanga, Blogger, is now working on new native mobile startup called Jelly, as announced by Stone in his recent tweet which was short and mysterious and left the people guessing about it There are reports that Stone has even hired about four or five employees for his startup that will likely be aimed at smartphones and tablets. The news of Jelly emerged unexpectedly early so I'll wait a bit to share more about the team. In the meantime, I'll say this.

Why having an exit strategy for your business is important?

Planning an exit strategy is just as important as starting up a business. Many entrepreneurs- especially startups- find it quite hard to digest that even in the times, when everything is running well in the business, you might need to sell your business. So just having a business that worth a fortune is not enough, you must have an exit strategy ready to get the money back out in case things don't work out well. Understand your exit options It is very important to understand the exit options.

Why the ‘5 Second Rule' Will Destroy Your Procrastination, According to Science

Neuroscience offers a simple trick for stopping procrastination in its tracks. You're tied up with deadlines, meetings, commitments, targets, and everything else that makes your life difficult. But here you are, struck with indecision and contemplating how to approach your giant to-do list as if you have the all the time in the world. Sound familiar Like everyone else, you are under the familiar spell called procrastination.

5 Key Traits of a Successful Business Leader

Shown Above Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Alphabet, Inc. Leadership is an important trait that defines most successful entrepreneurs. It helps them steer their ship and crew in the unknown, turbulent waters of the business world. The trait can be an even more useful tool when launching a startup where, initially, a lot of what has to be accomplished rests on the shoulders of the founder.

11 Makerspaces in India For Hardware Entrepreneurs & Innovators

A makerspace is a community driven working space, where all inventors & innovators can get their hands on the right set of equipment to bring their ideas to life. With the technology wave bringing out the entrepreneurs among so many Indians, these places will certainly act like a stepping stone for many of them. Here is a list of 11 of such makerspaces in India, in no particular order, that are enabling hardware entrepreneurs, inventors, professionals and even students 1.

Top 10 Contemporary Design Trends in eCommerce

Ecommerce design Product Commerce Page by Samuel Jimenez eCommerce web design has developed notably. For some online stores, most site visitors (if not most customers) will use mobile phones to shop. This suggests websites will be developed to be adaptable, and made responsive or flexible for more screens. Designers will consider the site in its adaptable edge. Generally big players like Amazon lead the progressions and impact the trends by presenting new ideas.

The First 3 Hours of Your Day Can Dictate How Your Life Turns Out

A self imposed handicap most people aren't even aware of Majority of our waking hours are spent on demands that other people have placed on our time. It's 7 AM. The alarm rings. You roll over bleary eyed, hands fumbling for the phone. Apps opened. Content digested. This is how most people start the day. It hasn't been 5 minutes since waking, and they've already put themselves at a significant disadvantage.

Raising Venture Capital 101

Every business needs capital to grow, which is one of the strongest and dominant forces affecting any kind of business and industry. So does a startup. Since not all startups have huge amount of capital to invest in their product, before launching their product and once launched to sustain in the market while combating their competitors and other market forces, all they can do is depend on external sources. Raising funds from outside can be of two types namely, debt financing and equity.

Tech Startup Gym Trekker Wants to Become a One Stop Shop for all Fitness Fixes

Urban life gives new meaning to the phrase Life in the fast lane'. Our work days are no longer strictly 9 to 5. Virtual access via technology ensures that we are always connected and on the go. Work hours stretch out and unfortunately, they are the only things that get any stretching done. Lifestyle diseases are on the rise and a general sense of discontentment tends to creep in when our lives revolve around work and work alone. The situation is alarming and calls for paramount attention.

What Should Retailers do to Sell Online - Open Own Online Store or Sell on Marketplaces?

In the e-commerce space, there are a very few products that are not sold online today. From grocery to sexual wellness, it's all there in the online selling space with consumers getting to pick from a number of options. Should you sell online seems to be a question of the past now.

5 Reasons Why Your Business Infrastructure Needs Automation

If we look at fast-growing organizations, we come across one common factor, strong infrastructure. Businesses, whether it is a non-profit organization or a standard franchise set-up, no amount of growth is possible without some form of basic infrastructure support. To put it in simple words, infrastructure is a system upon which a business can build itself.

Google Wire: Google Aggressive on Mobile - Launches Health, Android Auto, TV and more

To strengthen the Android platform, Google has launched Android Auto, a platform for the car where users can just mirror their smartphone's screen on the car's screen. Android Auto supports Google Maps and is completely voice-enabled so you can run it via voice commands. A driver can connect his or her phone to the car and reply to messages get on mobile with voice, play music and use the car's dials and buttons to control the apps running on his phone.

Top UI Design Trends to Expect in 2017

Serif Combos by Marina Matijaca for Spelar This guest column is authored by John Stone, SEO Consultant at Nirmal Web Design The last couple of year saw an increase in new ideas and technology trends, with all the big browsers giving their strong support to the HTML5 and CCS3 standard, as well as the ultra-fast JavaScript engine.

Why should you enter into Internet business?

Startups in early 2000's in Indian Internet space, faced problems in getting initial funds, maintaining a proper logistics and payment gateway for their consumers, as well as discovering their monetization mode. Also, it was equally difficult for them to gain approval for their ideas, thought process, methodology and market opportunity both from investors as well as consumers.

Max Life Insurance forays in eCommerce, starts its new Online term plan

ECommerce, in the past few years, has made its reach to a wide range of segments apart from retail. Where on one hand, it has given a platform for budding entrepreneurs to showcase their ideas, it has also enabled various service providers to give their customers a hassle free experience. One such segment recently evolving is the insurance. After Bharti Axa and Bazaz Allianz foray into online general insurance, recently Max Life insurance has also started with its new Online term plan.

Commerce SaaS Firm Power Stores Raises Fresh Funding and Rebrands as Webware.io

Goa-based company PowerStores eCommerce Ltd. is ready to take on North America. The company has rebranded as Webware.io and raised a fresh round of funding to fuel its growth. The investment was led by Toronto-based Extreme Venture Partners and William Bissell, who made the investment in his personal capacity through his family office. The new round of funding will support Webware.io's aggressive expansion across North America as it targets more than 30 million small and medium businesses.

Mobile Technology Startup Mubble Raises Series A Funding from Accel Partners

Bangalore based mobile technology startup Mubble has raised an undisclosed amount in series A round from Accel Partners, to scale up the existing business. We will use the funds to attract the best tech talent, and build a world class product, designed for the masses of India , said Ashwin Ramaswamy, co-founder & CEO of Mubble. Mubble is a smartphone app that helps smartphone users track and control their telecom spends and their mobile data usage.

Deal Wire: Sportz Village, India Lends, Rock N Shop and Edu Comp

Sports and Fitness Education Venture SportzVillage Raises 10M from Gaja Capital Sports and Fitness Education Venture SportzVillage Raises 10M from Gaja Capital Image Source Facebook Mumbai and Bengaluru based sports and fitness education venture SportzVillage has raised around 10 million in its second round of funding from mid-stage private equity firm Gaja Capital . The new funding will be used to extend its operations.

Twitter Launches Music on Vine for Android and iOS Users

Image Source Twitter has launched music on Vine to create and discover short looping videos, for Android and iOS users. Music has been part of Vine's culture since the beginning, the company wrote on its new website. Now, we're connecting you to the music you love, starting with new ways to discover and create with music on Vine. Vine allows users to share six second-long looping video clips.

Edu Kart Raises $1M from Holostik, Yuvraj Singh and Others

Shown Above Yuvraj Singh & Edukart's Co-founder Ishan Gupta Delhi- based education marketplace, Edukart has raised 1 million from Holostik Group's United Finsec, cricketer Yuvraj Singh's YouWeCan Ventures and early stage fund 500 Startups. Existing investors including Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Founder, PayTM), Manish Kheterpal (Ex- Director of Providence Equity Partners), Amit Patni and Arihant Patni of Patni family, and Stanford Business School alumni angels have also participated in the current...

Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Leads $128M Series A Funding in LeTV Sports

Image Source OpenWorldMoney LeTV Sports, an affiliate of video sharing website LeTV which is based in China, has secured 128 million in series A funding led by Alibaba founder and chairman, Jack Ma and Wanda Group chairman Wang Jianlin. Both of them have invested via their own private venture capital funds Yunfeng Capital and Wanda Investment respectively. Fortune Link, Prometheus Group and several others also participated in the round.

Indian Ecommerce Space May Grow 50% in Next 5 Years

Image Source Galaxymag As per Economic Survey 2014-2015, tabled in Parliament Friday by Finance Minister's Arun Jailtley, Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow by more than 50 in the next five years. Inventory management, logistics planning and resource availability are important hurdles for online retail in India and consumer safeguard being another concern for consumers of eCommerce.

Mobile Grocery Startup Pepper Tap Raises Seed Round from Sequoia Capital

Image Source peppertap.com Gurgaon-based online grocery delivery startup, PepperTap has secured an undisclosed amount in seed round from Sequoia Capital. The company is also in advance stages to close its next round of funding which is around 10 million, PepperTap's founder Milind Sharma told iamWire.

Kantar Media acquires Singapore and Hyderabad based social media analytics provider Fish Eye Analytics

Kantar Media, a France based media analytics and insights provider has recently acquired the Singapore and Hyderabad based startup FishEye Analytics. With this deal, Kantar Media aims at extending its global multi-lingual social measurement and analysis capabilities. The deal amount and other details remain undisclosed. FishEye Analytics, founded in 2009, deals in providing global social media listing search.

Fab Bucket.com - a social platform to talk online shopping

In recent times, there has been a significant increase in ecommerce sites selling wide variety of stuff such as apparels, jewellery, accessories, etc. However, getting feedback and suggestions about particular products is still a daunting task for the online shoppers, which calls for a space wherein pre-shopping engagements can be made easily.

Tencent backed messaging app WeChat on a rapid expansion

Chinese internet giant Tencent in its approach to expand its mobile messaging app WeChat in multiple countries outside China is definitely looking strong to crack the Indian market with its aggressive marketing. It came to India in last year August. The app has already gained recognition in the emerging markets of South East Asia and claims to have over 50 million registered users outside China and is on its target to cross 400 million chart globally soon with availability in 49 countries.

The role of venture capital in growing Indian ecosystem

Alok Mittal, Canaan Partners Indian business landscape has always been active with startup formation. While a couple of decades back, such startup activity was led by family business houses, many of the successes in the last ten years have come out of professionals and first-generation entrepreneurs. The same time period has seen an emergence of venture capital industry in India.

Pet Shopping site Dog Spot raises funding from India Quotient

Gurgaon based, pet product store DogSpot.in has received an undisclosed amount of funding from India Quotient. DogSpot was seed funded by Vikas Saxena (Global CEO Nimbuzz), Vaibhav Gadoddia (VP Tech Nagarro) and Ritesh Chauhan (Telecom Consultant) and Early Stage Angels Tanjai Ventures and Kibo Partners. We will be using the funds for Product management and addition of private labeled products in various categories , said Rana Atheya, Co-founder, Dogspot.

Indispensable Mobile App Features for User Acquisition and Retention

Mobile application development has become indispensable for every organisation from startups to large scale enterprises. The ascend in the revenue of the business is totally dependent on the functionality and user-friendly functionalities incorporated in the app. Here we elaborate the list of extensive features that are responsible to increase the user retention on an application Inclusion of login featureThe login feature of the app should be simple in terms of each and every perspective.

Digital Marketing Strategies to Leave a Lasting Impact

The technology is so fast paced today that it is difficult to catch up with all the new trends. It's crucial in such an environment to devise and explore new ways to sell the products you have or the services you desire to provide. The future will be guided not by traditional means, but technical inventions. Under these circumstances, digital marketing offers a dimension to connect with millions of people instantaneously.

What to Expect from Venture Capital Markets in 2016

(source) There is a lot of uncertainty about the state of the private, high-growth technology markets and the venture capital markets that underpin them. On the one hand innovation is clearly at an all time high unleashed by smart phones, fast telecom networks, social networks that spread commerce and the fact that we are all one click away from buying things on Amazon, Apple, Google or PayPal.

Mobility and Flexibility Working with Cloud

Image Source Freepik Migration to the Cloud Sphere is a current trend for enterprises. New startups are in a hurry to set their bases in Cloud domain, while massive investment for infrastructure, both in terms of IT and office spaces are cut short substantially. According to Gartner Inc, by 2016 roughly a third of world's digital contents will be stored in the Cloud.

Facebook to shut down Gifts service next month in latest e-commerce shift

Facebook Inc. is expected to shut down its Gifts shop next month, as the company is testing other ways to buy products on its website. Facebook gifts was opened in 2012, as a venture of Zuckerberg and company, allows users to purchase and send real-life gifts to other Facebook users via notifications or visiting someone's timeline. Currently, it offerings only gift cards from over 100 merchants including Starbucks Corp, Best Buy Co Inc and Barnes & Noble Inc.

Post Diwali snapshot of few leading Indian Online Retailers

We are still trying to understand if India has a seasonal or festival led eCommerce market. A majority believe that it's actually not, and say that sales happens throughout the year, but see significant spike during the festive season. For instance, we recently had the festival of Diwali, which is among the most important festivals for Indians, that sees a lot of buyer activity happening.

Pool Circle - a carpooling startup that allows enterprises to save money in an eco-friendly manner

In a country like India where road traffic has become one of the biggest challenges for a majority of people, carpooling offers a lucrative option to drastically cut the fuel costs for individuals, reduce commute times by lowering traffic on the roads and help reduce pollution levels. Offering a solution for that, several startups have recently entered the market.

How Enterprise Mobility Solutions Will Influence Healthcare Industry in 2017

Enterprise mobility healthcareThe fast progression of inventive technology today is moving major changes in several, if not all, sectors. Because of the speed of current achievements, this procedure is presently generally alluded to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As one of the world's biggest enterprises, the medical services area is incredibly influenced by this innovation driven change that is required to change our regular day to day existences more than anything mankind has ever...

Handling multi-channel selling on various ecommerce marketplaces ? Try Browntape

On a few major marketplaces in India that are live today including eBay, Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, Tradus and Shopclues over 50,000 merchants sell their products. With a lot of them them having started with a single platform, are now selling on 4 or 5 sites simultaneously. Many of them have their own branded sites as well but work with other affiliate networks too.

These Skills Are Hard To Learn But Pay Off For The Rest of Your Life

This column is by Thomas Oppong, Founding Editor at Alltopstartups What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. Ralph Waldo Emerson The ability to expand your mind and strive for lifelong learning is more critical to your success than you think. Don't give up on lifelong learning. Ever. Research shows that it pays beyond the skills you acquire. More than ever before, a challenged, stimulated brain may well be the key to a vibrant later life.

How to Measure the ROI on Your SEO Efforts?

There is no arguing the fact that if you want to be among the top listings on Google, search engine optimization should be an indispensable part of your online marketing. That is why every year we see businesses increasing their SEO budgets. This increased investment, however, comes with certain expectations.

Two Constant Companions in an Entrepreneur's Journey: Courage and Fear

My eight year old loves super heroes. He loves Batman, finds Superman flaky, believes Thor is the best and Captain America can't be for real. I obviously don't burst any of his bubbles rather I re-live my childhood through him. There is however one Super Hero that he is unsure about and that's the Green Lantern.

Uber to Enter Fashion eCommerce; Soon to Partner with Big Retailers

It has been reported that ride-sharing behemoth Uber will soon announce a new partnership with big retailers and fashion brands as early as this month. Image Source The partnership will be focusing on luxury, with Uber sidling up to high-end brands commonly found on New York's 5th avenue. It has also been in talks with Bigcommerce and Shopify to create easy interfaces for retailers to partner with the company. It is not Uber's first play at eCommerce.

Mobile Tech and Data Science Firm InVenture Raises $10M Series A Funding

Mobile tech and data science firm InVenture, which provides instant micro-loans service straight to a user's mobile wallet, has raised 10 million series A round to launch into additional markets in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The company also plans to acquire more customers in Kenya and as well expand its Tanzania operations and partnerships. The new funding will help the firm to take on Commercial Bank of Africa's (CBA's) M-Shwari which is planning to launch across East Africa.

Mobile Payment Technology Firm Tone Tag Raises $1M from Reliance Capital

Image Source Bengaluru-based ToneTag, a global offline proximity based mobile payment technology startup, has raised 1 million in funding from Reliance Capital's Venture fund arm. Founded in year 2013 by ex-Infosys Kumar Abhishek and co-founder Vivek Kumar Singh with clutch of Angel Investors like Ram Sellaratnam and Rajesh Yohahanna, ToneTag enables contactless payment solution in existing payment eco system by integrating its proprietary software development kit (SDK) at both merchant...

Luxury Shopping in the Age of Social Media

Image Source Luxury brands differ in their strategy and approach on various social media platforms. With the rise of digital marketing changing the way luxury brands engage with customers, traditional companies must embrace the hyper connected, mobile centric audience preferences or be left behind. Online and mobile shopping for luxury goods has increased rapidly in India, thanks to the fast-paced penetration of smartphones.

Android Co-Founder Andy Rubin's New Company Play Ground Global Raises $48M

Image Source businessinsider Android Co-Founder Andy Rubin's new company Playground Global, an incubator focused on hardware startups, has raised 48 million in equity financing. According to the filing, the company listed Rubin as a managing director. The investors include, Google, Hewlett-Packard Co., electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., and other tech companies.

Is Social Media Going to Kill Legacy Media Organisations?

Social media is giving such a slaughter its best shot, although with much help from the legacy media honchos. However, with a population of approximately 1.27 billion and internet penetration of approximately 243 million (a mere 19.9 ), the statistics in India beg the real question Can social media kill legacy media organisations like print media and television Image Source The Hindu The Advent of Social Media In February of 1978, Ward Christensen and Randy Suess of Chicago launched the...

GMIC: The Next Wave of Mobile

GMIC1 Shown above (From Left) Sachin Bansal, Naveen Tewari and Vikram Chaddha Global Mobile Internet Conference, Bangalore has started in India. Mobile is here, and mobile is here to stay. The thought leaders are bullish about Mobile Internet revolutionising India. The conference started with a panel discussion on How Mobile Has Made India Global with industry experts Sachin Bansal, CEO, Flipkart, Naveen Tewari, CEO, InMobi and Vikram Chandra, Group CEO & Executive Director, NDTV.

Homeshop18's Pataudi warehouse catches fire

In a recent mishap, Homeshop18's warehouse at Pataudi, near Gurgaon caught fire which gave firefighters a more than 10 hours of struggle to control it. As per a company worker the warehouse was having more than INR 60 Crore of inventory at the time of catching fire and the losses are speculated to be in crores. Local police SHO also hints the volume of damage that might have occurred but did not comment much at the current stage.

Thatspersonal, a portal in adult products etailing niche

Indians are found to be shy when it comes to purchasing Adult products. Be it contraceptives or Adult literature, Indian men and women do not want to get spotted in public while buying these. To overcome this problem and still to tap this category in the market, Thatspersonal, an online shopping portal offers erotic and adult products with complete privacy and also solves the barrier of embarrassment.

Facebook on an aggressive mobile traffic building strategy

In a new strategy to attract more mobile users, social media giant Facebook had announced its partnership with Nokia for its just launched Nokia Asha 501 to get Facebook pre-installed in the handsets. Facebook has built a messaging platform for Nokia Asha 501, that will allow users to see and chat with their online friends.

The MUSTS of launching a successful Ecommerce venture

The rules for successful commercial ventures are well documented and extensive. The rules for E commerce are not very different. To succeed you need to work wonders in every sphere but make sure you get a devils grip on the 3 MUSTS MUST1 Build a strong consumer proposition Think carefully about what you are going to sell. You may want to sell products that you manufacture yourself or products that you buy in and sell on. Crack the why should the consumer buy our product service over others .

Croma, Tata's Electronics Megastore goes Online with over 6000 Products under 8 Categories

Croma, the Electronics Megastore of the Tata Group, has launched its online store, www.cromaretail.com, with many features and functionalities. Launched in Mumbai in October 2006, Croma is part of Infiniti Retail Ltd., a 100 subsidiary of Tata Sons. The company has a large offline presence across the country and operates over 70 stores with revenues in excess of Rs. 1,500 Crores in 2011.

Addicted to Failure: Three Billionaires on How to Win the Game of Life

Not a lot of people know about Ray Dalio, and he prefers it that way. Considered one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine, Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater Associates , the largest hedge fund in the world, with 122 billion under management. So he's kind of a big shot. But whatever image you have of Dalio, you are probably wrong. Most of us have no clue what truly successful people are like. That's something Dalio learned when he first started his hedge fund.

10 Reasons Why Progressive Web Apps Can Kill Mobile Apps

Ever since Nokia released their first phones with the now iconic game Snake, people have been wanting more and more. These days we are spoiled for choice, and with more than 2 million apps submitted to both Apple's App Store and Google Play, there is no shortage for games and other applications to download and use on your smartphone.

Social Listening: An Critical Strategy for Brands to Engage on Social Media

Brands have realized that social networks offer an opportunity to interact directly with the consumers. Beyond just trying to interact with a tweet, often a more direct road to social success is to engage with customers more comprehensively in other locations and social listening shows you the way.

Mobility, Social, Big Data and Cloud to radically transform the online retail industry

As it is often being said lately-mobile, social, big data and cloud are going to be the next big thing in the sphere of technology. According to a study, conducted by Forrester and commissioned by TCS, these disruptive technologies will be the key drivers to revolutionize the retail industry status quo but retailers are not staffed or structured adequately to take full advantage.

Contemporary Digital Marketing Trends Should Get More Attention

Photo by Cathryn Lavery on Unsplash A passionate digital marketer will always think about the new trends and new approaches to their business and its digital needs. Unfortunately, many digital marketers are eager to see the future of their industries and also the digital marketing trends because to prepare their business for new approaches. As I don't have to say about the rise of digital marketing around the world because you all can see around you.

Driving Better Consumer Insights with the Power of Chatbots

ChatbotsSuccess of every business hinges on how well it communicates with its stakeholders. Usually this takes shape as internal and external communication. Almost all business functions need to communicate. Marketing needs to communicate with potential customers Sales need to communicate with the leads and prospects HR needs to do so with employees and similarly Customer Service communicates with customers.

When Entrepreneurs Turn Investors: The Pros and Cons

Everybody, at some point in life, needs a guardian angel to lend a helping hand and steer them through the pitfalls. Startups also need a guardian angel, especially in their early stages, to get off the ground. For young entrepreneurs who are still too small to be noticed by VCs and have run through most of their own money trying to take off, having an angel investor betting on their idea is a blessing.

India to Have 100M Online Shoppers And a USD 15B E-tailing Market by 2016: Google

According to Google's annual online shopping growth trends report released on Thrusday, done in a collaboration with Forrester Research, India will have 100 million online shoppers including 40 million women, by 2016. The number of online shoppers was 8 million in 2012 and is 35 million this year. This means there will be a growth factor of 12X between 2012 and 2016. Google India announced the report via a Twitter Post.

Why Being a Good Leader may make you a Good Entrepreneur?

It plays a significant role in employee accomplishment and efficiency in a startup. Entrepreneurs can do this by persuading employee actions in numerous ways. A frontrunner or leader sets a clear vision for the institution, inspires and guides employees and builds morale. Leadership's role in a startup is indubitable. Great leaders build great industries and average leaders generate mediocre businesses. Leadership is mostly about handling and managing employees.

5 Tools to Build AR Capabilities in Mobile Apps

Photo by Baiq Bilqis on Unsplash With the constant technological changes, it has become paramount for the software design managers to stay in touch with the latest trends. It isn't easy keeping tabs on the latest developments, and therefore, argument reality enables businesses and app development experts to overlay digital data over the real-world objects.

Indian Online Lingerie Store Pretty Secrets is Looking to Raise Rs 100Cr

Image Source Previews123rf Mumbai-based MTC Ecom Pvt.Ltd that owns online lingerie platform Prettysecrets.com, is in talks to raise Series B round of funding in the coming month. Although the exact amount has not been disclosed, Business Line reports that the sum would be around Rs 90-100 crores. Earlier, the company had raised Series A of Rs 12 crores from Rehan Yar Khan's Orios Venture Partners accompanied by Indian Angel Network (IAN) and investor India Quotient.

Meru Cabs Launches Mobile Wallet in Partnership with Citrus

After Ola and Uber, now Meru Cabs has launched a new app Mobile Wallet feature with participation from Citrus. The app is having a Zero-click checkout feature that allows users to book a cab, and payment of the trip is automatically deducted from the wallet once the ride is over and also used at third party retailers. Basically, customers need to load money in the wallet via debit card, credit card or net banking which helps users to make payments at the click of a button.

Opera Acquires Mobile Video Ad platform Adcolony for USD 350M

Opera confirmed that it has acquired US Mobile Video Ad platform, Adcolony to strengthen its position in the fast growing mobile advertising industry, with a combined consumer audience of more than 700 million. The deal amount is USD 75 million in cash, plus potential earn-out payment of USD 275 million that brings the deal up to USD 350 million. This acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2014.

Tech Blogging Website Gigaom Shuts Down

Technology and Research blogging website, Gigaom, shut down its operations on Monday evening. Gigaom blog's provided news, analysis and opinions on start-ups, emerging technologies, and other technology related topics. According to the management on the official website, the company became unable to pay its creditors and thus, all operations have ceased .

IBM Global Entrepreneur Program Invites Applications for Smartcamp Challenge for Smart City

IBM Global Entrepreneur Program is conducting a nationwide challenge in the space of Smart City, called the IBM Smartcamp for Smart City. It has opened up applications for B2B and B2C startups less than 5 years old in the areas of Energy & Utility, Transportation, Sanitation, Water, Citizen Management, Safety and Surveillance. Agritech startups can also apply.

Facebook and Instagram Roll out Deeper Analytics for Advertisers

In order to improve support for windows developer along with refreshed content, Social media platform, Facebook rolling out analytics for App Links, in participation with Mixpanel and Parse (acquired last year). Its cross-platform, open-source initiative, mobile deep linking acquired company Instagram also launched a similar update to its analytics for future advertisers to provide marketers data in near real time on the social media network.

Twitter introduces ‘Mute' to help avoid over-tweets

In a Monday blog post, Twitter Product Manager, Paul Rosania, announced the addition of Mute feature to the user accounts. Since the start of this month, rumors have started circulating around the new addition. Currently, available for few, the team promises to roll it out soon for all. Muting a user means that neither their tweets & retweets will be visible , nor any sms and push notifications from them. This feature was already available on Twitter's Tweetdeck product and the Tweetbot app.

5 Reasons Why Even Great Entrepreneurs Fail and How to Bounce Back

Being an entrepreneur is like knowing you are an Old Style Clown Punching Bag and being happy about it. You know that you will be hit by many people but still you cannot do anything about it. Or on the brighter side you know that the more people hit you, the harder you will hit them back. Entrepreneurs love to talk about their success but only few share their failures. Well, worry not because I have done that for you.

How Developers Can Make Mobile Apps Futuristically Marketable

What creates a lasting impression in people There is a simple one-word answer to this question- innovation . As a mobile app developer, you should ensure that you can appeal to your clients with your innovations. This is because new inventions will help you to grow your market, especially if mobile apps are becoming uninteresting. With the right team and information, you should be able to invent new trends that will keep you in the market for a longer time.

Google to Add ‘Buy' Button in its Search listings, a Threat to eRetailers?

Google is reportedly providing a buy button on its search page for the products searched on it in next few weeks. However, if the feature is in a bid for Google to become an online marketplace hasn't been disclosed yet. The search engine will display buy buttons only on mobile devices only when users search for products. Buy buttons will be part of sponsored (paid) search results within a Shop on Google page.

Black Berry Phones Set To Bank On Android Software

BlackBerry is likely to equip its upcoming smartphone with Android's software for the first time ever. Image Caption According to sources, Android would be a part of BlackBerry's strategy to focus on software and device management. They maintained that by launching an Android-based device of its own, BlackBerry would be sending a signal to people that the company is confident about the BES12 system which can not only manage, but also secure smartphones and tablets powered by rival operating...

Seven Brand Management Rituals You Must Observe

Brands can give consumers a simple, fun framework for engaging with familiar things. With many brands available in the market, it involves a greater challenge to get consumers interact with your brand in the present day. What is a Brand Ritual A Brand Management ritual is nothing but making a brand better. It is the shared experience of how people enjoy your brand. It includes a set of actions that customers value in improving your brand experience.

Mobile Payment to Become the Next Big Thing in India - In Depth with Paytm, Freecharge & Mobikwik

Image Source Freepik mCommerce market in India is in nascent stage, m-payment and m-banking segments have shown significant growth over the last few years. As smartphone sales continue their journey by 51 every three months, the mobile commerce (m-comm) market may grow by 55 from its present size of 2 billion to 19 billion by 2019. Now a days online recharge has become very exceptional choice for most of the people as they have the benefit to recharge instantly at anytime.

Insta Taskers - Building a Home for the Best of India's Freelancers

A web development team in one of India's biggest metropolitan cities had for decades scouted international markets for clients. The reason they did so, was because they had begun to believe that the Indian consumer had no appreciation for quality and were not willing to pay an amount in tandem with the work they asked for. Today, the same company gets 20 of their revenue from the Indian market alone. This turnaround is just one of the success stories that was made possible by InstaTaskers .

Etsy Raises $267M through IPO at $16 per Share

Image Source peers.org American eRetailer Etsy has raised 267 million in its initial public offering (IPO), ahead of its debut on the Nasdaq tomorrow.The official statement released today said that the company is pricing 16.66 million shares of its stock at 16 per share. Etsy first began the IPO process by issuing its form S-1 on March 4, which was reported on iamWire. At the time, Etsy revealed that it was planning to raise 100 million through IPO listing.

20 Top Podcasts for Startup Founders & Entrepreneurs

This curated column is authored by Simon Martin, Co-Founder, WeirdlyHub Recently I asked a startup group on Facebook what they were listening to in the way of podcasts. I'm keen to use my time on the train in a productive way rather than people watching (as fun as it is). So I thought I'd share the results. If you have any more feel free to post them in the comments.

Google has 2 Billion Accounts; While Facebook had just 1.3 Billion

According to data collected by Greg Miernicki, a technology professional, Google+ now has more then 2 billion accounts. Google had not made this data public, the techie had himself been tracking this information using third party tools. However, a Google team member, Mark Traphagen, accepts the accuracy of this data in a post. He also clarified the following misconceptions that might arise among people after seeing this number 1) These aren't all active accounts. That's right. And it's wrong.

7 Tips for a Successful Marketing Campaign with an Influencer

This guest column is by Jeremy Chew, Marketing Executive, iprice Group Influencers are individuals who are active on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or blogs. True influencers have a certain impact on their followers and, when chosen carefully, can boost your brand's image and visibility in the market. Contrary to the past, companies nowadays now employ the help of influencers more often than they do with conventional celebrities.

Fluttr: Now Speak Your Mind without the Fear of Being Judged or Criticized by Peers on Campus

Founded by Pankaj Gautam, Rajesh Patidar, Shivam Mani Tripathi & Ujash Dave, a group of four young geeks from IIT Gandhinagar in the summer of 2015, Bangalore-based Fluttr , is a social media app to instantly and anonymously speak to your college community and discover what is happening around you. The vision of the company is to empower people to speak freely, and openly within their communities. To let people socialize with the community without worrying about their social image.

Photo Editing App Pics Art Raises $15M Led by Insight Venture and Sequoia Capital

Photo editing app, PicsArt that empowers users to transform ordinary pictures into works of art and create inspirational photos, has raised 15 million in series B round of funding. The investment was led by Insight Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital. Earlier this year, the firm had received 10 million in series A funding from sequoia Capital. With this round of funding, the company plans to expand globally and develop new tools for users.

6 Off Beat Chat Apps that Grabbed Downloads in 2014

Internet technology has been constantly evolving over time and its impact has altered the way people communicate. A few years back, the hype for joining and using the social networking sites was on peak, however, with the changing times texting apps have taken over the market. These apps have not only made communicating easier, but also have reduced the phone bills to a large extent.

Get SetHome: Economizing the Trouble of House-hunting for Bachelors

House-hunting in a metropolitan city could be a highly painstaking task. Let alone the exorbitant flat rentals, the uncompromising terms and conditions applied by the landlords, make the process even more grueling. And if you are a bachelor, your trouble automatically gets doubled, thanks to the societal prejudices and skepticism. In an attempt to mitigate these issues, and simply the clumsy affair of finding a suitable house in budget, especially for single people, GetSetHome came into being.

Centre Allows 100% FDI in eCommerce Marketplace Model

In a notification on March 29, the government of India declared that it would allow 100 foreign direct investment in marketplace eCommerce companies , which would also be allowed to provide services including warehousing, inventory and payments processing to merchants. However, the notification said that eCommerce companies would not be allowed to influence prices of the goods sold on their website which means the era of heavy discounting is over.

Mobile Startup FTCash is Enabling Small Merchants to Go Cashless

Founded by Sanjeev Chandak, Deepak Kothari and Vaibhav Lodha, Mumbai-based FTCash , was launched in June 2015. The app-based platform enables you to receive invoices and initiate payments via credit and debit card directly to small merchants. It eliminates the need to store money in multiple wallets, and the problem of looking for cash and exact change. Customers receive instant confirmation on their phone, email id and notification alerts.

52% of Myntra's Revenue Comes From Mobile; Company to Go Mobile-Only in Mid 2015

Flipkart owned fashion and lifestyle e-tailer Myntra is expected to transform into a mobile-only company' by May 2015, as around 52 percent of its revenue is currently coming from mobile traffic which was 13 percent this January. We will close this financial year ending March 31, 2015 with 75 percent of our revenue coming from mobile.

Facebook is Sneakily Rolling Out Internet.Org's Free Basics to Users in India

The year 2015 saw Facebook getting caught up in a storm in a debate on net neutrality over its Internet.org initiative. Now the company is rolling out free Facebook services for Airtel users without any official announcement. Update 1 Airtel's communication representative got in touch with iamwire, to share that the company hasn't signed up for Internet.

Intel releases ‘Pocket Avatars' mobile chat app for Android, iOS

After launching hybrid PC range combining both Android and Windows, Intel has now released a social app for Android and iOS named Pocket Avatars. The smartphone app uses facial tracking technology to relay a sender's expressions and offers video-like mobile messaging. The app uses smartphone's camera and microphone to record a short message while combines your voice and expressions with several cartoon characters including Lego figures, Care Bears, Annoying Orange and Gumby.

Zoho launches business card scanning app as a CRM solution

Zoho corp., a cloud based productivity and collaboration suite provider from India has found a solution for its users to scan, feed leads and contacts directly from the business cards. Zoho will be the first CRM provider to facilitate it inhouse. But how Users can use the app to add leads from business cards directly into zoho. The app is capable of reading English, French, German and Spanish. Currently it is available only for the iOS version.

Some ‘Life Lessons' that Entrepreneurship Teaches You

Image Source Author Suresh Kabra, Founder, PriceMap While a lot has been written about the skills required to become an entrepreneur, in this note I want to share some life's lessons which entrepreneurship has taught me. And taught me in a way like no one else could have. I call them life's lessons as their impact goes far beyond the success or the failure of the ventures I undertook. These learnings have stayed with me and pretty much define my way of life.

7 Lesser Known Web Analytics Tools for Your Business

All businesses need to have a tracking & feedback mechanism to measure their progress and make iterations when and where required. Now when firms are investing in digital marketing, deploying analytics is one of the first steps they do to measure the ROI. At the same time, Digital Marketing Stats 2015 by research firm Smartinsights mentions that 63 of companies did not agree with the statement we have a good infrastructure in place to collect the data we need' The right analytics tracking set...

5 Common Misconceptions About Chatbots

After storifying my last post 5 Tweets On- Future of Chatbots AI, I got excited about this new tool. So I thought let me dive into this new concept. And to my belief, I had a misconceptions which are common to all who are trying to get their hands on to this new tool. There are many projects under development to empower brands with AI and one of them, Chatbots . Tech Legends have declared that AI powered products could be a future curse.

How We Are Fostering Women Entrepreneurship - Journey of Cash Suvidha

CashSuvidha (A trade name of Usha Financials Ltd) is one of the very few platforms which are helping the needy women to raise easy money and actively contribute in the growth of the Nation. The founders and driving force of CashSuvidha are two experienced individuals, myself Rajesh Gupta, and Anoop Garg , having more than 20 years of man experience in various business fields. Here is how we are promoting women entrepreneurship in India.

What Makes Chatbots a Great Tool for Ecommerce Businesses?

If you love technology and stay updated with what's happening in that domain, chatbots won't be a new thing for you. Facebook and Skype are redefining their whole messaging platform around chatbots. I came across Chatbots while play an online flash game called Chatbot (because creativity). Since then, I've been mesmerized and completely fallen in love with how artificial intelligence (AI) has evolved over time.

How Should An Entrepreneur Share His/Her Vision Effectively

How does anything new that you plan in life actually start It starts with your vision of what you want that to be. So when you have an idea that you want to implement, what you actually try and do is give it some kind of shape and structure. You verbalize what you expect or want the idea to do in the short and then long term. In simple terms, that is what a visioning exercise is. A vision is a combination of imagination and meticulous thought both of which are important for an entrepreneur.

How to Truly Attract the Right Talent to Your Business

The Slack team in their office in San Francisco. Photograph Winni Wintermeyer for the Guardian If there's one thing that successful entrepreneurs all seem to agree on, it's that the most important thing about launching a startup is making sure you have the right team behind you. More and more graduates are emerging with impressive experience and wide skill sets, but there are also an increasing number of companies launching and offering job opportunities.

How Fitato Aims to be the Umbrella Brand for All Niche Fitness Facilities in the Country

Fitato Fitato as an idea was started in October 2014 by two college kids, myself Karan Murada & Aditya Srivastava. It took us 11 months of multiple pivots, understanding of the markets, convincing of parents & 8 interns, one of them who joined us as the co-founder now (Pawani Khandelwal), to launch Fitato. Fitato lets users access 100s of Gyms & Fitness studios in the city all through a single membership.

Untapped Potential for eCommerce in Rural India

Earlier it was thought that eCommerce companies have no reach to the villages of the India. However, in the recent past there have been certain developments in the country, which have connected even the villages to the latest technological trends. The postal service is one system that has the power to connect the whole of the country. It has reached to almost all the villages, even those in the remote locations. The past two years have witnessed dramatic growth for the Indian postal service.

Important Moments in the Journey of the Mobile Phone

The beauty about science and technology is that a device which was unimagined by generations preceding us, becomes a necessity of the present. Most probably our grandparents in their prime couldn't have imagined that a handheld device could make phone calls, messages, play music, games,Yes, we are talking about cellular phone, which arguably is one of the everyday essentials of the 21st century.

How To Build Augmented Reality Apps For Your Business

When it comes to augmented reality (AR) app development, it is quite important to understand that there are quite a lot of hard tricks involved. Almost a full-time job is required to stay right on top of the latest trends. Any AR app development company that is looking to explore the world of augmented reality must first understand what AR means for its business.

5 Tips to Enhance Your Enterprise Mobility Management Strategy

The mobile workforce is expected to upsurge to 1.87 billion people in 2022, all around the world. This represents 42.5 of the whole workforce, globally. As the conventional workforce transforms into a mobile workforce, companies are focusing on the techniques to make this process smooth. Companies are increasingly investing in enterprise mobility platforms in order to accomplish this objective.

AI and Mobile AI: Are We on the Right Path?

2016 turned out to be a great year for Artificial Intelligence. It had all of our attention and no one seemed to be bothered. Many start-ups tried their luck with AI. Everyone started to talk about how Artificial Intelligence is going to change lives and how it's the big thing . 2017 did not have any lesser AI hype as well. Samsung launched Bixby which claims to be fully voice control and is considered to be better than Siri and Cortana.

2017 Dot-com Shining: India's Rising Ecommerce Industry

According to the Central Statistics Organisation (CSO) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), with various positive factions thriving, including that of E-Retail,India has emerged as the fastest growing economy in the world. As recent as few years, India has noted a constructive rise in people venturing out for online retail. The past year's ecommerce sales were approximately 16 billion with chances of market expanding up to seven times higher, according to Morgan Stanley.

#Dealwire - Voonik Acquires Styling App Dekkoh; Delta Corp Acquires Adda52.com for Rs 182Cr & More

Shown Above Team Dekkoh Voonik Acquires Styling and Personalisation App Startup DekkohFashion marketplace Voonik has acquired Bangalore-based app startup Dekkoh, in order to strengthen its personalization engine. Dekkoh is a fashion discovery platform that allows users to chat with a personal stylist and further buy apparel & accessories. The startup was founded in November 2015 by Aditya Chalasani and Varun Mathew.

Keep Your BFFs Away from Your Startup's Facebook Page

This guest column is authored by Rishabh Dev, Managing Director at Mapplinks A marketer's biggest nightmare is that in spite of all his knowledge of social media channels, tips, and tricks, he will fail in promoting his brand online. The thought itself gives me the heebies jeebies. It's hard work getting your clients to like you and be loyal to you in a virtual world with an ever changing topography.

Solar Energy Startup Zolt Energy Raises Seed Funding

Zolt Energy, a rooftop solar installation and distribution venture, has raised its seed funding round of funding from 7 angel investors. The raised capital will be used by the startup to spread awareness, reach a wider customer base and strengthen their logistics, monitoring and service offerings. Launched in early 2014, Zolt Energy has remained in stealth mode until October 2015 while it built the market canvas, understood customer dynamics and refined the product & service offerings.

Partner With Shopify and Fuel eCommerce in India

Ndia is going to have over a 100 million online shoppers by 2016, and these shoppers will fuel a 15 billion Internet retail industry. This is a massive opportunity for retailers, and we're already seeing thousands of business owners jump on the ecommerce bandwagon by opening online stores. Luckily, there are several technology companies that are helping retailers to make their dreams of selling online come true. One online enabler operating in India is eCommerce SaaS platform, Shopify.

Travel eCommerce: Past, Present and Future

Tourism has become an important sector which helps immensely in the development of the nation. Tourism in India is growing rapidly and is very important economically. This sector accounts for more than 7 of the nation's GDP and supports more than 40 Million jobs in India. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), this sector is growing at an average annual rate of 8 .

Indian Startup Juggernaut Raises Funding to Become a Mobile First Publisher

Juggernaut's Co-Founder Chiki Sarkar was formerly publisher of Penguin India and editor-in-chief of Random House India Source Indian publishing company, Juggernaut which launched its operations on Tuesday, has raised undisclosed amount of funding led by FabIndia's founder William Bissell, Infosys' co-founder Nandan Nilekani and Neeraj Aggarwal, managing director of Boston Consulting Group India.

Electronics Appliances Repair Startup Handy Home Raises $0.5M in Seed Funding

Shown Above HandyHome's Co-founders Mumbai-based startup HandyHome which allows users' book brand's authorized repairs and other services for electronics alliances, has raised 0.5 million in seed round. The investors are Bessemer Venture Partners (Investers of Skype, LinkedIn. Snapdeal, Taxi For Sure) and Kae Capital (Investors in Myntra and founded by Sasha Mirchandani). The investment was principally agreed in April and was finally closed in the first week of June.