Missed the happening of startup world? Here is the recap for you. Mentioned below are the 10 news which made headlines this week:

Infosys Acquires London-based Brilliant Basics for $9.8Mn


Infosys has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Brilliant Basics, a London-based product design and customer experience (CX) innovator known for its design thinking-led approach and experience in executing global programs. The deal amount is estimated at around $9.8 million.

This acquisition represents Infosys’ commitment to the expansion of a worldwide connected network of Digital Studios. These studios are focused on fulfilling the needs of our global clients for end-to-end Digital Transformation solutions required to meet customer demand for next-generation enhanced customer experiences.

Hyderabad Based STICHIO Receives $40000 Boost From Facebook’s FBStart program


India-born social network, STICHIO was recently selected by Facebook to get incubated in its coveted FBStart program. As a part of this program, STICHIO would receive benefits worth $40000 and avail opportunity to work with Facebook’s product and technology team in the US. Founded by 4 IITians and BITSian in 2016, STICHIO is built around a unique premise where users express themselves through DARES or challenges.

The Hyderabad startup is a first-of-its-kind social network that offers you a large assortment of readily available ideas in the form of DARES or challenges. These challenges can range from fun, talent, fitness and puzzles to totally outrageous ones.

Milestone Makers India Program Announces Graduation Cohort of 15 Entrepreneurs


After successful completion of a critical 12-weeks program, the graduation ceremony of the entrepreneurs graduating from the Milestone Makers India program by San Francisco-based nonprofit Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center was celebrated on 30th July, 2017 at CoworkIn. The ceremony witnessed the presence of mentors, coaches, and the network of people involved throughout the journey of 12-weeks with special recognition to the cohort members graduating from the program. The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center , in partnership with Startup India, had launched their Milestone Makers India program in New Delhi earlier in May this year.

After a competitive process, 15 entrepreneurs were on-boarded out of the 108 applications received from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, industries, company sizes, and stages of funding and development. These selected 15 entrepreneurs were on-boarded to become a part of the summer 2017 cohort where each founder was paired with a diverse set of mentors and coaches from India and the US with a prime vision of helping them set a critical business goal and accelerate their path to achieving it in a period of 12-weeks.

In 2017 Total of 101 Indian Startups Exited and 10 Filed for IPOs, Says Report


CB Insights report has revealed that a high number of technology startups in the ecosystem made a decision to exit in 2017. In fact, the number of initial public offerings (IPOs) filed by startups in 2017 till date has reached the most the country has witnessed in 5 years since 2012.

According to the report, the number of first exits witnessed in Indian tech companies has tripled from 52 in the year 2012 to 184 last year in 2016. The report also noted that even though between 2015 and 2016, the exit activity seen in the ecosystem remained the same, the IPOs saw a whopping 400 percent increase– from 1 to 4. The latest CB Insights report highlights that a total of 101 startups exited in 2017 Year-To-Date (August 1, 2017), with 10 IPOs, six of which took place in the month of June and July itself.

Zinnov & 4 Others Tie up to Launch a Startup Accelerator Program, SIGMA


Zinnov, GIZ, Citrix, Ericsson, HARMAN, and IKP Knowledge Park together announced the launch of a one-of-its-kind social accelerator program. Coined ‘SIGMA’ Sustain. Innovate. Grow. Multiply. Accelerate., the social startup accelerator program was launched on 18th July 2017, at My Fortune, Bengaluru.

The main purpose of the startup accelerator program is to boost for-profit social enterprises that have created affordable solutions for the underserved population in India, in turn enabling large scale impact. The five main verticals that the accelerator will support include Healthcare, Clean Tech, Smart-Agri, Sanitation, and Education.

In addition to funding, SIGMA will also have its founding corporates bring members of their leadership team to the program, who are experts in their respective domains, to mentor and guide these startups.

BookMyShow Acquires Nfusion to Boost Its Audio Entertainment Offerings


BookMyShow has acquired Nfusion for an undisclosed amount in an all cash deal. This comes at a time when BookMyShow after redefining the movies and events ticketing space, is well on its path to become the ultimate entertainment destination for users.

Nfusion’s scalable tech solutions, especially CMS (content management system), will be key to the success of BookMyShow’s foray into audio entertainment. The acquisition not just provides BookMyShow a robust tech platform but also an experienced team which will provide a fillip to BookMyShow’s audio entertainment offerings. While the Nfusion team will be headed by Shoaib, Sivagurunathan will lead the Architecture and Devops teams at BookMyShow.

After Calling Off Flipkart Deal, Snapdeal To Layoff 80% of Its Workforce


Snapdeal, struggling online marketplace now wants to run a leaner, meaner version of the organization, and will lay off close to 80 percent of its workforce, ANI reports.

A top official told the news agency that department heads were instructed to prepare a list of people who would be asked to leave. At present, Snapdeal has about 1,200 employees. If the Gurgaon-based firm goes through with its decision, it would be left with about 200 employees only.

This would be Snapdeal’s second major layoff exercise. Last year in July, it had slashed its workforce from over 9,000 to under 2,000 [Read Here]. It was one of the biggest layoffs in the India’s startup space. And earlier this year, it fired 600 more employees in a bid to cut costs; the founders as well as some top executives had to forego their salaries.

Failed Snapdeal Merger May Actually Have Saved Flipkart From The Trouble, Says Experts


While the Indian ecommerce industry is still reeling from the aftershocks of the Flipkart-Snapdeal merger deal falling apart at the very last moment. Venture capital experts in India are of the opinion that the decision taken by troubled e-commerce to end merger talks with the Indian e-commerce leader Flipkart might actually work out in favour of the latter.

For a while now, Flipkart’s focus has been divided on running its shop and executing the deal, but with the deal now in the dumpster, the Bengaluru-based firm could now focus its full attention on putting a tough fight for global e-commerce giant Amazon which is trying to take over Flipkart’s numero uno throne in the country.

The fallout of talks between the two e-commerce firms came as a big surprise to many as the deal negotiations were in its last stage. In fact, a meeting was scheduled to take place in Bengaluru on Monday between the two parties to tie up loose ends of the deal. The meeting was eventually cancelled late on Sunday by Snapdeal.

Kunal Bahl Boasts of Making Rs 150 Cr Gross Profit in 12 Mths


Troubled e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal, which was contemplating a merger deal with Indian e-commerce leader Flipkart for the last 3-4 months finally announced its decision to dump Flipkart’s second buyout offer and try workout things on its own for sometime.

Not only has the company dropped its merger plans altogether, its founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal are now boosting that the company will come out of the troubled reputation it has acquired for last few years and earn a gross profit of whopping Rs 150 crore in next one year.

The development comes on the heels of Snapdeal selling its digital payments platform Freecharge to Axis Banks for a whopping Rs 385 crore. Snapdeal founders are confident that the cash inflow from the deal can give Snapdeal the much needed breather it required to survive on its own.

A Programme For Boosting Food and Agriculture Startups To Be Introduced By Govt


In order to change the scenario and provide better tools for farmers to work with, the Indian government recently launched a new AGRI-UDAAN programme.

Being helmed by India’s premier farm research body, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the food and agri-business accelerator programme will be focused on mentoring agri-startups and getting them in touch with potential investors.

The programme is looking to recruit food and agri-businesses from all across India. The first round will witness 40 shortlisted startups pitching their business ideas to a panel of evaluators. Out of these 40, between 8 to 12 startups will make it to the final capacity building workshop.

 
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