Exam Prep Platform Gradeup Raises $7 Mn from Times Internet

Gradeup, India's largest exam preparation platform has received $7 million in Series A funding from Times Internet, India’s largest digital products company. This is the second fundraise for Gradeup, which has now raised $10 million in total. Gradeup will utilise the funds to enhance its tech & product capabilities, diversify offerings and scale the academic team.

Gradeup helps more than 15 million exam aspirants prepare effectively for competitive examinations like JEE, NEET, IBPS, SSC, TET, GATE, UPSC amongst others. Gradeup’s flagship offering is Gradeup Classroom; providing live courses from some of India's best faculties.

The program offers comprehensive learning experience which engages students through Live classes, interactive quizzes, mock tests, 24x7 mentorship, amongst others. All of this designed & delivered by expert faculty through a structured methodology with a day-wise study plan.

It is complemented with engaging exam-specific communities, enabling students to interact with fellow peers & mentors, ask questions, share updates & access free study material.

Shobhit Bhatnagar, Co-founder–CEO, Gradeup said, “This round of investment from one of the largest and most influential internet enterprises across India is a glowing endorsement of our will to build the most effective edtech solution in the country. We are the only Indian online exam preparation platform that enables Live online coaching complemented with community-based learning, with ‘student success’ at the centre of our operational strategy.

He further added “We are investing fresh funds to further build our live online coaching platform, scale our academic team to 100 Faculties and 200 Subject Matter Experts & to expand further in Tier 2,3,4 towns”

Gradeup focuses on “student success” metrics as a tool to measure achievements and effectiveness, thereby stressing more on learning outcomes. This replaces normative measurements like the number of users, the number of classes, etc. to provide a holistic view of the course’s adoption something that has been largely overlooked by other players in the market.

Speaking on the investment decision, Gautam Sinha, CEO Times Internet, said, “Gradeup has been able to build the largest online student communities in India, and we are excited to be partners in their mission to improve education in India.”

The online education market in India currently stands at $247 million and is estimated to grow more than 8X over the next 5 years to over $1.96 billion in 2021. This growth is expected to be backed by a phenomenal rise in paid users across top edtech platforms, which is projected to grow from the current base of around 1.57 million to 9.5 million users in 2021 at a CAGR of 44%.

Gradeup believes that in the long run great pedagogy delivered through effective, engaging mediums will bring in impactful results and that will set an example for India’s test preparation market. Considering the tremendous traction that its live online courses have received so far, Gradeup expects the number of enrollments to touch 60,000 students by the end of FY19-20, and 1.5L+ by FY20-21. Further, with special emphasis on enhancing and scaling its product & tech capabilities.. Gradeup looks to raise more funds in the coming year to propel its efforts towards establishing category leadership.

Gradeup helps more than 15 million students prepare for various exams & score better. Established in 2015, Gradeup has established & nurtured highly engaging exam-specific communities of students and mentors for JEE, NEET, GATE, SSC, Banking, Railways, Teaching, UPSC, Defense and State level exams. Aspirants can freely access prep material, quizzes, previous years papers & get answers to their doubts. Additionally, there are certain paid services like Test series and Live online courses which aspirants can avail to add further value to their preparation.

About Times Internet, it is India’s largest digital products company, owns and operates 40+ properties that aspire to bring people closer to their interests and aspirations every day. Its media portfolio spans news, music, sports, and video, with leading positions in each segment. Times Internet further engages its audiences across a suite of transactional marketplaces, in segments such as real estate, personal finance, education, jobs, table booking, and more. With over 450 million monthly consumers who spend nearly 130 billion minutes per month on its properties, Times Internet is the largest reaching and highest engaging digital ecosystem in India.
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Music App Gaana Looking to Break-Even in Next 4-5 Years

Music app Gaana expects to achieve break-even in the next 4-5 years with 100 per cent year-on-year revenue growth and traction of paid users on its platform.

The company is also planning to invest in non-music genre to increase the engagement time of users on the platform.

Industry will become profitable when 50% of Indian people start using streaming apps, and 'paid music' as a model becomes the norm, Gaana CEO Prashan Agarwal told PTI.

"Our revenue have been growing 100 per cent year-on-year. We expect to reach break-even at this rate in next 4-5 years," he added.

The Times Internet Group firm expects to double the number of monthly active users on its platform to 200 million in the next two years representing around 50 per cent share of the overall market.

"In next 3-4 years, we expect 500-600 million users will start using music app out of which we expect 30 million to start paying for music. This will take music streaming segment towards healthy profits. We will maintain our share of over 50 per cent in this kind of market as well," Agarwal said.

The company raised USD 115 million last year, which includes USD 100 million from Chinese company Tencent and USD 15 million from Times Internet.

Besides music, Gaana is now expanding non-music content to enhance user engagement.

"We are basically focussing on content from motivational speakers, meditation, workouts, comedy and story telling. This will enhance engagement of users on our platform," Agarwal said.

Gaana has also partnered with Google Playstore to launch an instant app for listeners who want to experience the app without actually downloading it.

"This feature is targeted towards the next 100 million users coming online. We have registered a 5 per cent surge in app installs per day as more people are realising the convenience of being able to listen to their favourite songs anytime anywhere even before they download our app," Agarwal said. PTI PRS

eSports Platform Mobile Premier League Raises $35.5 Mn from Sequoia India, Times Internet, Other

Mobile Premier League (MPL), the fastest growing mobile eSports Platform in India today, announced a Series A investment of USD 35.5 Million, led by Sequoia India, Times Internet, and GoVentures with participation from other investors including RTP Global, BeeNext, Base Growth, and Venture Highway. The funds will enable the newly launched mobile gaming platform to invest in product and user growth in India.

“Our goal is to build India's largest Mobile eSports Platform which is accessible to all. MPL today provides users access to all formats and types of competitive games. Like with everything else, Competitive Gaming in India will be mobile first and MPL wants to be the platform of choice for the user. In the 7 months since launch, the user love we have received is testimony to that. We are thankful and excited to have investors who share the same bold vision.” said Sai Srinivas Kiran G, Co-Founder and CEO of Mobile Premier League.

“Sequoia India is very happy to back Sai and Shubh a second time, and believe solidly in their vision of creating the largest esports platform for India and other emerging markets,'' said Shailendra Singh, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital (India) Singapore. “We’re thrilled with the early progress at MPL. With their industry leading growth and engagement metrics, MPL has the potential to become a major mobile internet company in India.” he added.

MPL is currently one of the Playstore's top ranking apps across categories with over 25 million installs making it the fastest growing app in India. A large part of the platform’s success can be attributed to its highly engaging and social gaming content.

“MPL has captured the imagination of gamers on smartphones like no other platform out there. Skill based competitive casual games are highly engaging social experiences, and we believe MPL will be a leader in this category globally” said Miten Sampat, VP Corp Dev, Times Internet.

Mobile eSports is becoming popular by the day and MPL aims to break barriers of access to make mobile gaming a household sport across the country.

Speaking on the association Samir Sood, Founder, Venture Highway said “E-gaming has witnessed an exponential growth in India with the rapid penetration of digital infrastructure. In a short timeframe, MPL has shown tremendous growth, capturing a sizeable chunk of this market. We are excited to partner with MPL, in its vision of becoming the go-to-platform for mobile gamers, not just across the country, but beyond.”

Times Internet Appoints Kaaryah Founder As Head of Corporate Initiatives & Planning; Deepti Tondon To Head BaaziNow

Times Internet announced the appointments of Dipti Tandon as the Business Head for live video gameshow platform, BaaziNow and Nidhi Agarwal as Head of Corporate Initiatives & Planning. Times Internet is India’s leading digital products company, with 39+ businesses across news, entertainment, utilities, classifieds etc.

Gautam Sinha, the CEO of Times Internet stated, “Dipti has been leading the BaaziNow initiative right from the time of its conceptualization. She has been the driving force in making BrainBaazi and BingoBaazi the most popular and technologically advanced live video gameshow platforms in India."

Notably, Nidhi was founder of Kaaryah.com, an online women's apparel store backed by India's affluent businessman Ratan Tata. Kaaryah however shut down in last December for not able to raise funds. Nidhi was also among our top women entrepreneurs of 2015.

She has also worked in the corporate strategy teams at Honeywell International and Bain & Co., with experience across diverse industries including aerospace & defence, telecom, FMCG, and education. Nidhi did her graduation from Gargi College, Delhi and an MBA from Kellogg (Chicago)

About Dipti, She has been with Times Internet for over thirteen years, having taken up multiple roles across various businesses of the company. She was the Product Head at MagicBricks and TechGig - driving both these brands to become leaders in their respective categories. Prior to Times Internet, Dipti was a founding member of JeevanSaathi, one of India’s leading digital matrimonial platforms today. Dipti is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad.

Sinha added, “Nidhi brings with her a sharp strategic mind and a keen entrepreneurial spirit. She will be a tremendous asset for all our businesses in identifying new avenues of growth and creating innovative, technology enabled solutions.To begin with she will start her entrepreneurial journey within TIL with TimesPoints.”

Sinha concluded by saying “Both Dipti and Nidhi are proven leaders and entrepreneurs who have started and scaled up digital businesses successfully. They will be pivotal in driving Times Internet’s vision of shaping and defining how internet-based services get consumed and delivered in India.”

[Top Image (L-R) - Nidhi Agarwal & Nidhi Tondon]

Times Internet Appoints Kaaryah Founder As Head of Corporate Initiatives & Planning; Deepti Tondon To Head BaaziNow

Times Internet announced the appointments of Dipti Tandon as the Business Head for live video gameshow platform, BaaziNow and Nidhi Agarwal as Head of Corporate Initiatives & Planning. Times Internet is India’s leading digital products company, with 39+ businesses across news, entertainment, utilities, classifieds etc.

Gautam Sinha, the CEO of Times Internet stated, “Dipti has been leading the BaaziNow initiative right from the time of its conceptualization. She has been the driving force in making BrainBaazi and BingoBaazi the most popular and technologically advanced live video gameshow platforms in India."

Notably, Nidhi was founder of Kaaryah.com, an online women's apparel store backed by India's affluent businessman Ratan Tata. Kaaryah however shut down in last December for not able to raise funds. Nidhi was also among our top women entrepreneurs of 2015.

She has also worked in the corporate strategy teams at Honeywell International and Bain & Co., with experience across diverse industries including aerospace & defence, telecom, FMCG, and education. Nidhi did her graduation from Gargi College, Delhi and an MBA from Kellogg (Chicago)

About Dipti, She has been with Times Internet for over thirteen years, having taken up multiple roles across various businesses of the company. She was the Product Head at MagicBricks and TechGig - driving both these brands to become leaders in their respective categories. Prior to Times Internet, Dipti was a founding member of JeevanSaathi, one of India’s leading digital matrimonial platforms today. Dipti is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad.

Sinha added, “Nidhi brings with her a sharp strategic mind and a keen entrepreneurial spirit. She will be a tremendous asset for all our businesses in identifying new avenues of growth and creating innovative, technology enabled solutions.To begin with she will start her entrepreneurial journey within TIL with TimesPoints.”

Sinha concluded by saying “Both Dipti and Nidhi are proven leaders and entrepreneurs who have started and scaled up digital businesses successfully. They will be pivotal in driving Times Internet’s vision of shaping and defining how internet-based services get consumed and delivered in India.”

[Top Image (L-R) - Nidhi Agarwal & Nidhi Tondon]

Music Startup Gaana To Raise $115 Mn From Tencent, Times Internet

New Delhi-based Gamma Gaana Ltd., the parent company of music streaming service Gaana, is reportedly raising $115 million from Chinese investment firm Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Times Internet. Notably, Gaana is a Times Internet subsidiary.

With this investment, Tencent acquires a minority stake in Gaana, which was so far a wholly owned subsidiary of Times Internet.

Multiple media reports confirmed that Tencent and Gaana confirmed the deal was taking place.

The funds to be raised will be used by Gaana to further invest in artificial intelligence (AI) related technology to personalize music experiences for consumers and to further develop its subscription services for paying users, and to develop aligned music experiences for Gaana users, said an another media report.

Launched in April 2010 by Times Internet, Gaana.com is a commercial music streaming service providing free and licensed music content that are both Indian and international languages.

In October 2015, Micromax had invested in Gaana for a minority stake. Other than this, Gaana does not have any other investors on board.

Later in December 2016, Gaana announced that it had crossed 50 Million app downloads.

Music streaming services in India are generally considered as money-losing business. One promising, venture-backed streaming company in India called Dhingana struggled to secure licenses from record labels and create a sustainable business. Dhingana was snapped up in a fire sale in 2014 by Rdio, which filed for bankruptcy the next year and was sold to Pandora Media Inc.

Last time any Indian music streaming startup had raised funds was Saavn, which raised undisclosed amount from former Vodafone global CEO Arun Sarin, in September 2015.

Tencent, which has also invested in India's Flipkart, is dominating on the global music streaming business. It owns Tencent Music, a popular service in China and also swapped shares with Spotify last year, giving it a stake in one of the most popular music streaming services in Europe and the U.S. Tencent also owns Joox in Southeast Asia.

China’s Tencent Holdings has its eyes set on India’s booming startup industry. It made its investor entry into the Indian startup industry three years ago in 2015 by leading a $90 million round in Practo Technologies, a Chennai-based digital health platform. Later it made $700 million investment in India’s ecommerce leader Flipkart, in April last year.

10 Startups News That Made Headlines This Week

Missed your daily updates on startup world? Not to worry. We at IndianWeb2 brings for our readers a weekly roundup. From Snapdeal raising funds to FreeCharge in talks with BoB and Times Internet for its acquisition, we brings to you all the important happening of the ecosystem.

Here are are Seven news that made headline this week:

Snapdeal Bags Rs.113 Cr In An Emergency Funding Round

Despite all the troubles and bleeding loses, homegrown e-commerce major has managed to bagged Rs 113 Cr from the existing investor Nexus Venture Partners and the company’s founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, in lieu of its 2015 acquisition of Unicommerce eSolutions.

This emergency round of funding round comes as a surprise as Snapdeal has been in talks with to get acquired by its rival Flipkart.

According to RoC (Registrar of Documents) filled by Sanpdeal, and accessed by corporate research and mentoring platform Tofler, Nexus Venture Partners was issued 14,810 preference shares, valued at Rs 96.26 crore while the founders — Bahl and Bansal, were each allotted 1,300 Series J1 preference shares, which have a cumulative value of Rs 16.90 crore (Rs 8.45 crore each) making a total of Rs 113 crores.Now we have to see how this latest funding round will help the company. Will it affect the company’s talks with Flipkart for

Now we have to see how this latest funding round will help the company. Will it affect the company’s talks with Flipkart for a plausible sellout or not? Only time will tell this.

DIPP To Pump In Rs 1600 Cr Fund of Funds for Startups Underway

Department of Industrial, Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has sought Rs 1,600 crore from the finance ministry in the supplementary demand for grants for the Fund-of-Funds (FFS) for startups in the current financial year.

Notably, around Rs 500 crore fund of funds is a backlog and now DIPP has sought an additional Rs 1,100 crore for the fund-of-funds making it a total of Rs. 1600 crore.

Earlier in June 2016, the Union Cabinet has approved setting up of Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) under Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for extending support to Startups.

E-wallet FreeCharge Is In Talks With BOB, Times Internet

For An All Cash Acquisition

Jasper Infotech’s e-wallet FreeCharge is in talks with Bank of Baroda (BOB) and Times Internet for an all-cash acquisition. The deal size is expected to be in the range of $60 – $75 million. This deal will allow BOB to expand its mobile wallet service, M-Clip which was launched last year and also to get access to millions of young customers FreeCharge has on its platform.

Whereas with this deal Times Internet looks to add the wallet service to its online ventures like as Indiatimes Shopping and Gaana to name few.

India Ranked 3rd Among Countries With Most Unicorns

As per a report by CB Insights, there are 197 companies in the world that can be currently identified as “unicorns”. Of these 197, 22 new unicorns were added this year (till May 26, 2017) alone indicating a good time for the global startup industry.

Further, the report highlighted that India with 4 percent of the world’s unicorns based out of its land, is ranked 3rd in countries with most unicorns.

The unicorns, which are collectively valued at a jaw-dropping $679 billion and have raised a whopping $142 billion in funding, belong to 13 verticals, which includes- e-commerce/marketplace, internet software & services, fintech, social, cybersecurity, on-demand, big data, healthcare to name few.

11 Year Old VC Firm, Helion Ventures Reaches Its Dead End

Helion Ventures, one of India’s oldest venture capital firms has reached its dead end. The firm had invested in startups like MakeMyTrip, Big Basket, Shopclues in their early stages.Founded in 2006 by Rahul Chandra, Ashish Gupta, Kanwaljit Singh and Sanjeev Aggarwal, Helion was left with only one co-founder, Rahul Chandra, when in 2016 the other three co-founders made exit from the VC firm.

Now in the latest development, Rahul Chandra is launching a $100 million early-stage fund — Unitary Helion . The fund will invest in sectors like fintech and digital marketplaces and with this move, it’s officially the end of Helion, an 11-year-old VC firm.

Flipkart’s COO Nitin Seth Step Down

Flipkart’s one of the top ranking executives, Nitin Seth has put in his papers. Serving as Flipkart chief operating officer, Seth was in charge of logistics unit Ekart besides corporate functions like strategy and human resources (HR).

Nitin’s exit will put CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy in charge of all the key functions of the organisation which will further tighten the grip the former Tiger Global Management Executive. Prior joining Flipkart, Nitin worked as the MD and country head for Fidelity International. Before that he led McKinsey’s global knowledge center in India for 8 years.

IndiQus Technologies Acquires Dartboard Analytics

Indiqus Technologies has acquired Delhi-based Dartboard Analytics, an analytics company providing data-driven insights into customer operations to grow customer revenue. In an all-stock deal, the Dartboard founders will join the IndiQus leadership team.

Dartboard is IndiQus’ second acquisition in the last two years. In April 2016, IndiQus had acquired shopping assistance startup Amicus to add intelligence to their Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) catalog for enterprises and cloud service providers. With Dartboard’s acquisition, IndiQus enhances its product portfolio with the much-in-demand analytics solution for cloud platforms.

Milind Shah Joins Unitus Seed Fund as Healthcare Venture Partner

Former MD of Medtronic, Milind Shah has Joined Unitus Seed Fund as a Healthcare Venture Partner. Shah brings to Unitus Seed Fund over three decades of leadership experience in sales, marketing, and corporate planning positions across varied businesses, including healthcare and speciality chemicals with global industry majors like Medtronic, Henkel, 3M and Shell.

Shah joins Fund with a mandate of furthering healthcare innovation for India’s billion-plus population by investing in 8-10 innovative and scalable healthcare businesses. In line with this aim, Unitus Seed Fund has earmarked INR 100 crore to invest in healthcare and also has launched the AmpHealth program, providing non-dilutive catalytic capital of up to Rs 1.75 crore ($250, 000) to fund immediate pre-commercialisation coupled with up to Rs 3.5 crore ( $500, 000) of seed capital.

Indian Tech Startups Receives Invite From S Korea for Global Competition

South Korea government is currently inviting tech startups from all around the world to take part in K-Startup Grand Challenge 2017. Backed by the Korean government, the K-Startup Grand Challenge 2017 will provide tech startups from any part of the world to lock in business agreements with Korean companies and giants. According to the website dedicated to the challenge, one of the key purposes of this event is to promote vigorous collaborations and exchange of ideas between domestic (Korean) and foreign startups.

According to the sources, 50 startups will walk away with a $12,000 prize for living expenses during their four-month stay in South Korea. Of these 50, the selected 25 will be given a grant of $27,000 each at the Demo Day.

These 20 Indian Startups Will Setup Business in London

20 Indian startups have been selected for assistance to set up their businesses in London as a part of the India Emerging Twenty (IE20) programme. The winners will now get an opportunity to go to London during London Tech Week scheduled to happen this month. The IE20 programme, which is being supported by global tax, accounting and advisory network BDO aspires to discover 20 of India’s most innovative and high-growth companies with global aspirations. Started in 2016, the programme nurtures startups across various sectors such as technology, media, telecom, life sciences, financial and business services sectors, in order to help them grow their international business presence through London.

IAMAI To Set up Mobile App Incubator in Kozhikode

According to a Kerala IT official, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) will set up their third incubator and the first one in the mobile app sector at the Cyber Park in Kozhikode. Opened on Monday, Cyber Park is spread over a 2.88 lakh square feet area. It is said that concerned authority has set aside 10,000 square feet space at the Cyber Park exclusively for the Mobile app incubator facility for the IAMAI.

BOB, Times Internet In Talks To Acquire Jasper Infotech's E-wallet FreeCharge

Jasper Infotech-owned digital wallet FreeCharge is in talks with Bank of Baroda (BOB) and Times Internet for an all-cash acquisition. According to a report, the deal size is expected to be in the range of $60 - $75 million. This deal will allow BOB to expand its mobile wallet service, M-Clip which was launched last year and also to get access to millions of young customers FreeCharge has on its platform

Whereas with this deal Times Internet looks to add the wallet service to its online ventures like as Indiatimes Shopping and Gaana to name few.

Prior to this, it was reported that both Paytm and MobiKwik are also in talks for the FreeCharge acquisition. While Paytm has already signed a non-exclusive term sheet with FreeCharge at an expected deal value of $45 – $90 million, MobiKwik deal has still not moved beyond speculation.

Founded in 2010 by Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon, FreeCharge was acquired by Snapdeal in April 2015 for $450 million which is currently valued at less than 80%. Not only this, recently it also received an investment of $3.38 million from Jasper Infotech.

Company backed by investors such as Valiant Capital Management, Tybourne Capital Management, and Sequoia Capital had secured total of $177.65 million in six rounds of funding including the funds infused by its parent company.

These acquisition talks have come into picture at a time when parent company Snapdeal is already on the verge of finalizing a merger deal with it rival firm Flipkart.

BOB, Times Internet In Talks To Acquire Jasper Infotech's E-wallet FreeCharge

Jasper Infotech-owned digital wallet FreeCharge is in talks with Bank of Baroda (BOB) and Times Internet for an all-cash acquisition. According to a report, the deal size is expected to be in the range of $60 - $75 million. This deal will allow BOB to expand its mobile wallet service, M-Clip which was launched last year and also to get access to millions of young customers FreeCharge has on its platform

Whereas with this deal Times Internet looks to add the wallet service to its online ventures like as Indiatimes Shopping and Gaana to name few.

Prior to this, it was reported that both Paytm and MobiKwik are also in talks for the FreeCharge acquisition. While Paytm has already signed a non-exclusive term sheet with FreeCharge at an expected deal value of $45 – $90 million, MobiKwik deal has still not moved beyond speculation.

Founded in 2010 by Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon, FreeCharge was acquired by Snapdeal in April 2015 for $450 million which is currently valued at less than 80%. Not only this, recently it also received an investment of $3.38 million from Jasper Infotech.

Company backed by investors such as Valiant Capital Management, Tybourne Capital Management, and Sequoia Capital had secured total of $177.65 million in six rounds of funding including the funds infused by its parent company.

These acquisition talks have come into picture at a time when parent company Snapdeal is already on the verge of finalizing a merger deal with it rival firm Flipkart.

Video Intelligence Startup, Vidooly Raises $1.4M from Gujarat Venture Finance and Times Internet

Vidooly, Indian video intelligence startup, with a large global customer base has raised a series A round of $1.4 million (Rs 8.9 crores) from GVFL, a pioneer in the Indian VC industry, and India’s largest media & entertainment group, Times Internet. Vidooly will utilize the funds towards product engineering, marketing, and enhancing sales & distribution channels. Vidooly will also look to further expand into the domestic market and reinforce its presence in the international markets of US, Europe & Asia.

Talking about the fund raise, Nishant Radia, Co-Founder said “We are extremely excited to have GVFL and Times Internet on board for our Series A. Video consumption over the last couple of years has exploded given faster and affordable internet access and also the rising demand for devices and high quality online content. We plan to utilize the funds raised, to expand in attractive markets such as U.S., Europe & Asia and also strengthen the team at Vidooly. With the rise of video platforms, the demand for video intelligence has grown multifold and we aim to be a dominant player in this space globally.”

Sanjay Randhar, MD, GVFL said, "In recent times, the online video market globally is in a hyper growth mode with millions of users embracing web and mobile videos. Vidooly's cross-platform video analytics platform offers a compelling value proposition to stakeholders across the online video ecosystem, be it content creators or brands, by delivering intelligent insights on audience video consumption behavior."

Abhishek Gupta, COO, TLabs(Times Internet Startup Incubator) said, "There has been tremendous growth in videos over the past couple of years and yet there are very few tools that creators can use to understand their audience and their likes/dislikes. We are really excited that Vidooly team understands the pain points of creators and continue to build the platform for them to succeed."

Vidooly was also a part of the Times Internet backed startup incubator Tlabs in its accelerator program in 2014.

Vidooly’s online video intelligence software platform allows content creators, brands, multi-channel networks, agencies & media companies to drive more engagement to their video content. Vidooly's audience and content insights empower video teams to optimize their media buy at scale, refine their content, distribution & optimization strategy, find and partner with influencers as well.

Since it's inception, over 20,000 video content creators across globe have signed-up on its platform from 28+ countries to grow across social video such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.

Vidooly's big data engine analyzes the engagement of over 500 million viewers and tracks 250 million videos across 5 platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Instagram. Currently its video intelligence software empowers some of the big names in the industry such as Fine Brothers, The Quint, Network18, GroupM, Mindshare, Thoughtful Media, WebTV Asia etc.

As per CISCO over 78% of the world’s mobile data traffic will be video by 2021. Over 300 hours of video are uploaded every minute to Youtube while Facebook witnesses over 100 million hours of video watched everyday. With the rise of newer technologies and formats such as live streaming, Virtual Reality, Online streaming, Augmented Reality, 360 degree videos and the like, the need for data driven content creation and analytics will be in demand and on the rise.

Matrix Partners India and Times Internet Lead Series A Investment in Bengaluru-Based Myra

Matrix Partners India and Times Internet today announced that they have co-led a Series A round of funding for Myra, a company that is transforming the way people buy medicines. Myra had previously raised an undisclosed seed round led by Matrix Partners India. Select entrepreneurs and angels have also invested in Myra including Pranay Chulet, co-founder & CEO of Quikr, Prashant Malik, co-founder & CTO of LimeRoad, Vamsi Duvvuri, Associate Director of Vy Capital and Pankaj Gupta, Ex Director-Product of Twitter among others.

Founded in 2015 by Faizan Aziz and Anirudh Coontoor, Myra uses cutting edge technology to enable its customers to get access to medicines at an affordable price from the convenience of their homes. Aimed at solving the persistent issues of high prices and poor availability of medicines at chemist stores, Myra is redesigning the pharmaceutical supply chain to remove multiple layers of middlemen and bring in efficiencies to the medicine distribution business. Myra enables consumers to order medicines at the tap of a button and have them delivered to their doorstep within sixty minutes. The company buys medicines directly from manufacturers, stores and delivers the medicines from its warehouses located across the city. This ensures better control on operations, superior margins and most importantly a smooth customer experience.

“When we started Myra we decided that our main focus should be speed, reliability, convenience and cost. Today, looking at our strong customer retention, I believe we made the right decision. By focusing on data sciences, R&D and engineering we will make our user experience even better, thereby ensuring that our customers continue to love the Myra experience.” said Faizan Aziz, co-founder & CEO of Myra. “We are excited to continue our partnership with Matrix and now bring Times Internet as well on board. Partnering with Times Internet gives us access to the insights from India’s largest digital network, support and resources we need to scale rapidly,” added Aziz.

“Myra is a unique solution of technology and operations that makes buying medicines fast and efficient. Using a data driven approach, we improve dispatch and delivery times while reducing wastage. People are now able to sit back, relax and get their medicines at home without the stress of whether the medicines will come on time or not,” said Anirudh Coontoor, co-founder & CTO of Myra.

Myra’s state-of-the-art heterogeneous warehousing capability and data science platform allows it to ensure high availability of medicines and delivery within sixty minutes. Myra’s revenue has grown by over 700% last year, driven entirely by strong word-of-mouth referrals from its loyal customer base. Myra will use the new funds to accelerate product development, expand operations to other cities, and hire new talent across engineering, data science and operations.

“Despite advances in technology the $15B Indian pharma market continues to be largely unorganized. The current customer experience is broken at a fundamental level with issues of low fill-rates, delivery delays, expired & spurious medicines. Myra is revolutionizing the way medicines will reach patients in need of care. The platform provides a public utility by allowing patients to experience a fast, reliable and convenient service offering at cheaper prices. It is our privilege to partner with Faizan Aziz and Anirudh Coontoor, the co-founders of Myra,” said Tarun Davda, Managing Director, Matrix India.

“Very few companies in India have been as successful in infusing technology into operations as Myra has. Myra has created a high frequency use case that makes it super easy for users to access a pharmacy digitally. We are delighted to partner with Myra and looking forward to accelerating their growth and expansion,” said Miten Sampat, VP- Corporate Development, Times Internet.

BYJU’s Gets $50M from Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia, Sofina, Lightspeed & Times Internet

Indian education technology company today announced that it has raised $50 million to expand its learning app to more students. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), which was founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan co-led the investment with Sequoia Capital, along with Sofina, Lightspeed Ventures & Times Internet Ltd. This is the first investment from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in Asia.

BYJU’S, creator of India’s largest K-12 learning app, is reinventing how students learn in the age of mobile devices. BYJU’s learning approach combines world-class teachers, proven pedagogical methods, innovative technology and data science to deliver personalized learning, feedback and assessment for students in classes 4-12.

“The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative supports innovative models of learning wherever they are around the world,” said Vivian Wu at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, who will join BYJU’s board. “Education can give young people and their families a path to a better future, and families in India work hard to give their children that chance. BYJU's represents an opportunity to help even more students develop a love for learning and unlock their potential.”

BYJU’s is using original content, engaging video lessons and interactive activities to personalize learning for each student. It has been designed to adapt to the unique learning style and pace of every student. In a survey, 79 percent of parents said using BYJU's app improved their children’s learning dramatically, and another 17 percent said it improved their learning significantly.

“We are excited to partner with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to usher in the next stage of growth at BYJU's. Our vision closely aligns with their vision of advancing human potential and promoting equality,” says Founder and CEO, Byju Raveendran.

In a sector where the use of technology is still growing, BYJU’s has stood out with its phenomenal growth. To date, BYJU’s app has been downloaded more than 5.5 million times and reached 250,000 annual subscribers all across India. With an average engagement rate of 40 minutes per day and 90 percent of users renewing their subscription, BYJU’s is proving to be effective at improving learning outcomes and engaging India’s students.

BYJU’s founder, Byju Raveendran, was born to parents who were both teachers and hails from Azhikode, a small village in Kerala. His love for numbers began early and he learnt math and science mostly on his own. He realizes the importance of children getting the fundamentals right in their formative years. “Once children fall in love with learning, they will start learning on their own. That’s why BYJU’s products are built in ways that inspire children to take initiative and learn on their own,” Byju said.

Newly-raised funds will be deployed to fuel international expansion and inspire additional funding investments from leading companies around the world.

GV Ravishankar, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India Advisors and BYJU’s board member, said, “We are delighted to have CZI and other companies partner with us to help BYJU’s expand opportunity for more young people. Over the last few years, the team has worked hard to make high-quality education accessible across the country, and we are proud to have students from across 1400+ towns learning through the product. We are amazed by their continued growth and are excited to be part of their journey.”

“We are really excited to welcome an investment from Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative into BYJU, as the company continues on its mission of empowering everyone who aspires to learn. Together, the platforms will enable greater reach for a high quality product developed by a great team” said Satyan Gajwani, Vice Chairman, Times Internet

“Lightspeed has invested in education technology companies in the US, China and India,” said Dev Khare, Managing Director, Lightspeed India Partners Advisors. “Amongst all these companies globally, Byju’s market leading education offering is unique and transformational because it is specifically geared with a differentiated pedagogy to the needs of India’s 250 million students.”

Byju Raveendran founded BYJU’s because he believes that the right kind of learning can be a game-changer, as “education is still the best way for most people to improve their lives. In a high impact segment like education, the real satisfaction is not in creating a multi-million dollar company, but in changing the way millions think and learn.”

Matrix-backed Ridlr Raises $6M Series B Funding

India’s leading local transport app, Ridlr, has announced $ 6 million in series B funding by Times Internet as well as existing investors Matrix Partners India and Qualcomm Ventures.

Ridlr provides real-time public transport and traffic information across 24 Indian cities, serving an engaged community of over 2M users. Public transport ticketing has also recently been added to the platform. The new round of funding will be used for scaling up public transport ticketing in focus cities, growing user base, as well as hiring across key roles. Current partner agencies for Ridlr include BEST, NMMT and MMRC.

Commenting on the fundraise, Brijraj Vaghani, CEO of Ridlr said, “This is a significant milestone for Ridlr in its journey to become the leading local transport information and ticketing platform in India. This round is great validation of our growth, team strength and ability to execute. It gives us the confidence to continue to disrupt the local transport space.”

“Ridlr seeks to give customers a seamless public transport commuting experience. This aligns with our investment philosophy of backing companies and products that pass the ‘toothbrush test’ i.e., products that are used by consumers on a daily basis. We are excited to partner with the Ridlr team on their journey of changing the way people commute in India”, said Miten Sampat, VP Corporate Development, Times Internet.

“Ridlr’s vision is to be the de-facto app for every urban commuter in India. Their approach of working closely with transport companies to bring real-time information and ticketing online, and their focus on their user community, makes them uniquely positioned to create impact in the lives of millions of users. We look forward to partnering with Brij and the team on this journey and welcome Times to this partnership”, said Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Director, Matrix India.

Digital Marketing Startup MintM Raises Pre Series A Round from Mumbai Angels and Times Internet

In the era of digital innovations, a cutting-edge solution for advertising is bridging the huge gap in the brick and mortar world which was earlier possible only online. MintM, a startup which is a straight comparison to the Google ads has come up with a crowd pulling platform - Magnet, a cloud based, responsive, and analytical solution in the brick and mortar world. Given the disruption it has brought in the retail sector, it is no wonder that Magnet has been raising eyebrows and gaining well meaning interest.

Sachin Garg, CEO of MintM and the brain behind Magnet says "This platform has been described as a peep into the future by prominent people in the industry. It gives me great pleasure to provide a solution to advertising that is not just displaying relevant content but also responding to the people who are in front of it, tracking their response and ultimately generating valuable statistics for the advertiser to compare and compile."

MintM has recently raised its pre Series A funding to grow its smart signage platform Magnet across the world. This funding was co-led by Mumbai Angels and Times Internet following MintM's step out from TLabs, the leading startup accelerator. The funds will be used for making the product more intelligent and expanding its already fast-growing international markets where Magnet is witnessing significant traction.

MintM has come a long way and has bagged a lot of awards and recognitions through it’s journey. It was among the top 50 start-ups by TiE Silicon Valley and was also NASSCOM Emerge Top 50 most promising start-ups. The company has the world's first smart signage platform - Magnet which sees and responds to people. This cloud based platform is a simple app that brings the capabilities similar to online advertising to the physical world.  Much like a digital advertisement, Magnet's signage software brings context, tracking and analytics to any digital screens installed in spaces in the real and physical world. A lot of leading retailers, banks, brands, salons and spas are already using Magnet to increase the engagement with their audience, measure it along with the revenue generation possibilities.

Garg says "The fact that Magnet can analyse its audience, respond to them and allow the ability to be run remotely on a cloud has been greatly appreciated.  If I have to put it in simple words- Magnet is installed on a screen that is looking at you- real time, responding to you and gathering feedback, all at the same time, without intruding your privacy! This kind of contextual advertising was earlier only possible online. All this just using a friendly app that makes it look like a game, except it's as real as it gets."

Magnet provides an unparalleled level of engagement as compared to online channels with many of the customers getting around 20X engagement as compared to 1-2% by other platforms. The adoption of this technology can be seen in big branded outlets like Aviva Insurance, Star bazaar, Jawed Habib, Spar, HyperCITY, Printo and many overseas outlets including Target, the retailing giant. Several brands and advertisers like Harpic, lizol, L’Oreal, Tata tea, Himalaya use it to engage customers regularly.

Sundeep Holani, the founder & CEO of India’s leading shopper marketing company Channelplay is one of the investors in MintM. In the words of Sundeep – “Traditional advertising suffers from a few handicaps – it’s consumed far from the point of purchase, it’s impossible to do in a highly targeted way and it’s hard to measure impact. MintM beautifully addresses all these shortcomings… and ushers in the digital age’s analytics driven, pay per view model into the old-fashioned retail world. We’re very excited about the possibilities this creates!”

Haptik Raises Funding from Times Internet in Series B Round

Haptik has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Times Internet in a series B round. The funds will be used for product development, improving artificial intelligence capabilities and business operations. Through this partnership, Haptik will leverage Times Internet’s reach of over 150 million engaged users to offer its service to a wider audience.

Haptik is a mobile application that enables users to get daily tasks done by chatting with assistants. The important requests that Haptik fulfills include online shopping, travel bookings, food delivery, restaurant reservations, best mobile plan recharges, etc. Haptik is a gateway to various services on user phone, simplifying multiple, complex applications into one, easy to use chat interface.

“We started Haptik so that consumers could get the most out of their phones, without the huge learning curve of navigating hundreds of different apps. Ordering food or checking into a flight should be as easy as asking for it, and that’s what Haptik can do,” said Aakrit Vaish, CEO of Haptik. “With Times Internet as a partner, we’re excited to offer what we’ve built over the last two years to millions of consumers across India.”

Haptik claims that it has grown multifold in the last one year and now processes over half a million requests per month, out of which 25% are completed using artificial intelligence. The company works with fulfillment partners, including Flipkart, Cleartrip, Via.com, Urbanclap, Dineout, etc. In 2014, Haptik raised a seed round from Kalaari Capital, one of India’s leading Venture Capital funds.

Founded by Aakrit Vaish and Swapan Rajdev in 2013, Haptik is a chat based personal assistant service available on Android & iOS. In 2016, Haptik also partnered with Samsung Mobiles to offer a first of its kind pre-built messaging concierge service to their users.

Haptik Raises Funding from Times Internet in Series B Round

Haptik has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Times Internet in a series B round. The funds will be used for product development, improving artificial intelligence capabilities and business operations. Through this partnership, Haptik will leverage Times Internet’s reach of over 150 million engaged users to offer its service to a wider audience.

Haptik is a mobile application that enables users to get daily tasks done by chatting with assistants. The important requests that Haptik fulfills include online shopping, travel bookings, food delivery, restaurant reservations, best mobile plan recharges, etc. Haptik is a gateway to various services on user phone, simplifying multiple, complex applications into one, easy to use chat interface.

“We started Haptik so that consumers could get the most out of their phones, without the huge learning curve of navigating hundreds of different apps. Ordering food or checking into a flight should be as easy as asking for it, and that’s what Haptik can do,” said Aakrit Vaish, CEO of Haptik. “With Times Internet as a partner, we’re excited to offer what we’ve built over the last two years to millions of consumers across India.”

Haptik claims that it has grown multifold in the last one year and now processes over half a million requests per month, out of which 25% are completed using artificial intelligence. The company works with fulfillment partners, including Flipkart, Cleartrip, Via.com, Urbanclap, Dineout, etc. In 2014, Haptik raised a seed round from Kalaari Capital, one of India’s leading Venture Capital funds.

Founded by Aakrit Vaish and Swapan Rajdev in 2013, Haptik is a chat based personal assistant service available on Android & iOS. In 2016, Haptik also partnered with Samsung Mobiles to offer a first of its kind pre-built messaging concierge service to their users.

Gurgaon-based Hyperlocal Startup FindYahan Raises Funding From Times Group

Gurgaon-based FindYahan, a marketplace for services connecting service providers to service seekers, has raised undisclosed amount of funding from Times Group's investment arm Brand Capital.

The freshly raised funds will be used by the startup in expanding operations, marketing activities and boosting its growth engine.

Founded in 2013 by Rachit Mathur and Snehil Khanor, FindYahan.Com connects consumers to curated service providers and businesses by leveraging location and mobile (Airbnb for Services ). It supports consumers in hiring service providers in their areas.

The startup, which is currently operating in Delhi-NCR, Jaipur and Hyderabad, essentially helps in finding and hiring service providers in local area such as music, dance & fitness instructors, chefs, tutors, maids etc.

FindYahan's angel investors include Microsoft India MD Karan Bajwa, Sona Koyo Steering MD Sanjay Kapur and The Phoenix Fund, among others.

The company has roped in AirBnB's Country Manager India Amanpreet Bajaj and GoDaddy's SVP of Product Rajatish Mukherjee as advisors.

The company claims to have more than two lakh app downloads with four lakh users across platforms. It also said that in the last six months, service providers on its platform have more than trebled to over 10,000.

Times Internet partners with Say Media to launch India-specific Remodelista and Readwrite portals in India

Internet media agencies across the globe are eyeing India among primary countries to consume their digital content, as we reported that BuzzFeed and HuffPost are soon to launch their India specific portals in India, now its time for Popular ReadWrite and Remodelista websites.

Times Internet, a premier digital product company and a part of The Times of India Group, has partnered with Say Media, a leading digital publishing company, to launch the India Chapters of two of their digital magazines Remodelista, one of the most loved home design websites and ReadWrite, one of the most widely read and respected global tech news sites.

Under the partnership, Times Internet will roll out and grow Remodelista and ReadWrite locally in India. TIL will also have exclusive rights to the two brands and their content in India. The Indian version of Remodelista would marry their coverage of global home design trends with the excellence and tradition of Indian interior designing. For ReadWrite India, coverage will include the latest from local tech circles which will augment the global tech news stories and present extensive reading for the users.

This strategic partnership between Say Media and Times Internet will fall under its initiative - Times Local Partners (TLP) Group. Both Remodelista and ReadWrite join the growing TLP portfolio, which has already rolled out the Indian editions of Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Techradar, Business Insider and IGN.

Puneet Singhvi, Business Head, Times Local Partners, said "We are looking forward to expanding the horizons for Remodelista and ReadWrite.com in India. The Indian art of interior designing combined with the global design trends laid out by Remodelista India would make for an exciting read for the audience. The India version of ReadWrite will further augment the fledgling TLP Tech network and deliver latest from Indian and global tech news and analysis for its audience. The websites will complement our leadership in design and technology content offerings giving new avenues to our users as well as advertisers.”

Josh Groves, Publisher, Say Media, said "We are delighted to find a proven partner in The Times of India Group to extend the global reach of ReadWrite.com and Remodelista.com into the Indian market. Technology news and home design inspiration are of great interest to Indian readers, and our partnership with Times Internet Partners enables Say Media to deliver our award-winning content directly to this market. We look forward to working with The Times of India Group for years to come."

Say Media is digital magazine company with a portfolio of influential brands such as - xoJane, xoVain, Fashionista, Gear Patrol, Remodelista, Gardenista, Honestly WTF, ReadWrite, LifetimeMoms and Bio and a next-generation publishing platform called Tempest that caters to the needs of both modern storytellers and marketers. Between its own brands and extended network of high-quality lifestyle sites, Say Media reaches 400 million people worldwide.

Times Internet (TIL) is a premier digital product company & a digital venture of The Times of India Group. According to ComScore, it has the largest Indian online repertoire, with over 50 million monthly unique visitors and over one billion page views per month encompassing portals across various genres including but not limited to, news, entertainment, music, local, telecom, e-commerce, communities, and special interests. TIL's key properties in the news category include timesofindia.com, economictimes.com and navbharattimes.com.

Times Internet buys majority stake in CouponDunia.com, TimesDeal to merge with CouponDunia

Times Internet, the digital product wing of The Times of India Group, has acquired a majority stake in Mumbai-based CouponDunia.com - a popular coupon codes provider of different online retail merchant and brands. Times Internet's existing deals site TimesDeal.com will merge with CouponDunia.

CouponDunia will retain its distinct brand identity and will continue to operate under the leadership of CEO Sameer Parwani, who will work closely with Times Internet and other Times of India Group companies. CouponDunia.com claims to be India's largest discount coupons and offers listing of coupons, coupon codes, promo codes and deals for Indian e-commerce sites, it has over 1000 merchants listed.

With this partnership, CouponDunia is poised to emerge as the leading destination for online and offline deals across India. The combined service’s websites, mobile applications, e-mail newsletters and alerts and social media presence will enable consumers to search for, discover, and source the best offers from leading retailers and brands.

Apart from India CouponDunia website also operates in three other countries - Brazil, Indonesia and Poland.

Satyan Gajwani, CEO of Times Internet said: "This investment continues The Times Group's strategy of strengthening its position in digital media. Sameer has built a great business from scratch. We are as passionate as he is about offering the best value choices to consumers. We are excited at the prospect of leveraging Times’ resources, including TimesDeal's existing local deals presence, to build an even more compelling value proposition for consumers with CouponDunia."

Sameer Parwani, Founder and CEO, CouponDunia India Private Limited said, "In a short span of under four years, CouponDunia has emerged as the leading Indian destination for digital coupons. We receive over 2 million visits a month and are driving Rs 500 Cr of purchases annually from over 1500 online retailers and brands. We're thrilled to join Times group. With their support, CouponDunia will be better placed to offer even greater value to the consumer."