News Roundup: 12 Indian Startup News That You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [11 -16 Dec]

We bring you the weekly dose of important Indian startup news of the week.

The most talked about Indian startup news of the week was Jack Ma-led ecommerce behemoth receiving the nod from Competition Commission of India(CCI) to the invest in hyperlocal grocery delivery startup Bigbasket. Alibaba will be transferring the funds to Supermarket Grocery Supplies, the parent entity of Bigbasket.

Important Indian Startup Stories Of The Week

Myntra Plans To Set Up Offline Beauty Stores

After opening its first offline store in Bengaluru for Roadster in March 2017 Myntra is now setting up the stage to open offline beauty and wellness stores as well. The Indian startup sells more than 100 beauty and cosmetic brands on its online platform and is now planning to sell all these products via a chain of multi-brand physical stores.

Google To Sell Technology To Andhra Pradesh Government

This was one of the interesting news which roll out in the Indian startup ecosystem. Google’s parent Alphabet Inc’s X research division announced that the Andhra Pradesh state government would buy its newly developed Internet technology which is capable of providing high-speed wireless Internet to millions of people without laying cable. X plans to have a small team based in Andhra Pradesh next year to help roll out the technology.

PhonePe Rolls Out Digital Gold Platform

This is another important Indian startup news of the week. Flipkart-owned digital payments platform PhonePe forged a partnership with SafeGold to launch a digital gold product through which users will now be able to buy and sell certified 24-karat gold via the PhonePe app. Rival Paytm had also unveiled a similar product in April 2017. PhonePe customers will get the opportunity to buy gold worth any amount, even as low as INR 1.

Xiaomi India Plans To Sell Electric Vehicles, Loans And More

Chinese phone maker Xiaomi announced that it is planning to enter into the Electric Vehicles and Payments Bank space in India. It is also gearing up to launch laptops, gaming consoles, lifestyle products and more. Having made its entry in 2014 through the Mi smartphone, India today is the biggest market for Xiaomi after China. It recently achieved revenues of $1 Bn from the country and believes that expanding into other booming industries in India has great growth potential.

Stripe Launches Operations In India

This is another startup news which made sensation this week. San Francisco-based payments startup Stripe launched its invite-only beta version in India. Anand Balaji, former Amazon India executive who was brought in last year to lead operations announced its entry in the Indian market. Currently, it is present in 25 countries across Southeast Asia, the Americas, and Europe and plans to capture the Indian market in the next 2-3 years.

DHL Ecommerce To Start Operations In India

German logistics company Deutsche Post DHL will work with parent DPDHL’s BlueDart service in order to develop a direct presence in India.To that end, former Reliance Infocomm’s Chief Marketing Officer Neeraj Bansal has been roped in to serve as the local Chief Executive of the logistics arm.

The Netherlands To Collaborate With Indian Startups

This is an interesting Indian startup news which rolled out this week. The Netherlands is seeking the contribution of Indian startups in the areas of logistics, cleantech, and medical science. The Netherlands’ startup ecosystem has registered a growth of 31% in the past one year. The country is now looking for Indian startups to join the ecosystem and get benefitted from the same. So far, Singapore, Canada, the US and the Middle East have been the favourite destinations/export markets for Indian startups looking to cater to the global market.

Amazon India Claims Greater GMV Sales Volume Than Flipkart

The global retail giant’s Indian subsidiary has claimed a Y-o-Y growth of 66% in gross sales volume for the six month period between April-September in 2017, which is 1.5 times higher than Flipkart’s GMV sales volume for the same period. However, Flipkart has denied these claims owing to its GMV sales volume comparison with Amazon.

In another development, Flipkart reported a turnover of $2.3 Bn (INR 15,264 Cr) for the year ending in March 2017. This marks a 19% jump in the company’s annual turnover from $2 Bn (INR 12,818 Cr) in the previous fiscal year. As per its annual return filings, Flipkart India’s turnover in FY15 was around $1.4 Bn (INR 9,351.7 Cr), which in turn points to the ecommerce giant’s steady growth in revenues over the last few years. Also, the ecommerce behemoth successfully completed its fourth ESOP buyback programme with over 3000 past and present employees of The Flipkart Group participating in the buyback offer.

Find the complete list of all the startup news from last week →