Qyk Pivots Its Business ModelBangalore-based Qyk, a mobile marketplace for local services, has pivoted its business model. It is now an aggregator for home construction, renovation and interior designing services and has rebranded itself as Paper to stone. The Qyk app has been removed from the Google Play Store and the company’s website, Qykapp.com, is redirecting traffic to Papertostone.com.
Rainmaker Ventures Invests Into LimoRainmaker Ventures, which announced a fund of $50 million for early stage investments in December last year, has made its first investment in Mumbai-based Raftaar Technologies which runs the bus aggregation platform, Limo. Started by Sudhir Menon and Atul Hegde, Rainmaker Ventures plans on investing in six firms in the current year. "
Microsoft Sells 1500 Of Its Patent To XiaomiXiaomi, chinese device maker, buys 1500 patents from Software maker Microsoft. Both the companies say it is the start of a long-term partnership.This deal might just give them enough of a patent trove to move to Western markets. The deal also includes a patent cross-licensing arrangement and a commitment by Xiaomi to install copies of Microsoft software, including Office and Skype, on its phones and tablets.
A New Cricket Game Featuring Batsmen Virat Kohli and Rahul sharmaUK-based Stick Sports (whom you should know from such hit games as Stick Cricket, Stick Football, and Stick Tennis) has partnered with Indian mobile games company Nazara Games (Cut the Rope Magic, and many Chotta Bheem games) to launch a game in the country.
Nazara Games has an exclusive mobile gaming deal with Cornerstone Sport , the agency which has the digital and gaming rights for the Indian cricketers . There's a new game featuring India's star cricketers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the works.The game, which is yet to be named, is due to be launched in October this year on Android and iOS
Cremica Food Industries Raises $15M From Rabo Equity Advisors
Cremica Food Industries Ltd, a Ludhiana-based food products company, has raised $15 million from Rabo Equity Advisors, investment advisors for India Agri Business Fund II (IABF-II), for divestment of a minority stake to the fund. Cremica, which is known for its sauce, condiments and snacks, is looking to achieve sales of Rs.1,000 crore by 2020 from Rs.200 crore in financial year 2015.
Simply Hired Might Shut Down On June 26 This YearSimply Hired - a job search engine with 30 million monthly users that is active in 24 countries and 12 languages - is shutting down on June 26, with one report claiming that at least some of the company is getting acquired. Simply Hired, founded in 2004 and based in Sunnyvale, had raised just over $34 million in funding from investors that include Dave McClure, Foundation Capital, Guy Kawasaki, Fox, IDG Ventures and Ronald Conway.
Rubique Onboards More Than 54 Financial Institutions For Tech Enabled SolutionsRubique, the one-stop online marketplace providing technology-enabled end-to-end solutions to financing needs of individuals & SMEs has taken the massive step of onboarding more than 54 financial institutions like Au Financiers, Bajaj Finance Ltd., Fullerton India, Hinduja Leyland Finance Ltd., ICICI Bank, Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd, Induslnd Bank, Manappuram and Reliance Commercial Finance. Rubique is the first ever portal to provide an online platform for one of the most crucial & fastest-growing segments. "The main reason to forge an association with us is the value they see in our business proposition. This recognition is driven by our perfect blend of online and assisted online models wherein the website acts as a primary channel for its online sales," said Manavjeet Singh, founder, and CEO of Rubique to ETtech.
Salesforce Buys Demandware For $2.8B
Salesforce has acquired enterprise-focused eCommerce platform Demandware, the global cloud leader in the multi-billion dollar digital commerce market, in a deal worth $2.8 billion, net of cash acquired, with Salesforce offering $75 per share for all outstanding shares.. With this acquisition, Salesforce says it will extend its existing status as one of the preeminent forces in customer relationship management (CRM) realm. The transaction is expected to close in Q2 of Salesforce’s 2017 fiscal year 2017, which ends in July 2016.
Myntra Hires Half A Dozen Top ManagersMyntra, an online fashion etailer, has hired half a dozen top managers in the last three months to expand the scope of its business in India's fast growing online fashion industry. The company hired Amazon India's director of last mile operations, Manpreet Ratia to head HR and new initiatives. Myntra has also poached talents for its product & engineering teams - Ravdeep Chawla from FreeCharge, Mangesh Dalvi from Xiaomi, Sumit Borar from eBay, Rohit Chauhan from 24/7 and Aditya Singh from Open Table.
Payworld Bazaar Launched By Payworld To Help Rural And Semi Urban ConsumersPayworld, digital payments firm, has launched Payworld Bazaar to help rural and semi urban consumers to shop via an assisted e-commerce model with the help of a Payworld retailer. The Payworld Bazaar would be available through the company's network of 60,000 retailers. Assisted e-commerce has the potential to penetrate the semi-urban and rural markets for such services to help it achieve the next level. Payworld is in the process of raising its retail outlets to 3 lakh in the next few years.
BW Reporters
This is Meghna Shukla. She lives in Delhi. She is an engineering graduate and currently pursuing MBA from Jaypee Business School. She has a work experience of 2 years in content development. She loves to read and write.
