INTERVIEW- Enjoy Our Interaction with Startup Founders

Conversation With Sunil Chaula (Founder, CEO) And Nilesh Pawaskar (Co-Founder, CMO), Wiwigo– Founded in 2014, Wiwigo was started by Sunil Chaula and later joined by Nilesh Pawaskar. The online platform facilitates one-way and round-trip cabs for inter-city travel.

 STARTUP  STORIES @  25 fps- Interview videos telling startup stories

Startup-Buzz Presents : The Ketto Story– In our new segment, 25fps (frames per second), we met with Varun and Kunal, the two charismatic founders behind this crowdfunding startup and learned how Ketto came into being.

FUNDING – Checkout which startups raised funds

OYO Rooms Raises $62 Million From SoftBank– OYO is closing a $90mn in this funding round, split into two i.e. $62mn and $29mn- a mix of equity and debt that will again be led by SoftBank.

Hike Raises $175M In Series D Round Of Funding– Hike, known as the competing messenger app of WhatsApp has raised $175 million in Series D round of funding, which was led by Tencent and Foxconn. These funds made the company’s valuation to $1.4 billion.

ONGC Reveals Funds For Startup Scheme– Like others, The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is also planning to bring some innovations in oil and gas sector, and for this purpose, it has instigated Rs 100 crore as a startup fund in its Diamond Jubilee year.

ACQUISITIONS – Checkout all startup acquisition and mergers news.

Snapchat In Talks To Acquire Vurb, A Search Startup– Snapchat seems to be buying a search startup, Vurb for over $100 Million in a 75% stock and 25% cash deal, as per the reports by The Information. Till now, this is the second biggest acquisition by Snapchat in the year 2016.

 INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY– Startup news on most innovative product or service.

Is Your Dream To Have A Phone That Is 24-Karat Gold Plated And Diamond Studded? -iPhone 7 will be offered in 24k Gold, Rose Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. The Platinum coated device with diamonds is offered in RockStar Version.

Xiaomi Back With Electric Screwdrivers– Recently, the company has launched an electric screwdriver and named it the Wowstick.The Wowstick will be powered by means of a battery with a motor competent to torque fastener down up to 3Nm.

Music Video App,Triller Now Turns Into  Social Network Platform– Triller is an easy and one of the smartest way to make music videos. In order to create your own music video, it takes a small snippet of the song and by adding video filter, all you have to do is sing along and there goes your music video.

Onion Created A Tiny Computer To Built Hardware Projects Worth $5– Onion, a US-based IoT startup has built a tiny computer worth $5 to develop the intricate hardware projects with an ease. The Onion has named it Omega2 that is Arduino-compatible but the most exciting thing about Omega2 is that it can also run Linux natively.

Google Launches Duo, A Video Calling App– Duo is a simple video calling app launched by Google this week. Competing with iOS’s Facetime and Microsoft’s Skype, Duo is available for android and iOS platforms in 78 languages.

Hyperloop- Global Shipping Train To Be Built In Dubai– US-based startup Hyperloop One plans to build its first route of a global shipping train, the Hyperloop in Dubai. It is said to go faster than a speeding plane at 700 miles per hour and have the ability to transport both humans and cargo all around the world in less than a day!

Startup Creates Protein Powder From Edible Insects– An Israeli startup, Flying Spark makes protein powder for human consumption from edible insects like the fruit fly larvae that are rich in calcium, magnesium, iron, and protein.

Intel Reveals Its All-In-One Virtual Reality Headset Called Project Alloy– Recently, Intel announced that it is working on Project Alloy, which is its own all-in-one virtual reality headset that lets the user discover virtual worlds untethered.

Intel Launches The Aero, New Ready-To-Fly Drone– Recently, at the Intel Developer forum, Intel introduced its latest engineered drone product, Aero. Aero is specifically designed for software developers, unlike other drones that emphasize hobbyists or commercial drone operators.

Singapore ATM Allow Users To Do Video Chat With The Banker– Recently, Singapore’s national bank, POSB launched the country’s first-ever video conference based teller machines, where the users can directly have a word with a live teller via video chat.

7Sensors Back With Grow Box To Allow Plants Grow Inside The Homes Easily– The Grow Box is around six-foot small room-like container that can perform the whole process of growing any type of plant inside the house.

Uber’s Autonomous Cars Will Start Their Service This Month– Though it is hard to believe but Uber claims to start its autonomous car service this month in Pennsylvania US. Customers can easily order autonomous cars from their app.

3D Imaging Startup Vayyar Develops Device That Can Look Through Walls–  In its recent development, the company has introduced an RF-based 3D imaging sensors that are able to penetrate through different materials – including walls– to display a 3D image of what is on the other side.

Pinterest Paves Way To Video Ads– Pinterest has rolled out a native video player on demand of the advertisers. When the advertisers pay for the video advertisement on Pinterest, they get access to all other traditional metrics as an add-on factor that they can follow.

CNN Back With A Drone-Based News Gathering Operation– CNN step into the technology by using unmanned Ariel vehicle for collecting news. The cable news network has engaged aerial vehicles to cover recent key stories like the floods that desolated Louisiana and Flint, Michigan water crisis.

Apple’s New Smart Watch May Not Have Cellular Network–  This is because the cellular chip takes up most of the watch’s battery that is responsible for curtailing the product’s effectiveness and limiting the user appeal.

Detect And Send Unwanted Drones Home With Apollo Shield– The purpose of this innovation is to sell it to the managers or owners of venues that have severe security requirements such as nuclear facilities, oil refineries, airports, stadiums, hotels, prisons and buildings where the public figures or high-net-worth individuals may reside.

Facebook Launches New App ‘Lifestage’ Only For Teens – the renowned social networking website, Facebook launches ‘Lifestage’, an iOS app that allows users to record video clips, which displays the likes, dislikes, moods and emotions.

Startup News – Checkout the latest buzz.

Amazon India Launches The Used Books Store– Recently, Amazon India launches the Used Book Store with around one lakh titles on sale. It is a separate store on the website and mobile app. Currently, it has four sections for used books – literature, romance. biography and textbooks.

Back From The Dead- Nokia Handsets Reintroduced By Finnish Company HMD– Finnish company HMD plans to relaunch the Nokia brand for phones. HMD has more to offer with its plans, providing the company with naming and patent rights, in exchange for royalty payments.

Vidcode And Snapchat Join Hands For Code Challenge Contest– In order to make everyone aware of coding, nowadays many organizations like Code.org and companies are coming with code challenges and contest. The latest company to join this bandwagon is Snapchat. The company partnered up with California startup known as Vidcode for Coding Contest.

Startup That Offers Bartering Services Online– US-based startup and a part of Y Combinator’s current batch, Simbi is a marketplace where people can easily barter services and skills online.

TaxiForSure Shutting Down- Ola Resource Crunch Leads To Lay-Offs And Migration Of Employees- Ola, India’s most popular mobile app for transportation shuts down its TaxiForSure business. As per multiple sources, the company has also laid off approximately 700 employees in one go!

Hampton Creek Announces Its Value Near To Unicorn Status– US-based food startup Hampton Creek’s CEO, Josh Tetrick boost up the morale of its employees by announcing that the startup is about to reach coveted unicorn status.

Is Apple Trying To Regain Its Lost Chinese Market? – Sales of Apple devices have recently been slowing down radically in the Chinese market. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has recently announced the company’s plan to build a new Research and Development Center in China.

Mumbai-Based Edtech Startup Gradopedia Raises Seed Funds– his startup has raised enough funds to grow twice of its current size. However, the funds will be used for building internal capabilities in learning and development and developing the in-house technology.

Snapdeal Reveals Closure Of Exclusively.com– Snapdeal decided to close down Exclusively.com after 18 months of its acquisition and will amalgamate the latter’s complete inventory with itself.

When The King Of The Pitch, Decides To Master The Stitch! – The man who needs no introduction, Sachin Tendulkar recently launched its menswear brand ‘TrueBlue’on the renowned e-commerce website, Myntra.

Uber 2016: Further Simplifying The Cab Hailing Process–  The company has launched an easier way to order a taxi from their platform i.e. users can now order cabs directly from their mobile phones after logging on to dial.uber.com. Downloading the app is no longer required.

Facebook Unites With Game Engine Unity– Facebook recently announced its partnership with multi-platform game development tool Unity. The main purpose being to streamline the process of exporting and publishing games from Unity onto Facebook, providing the latter’s 650 million gamers a commendable variety of games to choose from.

Google To Open Startup Incubator In San Francisco– The company is offering 14,000 square feet on each floor of the building. There will also be Google’s equity-free Launchpad as well as an event space for Google Developer Group Community meetups.

Co-Founder Of Coursera Moves On To Become Chief Computing Officer At Calico– Daphne Koller, Co-founder, Coursera has recently announced her decision to join Calico, a research, and development company whose mission is to harness advanced technologies to increase our understanding of the biology that controls lifespan.

Social Investing Startup Instavest Elevate $1.7M In Seed Funding-Investing is no more a private activity now, as a division of YC’s Winter class 2015, a social investing startup Instavest is trying to turn investing into a social activity.

Quikr India Pvt. Ltd Increases Up to Rs.130 Crore From Brand Capital –  Quikr reveals recently, the online classifieds firm is trying its best to get a unicorn status. It has increased up to Rs.130 crore from BCCL.

Ford Acquires Israeli Startup To Develop Driverless Car Technology – SAIPS is one of the four investments that Ford has made to heighten its technology and to develop the full automatic car.

Indian Startup Graviky Introduces Air Ink; Ink Made From Air Pollution – An Indian startup known as Graviky Labs, has introduced a viable solution for air pollution, Air Ink. Air Ink is a line of pens whose ink is made of recycled air pollution.

Otto Merges With Uber To Add In Uber’s Self-Driving Car Effort – After a big surprise of launching self-driving rides in Pittsburgh, now Uber takes another huge step in the self-driving car space by acquiring Otto with its all-star team.

Reassessment Of FoodPanda In Southeast Asia- Up For Sale At Less Than $1mn – After multiple unsuccessful attempts at selling its India business for $10-15mn, food delivery startup FoodPanda has reportedly put its Indonesia business for sale at less than $1mn.

NEDFi Launched $15 Mn Fund For North East Startup – North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. has launched $15 Mn fund for the startups. The venture capital intends to boost up the entrepreneurship network in the NE region.

Apple Rebrands Its Retail Outlets –  the renowned tech giant, Apple has played a name game for its retail outlets. Now, ‘Apple Store’ simply rebrands to ‘Apple’. The rebranding of Apple Store was confirmed with an email to its retail outlets notifying the same.

Press Releases- Have a glance at the media releases of some startups

The Leading HR Software HeavenHR Gets 6 Million EUR– HeavenHR GmbH, a provider of a free cloud-based HR management platform (www.heavenhr.com) for small and medium enterprises (SME) has successfully closed its Series A financing round. The Berlin-based company raised more than EUR 6 million from new and existing investors

Startup-Buzz Blog – Collective set of articles filled with information.