Aug 24, 2016 - As China e-commerce booms, private equity embark on growth in storage space

View online   Advertise              Unsubscribe from TradeBriefs Business Daily

Sree Vijaykumar From the Editor's Desk Sam Shank, 43, (CEO of HotelTonight) was like a lot of other startup CEOs, flush with cash from earlier rounds and so focused on the day-to-day he didn't notice that VCs had suddenly become parsimonious. After a painful but quick round of layoffs, he told his employees that there would be no more layoffs and that the company was aiming to become profitable by August without killing growth. Employees started making decisions based on whether it improved the company's earnings. They slashed marketing, stopped wasting money on discount sites and coupons, and added features that led to more app users booking rooms. The company cut its annual infrastructure costs by $500,000 - a 40 percent drop - by renegotiating licensing deals, moving from one software platform to another and so on. One employee won a weekly "Frugal Not Cheap" award by simply telling a credit card processor they wanted to pay less, saving $8,000 per month. Every week, Shank updated the company on its burn rate, and every morning, employees got an e-mail with such key metrics as gross bookings value, year-over-year growth and gross margin. HotelTonight turned profitable in April and things are going well enough that Shank is ready to say what much bigger startups continue to duck: He wants to take the company public, possibly by late 2017. Indian unicorns, are you listening? Our advertisers help fund the daily operations of TradeBriefs. We request you to accept our promotional emails (B2B Decision-Makers, B2C Decision-Makers, TradeBriefs Premium). As China e-commerce booms, private equity embark on growth in storage space Online retail as a percentage of total retail in China has grown steadily to 12.6 percent, and is forecast to reach 17 percent in 2018 FirstCry in talks to raise $75 million In February, FirstCry had raised$26 million in Series D funding from Valiant Capital, IDG Ventures India, Vertex Ventures and SAIF Partners Sebi’s failure to gauge market pulse delays development of key products Designing product platforms to the last detail and expecting markets to adapt to it is wrong, say experts PE firm IPAL Fund Managers set to launch Rs350 crore fund IPAL is one of the many funds that have built their investment theme around bulk-buying of apartments ChrysCapital in talks to exit Eris Lifesciences Discussions have been initiated for Eris Lifesciences’s IPO, which could be of Rs600-800 crore in size Kstart invests $600,000 in two start-ups Kstart has invested $100,000 in health-tech company Advenio Technosys and $500,000 in rental marketplace GuaRented Rentals Ajay Piramal ties up with Bain Capital for a $750 mn-$1 bn distressed debt fund The platform will invest capital directly into businesses and/or acquire debt of such businesses to drive sensible restructurings, Piramal Enterprises said. Axis Bank incorporates Pokemon Go-like AR in app Following the runaway success of Pokemon Go, Axis Bank has introduced an augmented reality feature in its mobile banking application. GMR Infra plans to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore The company will seek shareholders' approval to raise funds in the AGM next month. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reviews progress of bankruptcy law implementation The Finance Minister chaired the meeting which was attended by officials of Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Financial Services and Department of Corporate Affairs. Bandhan Bank plans to target the affluent more to raise deposits The bank has decided to open about 300 branches to add to its current tally of 700 in the next one year and a majority of these will be in urban pockets. Shopclues to disburse loans worth Rs5,000 crore to sellers Shopclues will disburse Rs200 crore under its Capital Wings initiative ahead of this year’s Diwali festival Framework for accreditation of credit counsellors on anvil: RBI RBI is initiating a process for putting in place a framework for accreditation of credit counsellors who are expected to serve as facilitators and enablers for micro and small entrepreneurs," Mundra said. India's human resource can contribute for economic development: Jaitley Human resource as a part of service sector is the largest contributor to the Indian ec Illicit gold: India's smugglers shut out refiners, banks Smuggled gold could account for more than a third of demand this year in India Microfinance leaves India's banks in the dust Microfinance is making India's big banks look bad. Small lenders that help the poor buy everything from bicycles to sewing machines are back and growing at breakneck speed after the industry nearly collapsed six years ago. A giant awakens: Aberdeen bats for Narendra Modi's India Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains popular and reforms have not run out of steam, says Aberdeen Asset Management. GST roll-out may spur demand for bigger warehousing spaces Developers look to tap opportunity in likely boom in logistics and the resultant demand for large land parcels Kishore Biyani's Future Group in talks with Aditya Birla Retail to buy or merge business The deal will Help Birla exit loss making retailer, while allowing Biyani to grow stronger in the retail business ITC sues Britannia for allegedly copying biscuit packaging The petition in the Delhi HC seeks damages for alleged infringement of trademark as well as a direction to withdraw the product in the current packaging. Paytm parent incorporates separate entity for online retail business ET had reported earlier that Paytm will spin off its marketplace to allow Chinas Alibaba Group, an investor in One97, a direct presence in India. Ecommerce companies say not flouting pricing rules Offline retailers have raised concerns with the govt over e-com companies offering discounts to consumers and circumventing FDI norms by infusing capital Costs, margins dog Aditya Birla Retail The Future Group on Tuesday denied reports of merger talks with Aditya Birla Retail Manpasand Beverages invests Rs 160 crore in Ambala Manpasand had raised Rs 400 crore through an IPO, one of the primary objectives of which was setting up this plant. 'Small towns driving the growth of online retail' Business Today 'Small towns driving the growth of online retail'The latest to join the bandwagon is Tata group, which is a prominent player in retail space with fashion and lifestyle retail chains like Westside and Croma and leading brands like Titan and Tanishq. Tata Unistore launched Tatacliq.com where they used ... Avoid spectrum auctions during 'shraddh,' telecom firms ask govt Mobile handset manufacturing is now a ₹54000 crore industry 10 States host 37,000 workers and 35 assembly lines that can churn out 20 m handsets a month Wireless technologies key to India's development: Telecom secretary India needs to embrace and harness wireless communication technologies to become the most developed nation in the coming decades, Telecom Secretary J.S. Deepak said on Tuesday. India's top private telecom companies add 2.08 mn subscribers in July While Airtel led in the operator category, UP East was on top in terms of Circle wise subscription.. Airtel rolls out Aadhaar-based instant activation for new mobile connections Vodafone India had recently partnered with the telecom department to pilot the Aadhar-based e-KYC solutions and tested it successfully in two circles. Idea Cellular denies exploratory merger talks with Vodafone India Shares in Idea, the country's No. 3 operator, rose 5.7 percent in afternoon trading following the news. Telcos vs RJio: Will intervene if needed, says telecom minister The stage is now set for the next round of battle with India’s largest-ever spectrum auction starts on 29 September Awareness programme on mobile towers construction held Telecom Enforcement Resources and Monitoring (TERM) cell director T Sreenivasan said the department of telecommunications will launch a national level web portal which will help the public to resolve their apprehensions over the construction of mobile towers. Alibaba's UC Web partners with Colors to be a top sponsor Robert Bu, general manager at UCWeb India, said the partnership with Colors will build long-term engagement for the content on the channel through multiple platforms Flipkart may be low on cash Cash-burn, buys draining e-com giant, say analysts; company sees no need for funding Paytm delinks payments bank from shopping biz The company has been split into two separate entities, Paytm E-commerce Services and Paytm Payments Bank Analysis: Why the Indian retail market is back on the map India is often seen as a land shrouded in mystery: enigmatic, a law unto itself, and difficult for outsiders to penetrate. TradeBriefs Publications are read by over 10,00,000 Industry Executives India Business Brief | India Retail News | India Food Brief | India Telecom Brief | India Finance Brief | India Software Brief | India Digital Brief | India Ecommerce Brief | India Franchise Brief | India HR Brief | India Logistics Brief | India Construction Brief About Us  |  Advertise Privacy Policy    Unsubscribe You are receiving this mail because of your subscription with TradeBriefs. Our mailing address is GF 25/39, West Patel Nagar, New Delhi 110008, India