This week, ZipGo has again run into trouble with the government. It has suspended its services in the city. MakeMyTrip net loss widens in Q3, revenue up 3.5%. So let’s look at some of the news which made headlines in the startup space this week.
1. Shuttle Operation startup ZipGo in trouble with Government; to suspend services
Bangalore-based shuttle bus service, ZipGo has again run into trouble with the government. It has suspended its services in the city after the state transport department alleged them of violating rules and operating without permits.
2. Net Neutrality: Trai set to reject Facebook’s Free Basics differential pricing
Telecom regulator Trai is set to reject differential pricing for data services, a move that would mean the end of controversial services like Facebook’s Free Basics and clear the confusion over net neutrality. Trai will issue an an order to this effect within a week.
3. IRCTC restriction on e-wallet may impact Paytm & Mobikwik
The ministry of railways’ decision to bar consumers from using e-wallet and cash cards to book train tickets using the Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd, or IRCTC, website for four hours daily could affect Paytm and Mobikwik’s plans to get train travellers to use their mobile wallets.
4. MakeMyTrip net loss widens in Q3, revenue up 3.5%
NASDAQ listed online travel service portal MakeMyTrip has reported 3.5 percent rise in net revenue for the three months ended December 31, 2015 to $36.3 million from $35.1 million recorded in the same quarter a year ago.
5. Bus aggregator Shuttl crosses 1 million rides milestone within 10 months
Gurgaon-based Bus aggregator Shuttl in a press release stated that it has crossed one million rides offered across the Delhi-NCR region. The startup has amassed this feat in less than 194 days of its operations.
6. Ratan Tata Backs Online Tea seller, Teabox
Teabox, the specialty tea company, has raised an undisclosed round of financing from Ratan Tata, former chief of the Tata Group. Siliguri-based Teabox was founded in 2012. It is a premium tea brand delivering tea all over the world and is focused on the vertical integration of sourcing, branding and distributing teas.
7. Telangana government’s startup Incubator T-hub’s second phase to be launched
Telangana Governor ESL Narasimhan told the masses that the start-up incubator T-Hub‘s second phase, set up in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode by Telangana government, would be launched by the end of this year. It will have an investment of Rs 150 Crore.
8. Paytm all set to go global, Partners With Alibaba
Paytm and Alibaba’s cloud computing arm AliCloud, have entered into a commercial partnership that will allow Paytm to expand its network to global markets such as the US and China and, in turn, give Alibaba’s financial arm Alipay access to India’s fast-growing payments services industry.
9. Zomato on its way to double revenue this year, now worths $1 billion
Zomato will also be the first among Indian ecommerce ‘Unicorns’ that are estimated to be worth at least $1billion. Zomato is on course to double its revenue in the current fiscal year ending March 31 and break even at the operating level by mid-2016.
10. Paytm records profit in payment business but loses money in e-commerce, says CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Paytm‘s payments business has recorded profits on an operational basis, founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma. He mentioned that Paytm became EBITDA positive at the end of 2015, without revealing the details. EBITDA means earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization which can be also called as operating income, and is a measure of profitability for company’s core business.
The post 10 Startup news you need to know this week [25 January – 31 January] appeared first on KnowStartup.