Paytm acquires Nightstay; UberBOAT is here; StartupBharat goes to Manipur

Indian payments conglomerate Paytm confirmed its acquisition of hotel-booking platform Nightstay, launching the domestic hotel bookings vertical on its platform for an undisclosed amount. With this, Paytm will bolster its travel vertical, which already includes travel bookings and Forex services.

Uber launches UberBOAT

All set to conquer the sea! San-Francisco based ride-hailing unicorn Uber, on Wednesday, launched UberBOAT services in Mumbai, in partnership with the Maharashtra Maritime Board. Riders will get to access two types of UberBOAT based on the seating capacity - a six to eight seater UberBOAT for Rs 5,700, and a 10 seater UberBOAT XL for Rs 9,500. The riders can also avail a boat ride on the Uber app.

StartupBharat goes to Manipur

As technological innovations make their presence felt in Northeast India, Manipur is slowly waking up to change that is evident with entrepreneurs make waves with their successful startup stories. And Lairenjam Niranjan Singh is one such example. In November last year, Niranjan along with Fisher Laishram and seven other founders and angel investors came together to set up Imphal Angels, Northeast’s first early-stage investment platform in Manipur.

#Budget2019: startups speak

With two budgets and one election around the corner, 2019 is all set to be an action-packed year. And at YourStory, we pay special attention to startups. At least 88 percent of people - mainly startup founders - who responded to our Budget survey said they want the Finance Minister to raise the personal Income Tax exemption threshold from Rs 2.5 lakh. A total of 81 percent is also looking at sops – for farmers, rural India, and even India Inc – while 75 percent want an announcement of fiscal prudence measures.

Tamil Nadu has a Startup Policy

Tamil Nadu now has a Startup Policy and it aims to create one lakh jobs over the next few years. In addition, there are the plans to set up the Tamil Nadu Startup Fund of Funds to the tune of Rs 250 crore, which will be registered as an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), and managed by organisations like the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to invest in startups and MSMEs.

Crio raises $1 million seed funding

Crio raised $1 million in seed funding led by Flipkart Co-founder and former CEO Binny Bansal, along with former Flipkart employee-turned entrepreneurs. With this, the Bengaluru-based learning platform for software developers will be building out its product and scaling its team as it plans to add more modules to serve a wider base of technology skills.

AptEner Mechatronics raises Rs 10 crore

AptEner Mechatronics, the parent company of multi-functional motorcycle gear brand BluArmor, raised Rs 10 crore in Series A funding. The round saw participation from Inventus India and KITVEN. As for the capital raised, AptEner Mechatronics will be using the funds to sell two-wheeler accessories in India.

OYO launches in the Philippines

On Wednesday, OYO officially announced its launch in the Philippines and confirmed that it’s planning to commence operations with over 21 franchised and leased hotels. With this launch, OYO Hotels also aims to generate over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs to support the economic trajectory of the Philippines in various fields.

Now get the Daily Capsule in your inbox. Subscribe to our newsletter today!