SPOTLIGHT ON INDIAN ELECTRONICS Spotlight on Indian Electronics | Page 173

HIGH PRIORITY MARKET - IT
categories such as apparel and accessories .
ups in India in the next five years with a vision to
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JustRide , a self-drive car rental aggregator , has raised
create a viable and profitable business out of the
US $ 400,000 in pre-series A round of funding from a
booming start-up sector in India .
group of angel investors , including Redcliffe Capital ’ s
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National Association of Software and Services
Mr Dheeraj Jain , which will be used to enhance its
Companies ( NASSCOM ) plans to open four more tech
technology .
start-up incubation centres in different parts of India ,
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Mumbai based baby care and kids products e-tailer ,
in addition to existing three , in support of Government
Hopscotch . in , has raised US $ 13 million in a Series C
of India ’ s ‘ Start-up India ’ initiative .
round of funding from Facebook co-founder Mr
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Nasscom Foundation , a non-profit organisation which
Eduardo Saverin , which will help the firm in growth
is a part of Nasscom , has partnered with SAP India to
and expansion of its technology platform .
establish 25 National Digital Literacy Mission ( NDLM )
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MoMark Services , a mobile based customer
centres in 12 cities across India , as a part of
engagement platform for small and medium
Government of India ' s Digital India initiative .
businesses , has raised US $ 600,000 from YourNest
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Infosys , India ’ s second largest Information Technology
Angel Fund and LNB Group , to scale up its product
services company has acquired US-based Noah
offerings and talent acquisition .
Consulting , a provider of advanced information
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Shouut , a social discovery app by Giant Tech Labs Pvt
management consulting services for the oil and gas
Ltd , which helps consumers discover deals , buy event
industry .
tickets or redeem coupons , has raised US $ 500,000 in
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US-based Callidus Software Inc , cloud-based sales ,
angel funding from a high net-worth individual angel
marketing , learning and customer experience solutions
investor based in India .
provider , has opened its centre in Hyderabad and also
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Apple Inc . plans to set up its first technology
launched its ‘ The Lead to Money ’ suite in Indian
development centre outside the US in Hyderabad with
markets .
an investment of US $ 25 million , which is expected to
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Wipro Ventures , Wipro ’ s US $ 100 million corporate
create 4,500 jobs , as per Mr Jayesh Ranjan , Secretary ,
venture arm , plans to invest in early-stage Venture
IT for the state of Telangana .
Capital ( VC ) funds based in the US to pursue a
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Xpressbees , an e-commerce logistics firm operated by
strategy of investing / partnering country-focussed
Busybees Logistics Solutions Private Limited , has
VCs .
raised US $ 12.5 million in a Series A funding , led by its
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A recent study by research firm International Data
existing investors SAIF Partners , IDG Ventures , Vertex
Corporation ( IDC ) suggests that India may soon be
Ventures and Valiant Capital , which will be used to
able to catch up with the global technology trends
strengthen technology initiatives and processes of the
that have disrupted enterprises , industry and the way
firm .
consumers behave and transact .
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Housejoy , an online home services provider , has raised
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Reliance is building a 650,000 square feet ( sq ft ) data
Rs 150 crore ( US $ 22 million ) in a Series B round of
centre in India — its 10th data centre in the
funding led by Amazon , and which also includes new
country — with a combined capacity of about 1 million
investors such as Vertex Ventures , Qualcomm and Ru-
sq ft and an overall investment of US $ 200 million .
Net Technology Partners .
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Intel Corp plans to invest about US $ 62 million in 16
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Global PE firm Blackstone Group has acquired a
technology companies , working on wearable , data
minority stake in an Indian travel , transportation and
analytics and the Internet of Things ( IoT ), in 2015
logistics software firm , IBS Software , for US $ 170
through its investment arm Intel Capital . The Indian
million , by buying the stake from General Atlantic and
IoT industry is expected be worth US $ 15 billion and to
few other shareholders .
connect 28 billion devices to the internet by 2020 .
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India ’ s top-tier IT company , Infosys Ltd , has bought a
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Indian e-commerce industry is expected to grow at a
minority stake worth US $ 3 million in Whoop , which is
CAGR of 35 per cent to reach US $ 100 billion size in
a US-based start-up that makes activity trackers worn
the next five years , as per a study by Assocham-Price
by athletes .
water house Coopers .
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Microsoft Ventures is planning to incubate 500 start-
Government Initiatives
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Some of the major initiatives taken by the government
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The Railway Ministry plans to give a digital push to the
to promote IT and ITeS sector in India are as follows :
India Railways by introducing bar-coded tickets ,
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Mr Ravi Shakar Prasad , Minister of Communication
Global Positioning System ( GPS ) based information
and Information Technology , announced plan to
systems inside coaches , integration of all facilities
increase the number of common service centres or e-
dealing with ticketing issues , Wi-Fi facilities at the
Seva centres to 250,000 from 150,000 currently to
stations , super-fast long-route train service for
enable village level entrepreneurs to interact with
unreserved passengers among other developments ,
national experts for guidance , besides serving as a e-
which will help to increase the passenger traffic .
services distribution point .
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The e-Tourist Visa ( e-TV ) scheme has been extended
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