Tag: chinese products

STARTUP DIGEST: Here are top startup stories of the day

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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There were many important developments in the startup space through the day on Monday, which include IFC invests $10 million in Endiya Partners Fund II, Anti-China sentiment not a factor as OnePlus, Redmi top sales during Amazon Prime Day sale, and ‘DocSumo’ raises $2.20 million seed funding, Paytm launches a smart PoS device to digitise small businesses, Flipkart launches its first startup accelerator programme.

Here’re the day’s top startup updates:

1. IFC invests $10 million in Endiya Partners Fund II
The International Financial Corporation (IFC) has invested $10 M in VC firm Endiya Venture Partners to support product start-ups and drive innovation.
The IFC has also committed an additional $10 million for direct co-investments alongside Endiya Fund II. The Partnership with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group will provide Endiya’s portfolio companies with financial and strategic support to push growth and scale.

Endiya Fund II has a corpus target of INR 500 cr ($65 m) and has completed its first close at INR 280 cr ($40 m) in May 2019. Financial institutions, corporates, and family offices across India, Europe and U.S are limited partners in the fund.

Endiya Fund II will seek to invest in 16 – 20 startups, with an initial cheque size of to $1 million million in seed or pre-series A rounds and a planned investment of up to $5 million per company.

2. Amazon Prime Day: Anti-China sentiment not a factor as OnePlus, Redmi top sales
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon’s Prime Day sale in India saw a huge demand for smartphones, large appliances, and apparel, with Chinese names such as OnePlus and Redmi among the top-selling brands despite the anti-China sentiment.
Amazon India says it added twice the number of Prime members added in last year’s event during the sale it held last week.
The ecommerce company also said it had the highest participation from small businesses, with over 91,000 SMBs participating, and over 209 of them becoming ‘crorepatis’.
India was the first country for Amazon globally to kick off its 2-day annual Prime Day event on August 6, while the other markets will hold the event in the next quarter.
Prime Day is meant for Prime members of Amazon, allowing them to avail discounts, grab new launches, and access new content on Prime Video and other Amazon platform

3. ‘DocSumo’ raises $2.2 million seed funding from Better Capital, Techstars and Barclays
DocSumo, a document AI startup that was founded in 2019 has raised a seed funding from Better Capital, an early stage venture firm with fintech investments in notable companies like Rupeek, Open, Khatabook, YAP and others. Global accelerators TechStars and Barclays also participated in this round making the total raise for the company to $2.2 million.

The startup provides intelligent workflow automation for financial services companies to save back office costs by up to 70 percent through document data capture, analytics and fraud detection.

4. Flipkart launches its first startup accelerator programme
Walmart owned Flipkart has launched a startup accelerator program called – ‘Flipkart Leap’ with a focus on innovations for users in metro cities well as those in Bharat – tier 2 and 3 cities. Selected B2C and B2B startups will undergo a 16-week program that will focus on making them market-ready and allow them to win an equity-free grant of $25,000.

Flipkart Leap has identified five themes to shortlist relevant high-potential startups — Design & Make for India, Innovation in Digital Commerce, Technologies to Empower the Retail Ecosystem, Supply Chain Management & Logistics and Enabling Relevant Deep Tech applications.

5. Paytm launches a smart PoS device to digitise small businesses
Noida-headquartered Paytm has launched keeping the small business owners in mind.

The device can be used for accepting payments as well as processing orders, said the company in a press note today. It also comes bundled with Paytm’s ‘Scan to Order’ service that is getting adopted by restaurants and takeaway joints across the country.

Besides restaurants the terminal can be adopted by delivery personnel, kirana stores, small shopkeepers and others to accept digital payments on the go.The company aims to issue over 2 lakh devices within the next few months which will generate over 20 million transactions per month.

This device is integrated with the ‘Paytm for Business’ app to generate GST compliant bills and also to manage all transactions and settlements for the merchant.

6. ConveGenius acquires Gray Matters India
EdTech social enterprises ConveGenius acquires Gray Matters India (GMI) to boost its AI based assessment products.

The acquisition will help ConveGenius integrate GMI’s measurement science with its automated learning capabilities and help under-served students diagnose their remediation requirement for missing skills and knowledge through a tailored set of instructions.

7. Twitter expressed interest in buying TikTok’s US operations
Twitter Inc has approached TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to express interest in acquiring the US operations of the video-sharing app, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as experts raised doubts over Twitter’s ability to put together financing for a potential deal.

It is far from certain that Twitter would be able to outbid Microsoft Corp and complete such a transformative deal in the 45 days that US President Donald Trump has given ByteDance to agree to a sale, the sources said on Saturday.

The news of Twitter and TikTok being in preliminary talks and Microsoft still being seen as the front-runner in bidding for the app’s US operations was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

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CAIT aims to dent China’s Rs 4,000 crore biz during Rakhi, to send 5,000 rakhis for soldiers

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Traders’ body CAIT, which has called for the boycott of Chinese products, on Monday said it has resolved for a “Hindustani rakhi” next month and dent China’s estimated Rs 4,000 crore of trade during the festival.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) would also hand over more than 5,000 rakhis to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to be further sent to soldiers guarding the country’s borders.

The CAIT, which has 40,000 trade associations and seven crore members across India as its members, has resolved for a “purely Hindustani Rakhi festival” on August 3 and dent China’s estimated Rs 4,000 crore trade during the festival, it said in a statement.

“This time any rakhi made by China or any rakhi-related product from China will not be used! In order to encourage the brave soldiers who are guarding the borders of the country, the women’s wing of the CAIT will give 5,000 rakhis to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for the soldiers, the traders’ body said.

The CAIT said that according to an estimate a trade of Rs 6,000 crore takes place every year in India on Raksha Bandhan in which China alone contributes about Rs 4,000 crore.

“Not only is finished rakhi imported from China but also rakhi-making products like foam, paper foil, rakhi thread, pearls, drops, decorative items for rakhi are also imported. Due to CAIT’s campaign to boycott Chinese goods, no Chinese goods will be used in rakhi this year and we are confident that China is set to lose about Rs 4,000 crores of business,” Sushil Kumar Jain, the Delhi-NCR unit convenor of the CAIT, said.

He said the CAIT has sent a message to all its state chapters and other major associations working in all the states that Chinese rakhi or related products should not be sold.

“CAIT has also urged various state chapters to get people working in raw settlements in the cities, self-help groups of women, women working in anganwadis, small artisans and others to make rakhis and sell them in markets which will also be a great help to people of all these classes,” Jain said.

At the same time, CAIT has also urged small scale industries to make Rakhis using Indian goods, he added.

The trade body said that its women wing would also give rakhis to soldiers posted at military hospitals in each city of the country.

The women wing of CAIT in every city of the country, will also tie rakhi to police personnel engaged in safety and security of citizens thereby giving a message that every person of the country stands firmly with the Army and the police force of the country, the statement said.

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Chinese consignments to be held off in Chennai, to face delays in clearance

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Customs officials in Chennai have instructed all authorities handling import consignments originating from China to hold off from clearing them until further notice.

The Chennai Commissionerate has issued instructions internally to port terminals, the airport and all container freight stations (CFSes) to hold all cargo from China, even those shipments which have been cleared with an OOC.

A shipment which is given an OOC, or Out of Charge order is cleared by customs and found to have no discrepancies. However, these shipments will be allowed to be delivered only after a re-examination by customs authorities is done.

According to sources, GV Krishna Rao, chief commissioner of CGST and Central Excise of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, informed importers that the cargo will be subject to re-examination due to intelligence inputs received by the Excise authorities.

The intelligence received by the department could be based on dumping of goods, inferior or wrong items in the shipment, etc. However, given the Covid-19 pandemic and the situation at the Galwan Valley, the re-examination could also be on different grounds.

The Chennai Customs Brokers Association wrote to members asking them to prepare for delays in clearance of China-origin cargo arising from ports, CFSes and airports. In a letter to members, it said, “An official trade notice/circular is still awaited from customs. Our association is in touch with customs officials to get further instructions on releasing the cargo which is under clearance”, it said.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

TikTok competitor Chingari witnesses 5 lakh downloads: Developers

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Indian social app Chingari, billed as the ‘desi’ alternative to the Chinese short entertainment video sharing platform TikTok, on Monday claimed it has recorded five lakh downloads in just 72 hours in the backdrop of boycott Chinese products calls.

City-based developers of the app in a statement said the “Made in India app continues to gain popularity as countrys users choose to boycott Chinese social apps”.

The clamour for boycot Chinese products and removal of mobile apps has been growing in the country in the aftermath of the killing of 20 Indian soldiers, including a colonel, in a violent face-off with Chinese troops on June 15 in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.

“The popular short video-sharing app has garnered nearly 5,00,000 users in just 72 hours and more subscribers are steadily joining the Chingari family,” developers of the application Biswatma Nayak and Siddharth Gautam said in the statement.

They claimed the demand for Chingari has been trending at the number one spot on the Google Play Store and its popularity has already surpassed that of the Mitron app, a TikTok clone platform.

On June 10, the developers had said the app garnered more than one lakh users and the number of subscribers was shooting up steadily.

In the latest statement, Nayak said, The response of our customers has been overwhelming.Since the word spread that Indians now have a homegrown and more entertaining alternative to TikTok, we have been recording traffic beyond expectations on our app.”

The custom-designed audio and video based free social platform was developed in 2019 by the two and now they aim to achieve the milestone of a million downloads in a short span.

As Chingari is setting new benchmarks, a lot of investors are showing interest in our app. We are holding crucial discussions to get good investors on board so as to scale up our free-of-cost social platform, Nayak added.

Chingari, available in multiple languages, allows a user to download and upload videos, chat with friends, interact with new people, share content, and browse through feeds.

A Chingari user gets the opportunity to get creative with WhatsApp status, videos, audio clips, GIF stickers, and photos.

Chingari also pays its users based on how viral the content creators video becomes. For each video a user uploads on the app, the content creator gets points per view and these points can be redeemed for money.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

COVID-19: Anti-China sentiment, customer service help home-grown VU sell record TV sets

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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VU Technologies on Tuesday said it has sold a record 50,000 television sets in the largest selling category of 4K TVs in May, even as the lockdown continued across several parts of the country.

Its chairman and chief executive Devita Saraf said the brand’s performance was “standout” as compared to an industry reeling under the pressures of lacklustre demand during the COVID-19 lockdown and claimed that it has emerged as the largest selling TV brand in May, ahead of rivals like Samsung, LG, Sony and the Chinese MI.

Speaking to PTI, she attributed the high amount of sales to anti-China sentiment and also customer service wherein the company replaced TV sets if it was not able to repair them because of the lockdowns.

It can be noted that in the past few weeks, as the tensions on the borders grow, there have been widespread calls to boycott both Chinese goods and software.

Saraf said consumers in the premium segment – a 4K TV set retails between Rs 25,000 to 48,000 depending on the size – have become very discerning, and with TVs getting smarter, also understand the privacy concerns which emanate from using Chinese apps like Tiktok or UC Browser.

“The anti-China sentiment is boosting our sales,” she said, adding that e-commerce major Flipkart, which used to sell 200 units a day has reported days of over 2,000 TV sets being sold in a single day. Saraf said that the growth in sales is not due to pent-up demand of April spilling over.

Parrying a question on the previous high on monthly sales, Saraf said the company imports the TV sets as completely built units and does some local assembly before sending them to the customer. The sets come from not just China, but other countries as well, she added.

Saraf, who owns the entire company fully, said she played the lockdown months in an opportunistic way wherein the inventory levels were maintained in such a way that the rise in demand could be met.

The company did not initiate any unpleasant actions against its employees, she said, adding that advances were paid to people to help them meet expenses.

Addressing concerns around discretionary spending going down because of aspects like job losses, salary cuts or lack of optimism, Saraf said the demand for TV sets has grown because it has become into a necessity during the lockdown with some households buying multiple sets as all the members in a family are confined to homes.

She also said that the pricing power has not been affected, stressing that her focus is on growing profitably even if it means that the revenues do not rise beyond 20-25 per cent per year.

Predicting the remainder of the fiscal year will be very difficult and the company will respond to the changes in the marketplace as they come, she said, hinting that marketing activities will also continue.

The company is doing its first launch of a range of TV sets with enhanced capabilities like automatic parental control of content in what is billed by it as a out of home launch, Saraf said.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Shopping from Chinese ecommerce platforms likely to become costlier, says report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The centre is likely to introduce taxes and customs duties totalling as much as 50 percent on goods ordered from Chinese e-tailers, The Economic Times reported, citing people familiar with the development.

The tax department may impose integrated goods and services tax and customs duties that would be levied on the buyers at the payment stage, the report said, adding that e-tailers like Club Factory, AliExpress and Shein could be affected by the move.

The tax authorities have been seizing consignments ordered from Chinese e-commerce platforms, which were shipping goods ordered by Indians claiming they were gifts, the report claimed. Gifts with a value of less than Rs 5,000 are exempt from customs duty.

“The government is looking to bring in payment gateways on board on the scheme and when the consumer pays the money, IGST and customs duty will be included in the price,” one of the sources told ET.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India says China agrees to increase imports from country

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Commerce minister Suresh Prabhu said on Friday that China has agreed to increase its imports from the country.

“Global disruptions offer a chance to increase Indian exports,” Prabhu said at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).

Prabhu said Chinese authorities will hold a meeting in November specifically with Indian exporters to address their concerns relating to market access and trade regulations.

India’s trade deficit with China is its widest with any country, with large amounts of electronics and other items flowing across the border with its northern neighbour.

The Indian government said on Thursday it is set to boost exports of rice and rapeseed to China to try to narrow this gap.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow