<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/54277266.cms" /> 
Start ups pay a good salary, have flexi working hours and meals are on the house with an<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Study-reveals-shocking-change-in-the-hiring-trends-of-Indian-start-ups/articleshow/50073782.cms"> open bar </a>on weekends. This is a typical <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Study-reveals-shocking-change-in-the-hiring-trends-of-Indian-start-ups/articleshow/50073782.cms">myth</a> in India about start ups and people were painting colourful pictures of the work culture. In the last few years, employees, mostly young ones, working with MNCs were lured by the perks and made a jump to one of the new start ups in India. With walls full of graffiti, and quirky designations, start up culture in India was quickly gaining throttle until all of a sudden the bubble burst happened and layoffs began. 
 
While layoffs in start ups are quite a common thing that has happened in the US, Indian start ups are entering a similar phase when layoffs are getting massive. Last month <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Study-reveals-shocking-change-in-the-hiring-trends-of-Indian-start-ups/articleshow/50073782.cms">Ola </a>shut down Taxi for Sure and lay off some 250 employees. The major one was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Study-reveals-shocking-change-in-the-hiring-trends-of-Indian-start-ups/articleshow/50073782.cms">Askme</a>, which got shut because the investor backed off seeing no profits in the business. <keyword id="1720566" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="AskMe">Askme</keyword> closed down recently and almost 4000 employees were left without employment. What’s worse? The ecommerce company hasn’t cleared their salary for the last two months. 
 An interim order of the <keyword id="6354457" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Company-Law-Tribunal">National Company Law Tribunal</keyword> has asked <keyword id="3604720" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="astro-entertainment-networks-ltd">Astro Entertainment Networks Ltd</keyword>, a major investor in Askme not to quit. However, Astro has responded that having invested USD 300 million, they haven’t seen any profit in recent time. 
 
So we investigate what’s causing the damage. 
 
Lure of extra 
Start ups are known to be good in workplace culture. A 30%-50% or even more hike in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Study-reveals-shocking-change-in-the-hiring-trends-of-Indian-start-ups/articleshow/50073782.cms">current CTC </a>and fancy designations shouldn’t be the one reason to quit. With funds drying up and ventures becoming cost effective, it’s the workforce that is chosen first to be culled. Founders of most of the start ups have begun from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Study-reveals-shocking-change-in-the-hiring-trends-of-Indian-start-ups/articleshow/50073782.cms">grassroots</a> and know their job very well. 
 
Data by Xeler8 reveals that out of the 2,281 ventures that started since July 2014, at a failure rate of 43.7%, almost a thousand have shut down. 
 
 
Too many employees 
At the time of investments, everything goes well and start ups tend to recruit a lot more than their actual need. This is often because they have bigger plans. However in case the venture shows a decline in profits, they tend to get rid of the extra hires. 
 
A survey by a firm that tracks candidate movements across different hiring stages, Belong, shows that the number of joinees in ecommerce firms dipped by 61% between November 2015 and April 2016 over the May to October 2015 period. 
 
 
Underperformers are the first to get the boot Even <keyword id="6364080" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Binny-Bansal">Binny Bansal</keyword> of <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> has reportedly admitted that he was also removed from the post of CEO because of underperformance. In Flipkart’s list there were many others who had underperformed. But 700 people were forced to resign, while <keyword id="6442005" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bansal">Bansal</keyword> stayed. Now the problem with the employees begin. Once laid off from a start up, they are offered salaries that don’t match their last ones. At 30-40% lesser figures they agree to join because they know the job market is competitive at the moment. 
 
Shifting focus 
In the initial days of start up boom in India, VCs would invest in any project that showed a potential to grow. However, investors are now showing restraint in such decisions. 
 
Start ups, as a result, are changing their focus. They are looking more towards making profit than just the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Study-reveals-shocking-change-in-the-hiring-trends-of-Indian-start-ups/articleshow/50073782.cms">growth factor</a>. 
 <keyword id="646706" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ravi-Gururaj">Ravi Gururaj</keyword> of <keyword id="6372077" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nasscom">NASSCOM</keyword> believes start ups generally fire employees under three circumstances. They either don’t have the money and need funding, or they have hired more than the need or they have different plans. 
 
Let whatever be the case, hard times like these are essential for employees to evaluate their professional skills. If one can fight the odds and survive, he would be the best fit in any industry under any circumstances. 
 
Start up industry will remain like this and people joining the industry need to be prepared for the same.

Start ups aren’t for the faint hearted. What
leads to massive layoffs in start ups

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48697732.cms" /> When 19-year old <keyword id="2987833" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Harsh-Songra">Harsh Songra</keyword> went to sleep last night, he had no idea what would happen in the next few hours. He had no idea that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=that+Facebook+chief+operating+officer">Facebook chief operating officer</a> (COO) <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Sheryl+Sandberg+">Sheryl Sandberg</a> would publish a post about him and his startup <keyword id="3022261" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="My-Child-App">My Child App</keyword>. 
 On Wednesday, Songra was woken up at 2 a.m. by the frequent <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword> notifications after Sandberg published a post, where she told the story of Songra and his app as an instance of startups being supported by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Facebook+">Facebook</a> under its FBStart programme. 
 
The social networking site’s COO posted: "We're supporting developers like Harsh who have great ideas but can't always access the resources they need." 
 
My Child is an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Android+app+">Android app</a> that tells parents if their child is likely to be suffering from a developmental disorder by processing basic inputs such as the child's height, weight and gender, in just 45 seconds. 
 
Why did Songra develop this app? There is a sad story behind it. It took his parents nine long years to get him diagnosed of having dyspraxia, a developmental disorder. 
 The late diagnosis meant that his parents could do nothing to help. But Songra's father, who was a <keyword id="281728" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="hardware-engineer">hardware engineer</keyword>, taught him to use the computer at a young age and he used computer games to overcome the problems of coordination and movement that dyspraxia brings with it. 
 
When he was 16-year-old, Songra was experimenting with algorithms. His drive to do something that will guide parents like his and two years of research helped him build My Child all by himself. The app had seen downloads from across six continents. 
 
His app was launched in January this year. It was built with the help of Facebook's platform Parse and promoted with other tools such as Facebook ads, Hootsuite and Mailchimp. 
 
The Chairman of product council at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Nasscom">Nasscom</a>, <keyword id="646706" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ravi-Gururaj">Ravi Gururaj</keyword>, recently got on board as a mentor. 
 He expressed his excitement at Sandberg's post in a Facebook post. Songra, who is pursuing BCA in the <keyword id="916681" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Bhopal-School-of-Social-Sciences">Bhopal School of Social Sciences</keyword>, said, "Being an entrepreneur means that you lose out on a lot, including your friends. But, when things like this happen, you know that the struggle was worth it." 
 
(Image: echai.in)

What is so special about 19-year-old Harsh Songra? Facebook COO published a post about him

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48185212.cms" /> <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Startups">Startups</keyword> do not like the <keyword id="30067" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="RBI">RBI</keyword>'s 2013 circular as it requires them to file software-export forms for every transaction. It has further proved to be a nightmare for companies that are now required to submit the form, in four copies, for every transaction. 
 
Earlier, the softex forms were needed only for invoices exceeding $25,000. Only few <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/5Points-To-Remember-When-Starting-Your-Own-Business/articleshow/26156210.cms">startups</a> had a significant level of transactions of that amount but when the RBI removed the floor, every software export transaction was targeted, reported the Economic Times. 
 
The procedure to file a form is lengthy and tiresome. A company has to fill in the details of the invoice, along with the contract or statement of work. The form is available on the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Know-why-Bankers-are-super-unhappy-with-the-RBI/articleshow/47527071.cms">Reserve Bank of India</a> (RBI) website and can be downloaded from there. Four copies have to be made from it -- one for the Software Technology Parks of India which will certify the transaction, one for RBI, one for the startup's bank that receives the payment and one for the startup. 
 
But in some cases the form, in its current form, can't be filled, as in the case of a startup selling an application on a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Listen-Up-Google-wants-to-double-its-business-every-year-in-India-Here-is-how/articleshow/47246032.cms">Google</a> or <keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword> Store, which has no contracts or invoices. 
 
For startups that want to comply with the rule in its current form, the process is painstaking and adds costs. 
 <keyword id="646706" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ravi-Gururaj">Ravi Gururaj</keyword>, chairman of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/India-Is-The-Fastest-Growing-Startup-Ecosystem-In-The-World-NASSCOM/articleshow/44982544.cms">Nasscom</a> Product Council, told ET: "This is very frustrating. We have made representations to the RBI to explain to them that this is very onerous for a startup and we want them to restore the threshold because there are micro-transactions that are getting caught. We have asked them if the forms can be aggregated, so it can be filed once a month, or once a quarter. We are waiting for their decision." 
 
Gururaj further said that they were working with several startups and product companies that were facing problems in trying to comply. 
 
"We have about 400 invoices a month that range in size from $2000-$30,000. I have to create 1600 forms, and each has to be signed. We are also starting a business when you can use our software for $10 a month, and we want thousands of customers. I will have to hire people just to finish these forms and then I will have to buy a truck to deliver them," Abhishek, a founder at a startup that develops applications for customers outside India, said. 
 
A second startup founder said that while he knows about the circular, his bank doesn't. 
"They only ask for Softex forms for invoices over $25,000. So, currently, it isn't a problem. But we know we are non-compliant. The problem is that in the current state, we don't know how to even become compliant with it becoming a big problem," Atul, who runs a small IT outsourcing firm, said. 
 
Startups are now caught in a Catch-22 situation. They could either comply with the notification, inflating their costs, or they could postpone complying and face flags in the due diligence process when they try to raise funds. 
 
Experts on Softex forms say that even larger companies are just beginning to comply with the circular that was sent about two years ago. 
 
"We have clients that are just beginning to comply. But in defence of the central bank, they have tried to make the process easier by shifting it online. And they have been understanding and lenient when they see non-compliance. But saying you are ignorant of the rule is not an excuse," Divya Gupta, Director of Tax at consultancy <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Asset-Management-Industry-May-Shrink-50-By-2030-KPMG/articleshow/36667325.cms">KPMG</a>, said. 
 
Gupta added that as yet there was not adequate knowledge about the rule change. 
 
(Image: Reuters)

RBI’s hurls a giant boulder at Indian startups! Know how

<ul><li>The event focuses on Web3, D2C, metaverse, SaaS, in addition to conversations around corporate governance and building resilient businesses.</li><li>The event will include over 50 speakers, over 20 investors and has more than 20 sessions that include keynotes, masterclasses, panel discussions and exclusive lunch table sessions.</li><li>The 2-day event is spread across <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>’s leading sStartup hubs – Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru.</li></ul>Dubbed as India's largest and most definitive startup event for tech entrepreneurs, TiE Delhi-NCR’s India Internet Day (iDay) is all set to commence. The event will be held at two different locations and nation’s leading startup hubs. It is slated for September 1-2 in Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR. The theme for iDay 2022 is ‘Riding the wave: Building Winning Businesses Today’. Over 100 key industry stakeholders, ace investors, unicorn founders will be a part of conversations revolving around building resilient businesses, trends in D2C, Web3, metaverse, SaaS, crypto and beyond. Now in its 11th edition, the iconic India Internet Day has been running successfully for over a decade, curated by key leaders from the Indian startup ecosystem. iDay will showcase best practices, exciting opportunities and defining future trends. Expected attendees include tech pioneers, innovators, ideators, investors, mentors, incubators, accelerators, evangelists and budding entrepreneurs. The conference plays host to in-depth sessions, engaging keynotes by leading founders, investors and market experts of the digital world, in addition to exclusive lunch table sessions. “It has been an honour to co-chair this edition of India Internet Day, which has always been the premier event for tech entrepreneurs. The importance of this platform is even more amplified now, when founders need to learn from one another on how to build enduring, resilient businesses. Like they say - when the going gets tough, the tough get building,” said Mayak Khanduja, partner, elevation capital &amp; co-chair, India Internet Day. The exceptional line up for the event includes institution builders, leading tech entrepreneurs, nation’s best investors and policy makers including Deepak Bagla, Invest India; Mayank Khanduja, Elevation Capital; Rajan Anandan, Sequoia India &amp; SEA; Deep Kalra, MakeMyTrip; Mohit Bhatnagar, Sequoia India; Mukul Arora, Elevation Capital; Kiran Vasireddy, Kalaari Capital; Ashwini Asokan, Vue.ai, Blox.ai; Upasana Taku, Mobikwik; Ravi Chhabria, NetApp India; Gaurav Gupta, Squareboat; Ashish Hemrajani, BookMyShow; Ashish Singhal, CoinSwitch; Vidit Aatrey, founder &amp; CEO, Meesho &amp; many more. “Over the past decade, India Internet Day has emerged as a leading platform showcasing India’s internet growth story. After a resounding debut in 2012, it has grown from being relevant to being indispensable for stakeholders across the ecosystem. iDay hosts the entire gamut of the internet mobile industry in India like no other forum,” said Geetika Dayal, executive director, TiE Delhi-NCR. “This year iDay focuses on building robust, resilient &amp; future ready companies which can survive &amp; succeed in the midst of headwinds. We are happy to bring iDay to Bengaluru in collaboration with TiE Bangalore this year,” added Dayal. The conference is supported by <keyword id="3003094" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="startup-india" source="Orion">Startup India</keyword>, Elevation Capital, Sequoia Capital, Microsoft, AWS, Squareboat, Netapp Excellarator, Kalaari Capital, Client Associates, Google Cloud, Kalaari and NTT Data-TiE Pune. As a commitment towards being a responsible organization TiE Delhi-NCR is continuing to build on its initiatives to adopt sustainability and make its events truly sustainable. As a first formal step towards being carbon neutral, it is tracking its carbon emissions for the India Internet Day and adopting steps to reduce emissions, waste generated and water wastage. India Internet Day 2022 is going to officially be a carbon neutral event. All the emissions offset undertaken, shall be published for public knowledge, post third party validation. About TiE Delhi-NCR’s India Internet Day From its inception #iDay has set out to be a leadership conference that looks to set conversations around vision 2025 for the industry. It’s one of India’s most exciting gatherings of the internet community designed to deliver powerful content and showcase the possibilities, which the internet holds for the present and the future. The conference sees participation from all major and relevant technology companies from across the country. India Internet Day 2020 co-chairs include – Mayank Khanduja &amp; Ashwini Asokan along with the team Abhishek Gupta, Alok Mittal, Arvind Jha, Deep Kalra, Dev Khare, Gautam Gandhi, Karan Mohla, Latika Pai, Miten Sampat, Prasanto K Roy, Rajan Anandan, Rajat Garg, <keyword id="262068" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rajesh-sawhney" source="Orion">Rajesh Sawhney</keyword>, Ravi Gururaj, <keyword id="8713499" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="shereen-bhan" source="Orion">Shereen Bhan</keyword>, <keyword id="3380503" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="suchita-salwan" source="Orion">Suchita Salwan</keyword> and Vani Kola – who are the torchbearers who put together the conference that has emerged as the voice of India’s internet industry. About TiE Delhi-NCR TiE Delhi-NCR is among the most active and vibrant chapters across the vast TiE network. In the last two decades, it has continuously taken the lead in creating an increasingly positive ecosystem for entrepreneurs and investors. With a strong mentor support base, marquee events and focused workshops throughout the year it has emerged as one of the most valuable platforms supporting entrepreneurship, nationally. TiE Delhi-NCR conducts a wide range of programmes to help entrepreneurs. These include TiEcon, Startup Expo, TiE Institute, TiE Young Entrepreneurs along with Special Interest Groups (SIGs) across sectors.

India’s largest event for tech entrepreneurs, TiE Delhi-NCR’s India InternetDay - now connects two startup hubs

<ul><li><keyword id="46718" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="iday" source="Orion">iDay</keyword> is dubbed as India's Largest &amp; most Definitive Startup Event for Tech Entrepreneurs featuring Global Icons, Unicorn Founders &amp; Leading Investors</li><li>Focuses on Tech trends including Fintech, Crypto SaaS for SMEs, Gig Economy, Capital Markets, Healthcare, Hybrid education &amp; More</li><li>Spread across 2 Days | 100+Speakers |50+ Sessions | Unicorn Roundtables, Workshops, Masterclasses &amp; Engaging Sessions</li></ul>With a huge number of companies witnessing accelerated scale, despite uncertain times, <keyword id="502904" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tie-delhi-ncr" source="Orion">TiE Delhi-NCR</keyword> is organising the 10th edition of <keyword id="4390638" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-internet-day" source="Orion">India Internet Day</keyword> (iDay) in virtual format, with the theme ‘Digital India: Escape Velocity. With a Focus on Tech trends including Fintech, Crypto SaaS for SMEs, Gig Economy, Capital markets, Healthcare, Hybrid education &amp; more, it will span over 2 days 23rd &amp; 24th September. The conference plays host to in-depth sessions &amp; keynotes by leading founders &amp; investors from India and around the World. Speaking about the event, Karan Mohla, Co- Chair for iDay 2021 &amp; Partner, Chiratae Ventures said – “As India leapfrogs to being a tech enabled economy, India Internet Day 2021 rings in with the theme - Digital India: Escape Velocity. The year 2021 has been a defining one for the Indian startup ecosystem in more ways than one — record amount of fund inflow, creation of new unicorns, companies going public, and a new benchmark in terms of mergers &amp; acquisitions. This reflects the strength of the Indian start-ups. Through iDay this year we are putting a spotlight on the learning, insights &amp; trends which have in last 18 months, seem to have lent ESCAPE VELOCITY to the entire startup ecosystem.” Business Insider is the media partner for TiE's ‘Digital India: Escape Velocity' event. The Stellar line up at the event includes Global Speakers, Leading Entrepreneurs, Investors, Influencers, Startups, Tech Innovators likeRuchir Sharma, Morgan Stanley | Monish Darda, Icertis | Surojit Chatterjee, Coinbase | Jeff Maggioncalda, Coursera |John T Chambers, JC2 Ventures |Kanwaljit Singh, Fireside Ventures |Balaji S. Srinivasan, Angel Investor &amp; Entrepreneur, | Byju Raveendran, Founder &amp; CEO- Byju’s |Kunal Bahl, Co-founder &amp; CEO – Snapdeal|Kushal Bhagia, CEO – firstcheque | Rajan Anandan, Sequoia India &amp; Surge | Kumara Raghavan, Amazon Internet Services |Bikram Singh Bedi, Google Cloud | Lathika Pai, Microsoft |Vani Kola, Managing Director – Kalaari Capital | Supria Dhanda, Western Digital. “India Internet Day is curated &amp; led by a team of serial entrepreneurs &amp; investors. It has become a leading platform to catch the makers and leaders of the India Internet Growth story. Over the years, tech entrepreneurs have hugely gained from the conference. This year we put a spotlight on how technology &amp; resilience have shown the way through the worst crisis of our times. 40% of Indian unicorns have been added in 2021 &amp; this augurs well for the startup ecosystem. With engaging conversations at #iDay in form of Keynotes, Fireside Chats, AMAs. Masterclasses, Panel Discussions, Unicorn Roundtables, we wish to continue to foster entrepreneurship.” said Geetika Dayal, Executive Director, TiE Delhi-NCR The Conference was supported by Startup India, Google, Western Digital, Sequoia Capital, Morgan Stanley, Coinbase, Microsoft, AWS, Icertis, Kalaari and Avendus. About TiE Delhi-NCR’s India Internet Day From its inception #iDay has set out to be a leadership conference that looks to set conversations around vision 2025 for the industry. After a resounding debut in 2012, it has grown from being relevant to being indispensable for stakeholders across the ecosystem. #iDay hosts the entire gamut of internet mobile industry in India like no other forum. India Internet Day 2020 Co-Chairs – Lathika Pai &amp; Mohit Bhatnagar along with the team Abhishek Gupta, Alok Mittal, Arvind Jha, Deep Kalra, Dev Khare, Gautam Gandhi, Karan Mohla, Latika Pai, Miten Sampat, Prasanto K Roy, Rajan Anandan, Rajat Garg, Rajesh Sawhney, Ravi Gururaj and Vani Kola are the torchbearers who put together the conference that has emerged as the only voice of India’s internet industry. 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TiE Delhi-NCR kickstarts the 10th Edition of India Internet Day themed Digital India: Escape Velocity

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/54538970.cms" />India’s tech startup space, which saw few exists and diminishing interest seeing in the last two years, can see a revival as global giants are eyeing the country for companies and workforce. 
 After <keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword> made its first India acquisition of <keyword id="3681731" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tuplejump">Tuplejump</keyword>, tech startups in the country are hopeful of good days. Even <keyword id="28115" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Intel">Intel</keyword>’s $300 million acquisition of Soft Machines, a <keyword id="6357722" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="silicon-valley">Silicon Valley</keyword> chip designer with offices in Hyderabad, has revived hopes. 
 
Global giants such as Apple, Intel and Nutanix seem interested in India startups that work on artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure and automation. 
 “What's appealing about Indian entrepreneurs and their ventures is a combination of talent, technology, traction and transactions,” Ravi Gururaj, <keyword id="6372077" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nasscom">Nasscom</keyword> product council chairman, told ET, adding “talented small teams are working within an interesting technology area, where they are exhibiting some early product traction and a transaction which can be closed on relatively attractive terms.” 
 
“The tech giants are keen on acquiring companies that specialise in machine learning and artificial intelligence,” Thiyagarajan M, head of mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;As) at software product thinktank iSPIRT, told ET. 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

Tech startups see ray of hope as global giants like Apple, Intel shop for companies in India

The Delhi chapter of <keyword id="139680" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Indus-Entrepreneurs">The Indus Entrepreneurs</keyword> (TiE) will host on Thursday the 8th iteration of the <keyword id="4390638" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-Internet-Day">India Internet Day</keyword>, one of the largest conferences for Internet entrepreneurs in the country. India Internet Day 2019 targets entrepreneurs which attracts start-ups, unicorns, industry leaders, investors, mentors, policy-makers, and many more key domain experts from across the country every year India is presently home to over 500 million internet users and 21 unicorns. With the aim of raising a hundred start-ups and enterprises to become billion-dollar companies on the back of their internet-centric innovations, TiE Delhi-NCR is hosting the 8th iteration of India Internet Day. The vision of #iDay2019 is encapsulated in the headline of the event’s main theme: “India Internet Unboxed: Getting ready for a 100 Unicorns”. Enabling the next generation of leaders At iDay 2019, leaders of the internet and entrepreneurial community will deliver content for the benefit of young entrepreneurs, enabling the next generation of leaders to gain a deeper insight into the opportunities and evolving trends in the industry, Tie said in a statement. Building on the theme of ‘unboxing’, iDay2019 plans to have focused and thought-provoking discussions during the session line-up on topics including: Unboxing Indian Tech Going Global, Unboxing Funding, Unboxing Talent, Entrepreneurial Milestones: Unboxing Pivots &amp; Pirouettes to Exits, Unboxing 2nd Innings, Unboxing Valuations. It will also have a special focus on the Chinese startup ecosystem, key speakers will speak on Unboxing China, its Landscape &amp; Overview, Chinese VCs in India - A perspective and Cross Border Learnings. Additionally, entrepreneurs will be provided with a platform to showcase internet-centric innovations and get constructive feedback on their ventures. All about networking The conference is one of the most anticipated entrepreneurial conferences across the world as it gathers entrepreneurs and vision-holders in the midst of key investors, industry leaders, and policy-makers under the same roof. It will have sessions that will chaired by prominent industry leaders including Vani Kola, MD, Kalaari Capital, and Rajesh Sawhney, CEO &amp; Co Founder of Innerchef, the conference will open with a keynote address by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder &amp; CEO of PayTM. The opening address will be followed by conversations with industry experts including Anant Maheshwari, President - Microsoft India and Rajan Anandan, Vice President, Google &amp; President, TiE Delhi-NCR. Other ace speakers include Lathika Pai, Country Head - Microsoft for <keyword id="6362513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups">Startups</keyword> MENA and SAARC , Gaurav Deepak, Co-founder &amp; MD - Avendus Capital, Anand Lunia, General Partner – India Quotient, Helen Wong, Partner at Qiming Venture, Yun Lou, Founder &amp; CEO of Clubfactory, Hans Tung - Partner, GGVC Kunal Shah, Founder &amp; CEO – Cred, Amrish Rau, Ex CEO – CitrusPay, Aprameya Radhakrishna, Founder &amp; CEO of Vokal, Raul Rai, Co-Founder of Nicobar.com, and Mukund Kulashekaran from Urban Clap. Power Breakfast with the iDay Committee The event will kick off with a breakfast with industry leaders and the best in the startup ecosystem. The committee members who will be a part of this event include Rajan Anandan, Vice President, Google &amp; President, TiE Delhi-NCR; Alok Mittal, Co-Founder, Indifi Technologies; Amarjit Singh Batra, Managing Director, Spotify India; Arvind Jha, Multipreneur, Movico Technologies; Miten Sampat, VP, Times Internet; Deep Kalra, Founder &amp; Group CEO, MakeMyTrip; Gautam Gandhi, Angel Investor; Prasanto K Roy, Policy Consultant ; Karan Mohla, Partner &amp; Executive Director of Chiratae Ventures; Ravi Gururaj, Founder &amp; CEO, Qikpod; Dev Khare, Partner, Lightspeed India Partners. B2B Founders' Lunch Ace B2B founders who will be part of this session include Shridhar Gupta, Co-Founder - Loconav; Pranav Tyagi, Founder - Eigen; Ajay Chauhan, Co- Founder -SalezShark; Sachin Bhatia, Co-Founder &amp; Ex VP - Drishtisoft solutions; Rahul Bhalla, CEO &amp; Co Founder -Zeanatix will be part of the lunch tables Fintech Lunch Leading Fintech founders who will be part of the lunch include Ajay Vikram Singh, Consumer Business Head- Clix Capital ; Jonathan Bill, CEO &amp; Co- Founder – Creditmate; Kshitij Puri, CEO &amp; Co- Founder - Ziploan ;Sandeep Srinivas, Co-Founder &amp; CMO - Redcarpet Tech ; Kapil Mehta, Co - Founder – SecureNow; Alok Bansal, Co-Founder &amp; CFO – PolicyBazaar ; Mukesh P Kalra, Founder &amp; CEO – ETMoney #iDay Launchpad A platform at India Internet Day where tech businesses have a chance to demo/launch their new products/services in front of a large relevant audience of VCs, entrepreneurs etc. The start-ups will be selected by an influential jury panel #iDay Workshop A stellar workshop on product management professionals with Anshumani Ruddra, VP of Product (Social &amp; Gaming) – Hotstar will equip participants with new strategies &amp; principles to ace their field Gala Evening Network, interact, explore synergies over dinner and jive the evening away with a rocking band performance! The conference will take place from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on 25th April, 2019, at Leela Ambience, Gurugram. Register here now! <a href="https://www.iday.in/">https://www.iday.in/</a> Note: Business Insider India is a media partner at the event.

Here’s all that you need to know about the upcoming India Internet Day 2019

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/51207380.cms" /> 
When the budget was announced in the parliament yesterday, Indian startup owners were disappointed since they had expected more from the budget after a lot of promises were made by the Modi government to aid startups in the recent past. 
 
The proposals announced were anyway anticipated, but the removal of burdensome tax rules did not happen, which they had wanted. 
 
However, Finance minister Arun Jaitley kept PM Modi’s word on tax breaks on profits made by startups, and proposed an amendment in Companies Law so that people find it easy to start a business. 
 
"PM Modi svery high expectations for startups in his January speech," Ravi Gururaj, Chairman of software industry group Nasscom's product council told ET. "The budget today is lukewarm at best for startups." 
 
Jaitley announced 100% profit deductions in three out of the first five years for startups that are started between April 1, 2016 and March 2019, and also said that investors in unlisted companies will be eligible for long-term capital gains treatment in two years instead of three. 
 Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of mobile marketplace Paytm, added that reducing the time-frame for capital gains to two years looks like a positive step for promoting <keyword id="428085" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="start-ups">start-ups</keyword>, it would not have any major impact because few investors leave the startups in two years. To add to the woe, startups normally don't make profits in the first few years, which means that tax breaks won’t do much good. 
 
"Startups will still be liable for MAT (Minimum Alternate Tax), so the effective benefit is not likely to be very significant," he said. 
 
Jaitley also said that the cabinet has approved the 'Stand Up India' scheme and Rs 500 crore have been allotted for Dalit and women entrepreneurs. 
 
However, confusion between "goods" and "services" for online downloads has not been cleared because of which foreign entities continue to sell their products without paying any taxes. 
 
<a href="http://kclr96fm.com/media/2015/10/340B-Budget-2016.jpg">Image source</a>

Startups were definitely let down by Budget 2016. Here’s why

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/49385919.cms" /> Gone are the days of those online and unwritten wars of startups in India. Now, this real fight between 32 startup entrepreneurs will blow your mind once they enter into the boxing ring for a one-on-one pitch battle. 
 The global startup competition, ‘<keyword id="3101004" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Get-in-the-Ring">Get in the Ring</keyword>,’ has received over 240 entries for the competition that will take place in three categories: 
 
· Light-weight 
· Middle-weight 
· Heavy-weight 
 
In the next phase of this war, the winners from India will get a chance to participate in the Asian finals that is slated to be held in South Korea. During the international finals, winners from around 10 countries will fight for the final spot. And then, the final winner will get an investment of up to 1 million, reported The Economic Times. 
 Jochem Cuppen, global director of Get in the Ring (<keyword id="1151869" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="GITR">GITR</keyword>) Foundation, says, "I have seen that in the past years, India has become so much better in converting the available talent to workable ideas and companies, so I am expecting a lot from these (shortlisted) startups.” 
 
GITR, which is a non-profit organisation backed by Kauffman Foundation, is barely three years old but has emerged as one of the leading firm of its kind with national-level events conducted in over 80 countries. 
 As part of the ongoing <keyword id="6372077" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nasscom">Nasscom</keyword> Product Conclave, the event is being organised by Nasscom in collaboration with Trifecta Capital and TLabs. 
 Those who will play the judge of the competition includes Dave McLure of 500 startups, Ravi Gururaj of Nasscom, Mukund Mohan of <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> Ventures, Stephen Lurie of Team Builder Ventures, Rahul Khanna of Trifecta Capital, and Abhishek Gupta of TLabs. 
 
The investment battle will begin with a five round verbal sparring in front of a full-house audience. 
Image: thinkstock

Indian startups to come to blows in ‘Get in the Ring’ competition

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/51237891.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /> Even as the overall mood is upbeat after the Budget, there’s something that has left both the <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword> and angels in the country feeling irked. Both have different reasons for their worries. 

	The Angel community, although happy to see startups get 100% exemption for 3 years on profits, feels the Budget should also have ended the unfavorable treatment in investments made in unlisted companies by Alternative Investment Funds and Angel Groups.
 Currently, <keyword id="6365770" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="angel-investors">angel investors</keyword> pay a much higher tax on capital gains while taking a far higher risk as compared to publicly traded shares. Investments in unlisted companies or startups is taxed at 33% for short term and at 20 per cent for long term capital gains, with the holding period for long term capital gains as 3 years. In this Budget, the government has lowered the period from 3 to 2 years. Still, investors feel this anomaly can make the sector look unattractive at a time when investing in startups is already considered a risky bet. “We would have benefitted if capital gains tax regime for unlisted companies was aligned with that for listed companies. This would end the discrimination against domestic venture capital funds as foreign funds anyway pay no capital gains tax by investing from Mauritius and other treaty friendly countries,” said <keyword id="164917" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Saurabh-Srivastava">Saurabh Srivastava</keyword>, a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and VC. Another angel investor Padmaja Ruparel said: “Capital gains Tax exemption in regulated/ notified fund of funds, lowering the period from 3 years to 2 years for Long term Capital Gains in unlisted companies, <keyword id="3269156" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="SETU-fund">SETU fund</keyword> of Rs. 1000 cr, one day registration process for start-ups will all help to boost innovation and incubation. But, we had hoped that treating investments by AIFs and angel groups in unlisted companies would be aligned with the public market equity tax regime.” 

	Meanwhile. Startups were expecting more radical reforms in the Budget. “We welcome the the three-year tax holiday, but the fact that the Budget has retained MAT negates much of the advantages, as we have cash-flow problems in initial years," said Ravi Gururaj, chairman of Nascomm Product Council.

What’s this one thing startups and angels are complaining about after Mr Jaitley’s Budget?

BANGALORE: Google is bringing its hugely successful <keyword id="138263" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup">startup</keyword> mentorship programme to India, and has already identified over ten startups to be part of it. 
 
Google Launchpad, as it is called, will be a 5-day programme between November 3 and 7 in Bangalore, and will see a number of senior Googlers coming down to mentor the startups in technology, product strategy, user interfaces, user experiences, and marketing. The event will conclude with a demo day where the startups will make a pitch to VCs and investors. 
 "Launchpad is an exhaustive mentorship programme to help startups build at scale. By next year we want to do this every quarter, and a year from then, we hope to do it every month," said Sunil Rao, country head of the startup programme in <keyword id="45395" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-India">Google India</keyword>. 
 About 25 startups will be part of it. Among those already selected are CoSight, which helps make sales executives more efficient, iReff Technologies, which allows you to find the best prepaid mobile recharge plan for your needs, and Smart Pocket, which manages all your loyalty cards on the phone. These three are also part of Nasscom's 10,000 Startup programme. Two startups who were winners at the <keyword id="54274" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="MIT">MIT</keyword> Global Startup Labs demo day are also part of it - AdWyze, which provides interactive direct response solutions, and Wazzat Labs, which delivers efficient image processing, computer vision and graphics solutions on mobile platforms. 
 
Others identified so far are Bluehat Education, an e-learning firm, CashKumar, which allows you to get the best rate on foreign exchange, and RightDoctor, which helps find the right doctor for your ailment, Frilp, which helps find shops and services used and recommended by your friends, colleagues and other like-minded people, and Expin.me, a storybuilder application. 
 The first edition of Launchpad was launched in Israel a year and half back, and it was so successful that Google has had about 14 of these events there since then, with each batch having 15-20 startups. Launchpad was later taken to <keyword id="6355226" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Brazil">Brazil</keyword>. 
 
For the Bangalore event, there will be about 20 mentors, half of who will be Googlers from California and Israel, including Amit Shevat, Google's startup outreach programme manager. 
 
Rao said startups were being identified based to great extent on the quality of the founding team. "We need people who can really implement the idea. We are also looking for those with a sound business plan and minimum product viability," he said. 
 
Ravi Gururaj, chairman of the Nasscom Product Council, said the Nasscom 10,000 Startups programme was championed by Google India MD Rajan Anandan and the programme had provided a huge booster shot to India's technology entrepreneurial ecosystem. "Google's Launchpad is a similarly innovative compressed bootcamp which will deliver access to world class experts, and knowledge to further help catalyse the Indian startup ecosystem. Launchpad resembles an accelerator on steroids and we would welcome more such programmes," he said.

Google Brings Its Startup Mentorship Programme - Google Launchpad To India

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/28335163.cms" /> 
​The growing proficiency of Indian technology companies in building innovative products is drawing a great deal of attention from global corporations eager to acquire fresh ideas and skilled workers. 
 
Applications that help ease online payments, offer security for data stored on multiple devices as well as those that help drive greater advertising revenue on mobile devices are some of the technologies on the shopping list of multinationals scouting for the right startup. In the next five years, experts say at least 40 technology ventures in India could be bought over by large corporations. 
 “Couple of them (startups) will be valued at over $1 billion (Rs 6,200 crore),” said Ravi Gururaj, an angel investor who heads the software product council at industry lobby <keyword id="6372077" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasscom">Nasscom</keyword>. He expects about half a dozen technology ventures to be valued at around $500 million (Rs 3,100 crore) while <keyword id="818790" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="the-rest">the rest</keyword> will likely fetch a price of between $15 million (Rs 93 crore) and $50 million (Rs 311 crore). 
 A handful of such acquisitions has already set the ball rolling. Last November, Japanese engineering and electronics maker <keyword id="69870" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Hitachi">Hitachi</keyword> acquired Prizm Payment Services, in a deal estimated at $250 million (Rs 1,547 crore). In mid 2013, South African media conglomerate Naspers bought online bus ticketing firm red-Bus for about $100 million (Rs 618 crore), giving it access to not only the large <keyword id="47445" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Indian-market">Indian market</keyword> but disruptive technology as well. 
 “Multinational companies primarily look for talent and <keyword id="388837" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="intellectual-property">intellectual property</keyword> that can compete at global level,” said Prashant Gupta, group manager at Microsoft India (R&amp;D). “There are early signs in India that such companies are emerging that can meet these demands, especially in cloud-driven application lifecycle and big data,” he said. 
 
The global software maker runs an accelerator programme in India for technology startups that has graduated 22 ventures so far and is poised to make its first venture investment this year. 
 Interest from <keyword id="6355311" type="COUNTRY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Japan">Japan</keyword>ese corporations too is growing. Apart from the Hitachi deal, others such as NTT too have been active buyers. In 2012 Japan’<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/28335163.cms" style="margin: 5px; float: left;" />s <keyword id="913532" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="NTT-Communications">NTT Communications</keyword> bought a majority stake in technology firm <keyword id="423557" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Netmagic">Netmagic</keyword> for about Rs 900 crore. “India is becoming the laboratory for products and services for the world,” said Krishnan Ganesh, <keyword id="36740" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="founder">founder</keyword> of online tutoring company TutorVista that was bought by the UK’s <keyword id="152222" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Pearson">Pearson</keyword> group at an enterprise value of about Rs 1,000 crore. 
 
After the acquisition, the number of students using the services of TutorVista has tripled to four million across both the local and the US market. Pearson now aims to replicate the TutorVista model in emerging markets such as Brazil, China and South Africa. 
 
In 2013, there were 100 merger and acquisition deals across the India’s information technology industry. Of this, 31 whose value was announced were worth $1,906 million (Rs 11,807 crore), according to research firm Venture Intelligence. 
 The trigger for this growing M&amp;A activity is the range of disruptive technology startups emerging out of India. Companies such as advertising network InMobi, data analytics company Mu Sigma and online retailer <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> have achieved a scale where they are valued at over $1 billion. “This is driven by leading-edge globally competitive technologies,” said Naren Gupta cofounder and managing director of Nexus Venture Partners, an early investor in Netmagic and online retailer <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>. 
 For instance, Pune-based <keyword id="741520" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Druva">Druva</keyword> provides data security and retrieval software to customers such as US space agency <keyword id="6360409" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="NASA">Nasa</keyword>, drug maker <keyword id="44612" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Pfizer">Pfizer</keyword> and fashion brand <keyword id="5940" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Louis-Vuitton">Louis Vuitton</keyword>. 
<div style="page-break-after: always;">
	&#xa0;</div> In Chennai, Perfint Healthcare has developed robots that treat cancer by precisely inserting a needle in the affected area to burn or freeze a patient’s tumour, leaving the good tissue alone. The founders, all former employees of <keyword id="166456" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="GE-Healthcare">GE Healthcare</keyword>, quit to launch the firm when they realised the demand for such a product. For global corporations acquiring such game-changing technologies can help them enter new markets and raise barriers against competition. 
 Two years ago, when global software maker <keyword id="183292" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Red-Hat">Red Hat</keyword> bought Bangalore-based <keyword id="6373689" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Cloud-computing">cloud computing</keyword> startup <keyword id="724826" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Gluster">Gluster</keyword> for around Rs 667 crore, it acquired a storage platform technology which it offered to its customers for the first time. The cost of technology infrastructure to set up such ventures and scale them up for acquisitions has also come down drastically. 
 “A bunch of guys can now launch an application from a garage, keep the tablet or a mobile phone as the front end and the product becomes viral in few weeks,” said Anand Babu Periasamy, cofounder of Gluster. A computer <keyword id="6369183" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Engineer">engineer</keyword> graduate from <keyword id="119675" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="annamalai-university">Annamalai University</keyword>, Periasamy who now works at Red Hat is aiming to build Gluster into a billion dollar business unit. 
 
Experts hope small-size technology ventures in India will also attract the attention of larger firms. “Smaller exits are the life blood for health<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/28335165.cms" style="margin: 5px; float: left;" />y startup ecosystems like in <keyword id="6355882" type="COUNTRY" weightage="40" keywordseo="israel">Israel</keyword> and US,” said Sharad Sharma co founder of software product think-tank iSpirt. Sharma is running an active M&amp;A Connect Program at iSpirt that is curating a list of several dozen companies. 
 Some of those on the radar are retail services software maker Capillary Technologies, healthcare applications provider <keyword id="1165142" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Practo">Practo</keyword> and security software maker <keyword id="171228" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Quick-Heal">Quick Heal</keyword>. According to Sharma, many of them have shown healthy growth traction and are attractive for strategic partnerships. 
 Sharma of iSpirt is of the view that a larger proportion of bootstrapped companies is stymieing merger activity in India. “It is harder for large corporations when there is no validation from <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> firms,” he said. 
 The other major problem say experts is that large Indian firms such as Infosys, <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword> and <keyword id="6357150" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="TCS">TCS</keyword> have shied away from making any such purchases, despite having huge cash reserves. Infosys has $4 billion (Rs 24,000 crore) cash reserves. 
 
“When Wipro can be in soaps and vegetable oil, why can’t they be in the Flipkarts of the world,” said Ganesh of TutorVista. “They are sitting on a huge cash reserve and not a fraction has been spent on startups. That mentality is not there.” 
 
“Over the next five years, I expect that quantity will dramatically improve and we can be optimistic about merger and acquisition activity out of India,” said Nasscom’s Gururaj.

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