Self-drive car rental firm Drivezy, previously known as JustRide, has raked up Rs 65 crore ($10 million) in fresh round of funding. The funding was led by part-equity and part-debt round, with American and Japanese investors investing $5 million through equity route. Another $5 million investment via debt round was made by consortium of Indian banks and NBFCs including Mahindra Finance & ICICI Bank. With the latest round of funding, Drivezy has so far now raised $16.5 million (Rs 107 crore). The company, which currently offers services only in Bengaluru, has made amply clear that major part of the capital…
Author: Girish Shetti
Netflix’s US subscribers will now have to dig deeper into their pocket to watch their favorite shows. The reason: price hike. The world’s most popular s streaming platform has once again decided to raise the subscription charges of HD & 4K plans in a bid to outdo HBO & Amazon – two of its closest rivals. US subscribers will now have to pay monthly $10.99 (instead of existing price $9.99) to subscribe Netflix’s HD plan. Besides, 4K plan subscribers will now have to shell $13.99 (instead of existing price $11.99), which is a steep increase of 16%. However, HD plan…
Microsoft is finally all set to unveil its web browser Microsoft edge on IOS & Android OS platforms. Today the tech giant launched Edge for iOS in preview stage, while promised to launch Edge for Android systems very soon. Besides, the company also re-branded the popular ‘arrow launcher’ to ‘Microsoft Launcher’ and released it in public preview today. Edge for iOS preview is available through Apple’s Test Flight but will be limited to only first 10,000 users. Android users can also sign through same link, but they will have to wait until the preview hits the Google Play Store in…
Tech giant Apple is seeking huge tax exemptions from Indian government for setting an assembly plant in the country and New Delhi is seriously considering the same, a top official from the Indian Government said on Thursday. Earlier this year, the then Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had informed the Indian assembly that Cupertino based tech giant had sought tax incentives on range of things, including on manufacturing and repair units, components & capital equipment’s for period of 15 years. Besides, several media reports claim that Apple has also demanded exception from mandatory rule that compels manufacturers to source…
Google Assistant, a virtual personal assistant launched by search giant last year, has now inserted a new male voice option to the menu. Until today, Google Assistant by default had only female voice option but that has changed now. Named as simply ‘Voice II’ this new male voice option will be available across smart phones and also on Google Home speaker. To choose male voice option, users will have to head to ‘assistant voice’ available in the ‘preferences’ menu option. Traditionally, sexism has been found rampant in voice-based personal assistants, with most big players like Alexa & Microsoft Cortana clearly…
Barcelona based on-demand delivery startup Glovo has raised nearly €30 million in series B round led by Rakuten Capital and Cathay Innovation. Existing investors Seaya Ventures, Entreé Capital & others also participated in the round. The news of funding comes after the Spanish media was recently buzzing with the report that Glovo may raise series B funding very soon. Incorporated in 2015, Glovo aims to revolutionize delivery services by delivering goods & services within few minutes. Currently offering services in selected European cities, the company offers delivery of food as well as non-food items. Users can avail delivery services by…
Microsoft has acquired virtual reality (VR) social network startup AltspaceVR for an undisclosed amount, the tech giant announced on Tuesday at a small press meet in San Francisco. The acquisition marks Microsoft’s yet another step (though a small one) in getting a stronghold in the highly promising & fast evolving virtual reality industry. The acquisition will also bring AltspaceVR from the brink of extinction, since few months back the startup almost faced a shutdown due to fund shortage. AltspaceVR is basically a VR app that enabled users to become part of the free social VR community, completely dedicated to VR…
Instant image messaging startup Snapchat is gearing up to launch a new online art platform that will be based on augmented reality (AR). The main aim of this online initiative is to showcase the famous art installations located across the world in AR format. Snapchat has collaborated with renowned artist Jeff Koons, who is a self-confessed Snapchat fan, for this initiative. On Tuesday morning the world woke up to new website art.snapchat.com that interestingly showed nothing but a countdown clock. Turns out that this new website with a ticking countdown clock will soon metamorphose into Snapchat’s new online AR art…
India’s homegrown cab hailing company Ola has raised $2 billion from clutch of high profile investors including giants like SoftBank Group Corp and Tencent Holdings Ltd, according to several media reports. Chinese internet juggernaut Tencent has reportedly contributed $400 million in this round. Media reports further claimed that an investment firm co-owned by Indian industrialist Ratan Tata has also invested undisclosed amount in this round. With this latest funding, Ola’s valuation is believed to have been zoomed to more than USD 3.8 billion. One close source told a news publication that Ola may allot part of the funding to boost…
Elon musk is unarguably one of the most talismanic entrepreneurs of our generation. His status as an entrepreneur can even dwarf legendry Steve Job’s iconic status, provided that his aerospace company SpaceX succeeds in what many have touted as the most ambitious quest ever: building human colonies on the Mars planet. This breathtaking mission, as we all know, has already made half of the world rapturous. Hence when Musk spoke at 2017 International Astronautical Congress in Australia on Friday to shed light on SpaceX’s ambitious project, the world had to listen with rapt attention. The charismatic entrepreneur didn’t disappoint either…
In a fresh blow for cryptocurrency, South Korea’s financial regulator Financial Services Commission (FSC) on Friday announced that it will ban raising capital through all forms of virtual currencies. The regulator cited ‘potential for financial scams’ as main reason for imposing the ban. The decision comes closely on the heels of similar restrictions imposed by China on ICOs ((Initial coin offerings) last month. According to a South Korean news agency, FSC vice chairman Kim Yong-beom claimed that money raised through ICOs seem to have flooded into an unproductive and speculative direction. However, China & South Korea are not the only…
Uber has found unexpected support in the ongoing row of London license, which the Transport for London (TFC) refused to renew last week. The support has come from none other than British Prime Minister Theresa May, whose support will certainly come as a shot in the arm for Uber Inc. Speaking to BBC, May described Uber’s blanket ban in London as “disproportionate.” She claimed that while there were “safety concerns for Uber to address” but refusal to renew the license has put thousands of jobs at risk. May also stressed that ban on Uber will also have an affect 3.5…