Silicon Valley has seen a lot of successful startups and the emerging of the big tech companies such as Google, Facebook, etc. But there has been a recent news where a CEO of one of the companies had become a billionaire and had failed in the Silicon Valley. In this article let’s look at who exactly is Takanori Nakamura and how he turned to be a billionaire.
Takanori Nakamura a CEO who had failed in the Silicon Valley has become successful in his home country. His company’s stock price has surged and provided a return of around 4,500%. He was pulled out of Silicon Valley in the year 2015 after his mobile marketing software had failed and later on decided to completely take his business into Japan which is his home country.
Now the efforts put by him are paying off and his company Rakus Co. has seen a surge in its stock price of more than 4000% since the day it was listed in Tokyo. The company that year was also one of the best performances on the stock market index of the country.
About Rakus Co.
Rakus Co. is the latest startup in Japan which created a vast wealth for its founder which saw a surge in its price after the company went public. The company is considered to be an example of how some of the hot stocks of the country apply cloud based software and Artificial Intelligence into business ideas which a lot of people consider it to be boring.
Takanori Nakamura owns around 34% stake in the cloud based expense software firm and serves as the president and the chief executive officer of the company. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires index, his net worth has seen a surge to around USD 1.9 billion.
Takanori Nakamura has conveyed that he doesn’t feel real about his newfound wealth. One of the major dreams of Nakamura was to be able to eat out without worrying about the cost and now he is grateful that he doesn’t have to worry anymore.
Nakamura used to love reading the tales of rags to riches as a boy and had decided in high school that he wanted to be an entrepreneur. He had finished his graduation from Kobe University and soon after that, he joined the telecommunications giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp in the year 1996. However, after a year he had quit the company.
He founded a company in the year 2000 which is a predecessor of Rakus Co. The company had provided training to engineers on how to use and operate the Linux which is an open source operating system. The company later had branched out in different areas where it provided services such as email services and a software that helped in automating the data processing.
In the year 2009, the company had launched its main business which the current business of Rakus Co. The company released a software called Raku Raku Seisan which means easy easy settlement in English. This software helped the workers to create expense reports online and later the company had developed a mobile version of the software as well.
In the initial stages, the Software had failed to take off and Nakamura had set his sights and thought that they would win and succeed in the Silicon Valley. He had planned to develop a software which helped the companies to analyze how effective their ads that are run on social media and to whether decide to pull or continue to run their ads.
He had a thought that the company required a pull in the overseas market because the population of Japan was declining during that period of time. But eventually, the idea and the business had failed in the Silicon Valley.
According to Nakamura, the US based companies were pouring in investments in the Silicon Valley and competing with them was kind of impossible for them. So later on, he realized that with the given resources the company has a better chance to win in their home country and in the year 2015 Rakus Co. had gone public on the Tokyo stock exchange.
The company started taking off as Smartphones became more popular in Japan. According to the company, the software developed has more than 8,000 corporate customers. The company is also estimated to have a potential for medium term and long term growth.
FAQ
What is the net worth of Takanori Nakamura?
The net worth of Takanori Nakamura is 180 crores USD.
Who is Takanori Nakamura
Takanori Nakamura is the founder and CEO of cloud software firm Rakus, his company offers cloud-based solutions for small and medium business enterprises. He founded Rakus in 2000 and the company went public in 2015.
On a cryptography mailing list in 2008, a person named Satoshi Nakamoto published a white paper outlining a digital currency that would allow for secure peer-to-peer transactions. That’s how Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency, came to be. Since then, a lot of different types of cryptocurrencies have emerged, like Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, among many others.
Celsius is a fee-free Blockchain-based platform that gives users access to tailored financial services that aren’t offered by traditional financial institutions. It is easily accessible through a smartphone and easy to use. You can acquire financial services and terms via the Celsius Network that you wouldn’t get from a typical bank.
Celsius (CEL) was launched in June 2018 by Alex Mashinsky. It is a cryptocurrency token that provides a one-stop shop for banking and money transfers. It is intended to make wallet-style payments, loans, and award prizes for investing in cryptos. The users get paid out on a monthly basis and earn interest on their investments.
Anyone with a smartphone can use the Celsius Network. Unlike a bank, CEL simplifies the payment and investing processes for users while challenging traditional banking practices. Users receive 80% of the profits as an incentive, while the remaining 20% is used to fund other projects. The Celsius Token does not require a minimum amount to earn interest, and this policy puts traditional banking services to the test. The Celsius Network provides a completely distinct cost structure in the way you operate and maintain your assets, with less constraints and greater rewards.
CEL Rewards
How to Invest In Celsius Token?
Sign in to celsius
One can easily buy CEL through its mobile app and become a member. ETH, BTC, XRP, BCH, LTC, XLM, and SGA are among the top cryptocurrencies accessible for purchase using the Celsius app. You can also create an account by the website but it is heavily reliant on apps and to work on their web-app you have to clear KYC and AML on the app.
Is Celsius a Good Investment?
As cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Ethereum are gaining popularity, and promise a decentralized future for investments and asset transfers, it is tempting to invest in cryptos and earn large profits. Celsius can be a good investment as it offers a big chunk of profit as a reward and eases the money transfer and loan procedures. It can lend money while paying extremely good interest rates and using their cryptocurrency as collateral. The biggest benefit of Celsius Token (CEL) is there are no minimum investments, so you can earn money right away by putting in anything you wish. The service gives you the option of receiving or paying your money in either crypto (any cryptocurrency you put) or CEL tokens.
It is a great service, but, like every other thing on this planet, it has its cons too. Most Celsius tokens are not saved in a cold wallet, and so are not as secure as you might believe, because it’s the equivalent of giving the company your passwords. CEL may not be able to give loan insurance right away. By committing to utilize its balance sheet to reimburse users’ losses in the event of a hacker, the company is seeking to earn the same level of trust as most financial institutions, although it cannot assure fixed-term contracts. The last decision is always going to be yours, so choose wisely what you want to do with your money and how much you are willing to invest and can afford to lose.
Celsius Future Value
As the digital money is getting bigger and bigger and physical money is decreasing, this is the right time to invest in some cryptocurrencies. Currency is an important part of our life and investing in crypto is always going to be a smart investment. And with the increasing popularity of CEL, its value is also increasing. According to Wallet Investor, If you have CEL worth $100, they can become $696.69 in 2026. You can invest in CEL, as it has been predicted to be immensely valuable in the future. Currently, Celsius has over $730 million in tokens and has about 101,000 members all over the world. The network has totaled $12 million in interest and it also helps to originate loans worth almost $5.5 billion.
Conclusion
Celsius can be a great opportunity to earn money by investing in the CEL Token, but you have to do your research and keep track of the value in your country and the benefits you can get. It has an easy-to-use app and anyone can invest and buy crypto conveniently through their smartphone. But one should be careful and beware of all the risks that come with investing in these tokens. But with its increasing popularity, it’s been predicted to have a valuable future.
FAQs
Does Celsius have a web app?
Celsius has a web app and can be used by vising to app.celsius.network.
Is Celsius network a US company?
The headquarters of Celsius Network Inc. are in New York, New York, USA.
Does Celsius require KYC?
KYC, or Know-Your-Customer, requires the user to validate their information, and is mandatory for making a Celsius account.
How long does it take to get verified on Celsius?
Account approval takes around 2-3 minutes but sometimes it can take up to 24 hours.
A Bitcoin wallet is a software application that will help you store your bitcoins and other digital currencies. Since bitcoins or any other digital currencies do not have a physical form you will not be able to store them anywhere else other than crypto wallets.
Crypto wallets are considered to be easy to use and reliable. They are also safe and secure to use. Let’s look at the below article to analyze the top bitcoin wallets available in the market.
Coinbase is a best overall cryptocurrency wallet that can be used to not only store digital currency but also for purchasing, transferring and even selling of these digital currencies. The application even has an offline storage where it securely holds and stores a wide range of digital assets. This cryptocurrency wallet is available in more than 100 countries.
Coinbase Website
One of the features of Coinbase is that it is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges. The platform stores all your digital assets safely in a vault. Coinbase lets you schedule your trading process on a daily, weekly or a monthly basis. This application provides a single platform for buying, selling, transacting and storing digital currency making it easier. The application is available for both iOS and Android devices.
Binance Chain (BNB)
Binance Chain is considered to be one of the best cryptocurrency wallets. Through Binance you can create a crypto wallet but also use the platform for trading more than 150 cryptocurrencies. The application even provides an Application Programming interface that helps you to integrate your current trading application.
Binance Website
Some of the other features of Binance Chain include 24/7 support making it one of the safest cryptocurrency wallets. It is considered that Binance Chain does more than 1.2 billion average daily trading volumes. Binance Chain has more than 14 lakh transactions per second.
Binance chain has a wide range of applications for online trading and also offers various basic and advanced exchange interfaces for trading. The application is available for android, windows and iOS users.
PointPay Banking Wallet
PointPay Banking Wallet is one of the best crypto wallets. It is considered to be the first cryptocurrency wallet in which you can store more than 10 cryptocurrencies that are popular. This application not only lets you store your cryptocurrencies but also will provide you with interest in depositing your cryptocurrency.
Pointpay Website
On a yearly basis, it is estimated that you can earn up to 30% with the PointPay token (PXP) in the PointPay Banking Wallet. You will have to buy the PointPay token to get additional interest in your cryptocurrencies.
You also have the feature of taking loans using your cryptocurrencies. Through PointPay banking wallet you can easily buy and sell your cryptocurrencies using credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers, SEPA or even using Apple pay.
You can use the mobile application on both iOS and Android devices.
Bitfinex is a trading platform. The application will let you easily exchange cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, EOS, Litecoin and many more. This platform even enables you to use a peer-to-peer funding market. This website offers you with advanced chart tools which will help you visualize your products easily.
Bitfinex Website
Bitfinex provides various tools to make trading easier. The application is available for both Android and iOS devices.
Trezor
Trezor is slightly different from other crypto wallets. It is a hardware wallet that will help you store your bitcoins. You will be able to easily plug Trezor into your computer or a smartphone, then it would provide you with a pin code which will be generated randomly. This will ensure that the device is safe and secure.
Trezor Website
Some of the other features of this hardware wallet include an offline storage system that is ultra-secure, easy-to-use touchscreen, exposure to private keys, etc. This platform supports more than 1,000 currencies and is available for Windows users, Mac OS X users and Linux users.
Paxful Wallet
Paxful is one of the popular cryptocurrency wallets. Paxful is a peer to peer marketplace which you can use to buy and sell bitcoins. The platform offers more than 300 payment methods. This platform makes it easier for beginners as well as intermediates to make profits from digital currencies.
Paxful Website
Paxful Wallet lets you directly withdraw from the bank account and also lets you send funds to your bank account or PayPal account. Paxful provides safety for your money and even lets you trade in more than 100 digital currencies. You can use Paxful wallet to buy and sell bitcoins with bank transfers.
Ledger Nano is a hardware crypto wallet, it supports multiple cryptocurrencies. They provide a LED display and a pin for transfer of wallets. Ledger Nano can be easily accessed through a USB supported device.
You can use Ledger Nano on Mac, Linux and Windows. They also have a two-factor verification process.
WireX
WireX Website
WireX is more like a travel card and a cryptocurrency wallet. It helps to convert your payments into any local currency without any exchange fees. It is also a hardware wallet. WireX allows you to buy, store, spend and exchange cryptocurrencies anytime and anywhere.
Overbit
Overbit Website
Overbit is a platform which helps in trading of bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and forex. It won’t allow the wallet to have a negative balance. It also offers features such as advanced risk management which will limit the exposure.
eToro
eToro Website
eToro is a cryptocurrency wallet which provides additional features such as stock trading, commodities, ETF’s, Index funds, Forex trading and many more. eToro is supported by Android and iOS devices. You can easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies using this app.
Bitcoin IRA
BitcoinIRA Website
Bitcoin IRA is a cryptocurrency platform which will let you buy and sell bitcoins and it provides an additional benefit where the gain you receive from your bitcoins are going to be tax free. The other assets you can invest in are Gold, Ethereum and many more.
FTX
FTX Website
FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange and also a derivative exchange. You will be able to buy and sell your cryptocurrencies in a pre-determined price. You can use the platform on both mobile application and desktops.
Phemex
Phemex Website
Phemex is a cryptocurrency platform which lets you trade cryptocurrencies easily. You can also buy cryptocurrencies through different payment methods or using credit/debit cards. It lets you perform up to 300k transactions per second. The application is available for both Android and iOS devices.
Bybit
Bybit Website
Bybit is also a cryptocurrency wallet which lets you trade cryptocurrencies easily. This application lets you customize it according to the requirements. The platform is available for both android and iOS devices.
BitIRA
BitIRA Website
BitIRA is a platform which will let you invest in cryptocurrencies for IRA which is for your retirement account. BitIRA provides security on the risk of devaluation. It also allows you to exchange one currency with another.
Blockchain
Blockchain Website
Blockchain is considered to be the safest cryptocurrency wallet. It offers two different wallets which are cold wallet which you can use for storing your bitcoins and cryptocurrencies and hot wallet that you can use for transaction of bitcoins and cryptocurrencies. The platform supports both android and iOS devices.
Robinhood
Robinhood Website
Robinhood is also one of the top cryptocurrency exchange and bitcoin wallet. You can buy bitcoins, Ethereum, Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies using one of the best crypto wallets, Robinhood. You can use the smartphone application for all your transactions.
Coingate
Coingate Website
Coingate is a platform that lets you store cryptocurrencies such as bitcoins, Ethereum, Litecoin and many more in an easier way. You can purchase cryptocurrencies with a wide range of payment methods. The application supports more than 50 cryptocurrencies.
Monero (XMR)
Monero Website
Monero XMR is a cryptocurrency wallet. It is considered to be one of the fastest, secured and a private platform. The wallet is available for a variety of devices. It also helps to convert the currencies into XMR. You can also use MONERO as a currency in exchange for goods and services.
Atomic Wallet
Atomic Wallet Website
Atomic Wallets helps in managing and storing up to 300 cryptocurrencies and tokens such as bitcoins, Ethereum, Litecoin and many more. It is considered to be one of the best crypto wallets. Atomic wallet provides an instant exchange with cashback offers.
Electrum
Electrum Website
Electrum is one of the oldest cryptocurrency markets available in the market It offers excellent privacy features and is considered to be best wallet for cryptocurrency. It provides high security and prevents thefts and loss of funds.
Edge
Edge Website
Edge is a bitcoin wallet which is used for mobile devices which include android and iOS devices. It provides support for more than 30 cryptocurrencies making it one of the best crypto wallets available in the market. It also offers two factor verification process.
BRD
BRD Website
BRD is a crypto mobile wallet which renders the customer loyalty and also have rewards programme. This application also provides a hardware encryption which will keep your cryptocurrencies safe. It offers privacy and an easy user interface.
Conclusion
The above is the list of top crypto wallets. You can go through the features and use this article as a reference to choose the right crypto wallet according to your needs. Cryptocurrencies are considered to be the future and we will be able to see huge rise in the crypto wallet industry.
FAQ
What is Bitcoin wallet?
A Bitcoin wallet is a software application in which you store your Bitcoins. However, bitcoin does not exist in any physical shape or form. Bitcoin can’t technically be stored anywhere except coin wallets.
How to Add Funds to a Bitcoin Wallet?
You need to determine the amount of Bitcoin you want to buy. After that, you need to enter an amount that you want to deposit to your bitcoin address. Then using ACH, Wire, credit card the amount will be transferred to the bitcoin wallet.
What are the best Bitcoin wallets?
Coinbase, Binance, Trezor, and Bitfinex are some of the best Bitcoin wallets.
The fuel price in India has been rising for a very long time. This has risen concerns among individuals concerning the use of petrol for vehicles in the country. In major places, the price has seen a rise over INR 100 mark and this urges the need for alternative fuel. Let’s look at what is flex fuels and whether the automotive industry will see a shift in the usage of fuel.
A Flex Fuel engine is an internal combustion engine. This engine has the feature to run on more than one fuel or even a mixture of fuels. Generally, a mixture of Petrol with Ethanol or Methanol is used in these types of engines.
The engine can adjust the mixture in any quantity that is provided which is mainly due to the suitable ECU programming and fuel composition sensor.
The Government of India has announced on 21 June 2021, that it will decide on flex fuels in 8-10 days. The Union Minister has conveyed that Government is planning to make a flex-fuel engine compulsory for the automobile industry in the country. This move is expected to help the farmers as well as boost the economy of the country.
The main reason stated by the Union Minister is the increase in the price of fuel in India. He conveyed that flex-fuel can be an alternative used by the citizens in order to reduce their expenses on fuel to around INR 30 to INR 35 as one litre petrol in India has crossed the mark of INR 100 per litre whereas Ethanol’s cost would be somewhere around INR 60 to INR 62 per litre.
He also added that being the transport minister he is going to issue an order to the automobile industry to transform their engines into flex-fuel where the consumers will have a choice to choose whether they require 100 % petrol as fuel or 100 % Ethanol as fuel.
Petrol Price in India in Rs
Benefits of using Ethanol or Methanol
Ethanol has a lower energy content and is considered to be better than petrol for the environment as the emissions produced by the vehicle will be relatively less. Also, the Carbon dioxide that is released from the vehicles is said to be absorbed by the plants in the environment that is used for growing the materials required to produce the fuel.
The main advantage of this fuel is sustainability and another advantage for India regarding Ethanol or Methanol as fuel is that the raw materials are available in abundance. India is a country that has surplus sugar cane, surplus corn, and surplus wheat and the country is facing problems in finding storage places for these.
The Major Reason to adapt Flex fuel
One of the major reasons to adapt to this fuel is due to the rise in the import of crude oil into the country. The crude oil import bill currently is between 7 lakh crores to 8 lakh crores in the country. Air pollution and the increase in import of crude oil are the two major concerns faced by the country and adapting to green fuel is a must in India.
However, petrol currently is already being mixed with Ethanol with around 10 – 15 % and compared to the current level production the idea is not very standard to achieve. In order to also increase the blend in the Ethanol production, there are certain modifications required in the engine. Hence, the automotive industry will have to make necessary changes and get behind the initiative.
Conclusion
Ethanol is considered to be a better fuel than petrol and is an important substitute, pollution free, indigenous and cost effective. The procurement of Ethanol has seen a rise from 28 crore litres to 320 crore litres.
FAQ
What Is Flex Fuel?
Flex Fuel is a fuel mixture made of gasoline and between 51-83 percent ethanol.
What Is a Flex Fuel Vehicle?
A Flex Fuel Vehicle (FFV) is a vehicle that has been specifically designed to drive using Flex fuel.
Can You Use Flex Fuel In a Regular Gas Vehicle?
You should not use Flex fuel if the vehicle is not been designed to run on Flex fuel.
The Competition and Market Authority is a regulator for competition related to the business in the United Kingdom. The Authority was founded in the year 2013 and has its headquarters in London. The organization is responsible for preventing and reducing the anti competitive activities and for strengthening the business competition. The CMA has accused Google and Amazon of fake reviews and in this article let’s look at further information regarding it.
The United Kingdom Watch Dog has accused the biggest tech companies Amazon and Google in relation to fake reviews on their platform for the goods and services. The UK regulators had stated on 2 July 2021 that they are looking into Amazon and Google in relation to it.
The regulatory has said that online giants are not taking enough steps or putting the required efforts in order to stop the fake reviewing of products and services on their platform.
The CMA has also conveyed that they had conducted an initial inquiry last year and had raised a lot of concerns in relation to whether the companies had been doing the required amount of work in order to detect the fake reviews for their products and services on their platforms and removing them quickly from their websites.
UK Regulators Investigation against Amazon Google Fake Reviews
The UK Regulators have conveyed to have started an investigation into Google and Amazon in relation to the fake review on the products and services. The Competition and Markets Authority has said that they have started a formal investigation in order to analyze whether the major tech giants have broken the consumer law of the UK by failing to protect their customers or shoppers.
It is reported that in the previous year amidst the boom in the e-commerce industry due to the pandemic the UK regulators had looked into some top e-commerce platforms in relation to fake reviews without identifying any specific ones.
Andrea Coscelli who is the Chief Executive of the Regulatory Authority of UK said in a press statement that the only worry of the regulator is about the consumer who would mislead by looking at the fake review and would purchase the product by spending their hard-earned money and later realize that it was not worth it.
The Chief Executive also added that it is equally not fair that certain businesses can go against the laws and provide 5 star reviews on their products and services making them stand out and in the meanwhile, the businesses that follow the laws and regulations would lose out.
Response from Amazon and Google on its Fake Reviews
Both the companies Google and Amazon have said that they would work together and provide the support to the UK Regulators with their investigation.
Google has conveyed that the strict policies of the company have a clear statement that the reviews provided on the services and products should be based on real experiences and genuine ones and added that the company would soon take action and remove the abusive contents to even disabling the user accounts if they find any policy violators.
Amazon also stated that even the company focuses on removing the fake reviews from their e-commerce websites and also avoid fake and incentivized reviews from appearing on their store as it would help in earning the trust of their customers.
Conclusion
Amazon has already been accused in the past of fake reviews on their products. The company has also taken specific measures in relation to it with certain Chinese products and companies. However, we will have to wait for the investigation in order to get much more clarity into it.
FAQ
Does Google take down fake reviews?
Google only remove reviews that it sees to be in direct violation of their policies. It may be that there is insufficient evidence to determine whether the review is legitimate or not.
What percent of Amazon reviews are fake?
According to the December 2018 findings, the supplements category had the highest share of fake product reviews on Amazon, with a reported 64 percent of reviews being considered fake.
Are fake Amazon reviews illegal?
In several countries, paying people to conduct fake reviews is an illegal practice that damages the rights of consumers.
Ever since the collaboration between Walmart and Flipkart, many debates and queries have been woken. Walmart has spent around $16 billion in order to acquire an Indian E-commerce company- Flipkart. However, many Indians have been saying Flipkart shouldn’t have sold to an American company.
Flipkart holds the position of a very strong E-commerce company that has grown massively in the past 12 years. It acquires almost 31% of market shares being the most preferred E-commerce company in India.
The co-founder of Flipkart, Sachin Bansal is off to a subtle exit with 5.5% shares worth $1 billion. On the other hand, Google has been planning to sway its 7% stake in the advanced commodity.
With these vast hearings about the most preferred e-commerce platform- Flipkart, we have brought some very rare facts about the company as well as its founders that are quite interesting. Let’s get started!
When people say that Flipkart came out as a surprise, this is absolutely untrue. The beginning of an online bookstore later known as Flipkart was well-planned with all the business strategies in mind.
The two alumni of IIT Delhi, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal planned this company thoroughly. The co-founder of Flipkart has also worked together at Amazon which turned out to be the biggest competitor of Flipkart in the market. They then left Amazon and fabricated their own E-commerce bookstore company– Flipkart.
Flipkart’s Logo logic
Flipkart Logo
The name Flipkart was chosen very strategically as it means, ‘Flipping items into cart’. Flipkart brandishes a distant ‘f’ letter in blue shading drawn on a yellow-hued shopping bag. Behind the letter ‘f’, speed lines are drawn. The logo resembles a positive as well as speedy assistance. While the yellow hues resemble vitality, creativeness and inclusivity.
The un-familiar bond of Bansals
Most people get tricked by the surnames of the co-founders of Flipkart; both being Bansal. They often connect the co-founders as blood relatives. But, to the best of my knowledge, this is entirely untrue! Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal do belong to the same city- Chandigarh but, Bansals are not related anyhow.
They went to the same schools but were not very good friends. Later they went together to IIT-Delhi and worked at Amazon together. Well, they were pretty amazing at IIT and Amazon both and counted among the best performers.
They both left Amazon and started their own India’ online bookstore website and founded Flipkart.
The First Order on Flipkart
Leaving Microsoft to change the world Book
When Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal successfully launched their online bookstore website- Flipkart.com. The first-ever order was of a book ‘Leaving Microsoft to Change the World‘ by John Wood.
Very few know that the packaging of that very first order was done by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal acted out as the delivery boy. In fact, in an interview they told, they used to write fake reviews of the books on their website to gather the interest of new eyes. Interestingly, this worked for them pretty well!
Denial didn’t break the founders of Flipkart
When Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal worked over the idea of Flipkart, many investors rejected their business model. Many resources said Binny Bansal, went with the idea of Flipkart twice to Google but unfortunately, he was rejected both times.
Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal completed their education together, but the idea of Flipkart never crossed their minds. It was when they joined Amazon with a year of difference that Sachin joined in 2006 while Binny in 2007. They worked on their business model and faced many rejections. But they stood by their idea and made Flipkart one of the biggest E-Commerce platforms in India.
One in a Million
Flipkart encountered enormous success. It became the first-ever Indian digital app to reach more than 50 million users in 2016. It is one of the most preferred and visited websites in India. It is quite remarkable that Flipkart receives over 13 million visitors per day.
Regularly, Flipkart sells over 80 million products. Flipkart is termed as India’s Alibaba with an annual turnover of $1.5 billion.
Distinctive Views of Co-founder
As Sachin and Binny Bansal developed this massive company all by themselves, many consider them as one mind. But to great knowledge, the co-founders of Flipkart are everything but alike.
Sachin Bansal is known to be a brilliant as well as a very passionate game player. If one can ever beat Sachin in his game, he/she is treated to a lavish dinner. However, it’s nearly impossible to beat Sachin, especially the one he is best at.
However, Binny Bansal carries an entirely different personality. He is fond of nature and loves to travel. Most of all, his adventurous ride in the water-rafting is quite fascinating.
Divastri
Divastri
Flipkart has grown enormously and with this development, it has launched its brands. Well, this is true! The co-founder of Flipkart has recently made its decision and launched its first-ever private label fashion brand called- Divastri, which is a women’s fashion brand.
Conclusion
Since the cooperation with Walmart, the online shoppers are receiving really some pretty fascinating offerings and deals from Walmart. This is known as its ‘Everyday Sale Business Model’.
Indian commerce has been depicted pretty amazingly in the eyes of foreign markets. Flipkart’s strong upholding in the Indian market is known and captivated by everyone. And this boldness of Flipkart is what attracted a foreign company, Walmart who spent around $16 billion to gain this prominent E-commerce website.
And with the lots of news here, in this article, we had discussed some very interesting and lesser-known facts about Flipkart. Stay tuned for more updates.
FAQ
When was Flipkart founded?
Flipkart was founded by Binny bansal and Sachin bansal on October 2007.
Who is the Flipkart CEO?
Kalyan Krishnamurthy is the current CEO of Flipkart.
What is the revenue of Flipkart?
the revenue of Flipkart is approximately 346 billion Indian rupees.
Online music streaming in India has been flourishing rapidly for the past three to four years. People in our country have always been fond of music be it the classical Indian genres or the new pop-hits of Bollywood or Hollywood. The internet today is being served at very nominal prices; the lucrative online music industry is going at its peak. Everybody wants to stream music online as it’s easy to listen anytime, anywhere, and according to ones one wish and taste of music.
According to the reports given by Statista, the online music streaming industry in India contributes more than 213 million dollars and more than 90 million users and this rate is rapidly increasing at 1.6 percent per annum. With the increasing subscribers and users of top music streaming platforms, there is one app that has taken over all others in the Indian music streaming market which is Gaana. In this article you will know more about how Gaana became India’s top audio streaming music service, defeating all others.
Gaana.com – Latest News
June 26, 2021 – Gaana raises $40 million in a fresh debt investment round from its existing investor, Tencent and is likely to raise more soon.
September 3, 2020 – Tencent and Times Internet helped Gaana raise around Rs 375 crore in a debt funding round, which was the first investment in two years since their last funding round led by Tencent.
February 25, 2020 – Gaana leads the other Indian music streaming apps with a 30% market share in January, as per the OTT Audience Measurement Insights report.
History of Gaana.com
Since 2010, Gaana.com was lead by Avinash Mudaliar as he was one of the founding members of this platform. He left the organization and Pawan Agrawal became the new business head in the year 2013. It is only then when the company released its mobile app for Android, iOS, Blackberry, and other devices. In the same year, Gaana.com came into partnership with the South Indian Music Companies Association which gave them the rights and access to 79 different labels of music.
After Micromax acquired a stake at Gaana.com in the year 2016, Prashan Agrawal became the CEO. The IIT Kanpur and ISB MBA graduate transformed the platform completely after which the company saw huge success. He brought a revolution to India’s digital music platform and grew his company’s market up to seven times its size.
The music streaming industry saw a huge growth after the launch of 4G in India and the past two years it has grown seven times as Indians preferred consuming music online. Since the first time users of mobile internet have coupled with easy easily availability of technology even in the rural parts of India, the industry has seen a huge success. Such factors helped Gaana to reach every part of our country and their user base started multiplying rapidly. When Gaana. started gaining popularity under the leadership of Prashan, the company didn’t stop growing.
Today Gaana offers music in more than twenty-one languages and has a base of more than 3.3 billion songs from all genres. In December 2019, Gaana claimed to have more than 125 million monthly active users which jumped to more than 185 million monthly active users in August 2020. The streaming platform is leading in the Indian music streaming industry and in terms of consumer preference. Even though a huge global competition like Spotify entered India last year, the customer choice in the segment remained Gaana.
According to the company, 35% of the total contribution is from regional music. The platform also has more than 5000 users generated podcasts per month in many languages and genres. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and lockdowns imposed in the country, the company has seen a 13% surge in the consumer consumption of music and podcasts. Though the app reported a rise in the overall usage of their app, Gaana failed to grow to its full potential. The company showed a mere 2.65% rise in its operating revenue, which reached Rs 123 crore at the end of this fiscal year compared to Rs 120 crore revenue reported at the end of FY20.
The use of Artificial Intelligence
Gaana has also been a piece of the leading music streaming industry in terms of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and driving innovation with Machine Learning Space. The platform has various unique AI-based algorithms that help its users to offer song recommendations based on their music listening patterns. Gaana has also witnessed success because of its voice assistant search that has been very popular among the millennials as well as elderly as many people find it hard to type.
The innovative services offered by the platform have to lead to massive success. There are a few unique features of the platform that helps the company stands out in the industry:
• Gaana was the first music application in India that introduced 24 x 7 online entertainment content feed
• The AI-led personalized recommendations help the users in giving utmost satisfaction from the platform
• Gaana also offers features like play along with lyrics, vertical videos, and multilingual voice assistant search
• The Smart downloads feature enables the premium users to automatically download songs based on their listening history.
• After acquiring Jukebox studios, Gaana is now accessible to more than 5000 offline locations such as pubs and bars
• Gaana offers various other products apart from music which includes podcasts, hotshots, radio, etc.
Launch of HotShots after the ban of ‘Tiktok’
Soon after the Indian government took the decision to ban the use of many Chinese apps in India including TikTok which was a social media sensation, Gaana launched HotShots which was a similar tool. The intuitive and intriguing feature in Gaana helped its users to create and share short videos and stories just like the popular Instagram Reels. Many renowned influencers like Neha Kakkar, Darshan Raval, Jannat Zubair, Baba Jackson, and many others joined the Gaana HotShots platform to created and share exclusive content in various categories and industries like comedy, music, lip-sync and dance.
Furthermore, the company and its team believe that the operations of the company are soon going to help them in earning good profits. Gaana aims to provide content that is convenient and enjoyable for every Indian. An average user who uses Gaana App spends about 30 minutes in a single go on an average basis. Today the company’s 80% users are loyal to them who have provided them with the feedback that they love the platform for its songs, podcasts, short videos, and HotShots.
The company wants to reach 250 million followers in the next year after it has successfully attained its targeted reach of 185 million monthly active users in August 2020. The leading music streaming application has already raised funds worth $206.2 million from its 3 investors, Tencent and Micromax Informatics being the primary ones. The latest funding round was a debt round led by Tencent that pumped in $40 million into the Indian music streaming giant on June 2021, post which the company claims to be valued at $570 million.
Gaana promises its customers that the platform will continue to give the best possible experience to its customers, launch new features timely, keep expanding its music library, and keep improving its intuitive music recommendations.
Cricket is one of the most popular games played and watched sport in India. The top cricketers are sometimes even worshipped by cricket fanatics in India. This is why cricketers are considered to be one of the best options while choosing a brand ambassador, one such iconic cricketer is Harbhajan Singh.
Harbhajan Singh Plaha is one of the most successful offspin bowler and someone who has played all format of cricket for India. Because of his outstanding performances and contribution towards Indian cricket the cricketer is fondly called with many names like Bhajji, The Turbanator, Bhajju Pa, etc. Harbhajan is known to have the second highest number of test wickets of by an off spinner in the world.
The ace spin bowler was also the caption of Indian Premier League (IPL) teams Mumbai Indian and Punjab cricket team for the 2012 to 2013 Ranji Trophy season. Under his captaincy the Mumbai Indians team went on to win the Champions League Twenty20 in 2011.
The cricketer became popular after he became a part of the Border Gavaskar trophy team, and helped the team win the series against Australia by taking over 32 wickets. He was a part of the Indian cricket team when they won the world cup in 2011. Some of his records are 8/84 in test match (best bowling records), 411 wickets in 100 matches (total test matches wickets).
When it comes to total one day international wickets, he has scored over 259 wickets in 229 matches. Harbhajan Singh was awarded the country fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri in 2009. Singh was also offered the rank of superintendent of police in Punjab by the Government of Punjab.
The net worth of Harbhajan Singh is estimated to be $12.5 million in 2021, while the cricketer is also known to charge over Rs 20 to 30 lakhs per brand endorsements. Some of the brands endorsed by Harbhajan are Brune and Bareskin, Ebikego, Fan2Play, Movado, Captain Steel, Royal Stag, Pepsi, Colgate, Rummy Culture, Lays, Muthoot Finance, etc.
Seagrams Royal stag is a popular Indian brand of whisky which was originally launched in 1995. This whisky is a blend of grain spirits and imported Scotch malts and produced by first Indian whisky to not use any artificial flavouring. Seagrams was acquired by Pernod Ricard and Diageo in 2000.
In 2011, the brand sold more than 12.3 million cases, making it Pernod Ricard’s biggest selling brands in its global portfolio of alcoholic beverages. Harbhajan Singh has been endorsing the brand since 2003 and has been featured in many multimedia ads. In 2011, Harbhajan was a part of an ad that showed choosing cricket over working in his father’s factory.
The ad ends with him asking the people on whether his achievements, “Have I made it large?”, mocking its rival McDowell’s by using its tagline. For this McDowell also made a jab at Harbhajan by featuring Mahendra Singh Dhoni in their commercial. Harbhajan filed case against McDowell’s parent company in 2011 because the commercial mocked him.
Colgate
Colgate is an American company that is known for production, distribution and provision of its oral hygiene products such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, dental floss, etc.Colgate has its headquarters in Manhattan, New York and was initially founded by William Colgate in 1873.
According to a research done 2015, Colgate is the only brand in the world that was purchased by more than half of all households. The brand has a global market share of 45% and a global market penetration of 67.7%. Harbhajan Singh was signed as its brand ambassador in 2014, the cricketer was the face of the brand for a few years.
In the ad, Harbhajan can be seen having a toothache and then using Colgate Super Flexi toothbrush which helps him get better because of its flexibility. The company added that Harbhajan was chosen as the brand ambassador because of his flexible bowling wrists, epitomizes flexibility and adaptability in the field of cricket.
Lays is the leading potato chip brand in many countries including India. Lays sometimes also called as Frito-lay is owned by PepsiCo through Frito Lay since 1965. The company is known to have over 120 potato farms across the world.
It is called by different names in different countries like Walkers in the UK and Ireland, Smith’s in Australia, Chipsy in Egyptand the West Balkans, Tapuchips in Israel, Sabritas in Mexico, Hostess in Canada, etc. A fun fact about Lays is that it is the first snack brand to come out with an ad commercial in 1944.
In 2014, Lays signed cricketers like Virender Sehwag, Shikhar, Dhawan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Brett lee, Harbhajan Singh and Rahul Tewatia for their Lays Khol campaign. As part of the campaign, 18 special limited-edition Lay’s Kholo packs featuring an intriguing question on each pack with a quirky answer given inside the pack. The ad showcases the cricketers having fun with quirky dialogues that engaged the cricket fans.
Muthoot Finance
Muthoot Finance is one the most trusted financial corporation and the largest gold loan NBFC in India. The company was first founded by M George Muthoot in 1939 and currently has it headquarters based in Kochi, Kerala. The company offers products such as financing gold transactions, foreign exchange services, money transfers, wealth management services, travel and tourism services, etc.
It has more than 4,400 branches throughout India, and is available in international countries like UK, USA and UAE. In 2014, Muthoot Finance signed players such Harbhajan Singh, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, etc from Chennai super kings and Amitabh Bachchan as endorser for its ad campaign known as #Lifemeinaageybhadiye.
The ad is a fun song-dance-music video aimed to deliver our brand’s message of transforming lives by moving ahead in life. By getting both cricketers and Amitabh on board the brand tried to engage with Bollywood and Cricketing fans across the country.
Movado is an American watchmaker known for its collection of museum watches. The brand is popular because of its signature metallic dot at 12 o’clock and minimalist style. The company originates to Switzerland in the 1880s but was purchased by North American Watch Corp, founded by Gedalio Grinderg. Movado also makes luxury and affordable fashion watches.
It watches have aesthetic features and their high precision level making the brand stand out among other luxurious watch companies. Movado signed Harbhajan Singh as its Indian brand ambassador in 2009. In an interview the cricketer added that, he was honoured to be associated with a brand like Movado, as he believes in the brands art of design and is known for its perfection worldwide.
Fan2Play
Fan2play is an upcoming online fantasy game built with an aim of redefining the world of fantasy sports. It introduces people to a unique way of playing and enjoying fantasy sports as it is a game of skill. The game allows its users to choose their own teams and challenge each other.
Every user has to make a team of 2/3 or 4 players and create or accept challenge in the fantasy game. Players have a 50% chance of winning and gives them a transparent, entertaining and the most credible gaming experience. Fan2play signed Harbhajan Singh as its brand ambassador in 2021 for their new campaign known as #letspanga.
Commenting on the association Shashi Kumar co-founder and vice president- operations of Fan2Play said that, “the main goal of the company is to revolutionise the fantasy gaming industry in our country and The cricketer was convinced of our vision from start. The company believes that Harbhajan is the right face for our #LetsPanga campaign because of his approach on tackling opponents on the field or navigating resentment on social media.”
ebikego is logistics and micro-mobility platform that facilitates last-mile delivery for various companies in the fields of e-commerce, food delivery, groceries, and urban mobility. The company started in 2017 by T Irfan has its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra and aims at providing environment-friendly means of mobility.
The company is available in cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Amritsar, Jaipur and Hyderabad and is also used by big companies such as Zomato, Uber Eats, Swiggy, Flipkart, Delhivery, Big Basket, Rapido, etc. The mission of the company is to make a on stop solution for problems such as Increasing Pollution, Road Traffic, Time, Cost of Travel, Heath concerns, etc.
The company is planning to scale up to 30 cities, touch 20 million deliveries by 2022 and this is why they signed Harbhajan as a brand ambassador in 2020. The company’s campaign will be uploaded across all digital marketing platforms, offline TV channels, targeted especially to the consumer segment where association with Harbhajan will add significant value.
Brune and Bareskin
Brune and Bareskin is one the leading online fashion brand that specializes in premium quality leather products such as jackets, footwear, accessories and bags. The founder of the brand is Tabby Bhatia and is under the parent company Voganow, most vibrant online store for leather apparel and accessories. The company recently entered the offline market by launching its first-ever store in Jalandhar, Punjab.
The brand also sells its leather jackets, footwear, bags and accesories for men on ecommerce platforms like Myntra, Jabong and Snapdeal. The online leather accessory brand signed Harbhajan Singh as its brand ambassador in 2019, the cricketer since then endorsed the brand in its ad campaign and has also inaugurated their first store. Brune and Bareskin says that both, the brand and its new face, have complementing synergies, as they are both tough, and reliable.
Harbhajan was and is one of the most iconic spin bowlers of our country. The ace cricketer is also one of the important people behind big victories Indian cricket has achieved in recent times. He is a veteran cricketer and even though he is not the part of the current Indian cricket team, he will always have a high brand value in the advertising world.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Harbhajan Singh?
Harbhajan Singh Plaha is one of the most successful offspin bowler and someone who has played all format of cricket for India.
What is the net worth of Harbhajan Singh?
The net worth of Harbhajan Singh is estimated to be $12.5 million in 2021.
How much does Harbhajan Singh charge for endorsements?
The cricketer is known to charge over Rs 20 to 30 lakhs per brand endorsements.
What are the brands endorsed by Harbhajan Singh?
The brands endorsed by Harbhajan Singh are Brune and Bareskin, Ebikego, Fan2Play, Movado, Captain Steel, Royal Stag, Pepsi, Colgate, Rummy Culture, Lays, Muthoot Finance, etc.
When it comes to automobiles, millennials today do not believe in ownership and maintenance of their cars and bikes. They believe in renting, using, enjoying, and being merry! Exploiting this insight merely on its merit, Ashwarya Pratap Singh, Hemant Kumar Sah, Abhishek Mahajan, Vasant Verma, and Amit Sahu started Drivezy in the year 2015.
Drivezy (formerly JustRide) is India’s largest marketplace for car and two-wheeler sharing. Through Drivezy, travelers can book scooters, motorcycles and cars from people living around them.
All in all, Drivezy is a car rental platform. Car owners can list their vehicles on Drivezy when they are not using it and the customers can rent it whenever they want to. It offers the following features to the users:
Bookings can be done on the website or from the mobile application.
18+ is the legal age to book bikes and cars on Drivezy.
The users can book the vehicles on an hourly, daily, weekly basis. They also have the option of fuel or no fuel vehicle bookings.
The security deposit on Drivezy is minimal. It can range from INR 0 to INR 999.
Drivezy provides its customers with home pickup service.
Drivezy releases instant payments to the car owners and refunds to the consumers in the given case.
Founders of Drivezy and team
The Drivezy founders are Abhishek Mahajan, Amit Sahu, Ashwarya Pratap Singh, Hemant Kumar Sah, and Vasant Verma.
Drivezy Founders
Ashwarya Pratap Singh, Co-founder and CEO of Drivezy – Ashwarya is a graduate in Electronics and Communication Engineering. Also an alumnus of Y Combinator batch of 2016 and the first batch of Google Launchpad. He served as a mentor at Launchpad during his post-Graduation.
Hemant Kumar, Co-founder of Drivezy – Before launching Drivezy, Kumar was an application developer at Service Now and a senior consultant at Oracle India before that. Kumar has graduated in B.tech from MNNIT.
Abhishek Mahajan, Co-founder of Drivezy – Graduated from IIT Bombay, Abhishek was an Associate Consultant at PwC India. He is also a CFA Level 2 candidate.
Vasant Verma, Co-founder and COO of Drivezy – Before Drivezy, Verma worked as a global market analyst at Nomura. Vasant Verma has a graduation degree in B.tech from MNNIT.
Amit Sahu, Co-founder of Drivezy – After graduating from the MNNIT, Allahabad, Sahu worked as a vehicle testing engineer in Honda R&D India Dept. Performance testing of Various cars would fall under his domain. After this, he went on to work at Drivezy.
It all started when one of the co-founders Ashwarya Singh bought a new car that met with an accident in the early days itself. Singh didn’t use the car so much but still considerably spent a chunk of his salary in the maintenance of the car. This got him thinking about creating a platform where one could rent cars.
There was one more thought that drove the inception of Drivezy, then justride.in, that the majority of people in India can’t afford to buy cars. He then went on to discuss this idea with his college friends, now the co-founders and launched Drivezy in 2015 in Bangalore.
Drivezy – Startup Launch
Drivezy was previously called Just Ride. In 2017, the team thought of adding bikes to their range of products to expand and increase their user base. Drivezy works on a model where the ideal cars and bikes of the owners are listed with them and the vehicle owners can generate cash even when they are not using the bikes or cars. The individual owners of the commercial vehicles are also registering with Drivezy to make money.
Drivezy – Business Model and Revenue Model
The Drivezy business model works on commission. Drivezy lets the vehicle owners list their vehicles on their mobile applications. The company takes roughly 20-25% of the revenue pooled from renting this vehicle.
The first and foremost hurdle for Drivezy was the trust issues amongst the vehicle owners. They wouldn’t just rent their cars to random strangers. Though Drivezy provides guarantees, aggregator model, a peer-to-peer sharing model, and background checks of the users, this is a major challenge in the Indian markets.
The second hurdle was difficulty in leasing and buying of cars due to the financial problems.
With the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic, most of the businesses that relied on transport and communication, and mobility found themselves on unstable grounds. Drivezy is not an exception and therefore, after bearing with the economic downturn for over a year, the Bengaluru-based car and bike rental startup has finally decided to be acquired by Yamaha. The size of the acquisition will range between $45-50 million, as per reports.
Drivezy – Competitors
Drivezy cars kind of operates in a perfectly competitive market. There’s immense competition in the market with major players having massive market standing. Drivezy in totality competes with taxi aggregators and ridesharing startups like Ola, Uber, Bounce, LetsRide, PoolCircle, ZoomCar, Carzonrent, Wunder, and Ryde among others.
Drivezy – Funding and Investors
When it comes to funding, Drivezy has raised a total of $149.3M in funding over 10 rounds from various investors including Das Capital, Axon Partners, IT-Farm, Yamaha Motor Ventures, and Y Combinator, among others.
Here is a list of all the funding rounds of Drivezy:
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
August 2015
Angel Round
$1 million
Anirudh Damani, Alok Mittal, Niraj Singh
November 2015
Seed Round
$2 million
–
March 2016
Series A
$400K
Dheeraj Jain
August 2016
Venture Round
$120K
Y Combinator
November 2016
Venture Round
$3 million
Susa Ventures, Kima Ventures, Axon Ventures, SCM Holdings and ITFarm from Japan
October 2017
Venture Round
$10 million
Das Capital
February 2018
Initial COin Offering
$5 million
Susa Ventures, Kima Ventures, Axon Ventures and other exiting investors along with other HNIs from Japan and Singapore
April 20, 2018
Second Round of Initial COin Offering
$8 million
Susa Ventures, Kima Ventures, Axon Ventures and other exiting investors along with other HNIs from Japan and Singapore
November 2018
Series B
$20 million
IT-Farm, Das Capital, Yamaha
November 2018
Debt Financing
$100 million
AnyPay
The company, since inception, had raised total funding of $49.45 million before closing the huge asset financing deal. In 2018, Drivezy secured $100 Mn in an asset financing deal with which the Drivezy team plans to induct close to 50,000 vehicles. The company had raised an amount close to $149.3 million.
The company’s tagline is “Drive It Like You Own It!”
Drivezy Logo
As pioneers in the Indian self drive car rental industry, the company believes in the mantra- “Why buy a car, when you can rent one?”.
Drivezy – Growth
Drivezy’s growth is coming at what seems to be a key inflection point for the transportation industry. The company claims to have a customer base of about 1.5 million registered users and with around 93% of them coming from the 18-35 age bracket. Cofounder Ashwarya Singh told that it has processed over 4 lakh bookings, and has 500 employees in 11 cities.
Operating cities- 21 cities of India
Average monthly customers- 2,00,000
Average monthly pending requests- 2300
Average monthly revenue- $150,000
Average monthly GMV- $950,000
The company earns a 15-30% commission for every successful transaction. In FY18, it clocked a GMV (Gross Merchandising Value) of $32 Million, growing by 200% since 2017.
Drivezy – Future Plans
Drivezy clocked gross sales of $32 million in 2018 and is targeting $80 million in 2019. Besides this, the company plans to launch in the US by starting with a fleet of 200 cars in San Francisco. Drivezy also plans to lunch its operations in Southeast Asia soon.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
How does Drivezy work?
Car owners can list their vehicles on Drivezy when they are not using it and the customers can rent it whenever they want toand they will be required to pay a nominal amount for every km travelled. The user will get the vehicle with full fuel tank and He/She has to return it with the same fuel level.
How much can I earn with Drivezy?
Drivezy claims that owners can earn up to INR 30,000/month by leasing out their vehicles.
Who are the Drivezy owners?
The Drivezy founders are Abhishek Mahajan, Amit Sahu, Ashwarya Pratap Singh, Hemant Kumar Sah, and Vasant Verma.
Kunal Shah is an Indian entrepreneur who has tried his luck and become successful in the industry through his hard work. He has successfully shattered the myth that only people with technical or management background can have a fortune in the business field.
Being a philosophy student and then an MBA dropout, he proved that if you have the vision and determination to work for your dreams nothing will stop you. He is the co-founder of Freecharge which was launched in 2010 along with his friend Sandeep Tandon.
His vision and prediction of the booming market of online recharging did not go wrong. After its successful run, it was acquired by Snapdeal for around $400 million. He later founded the members only credit card payment app, CRED in 2018.
Apart from that Kunal Shah is also an active angel investor who has helped significantly in the growth of startups like Spinny, Unacademy etc. He did not forget his experiences after he became successful. He yearns towards creating an ecosystem where entrepreneurship will thrive in India. He strongly believes that his will to see more entrepreneurs from India is what pushes him forward. Here are a few startups in which Kunal Shah has invested.
Plum is an employee based health insurance startup that was founded in 2019 by Abhishek Poddar and Saurabh Arora. Over the years, it has completely altered the notion of employee health insurance stack by introducing innovative fraud detection algorithms. Its real-time designs and pricing makes it extremely easy for the users to navigate through their website.
Plum aims to build better and deeper API integration along with insurers like care health, ICICI Lombard, new India assurance etc. In 2021, Kunal Shah along with a few others had invested around $20 million in the firm.
Plum aims to use these funds to augment its business development, engineering and operations teams. It also envisages building new products that are suitable for small businesses that have smaller teams.
Qoohoo
Qoohoo is a mobile app which allows creators to launch their private community that focuses on monetisation. It was founded by Vimal Singh and Aseem Gupta. Kunal Shah along with a few other angel investors invested close to $8 million in this creator-based social platform.
This Bangalore-based company will utilise the fund to further build on their engineering and product teams. As of now they have seven members and they aim to expand their team up to 10 to 12 in the next one year. The investment was announced in March 2021.
Mensa Brands
Mensa Website
Mensa Brands is a startup founded by ex-Myntra and Medlife co-founder Ananth Narayanan. They aim to build global digital brands from India by collaborating with different entrepreneurs, by making investments into their business and by providing the company’s expertise to scale the brand.
In May 2021, Kunal Shah along with other investors like Falcon Edge Capital, Northwest Venture Partners, Mukesh Bansal etc invested over $50 million in Mensa Brands during a series A funding. The startup plans to make use of the funds to improve their marketing strategies and working capital so as to work with more brands.
Unacademy
Unacademy is an online education platform that was founded in 2010. Since then the startup had been thriving, revolutionising the entire notion of online education in India. In 2015 Kunal Shah along with other angel investors like Sachin Bansal, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Binny Bansal, invested a total of $1 million in the startup. The funding was led by Blume Ventures.
Onsurity
Onsurity Website
It was launched in 2020 with just 700 SMEs with them as healthcare partners. Initially they only had around 70,000 users. The company’s aim to democratise healthcare for all including small businesses was a very innovative idea which led to their expansion in a very short span of time.
The firm became the first digital platform in India that provides monthly employee benefit subscriptions to the users. In April 2021, this Nexus Venture Partners backed healthcare startup Onsurity received an undisclosed amount of funding from a group of investors.
Kunal Shah was a customer who turned into an active investor as far as the startup was concerned. The startup was also supported by other investors like Jitendra Gupta and Amit Lakhotia. The firm aims to develop their tech stack and enhance customer experience by utilising the funds received.
FamPay
Fampay Website
FamPay is a Bangalore-based startup that aims at raising a financially aware generation of Indians. It was founded by Kush Taneja and Sambhav Jain. In June 2021 many investors especially Kunal Shah, Vladimir Tenev, Kevin Lin , Global Founders Capital invested a whopping $38 million in series A funding that was led by Elevation Capital.
The firm plans to use the fund to build their leadership team and fuel future growth that accommodates more users through marketing and launching many more attractive features on their platform.
Considering the fact that more and more teenagers below the age of 18 are going to use smartphones, FamPay is gearing up to make use of this opportunity to create an early relationship with the future citizens. This is to ensure that the firm will become their go to brand when it comes to payments with smart cards without actually having a bank account.
Spinny
Spinny website
This startup was founded in 2015 by Niraj Singh. Currently it sells refurbished used cars. They sell around 1500 cars every month and their business is growing at a rate of 15% month on month. In June 2017 this startup received $1 million through series C funding. And as usual Kunal Shah was an active angel investor in this fundraiser.
Spinny aims to improve customer experience and expand business by strengthening technology and product utility through the fund received. Currently Spinny operates in more than nine city’s and already has plans to expand to more cities by the end of 2021. However, Kunal Shah had announced earlier in June 2019 that he had fully exited Spinny.
Carl Pei’s New Venture
In December 2020, the OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei had announced that he will be going to start a new venture. However he did not share much details about the same. The angel investor Kunal Shah had his contribution in his new venture as well. They received seed funding of more than $7 million from people including Kunal Shah.
Other private investors including Kevin Lin, Steve Huffman, Paddy Cosgrave, Josh Buckley etc were part of it. All that we know about Carl Pei’s company is that it is related to consumer electronics.
Other Startups in which Kunal Shah has invested
Zepo
Bharat Bazar
Innov8
Betterhalf
Blissclub
Goalteller
Antwak
Razorpay
DailyNinja
Pocket Aces
Voonik
FAQ
What is the qualification of Kunal Shah?
Kunal Shah graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Wilson College, Mumbai and briefly pursued an MBA from SVKM’s NMIMS before dropping out.
What is the net worth of Kunal Shah?
The net worth of Kunal Shah is $800 million as of 2021.
Who is Kunal Shah?
Kunal Shah is an Indian entrepreneur and venture capitalist, he is also the founder of FreeCharge and Cred.
Alan Joseph
