New Delhi | Bengaluru: Late-stage tech companies in India are increasingly inducting prominent independent directors, as they look to strengthen their boards to address compliance and governance issues, as well as align the interests of multiple investors before going public.

Shriram Subramanian, founder of InGovern Research Services, has, however, been sharply critical of Indian startups, terming the recent moves as mere “posturing”.“Companies, in their mad rush for valuations, are ignoring values...I think it’s still premature to say that startups are doing anything for (better) governance.

The role of an independent director is to act as a trustee for the company and the minority shareholders or guide the promoter.

This hasn’t happened yet,” Subramanian said.According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the presence of independent directors improves corporate governance.“This is particularly important for public companies or companies with a significant public interest.

In general... a minimum of onethird of the total number of directors as independent directors should be adequate for a company having significant public interest,” the regulator indicates.The ground realities in India have been far different, though. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1575432109.372488/Late-stage-Indian-startups-bulk-up-its-boards-with-independent-hands?ref=audio_experience

Bengaluru: Consumers will soon be able to use the Unified Payments Interface UPI ) for cash withdrawals, apart from merchant payments and interpersonal transactions.Public sector lender Bank of India (BoI) has already introduced this facility for its own customers, in partnership with Mumbai-based payments company AGS Transact Technologies Further, the National Payments Corporation of India ( NPCI ), which manages both the UPI and ATM railroads, has already created a committee to review the interoperability guidelines to open the feature for other bank customers as well, said bankers in the know of the matter.

“We have worked with Bank of India to enable these services in their ATMs and they are rolling it out across all their ATMs within the next three to six months,” said Ravi Goyal, MD, AGS Transact Technologies.“We are in discussions with other banks as well.” NPCI did not respond to email queries till the time of going to press.

Bank of India confirmed the development, saying that it is in the process of obtaining security and technical clearance from ATM manufacturers and will first deploy it in all cash recyclers followed by ATMs in general.As of now, only the bank’s own customers are able to use this feature, but once interoperability is opened up, other bank customers can avail of the service. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1575430204.916444/UPI-Cash-Withdrawals-in-Bank-of-India-soon?ref=audio_experience

Posted by admin on 12/04/19 • Categorized as ResourcesA few years back, many marketing teams were unaware of what a funnel meant or what sales funnel software can do.

A sales funnel usually needs software to power it and getting the best one is a boost for any startup.

To help you get it right, we’ve put together 6 of the best sales funnel software for startups.

This 2017 software created by Mike Filsaime in partnership with Andy Jenkins gives you access to a wide range of features that any top-rated sales funnel software should have.

It’s up to you to decide what sales funnel software works best for you. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1575428409.3415341/Best-Sales-Funnel-Software-For-Startups---Young-Upstarts?ref=audio_experience

If you really want to increase foot traffic and sales for your online shop, give something away.

To help persuade people to share the news about your online shop, you can offer them an incentive.

If you want to increase foot traffic to your online shop consider using explainer or how-to videos on social media, your blog, and your website.

While there are a lot of digital platforms that make marketing your online shop a lot easier, you can’t forget the significance of face-to-face interactions.

Starting an online shop is beneficial for so many reasons. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1575426608.039214/Tips-to-Gaining-More-Traffic-(And-Potential-Sales)-To-Your-Online-Shop---Young-Upstarts?ref=audio_experience

Now that people are in the financial system, you have to give them something to make them stay.

An account aggregator is actually a concept that goes beyond the financial domain to facilitate the sharing of financial information in real time.

And then there are two sets of financial information providers – who could be a bank or mutual fund provider, somebody who has the financial information.

Once the consent is given, the provider would provide information in an end-to-end encrypted fashion to the user of the financial information.

Using this will allow lenders to build more effective models and understand the risk of lending to any individual and also create a warning system,” Vivek said. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1575424806.8442013/We-want-to-move-data-to-empower-consumers,-instead-of-selling-it-to-them:-Vivek-Raghavan-of-UIDAI?ref=audio_experience

Qualcomm generally uses its annual Snapdragon Tech Summit in Maui to unveil next-generation mobile processors and related technologies, which it accomplished with major new Snapdragon 865/765 and 3D Sonic Max dual-fingerprint scanner reveals today.

But the bigger theme of the event is demonstrating real-world use cases for the company’s new 5G AI chips that will drive consumer demand for next-generation smartphones and devices.

Even though 5G data services are still in their earliest days, uptake from OEMs, carriers, and consumers has already been encouraging — stronger than 4G, by all accounts.

Nicki Palmer, chief product development officer for top U.S. carrier Verizon, said that the company is already selling seven 5G devices, whereas at the same time in 4G’s lifecycle, it offered only one.

The company has promised to offer 5G data service in “parts of” 30 markets by the end of 2019, up from fewer than 20 — plus some NFL stadiums — today. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1575423004.4866843/Qualcomm’s-Snapdragon-Tech-Summit-focuses-on-5G-AI-chips-and-use-cases?ref=audio_experience

Bengaluru-based healthtech and wellness startup Dipitr aims to solve this lifestyle problem and others like it.

Launched by Amir Valani in 2018, the startup has launched Strack, a posture trainer and corrector wearable.

Amir Valani, the CEO and Founder of Dipitr, wants to provide solutions for lifestyle-related ailments.

The founder may have started Dipitr for a cause, but it turned into a huge venture along the way.

The founder is banking on this health and wellness thrust for the success of Strack and potential future offerings. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1575421206.1003914/Why-Bengaluru-based-healthtech-startup-Dipitr-believes-it-has-got-your-back-with-Strack?ref=audio_experience

Noted Silicon Valley venture capital fund Sequoia Capital has raised nearly $1 billion for later-stage U.S. investments and roughly $2.4 billion for venture and growth deals in China, according to paperwork filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

The firm, famous for its investments in U.S. companies like Google, Instagram, Dropbox, LinkedIn, Snap and WhatsApp, is also an investor in some of China’s most successful startups.

Setting politics aside, Sequoia has brought in $1.8 billion for its Sequoia Capital China Growth Fund V and about $550 million for Sequoia Capital China Venture Fund VII, per filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Sequoia, led by Doug Leone, Michael Moritz, Roelof Botha and others, recently sought $8 billion for a global fund, its largest-ever fundraise, holding a first close of $6 billion in June 2018.

In addition, the firm operates Sequoia Capital India, with offices in Menlo Park, Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Singapore, Tel Aviv, Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1575419406.838969/Setting-politics-aside,-Sequoia-raises-$3.4-billion-for-US-and-China-investments-–-TechCrunch?ref=audio_experience

In 2016, investments in startups from Bharat stood at just $42 million, which saw a tenfold rise to $447.64 million in 2018.

A quick look at YourStory’s database of funded startups reveals that startups in smaller cities are coming up with interesting solutions to problems that affect most parts of India.

The IIM-K alumni fund, for instance, while not particularly working only with startups in Bharat, has been set up in Kerala’s Kozhikode.

However, like other accelerators, it also offers the same mentorship and support to startups from Tier II and III cities in India.

Growing consumption patternsLast year, we saw that a number of products were launched in Tier II and III cities first. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1575417605.9128602/[2020-Outlook]-What-will-the-coming-year-look-like-for-startups-in-Bharat??ref=audio_experience

Podcorn, the service that connects brands with podcasters to acquire in-broadcast sponsored time (not pre- or post-roll advertising), is officially launching its services today.

“For brands, the benefit is that we are scaling the discovery of relevant podcasters of all sizes and making it possible to work with hundreds of really targeted podcasters within their niche at scale,” writes Podcorn co-founder Agnes Kozera.

The two previously launched the influencer marketing company Famebit, which was acquired by Google three years after its launch — and after raising $1.5 million from 500 Startups and the Los Angeles-based incubator and early-stage investment firm, Science.

It’s a strategy that’s been a boon for influencer marketing, and now that increasing numbers of ad dollars are going to podcasts, it was only a matter of time before the practice made its way into the new format.

Companies like Acast, Midroll, Audiogo and ThoughtLeaders are also all vying for a piece of the podcast advertising market. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1575415831.244113/Podcorn-connects-advertisers-with-podcasters-and-manages-sponsored-messages-in-podcasts-–-TechCrunch?ref=audio_experience