Indian Startups In News

Private equity firm Sequoia Capital India has exited from Times Internet, which owns Indiatimes.com, reports MediaNama. The $7-million investment in Indiatimes was made in 2005 by WestBridge Capital Partners, which was later acquired by Sequoia in 2006.

India needs around 100 million broadband connections and the government is focused on connecting 250,000 panchayats across the country through broadband, according to Sam Pitroda, chairman, National Knowledge Commission.

“We have today about 10 million broadband connections for a country of a billion people, which is no good. Ideally, this country needs 100 million broadband connections. If I say 100, even 80 or 70 million is good enough,” Sam Pitroda, who is also known as father of India’s telecom revolution, has said.

IntraSoft Technologies, which owns an online greetings portal 123Greetings.com, plans to launch its initial public offering (IPO) consisting of 37 lakh equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each at a price band of Rs 137-145 on March 23, 2010. The IPO, which will close on March 26, 2010, is expected to generate a capital of over Rs 50 crore for the company. The issue will constitute 25.12 per cent of the post issue paid up capital of the company.

Google-owned YouTube has revealed that its users are currently uploading 24 hours of video to YouTube every minute, as against 20 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute in May 2009.

Dinesh K Srivastava, former business head at Delhi Press, has launched HealAndHealth.com, a health portal that focuses on providing information about how to prevent health issues by changing one’s diet and lifestyle. The portal is currently available in Hindi with plans to launch in English later.

ESPNCricinfo, in association with General Motors India, has launched Legends of Cricket, a series of videos portraying 25 of the greatest-ever cricketers to have played the game. According to ESPN, these videos will capture historical and awe-inspiring moments delivered by stalwarts of cricket.

Zapak Digital Entertainment has promoted Siddharth Kelkar as regional sales head for new markets, which include Pune, Ahmedabad and Kolkata; while Vishwanath Shetty has been promoted as regional sales head for the Mumbai region.

Arun Mehra, COO, Zapak Digital Entertainment, has said, “The year 2010 is crucial for us and we are ready to take it to the next level altogether. We are confident about the company’s growth with these two young go-getters in our team.”

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According to a study by Info Edge India’s job portal Naukri.com, the job market witnessed an increase of 17 per cent in new hiring in February 2010, as compared to a month ago. JobSpeak, an index that showcases the current job scenario, states that the overall job index in February 2010 was 947, as compared to 808 in January 2010 and 1000 in the base month of July 2008.

Yahoo India plans to launch an ad campaign which will be aimed at convincing top 100 advertisers in the country to advertise on Yahoo properties. It will be a six-eight weeks long campaign and will mainly concentrate on print and digital media.

Yahoo India plans to launch an ad campaign which will be aimed at convincing top 100 advertisers in the country to advertise on Yahoo properties. It will be a six-eight weeks long campaign and will mainly concentrate on print and digital media.

FM radio station Radio City has launched Fun Ka Antenna, an online radio station on its music-focused social networking site PlanetRadiocity.com. According to the company, Fun Ka Antenna has been designed for the Indian audiences across the globe with a range of music and programming that includes theme based music sets; RJ hosted shows, dedication based shows as well as radio series.

Online B2B marketplace IndiaMart.com is supporting Meri Delhi Meri Yamuna (MDMY), a social campaign launched under The Art of Living initiative to clean up the river Yamuna before the Commonwealth Games. According to IndiaMart, the company is promoting the initiative across its network, and its management and employees are taking part in the clean-up drive.

According to Google, 40 countries have taken measures to limit online free expression, up from only a handful a few years ago. Google and YouTube services are or have been blocked in 25 of those nations, the company claims.

TripAdvisor.in has introduced a new service, called Business Listings that would enable small and big hoteliers to display their phone number, email ID and website URL (uniform resource link) on the online travel community site for a fee.

Chirag Shah, national head of ad sales at Zapak Digital Entertainment has put in his papers. Shah is expected to join the gaming vertical of UTV, at a senior level. He had joined Zapak as assistant vice president, sales in 2006.