[Product Launches of the Week] In a week dominated by acquisitions, here’s a look at new products that hit the market

Speculation is an intrinsic feature of the startup world. Questions about who is acquiring whom, and who is raising funds from whom and at what valuation are just a few of the queries floating around at any given point of time. However, a couple of activities from July’s last week — Quikr’s acquisition of Hiree and Myntra’s acquisition of Jabong — have managed to put an end to some of the conjecture.

Apart from the above mentioned acquisitions, the past week has also been interesting in terms of product developments — Zopo’s Speed 8 smartphone; ixigo’s AI-powered personal travel assistant, ixibaba; I-MADE’s mobile student wallet enabling cashless campuses; and CareOnGo’s B2B pharmacy app, InstaStock have just hit the market.

Zopo launches Speed 8

Chinese smartphone brand Zopo has launched Speed 8, boasting 4GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. Powered by Helio X20 64-bit Deca-core CPU, it comes with a fingerprint scanner, 5.5 inch 1080P full HD IPS symmetrical display, 3600mAh battery, reversible Type C USB, and a Sony IMX230 top-of-the-line camera sensor. The primary camera is 21.0 megapixels and the secondary camera is 8.0 megapixels with dual LED and front flash. The smartphone is built on energy-efficient Stock Android 6.0 Marshmallow and it supports NFC (Near Field Communication).

AI-powered personal travel assistant ixibaba

Travel search marketplace ixigo has launched ixibaba, an artificial intelligence chatbot that makes travellers’ lives easier. The chatbot helps with trip planning by discussing everything from holiday spots and flights to hotels and cab services with users. Not only does the meta-search engine find the best deals, but also provides information on things like the weather and unconventional adventure activities.

I-MADE’s mobile student wallet

I-MADE (Innovation in Mobile App Development Ecosystem) has introduced a student wallet, a mobile application working towards making campus transactions cashless. The wallet, which can be used through an institution’s official apps (Android and iOS), will help students make payments for fees, travel, books, and canteen expenses, among other things.

More than 20 million students will be benefited by this wallet, which can be used online as well as offline. Students can also save money by the access to partner merchants’ discounts the app provides.

InstaStock — B2B app for pharmacies

Delhi-based mobile pharmacy chain CareOnGo has launched B2B mobile application platform InstaStock, which will enable pharmacy retailers and healthcare institutions acquire medicines and healthcare products from more than 100 brands directly from manufacturers. InstaStock aims at enabling retail pharmacies to buy products at higher margins directly from brands with assured 18-hour logistics.

The payment and logistics structure will be regulated, allowing for a reduction in delivery time. Operational inefficiencies in pharmacies and hospitals will also reduce because of InstaStock’s user-friendly interface and methodical workflow.

With this app, brands have one platform where they can catalogue all their products. It also allows for direct interaction between brands and pharmacies, which comes in handy for product launches and promotional offers. Emami and Johnson & Johnson are two of the brands InstaStock is associated with.

Thanks to the alliance with Lendingkart, partner pharmacies can avail immediate working capital loans up to a crore. In the two weeks since its launch, the app has managed to attract over 800 pharmacy retailers and has been downloaded over 1,100 times.

Product enhancement and innovation have become the norm where startups are concerned, and rightly so. Watch this space to catch glimpses of more new and exciting products from the startup world.