Bengaluru stays India’s highest paying city; BeatO platform is helping diabetics make healthier choices

Thursday April 19, 2018 , 3 min Read

India’s IT Capital Bengaluru is the highest paying city in the country with the average annual cost-to-company (CTC) for talent across all levels and functions at Rs 10.8 lakh, according to a research by Randstad India. This is the second consecutive year that Bengaluru has topped the list in the salary trends report. Pune stands second at Rs 10.3 lakh, followed by Delhi NCR and Mumbai with an average annual CTC of Rs 9.9 lakh and Rs 9.2 lakh, respectively.

The investor community has been looking at the Indian startup ecosystem with a lot more faith and confidence. During January-March, both deal volume and value rose on year, and interestingly, the ecosystem saw increased interest in debt funding. The quarter saw 221 deals worth $2.26 billion being closed, up from 211 deals worth $1.38 billion last year, of which deals worth $774 million were debt deals.

New-Delhi based BeatO is building a full-stack platform for diabetics to seamlessly integrate monitoring, data analytics, and lifestyle attributes to help customers make healthier choices. The startup has already launched diabetes-specific food and retail products across categories such as diabetic snacks, breakfast, and footwear. Initially bootstrapped, BeatO recently raised a funding of $1.3 million led by Leo Capital and co-led by Blue Ventures.

Founders of BeatO (from left) Gautam Chopra, Yash Sehgal, and Abhishek Kumar

The era of subscription-based content services is truly upon us, and Apple might be the latest to join the bandwagon. The iPhone maker recently acquired magazine app Texture and is working towards integrating it with Apple News to roll out a premium subscription-driven service like Netflix. The move is part of Apple’s push towards content services that also includes Apple Music and original video programming.

German pharmaceutical company Bayer announced that it would be selling 31 million shares to Singapore’s state-owned investment fund Temasek Holdings Pte for €3 billion (US$ 3.7 billion). The deal will see Temasek’s shares in Bayer rise from 0.4 percent to 4 percent; Bayer aims to use the money from the deal to fund its planned takeover bid of agrochemical firm Monsanto.

The Boring Company, the California-based tunnel construction firm, has raised $112.5 million, according to a recent SEC filing. Around 90 percent of the funding – $100 million – came from Founder Elon Musk himself, while the remaining amount was contributed by 30 other early employees, according to reports. The company has previously made headlines for raising funding by selling hats and flamethrowers.