Treebo launches offline-to-online app to target intermediaries; lack of clarity hampers Blockchain growth in India

Bengaluru-based budget-hotel platform Treebo announced the launch of Hero, an offline-to-online app to target intermediaries like auto-rickshaw and cab drivers, individual agents, small shopkeepers, and others who typically operate at airports, railway stations, and bus stands. It will thus allow Treebo to tap into a new customer segment that has conventionally transacted with and trusted these offline intermediaries only.

The online education market in India is a crowded space. The career enhancement segment in the edtech market, commonly referred to as upskilling or reskilling, has a mix of players offering free or paid courses. Great Learning, a Gurgaon-based edtech startup founded in 2013, aims to set professionals up for “learning for life” with its high-quality and industry-relevant programmes. The startup, which wants to make every professional future-ready for today's data-driven world, claims its students have seen a 50 percent increase in salaries on an average.

Blockchain may have several applications and use cases across the world, but there’s little clarity in India. Several companies claim to be implementing Blockchain, but most are not open about their findings. Nevertheless, the technology – minus the crypto speculation - has its merits because it ensures transparency. Reason enough for the governments of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Goa to back Blockchain in a big way. According to YourStory data, there were 127 Blockchain and cryptocurrency startups in India as of April 2018. Of these, 31 are Blockchain smart contract companies, 43 are cryptocurrency companies, and 15 are exchanges.

Bengaluru-based energy startup AutoGrid on Tuesday raised Series D funding of $32 million. The startup does artificial intelligence (AI)-driven optimisation and controls for the energy industry. The round is led by a global consortium of energy companies, allowing AutoGrid to accelerate commercial deployment of the AutoGrid Flex Platform across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. AutoGrid Flex is a comprehensive, predictive, fast and customer-centric platform that mines the energy internet’s rich data lode to extract the highest value from all distributed energy resources.

You are what you eat. With the rise in lifestyle diseases, people are now keen to say goodbye to their fast food days and seek healthier options. But running the rat race hardly leaves one with the time or energy to whip up healthy meals at home. Noticing this trend, startups started sprouting up, trying to cash in on this opportunity while ensuring that the best nutrition reaches people with minimum possible effort expended at their end. We list six startups that are not only making healthy and delicious food but also delivering it to your doorstep.

Gurugram-based baby and mother care startup Mamaearth has raised $4 million in a Series A round funding led by Stellaris Ventures and Fireside Ventures. Marico Ltd’s Rishabh Mariwal and Snapdeal Co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal also participated in the round. Founded by husband-and-wife duo Varun and Ghazal Alagh in December 2016, Mamaearth is Asia's first certified toxin-free mother and baby care products brand. It has a portfolio of over 50 products, made using a combination of science and Ayurveda techniques.

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