Jaspreet Bindra on why blockchain is the way forward; Japanese VCs are betting big on India startups

Friday December 07, 2018 , 3 min Read

Jaspreet Bindra, former Regional Director of Microsoft and senior digital advisor to ThoughtWorks and Mahindra Group, is one of the many people who has strongly expressed their faith in blockchain. In fact, he quit his corporate job to pursue two things: create a digital transformation advisory firm and help build the future of workspace using blockchain.

Eight app raises $26 million; plans to expand India footprint

Sansan Inc., the parent company of Eight app, the largest business card organiser and professional social networking platform of Japan, has raised $26.43 million in its Series E round. It was launched in India in November last year. The app claims to have a good number of downloads in India and is slowly expanding its on-ground presence in major cities, starting from Mumbai.

The Nokia 7.1 goes on sale today. Should you buy it?

Nokia’s latest addition to its ever-growing mid-range line up, the Nokia 7.1, is all set to go on sale on December 7. You can also pre-order it on Nokia’s official site. The question is, should you?

India’s first privately-built satellite hitches ride to space aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9

Elon Musk-led SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket finally took off to space on Tuesday from the Vandenberg air force base in California, US. And aboard it was the first private Indian satellite, Exseed Sat-1 – a mini communication satellite built by the Mumbai-based startup, Exseed Space. Could this mark the end of the solo-reign of ISRO? Only time will tell…

Bitten by filmmaking bug, these IIT alumni are realising their dream with Raasta Studios

Bootstrapped Raasta Studios is the way, founding trio Sai Kumar, Prem Kumar Vislawath and Naren Raparthi are living their filmmaking dream. For a corporate film, they charge anywhere between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 20 lakh whereas, for a commercial film, the price ranges between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 30 lakh. “Three years ago, we were a 12-member team; we have now grown to 70 with more than 100 freelancers. We will soon have a very strong studio base in Hyderabad” quips Sai.

Sequoia India opens up about Greenhouse, its free, co-working space

With the idea of supporting the tech startup community, Sequoia India recently set up Greenhouse, its short-term, co-working space, on its Bengaluru premises. And already, three startups in stealth mode and early stages are working from the space. Explaining the reason behind this initiative, however, Shailesh Lakhani, Managing Director of Sequoia Capital India Advisors explains that “everyone in the tech ecosystem benefits when entrepreneurs take time, take risks and try to build something that is not easy.”

Japanese VCs are betting big on Indian startups but they prefer to stay out of the spotlight

Although Japan has a history of investing in infrastructure and manufacturing in India, of late, Japanese investors have started shifting the focus to the Indian startup ecosystem. SoftBank, Japan’s telecom and technology conglomerate, is leading the pack and is one of the biggest investors. In addition, Japanese investors have shown wide-ranging interest while putting in their money into Indian startups across e-commerce, hyperlocal, SaaS, automotive, transport, among others.