YouTube launches music app in India, Acko raises funding from Binny Bansal

The battle of music streaming in India just got a little more interesting. YouTube, which already enjoys a king’s share in the video streaming space in the country, joined the music streaming market on Tuesday, launching the YouTube Music app, and YouTube Music Premium for its users. Audiophiles can either stream music for free on the YouTube music app or pay a Rs 99 monthly subscription fee to access music, videos, and much more ads-free. In addition, YouTube is also introducing a YouTube Premium service.

Acko raises Series C funding

Online insurance startup Acko raised $65 million in its Series C round from Binny Bansal, Co-founder and former CEO of Flipkart, RPS Ventures led by SoftBank's former managing partner Kabir Misra, and Intact Ventures. Binny Bansal has reportedly invested $25 million in Acko through this round. With this latest round of Series C funding, Acko’s total funds raised stands at $107 million. Avendus Capital was the advisor to Acko on this fundraise. 

AgroStar raises $27M in Series C funding

Pune-based agritech startup AgroStar has raised $27 million in a Series C funding round led by Bertelsmann India. The funding round also saw the participation of existing investors Accel, Chirate Ventures and Aavishkar Bharat Fund. With this fundraise, AgroStar, started in 2013 by brothers Shardul and Sitanshu Sheth, will be looking to scale up the company’s operations and strengthen its technology platform.

2.1 million blue-collar jobs by 2019 end: BetterPlace

BetterPlace, a technology platform dedicated to managing the life cycle of blue collar workforce, released its “Blue-collar workers in 2019” report at the recently-held ‘Aseem’ event. A detailed observation on the state of blue-collar jobs in the country, the report suggests that 40 percent of blue-collar jobs in India will be created in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Telangana. It adds that in the next 12 months, 1.4 million gig economy jobs would be created, and an additional 800,000 jobs will be created in the logistics sector.

Azim Premji ups contribution to philanthropy

Azim Premji, chairman of India’s third largest IT services exporter Wipro, has increased his personal contribution to philanthropy by pledging benefits from his personal shareholding. This adds another $7.5 billion to his contribution, taking the total corpus to $21 billion. The latest decision by Premji ensures that economic interest from 67 percent of shareholding in Wipro will be devoted towards various philanthropic activities.

International Sleep Week: meet startups helping you sleep better

No matter how technologically advanced we are, sleep is not something we can do without. Yet. It’s what our brain needs to reboot itself. It’s what we crave and succumb to at the end of a punishing week. And now, it has become an industry by itself. From customised new-age mattresses to anti-bacterial, memory-foam pillows, a host of startups – including Wakefit, SleepyCat, Wink & Nod, and more - are now offering a smorgasbord of products that assure you that perfect siesta. 

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