WATCH: The week that was – a roundup of the top news and trends in the startup world

For B2B marketplace, IndiaMart InterMesh, it was raining good news last week. The company that began with just Rs 40,000 launched its Rs 474 crore IPO, which was oversubscribed 36 times on the final day of bidding. When YourStory caught up with co-founder Dinesh Agarwal a day before the close of the IPO, though nervous, he was also visibly excited about the happy culmination of a business journey. After being at the helm of a private company along with co-founder Brijesh Agarwal for 23 years, the duo is looking forward to taking the IndiaMart InterMesh to the next level. In Dinesh’s words, “in the next 23 years, I want to see how a limited company works”. Here’s wishing the company a great new start from the finishing line and hope its success scripts new stories in the industry.

Watch our video where we go into what made headlines the past week:

From technology to ecommerce to entertainment, we all know that Amazon’s services range across different sectors. All of which contribute towards to the tech giant’s massive $232 billion business. The company in spite of being valued at $800 billion and doubling its profit in the US market from $5.6 billion in 2017 to $11.2 billion has paid zero in corporate tax. And what’s more, it’s completely legal. We tell you how Amazon did it, in this story that looks at how the company, in its latest filings, reported a federal tax refund of $129 million, bringing down the company’s tax to negative 1.

OYO is certainly going places and has made great inroads into the Chinese market. OYO Jiudian (as it is known in the country) is present across 337 cities including Hangzhou, Xian, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Xiamen, and Kunming, among others. It has five lakh rooms as a part of its chain in the country and is all set to invest $100M in next two years. It has just been a year-and-a-half since OYO began operations in China. And that’s not all. The hospitality unicorn has also forged a year-long partnership with China's ecommerce platform Meituan to list 8,000 of its accommodations on the platform.  When it comes to brand-building and quick expansion, OYO certainly leads the way.

More and more Indian companies are eyeing new markets and making expansion plans. While OYO is acing the Chinese market, Bengaluru-based healthcare platform Cure.fit made its entry into Dubai where it plans to launch 10 Cult.fit centres this year. The company also announced last week that it has closed its Series D round, raising an additional $45 million. Co-founder Mukesh Bansal said that with the help of deep-tech and a strong on-ground network the startup plans to serve over 100 million consumers in the next 10 years.

How do entrepreneurs who face the wrath of regulators still continue to thrive? They do so because of their tenacity to see the big picture and a future. This story runs true for all Blockchain entrepreneurs. When the Reserve Bank of India banned cryptocurrency and tokens in India last year, many thought it was the end of Blockchain in the country. But there was a silver lining in all this. Startups are now focussing on smart contracts and private Blockchain applications to solve large-scale public issues. The question is, can we live in a decentralised world and not seek assurance from centralised institutions and figures? Is it really a conundrum?

Watch other video interviews, stories our viewers loved this week:

Dailyhunt wants to reach 400 M Indians with video and hyperlocal advertising

What has 19 billion pageviews, 100 million downloads, 2,000 publishers, 50,000 stringers, and 20,000 regular news contributors? The answer is Bengaluru-based Dailyhunt. In a conversation with YourStory, Dailyhunt Founder and CEO Virendra Gupta talks about how he built his business, the opportunity of content for new India, and the new business models the company is exploring.

This data science startup is helping people build and manage their AI data and collaborate

Aakash NS and Siddhant Ujjain were aiming for the sky and beyond when they named their data science startup Jovian, the adjectival form of Jupiter. Jovian builds tools, workflows, and collaboration stacks to power the future of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Read all about how the duo moved from the US to India to set up a GitHub for the data science community.

SwissRe India MD Amit Kalra on why social entrepreneurship is important

Who said insurance was boring? The Indian arm of $34 billion SwissRe is showing the world the way with innovation and its entrepreneurship programmes, by working with several startups in this field. Managing Director, Amit Kaltra tells us all about how SwissRe is leveraging technology for social change.

Drishti Technologies’ computer algorithm makes humans efficient

Artificial Intelligence has a huge role to play in the manufacturing sector. Drishti Technologies founded by Ashish Gupta, Prasad Akella, and Krishnendu Chaudhury has built on this need by introducing a platform that uses ML to change manufacturing productivity, inventory, and supply chain management. In a conversation with YourStory, the founders of Drishti talk about ushering in a man-machine combination to change the world.

How Denture Capital grew 2x in 3 years by building original video content for startups

Founded by two mechanical engineering graduates from NIT Manu Srikumar and Pranav Chimulkar in 2016, Denture Capital originally started as a YouTube show on startups. Three years later, it has evolved into an agency on its own. Its team of 25 now provides brands with explainer videos, brand films, videos for internal use in companies, animation films, etc. Watch Denture Capital founders Manu Srikumar and Pranav Chimulkar in conversation with YourStory 

Web show strives to offer a funding platform for Indian businesses 

Bengaluru-based Horses Stable features a group of hand-picked entrepreneurs, a panel of investors, and a winning pitch. The Shark Tank-styled web show strives to offer a funding platform for Indian businesses. The goal is to help businesses find the ideal investor and open up exciting opportunities to investors. Founder Prashant Agarwal reveals what goes into the making of a successful deal.