Startup news and updates: daily roundup (March 24, 2022)

Ather Energy partners with HDFC, IDFC First Banks to provide easy financing options

Electric scooter brand Ather Energy has announced its partnership with HDFC and IDFC First banks to provide easy financing options to its consumers. With this partnership, Ather Energy aims to provide a stress-free transition to EV ownership and ease of purchase for its customers.

This will allow Ather Energy customers to avail instant loans from HDFC and IDFC First banks at low-interest rates and with a maximum LTV (Loan-to-value). Ather Energy customers have preferred a 95 percent LTV option while choosing a financing option, with 2-3 years being the most preferred duration to repay the loan.

Shiprocket launches new service to make cross-border shipping hassle-free

Continuing the expansion of its business through a host of new features/services, tech-enabled logistics and fulfillment platform Shiprocket has launched Shiprocket X, a service that ensures frictionless cross-border shipping across 220+ countries, including the US, UK, Germany, Australia, and many more.  

Allowing sellers to take their business to a global audience, Shiprocket X covers every aspect of the shipping process and customer journey to make it convenient and hassle-free. With unified tracking features, sellers can now track all their shipments, regardless of the carrier they use, while sending their end customers real-time tracking notifications via email and SMS.

Shiprocket X offers sellers a security cover to safeguard their shipments against pilferage, loss, or any other damage. The new product also implements automated shipping workflows, ensuring quick delivery while allowing sellers to place their brand logo, name, and other details on the Shiprocket X tracking page for a complete branded experience.

All sellers need to do is upload their documentation, add their orders, choose a preferred shipment mode and delivery speed based on pin code serviceability, and ship their orders, post which they can track their shipment till the last mile.

magicpin announces its remote-first workplace policy

Magicpin, operated by Samast Technology Private Limited, announced that it has adopted a remote-first workplace policy, empowering its employees to work from wherever they are based.    

“Today, we’ve adopted remote-first as our official workplace policy. This is a considered decision, and also an easy one. We have complete faith in our employees to take ownership of projects, wherever they are.” said Anshoo Sharma, CEO and Co-founder, magicpin.

YouTube Health expands product features in India to connect people to credible health information

YouTube Health on Thursday announced the rollout of two new features, health source information panels and health content shelves. The new features, which will be available in English and Hindi, will provide context cues aimed at helping people more easily access videos from verified health sources.

Health source information panels will provide context to help viewers identify videos from authoritative sources. These health labels will show up under videos from accredited health organisations and government entities, so viewers can better evaluate the source of information and distinguish credible health content on YouTube.

Veteran banker Atal Agarwal joins LenDenClub as Head - Initiative & New Strategies

Peer-to-Peer lending platform LenDenClub, has appointed Atal Agarwal as the Head Strategy and New Initiatives. The appointment is well calibrated to enable the organisation to seize every new opportunity that is present in its next growth phase. In this newly created position at LenDenClub, Atal will be part of the leadership team, and the board to help the organisation flourish and cultivate. 

LenDenClub intends to broaden its brand portfolio and range of services, and Atal will spearhead this strategic drive. 

Atal brings over three decades of experience in investment banking, corporate banking, and credit ratings to the board. For over 13 years as an investment banker, he held leadership positions with prominent brands such as DSP Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, and Jardine Fleming, among others.

CreditVidya and Flipkart Wholesale collaborate to offer ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ credit to merchants  

CreditVidya, a lending-as-a-service platform, and Flipkart Wholesale, the digital B2B marketplace of India’s home-grown Flipkart Group, have joined hands to offer an ‘Embedded Buy Now, Pay Later’ credit solution to Flipkart Wholesale’s 1.5 lakh merchants. With the CreditVidya integration, the marketplace will now have access to $100 million in capital through multiple financial institutions to address the credit needs of its merchants. 

Flipkart Wholesale and CreditVidya’s team claims to have designed a simple and easy-to-use multilingual application for easy onboarding of businesses. Following onboarding in less than a minute, businesses on Flipkart Wholesale can opt for entirely digital and instant credit with a ticket size as small as Rs 500.