covid19
Indian startups diversify their businesses to offset COVID-19 induced losses
E-commerce giant Flipkart is planning to launch a hyperlocal service that would enable customers to buy items from local stores and have those delivered to them in an hour and a half or less. Yatra, a
Uber cuts 600 jobs in India
Uber is cutting 600 jobs in India, or 25% of its workforce in the country, it said on Tuesday as it looks to cut costs to steer through the coronavirus pandemic. The job cuts, which affect teams acros
Indian ride-hailing firm Ola cuts 1,400 jobs
Ola said on Wednesday it is cutting 1,400 jobs in India, or 35% of its workforce in the home market, as the ride-hailing firm works to reduce its expenses to steer through the coronavirus pandemic tha
70% of Indian startups will run out of money in less than 3 months
More than two-thirds of startups in India need to secure additional capital in the coming weeks to steer through the coronavirus pandemic, according to an industry report. 70% of startups in India, ho
India’s Swiggy to cut 1,100 jobs, scale down cloud kitchen operations
Swiggy said on Monday it is cutting 1,100 jobs and scaling down some adjacent businesses as India’s top food delivery startup looks to reduce costs to survive the coronavirus pandemic that has made
Indian food delivery startup Zomato cuts 13% of workforce
Zomato, an India-headquartered food delivery startup, is cutting 13% of its workforce and enforcing a pay cut for remaining employees. The moves come as it looks to reduce costs and survive the corona
Xiaomi, Samsung and others begin to resume smartphone production in India
Xiaomi, Vivo, Samsung, Oppo and other smartphone companies have received approval from some state governments in India to partially resume manufacturing and assembling of devices amid the ongoing lock
This venture firm in India is offering fast funding to early-stage startups in a time of uncertainty
As investors get cautious about dealmaking in India amid the coronavirus outbreak and their appetite to fund early stage startups begins to evaporate, one venture capital fund is stepping up to make t
Xiaomi launches Mi Commerce in India to boost sales amid lockdown
Xiaomi today launched a new e-commerce service in India that allows people in the nation to easily browse and order its handsets and other products from nearby physical retail stores as the Chinese gi
Poynter Institute launches WhatsApp chatbot to debunk coronavirus-related hoaxes
You can now debunk thousands of coronavirus-related hoaxes with a few texts on WhatsApp. Poynter Institute, a non-profit organization that supports journalism, today launched a bot on the Facebook-own
Amazon, Flipkart, Ola and Uber begin to resume their services in India
E-commerce firms Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart, and ride-hailing giants Ola and Uber are partially resuming their services in India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government eased some r
Silver Lake to invest $747M in India’s Jio Platforms
Weeks after Facebook invested $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms, India’s top telecom operator, private equity firm Silver Lake is following suit — and is willing to pay a premium for it. Silv
Tech for good during COVID-19: Sky-high gifts, extra help and chips
When Roger Lee, the co-founder of Human Interest, heard that San Francisco imposed shelter-in-place orders, he started blogging about layoff news and posting crowdsourced lists of employees who were l
WhatsApp’s new limit cuts virality of ‘highly forwarded’ messages by 70%
WhatsApp’s bid on cutting virality of messages circulating on its platform by introducing an additional limit earlier this month has already started to pay off. The Facebook-owned service said on Mo
Tech for good during COVID-19: Therapy for nurses, baby food, and an online diary
If you’re one of the 12.3 million people who watched Travis Scott perform on Fortnite this past week, you’ll agree: The sky’s the limit right now when it comes to cheering people up. One kid
Indian smartphone market grew by 4% in Q1, but projected to decline by 10% this year
India has emerged as one of the fastest growing smartphone markets in the last decade, reporting growth each quarter even as handset shipments slowed or declined elsewhere globally. But the world’s
Instacart announces new COVID-19 policies and plans to hire 250,000 more shoppers
Instacart’s aggressive hiring spree is continuing due to COVID-19 shelter in place orders. Today, the company announced it is adding 250,000 more shoppers to meet consumer demand, and to help the co
Houzz lays off 155 employees, cuts executive salaries
Houzz, an online platform for home renovation and design, has laid off 155 employees, roughly 10% of its staff, per an internal memo obtained by TechCrunch. Executive salaries also took a cut. The com
WhatsApp and WHO launch stickers to help people get through these tough times
WhatsApp is deepening its collaboration with the World Health Organization as people across the globe grapple with the coronavirus pandemic. The Facebook-owned service said today it is attempting to a
Facebook launches Fundraisers in India, expands partnerships with state governments for WhatsApp and Messenger helplines
Facebook has expanded Fundraisers to India and is working with several additional state governments to provide authoritative information about the coronavirus to more people in the country, it said to