One of the interesting happenings in 2019 was the increasing focus of investors and startups on profitability. In India, larger unicorns such as Paytm, Ola, Oyo and others have all increasingly emphasised on generating profits in the next few years. At the same time, these billion-dollar startups also have IPO plans as soon as they hit profitability. One Indian soonicorns, a potential unicorn, which has talked about plans to go public is furniture marketplace Pepperfry.

Publication: Inc42

Date: December 27, 2019

A plethora of regulatory changes covering startups is in the works to reduce time spent on tax compliance by them to less than one hour a month along with easier incorporation processes and boosting the availability of global and domestic capital. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is in talks with the ministries of finance and corporate affairs, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Reserve Bank (RBI) over the new measures.

Publication: ET Tech

Date: December 27, 2019

The funding environment for domestic early-stage companies will remain competitive next year, as a diverse set of global investors eye India, even as late-stage consumer internet companies will face difficulty in raising capital, investors and founders said. The financing slowdown will, in turn, pave the way for consolidation, mergers, and building stronger unit economics across startups.

Publication: ET Tech

Date: December 28, 2019

Late-stage deals in Indian startups are expected to slow down, with investors turning cautious of funding companies with a high burn rate following the meltdown of WeWork. The Indian startup ecosystem has been marked by a number of high-growth, near-decade-old businesses, which, despite being nowhere near profitability, continue to raise huge volumes of capital with no near-term exit route insight for investors. Think Ola, Oyo, et al. But this may change soon.

Publication: Mint

Date: December 27, 2019

An industry desperately looking for clarity. India’s ecommerce industry, estimated to be worth over $ 50 billion, remains enmeshed in regulatory flux. With the final word yet to be said on the National Ecommerce Policy, separate guidelines have been drafted by different ministries on issues such as consumer protection and data privacy confounding an industry in search of regulatory clarity.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: December 30, 2019

The DPIIT is working actively on the e-commerce as well as new industrial policies, and both are expected to be released by the end of this fiscal, a top official has said. “I personally feel that both these policies will be ready by this financial year end,” Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra told PTI. He said that the department has done several round of stakeholders’ meetings on both the policies.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: December 30, 2019

Look around, and pretty much every website worth its salt is designed beautifully. There are so many exceptional tools that can bring amazing design within reach of almost any website owner. Many e-commerce storefronts lose sight of the fact that while they are out to sell products, user experience is just as important in the buying process. Frankly, many sites are severely lacking when it comes to design. Cumbersome navigation, large images that load slowly and a lack of call-to-action buttons are some of the biggest design flaws we see on a regular basis.

Publication : Forbes

Date : December 26, 2019

The share of vertical platforms (startups engaged in the retail of goods of the particular market) is likely to go up by around 10 per cent between 2019 and 2022 in the online retail market in terms of the gross merchandise value (GMV). Sectors particularly pharma, furniture, groceries, baby care, beauty and personal care are some of the key markets where startups have a strong play vis-a-vis horizontal platforms, according to a report. India’s horizontal marketplaces include Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, ShopClues etc. Nykaa, FirstCry, Grofers, PepperFry are some of the leading platforms in their respective markets.

Publication : Financial Express 

Date : December 26, 2019

The Indian ecommerce industry is worth billions of dollars and has the potential for exponential growth, but there are some obstacles ahead. This growth has been facilitated by established players like Flipkart and Amazon, an internet user base of nearly $500 million, a horde of consumers comfortable with the concept of online shopping, and lastly, enabling policies from the government. In 2020, the sector is likely to see challenges in policy even as it marches ahead to explore newer categories and ways to increase the appeal of online shopping.

Publication: Yourstory

Date: December 24, 2019

Seeking early action on its proposal to remove the ‘lesser duty rule’ that would allow harsher duties against dumped and subsidised imports, the Commerce Ministry has decided to pursue the matter with the Department of Revenue. “Early action needs to be taken on doing away with the lesser duty rule so that higher anti-dumping and countervailing duties can be imposed on cheap imports hurting domestic producers. The Commerce Ministry is taking up the matter with the Revenue Department so that the final notification is expedited,” a government official told BusinessLine.

Publication: The Hindu Business Line

Date: December 24, 2019

Entrepreneurship can be a tough and long journey for many people. While some get lucky and succeed the first time, a few others may never see success. However, through their journey, most successful entrepreneurs feel entrepreneurship is a continuous learning process. This year, YourStory Founder and CEO Shradha Sharma conducted a series of high-impact interviews, where entrepreneurs and industry leaders stressed on a few things. While it is a great time to be an entrepreneur in India, it is also important to learn from your mistake and move forward.

Publication: Yourstory

Date: December 23, 2019

Ecommerce companies and startups are stepping up hiring by 50-100% from India’s leading engineering colleges and B-schools this placement season as they seek candidates who are quick to learn new-age tech skills such as Big Data and Internet of Things and adapt to fast-paced business environments. Udaan, Droom, Flipkart, Amazon, Toppr, Testbook and NoBroker are among those hiring aggressively from campuses across multiple functions including operations, human resources, finance, business development and so on.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: December 26, 2019

Bucking the economic slowdown led by tepid consumer sentiment across consumer goods, retail, and other industry sectors, the Indian consumer Internet industry grew 38 percent, exiting 2019 at $76 billion and is set to exceed $100 billion in 2020. Consumers, who chose to cut down on overall and discretionary spend, loosened their purse-strings only during big sale days that dotted the year, from the Republic Day sale in January right up to the annual blockbuster Diwali sale, which saw e-tailers rake in a record $3 billion in the first 6 days of the festive sale month with high-ticket categories.

Publication: The Hindu Business Line

Date: December 27, 2019

A plethora of regulatory changes covering startups is in the works to reduce time spent on tax compliance by them to less than one hour a month along with easier incorporation processes and boosting the availability of global and domestic capital. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is in talks with the ministries of finance and corporate affairs, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Reserve Bank (RBI) over the new measures.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: December 27, 2019

Today’s consumers live in a digital world, which means they can retrieve all the information they desire at the touch of a button, putting them in control. Added to this, they have become immune to traditional outbound marketing methods — such as billboards and television advertisements — and they expect brands and businesses to tailor their messages based on customers’ individual needs and preferences. Despite the new lay of the land, e-commerce businesses can create content marketing strategies that cut through the noise and help push prospects down sales funnels.

Publication : E-commerce Times 

Date : December 21, 2019

With e-commerce growing almost four times faster than in-store retail and set to account for half of all sales made by 2021, retailers must deliver a personalised, seamless and accessible experience, or customers will migrate to another brand. As customer expectations are changing, your customer experience (CX) has to evolve alongside those changes. If you aren’t investing in a great online experience, you’re likely to lose customers. In fact, more than 80% of retail businesses expect to compete mainly based on CX.

Publication : Financial Express

Date : December 21, 2019

Bengaluru-based home design and decor service provider Livspace is reportedly in advanced talks to raise $100 Mn at a valuation of over $500 Mn. According to Livemint, the upcoming funding round for Livspace is expected to be led by Kharis Capital, a Europe-based investment management company. Singapore-based growth-stage investor, Venturi Partners, equity firm TPG Growth, Swedish furniture firm IKEA and Ratan Tata’s UC-RNT Fund are also expected to participate in the funding round.

Publication: Inc42

Date: December 20, 2019

With India’s retail industry set to be worth $1.2 trillion by 2021, the country’s job-creating segment of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) needs new ways to capitalise on this momentum. For new-age retailers, the solution is evident: ecommerce. The marketplace model of ecommerce is designed to specifically empower local businesses, particularly MSMEs, artisans and traders.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: December 20, 2019

As India’s number of smartphone users are likely to nearly double from 468 million in 2017 to 859 million by 2022, according to an Assocham-PwC study earlier this year, smartphones along with feature phones have remained the biggest category in e-commerce sales. According to a Nielsen report on e-commerce and online shoppers released on Thursday, mobiles contributes 48 per cent in terms of value contribution to the e-commerce sector followed by fashion with a share of 16 per cent and 11 per cent each for FMCG and large appliances categories.

Publication: Financial Express

Date: December 20, 2019

Bengaluru, India’s start-up capital, now also holds the distinction of being home to the most number of billionaires aged under 40. Hurun India Rich List 2019 has released a list of top 17 self-made entrepreneurs out of which a majority of 10 are from Bengaluru alone. While Mumbai registered the most number of billionaires across ages, Bengaluru, led by Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath and Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal, became the millennial billionaire’s hub.

Publication: Mint

Date: December 21, 2019

Digital behemoths, whether Amazon for e-commerce, Facebook for social networking, Apple for its operating system or Google, the panacea for all queries, undeniably improve our lives. However, globally, regulatory circles have begun to view ‘GAFA’ (Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple), as trojan horses, with the potential to cause unforeseen harm to unsuspecting users and the markets they operate in. India is no exception to these challenges, and the difficulty our laws face in coping with digital markets is a matter of concern.

Publication: The Hindu Business Line

Date: December 20, 2019

The government is planning to implement all the four labour codes on a single date later next year, a senior labour and employment ministry official said. “The thinking within the government is that a single date for the implementation of all the four labour codes will be fruitful because it will ensure uniformity and will lead to an efficient execution,” the official said. After being re-elected in 2019, the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has expedited its plans of reforming the labour laws.

Publication: Business Standard

Date: December 20, 2019

Venture Garage managing partner Vineet Sagar believes that the Indian government has the right ideas with the Startup India initiative, but it needs to adapt to the changing needs of the market. And when it comes to startups, a major need is a large base from which to source funds. Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (IVCA), the industry body for Indian-domestic and foreign PE and VC investors has recommended that the domestic pension funds be allowed to contribute 1% of their assets to alternative investment funds (AIFs).

Publication: Inc 42

Date: December 19, 2019

It seems that one of the hardest things to do is among the easiest to say — deliver a package on time. This comes to mind in considering FedEx’s latest earnings report. FedEx — which got started delivering packages to businesses — has yet to master on-time delivery of holiday packages from warehouses to homes. That is why Amazon built its own network for delivering packages. FedEx’s loss of Amazon’s business and its struggle to adapt to that loss are the major reasons why FedEx reported disappointing earnings.

Publication: Forbes

Date: December 18, 2019

Indian online shoppers tend to contract their spends, holding back purchases just before the festival season from August to October, according to data sourced from market research firm Nielsen Holdings Plc. More than 84% of e-commerce purchases during the season was registered between 27 September and 25 October compared with just 16% during days without any sale or discounts, the data showed. During discount days, high-value purchases such as electronics, large appliances, and home decor saw a 3-4 times jump, indicating that Indian e-shoppers prefer higher discounts over loyalty-based purchases.

Publication: Mint

Date: December 19, 2019

Now that the smart home is no longer just a hobby for Ikea, it’s addressing two of Home Smart’s biggest shortcomings: it lacks some of the basic features required to make homes truly smart, and the platform can be buggy and confusing to set up. The first issue will be addressed with the introduction of scenes and new Shortcut Buttons, and the second by a complete overhaul of the onboarding procedure, which is the way Ikea blinds, lights, and accessories are added to the Home Smart network.

Publication: The Verge

Date: December 18, 2019

Startups have asked the government to provide clarity on key tax issues, including ‘significant economic presence’, equalisation levy and tax on employee stock ownership plans (esops).The companies raised these issues during a recent meeting with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and senior tax officials, according to a member who took part in the meeting. Startups that deal with global technology companies registered outside India claim they pay more taxes on their revenues.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: December 18, 2019

Corporate India has pitched for “uniformity” in the corporate tax rate, stating that a rate of 22 per cent for existing firms and 15 per cent for new manufacturing firms creates “inequality”. All corporate tax rates in the country should be converged to 15 per cent — with no exemptions and incentives — over three years from April 1, 2023, Confederation of Indian Industry President Vikram Kirloskar suggested to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the pre-Budget meeting convened with prominent industrialists here.

Publication: The Hindu Business Line

Date: December 20, 2019

There were highs, and there were lows. The year 2019 was a mixed bag for India’s ecommerce industry, beginning with new government regulations that aimed to streamline the sector. It also had to weather a slowdown, but the direction remained strong as ecommerce made inroads into the hinterlands of the country. The new FDI rules introduced by the government for online marketplaces were almost a reversal of the earlier policy where they were not allowed to enter exclusive deals for selling of products.

Publication: Yourstory

Date: December 19, 2019

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra on Thursday expressed optimism that India will soon break into the top 50 in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking. India jumped 14 places to the 63rd position in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking released in October. India was ranked 142nd among 190 nations when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014. Mohapatra was speaking at an event organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Publication: Bloomberg Quint

Date: December 19, 2019

A new World Bank report, launched today in Delhi, notes that although e-commerce has grown significantly in South Asia, online sales accounted for a mere 1.6 and 0.7 percent of total retail sales in India and Bangladesh, compared to 15 percent in China and around 14 percent globally. Increasing the use of e-commerce by consumers and firms in South Asia could potentially help increase competition and firm productivity, and encourage diversification of production and exports, the report, Unleashing E-Commerce for South Asian Integration, says.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : December 16, 2019

Online sales in India accounted for 1.6% of total retail sales, with intra-regional trade in South Asia remaining low, the World Bank said on Monday. “While it has grown substantially in recent years, e-commerce in the region is still very small. Even in India, online sales as a percentage of total retail sales were only 1.6%, versus over 15% for China and around 14% globally,” said its report, ‘Unleashing E-commerce for South Asian Integration.’

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: December 17, 2019

Countries in South Asia including India should open their e-commerce markets to cross-border trade without imposing tariffs and follow a non-discriminatory competition policy, allow cross-border payments and harmonise their data privacy laws with international regulations, the World Bank said on Monday. In a report titled “Unleasing E-commerce for South Asia integration” and released in partnership with Cuts International, the multilateral lending agency said e-commerce in the region is still very small.

Publication: Mint

Date: December 16, 2019

Despite the rapid growth of e-commerce in India, especially with the advent of hyperlocal and next-day delivery, there is still a lot of untapped potential in the market. According to a World Bank report, Indian e-commerce only makes up 1.6 % of the total retail sales in the country. The report also highlights that India will have the fastest growth in e-commerce retail with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 18% between 2019–23.

Publication: Inc 42

Date: December 17, 2019

Digital capabilities will increasingly determine which companies create or lose value. Digital technology is redefining competition and changing even the business models across industries. Micro-chipped clothes today could tell washing machines how to treat them. Smart traffic systems are reducing the waiting time at traffic lights and better distribute cars through the city. Data from factory robots allow algorithms to predict when the machines will break down and schedule maintenance to ensure that they don’t. Implanted sensors are enabling early signs of illness in farm animals and micromanaging their feeding.

Publication: The Hindu Business Line

Date: December 15, 2019

The fast pace of digitalisation of economies is having a profound impact on the lives of people, governments and markets. As more and more people adapt to the digital economy, policymakers need to think swiftly and carefully about devising policies that will maximise the benefits of the digital revolution while mitigating the risks of job dislocation.Digital progress is the result of general-purpose technology that has the flexibility to transform itself as the driver of change for boosting productivity across all sectors.

Publication: Dawn

Date: December 14, 2019

E-commerce is growing, with occasional slowdowns depending on market trends. As more people gain access to the internet and earn more disposable income, thanks to an overall improving world, they gain more power to buy. People tend to use multiple channels when it comes to researching and shopping for a product. These channels can include purchasing from online stores, brick-and-mortar locations, catalogs, telephones or smart TVs. These are just a few examples that are available today, but more will surely appear with advanced technology. While the common view may be to limit your channels to reduce costs, keep several options open.

Publication: AdAge

Date: December 14, 2019

Pepperfry, India’s largest furniture seller, has not had an easy journey. Not only was the furniture market fragmented and unorganized, but was not a first mover either. The market then saw deep-pocketed large e-commerce players like Flipkart and Amazon sell furniture.In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Ambareesh Murty, CEO, and Co-Founder of Pepperfry spoke about what makes Pepperfry successful and where he wants to take the company in the next 2-3 years.

Publication: CNBC TV18

Date: December 13, 2019

The rise of a large number of startup founders and angel investors ploughing in money into the startup ecosystem and the rise of impact based startups are some of the encouraging trends in the startup space in India this year, a top official of Village Capital. Deepak Menon, Chief Program Officer, EMEAA at Village Capital, a US-based VC fund, is looking at startups to build scalable solutions that help people and small businesses become financially healthier and stable. The venture capital firm has partnered with PayPal and MetLife to provide mentorship to a clutch of Indian entrepreneurs.

Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: December 16, 2019

The government is thinking of regulating products and services sold on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and WhatsApp under the upcoming rules to protect consumers who transact on ecommerce portals. The move comes amid increasing complaints, both on the National Consumer Helpline and other portals that track consumer grievances, about products sold on marketplaces attached to social networks, according to officials and people aware of the development.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: December 16, 2019

Virgil Abloh’s interdisciplinary practice has seen several collaborations till date, including collaborations with brands such as Levi’s, Nike and Jimmy Choo. He currently holds the position of Artistic Director for Men’s wear at Louis Vuitton. ‘Markerad’, which means ‘marked’ in English, signifies Abloh’s design debut with the Swedish furniture giant IKEA—the collection comprises 15 home furnishing products. This limited edition collection was launched on November 19 at IKEA’s Hyderabad store. What makes this collection unique is that it comprises items you need to build your first home, items that we often don’t think too much about.

Publication : Architectural Digest 

Date : December 11, 2019

Design thinking focuses on the end-user. While many apps are inspired by the need to sell products, designers can’t think from a business perspective. Instead, it’s the customer’s needs that should guide the design and user experience. Design thinking also embraces out-of-the-box thinking. It’s less about copying what competitors do and more about trying to find more innovative solutions that better meet your customers’ needs.The concept of design thinking isn’t necessarily new. In fact, Nobel Prize laureate Herbert A. Simon was the first to look at design as a science back in 1969 when he explored synthesizing human thought for artificial intelligence (AI) purposes.

Publication : Forbes 

Date : December 12, 2019

Ahead of the expected launch of the highly anticipated e-commerce policy in the current financial year that takes into account the issue of fraudulent practices in online shopping, the number of fraud cases in the e-commerce sector has increased by a whopping 475 per cent between August 2016 and November 2019, according to the government data. E-commerce in India is dominated by Walmart-owned Flipkart and Amazon, and Snapdeal primarily. From 977 cases reported during the seven-month period of FY17 to 2,441 during FY18 and 4,955 in FY19, the number has risen to 5,620 cases till November in the current financial year.

Publication : Financial Express

Date : December 11, 2019

IKEA India chief executive Peter Betzel was in New Delhi to attend a Business Sweden event last week. He spoke of the impressive consumer response to the furniture giant’s Hyderabad store, future expansion plans and the need to remain affordable in India. IKEA in India has done business worth ₹400 crore in FY19. Is that standard for the company? You cannot say it is standard. I think it is fantastic for India because it is right on the way of our expectation in a brand new market. We have worked for a long time to get here. There are many people who know IKEA because they have been living abroad or are generally interested.

Publication: Mint

Date: December 12, 2019

GST is immaterial as to what mode of communication the supply contract is negotiated. Tax remains same even if negotiated orally, in writing or through e-communication. Thus on a fundamental level, GST remains the same for e-commerce as compared to any other mode of supply. Nevertheless, there are a few distinct provisions to e-commerce operators and, goods and service providers supplying through e-commerce portals. This article is an attempt to explain those provisions. There are two models of E-commerce.

Publication: LiveLaw.in

Date: December 10, 2019

Government may bring the e-commerce policy in the current fiscal though no timeline can be given, a senior official has said. In February, the government had released a new draft e-commerce policy that provided for regulating cross-border data flows and setting up storage facilities locally. The draft policy sought to disallow sensitive data collected and processed locally but stored abroad from being shared with any third party, even with the consent of the customer. The draft of e-commerce bill is out. We have just started stakeholder consultations. Many including Nasscom, CII have already given their feedback.

Publication: NDTV Gadget 360

Date: December 10, 2019

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) holding stakeholder consultations on the issue, says the official The new e-commerce policy being drafted by the government is likely to lay down how non-personal data such as commercial data held by e-commerce companies, anonymised data and community data are to be treated in terms of their location and processing. MeitY, while working on the Personal Data Bill, had made a separate committee comprising IT experts and officials from key Ministries to look at whether there should be a free flow of non-personal and anonymised data across borders or it should be localised.

Publication: The Hindu Business Line

Date: December 10, 2019

Late-stage investors are becoming more bullish about doubling down on category leaders in the startup world, with the number of investment rounds that have topped $100 million increasing by 40% so far this year. There have been 45 such deals in 2019 compared to 32 a year ago, data collated by industry tracker Tracxn show. Several large and diverse set of investors have bet on Indian startups this year. With the rush of capital and new types of investors coming in, venture capitalists said the time taken for startups to grow their business and rack up $100 million in funding has also shrunk over the past few years.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: December 7, 2019

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal told Parliament on Friday that the government is considering formulating a national e-commerce policy but has not fixed a deadline for it. “The formulation of National e-Commerce Policy is under consideration of the government, for which no timeline has been fixed,” Goyal said in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, adding that a draft policy covering various areas of e-commerce has been prepared and put out in public domain for comments.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: December 7, 2019

In order to make it smoother sail for the Indian startup ecosystem, the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) has decided to set up a bimonthly and quarterly panel to address the grievances of venture capitalists and startups. The panel will be headed by the minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal. It will also comprise of senior officials of various government departments like finance, corporate affairs, central board of direct taxes (CBDT), central board of indirect taxes and customs (CBIC), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), along with the department of financial services.

Publication: Inc42

Date: December 8, 2019

Companies like Facebook and Twitter are poorly policing automated bots and other methods for manipulating social media platforms, according to a report released on Friday by researchers from the NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence. With a small amount of money, the researchers found, virtually anyone can hire a company to get more likes, comments, and clicks. After four weeks, about 80% of the fake clicks remained, the researchers said. And virtually all of the accounts that had been used to generate the clicks remained active three weeks after researchers reported them to the companies.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: December 9, 2019

How does a customer walk the path from desire to purchase? Increasingly, by wending her way through a welded world, where the online and offline engagement that brands offer are the links in her decision making chain. Vikas Agnihotri, country director-Sales, Google India says that digital is a default option for all Indian consumers today. Hence not only must brands inhabit both online and offline worlds and guide the customer seamlessly from search to research and purchase, purchase data reveal that digital touch points need not always follow a linear path.

Publication : Business Standard

Date : December 05, 2019

Uncertain about their future and the ramifications for their businesses, the country’s e-commerce and technology industries want the Personal Data Protection Bill to take into account their fears and business models. According to several industry insiders, there exists several ambiguities in the current draft of the Bill. Clarity is required on classification of data and consent requirements. The first draft was released last year and underwent a rigorous consultation process, under which the ministry of electronics and information technology received over 600 responses.

Publication : Business Standard

Date : December 05, 2019

The number of DPIIT-recognised startups getting the exemption, under the Startup India initiative, from the controversial Section 56(2)(viib) of the Income Tax Act also known as the Angel tax has seen a whopping over 1100 per cent jump in the current financial year so far. From 135 startups that were notified of exemption till March 29, as told earlier by a source with direct knowledge of CBDT’s notification to startups, 1,658 startups have been exempted as of November 25, 2019. The current data was shared by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Publication : Financial Express

Date : December 04, 2019

Ingka Group, the parent of Swedish furniture major IKEA, said on Tuesday that it was open to more investment opportunities in India, especially in the renewable energy, environment, manufacturing, and sustainability space. When asked whether the company would invest in startups or bigger businesses here, Peter Betzel, IKEA’s India chief executive officer, said: “We have many plans in different countries, but in India, we are now looking at renewable energy. Everything connected to sustainability. Then we are also looking at manufacturing. We are looking at new raw material, and in new ways how we can produce our products.”

Publication: Mint

Date: December 4, 2019

Swedish furniture giant IKEA is optimistic about India’s potential, fuelled by its rapid urbanization and growing aspirations of its consumers, even though the country is currently facing consumption slowdown. The company has begun exploring the possibility of setting smaller-format stores and increase accessibility to its products through the online channel, with large-format stores expected to next come up in Mumbai and Bengaluru. In addition, it is looking to bring its Ingka Shopping Center format to India.

Publication: The Hindu Business Line

Date: December 4, 2019

In a bid to support and recognise the innovation of the Indian startup ecosystem, the government’s Startup India project is looking to host National Startup Awards in 2020. The National Startup Awards will recognise and reward outstanding startups and ecosystem enablers that are building innovative products or solutions and scalable enterprises, with high potential of employment generation or wealth creation, demonstrating measurable social impact.

Publication: Inc 42

Date: December 1, 2019

Increasing competition and a year-long expansion effort has put PepperFry in the second spot. It is only behind Urban Ladder now, which emerged profitable last year. In the financial year ended March 2019, net losses at PepperFry jumped 172 per cent to Rs 183.5 crore, company documents accessed through Tofler showed. The figures put the Mumbai-based online furniture brand in contrast to rival Urban Ladder which posed a Rs 50-crore profit in the same period.

Publication: Business Standard

Date:  November 30, 2019

Pepperfry is planning smaller VR studios to bring tech into the retail experience. The company is banking heavily on private label brands and retail expansion. Can VR experiences give the Mumbai startup the momentum for its next growth phase? To celebrate India’s rising startups, Inc42 is profiling a new soonicorn every Friday in the Inc42 UpNext: Unicorns Of Tomorrow series. This week, we are featuring the furniture e-commerce startup Pepperfry.

Publication: Inc 42

Date: November 30, 2019

To make investments in Indian startups much simpler, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has proposed new income tax regulations to promote budding entrepreneurs, who otherwise find it difficult to raise funding. The new changes are a part of ‘Startup India Vision 2024’, which aims to set up 50K new startups and 20 Lakh jobs by 2024.

Publication: Inc 42

Date: November 30, 2019

The world’s biggest furniture retailer Ikea sold goods worth about Rs 2 crore every day on an average in its first year of operations, crossing Rs 400 crore in FY19 total revenue from its maiden store opened last August. This is a revenue record for any brand in the country from just one store -and in its debut year – in a market otherwise considered extremely value-conscious.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: December 2, 2019