Startup Street: Facebook Hires Ex-Snapdeal Executive To Work On Messenger
Facebook acquires former Snapdeal executive Anand Chandrasekaran to develop Messenger.
Exciting new technology that lets you control a computer with your gestures, big names in the startup world change base, and Apple’s ‘quiet’ acquisition in India...we have it all.
Here’s a look at what’s happening this week on Startup Street.
Swiggy Gets More Swag
The Bangalore-based startup that provides food ordering services bagged $15 million in its fifth round of funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The money will be used for technological upgrades and to expand the number of restaurants it covers, Swiggy said in a statement.
The freshly-raised funds will fuel Swiggy’s next growth phase, with an improved customer experience at its core. This will include technology upgrades, a wider spread of restaurants to choose from, and better delivery efficiency.Swiggy’s Statement
Some of Swiggy’s existing investors such as Accel India, SAIF Partners and Norwest Venture Partners also contributed to this round of investment.
10 Startups To Get Lucky With Uber Exchange
Uber will now play mentor. The cab hailing service has signed a memorandum of understanding with T-Hub, a Telengana-based startup accelerator, under which 10 startups will be shortlisted for the ‘Uber Exchange’ programme. These startups will then be taken to Sillicon Valley for greater exposure to the startup ecosystem, according to T-Hub’s Twitter handle.
The selection process will be completed in the next 12 months, according to the ‘Uber Newsroom’ page on the company’s website.
Uber Exchange is a mentorship project under which Uber has joined hands with Invest India, an official Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of the Government of India.
Uber and T-hub were partners at the ‘Slush16 India’ event in Hyderabad on September 15, where Uber spoke to several entrepreneurs in an attempt to mentor them.
BloombergQuint is still awaiting a response from Uber on further details on the exchange programme.
Facebook Hires Ex-Snapdeal Executive
Social media giant Facebook has appointed the former chief product officer of Snapdeal, Anand Chandrasekaran, for its Messenger platform, in a global leadership role.
The technology expert announced his new role through a (you guessed it right) Facebook post.
“I am joining Facebook to work on Facebook Messenger platform. Really looking forward to working with Ime, David, Stan, John and the team to listen and learn and help build on the momentum.”, he said in the post, referring to Facebook executives.
With growing competition from also-Facebook-owned WhatsApp and other messaging services such as WeChat, the company is eager to transform Messenger into a hub for activities such as e-commerce, according to The Wall Street Journal.
It’s Time To Control Your Computer
A Canadian startup, Thalmic Labs Inc, which works on gesture control, bagged $120 million in funding from biggies such as Amazon Alexa Fund and Intel among other investors.
The amazing part though, is what the startup does.
The startup’s technology allows an armband to intercept electric signals in the muscles which allows users to control technology through gestures, Bloomberg reports. Thalmic’s armband can be used to switch songs, play virtual reality video games, and can even aid or replace prosthetic limbs.
Twitter Lays Off Bengaluru Engineering Team
The social networking site laid off some of its employees after it decided to stop the global engineering work at the Bengaluru Development Centre due to a revision in business strategy.
“Only the global engineering workforce in Bangalore is affected, we will continue to maintain our presence in Bangalore for other functions. We thank the impacted individuals, less than 20 persons, for their valuable contributions and are doing as much as we can to provide them a respectful exit from our company,” a Twitter spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to BloombergQuint.
Responding to speculation that the laid-off employees were primarily those who came into the workforce through its acquisition of ZipDial. the company spokesperson said that ZipDial’s technology and workforce have already been absorbed into Twitter.
Hyderabad-Based Machine Learning Startup Acquired By Apple
Tuplejump Software, a Hyderabad-based startup, was bought out by Apple in June for an undisclosed amount, reports Bloomberg.
The startup specialises in fast data processing and analysis, which will help the technology giant expand its proficiency in artificial intelligence.
When asked about the deal, an Apple spokesperson told Bloomberg that the it buys out smaller technology companies from time to time, refusing to disclose their plans going forward.
The Tuplejump site was inaccessible for further details.