Startup Street: Startups That Employees Would Love To Work In
Zomato’s security breach and Paytm’s payment bank launch added to the startup buzz this week.
This week, we take a look at the startups that featured in LinkedIn’s list of most sought after employers in India. Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s Paytm is finally ready to launch its payments bank. Zomato, on the other hand, had a tough week dealing with millions of leaked customer passwords. Here’s what went on, on Startup Street.
Zomato To Be 'Cautious And Paranoid' After Hack
Food discovery startup Zomato, which on Thursday, saw a security breach that compromised data of millions of its users, said that it is going to be 'cautious and paranoid' from here on.
Zomato's database was hacked into and data of around 17 million users was compromised. The startup, in a second blog post, said that 6.6 million passwords were leaked. However, it added that the passwords were 'hashed and salted', a basic security measure which uses scrambled representations.
The food startup has clarified that all payment information is "absolutely safe". It will now reach out to the 6.6 million users and have them update their passwords. Zomato claims that the hacker has been “cooperative” and has provided details on how he broke into their system.
Paytm's Payment Bank To Launch On May 23
Digital payment startup Paytm will launch its long-awaited Payments Bank, just a week after securing India's largest ever technology funding from the Softbank group.
Paytm had been awaiting the final license from the banking regulator Reserve Bank of India, which it has now received, a blog post by the company said.
Renu Satti will be heading the bank as chief executive officer.
The core mission of Paytm Payments Bank will be to cater to the requirements of the un-served and under-served communities of India, and bring them to the mainstream economy.Paytm Statement
The company will transfer its wallet business, with over 200 million users, to the newly incorporated Payments Bank.
Payments Banks can accept deposits from individuals and small businesses up to Rs 1 lakh per account, but are not allowed to lend. Airtel and India Post are the among those who have already launched Payments Banks.
Singapore And Andhra Pradesh To Develop Startup Area In Amaravati
An area of 6.84 square kilometres in Amaravati, on the banks of Krishna river, will be jointly developed by the Government of Singapore and the state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) as a startup area.
The two countries, last week, inked a pact which will allow a consortium from Singapore to develop 1,691 acres over 15 years, in three phases of 5 years each, according to a media statement by the AP government.
The Singapore consortium will contribute Rs 306 crore to the plan and hold 58 percent equity in the venture. The Amaravati Development Corporation will pump in Rs 222 crore, and hold the remaining 42 percent.
According to the statement, the startup area will add at least 2.5 lakh jobs and Rs 1.1 lakh crore to the state's gross domestic product.
Startups That Employees Prefer To Work In
Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s Paytm, car rental service Ola and budget hotel room startup Oyo made it to LinkedIn’s list of the ten most sought after employers in India.
While Paytm came in third in the list, marking its debut, Ola’s ranking also improved significantly. The startup was featured on the fourth spot, compared to the tenth spot last year. Employees listed Ola as a preferred work place despite the company laying off nearly 1,000 people in the second half of 2016 when it closed its ‘TaxiForSure’ arm.
Other startups to feature in the complete list of 25 most sought after employers, were food delivery startup Swiggy and on-demand delivery service Gofers.