ADVERTISEMENT

Startup Street: StayUncle Is Helping Couples Get A Room In India

Here’s what went on this week on Startup Street.

(Source: BloombergQuint)
(Source: BloombergQuint)

A New Delhi-based startup is playing cupid to unmarried couples, sports startup Athletes Today has some big expansions plans (think television) and an Intel-backed startup just acquired an American startup to beef-up its portfolio.

Here’s what went on this week on Startup Street.

This Startup Likes To Spread Love, Not Judgement



A couple take a selfie photograph as tourists and visitors gather at Baga beach in Bardez, Goa, India. (Photograph: Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)
A couple take a selfie photograph as tourists and visitors gather at Baga beach in Bardez, Goa, India. (Photograph: Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

Blaze Arizanov is on a mission to beat India's anti-Romeo squad and help unmarried couples get a room. His two-year old startup, StayUncle, promises 3-4 star hotel rooms for short and long stays sans judgement.

The startup was initially intended for business travellers who needed rooms for a short duration. However, unmarried couples started approaching them more often. "If you give rooms for short stays, give it to us too", they would say, recalled Arizanov. That is when he realised that unmarried couples were not allowed in hotels without submitting a marriage certificate, he added.

“Add to this the overall situation that they face outside of hotels, on the street. The anti-Romeo squads etc. I saw injustice. My blood boiled,” he said.

The company decided to take a stand and pivot into a couple-friendly hotel booking portal.

StayUncle recently crossed the $1-million mark in sales, and it's only growing despite the "crowded niche" and "price wars", Arizanov added.

Speaking about competition, especially from Airbnb which has been getting traction in India recently, Arizanov says there's barely any threat.

"We are well positioned to turn into the Airbnb of India if we choose that of course, something Stayzilla failed at," he said. "Also couples are still not comfortable barging into someone else's house," he added.

Watch Out For Athletes Today TV

Mumbai-based sports startup Athletes Today plans to launch a digital content portal which deals with everything related to sports and fitness. Currently helping undiscovered athletes build a career for themselves and a brand around it, the company is eager to expand into the content side, said co-Founder Abhishek Sharma in an interview with BloombergQuint.

“We’re calling it Athletes Today TV and it’ll have all the facets – be it game analysis, sports documentaries, profiles or sports entertainment,” he said.
(Source: Pixabay)
(Source: Pixabay)

Sharma specified that the startup won’t just focus on athletes, but also the different verticals connected to sports. For example, the portal will also showcase health trainers and psychologists, he added.

While it may first come up as a channel on YouTube before transforming into a website, Athletes Today TV will be up and running within the next 10 months.

“After setting this up, we plan on starting our own technology division that helps scouts in player analysis and player game data,” Sharma said. The company is currently in talks with technology firms in the U.S. and Australia.

Intel-backed Happiest Minds Acquires U.S.-Based OSS Cube

Happiest Minds Technologies Pvt. Ltd., an Intel Capital-backed software services firm, acquired OSSCube, a digital transformation firm, for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition will expand the company's portfolio of "transformative offerings" in the digital consulting space, especially around open source platforms, the Bangalore-based firm said in a media statement.

By acquiring OSSCube, the company wants to strengthen its ground presence in North America, the statement added.

The Texas-headquartered OSSCube was founded in 2008 by Lavanya Rastogi and Vineet Agarwal, and provides consulting on digital transformation and modernisation of services in areas such as e-commerce, big data analytics, enterprise mobility and open source.

"The integration of OSSCube will also be an excellent cultural fit with Happiest Minds as both are amongst the few IT Services firms to be ranked as best places to work", Ashok Soota, executive chairman of Happiest Minds said in the statement.

The team of 240 from OSSCube will now be part of Happiest Minds and this will bring the total strength of the company to 2,400 employees and an active customer base of 170.

Check This Out Too!