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Japan’s Mercari Inc to expand into India, sets up Center of Excellence

Japanese C2C marketplace Mercari said it is looking to grow its India operations as its third-largest base, after Japan and the US.

The Center, expected to be fully operational in June 2022, will hire 50-60 software engineers in Bengaluru, where it will be located.

The primary job function of the engineers and other tech talent workers would be to develop IT service solutions for Mercari’s business in Japan, as well as for Marcari US.

The Indian engineering team will also provide technical support to Mercari’s crypto and blockchain business, Mercoin Inc, and its logistics service, Merlogi.

Mercari is a C2C marketplace that allows anyone to buy and sell anything, from anywhere.

Homegrown app Leher crosses two million downloads and rise in DAU

Audio-visual social media app Leher, which is now a social commerce platform, said it has hit the two-million mark in downloads, as well as seen a jump in its daily average users.

Leher said its daily average user count was nearly one lakh, while its monthly average user count crossed one million.

“Today, there are 467 million Indians who are active social media users and spend two hours on an average on these platforms. The pivot was made keeping in mind the enormity of this opportunity where the youth of Bharat can use this time doing what they like (browsing social media) and earn money on the side,” said Vikas Malpani, founder of Leher, in a press statement.

T-Hub and Atal Innovation Mission pick 16 startups in the sustainability sector in India

Hyderabad-based Technology Hub (T-Hub) on Wednesday said it has selected 16 startups in the sustainability space to help entrepreneurs navigate the challenges of scaling their businesses.

The T-Hub AIC Foundation program, which was set up last year by T-Hub in partnership with the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and NITI Aayog, will also provide entrepreneurs of these 16 startups opportunities to network with industry experts and investors, as well as offer specialised mentorship.

The selected tech startups come from across sectors, including agricultural sustainability, solid waste and recycling, environmental sustainability, and sustainable lifestyle.

The selected startups are Jivoule Biofuels, Autostudio, Eunoia Innovations, Animal ICU, ELAI Agritech, EcoOrbit Solutions, Elemantra Enterprises, Himalayan Hemp Org, Blueleaves Farms, Sup-Eco App, Onelements, Happily Ever, Ngage, Neerovel Innovations, Period Health Care, and Waste Care.

T-Hub and AIM will help the startups get regulatory clearances and certifications through their government connects, give them access to premium service providers, and any tech and research solutions from partners and universities in their network.

Fintech startup Paytail sees 10X growth in transactions, 12X in revenue in last six months

Paytail, which allows buyers to convert any transactions into a 12-month EMI, says it aims to reach $500 million in annual transaction rate by March 2023.

It has been onboarding 500 merchants on its platform daily.

Founded in 2021 by Vikas Garg and Amit Chaturvedi, Paytail says it expects to post 10X-15X growth in monthly transactions in the coming year.

Adani partners with WebEngage to take its customer engagement up a notch

WebEngage, a marketing platform that helps marketers better engage with customers, will help Adani Group to better its engagement with end-users across six of the conglomerate’s consumer-facing businesses, including airports, gas, electricity, Adani Wilmar, realty and Adani Capital.

upGrad for Business appoints leaders in customers success and growth, and sales teams

Ketaki Kadekar has been appointed as upGrad for Business’ (uGB) customer success and growth director, while Dolphy Dias will be Director of Sales, the company said in a press release.

The two managers will be based out of the company’s Mumbai office, and report to Minaxi Indra, president of uGB.

Ketaki comes with 14 years of experience, while Dolphy has 25 years of experience in sales management.

Uber to hire 500 techies in India

Uber Technologies Inc said it will hire 500 tech employees across its centers in Hyderabad and Bengaluru by December.

It had hired 250 engineers in 2021.

“India is a key market for Uber and we continue investing in the twin tech centers here,” said Uber Vice President and Head of Mobility Engineering, Praveen Neppalli Naga.

Katrina Kaif’s make-up brand to expand into 100 retail stores

Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif’s Kay Beauty said it will also be available in general trade stores and modern trade formats such as Lifestyle.

Products have already been launched in beauty stores across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Amritsar, and Ludhiana, and will next expand into Lucknow and Pune.