Jugnoo raises $10 million in funding led by Paytm

Hyperlocal delivery and auto rickshaw aggregator Jugnoo has raised $10 million in series B funding led by Paytm. Existing investor Snow Leopard and new investor Rocketship.vc also participated in the Series B round. Jugnoo plans to utilize the new funds in bettering driver efficiency and growing its base within its existing cities of operation.

The company had previously raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Paytm in November 2015. At that time Paytm had picked a 20% stake in the startup. In June 2015, Jugnoo  raised $5 million in a series A round of funding from Snow Leopard with participation from Paytm. It had also raised $1 million from Rajesh Mathur (Junglee Flywheel), Vikas Taneja (Partner and MD BCG Group) and Kirloskar Brothers among others, in a seed round of funding.

What Jugnoo does

Jugnoo has tie ups with rickshaw drivers as logistics partners to offer three different services including Jugnoo Autos on Demand, Jugnoo Meals and Jugnoo Fatafat. Interestingly, the company mentions that it does not make money on auto rides, rather auto rides get it a logistics network and customer base, while hyperlocal deliveries make it money. At present, the company claims to have operations in 30 cities and 11 villages across the country.

 

The Jugnoo Autos on Demand app detects a user’s location, post which the user can request a rickshaw. Users can then track the rickshaw status on the map or call the driver directly to clarify issues. The app charges users Rs 20 as minimum charge, Rs 5/km and Rs 1/min for fare, with 50% higher rates for night times.

Note that Jugnoo also offers a Fatafat Merchant app, that lets merchants track orders coming their way. This seems to imply that users might not be able to order from any store, but only from those that the company has a tie-up with, similar to Grofers. Other than this, the platform offers a Jugnoo Drivers app which lets rickshaw drivers find their next assignment.

BigBasket sets manpower in place with free housing

BigBasket, the online grocer, is planning to provide free housing for its warehouse employees and delivery boys in a move to beat rivals Grofers and PepperTap who are exploring the same talent.

The company is planning to establish dormitory-style accommodation and shared apartments across India for its 1,500 blue-collar workers, in the next two months.

The move is considered as a first for online retailers who so far have focused on pampering their engineers and analysts with attractive pay scales and stock options. The teeming populations of blue-collar workers are mostly migrants.

The company expects that the free housing would help it to improve productivity and retention. The lodgings will be located near its warehouses and pickup locations.

"Shared housing can bring down costs by at least 50%, especially when done at scale. It helps in retaining employees as well as making them more productive," said Hari Menon, Chief Executive, BigBasket.

With the increase in demand for such workers with the proliferation of eCommerce startups, companies are charting more innovative ways to retain them..

Ludhiana boy to make it big in field of robotics

This young engineer, who hails from Ludhiana, has an ambition, not to be a successful professional, as any one of his age would, but to bring about a change in the education system of the country. Through his start-up venture, Robotics Education World, Akshay Ahuja is excited to host the first of its kind Build Your Bot (BYB) event to be held in July this year in New Delhi.   The event poster was officially released by Apneet Riyat, ADC (Development), who was the chief guest on the occasion. Soon after releasing the poster, she lauded the efforts of RoboChamps, a sister concern of Robotics Education World, saying that the start-up was setting an example for other youngsters in the country by doing something for the betterment of society. 

 While 4,500 students from Ludhiana will be a part of the event, more than 20,000 children from across the country will share the stage this year in Indias first and largest ever robotics show which would be held in July this year.   RoboChamps, run by Ahuja, is engaged in providing robotics and technology-based education to young minds through school-level education in India. The initiative is being supported by Delhi-based Young Edsplorer, Rolling Frames Entertainment. Truck-Suvidha, a leading portal for the transport industry, is also supporting the cause. While the event is unique, there is a social cause attached to it as several hundred underprivileged children from slums are being trained free of cost by a team of RoboChamps and would be a part of the record-breaking event.  

 Akshay Ahuja, Director, Robotics Education World, while interacting with the media here, said: Through the event, Build Your Bot (BYB), in which 20,000 children will take part, they will attempt to find a place in Guinness Book of World Records by making robots at one place. Children from the across the country are being outreached by RoboChamps. More than 500 children from other countries are also expected to be a part of the event. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be invited as the chief guest for the national event