Fashion and premium lifestyle etailer Rock.in raises series A funding, sees fair traction from tier 2 & 3 cities

Rock.in, an etailer of fashion and high end international apparels brand has raised an undisclosed amount in its series A funding from Partech International, a venture capital firm based in France & Silicon Valley and 3 angels which are retail families of Europe. The funding round got closed earlier in February this year and now it is eyeing to raise another $ 5 million as series B in coming months.

According to a company statement, the raised capital will be used for setting up operations in India, bringing new brands to the platform and building team. The startup is also intending to spruce up logistics, customer care, editorial content, marketing and technology.

Rock.in was founded in May, 2012 by Aashish Puri and Suraj Sharma and it has operational licenses from more than 100 international brands from US and Europe including La Redoute, House of Dereon, Calvin Klein, DKNY, Marc Cain, FCUK, Fever London, Just Cavalli etc. The site sees fair amount of appetite for international brands from consumers and it has monthly sale of around 50 lakh with 50 % its orders originate from tier 2 & 3 cities.

At present, Rock.in is a team of 40 and it plans to grow upto 75 by the end of this year. It is also looking to set up offices in Delhi and Bangalore. Rock.in has an average transaction value of Rs 3,000 and claims to have 25,000 hits every day with 3- 5 per cent overall conversion rate.

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Decimal Technologies brings Enterprise mobility solution to corporates

Chandigarh based Decimal Technologies offers mobility-based solutions that help enterprises improve productivity of field workforce. The company provides several solutions to B2B customers in financial services, FMCG, retail, publications and Education Services space and the basic focus of the company is to integrate field data right into the source and make it available to the system for others to consume (via portal/SMS/email report etc).

Started in 2009, the company offers its product on SAAS model in India (60,000 enterprise users) and in-premise (fixed fee model) in international markets. The company is targeting big corporates primarily and solutions offered by Decimal Technologies include:

mTrack is a simple application for reporting by a Field Workforce. mTrack provides an intuitive interface for the field workforce to report information to the organization. mTrack is available on basic phones that support Java and it does not have any pre-defined UI. The UI is configured on the server and application generates a UI based on the configuration. Owing to this configuration-based UI, mTrack is scalable and can be used for ad-hoc reports even for short spans of time.

mBiz is a comprehensive solution for Sales Force Automation. mBiz provides for primary and secondary order booking, payment collection, ready stock model, in-store inventory recording and channel partner feedback management.

The data for channel hierarchy (distributor, sub-stockist, route and retailer/customer) and item hierarchy (categories, sub-categories, brands, product and vrariant/sku) is maintained on the device as part of the application itself. The local data storage provides for seamless user experience and better than expected application performance. mBiz has capability to manage large data and it has been deployed to manage more than 10,000 SKUs and 1000 retailers in the application

vConnect delivers significant simplification of the vendor coordination process, resulting in lower costs and higher productivity.  It is integrated with back-end systems (SAP, Tally, etc) for data integrity.

cConnect enables businesses to leverage the mobility solution to manage their CRM activities. The module lets you manage your customer pipeline/track sales force activity/sends out meeting reminders on SMS before the schedule time etc.

mServe is best suited to businesses that have extensive after-sales support services. The solution enables a user to send pre purchase order queries to multiple vendors at the same time.

In terms of integration, the product integrates with Oracle workflow and all notifications are delivered (including attachment) on manager’s mobile (approval management module) and the company also promotes BYOD.

SAAS/Enterprise Mobility: The Last Mile dependency

The important piece about enterprise mobility is that the product is largely dependent on end user’s (i.e. the sales person) usage of the system and unlike enterprise business, SAAS based businesses are usage dependent (i.e. the vendor is paid on usage basis and not on a fixed fee model) and hence the need to ensure that the end users are actually feeding data/using the product. Decimal Technologies supports entire workforce mobility and the company also has outbound call support to connect with end users, ensuring the usage.

Also see: Mobisy launches Bizom, wants to be the app factory enabling SME Automation

[This startup coverage is part of Pluggd.in’s 65 startup special series, which is supported by Nexus Venture Partners. If you are a product startup, submit your details here.]

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Docomo Unveils Pair of 7-Inch Tablets for Japan, One With Haptic Screen Feedback

Japanese mobile carrier NTT Docomo (NYSE:DCM) held a small press event today to show off a few new mobile devices. Perhaps the most notable among them, I thought, was the NEC Medias Tab UL N-08D. This is a razor-thin 7.9mm thin tablet, with a 7-inch, 800 x 1280 resolution display. It weighs in at just 249 grams. Running on Android 4.0, the tablet is powered by a 1.5 GHz processor; more or less par for the course.

But what was especially fun about this tablet was that it features haptic feedback, or in other words, when you press buttons on the touchscreen, you feel a slight vibration response. So when you dial numbers, or when you type using the on-screen keyboard, you feel a response. There’s even a fun super-ball game that demonstrates the function, making the tablet vibrate when the ball hits the sides of the box (see picture). I had a chance to try it out briefly, and it works pretty well and is an interesting experience. Personally, I’m a big fan of touchscreens with haptic feedback, and hopefully in the future we can see it integrated into our mobile games.

As for the rest of the specifications, the tablet is equipped with an 8 megapixel camera on the rear, and a 2 megapixel camera on the front. It will be compatible with Docomo’s Xi LTE network, and will also feature one-seg television. The Medias Tab UL N-O8D is set for release in September or October. No word yet on the price tag for this one.

NEC Medias Tab, superball game with haptic feedback

NEC Medias Tab, side view, 7.9mm thin

I’ve noted before that there might be an opportunity for tablet makers in Japan to succeed with the 7-inch form factor where they might not overseas. The ability to hold and operate a device with one hand is important for many consumers in Japan, since many people spend so much time commuting on crowded trains.

Similarly, Docomo also showed off the Samsung (005930:KS) Galaxy Tab 7.7 Plus tablet, which is also 7.9mm thin, and is said to be the world’d largest organic EL display at 7.7 inches. It will also feature a 1.5 GHz dual core processor, and comes with a 3 megapixel camera on the rear and a 2 megapixel camera around the front.

It will also be the first Galaxy model with support for Docomo’s NotTV streaming video service subscription service, which recently surpassed 100,000 users.

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 Plus tablet is scheduled for release in October or November.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 Plus SC-01E

The post Docomo Unveils Pair of 7-Inch Tablets for Japan, One With Haptic Screen Feedback appeared first on Tech in Asia.

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Food Journal App Burpple Hooks Up With Instagram, Now Speaks Japanese Too

The food journal app Burpple is getting new features in its v1.1.6 update, with the two biggest being support for cross-posting from Instagram, as well as a full Japanese language localization (pictured below). The Singaporean startup behind Burpple app explains to us that a Japanese version made sense right now as there has been strong growth in Japan already among its user-base – and Instagram is just a no-brainer.

Burpple’s Elisha Ong tells us that Japan’s great food culture also made it a destination for the foodie app; there has even been a group of housewives using Burpple to share their home-cooked creations and recipes. To back all that up, the startup now has a Japanese team member too.

As for Instagram, Elisha explains more fully:

There are literally millions of people posting photos of food on Instagram – many of whom are already concurrently posting the same photos to their Burpple app. On one hand, we want to make this a more seamless process with the integration – you can now simply add a #burpple or food-related hashtags to sync photos from Instagram to Burpple – and above and beyond that to be the food brain for the user by adding more value to these photos – they can search, edit, curate and use them to discover food around them.

The update also sees a new UI element on Burpple in the form of “flash card” style overlays for user profiles, and the ability to edit your profile in-app.

You might recall that Burpple localized itself for China earlier this year, adding Chinese language support in the app as well as the ability to post to the microblogging service Sina Weibo. Elisha reveals that the initial support for Weibo has “gained interest from several large Chinese social networks,” and so some potential partnerships are being explored. I guess one major option would be Renren (NYSE:RENN), which is China’s biggest Facebook-esque site.

The updated Burpple app, still iOS-only for now, is already in the iTunes App Store.

The post Food Journal App Burpple Hooks Up With Instagram, Now Speaks Japanese Too appeared first on Tech in Asia.

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FashionAndYou acquires UrbanTouch for $30mn?

The rumor has been ON for quite some time and ET reports that FashionAndYou has acquired UrbanTouch for $30mn (in cash and stock).

FashionAndYou recently witnessed exits of cofounding team of the company – i.e. Pearl Uppal, Gaurav Kachru and several others. Post this acquisition, Abhishek Goyal, UrbanTouch founder will take over as the CEO of Fashion and You.

FashionAndYou has raised $48mn+ in total funding with the last round led by Norwest Venture Partners and Intel Capital. While the details of the acquisition aren’t yet known, UrbanTouch surely gets a bigger playground, though few questions remain unanswered:

- What’s really happening with FashionAndYou?
They started off with an aggressive note (with a spammy email campaigns), raised a lot of money and suddenly the management quit. Questions have been raised regarding the feasibility of doing a ‘Rocket Internet in India’.

- What’s in for UrbanTouch?
Why would Accel funded UrbanTouch get acquired so early in the game? To play a bigger game? OR?
- More details as we get them.

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Milaap and e27 set up the Entrepreneurship Development Fund

Today’s a special day as we formally launch e27‘s partnership with Milaap and start the Entrepreneurship Development Fund. Read on to find out more about this partnership, and how you can help other entrepreneurs grow their businesses and make a difference in their lives.

When a fledging business does not receive any sort of funding, the only possible solutions are to either shelve the idea, or bootstrap and and try to make something good out of it. But what if that business idea was essential to someone’s living? Take Jacqueline Mary for instance. Jacqueline is 19 years old and dropped out of Secondary 3 for various reasons. Right now, she works with 12 other women to manufacture home accessories using natural fibers. Due to the high interest rates of bank loans or the lack of investment opportunities, they have had to bootstrap their business and are missing out on the opportunity to grow their business despite having a viable business model.

Enter Milaap, and you. Milaap is a micro-lending organization that does fundraising from people like you and me, and disburses the funds as loans to businesses in India that need it. 100% of your loan goes toward helping a small business with a sustainable revenue model to grow, expand or get better equipment and training. This means that with a little help from you, business owners like Jacqueline can create a better life for their families and communities.

Through loans provided by you, Milaap is empowered to help these small businesses, and they in turn are empowered to help the people that matter to them. Rajalakshmi is one such person who has benefited from the generosity of others:

One of the key features of the Milaap model, is that these loans are actually fully repaid to the lender over a 12 to 24 month period! As a lender and registered Milaap user, you get your money back, and you can use it to re-finance another need immediately! The interest on the loans are given out at 50% lower than what these entrepreneurs would get from bank (if at all!) and this interest is essentially what helps Milaap to cover some of its costs.

e27 immediately jumped onboard to partner with Milaap upon hearing about this innovative and sustainable model that solved a real-world need. We started the Entrepreneurship Development Fund together with Milaap, and wanted to bring the whole startup community together to do something good for other entrepreneurs, from one community to the other.

Every dollar that you contribute, will be matched by one of the Super Angels also onboard! We’re aiming to reach S$50,000 at the end of the campaign, so please, lend a hand! Head on down to the campaign site, make a contribution and tell all your friends! Together, we can improve the lives of people who really need it, and also help them to help others as well.

 

This post is part of a series to raise awareness and funds for the Entrepreneurship Development Fund initiated by Milaap and e27. Along the way, we will be interviewing the Founder of Milaap, Sourabh Sharma as well as some of the Angels who have generously gotten behind the cause.

For other Milaap stories, please visit their YouTube page and follow their Twitter account, @milaapdotorg.

Featured image credit: Milaap.org

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