e27′s Founders Drinks is coming to Jakarta as part of our regional tour supported by Amazon Web Services. Founders Drinks is a community and networking event e27 organize every month. Other than meeting the community, the focus of this event series is to inspire, engage and connect technology startup communities. With the support of Amazon...
The post Jakarta Founders Drinks: Why you should or should not do a startup appeared first on e27.
e27′s Founders Drinks is coming to Jakarta as part of our regional tour supported by Amazon Web Services. Founders Drinks is a community and networking event e27 organize every month. Other than meeting the community, the focus of this event series is to inspire, engage and connect technology startup communities. With the support of Amazon...
The post Jakarta Founders Drinks: Why you should or should not do a startup appeared first on e27.
e27′s Founders Drinks is coming to Jakarta as part of our regional tour supported by Amazon Web Services. Founders Drinks is a community and networking event e27 organize every month. Other than meeting the community, the focus of this event series is to inspire, engage and connect technology startup communities. With the support of Amazon...
The post Jakarta Founders Drinks: Why you should or should not do a startup appeared first on e27.
If you attended our Startup Asia Jakarta event back in June, you’re already familiar with startup SupportBee. It aspires to simplify email support for small businesses and teams, and after a period of beta testing the service is finally launching today.
SupportBee features an interface that deliberately resembles Gmail, so it will be familiar to the majority of users, especially companies which use Google Mail for business. The ability to add labels and stars to mails is a big plus. As you can see in the video demo below, ticket states (like “active,” “pending,” or “answered”) are eliminated in the interests of simplicity. There’s also a handy snippets function for quick replies in email (see below).
The service is accessible via the web browser, and with a responsive design it can be viewed on on smaller screens as well.
Snippets for quick replies
SupportBee’s CEO Prateek Dayal says that its service is attractive to smaller teams where everyone gets involved in customer support, noting:
All the companies that are currently using SupportBee have their entire team on the desk.
The startup is still bootstrapped, and has snagged a number of customers already. After its public launch today we can expect more people to jump on board, as SupportBee thus far looks like it is being warmly received.
The post Email Support Startup SupportBee Emerges from Beta, Launches Publicly Today appeared first on Tech in Asia.
With less than an average speed of 15 kilo-meter per hour, Bangalore’s traffic woes are legendary. The troubles may be too big for an app to solve, nonetheless, its worth a try.
IT consulting company Virbisol has joined hands with the Bangalore traffic police to create Traffic Genie, a free App which runs on Android and iPhone and updates real time traffic information.
The app, according to its makers, is like a community of road users where users report back the situation on the road to other users.
So if unfortunately you are the first one amongst the users to get into the congestion, you can just report the situation back. The traffic reporters operating from the Traffic Control Room will validate the situation, check the reason behind it and let every user know about it.
The free app on Google playstore has between 100- 500 downloads. (is also available on iTunes store).
The race for real time traffic
Internet search giant Google recently rolled out live traffic updates for Indian roads on its maps applications (data powered by consumer’s GPS service). Airtel also launched SmartDrive app that enables users to view their location on a map and plan their route from one place to another.
Aside, the Bangalore traffic police is quite advanced when it comes to technology. They were the first to adopt Blackberries to enforce traffic rules. Though they recently abandoned the phones, they have plans to improve on the technology and make enforcement better with little human intervention. Cops in Banglaore have been using digital cameras, Automated monitoring systems and closed circuit television cameras to monitor traffic in the city.
Do give App Genie a spin and let us know what you think.
Professional networking site, LinkedIn has released interesting statistics about office tools and trends that are on the brink of becoming extinct. According to its “Office Endangered Species” study, LinkedIn surveyed more than 7,000 professionals across the globe and asked which offices tools and trends will most likely not be seen around offices by the year 2017.
According to the surveyed professionals, the top 10 items and office trends that are becoming rare and could even disappear in the next five years are tape recorders (79 %), fax machines (71 %), The rolodex (58 %), standard working hours (57 %), desk phones (35 %), desktop computers (34 %), formal business attire like suits, ties, pantyhose, etc. (27 %), the corner office for managers/executives (21%), cubicles (19 %) and USB thumb drives(17 %).
LinkedIn Office Endangered Species
Globally, professionals selected tablets (55 %), cloud storage (54 %), flexible working hours and smartphones (52%) as office tools that are becoming more ubiquitous.
Professionals from around the world also pointed out at several key dream tools they’d like to see in the future. These include having a clone or assistant to help you in your day (25%), a place in the office that provides natural sunlight (25 %) and a quiet place in your office where you’re allowed to take a nap (22 %). In a funny twist, 19 % of respondents said they wish they had a mute button for their co-workers, so they don’t have to hear them talk.
Imagine spending a day with a dabbawala in Mumbai experiencing his life, or a day learning how to drift cars with a professional or lets take it a notch higher, imagine taking a private fencing lesson with an instructor.
Sounds too good to be true? Mumbai based Tushky aims to take the entire concept of spending your leisure time doing something new and interesting to a whole new level.
The idea of starting up Tushky took flight when founder Talvinder Singh decided that he wanted to spend his leisure time doing something more than going for watching movies or eating out. Tushky was started with a simple premise in mind that people should be able to experience the extraordinary.
Tushky offers three major types of experiences:
Tushly Dashboard
The Mumbai based startup was started with seed funding (INR 35 lakhs) last year. After a proof-of-concept and the initial positive response, the site has undergone iterations of changes and the latest one being its “Wanderer” concept which will be live early next month.
The “Wanderer” ties together the entire sphere of experience sharing. Tushky understands that each person can be a consumer and a service provider provider at the same time. It ties their identities together so that a person who might be using using Tushky for his weekend getaway at a tree house might also be offering lessons in parkour at the same time.
But it does discount the fact that a system of checks and balances are in place. Founder Talvinder Singh couldn’t emphasis more on the fact that they are not a classified site. So even though experience providers can sign-up to list their service, the team at Tushky would carefully scrutinize and select a partner to ensure the safety and the value-for-me for the end user. For this reason they have partnered with only a single service providers in certain cases.
The consumer after signing-up has to pay for the experience in advance, but the vendor receives payment only after the service has been provided. Tushky gets the major source of its revenue from its cut, usually varying between 15-20% on each experience. But the vertical that has been largely unexplored in India is the customized packages for corporate sector with a twist. Tushky has tie-ups with major corporations to act as the “experience providers” for their trips and get-togethers. Tushky’s association with RedBus( for buses) and with Ola( for cabs) makes them an inclusive service offering and the choice for corporates.
So all ye wanderers, check out Tushky and share your comments/feedback.
Also see: Floh – the offline networking platform that can potentially disrupt the dating business
Shanghai's Pudong biz district skyline turns green. Photo courtesy of Rovio Mobile.
Rovio Mobile will launch its much-anticipated Angry Birds spin-off game, called Bad Piggies, later today, and the company has taken to the roads of China to promote it. Last night, in a neat publicity stunt, the Shanghai Pudong skyline was turned green (pictured above) by a light-projection of the Bad Piggies, those dastardly nemeses of the understandably frustrated birdies.
But that’s not all. As spotted by lots of Sina Weibo users, there are two elaborately painted vans going round Shanghai (pictured below). The red van represents the Angry Birds, and the green one for the piggies. We’ve confirmed with the Rovio office in Beijing Shanghai that the vans are “official and a part of our Bad Piggies launch” – but it’s not clear what time exactly the new game will roll-out in China, and the game developer is keeping it under wraps for now. All we know is that it should hit iOS, Android, and Mac pretty much simultaneously sometime today.
Both photos via Weibo user @万里行房车 taken today in Shanghai.
Bad Piggies will be the the second different title (following the puzzler Amazing Alex) after the huge global success of the four Angry Birds series games. China was a huge part of that success, as seen with the local Rovio office and versions of the original game that used familiar cultural themes, such as Angry Birds Seasons for Chinese New Year, and even one for the autumnal Moon Festival. If Bad Piggies prove as popular, then we’ll likely see similar adaptations – and lots more cutesy piggy merchandise too.
The post Bad Piggies and Angry Birds Hit the Road in China, Turn Shanghai Skyline Green appeared first on Tech in Asia.
We like to put startups on the map with stories about their successes and entrepreneurial journeys – and now Mappedinworld is doing so more literally with its new and crowdsourced global map of startup businesses.
Looking at the Mappedinworld page for Singapore, for example (pictured above), you’ll see it’s a really good-looking map-and-database combo. It’s useful, too, as the startups pinned on the map generally come with things like a contact email, a jobs email, and a physical address. So it’s a resource for job-seekers too.
Indeed, more than just startups are served. The sidebar on the left also lists digital companies, investors, incubators, and co-working spaces – so in theory it lists pretty much everything needed in the entrepreneurial ecosystem (apart from where to buy Red Bull). It makes a nice complement to TechCrunch’s CrunchBase, which is more oriented towards stats.
Mappedinworld’s creator is Matteo Sarzana, who’s based in Italy. He explains it’s early days for the crowdsourced map, but it got a boost yesterday by being mentioned by the G+ account of Google Entrepreneurs. As to why the map was conceived, he adds:
The project actually started because we had enough of listening to people complaining that digital was not creating jobs in Italy. the project expanded to the world because we’ve been asked from a lot of countries to make the platform available.
And so it’s slowly being added to – anyone can contribute some listings – in lots of nations. I see 17 pins on Singapore already, including some familiar names like Dropmysite.
Click to enlarge
Matteo says that Mappedinworld was created as a community project:
There are no plans to monetize it, actually. We’ve done it to be shared and used freely. The best and final objective would be to get governments to use the data available to promote new jobs for people.
You can help out too, perhaps by starting on the world-view map page.
The post Crowdsourced Mappedinworld Puts Startups On the Map appeared first on Tech in Asia.
We are featuring participants in the Hack2Hatch technopreneur bootcamp set for October 5 to 7. Unli.fm is listed as one of the startups vying for the PhP 100,000 seed funding during the mentoring and incubation event. Hack2Hatch (h2H) is nearing, and we are getting a more intimate view of the startups that will participate in...
The post Hack2Hatch: Unli.fm aims to let music artists reach out to fans directly appeared first on e27.
We are featuring participants in the Hack2Hatch technopreneur bootcamp set for October 5 to 7. Unli.fm is listed as one of the startups vying for the PhP 100,000 seed funding during the mentoring and incubation event. Hack2Hatch (h2H) is nearing, and we are getting a more intimate view of the startups that will participate in...
The post Hack2Hatch: Unli.fm aims to let music artists reach out to fans directly appeared first on e27.
Promoting cashless and paperless transactions seems to be a top priority of apex banking body – Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Finance Ministry in the country. In its latest move, Finance Ministry has asked public sectors banks not to charge anything for electronic funds transfer up to Rs 1 lakh.
At present, banks charge a fee of Rs 5 and Rs 2.50 for online fund transfer up to Rs 1 lakh and Rs 10,000 respectively. However, charges for funds transfer (NEFT) exceeding Rs 1 lakh and upto Rs 2 lakh would remain Rs 15 and Rs 25 for transfers above Rs 2 lakh. It is worth noting that foreign banks never had any such transaction charges on fund transfer via internet.
India, primarily a cash economy has seen very little action on electronic payments. This move could improve the situation. Earlier this month, the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) announced extension of inter mobile payment system (IMPS) service to merchant payments. The service enables consumers to pay merchants for products & services bought via mobile phones and vice-versa.
In July 2012, as per RBI data, nearly 3 crore NEFT transaction took place through 114 banks worth Rs 2.1 lakh crore. HDFC bank tops the volume and value of NEFT based transactions with 49.39 lakhs transactions worth Rs 25, 8556 crore, closely followed by State Bank of India (SBI) with 38.96 lakh transaction worth Rs 25503 crore.
Public sector banks have also been directed by Finance Ministry to identify top 20% branches in respect of business volumes to slash the number of cheque based transactions by minimum one-fifth in the current financial year and ensure that all payments by them are done through internet (except sundry payments).
