Airbnb announced the introduction of Plus Homes in India on Friday. Airbnb said verified for both quality and design, Airbnb Plus is a new range featuring ‘high calibre’ Airbnb homes and that every Plus home is visited in person and verified against a 100+ point inspection checklist to ensure greater comfort and quality. Currently available […]

Nathan Blecharczyk, cofounder of Airbnb, said the first year of starting up was a disaster for the peer-to-peer room and home rental company as they had not raised any venture capital and were on the verge of quitting. Airbnb, cofounded by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Blecharczyk in 2008, has since emerged as one of […]

Google-owned YouTube said on Thursday it was taking action to close a loophole that enabled users to share comments and links on child pornography over the video-sharing service. The response came after a YouTube creator this week revealed what he called a “wormhole” that allowed comments and connections on child porn alongside innocuous videos. “Any […]

Bulge-bracket private equity firm TPG Capital is close to investing $30 million (Rs 213.50 crore) in online beauty and skin care retailer Nykaa, according to people aware of the development. The deal, if it goes through, is expected to value the Mumbai-based company at about Rs 4,500 crore, up from Rs 3,000-3,500 crore last year, […]

OYO’s Ritesh Agarwal and FreshMenu’s Rashmi Daga Hospitality chain Oyo Hotels & Homes is in talks to acquire cloud kitchen startup FreshMenu for $50-60 million, three people aware of the developments told ET. The round closure is subject to due diligence, these sources said on the condition of anonymity. “The move will help Oyo standardise […]

In what would be one of the most significant consolidation moves in the sector, Uber Eats, the food delivery arm of the global ride-hailing platform, is in final stages of negotiations to sell its India business to rival Swiggy, three people privy to the development told ET. The deal, which is expected to close by […]

News VMware, Ericsson Partner for Service Provider Virtualization By David Ramel 02/21/2019 VMware’s vCloud NFV platform, featuring new-age network functions virtualization, is the centerpiece of a new partnership with Ericsson formed to simplify network virtualization for Communication Service Providers (CSP). The five-year agreement will specifically seek to simplify deploying and running combination implementations of Ericsson […]

A moral reckoning in Silicon Valley, an unconventional US President, an aggressive government in Delhi, and a bunch of newly confident Indian startups have created a perfect a storm of events. The Indian technology lobby has never had it this good. In the last 12 months, Indian technology lobby supported key policy changes: stringent rules […]

Goldman Sachs Group has teamed up with Apple to issue credit cards that will be paired with iPhones and will help users manage their money, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. It said the card, which will be linked with Apple’s Wallet app, will allow users to set […]

India will hold wide consultations with internet companies before finalising rules to regulate content on social media but will not hold back from framing laws that safeguard national interest, the country’s technology minister said. India, one of the world’s biggest internet markets, in late December proposed rules that will compel platforms such as Facebook, its […]