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Student falls prey to cyber kidnapping in US | What is it?

LivemintLivemint · 1y ago
Student falls prey to cyber kidnapping in US | What is it?
Medial

A Chinese exchange student in the US fell victim to a rising criminal trend called 'cyber kidnapping'. The student was reported missing and later found scared and cold in a tent. In cyber kidnapping, criminals force victims to isolate themselves and send pictures as if they are held captive, which are then used to extort money from their families. Perpetrators use threats, isolation orders, and ransom demands to coerce families into compliance. Police collaborated with the FBI and Chinese officials in the search for the student and his family paid $80,000 in ransom before he was found. Measures to protect against cyber kidnapping include verifying the location of loved ones during emergency calls and using secret phrases or code words.

Zepto launches Zepto Atom and Zepto GPT

TwitterTwitter · 4m ago
Zepto launches Zepto Atom and Zepto GPT
Medial

The Zepto Atom subscription is a top-up to the already existing Zepto Brand Portal (which gives brands listed on the Zepto platform basic day-to-day data on their performance on Zepto and is available for free). The value of the Zepto Atom subscription is the next level of insights brands can derive from this tool, most of which are not available on any e-commerce platform in India today. For example: 1) PIN-code-by-PIN-code market share data and brand performance: Through Zepto Atom, brands can examine a live map of every neighbourhood and PIN code they have presence on Zepto and derive hyperlocal insights on their performance. For example, a brand can see on Zepto Atom Maps that their sales are under-indexed in the western neighbourhoods of Hyderabad and double down on pricing, marketing, or distribution efforts in those geographies to unlock growth. 2) Live metrics visibility refreshed every minute: On Zepto Atom, brands can see minute-by-minute sales, customer impressions, and conversion data and optimise advertising campaigns, pricing, and their product range according to different consumption trends for their products throughout the day and week. 3) Zepto GPT: Zepto Atom has an in-house Natural Language Processing (NLP) assistant that is trained on the Zepto Data set to give brands insights that can improve their performance. For example, brands can ask Zepto GPT "How can I grow my market share in Bengaluru for the protein bar category?" or "What are the key consumer preferences driving energy drink sales among Gen Z in Mumbai?". Zepto GPT then analyses the vast datasets within Zepto Atom to provide actionable answers, strategic recommendations, and even generates data reports on behalf of the brand. 4) Advanced Behavioural Data: Zepto Atom goes beyond basic sales and conversion data. We are now providing brands data on customer repeatability and retention, share of voice in search and home page, full-funnel visibility on customer purchase behaviour with their product etc.

XOBOX aims to tackle residential last-mile delivery hurdles

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
XOBOX aims to tackle residential last-mile delivery hurdles
Medial

Last-mile delivery hasn’t been perfect. Not that the likes of Dunzos of this world haven’t tried to address this. Recently, we saw Zomato experimenting with last-mile delivery through a unique concept of ‘walkers’ for corporate parks. Bengaluru-based XOBOX is one of the few startups that is trying to fix the last-mile delivery challenges especially for people living in urban areas. The company handles packages for residents in apartment complexes. Some of the features are securing the packages in smart lockers and dropping them to customers’ doorstep when they are back to their homes, and home delivery of essential items. We spoke to XOBOX founder and CEO Kiran Shivappa about his startup, what distinguishes it from the competition and the roadmap ahead. Here are the edited excerpts: How did you come up with this idea? I live in an apartment complex and even before the Covid deliveries were left scattered in front of the door and stray cats use to destroy especially milk packet which cause everyone to talk about it hours in community Whatsapp group, this made me think to find/adopt a solution to secure the deliveries when residents not able to receive it or may be they are not around. How does the platform work? Please help simplify the process. When we started the service, we started taking the request from residents to handle their packages and we coordinated with delivery guys to take the package, pay them if it is a COD [Cash on Delivery], and secure them in the locker until they come back, then we deliver it to their doorstep. We went one step ahead and made a contract with 3PL [Third-party logistics] and ecommerce companies to take every delivery coming to the society and our dedicated resources would hand them over to the residents, if the resident is not available then secure the package in the locker and hand it over once they come back. What are the key challenges in the industry that have not been addressed yet? And how do you plan to address them? Ecommerce companies have tried many solutions to optimize the last leg of the delivery process and achieved the Kirana model also, but they never got a chance to be inside the society exclusively and take care of the deliveries and achieve the customer delight to bring the most convenience to them in their package receiving time. We have dedicated resources inside each society to carefully handle the package and interact with residents and elderly people and become familiar to them so they feel comfortable to receive us at the doorstep at any time and feel secured as well. Industry major players tried to introduce the lockers but these lockers operate as a complete unmanned and fully automated, for this reason the adaptation was a big challenge and education was also a challenge. We adopted a 70/30 model where, way the lockers were built, operated and how people would feel easy to adopt this because the “30” percentage is the resources we introduced along with “70” percentage technology, our dedicated resource will work with all stake holders in the gated community to educate and make every one understand how to use the service. What are your short-term and long term goals in terms of product and business expansion and diversification? In the short term, we are looking to expand the service to 35 more gated communities in Bengaluru in 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2024 and then go to other cities. As far as long-term plans go, we are going to sign contracts with major ecommerce and 3PL companies to increase the volume in each society and serve the needs of elderly population in the community. We would want to reach 700-1000 gated communities and generate 150-180 cr annually.

Trading app Investmint goes for liquidation process

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Trading app Investmint goes for liquidation process
Medial

The road for signal-based trading app Investmint has come to an end as the Nexus Venture-backed startup has started its voluntary liquidation process provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The board at Investmint has passed a resolution with the consent of its shareholders to go through the voluntary liquidation process under the IBC Regulation 17, 2016, its regulatory filing accessed through the Registrar of Companies shows. The two-year-old startup also got the approval to transfer all its intellectual property and distribution of assets from the board and its stakeholders, the filing further added. The early-stage firm also appointed Anagha Anasingaraju to finalize the terms of engagement, information sourced from filings show. Last month, Entrackr exclusively reported that Investmint halted its services as the firm didn’t manage to find a reliable business model. Launched in February 2022 by Aakash Goel and Mohit Chitlangia, Investmint used to assist users in arriving at investment decisions and managing wealth with data backed information. In October 2022, the company raised $2 million in a seed round led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from several angel investors. As per sources, Investmint may return remaining capital to its backers. Of late, a clutch of new age startups went out of business after they failed to find product market fit and substantial traction. Vernacular microblogging platform Koo became the latest to shutter operations even after raising over $50 million. Paras Chopra’s Nintee, crypto exchange OKX, neobank Muvin, and FrontRow also made to the list.

Exclusive: Kavin Mittal’s Hike shuts down operations completely

EntrackrEntrackr · 5d ago
Exclusive: Kavin Mittal’s Hike shuts down operations completely
Medial

Exclusive: Kavin Mittal’s Hike shuts down operations completely After 13 years of operations, Hike is shutting down completely, including its US business, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Kavin Mittal informed investors in an email on Saturday. Mittal said the decision follows the recent ban on real money gaming (RMG) in India, which shortened the company’s runway from seven months to just four months. “After much reflection and speaking with a few of you, I’ve decided to wind down Hike operations completely, including the US,” he wrote. Entrackr has reviewed the copy of the email. Soon after the RMG ban in India, Mittal had announced that the company would exit the country to focus on the United States and other global markets such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. However, the decision to shut down entirely has come as an unexpected move for the gaming industry. The company, which started as Hike Messenger and pivoted to Rush, scaled to 10 million users and generated $500 million in gross revenue in four years. Despite the growth, Mittal said the challenges of taxes, regulation battles, and the India ban made continuation unviable. “Is it worth it? For the first time in 13 years of building Hike, my answer is no,” he said, adding that the company may have been too early for its vision of building a gaming nation, while also pointing to better opportunities in AI and other frontier technologies. According to Mittal, Hike has around $4 million left on its balance sheet, which will be used to settle vendor costs and employee severance. Any leftover funds will be returned to investors. Mittal acknowledged the fatigue within the broader team after years of pivots and regulatory hurdles. “RMG was never the destination. It was a means to prove unit economics and unlock the bigger vision. But we got locked into the Indian market in a tax/regulation battle,” he said. Reflecting on the journey, Mittal noted milestones such as Hike Messenger reaching 40 million MAUs and becoming one of India’s most loved consumer brands. He described the shutdown as a disappointment but emphasized the learnings as “invaluable.” Looking ahead, Mittal said he plans to focus on new frontiers like AI, energy, and personal growth. “This chapter ends, but the climb continues,” he wrote, assuring investors that Hike will be closed responsibly.

SoftBank’s holding in Paytm down to 2.83% from 13.24% in 10 months

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
SoftBank’s holding in Paytm down to 2.83% from 13.24% in 10 months
Medial

SoftBank has divested its stake worth Rs 580 crore in Paytm. This marks the fifth instance of SoftBank’s disposal of its shares in the company in the ongoing fiscal year. Now, the VC’s stake in Paytm has reduced to nearly 3%. The board at Paytm has approved the disposal of 1,37,84,787 equity shares in a series of disposals between January 23 and February 26, breaching the specified threshold of 2% of SEBI’s takeover regulations. During this disinvestment, SoftBank disposed of its 2.17% stake which contracted its shareholding from 5.01% to 2.83%, regulatory filing accessed from National Stock Exchange shows. SoftBank has already disposed of Rs 3,800 crores of worth shares in the current fiscal year ( May, July, December, and January). The disposal sums up to Rs 4,380 crore (as per the share price on the date of transactions). SoftBank has been on a stake-selling spree in companies that filed IPOs in the past two to three years. It has exited completely from PolicyBazaar while SoftBank’s Singapore entity also divested entirely from Zomato. Even as SoftBank is grappling with a financial crisis, Paytm is also in the soup over regulatory concerns. Earlier this year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a set of business restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank over non-compliance and regulatory concerns. The business restrictions are set to impact Paytm’s different business verticals related to the payments bank. Since then, Vijay Shekhar Sharma has stepped down from his position as part-time non-executive chairman and board member of Paytm Payments Bank. The company also announced that it has reconstituted its board of directors with the appointment of former Central Bank of India chairman Srinivasan Sridhar, retired IAS officer Debendranath Sarangi, former executive director of Bank of Baroda Ashok Kumar Garg, and retired IAS Rajni Sekhri Sibal. “…PPBL has informed us that they will commence the process of appointing a new chairman,” Paytm-parent One97 said in a disclosure earlier this week.

PhonePe nears 9 Bn UPI transactions in July; groceries, fast food drive volumes

EntrackrEntrackr · 1m ago
PhonePe nears 9 Bn UPI transactions in July; groceries, fast food drive volumes
Medial

PhonePe nears 9 Bn UPI transactions in July; groceries, fast food drive volumes In July 2025, groceries and supermarkets led UPI transactions with 3,032 million (3.03 billion) in volume and Rs 64,882 crore in value, followed by fast food (1.22 billion) and restaurants (1.15 billion). India’s UPI ecosystem continued to be dominated by PhonePe and Google Pay in July as they jointly captured more than 81% of total customer-initiated transaction volume and value. According to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI processed an all-time high of 19.47 billion transactions worth Rs 25.08 lakh crore in July. Out of the total, PhonePe (8.93 billion) accounted for a commanding 45.88% share in terms of volume, followed by Google Pay (6.92 billion) with 35.56%. Of the total transaction value of Rs 25,08,498.09 crore, PhonePe held 48.64%, while Google Pay contributed 35.53%. Together, Google Pay and PhonePe contributed 81.44% of total UPI volume and 84.17% of the value. Paytm stood third with 1,366.05 million transactions, translating to a 7.02% market share by volume and Rs 1,43,650.62 crore in value or 5.73% share. Navi followed with 444.06 million transactions (2.28%) and Rs 23,562.51 crore in value (0.94%). Flipkart’s super.money (252.85 million; 1.30%) and CRED (144.38 million; 0.74%) trailed significantly in volume, though CRED commanded a stronger value share of 2.20% due to higher-value transactions. FamApp by Trio captured 0.64% volume and 0.06% value share, while Amazon Pay and BHIM registered 0.52% and 0.45% of volume, contributing 0.43% and 0.58% in value, respectively. WhatsApp accounted for 0.38% of the volume and 0.22% of the value. Axis Bank Apps recorded 27.79 million transactions (0.14%) and Rs 5,483.32 crore in value (0.22%). The continued dominance of PhonePe and Google Pay shows the consolidation of India’s digital payments market, even as newer players like CRED, Navi, and super.money attempt to chip away at the duopoly with niche offerings and targeted user bases. In July 2025, groceries and supermarkets led UPI transactions with 3,032 million (3.03 billion) in volume and Rs 64,882 crore in value, followed by fast food (1.22 billion) and restaurants (1.15 billion). While service stations and telecom services saw lower volumes, they posted high values, showing larger spends per transaction. Smaller categories like digital goods, pharmacies, and bakeries reflected UPI’s growing reach across everyday purchases. While NPCI has provided category-wise data for the first time, it will take more time to penetrate every segment, as 2.2 billion transactions are still classified under the undefined category.

RBI clarifies the move to halt business payments through commercial cards

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
RBI clarifies the move to halt business payments through commercial cards
Medial

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a clarification on Wednesday regarding the decision to halt business payments through commercial cards. In a press release, the central bank stated that a card network had an arrangement permitting businesses to make card payments through “certain intermediaries” to entities that do not accept card payments. “Under this arrangement, the intermediary accepts card payments from corporates for their commercial payments and then remits the funds via IMPS/RTGS/NEFT to non-card accepting recipients,” it added. The RBI observed that this arrangement qualified as a payment system, and needed authorization under Section 4 of the Payment and Settlement Systems (PSS) Act, 2007. And in such cases, this authorization was not obtained. Such activity raised concerns like pooling large amounts of funds into an account which is not authorized under the PSS Act. Also, the bank was concerned that transactions happening under such an arrangement did not adhere to the “originator and beneficiary information requirements, as stipulated under Master Direction on KYC issued by the Reserve Bank.” “As the matter is under detailed examination, the Card Network has been advised to keep all such arrangements under abeyance, till further orders. It is clarified that the Reserve Bank has not placed any restriction with respect to normal usage of business credit cards,” the bank added. Earlier, Visa and MasterCard had reached out to the central bank seeking clarification regarding the move. It is worth noting that businesses usually make business payments through the net banking systems, including RTGS. However, a few fintech companies, in partnership with the card companies, began facilitating payments through commercial cards. These payments could be for purposes such as payment to suppliers or vendors. Some companies operating in this space are Enkash and Paymate. Paymate, which has in-principle approval from the RBI for a payment aggregator license, told the Economic Times that they are making alternate arrangements compliant with regulatory norms to ensure seamless payments on their platform. “…Such regulatory hurdles can be avoided by adhering to the regulator’s rules and guidelines through innovative KYC solutions. It becomes imperative for financial institutions and fintech players to ensure that all financial transactions taking place are within the regulatory ambit and that no fraudulent or unauthorized transactions are occurring on the digital platform while maintaining the security posture,” Signzy CEO and cofounder Ankit Ratan said in a statement.

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