events

“The Pitch” Winner Edusoft Bags US$ 1 Million Funding From Mumbai Angles: Education To Get More Interactive?

by Paul Joseph February 3, 2012 Featured

Two year old Disruptive Technology Products startup eDreams Edusoft will receive Rs. 5 Crores (US$ 1 Million) from Mumbai Angels. eDreams team has conjured up a patent pending Education tool titled ‘ FunToot ’ which is an Artificial Intelligence enhanced software that has the ability to observe, assess, diagnose, interact, encourage and help . Hence it is scalable & applicable to children with different levels of intelligence & characteristics. So, what was Edusoft Winning ‘Pitch’ all about? “ Rajeev’s business model was very innovative and he is leveraging on a social need- that of shortage of teachers, where there is a need to actually reinforce learning and making it fun .” revealed Harsh Mariwala, CMD of Marico Ltd who judged the final round. The funding appears to be a winning incentive in the Show ‘ The Pitch ’- Season 2. This is a business reality show aired on BloombergUTV, meant to encourage upcoming entrepreneurship. The participants are judged on their “ business acumen, ability to be a team player, innovative thinking, sense of fair play and mental strength ”. At the end of each episode one of the contestants is eliminated. Our readers might recall the pattern is much like Super Angles which feature Venture Capital Firms simply called “Angle Investors” & airs on ET Now. Coincidentally fashion & lifestyle portal Fetise.com secured a much higher investment of 25 Crores through it! While there are many innovative education channels out there, eDreams adds another dimension of Intelligence to it which senses the child’s potential & helps him or her to learn at one’s pace. This higher degree of interaction will surely benefit a lot of children & their parents who feel education has become a rote medium. Would you choose this medium of learning for your kids? Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency Related Posts Fetise.com Gets Rs. 25 Cr Seedfund Investment Through ET TV Show LifeBlob.com Secures 1 Million $’s in Funding from SeedFund

Tagged as: angel, edreams, edusoft, events, fetise, funding, harsh mariwala, marico, news, pitch, startups

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Yebhi.com Bags The Hottest Internet Company Award 2012

by Paul Joseph February 1, 2012 Featured

CNBC TV-18 recently awarded e-commerce portal Yebhi.com the prestigious Hottest Internet Company. So, What is Yebhi.com’s winning formula? Yebhi.com a lifestyle online shopping portal (franchisee of Bigshoebazaar India Pvt.ltd) founded in 2009 with  funding of Rs. 40 Crores. It is one-stop shop for all lifestyle products like Mobiles, Bags, Apparel, Accessories etc. Daily deals sites have been coming up with speed . To keep up & excel in the race is no small feat. While some choose to go exclusive, Yebhi.com has tried to offer everything under the “Lifestyle” category. Further maintaining a healthy foot-fall is back-breaking work too. However, there are reassuring statics too with Indians readily flocking to the virtual stores. Hence Yebhi.com should focus on what it has been doing. The awards are an yearly affair, which honor the “ spirit of entrepreneurship and celebrate the new age heroes who are transforming India and taking India to the World ”. The awards are meant to encourage young & talented entrepreneurs that have “ defied the global meltdown and created billion dollar enterprises through their entrepreneurship skills .” says Ms. Shereen Bhan, Executive Editor, CNBC-TV18 & Series Editor, Young Turks.   Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency Related Posts Online Shopping Surges In India, Reveals ComScore Valyoo Technologies Gets Their Series A funding From IDG Ventures, India Craftsvilla Receives First Round Funding. Will Expand Operations Overseas Tiger Global Invests $6 Million In Online Jewellery Store CaratLane Now Shop For Groceries From Aaram of Your Home With AaramShop

Tagged as: advertising, events, helion, hemir doshi, manmohan agarwal, news, online shopping, web

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Indian Digital Radio Startup Gets Series A Funding From Ojas Ventures

by Paul Joseph January 31, 2012 Featured

While our country is currently fixated on FM channels, there is definitely a digital revolution in the works in Bangalore. Digital Radio startup, Venturenet Partners Pvt. Ltd. has managed to get Series A funding from Ojas Ventures for their yet to be launched Digital Radio service, Radiowalla . Venturenet is a young one year old startup which already has one service, called Spot Radio under its belt.  Venturenet launched Spot Radio last year in August, 2011 and it has been moving upwards ever since. Right now they have managed to partner with around 20 national retail chains with over 2000 sites in the country. They are expected to be present in 10,000 sites before this year ends. Radiowalla is their direct to consumer approach which will initially offer Internet audio channels for normal netizens. They are expected to launch this in April. The funding amount is as of now, undisclosed. Venturenet was founded by Anil Srivatsa and Harvinderjit Bhatia . Previously, Anil was the CEO of Kings XI Punjab and COO of Radio Today Broadcasting (Meow 104.8 FM) among other companies. Ojas Ventures is an Indian VC firm that is focused on early stage funding of Indian technology and Digital Startups. Pavan Krishnamurthy and Raghu Batta from Ojas Ventures will be joining the board of the fledgling startup to steer it in the right direction. They both said in a joint statement, “In Radiowalla founders we saw a set of passionate and experienced entrepreneurs taking an innovative approach to building music based business that addresses a large and growing market opportunity. We’re confident that our operating experience together with working closely with founders will help in creating a valuable company.” Looking at their website one gets the feeling that they will emulating the Pandora experience for India. Their ‘mood’ based offerings seem somewhat analogous to Pandora’s Music Genome Project . Pandora is not available in India and Radiowalla might just bridge the gap. There is also the slight problem of adoption as broadband speeds are not that good all over India for streaming music and content. If more and more people adopt 3G and if there is better Internet infrastructure in the country in general, the service will succeed nicely. Until then they face some very strong challenges in terms of adoption. What is your take on Indian Digital Radio channels and services? Do let us know in the comments. Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency Related Posts Venturenet’s Spot Radio Will Transform In-Store Advertising ‘ARTISTE RADIO’ – Live Online Radio Launched By In.Com Saregama Enters In A Partnership With Timbre Media To Offer Genre-based Radio Ojas Ventures Invests In Social Gaming Start-Up Play140 Sify Partners With Radio City To Launch ‘Radio on Sify’

Tagged as: digital radio, events, funding, internet radio, news, ojas ventures, radio, radiowalla, spot radio, startups, web

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WWW: WAT Weekly WrapUp 22nd – 29th January, 2012

by Paul Joseph January 30, 2012 Featured

Last week it was reported that funding of Rs. 20 crore was invested by Sequoia Capital into FreeCharge.in. Twitter wa once again used to get closer to masses as the Prime Minister of India made his presence felt as PMO on the social networking channel. On one hand it was reported that the Indian tablet Aakash would be further delayed as Datawind & IIT- R caes clashes whereas on the other hand Indian war comics to launch free digital version for Aakash users. All this and more in the last week’s wrapup. Post Via WATBlog.com Exploitation Of Trust; A Major Worry For FaceBook. To Fight SPAM With Law! Mobile Service Black Out As Spat Between Reliance & Etisalat Continue Special Feature: Is Twitter Flirting With Self – Censorship? The New Era Of Digital Education Spreading Like Wildfire Motorola’s Last Balance Sheet In Red While Google Waits Calmly: Golden Opportunity? Press Releases Via WATPr.com Aruba Networks, Inc. Appoints Dharmendra Kumar as President for India and SAARC CA Technologies Redefines Project and Portfolio Management User Experience with Latest Release of CA Clarity PPM Elsevier and National Academy of Sciences India (NASI) will Announce this Year’s Scopus Young Scientist Award Winners – 2nd February Messe Frankfurt Partners for the First Time with Indian Association for Light India 2012 Titan Industries, Atrimed Pharma, Wipro and NVIDIA Graphics Emerge Winners of the Bangalore Leg of TAKE Solutions World Corporate Golf Challenge ’11 – 12 Sify Technologies to Report Unaudited Financial Results for the Third Quarter of 2011-12 on Monday, January 30, 2012 Mitsubishi Electric and Messung Group Sign Business Transfer Agreement tricity’s, Very Own Portal for Exclusive Deals “trideal.in” Launched Wipro Collaborates with Oracle to Offer Next Generation Oracle Fusion Human Capital Management Solution WNS Collaborates with Knowledge Relay LLC to Offer Data-to-Decision Services to the Energy and Utilities Sector Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency Related Posts WWW: WAT Weekly WrapUp 8th – 15th January, 2012 WWW: WAT Weekly WrapUp 1st January – 8th January, 2012 WWW: WAT Weekly WrapUp 25th December 2011 – 1st January 2012 WWW: WAT Weekly WrapUp 18th – 25th December, 2011 WWW: WAT Weekly WrapUp 11th Dec – 18th Dec, 2011

Tagged as: events, Featured, wat weekly wrapup, web, weekly wrapup

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And The Winners Of WAT Awards 2012 Are……Congratulations To All!

by Paul Joseph January 21, 2012 Featured

WAT Awards 2012 –  Dawn Of The Digital Age was an exciting and refreshing event for all of us. Was awesome to see great work being rewarded & talked about. Was absolutely great to see the who’s who gathered at the event. Pictures and videos to follow soon till then these are the winners of WAT Awards 2012. WEB CATEGORY  Company’s Name URL Award’s Type Portal Of The Year Webchutney http://www.irecyclemyphone.com/index.aspx Gold Qais Consulting Pvt. Ltd http://www.sparktherise.com/ Silver Blog Of The Year Mahindra Rise http://rise.mahindra.com/  Gold Classified Site Of The Year Quikr India Private Limited http://www.quikr.com  Gold Indian Social Media Network Of The Year Foxymoron http://www.welovemakeup.in  Gold E – Commerce Site Of The Year Snapdeal http://www.snapdeal.com  Gold Bestylish.com http://bestylish.com  Silver Travel Site Of The Year Cleartrip Travel Services Pvt.Lts http://www.cleartrip.com  Gold Online Game Of The Year Cricket Stock Exchange http://www.cricketstockexchange.com Gold Viral Marketing Campaign Of The Year Viacom18 media Pvt. Ltd http://wwwlondonfakir.com Gold Foxymoron http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbpFUZJGtE0&list=UUeLuh1fSLqraZEXH9-v4CRA&index=3&feature=plcp  Silver Advertising Company’s Name URL Award’s Type Social Media Campaign Of The Year OgilvyOne Worldwide http://www.facebook.com/zoozoo Gold Interface Communications http://www.facebook.com/OreoIndia Silver Digital Media Campaign Of The Year OgilvyOne Worldwide http://www.foxcrimeindia.com/ Gold Digital Law & Kenneth http://www.facebook.com/#!/Renault.co.in?sk=app_232855140108490 Silver Mobile Campaign Of The Year     Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQVNIL1_UIs Gold Technology Company Name  URL  Award Type Digital Application of the Year     Webchutney http://www.webchutney.net/awards/nokiaagent.one/ Gold Social Application of the Year     Runtime Solutions http://mtv.in.com/ecolution/plantation.php Gold Mobile Application of the Year     Cleartrip Travel Services Pvt. Ltd. http://www.cleartrip.com/mobile/ Gold Innovative Product Startup of the Year     UTV Interactive http://india.sponsoredtweets.com/ Gold iDuple http://iduple.com/ Silver           Entrepreneurial  Winners Award’s Type Social Media Enterprenuer Of The Year Murugavel Janakiraman, CEO Bharat Matrimony Gold Digital Enterprenuer Of The Year Hareesh Tibrewala, Sanjay Mehta, Joint CEO’s Gold Pankaj Agarwal, CEO & Founder, ClickIndia Gold Special C ompany Name  URL  Award Type Digital Media Agency of the Year     Webchutney http://www.webchutney.com/credentials/ Gold Social Media Agency of the Year     Social Wavelength http://www.slideshare.net/socialwavelength Gold     WATBlog WOULD LOVE CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE WINNERS.   Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency Related Posts Less Than 10 Hours And WAT Awards 2012 Begins! Recap 2011: Embracing Internet And Much More! Deadline Extended For WAT Awards 2012: Your Time Starts Now! Deadlines Extended For WAT Awards 2012! Have You Submitted Your Nominations Yet? Welcoming Alok Mittal, Managing Director At Cannan India As A Jury Member At WAT Awards 2012

Tagged as: advertising, events, Featured, features, news, wat awards 2012 winners, watawards, watshow, watsummit, web

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21 Internet Firms V/S Indian Government In Latest Legal Wrangle

by Paul Joseph January 19, 2012 Featured

In a world that seems bent on increased state control and censorship, the World Wide Web is the last vestige of freedom for many. It has helped entire countries rebel against unjust rules and has shrunk the world into one global market. The reason for it being so effective is that there is equality on the internet. Anyone and everyone can make their voice heard. Certain elements have misuses this privilege and governments of some countries have tried to clamp down on the entire internet in retaliation. China is known for its widespread internet censorship, that has alienated the hundreds of millions of Chinese Internet Users from the world. USA is contemplating the SOPA aka Stop Online Piracy Act. Back home, even the Indian Government is determined to try and establish a way of censoring online content. A total of 21 Internet companies, 9 Indian and 12 headed overseas, have been named in this infamous case for failing to block offensive online content on their websites. In an effort to crack down on offensive content being posted on the internet via public forums like Facebook, the Government is ready to take legal action. Google has given a strong reply  as to why censoring content will not be possible and goes against the principles of the Internet. Both Google and Facebook have petitioned the court to dismiss the case. It all started when a Delhi-based weekly, Akbari, alleged that online material has the potential to incite religious and communal conflict.  He filed a case saying the same saying they should be prosecuted for criminal offenses like outraging religious feelings. In a report filed in the courts, the ministry said ,” The sanctioning authority has personally gone through the entire records and the materials produced, and after considering and examining the same, he is satisfied that there is sufficient material to proceed against the accused. The documents and contents therein are in the nature to instigate enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth… and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony .” On March 13th this year, representatives from all 21 websites will have to appear in court. Once Kapil Sibal’s Ministry passes a sanction, the Delhi Police will be allowed to prosecute the firms. We think the Government fails to understand how the internet works, if they honestly think censoring mediums like Facebook and Twitter is possible.  What do you think? Will the Government relent or will they allow the Delhi Police to proceed with the case? Do let us know in the comments below. Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency Related Posts Recap 2010 : Social Networking Google Zeitgeist 2010 Is Here – What Did India Search For? The ‘Free’ and ‘Fare’ Internet! Shopping Spree : Google buys Episodic, Facebook Takes Over Divvyshot WATBlog Picks: International Websites to Watch Out For in 2008

Tagged as: 21 companies, events, facebook, international, web, youtube

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Announcing The Shortlisted Nominees For WAT Awards 2012!

by Paul Joseph January 18, 2012 Featured

The online voting phase for WAT Awards 2012 ended at 10 pm yesterday. What a day it was! We were absolutely overwhelmed by the stellar response that we got. It feels good to know that Digital agencies and brands are finally getting the due credit for their outstanding work. WAT Awards, this year, is the only event in the country which has incorporated an online voting mechanism which helps to balance the process of selecting the winners and keep it free from bias. Online voting has been given 50% weightage and remaining 50% will be adjudged by our distinguished jury. WATBlog is extremely proud of the fact that we have got some of the most accomplished people in the Indian Digital and Advertising Industry to judge our awards viz. Alok Mittal, Sudha Natrajan, Srikant Sastri, V.Ramani, Mahendra Swarup and Madan Sanglikar. So, here are the shortlisted nominations for WAT Award 2012. Things are are shaping up real good for the WAT Awards which will be held on Friday, 20th of January, 2012 at 7.30 p.m . Follow the awards real-time on Twitter at @WATAwards Here’s wishing everyone the very best and see you all on the 20th.   Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency Related Posts UTV To Help Indian Celebrities Go Digital – Start With John Abraham Facebook Earns 23% More On Impressions That Last Year WATSummit 2012 Begins This Friday. Have You Registered Yet? How India Searched In 2011! Unilever Merges Digital With TV To Reach Out To Masses In Asia

Tagged as: advertising, digital awards, events, Featured, india, social-media, wat awards 2012, watawards, watsummit 2012.

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Wikipedia Pledges To Go Dark Tomorrow To Oppose SOPA. Twitter Cowers. Are You Doing Your Bit?

by Paul Joseph January 17, 2012 Featured

The blackout beginning tomorrow at midnight & lasting 24 hours will mark Wikipedia’s silent protest against the atrocious Stop Online Piracy & Protect IP Acts (SOPA & PIPA). Wikepedia along with several Internet Giants like Reddit , Tucows , will blackout their websites. Twitter on the other hand meeked out saying, “ Closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish ” – Dick Costolo CEO Twitter. In a reaction, typical to Jimmy Wales, said , “ Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday! # sopa ”. What’s this Blackout? Well, the site won’t appear blacked-out. Instead, users will see instructions for how to reach local members of Congress, which Wales hopes “ will melt phone systems in Washington. ” Interestingly, only the English-Section of the Research portal will feature the message. The German version will feature a SOAP-related banner. Other sites have yet to decide, confirmed Wales. We wondered why Twitter chose to back-out? The answer could lie in economics . Twitter has recently introduced cleverly disguised advertisements or as Twitter would call them “ Promoted Tweets ”.  If you recall sometime time back twitter started to spoon-feed us. If these go offline Twitter doesn’t make money. It’s a good point to note that the bill has undergone some updates like prevention of DNS blocking, but its still like dangling a small carrot tweeted Wakes, “ We have no indication that SOPA is fully off the table. PIPA is still alive and kicking. We need to send Washington a BIG message” While Wikipedia has chosen a quite, but profound method to protest against the supposed laws that could turn internet watch-dogs into a powerful animal with a machete to take down complete websites, what have our readers planned to do tomorrow to support this cause? Do share your views & ways. Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency Related Posts Wisdom of the Crowd? And the Internet! #BlackoutSOPA The Online Movement Gathering Momentum: Enough To Scare Govt? Special Feature: SOPA – The Opposition Emerges GoDaddy.com Faces Huge Protests For Its SOPA Support. Drops Support For SOPA Wikipedia To Remain Free, As Indian Cities Gear Up For Its 10th Anniversary!

Tagged as: blackout, dick costolo, events, features, jimmy wales, news, pipa, sopa, twitter, web, wikipedia

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Govt. Of India Allows Persecution Of Internet Giants: Freedom Of Speech At Stake?

by Paul Joseph January 16, 2012 Featured

Our Indian government on Friday officially sanctioned orders for prosecuting 21 companies including Google and Facebook in a case over offensive content after a judge warned websites may be blocked “like in China.” In a case filed by a private petitioner seeking to remove images considered offensive to religious sentiments of Hindus, Muslims and Christians from websites, has gained wide momentum & publicity. It’s because of this case “ The government of India…finds it appropriate to grant sanction…to proceed against the accused persons in the aforesaid complaint in national harmony, integration and national interest ” revealed a court document. However the document also stated that they did not wish to go the extreme of blocking such websites, yet. Interestingly, the heads of these Internet giants could be issued “Summons” to appear in court. The court likened the matter to contraband when High Court Justice Suresh Kait told lawyers from Indian branches of Facebook and Google, “ If a contraband is found in your house, it (is) your liability to take action against it,” Is the Freedom of Speech really at stake here? Though it’s not always that easy to answer this question, we feel, at this juncture, the Govt. might be right in doing so. Our Indian law clearly states that companies are responsible for user content posted on their websites & requires them to take it down within 36 hours in case of a complaint. Though the time-limit seems to be too small, action against offensive matter is necessary. However, taking down the whole website just for the sake of a small amount of matter is totally uncalled for . While Kapil Sibal, might be joyous , Social Networking hungry people of India could be on Tenterhooks . After all, this is where we get to interact , get daily dose of, well, Socializing & do some   job-hunting on the side!. Do you think Government is right in penalizing the sites for content on their websites? Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency Related Posts Scrabulous Gets Wiped off Facebook Social Gaming Company PlayUp Comes To India: New Avenue For Gamers? “Facebook” Is The Top Keyword Of 2011: Social Networking The King? ComScore Shows That Google+ Is Growing Slowly And Steadily Search & Social Networking The Top Two Uses Of Mobile Internet, Reports Opera Mini 2011

Tagged as: events, indian government, kapil sibal, lawsuit, news, social-networking, suresh kait, web

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Wikipedia Turns Eleven, Users Celebrate Worldwide

by Paul Joseph January 16, 2012 Featured

Eleven years ago, in 2001, Wikipedia dot org was born . Part of the Wikimedia Foundation, it is a student’s gift from heaven, a researcher’s delight and a professor’s nightmare. Wikipedia aims to collect all the information known to mankind under one (virtual) roof, and they have done an admirable job of trying to do so. With tens of thousands of regular editors and contributors across the globe, they are the go-to website for pretty much anyone searching for information. On Sunday, 15th January, Wikipedia marked their 11th Anniversary . On turning 10 in 2001, Wikipedia Editors across the world had parties celebrating the milestone. This year too, Wikipedia Day did not go unnoticed. Seven different events at different cities across India were held. On the occasion of Wikipedia completing 11 years, the newest chapter of the Wikimedia group has launched at wikimedia.in . This helps users access articles in local languages with greater ease. They also hope to get more and more average users to sign up as editors of this Indian Content mine. Last year it was reported that Wikipedia was hoping to tie up with museums and Indian schools with appropriate version aimed at children.  In Pune , Wikipedia also launched a campus ambassador program. In the year 2010 , it was reported Google donated $2million to Wikipedia. It was said that the funds will support core operational costs of the Wikimedia Foundation and other technical infrastructure. Arun Ram, executive committee member of Wikimedia India said, “ The portal will make it easier to locate Indian language Wikipedias and other projects ,” By increasing the number of volunteer editors, Wikimedia India will help make the Wiki a better and more reliable place to gleam information from. This in turn will drive more users to it and promote Indian netizens searching for content in Local Languages online. Do you use Wikipedia in your day-to-day information searches? If not, what alternative do you prefer? Do let us know in the comments below. Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency Related Posts Wikipedia Wants To Join Hands With Indian Schools, Universities & Museums: Genuine Intention Or Just Image Re-branding? Wikipedia Launches Campus Ambassadors Program In Pune Wikipedia To Remain Free, As Indian Cities Gear Up For Its 10th Anniversary! Wikipedia to Open India Chapter? Are wiki’s the future?

Tagged as: events, features, web, wikimedia, wikipedia

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