VARINDIA IT MAGAZINE

Apple store India launch delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic:  Apple   has delayed its plans to launch its first offline store in India due to the   COVID-19 pandemic .   CEO Tim Cook   last year announced that the first physical Apple stores would open in the country starting 2021.   Apple has been working to establish its native retail presence in the Indian market for some time. Last September, the company started its online store to begin its retail business in the country. For Apple India is the most promising market that’s becoming one of the key focus countries for the iPhone market.   It was considered as a strategic move by Apple to stand against traditional e-commerce players including  Amazon  and  Flipkart  that also sell devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook.   Apple has also ramped up manufacturing in the country with the most recent iPhone 12 also now being assembled here. It currently manufactures the iPhon...

Sonu Sood launches Travel Union to support small business owners:  Travel Union , India’s first rural B2B travel tech platform, was launched today. Travel Union,   a Sonu Sood initiative , will democratize travel services by providing a platform to Travel Union members (travel agents) towards serving the travel needs of rural customers at every district, block and gram panchayat level. With a mission to support, digitally empower and build a leading travel agent business community in rural India at zero investment, Travel Union aims to be the largest rural digital travel services platform serving the 1 billion Bharat population.   At the rural level, the travel sector has been largely unorganised with no player focusing on the needs of Indians in tier 2 towns and villages. Travel Union addresses multiple unfulfilled needs of rural travel agents, small business owners and enterprises, called Travel Union Members, the primary one being the absence of travel-tech platforms d...

Amazon extends work-from-home period until January 2022:  Due to the surge in COVID-19 cases across the nation because of the more contagious delta variant,   Amazon   has delayed its return-to-office date for technology and corporate workers until January.   Before returning to office Amazon will not mandate employees receive the  COVID-19 vaccine . The company said that the employees who are not vaccinated will be required to wear masks in the office.   The surge of the delta variant of the coronavirus has upended many companies’ plans to bring office workers back this fall, a drive already complicated by efforts to accommodate widespread employee preference for flexible remote work policies, and debates over how to handle vaccine and masking policies.   Companies like  Microsoft ,  Google ,  Twitter , Lyft etc. have postponed the plans of reopening offices.   As per news source, Amazon earlier set September 7 as return date and t...

Mindtickle becomes a unicorn after raising $100 million in the Series E funding round led by SoftBank:  Mindtickle , the sales readiness platform, has become the latest unicorn after raising an additional $100 million in the Series E funding round. The funding round was led by   SoftBank   and existing investors -   Norwest Venture Partners , Canaan, NewView Capital, and Qualcomm Ventures also participated in the round.   Earlier in November last year, Mindtickle had raised $100 million. The startup is now valued at $1.2 billion with a total $281 million in funding.   “Revenue leaders understand that sales readiness is a mission-critical component of their strategy to consistently meet or exceed their goals,” said  Krishna Depura, Mindtickle CEO and co-founder .   The company helps companies such as Johnson & Johnson, and Wipro be ready to grow revenue by increasing knowledge, understanding ideal sales behaviours, and adapting to change. Mindt...