LinkedIn’s list of most sought after employers in India featured a number of startups. Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s Paytm is finally ready to launch its payments bank. Zomato, on the other hand, had a tough week dealing with millions of leaked customer passwords.
Here’s what went on on Startup Street:
Zomato to Be 'Cautious and Paranoid' After Hack
Food discovery startup Zomato, which on Thursday saw a security breach that compromised data of millions of users, said that it is going to be 'cautious and paranoid' from here on.
Zomato’s database was hacked into and data of around 17 million users was compromised. The startup, in a second blog post, said that 6.6 million passwords were leaked. However, it added that the passwords were ‘hashed and salted’, a basic security measure which uses scrambled representations.
The food startup has clarified that all payment information is ‘absolutely safe’. It will now reach out to the 6.6 million users and have them update their passwords. Zomato claims that the hacker has been ‘cooperative’ and has provided details on how he broke into their system.
Paytm's Payment Bank to Launch on 23 May
Digital payment startup Paytm will launch its long-awaited Payments Bank, just a week after securing India's largest ever technology funding from the Softbank group.
Paytm had been awaiting the final licence from the Reserve Bank of India, which it has now received, a blog post by the company said.
Renu Satti will be heading the bank as chief executive officer.
The core mission of Paytm Payments Bank will be to cater to the requirements of the unserved and underserved communities of India, and bring them to the mainstream economy.A Paytm statement
The company will transfer its wallet business with over 200 million users, to the newly-incorporated Payments Bank.
Payments Banks can accept deposits from individuals and small businesses up to Rs 1 lakh per account, but are not allowed to lend. Airtel and India Post are among those who have already launched Payments Banks.
Singapore and Andhra Pradesh to Develop Startup Area in Amaravati
An area of 6.84 square kilometres in Amaravati, on the banks of Krishna river, will be jointly developed by the Government of Singapore and the state of Andhra Pradesh as a startup area.
The two countries, last week, inked a pact which will allow a consortium from Singapore to develop 1,691 acres over 15 years, in three phases of five years each, according to a media statement by the AP government.
The Singapore consortium will contribute Rs 306 crore to the plan and hold 58 percent equity in the venture. The Amaravati Development Corporation will pump in Rs 222 crore and hold the remaining 42 percent.
According to the statement, the startup area will add at least 2.5 lakh jobs and Rs 1.1 lakh crore to the state's gross domestic product.
Startups That Employees Prefer to Work In
Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s Paytm, car rental service Ola, and budget hotel room startup Oyo made it to LinkedIn’s list of the ten most sought-after employers in India.
While Paytm came third in the list marking its debut, Ola’s ranking improved significantly. The startup was featured in the fourth spot, compared to tenth spot last year. Employees listed Ola as a preferred workplace despite the company laying off nearly 1,000 people in the second half of 2016.
Other startups to feature in the complete list of 25 most sought-after employers were food delivery startup Swiggy and on-demand delivery service Grofers.
(This article was originally published in BloombergQuint)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)