Wyndham Garden to open in Agra

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April 29, 2023

Namit & Company, a real estate and hotel development company in Agra, has signed a franchise agreement with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts for a new hotel development under the upper midscale ‘Wyndham Garden’ brand in Agra.

The Wyndham Garden Agra, scheduled to open in 2025, will have a contemporary design, 138 modern rooms, and many amenities. These include a lobby lounge, an all-day dining restaurant and bar, a health club, a spa, a rooftop swimming pool, a larger banquet hall, meeting rooms and a business centre.

One of India’s most popular tourist destinations is Agra, which is situated on the banks of the River Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh and is home to the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world. It showcases the architectural history and legacy of the Mughal empire, along with two other UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri.

“History and architecture make Agra a must-see destination India. We are working closely with Wyndham to ensure Wyndham Garden Agra will offer our guests the highest hospitality standards and the best experience when visiting Agra,” said Ravi Bansal, Partner, Namit & Company.

“Wyndham Garden Agra Tajganj will be our second hotel in Agra reaffirming our commitment to our continued growth in the upper mid-market segment and further strengthen our presence in the State of Uttar Pradesh, India. We look forward to our growing partnership with Bansal Family and to bringing another high-quality hotel to this fantastic city,” said Nikhil Sharma, Market Managing Director Eurasia, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

Once operational in 2025, M/s Namit & Company expects to generate more than 150 local jobs.

Nexus Select Trust to raise up to Rs 3,200 crore from its retail REIT public issue

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April 29, 2023

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Nexus Select Trust, sponsored by global investment firm Blackstone, plans to raise up to Rs 3,200 crore from India’s first retail REIT public offer. The total size of the public issue is Rs 3200 crore, which includes an offer for sale of up to Rs 1800 crore and a new issue of units up to Rs 1,400 crore.

The company initially planned for its proposed Initial Public Offer (IPO) to raise up to Rs 4,000 crore.

The company filed an offer document with market regulator SEBI, and the issue will begin trading in the second week of May.

To launch its retail REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) public issue, Nexus Select Trust filed the draft red herring prospectus with SEBI in November last year.

With a total area of 9.8 million sq ft Nexus Select Trust’s portfolio of 17 operating shopping malls is spread throughout 14 major cities.

This will be the third REIT sponsored by Blackstone.

It launched India’s first REIT Embassy Office Parks and Mindspace Business Parks REIT.

REIT, a popular instrument globally, was introduced in India a few years ago to attract investment in the real estate sector by monetising rent-yielding assets.

Retail investors are allowed to participate, which helps uncover the immense worth of real estate assets.

The three listed REITs on the Indian stock exchanges at the moment are Embassy Office Parks REIT, Mindspace Business Parks REIT, and Brookfield India Real Estate Trust, all of which are leased office assets.

Nexus Select Trust will be the first REIT with rent-yielding retail real estate assets.

Nexus Select Trust’s $ 9.8 million square feet of retail real estate portfolio includes Select Citywalk Mall in south Delhi.

Google Cloud partners with Polygon to adopt blockchain protocols

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April 28, 2023

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Google Cloud on Friday announced a multi-year strategic alliance with the blockchain company Polygon Labs as Google Cloud works to adopt the company’s key protocols.

The announcement was made at the fintech event Consensus 2023. According to a press release, Google Cloud will look to implement Polygon proof-of-stake, Supernets, and Polygon zkEVM.

“Together, they are embarking on engineering and go-to-market initiatives to make it easier for developers to build, launch, and grow their Web3 products and decentralised applications (dApps) on Polygon protocols,” said the release.

Google Cloud will offer the Blockchain Node Engine. Once support is enabled, developers will not have to manage their proof-of-stake nodes independently.

Polygon Labs will also make one-click developer net (DevNet) deployments on Google Cloud available by the end of 2023.

While Polygon Labs improves the security of its zero-knowledge innovation strategy, Google Cloud will serve as a strategic cloud provider. According to the press release, initial tests led to quicker and less expensive transactions.

“Alongside Searce as our implementation partner, we look forward to deepening our collaboration with Polygon Labs to deliver the enterprise-ready Web3 infrastructure and developer-friendly tools that businesses need to offer fast, frictionless, and secure access to dApps for consumers,” said Mitesh Agarwal, Managing Director, Customer Engineering and Web3 Go-to-Market, Asia Pacific, Google Cloud.

According to market capitalization, Polygon was the ninth biggest blockchain on Friday.

Demand for jobs in hospitality sector rises to 60 percent: Indeed Report

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April 28, 2023

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According to the global job site, Indeed, the hospitality industry will see a significant increase in job opportunities between March 2022 and March 2023. The career opportunities in this sector are booming, with job posting growth of over 60% and a 20.10% increase in job seeker interest on the platform (clicks).

With a 20.37 percent growth in job opportunities in the previous year, Delhi NCR has emerged as the top city for hospitality job opportunities. Mumbai and Bengaluru were next. Following the pandemic, anxiety caused people to leave their homes.

Travel for leisure rises as things return to normal, mainly as families take summer vacations and long weekend trips. The demand for jobs in the hotel industry is still growing due to expanding interstate travel.

Commenting on the research report, Saumitra Chand – a career expert, Indeed India and Singapore, said: “The hospitality sector was perhaps one of the most affected industries since the wake of the pandemic. The growth trajectory of this field has truly been impressive as it continues to grow at a rapid pace, with travel and tourism thriving again. During the second wave of the pandemic, change in jobs during the period of March 2020 to 2021 limboed at -13.80 percent. However, from March 2022 to 2023, change in jobs has sprouted to a staggering 59.50 percent. We remain optimistic about this growth, especially as local and domestic tourism continue to be attractive destinations.”

As domestic tourism continues to boom and customer service and enhanced experiences have taken centre stage since the pandemic, the sector has seen a sharp increase in demand for job opportunities in the country.

The leading roles emerged as the hotel manager and travel advisor. Resort Manager, Hospitality Manager, and Travel Agent come after these roles. According to the expansion and potential of the sector, these positions provide professionals in the hotel industry with lucrative career prospects.

Xpressbees secures $40mn from Khazanah Nasional Berhad

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April 28, 2023

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Logistics provider Xpressbees announced that it had raised a $40 million investment from Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the sovereign wealth fund of Malaysia. This investment will be made through a secondary purchase from an early investor in the company.

Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth, ChrysCapital, Alibaba Group, Elevation Capital, Investcorp, Norwest Venture Partners and Gaja Capital back the startup. According to a statement, Khazanah’s investment will be made through a secondary purchase from an early investor in the company.

In this transaction, Avendus Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor.

“We continue on our path to become a dominant end-to-end logistics player and look to leverage any strategic opportunities. Khazanah’s disciplined long-term investment approach makes the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund a perfect partner for us in this journey,” said Amitava Saha, Founder and CEO Xpressbees.

The Pune-based startup serves more than 20,000 pin codes and is present in 5,000 cities. With over three million sq ft of warehouse capacity and operations at 52 airports across India, Xpressbees has over 100 hubs.

“We believe Xpressbees is well-poised to build one of the largest tech-led businesses as they ride on the massive ecommerce market opportunity,” added Karan Sharma, MD & Co-Head, Digital and Technology Investment Banking, Avendus Capital.

QuickReply.ai bags $1.14mn in seed round led by Leo Capital

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April 27, 2023

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QuickReply.ai, a WhatsApp marketing and automation platform, has raised USD 1.14 million in a seed round led by Leo Capital. Leo Capital invested USD 0.75 million in the round. Other investors and entrepreneurs included Pentathlon Ventures, GSF, Deepak Diwakar, co-founder of MindTickle, Azhar Iqubal, co-founder and CEO of Inshorts, and Dinesh Agarwal, founder, and CEO of Indiamart.

QuickReply.ai, founded in 2021 by Himanshu and Hridayesh Gupta, offers an end-to-end WhatsApp engagement tool for D2C Brands and Online Stores.

Speaking on the round, QuickReply.ai’s Co-founder and CEO, Himanshu Gupta, said, “Gaining early traction across India, our product has been integrated as a core customer engagement and retention tool, by over 250 businesses. Following extensive growth over the last 18 months, this seed funding will be significant for us to further strengthen our proposition and drive innovation at a more rapid pace.”

Hridayesh Gupta, Co-founder, and CTO, QuickReply.ai also commented as he said, “As a company operating in the communication-tech space, we recognize that WhatsApp is poised to disrupt traditional methods of business communication such as SMS, email, and push notifications. By leveraging the unique capabilities of WhatsApp, we believe that we can empower businesses to build stronger and more personalised relationships with their customers. We are delighted to be at the forefront of this evolution in the messaging industry, and excited about the opportunities it presents.”

QuickReply.ai plans to use the funds raised to expand its tech infrastructure, hire employees, product development, and research and development. Additionally, the startup wants to allocate funds for marketing and global expansion. Over the next two years, it plans to expand its operations in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Europe after successfully establishing a significant presence in India.

NPCI arm partners UK fintech PPRO for UPI use in global e-commerce

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April 27, 2023

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NPCI International, the global arm of the National Payments Corporation of India, has partnered with UK-based digital payments infrastructure provider PPRO to enable UPI’s (Unified Payment Interface) acceptance in international e-commerce.

With this agreement, India will be added to PPRO’s Local Payment Method (LPM) coverage map, enabling RuPay card and UPI acceptance across PPRO’s global clients, including payment service providers (PSPs) and international merchant acquirers.

This partnership enables any company with a payment platform, including banks, payment service providers, and payment gateways, to support international e-commerce merchants selling to Indian consumers. With their chosen electronic payment choice, customers can easily make cross-border purchases in Indian Rupees.

Ritesh Shukla, CEO at NIPL, said, “UPI has revolutionised the digital payments landscape in India and is respected globally for its role in simplifying and democratising payments. By partnering with PPRO, a market leader in the payments infrastructure space, which powers a vast PSP and merchant network, Indian consumers will now be able to shop online with merchants around the world and pay safely and easily using UPI.”

“International payment service providers and their merchants can now easily tap into an e-commerce market that is expected to reach an estimated $111 billion next year and predicted to almost double to $200 billion by 2026. By integrating UPI into PPRO’s digital payments infrastructure through a single connection, we have removed all the operational complexity for our partners to sell cross-border into India at scale,” said Simon Black, CEO-PPRO.

Over 32.5 crore users actively use the UPI platform, which fully interoperates with 390 banks and 100 third-party apps. UPI processed more than 870 crore transactions in March 2023 alone, the highest since its launch.

Vesta Elder Care joins hands with “Healthians”

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April 27, 2023

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New Delhi, 26th April 2023:Vesta Elder Care, a leading name in elderly healthcare service providers, has announced its tie-up with the ‘Healthians’ app with 20+ Lac satisfied customers to provide quality assured lab tests to clients across all cities and locations from the comfort of their homes. The tie-up aims to serve clients with the best service experience fulfilled through technology with an initial expectation of hitting 1000+ tests a month. The Vesta Elder Care customer now can book the tests at a single click via their app and get access to prompt pathological test services.

Vesta Elder Care ensures the accuracy of reports from booking to report delivery, seamless and simplified through this partnership. The services include lab testing, Blood tests, Covid tests, wellness packages, and total health check-ups encompassing all kinds of pathological tests with sample collection from homes without being worried about visiting the laboratory.

On the occasion of the successful cooperation, Mr. Rahul Misra, Founder of Vesta Elder Care, stated, “We are thrilled to announce our tie-up with the leading health test service provider in India’s diagnostics market, Healthians. This tie-up will enable Vesta Elder Care to broaden its range of services and give customers an excellent diagnostic experience instead of visiting the pathology lab to obtain the tests. Providing the best services, now they can book their test with a single click via the Vesta Elder Care app and receive timely and reliable test results. Healthians are noteworthy for home health test services, providing a comprehensive range of health testing for a long time. Furthermore, with the aid of the ‘Healthians‘ application, we will be able to broaden the scope of our services to a larger audience.”

“We are attempting to make the procedure of regular check-ups and tests as simple as possible with ‘Healthians‘ at the patient’s convenience and a reasonable cost,” he further added.

With 24×7 Medical Support and trained caregivers, Vesta Elder Care has already made an identity for its operations in the Delhi NCR region and recently expanded its range in Punjab as well. The collaboration will assist the brand in expanding its service to additional regions.

About- Vesta Elder Care, a home care service in Delhi launched in 2018 by a team of experienced healthcare specialists, offers a variety of holistic home health care options. Vesta Elder Care provides a variety of services, including carers, nurses, dietician consultations, high-quality medical equipment, ICU sets, lab testing, doctor consultations, and physiotherapy.

Fortune Hotels signs a new alliance in Khajjiar, Himachal Pradesh

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April 26, 2023

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Fortune Hotels, a member of ITC’s hotel group, announced the signing of an operating agreement for a hotel in the picturesque hill station of Khajjiar in Himachal Pradesh. The scenic State of Himachal Pradesh is home to the fifth hotel in the upscale hotel chain.

This existing building has been undergoing a significant renovation project, and it will reopen in the first quarter of FY 2023–2024. It promises an excellent retreat for travellers seeking unique experiences amidst the majestic Himalayan ranges.

Nestled in the lap of nature, this charming hotel is perched at an altitude of 6,500 feet. is poised to offer breathtaking views of the surrounding landscapes and is a stone’s throw from the Khajjiar Lake. The hotel is an ideal choice for leisure travellers wishing to discover the natural beauty of Himachal Pradesh, as it is only an hour’s drive from the popular tourist destination Dalhousie and provides easy access to other popular tourist attractions in the region.

The hotel is perfect for families, couples, and solo travellers due to its well-appointed rooms and suites, which have stunning views as their primary attraction. The hotel also features an all-day dining choice, a chic bar, a contemporary banquet hall, a kids’ play area, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, and a relaxing spa.

Speaking on the occasion, Samir MC, managing director Fortune Hotels said, “En route to speedily growing our leisure footprint across India, we add yet another jewel to our portfolio and our ever-so-popular properties in the hills. This is our second alliance in Himachal Pradesh with the Ownership and we thank our partners for once again trusting us with their hotel and helping us bring our reputed brand to this mesmerizing town of Khajjiar, a destination known for its natural beauty and charm.”

Khajjiar is a pristine picture-postcard hill town just 24 kms from Dalhousie. Surrounded by limitless green meadows, the quaint old-world borough has abundant flora and fauna, deep valleys, snow-clad hills, a picturesque lake, a rich wildlife sanctuary, and a cedar forest in its heart. Known as the “Mini Switzerland of India” it is also famous for its nine-hole golf course, which is nestled amid lush greenery and a breathtaking landscape.

Career engagement platform HerKey secures $4 million from Kalaari, 360 ONE Asset, and others

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April 26, 2023

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Women’s career engagement platform HerKey announced on Wednesday that it had raised $4 million in funding from Kalaari and 360 ONE Asset and angel investors, including Puneet Dalmia, Zia Mody, Pramit Jhaveri, Aditi & Shuchi Kothari, Ranjan Pai, Akash Bhansali, and Neeraj Bajaj.

Companies engage with women candidates throughout their careers, from recruitment and retention to promotion, via the HerKey platform. At present, HerKey’s platform has more than 10,000 companies.

“HerKey’s services are designed to support companies in building a diverse and inclusive workplace, attracting and retaining top talent, and creating a positive impact on their business,” the company said in a statement.

HerKey, formerly JobsForHer, stated that it was exploring ways to close the gender gap in the workforce, where women make up only 20% of the workforce, compared to 55% in the US and 60% in China.

“A digital platform like HerKey is the need of the hour to make progress towards this goal. HerKey helps women exchange diverse knowledge and perspectives and enables them to interact without being constrained by time and location,” said Vani Kola, Founder, and Managing Director of Kalaari Capital.

Through its CXXO programme, which aims to build a community of women leaders, Kalaari Capital backed the investment.

Nidhi Ghuman, the senior EVP at 360 ONE Asset, said HeryKey had accomplished remarkable feats over the years. “On average 80 percent women on a career break look forward to coming back into the workforce and we are delighted to participate in this endeavour to empower women and promote a more inclusive and equitable society,” she said.

Neha Bagaria, the Founder and CEO of HerKey, said she was grateful to the investors for their support in helping create a more inclusive workforce for women. “We need to create a movement where everyone, including men, supports and champions women’s careers. By working together, we can create a more inclusive and equitable workforce, which will benefit all,” she said.

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