Ratan Tata invests in e-ticketing startup Kyazoonga; C Sivasankaran backs taxi aggregator UTOO

Industry doyen Ratan Tata is making headlines again as he invested in in e-ticketing startup Kyazoonga while serial entrepreneur and Aircel founder C Sivasankaran has backed Chennai-based on-demand taxi aggregator UTOO. Here's a quick round-up of startup and technology stories today.

Kyazoonga gets Ratan Tata's backing Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons and one of India's most active angel investors, has invested an undisclosed amount in his personal capacity in e-ticketing startup Kyazoonga, The Economic Times reported.

The firm will use the funds to expand to international markets including the US, West Asia, Pakistan and the Caribbean Islands, the report said citing Kyazoonga founder Neetu Bhatia.

Kyazoonga provides ticketing services for sports and entertainment events, not movies. Bhatia said the focus on these segments is how Kyazoonga differentiates itself from other players.

Aircel founder to invest in on-demand taxi aggregator UTOO Serial entrepreneur and Aircel founder C Sivasankaran has backed Chennai-based on-demand taxi aggregator UTOO. The initial round of funding will be provided by close friends and family of Sivasankaran, a report in Business Standard stated.

The investment will be anywhere between Rs 350 crore and Rs 1,200 crore. Sivasankaran said that UTOO will match the lowest price of its competitor and will have no surge policy. The firm started operations with a soft launch of 180 cars. In its initial operations, it will have a fleet of 1,000 cars and will run only 2016 models of the vehicles.

UTOO plans to scale its network to nine cities with at least 100,000 cars in the first phase, which it will complete in four months, and an additional 180,000 cars in the second phase covering 104 cities, which will be completed in 18 months, the report said.

Arianna Huffington to launch healthcare startup with support from Jack Ma Arianna Huffington is in talks with investors for her new healthcare venture, Thrive, which has been backed by Alibaba co-founder and chairman Jack Ma, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

New York City-based seed stage VC fund Lerer Hippeau Ventures, which was started by a co-founder and former CEO of the Huffington Post, will also support the new venture, the report said. Thrive will provide lifestyle content contributed by celebrities and bloggers, as well as wellness consulting services to companies, it said.

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