Amazon moves SC against direct sellers; Paytm to start healthcare payment biz

Ecommerce platform Amazon moves Supreme Court against direct sellers Amway, Oriflame and Modicare. Paytm is all set to enter the healthcare payments space. 

Amazon moves apex court against direct selling companies

Amazon has moved the Supreme Court against direct selling industry players Amway, Oriflame and Modicare, The Economic Times reported. 

The ecommerce platform has challenged a recent Delhi High Court judgment that barred ecommerce platforms from selling products of direct selling companies without their authorisation.

The ecommerce platform believes that any court order restraining the sale of a specific category of products can set a precedent for other categories as well. 

Amway, Oriflame and Modicare lead the Indian direct selling industry, the report added.

Last year, Amway had dragged Walmart-owned Flipkart to the Delhi High Court, accusing the platform of selling its products without authorisation. 

Paytm all set to enter healthcare payment space

Digital payments unicorn Paytm is all set to step into healthcare payments space, Mint reported. 

The company aims to create a payments solution solely for doctors to help them receive consultation fees using Paytm and to make bulk purchases like medical supplies, the report said.

“Our focus has been clinically high frequency, which includes top-ups, grocery stores and milk shops such as Mother Dairy. That was the first focus. Then came the large-ticket focus. So, we got into education, which is a large ticket, not high frequency; and now, doctors," Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm, told Mint. 

There are about 14 million merchants using Paytm services, and it plans to increase the base to 24 million this fiscal year, the report said.

IIT Madras-incubated startups to create 1 lakh AI, deep learning experts

Two startups incubated by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have joined hands to create one lakh artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning experts by 2020.

GUVI, which offers a learning platform for students in tier-2 and tier-3 cities in vernacular languages, will work with AI course provider One Fourth Labs

One Fourth Labs offers AI courses at nominal fees, starting at Rs 1,000, the companies said in a joint statement.

The courses offered by One Fourth Labs will enable students to understand complicated concepts with relative ease and get skilled in solving AI problems.

Freecharge rolls out digital credit card 

Mobile wallet firm Freecharge has roped in private sector bank Axis Bank to launch its digital credit card.

Customers will get these cards by just entering their details on the Freecharge app, which will enable a Visa credit card instantly on their mobile phones, the company said in a statement. 

The card comes with 50 days of credit period and is accepted across eCommerce platforms with exclusive access to deals across categories, the statement added.

“With this card, we plan to further tap the aspiring youth who seek only the best deals. Freecharge, given their close association with the digitally savvy youth, has designed a product that is smart, fast and convenient - just apt for this segment. We are positive that this targeted product will contribute substantially to the Bank’s credit card portfolio,” said Sanjeev Moghe, executive vice president and head of cards and payment, Axis Bank.

Lumis Partners invests $3 mn in staffing solutions startup Awign

Awign Enterprises, a Bengaluru-based temporary staffing solutions startup, has raised $3 million from Lumis Partners in a Series A funding round, according to financial research platform VCCEdge.

The latest round follows a nearly $800,000 round that the startup raised in January last year from impact investor Unitus Seed Fund and other angel investors.

Email queries to Annanya Sarthak, co-founder and CEO of Awign, on the latest funding round did not elicit responses at the time of publishing this report. The development was first reported by VCCircle.

Awign was founded in July 2016 by IIT Ropar alumni Sarthak, Gurpreet Singh and Praveen Sah. The startup enables businesses to outsource operations such as customer due diligence, eKYC verification, customer acquisition, data entry and field audits and surveys. The work is outsourced to college students in the form of virtual internships. The platform is used by companies such as Accenture, Amazon, Swiggy and OYO, according to its website. The company claims a workforce of more than 2 lakh on its platform.