Also in the news is India-based co-living startup StayAbode’s strategic investment from a few individuals

Co-living spaces startup StayAbode raises strategic funding

StayAbode, a startup that is building co-living spaces, has closed strategic funding from Incubate Fund and a group of investors from the real estate industry, including Legacy Global Projects MD Sanjay Shenoy and Mridul Upreti (ex Joint MD JLL India). Some existing investors also participated.

The funds will be used to scale the business by strengthening technology and team.

StayAbode currently offers over 260 units spread over five properties across Bengaluru and has plans to expand to other cities in due course.

In February, the startup raised an undisclosed sum in angel funding from a consortium of investors, led by Ishan Manaktala and Angie Mahtaney.

Japan’s Monstar Lab acquires European mobile app developer Nodes

Monstar Lab, a Japanese digital product development firm, has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Nodes Group ApS, a European mobile app development company.

Acquiring Nodes will pave the way for Monstar to enter the European market and to create an ecosystem for digital product development with global top talents. Monstar Lab now has offices in 17 cities and in 9 different countries.

With a foot in the markets of the three largest economic zones of the world, Europe, Asia and the US, Monstar Lab will continue to expand its business to become number one in the world as a company for digital transformation.

Thai startup GoWabi raises seed funding from 500 TukTuks

Thailand-based beauty booking platform GoWabi, which help spas, beauty salons, and clinics manage their shop capacity and offer discounted prices on their off-peak hours, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from 500 TukTuks.

GoWabi is a marketplace that help shop owners with their capacity management by giving them an online presence, provide discounted services on their non-busy hours while keeping regular prices on peak hours, and give consumers the ability to conveniently book and pay for beauty services online.

Since launch in mid-2016, they have covered presence in nine major cities in Thailand, and is now working with the country’s leading hotel spas, beauty salons, beauty & wellness boutiques, clinics and top industry brands. They also have partnerships with key players in e-commerce and major banks in Thailand, such as Grab, Rabbit LINE Pay, Citibank, Krungsri, KTC, True, DTAC, Lazada, foodpanda, and GuavaPass.

Sellers wary as Snapdeal looks to pivot to seller-centric marketplace

Snapdeal’s online vendors, who a few weeks ago sought government intervention to stop the e-commerce firm’s merger with bigger rival Flipkart until their dues are cleared, said they are yet to get any formal communication from Snapdeal regarding the pivot.

Snapdeal recently scrapped its deal with Flipkart, with founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal announcing the company would tweak its business model and build a zero-inventory, seller-centric marketplace dubbed as Snapdeal 2.0.

However, the sellers remain guarded in their approach to the e-commerce firm’s new avatar due to previous disputes over payments, complaints and allegations of discrepancies in accounting.

The online seller groups also say that the company has yet to initiate any measures to win back their confidence and that they do not have any insight other than what they have learned from media reports.

Image Credit: GoWabi

 

The post Captain’s Log, Aug 10: GoWabi raises funding from 500 TukTuks; online sellers wary as Snapdeal pivoting to pure marketplace appeared first on e27.