Startup news and updates: daily roundup (March 8, 2021)

PhonePe's StreeEO campaign puts the spotlight on women entrepreneurs (Women's Day)

To provide women with a platform to showcase their businesses, PhonePe launched the StreeEO initiative ahead of Women's Day on March 8. The campaign aims to put the spotlight on women-led businesses across the country and help them reach a bigger audience via PhonePe's user base and social handles.

Nita Ambani launches social media platform, Her Circle for women (Women's Day)

Reliance Foundation Chairperson Nita Mukesh Ambani launched a social media platform 'Her Circle' aimed at empowering women. Her Circle is envisioned to be a one-stop destination to provide women-related content that is engaging and upliftment-oriented even as it connects women through a social platform.

Hostel startup Zostel claims victory in 3-year battle, but OYO denies claim

Backpacker hostel startup Zostel Hospitality, which was embroiled in a legal battle with OYO for the last three years after merger talks broke down, on Sunday claimed that it had won against Oravel Stays, which owns and operates hotel chain OYO, and was entitled to get a cost from the hospitality unicorn. However, speaking to YourStory, OYO denied the claim and said there was no relief to ZO Rooms in terms of getting any OYO share ownership.

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance is developing JioBook, a low-cost 4G-enabled laptop

After conquering the feature phone market with its 4G-enabled JioPhone, Reliance is developing JioBook — a low-cost, 4G-enabled laptop that could launch by the end of the year. The "larger-screened device" is expected to run a version of Android OS — which could be dubbed JioOS — and will bundle Jio's suite of apps that can be accessed through a Jio 4G LTE connection.

Over 50,000 offline retailers, kirana stores now part of Local Shops: Amazon India

Ecommerce major Amazon said over 50,000 offline retailers and neighbourhood kirana stores across 450 cities in India are now part of its 'Local Shops' programme. Launched in April this year, Local Shops aims to enable local shopkeepers and kirana store owners to sell online. In October, Amazon India had said the programme had seen participation from over 20,000 retailers in 400 cities.

ISRO's satellite launch on March 28 will help India keep an eye on borders near real-time

India plans to launch an earth observation satellite on March 28 that will provide it near real-time images of its borders and also enable quick monitoring of natural disasters. GISAT-1 is slated to be lifted into space by GSLV-F10 rocket from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district, about 100 kms north of Chennai.