Gupshup acquires OneDirect💬, ExpressVPN to shut India servers⛔, CoinSwitch launches CRE8🎱

Gupshup acquires OneDirect, ExpressVPN rejects new VPN rules, CoinSwitch launches crypto rupee Index CRE8, Funding Deals and more.

Jun 03, 2022

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Unicorn Gupshup acquires Sequoia-backed OneDirect💬

Conversational engagement startup Gupshup has acquired OneDirect, an omnichannel, AI-enabled, customer service platform for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition strengthens Gupshup’s service and enables conversational engagement with a powerful and flexible live Agent Assist solution.

OneDirect enables businesses to manage customer conversations, like on SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Google Business Messenger, RCS, Voice, and email, using a simple and unified interface.

Last year in April, Gupshup became a unicorn after it raised $100 million in funding from Tiger Global Management, at a valuation of $1.4 billion.

ExpressVPN rejects new VPN rules, to pull all servers from India💻

ExpressVPN has announced that it will remove all of its VPN servers in India in response to the government’s new rules for VPN companies, which are scheduled to take effect on June 27.

"ExpressVPN refuses to participate in the Indian government’s attempts to limit internet freedom," the company said.

The company said its users will still be able to use ExpressVPN to connect to servers that will give them Indian IP addresses and allow them to access the internet as if they were located in India. It said these ‘virtual’ India servers would be physically located in Singapore and the UK.

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➡️ Check out our LinkedIn space for more on the funding deals.

CoinSwitch launches crypto rupee Index CRE8🎱

Crypto investing app CoinSwitch has launched the cryptocurrency rupee Index (CRE8), a benchmark index to measure the performance of the Indian rupee-based crypto market.

CRE8 tracks the performance of eight crypto assets representing over 85% of the total market capitalisation of cryptos traded in Indian rupee. The index is based on real trades on the CoinSwitch app.

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Polkadot (DOT) and Dogecoin (DOGE) will be the eight tokens constituting the index.

“CRE8 is a demonstration of our commitment to bring more transparency to the Crypto market and equip users with a simple, easy-to-understand measure of the Indian market,” said Ashish Singhal, Co-founder and CEO, CoinSwitch.