e-commerce
NDTV’s Gadgets 360° secures investment from Paytm’s parent co
MUMBAI: One97 Communications, owner of consumer brand Paytm, has invested in NDTV’s e-commerce venture Gadgets 360°.
Additionally, NDTV has also appointed Bhawna Agarwal as CEO of Gadgets 360°.
“NDTV Gadgets has always been the most credible go-to-destination for all gadget enthusiasts in India and it is very exciting to see them move to a transactional model with Gadgets 360°. We are looking forward to partnering them in this journey and creating a compelling market-place experience which marries content, curation and commerce,” said One97 & Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
Gadgets 360° has raised funding at a valuation of close to $50 million. Other investors include Inflexionpoint co-founder John Scully, Genpact founder Pramod Bhasin, Sixth Sense Ventures founder Nikhil Vora, former Unilever chairman Vindi Banga and M&S Partners founder and director Hiro Mashita.
Sixth Sense Ventures founder & CEO Nikhil Vora said, “I am most excited to be investing in Gadgets 360°, which has a unique model of being the only curated launch platform for all gadgets. With over 3,000 gadgets launched every year in India, I believe that there is a case for a credible platform to become the brand, which we see in the form of Gadgets 360°.”
NDTV Convergence chief technology officer Kawaljit Singh Bedi said, “I am personally very excited to have such great investors in Gadgets 360° and to leverage their experience in building this into a large and meaningful business in India and globally. The investors have been pioneers in their field and with their incredible knowledge of building big businesses, they will be crucial for our success.”
The company’s new CEO Agarwal has over 16 years of experience in leading start-ups of the country. She has been instrumental in setting and scaling up brands such as Yatra.com, Seventymm among others. She has been associated with Luxury Retail in the past and is also on the advisory boards of OYO Rooms, Venture Fund among others.
“NDTV Gadgets is a very popular and well respected platform amongst gadget lovers in India and is at a very interesting stage from where it can scale up very well. The new platform will be the game changer for the category and I am very excited to be a part of this journey to help take the category to the next level,” added Agarwal.
NDTV Group CEO Vikram Chandra said, “Gadgets has become one of the most exciting areas of expansion for the NDTV Group. We had built a powerful brand connect in this thanks to our digital platform NDTVGadgets.com and our TV programming, with popular shows like Gadget Guru and Cell Guru. I am delighted to welcome Paytm and Vijay Shekhar Sharma, as an investor in Gadgets 360°.”
e-commerce
Instamart and Duolingo launch street spell check campaign for Instaprint
Duo the owl fixes signboard typos across cities to showcase instant printing.
MUMBAI: If spelling mistakes had a sworn enemy, it might just be a bright green owl with a printer. Instamart has teamed up with language learning platform Duolingo for a quirky nationwide campaign that turns everyday spelling errors into a public spectacle while promoting its instant printing service, InstaPrint. The playful activation takes aim at the many misspelled shop boards and public signs scattered across Indian streets. From “saloons” that promise haircuts rather than drinks to menus and posters peppered with punctuation mishaps, the campaign sends Duolingo’s mascot Duo on a mission to restore linguistic order.
Armed with Instamart’s instant printing feature, Duo prints corrected versions of the mistakes on the spot and pastes them over the originals. The result is a series of humorous street interventions that have quickly begun circulating on social media.
Photos and videos of the grammar correcting owl have been widely shared online, with amused users reacting to the unexpected spell check patrol. One user joked, “Ab ayega na maza bhidu,” capturing the internet’s delight at the unusual campaign.
Behind the humour lies a practical message. The activation is designed to showcase the capabilities of Instaprint, Instamart’s printing service that allows users to print documents and posters almost instantly.
The company says the feature is meant for everyday needs such as printing resumes, visa documents or last minute posters without the usual scramble to locate a print shop.
Instamart introduced Instaprint in 2025 across select metropolitan cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. The service allows users to order printed materials directly through the platform, extending the quick commerce model beyond groceries and household essentials.
By combining Duolingo’s famously persistent owl with India’s street level spelling quirks, the campaign taps into the internet’s long running fascination with grammar mistakes while demonstrating a real world use case for instant printing.
After all, in a world full of typos, sometimes what you really need is a quick printer and a very determined language teacher.
