By Riddhi Mukherjee and Nikhil Pahwa Helpchat has now dropped the chat bit from its model (and maybe "help" too): it has laid off its chat team, giving 3-months’ severance package. This is Helpchat's second round of layoffs in less than a year, and its third pivot: it began as legal customer service assistance company Akosha, then switched to a chat based model (which Haptik alleged copied theirs). The company, which raised $16 million in series B funding led by Sequoia Capital, now appears to be a services marketplace. The new Helpchat, the old JustDial We checked, and the app already has several services live on its platform, including: mobile & DTH recharge, cab booking, train & flight ticket booking, online deals & coupons, ordering food, travel planning, booking household services such as plumbers, electricians, etc. Helpchat has tied-up with the likes of Uber, Ola, Zomato, Bookmyshow, RedBus, Swiggy, and Cleartrip among others for this. Earlier this week, the company tied-up with Jugnoo to enable auto rickshaw bookings through its app. But this isn't really a new thing. Helpchat's new model is remarkably similar to Justdial, probably without the scale that Justdial has. Justdial's SearchPlus business includes: cab booking, train & flight ticket booking, ordering food, online shopping, restaurant table booking, doctor appointment booking, booking hotel rooms, booking a car test drive, taxi services, florists, real estate, and many more. It currently has a total of 66 services on offer. Applying for loans and buying international SIM cards are some of the latest services…
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