Kolkata-based ODRWays, which is led by students from West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, recently won India’s first E-Alternate Dispute Resolution (E-ADR) Challenge to build an ADR platform to resolve disputes at scale.
Alternate dispute resolution mechanisms – while widely advocated as an alternative to traditional court trials for their cost-effective and speedier means of dispute resolution – is still not common in India. To be clear, India’s innovation-driven startup ecosystem, which has transformed life as we know it, has also so far evaded the field of law and justice.
In fact, over three crores of legal cases continue to be pending resolution in the country’s legal system.
To find a solution to this problem, the E-ADR Challenge – launched by HumLab and ICICI Bank in association with Vayam – invited innovators, technologists, legal experts, and social and business leaders to come together to form teams that can propose comprehensive technology-driven solutions to create an E-ADR institution.
Sachin Malhan, Co-founder and CEO at HumLab, which seeks to create an innovation ecosystem in the legal industry, says,
“We need to reframe our understanding of how disputes should be dealt with and this initiative (E-ADR Challenge) could help us reimagine that and develop a system for the future.”
As part of the challenge, an elite jury comprising Justice Srikrishna, Aavishkaar Ventures Manager Director Vineet Rai, Societal Platform Chief Curator Sanjay Purohit, and Ashoka Fellow Sonali Ojha selected team ODRWays – a Kolkata-based organisation that has done remarkable work in pushing for the adoption of ADR methods and leveraged technology to bring together ADR professionals, disputants and key stakeholders for the adoption of effective resolution tools.
Team ODRWays includes Pranjal Sinha as CEO, Akshetha Ashok as COO, and Vikram Kumar as CTO. It will now receive the support of the jury to develop itself through collaborations and the appropriate mentorship from an institution that can bring a suite of dispute resolution capabilities to businesses and society, and ultimately help reduce the pressure on the courts. As part of this initiative, ICICI Bank plans to send 10,000 of its disputes for resolution by the EDR Institution, following its launch.
ICICI General Group GC Pramod Rao, who was instrumental in conceptualising the E-ADR Challenge, says,
“In India’s current context, with the judiciary being overburdened and understaffed, the disputants clearly need cost effective, speedier solutions. Exploring alternate dispute resolution mechanisms in this context, bolstered by the policy level support/changes in Arbitration Act, advent of both bandwidth and technology, and finally availability of legal talent in good numbers, makes it an excellent platform for the society, corporates and consumers alike to explore and benefit from.”
Speaking about the need for effective ADR platforms, Sitesh Mukherjee, Partner and Head Disputes, Trilegal, says, "Traditional modes of dispute resolution have become somewhat unsuitable for millions of individuals and small businesses who are transacting with each other sitting in different parts of the globe, sometimes on cloud-based trans-national platforms. Alternate dispute resolution platforms could be designed to meet the needs of this huge segment of B2B and B2C transactions. Such ADR platforms must be cost effective as well as efficacious.”
The Challenge was launched in February this year, and saw the participation of 16 teams from around the world, including the US, UK, Brazil, and the Middle East. It had the support of expert partners Vayam, law firm Trilegal, impact investor Omidyar Network, social innovation network Ashoka, and Centre for Advanced Mediation Practice (CAMP).
The term ‘gig economy’ is not alien to us anymore. Factors like internet penetration, digitalisation, and advancement in information technology have transformed the overall functioning of the market dynamics across the globe.
According to a 2018 PayPal report, one in every four freelancers is from India. Dominating the software ecosystem too, India accounts for 50 percent of the global freelancers – a majority of them are under the age of 40.
Currently, freelancing is the hottest trend in India. PayPal reports also state that a significant 41 percent of Indian freelancers witnessed a massive growth in the last one year. Millennials are significant contributors to this trend. They are open to exploring the concept of freelancing as it widens up the opportunity of flexibility and convenience while working.
Several factors are contributing to its growth; some of the driving factors behind this trend are:
Unconventional work approach by millennials
With the advent of globalisation and digital invasion, the market is full of opportunities. Work pressure and hectic schedules in private sectors have further resulted in changing the perception of millennials of late. Factors like a steady flow of work, growth opportunities, flexibility, and better work-life balance are encouraging young talent to go for freelancing leaving corporate work culture.
The emergence of start-up culture
Hiring full-time employees costs heavily for budding entrepreneurs who have just entered the startup ecosystem. To optimise resources efficiently, usually, startups prefer hiring freelancers based on projects and requirements they receive from their clientele. The emergence of startup culture is a boon for millennials who are entering the world of the gig economy.
MNCs are hiring contractual employees
This is one of the most significant trends contributing to gig culture in India. Bigger players of the market gradually employ young talent on a contractual basis for niche projects. To curb operational expenses and manage time effectively, MNCs are doing flexi-hiring to cut down costs and time giving great opportunities and exposure to young and budding talent.
According to an EY report, 20 percent of organisations globally with more than 1,000 employees have a workforce that is made up of 30 percent or more contingent workers.
Gen X is signing up for gigs
Freelancing is not just taken up by millennials anymore; rather, a lot of Gen X are actively signing up for freelancing. As after attaining a right amount of work experience, they gradually shift to freelancing, which gives them opportunities like flexible work schedules, freedom to maintain the work-life balance, consulting approach, and vision towards their niche career and new-age profiles.
Blockchain based payments
Payment mode is also considered as one of the challenging aspects for freelancers. PayPal’s recent survey found freelancers to be optimistic about their futures; they did admit an irregular income is their biggest challenge. But with the introduction of the blockchain based payment system, this has eased down the financial transaction leading to transparency in the payment structure.
The rise of freelancing platforms
Another factor adding to the trend is the rise of the freelancing platforms for freelancers both globally and nationally. Many homegrown and international platforms are acting as a bridge between the brands and freelancers across the world thus providing a global marketplace for business to outsource work at an affordable price and freelancers to build a livelihood on their terms.
These platforms have only given a boost to the gig economy and helping freelancers in maintaining a constant source of income, exposure to credible global clients and strengthening & building a relationship with brands.
Today millennials in India are getting more inclined towards job satisfaction rather than any other parameter while choosing a perfect job for themselves. Factors that are playing a vital role in giving a boost to the gig economy to a great extent are - career mobility, hyper-connectivity, flexible work dynamics. The future of the gig economy in India is bright and can expect an upward swing as India is among the top 10 countries for freelancers.
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)
Agriculture has been the backbone of the Indian economy for the last 100 years and continues to play a major role in improving rural incomes and securing nutritional needs. With India’s growing population, intervention of technologies such as IoT sensors to smart trackers to satellite imagery is needed to keep up with growing production needs and improve yields.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been contributing to this cause through its products as well as through several meetups in India to come up with solutions and initiatives to benefit the country’s agritech sector.
A day to explore the Indian agritech scenario
From March 7-9, 2019, Amazon Internet Services in association with Omnivore and SatSure, hosted AgriTech Day 2019 at Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad. The event brought together 288 agritech startups across 3 cities who were eager to learn how to run lean and scale fast while building new-age products. Amazon also hosted a VC Pitch session across 3 cities where out of 140 startup applications, 19 startups pitched.
Chandra Balani, Amazon Internet Services at Hyderabad
The keynote address was delivered at different cities by Chandra Balani, Head Geographic Incubation, India & SAARC region, Amazon Internet Services and Aamir Jariwala, VC Business Development, Amazon Internet Services. They spoke about the role played by AWS to help startups and enterprises understand the innovation that's happening on AWS.
"Land is fixed, resources are almost fixed, but we need to ensure that we sustain them for the future. This leads to opportunities for innovation," said Chandra. They also spoke about how AWS is innovating for startups and enterprises, and how they believe that agriculture is the next level of driving innovation
VC side of the story
Omnivore is an impact venture fund that invests in Indian startups developing breakthrough technologies for food, agriculture, and the rural economy. Principals of Omnivore, namely, Abhilash Sethi, Subhadeep Sanyal, and Reihem Roy took to the stage to share their side of the story. Subhadeep said, “Our demand pattern for food has changed drastically, and so has the supply of resources. This leads us into an opportunity to innovate, otherwise it will become difficult to bridge demand and supply in the short run. India is a great place to do this because of a great entrepreneurial ecosystem and talent.”
Following this, Amardeep Sibia, CEO, SatSure and Prateep Basu, Co-founder, SatSure spoke about how technology is being used in agriculture, and how SatSure contributes to this. SatSure leverages advances in satellite remote sensing, machine learning and big data analytics to provide answers to large area questions across multiple domains. "We reduce losses, wastage, and cost finance and try to increase farm productivity and yield, and so on, to help move India’s vitally important sector, agriculture to a better place," said Amardeep.
VC Panel: AgriTech will create the next Unicorn
The panel brought together eminent people from the agritech space. The panel at Mumbai comprised Noshir Colah, Partner, Aavishkaar; Ritu Verma, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Ankur Capital Fund; Puneet Kumar, VP, Nexus Venture Partners; Arjit Johri, Bharat Innovation Fund; and Jinesh Shah, Managing Partner, Omnivore. It was moderated by Prateep. They discussed focus areas for their funds in 2019, and how much traction was sufficient for startups to get noticed by investors. On what's going to create the next billion-dollar company in this space in India, Noshir said it would be offline product sales with online data collection. Ritu, on the other hand, believed it would be a combination of technology and IP led products. Jinesh said, "When we create unicorns, we can't depend on technology alone, we need to take the population of farmers into account. Any solution in agriculture without the fulfillment of farmers will never work."
VC panel at Delhi
In Delhi, the panel comprised of Arpit Agarwal, Principal, Blume Ventures; Ashish Khetan, Director -Investments, Indigram labs; Devneet Bajaj, Venture Partner, Kalaari Capital; Hemendra Mathur, Venture Partner, Bharat Innovation Fund; Subinder Khurana, Venture Partner, Omnivore; Nitin Puri, Senior President & Global Head- Food & Agri Strategic Advisory & Research, Yes Bank. The panel was moderated by Aamir. They agreed that startups need to engage more often to get noticed by VCs. Subinder said, "Investors love to hunt, not to be fed. They love finding deals which are not being shopped around. Sometimes, it takes months for them to warm up and trust you." Devneet added, "India is a maturing market, in terms of customer's ability to pay, so flexibility is required. Be able to articulate a path to a 100-million-dollar turnover through a B2B or B2C strategy or combination of both to the VC."
In Hyderabad, the panel comprised Naho Shigeta, CEO, Infobridge Holdings; Emmanuel V Murray, Senior Advisor, Caspian Impact Investment Adviser Pvt Ltd; Anirudh Sarda, Equity Officer, Oikocredit; Vijay Nadiminti, COO, a-IDEA, Technology Business Incubator of NAARM; and Subhadeep Sanyal, Principal, Omnivore. The panel was moderated by Chandra. About innovations in the agritech space, Anirudh said that technology is required to create the next unicorn in this sector. According to Emmanuel, at Caspian they work quickly to get unique ideas to farmers, "Innovation in agriculture needs to reach scale because there are a large number of farmers. We try to bundle these ideas to create a significant impact."
Enterprise panel: The future of agritech lies in smart farming
Over the last 50 years, the agricultural land area globally has gone up from 35 percent to 37 percent, and population has increased from 0.6 to 1.3 billion in India. Meanwhile, agricultural productivity has not gone up at the same pace. The panel discussed better and more focused farming practices, and how smart farming and technology comes into play.
In Mumbai, the panel comprised Ankur Vermani, Technical Service Incharge, Godrej Agrovet Limited; Subbarao Appemane, Sr. Vice President, Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited (Mahyco); Ashish Jangale, Head – New Revenue Streams, Precision Farming, Mahindra and Mahindra; Kalanidhi Salugu, Operations Strategy Lead, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited ; Suhas Joshi, Sustainable Business Development Officer, Bayer Group India; and Manish Kumar, Product Head Retail Agri & Kisan Credit Card, Agri Business Group at RBL Bank. The panel was moderated by Subhasis Rauniar, Underwriter – Agriculture, Munich Re (Group). On the emergence of niche agritech startups, Suhas said, "The entire agriculture value chain both in India and globally is inefficient. So, this entire value chain is up for grabs, one can target every niche segment and generate a lot of money." Ashish spoke about the three ways in which he would leverage agritech startups. "Enhance the differentiation of my current product portfolio, build a platform which is product neutral, and build a data moat to create new and innovative business models."
The Delhi panel consisted of Dheeraj Mutreja, Assistant Vice President - Rural & Development Banking, Rabobank; Om Routray, Community Lead, Nasscom; Mihir Mohanta, General Manager (SCM)- International Business, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable; Dr. Aditya Panda, Senior Manager, The Coca-Cola Company; and Aleen Mukherjee, EVP- Business Strategy, NCDEX. The panel was moderated by Prateep. Om said, "The definition of AgriTech for us is ICT. This sector will bring in more transparency and scalability. We will get insight into India's farms and agritech will be a major revenue earner as we approach 2030." Aleen spoke on how he would capitalise on the emergence of these startups. He said, "We are open to seeing how they can understand our business, limitations and concerns, and add value.”
Enterprise panel at Mumbai
The panel in Hyderabad comprised Ankit Laddha, Business Strategy Manager, Rasi Seeds; Sashidhar Chitturu, Manager, ITC Limited Agri Business Division; Ramaswamy Karthikeyan, Head – Marketing (Retail), Coromandel International Ltd; Ram Kiran Dhulipala, Head – Digital Agriculture, ICRISAT; and N V Ramana, Advisor, Samunnati Agri Value Chain Finance. The panel was moderated by Amardeep. Ramana said that in India, there is a serious problem in aggregating small farmer because of fragmented production and produce, and because the quality differs for each farmer. On solving farmer issues, Ankit said, "It's not all about affordability in agriculture. It’s about your belief in what value you're creating for the farmer." Ram Kiran added, "Fall in love with the problem and not the solution."
Entrepreneur panel: Tech as the enabler of a robust agri-entrepreneur ecosystem
The panelists shared their entrepreneurial experience and what motivated them to start up. In Mumbai, the panel comprised Jaisimha Rao, Founder, TartanSense; Michael Anthony, Co-Founder, Earth Analytics India Ltd.; Yogesh Patil, CEO, Skymet Weather Services Pvt Ltd; Dhyanesh Bhatt, CEO, GramCover; Rohan Vadgaonkar, CEO, Carnot Technologies. It was moderated by Mark Kahn, Managing Partner, Omnivore.
Considering the fact that most startups have to raise funds, Jaisimha advised, "When you're starting up, don’t get obsessed with the technology. Start with the customer and then develop the solution. The VC wants to know what pain point you're solving and if your customer is paying for the service. On opportunities currently being ignored in agri and food, Dhyanesh felt that healthcare and skill development were relevant issues. He said, "There are a lot of people who are educated, but not qualified. The quality of skills matters at the end of the day."
The panel at Delhi comprised Taranjeet Singh Bhamra, CEO, AgNext Technologies; Alekh Sanghera, Co-founder & CEO, farMart; Varun Khurana, Co-founder, Crofarm; M Ramakrishnan, Co-founder, Intello labs; and Shashank Kumar, Founder & CEO, DeHaat. The panel was moderated by Subhadeep. On a classic challenge an entrepreneur faces in this sector, Shashank said, " It's difficult to attract talent in a startup when you don’t have a strong brand. Agriculture in AI is unbelievable for people who are looking to join." Alekh spoke on the 3 areas investors evaluate during fundraising, "60 percent is on whether you have built a solid team, 20 percent is how your product can be scaled to help every stakeholder, and 20 percent is the market," he said.
Entrepreneur panel at Hyderabad
In Hyderabad, the panel comprised Bala Reddy Visavaram, Founder and CEO, Our Food; Srivatsa Sreenivasarao, Co-Founder, Jivabhumi; Sanjay Nekkanti, Founder, Savitri Aquamonk; Archana Chindam, Co- founder and COO, PoultryMon; and Amandeep Panwar, Founder and CEO, BharatRohan Airborne Innovations Pvt Ltd. The panel was moderated by Abhilash. They spoke on how their technology is impacting farmers, and agreed that data is key. "There has to be a conscious effort to continuously monitor data and get intelligent analysis," said Srivastava. Archana said, "The linkage between hatchery to farm has a major effect in terms of total production. At the farm level, there is a challenge to capture data because every bird is different. We capture it using 3D and AI to increase efficiency."
AWS Agritech Day also was a platform for startups to connect with enterprises. For the Enterprise Connect session, they received 212 connect requests from 40 startups looking to connect with 11 enterprises, out of which 40 startups were connected 1:1 with 6 enterprises.
With a focus on improving the lives of farmers in India, the event helped agritech startups get useful insights into enhancing their innovations to improve yields. The boom of emerging technologies is an enabler to creating a revolution in the AgriTech sector and making India the agricultural powerhouse of the future.
Tripoto has raised funding of Rs 25 crore in its Series B round from Orchid India, Hornbill Orchid India Fund, Chiratae Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures), 3one4 Capital and Lasmer NV.
Anirudh Gupta, Co-Founder & CEO, Tripoto, said that the company aims to scale both the B2C and B2B side of the platform, adding,
"On the consumer front, we want to capture the entire life-cycle of a traveler— everything from getting inspired, discovering, planning and finally, carrying out the transaction. On the business front, we want to act as an enabler for travel agents and bring them online as an essential component of our community."
Launched in 2014 by Anirudh Gupta (IIT Delhi and ISB alumnus) and Michael Lyngdoh (ISB Alumnus), the online travel community platform brings together user-generated travel content, community and marketplace on its platform.
So far, Tripoto has raised a total of Rs 50 crore, it said in a statement. The company claims that in the past 12 months, its revenue and user base have grown by over 300 percent.
Tripoto will be using the fresh capital to scale and focus on vernacular content, short video and influencer commerce, leveraging the strength of its flourishing community.
The startup claims to have created over 2 million travel itineraries with videos and photographs over the past five years, currently clocking over 6 million monthly active users. Video Content and Holiday Marketplace have been its fastest growing verticals in the past 12 months.
The company has also developed a proprietary B2B CRM platform for travel agents, and aims to bring more than 10,000 small travel agents online. This platform allows travel agents to generate travel enquiries from Tripoto and build an online presence.
Manoj Thakur, Managing Partner, Hornbill Capital – Advisor to Orchid India, said, "...the massive number of itineraries posted by users on Tripoto will inspire travellers to explore various destinations in India and abroad."
Naspers-owned PayU has acquired California-based digital payment security and mobile payment technology company Wibmo for $ 70 million. With the acquisition, PayU, which offers digital payments for online merchant transactions, will own the entire set of digital transaction security solutions by Wibmo.
Aakash Moondhra, CFO of PayU Global, said the company will be able to add value to the entire ecosystem including banks, consumers and merchants with the combined offerings.
He added,
"We will partner with leading banks to enable digital banking, merchants will gain with higher conversions rates and increased sales, and consumers will have a frictionless experience in completing digital payments transactions.”
Wibmo partners and integrates with banks in over 20 countries to offer payment authentication and risk-based decisioning across billions of online and mobile payment transactions.
PayU and Wibmo will be able to together work with merchants and financial institutions to offer targeted payment solutions leveraging data from hundreds of millions of Indian consumers annually. This will also help PayU accelerate its credit business by leveraging big data to power credit on various online and offline merchants in partnership with leading lending players.
Govind Setlur, Founder and CEO of Wibmo added,
"By combining our track record and expertise in payment security and mobile payments with PayU’s strong merchant network and heritage in payments, the combined entity will be focussed on delivering more secure and seamless payments experience to its customers.”
As part of the deal, Wibmo and PayU businesseswill continue to run separately. However, both teams will work together to build unique business solutions from the platforms. Govind will become part of PayU’s leadership team, reporting to PayU India CEO, according to a statement.
Wibmo will continue to operate and serve all of its clients as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Naspers’ PayU under the leadership of Govind. The statement adds that this takes PayU’s fintech investment total past the $500 million mark, putting the company within the top five global fintech investors over the last two years.
Google’s payment arm, Google Pay, came in the eye of controversy when the Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as to how the mobile payments app was facilitating financial transactions without authorisation.
Now, a Google spokesperson, responding to the public litigation at the Delhi High Court, which claimed that payments arm of the internet behemoth was operating in violation of the Payments and Settlements Act, has said,
“Google Pay complies with all applicable legal requirements. Google Pay operates as a technology service provider to its partner banks to allow for payments through the UPI infrastructure, and is not part of payment processing or settlement. There is no requirement for licensing of these services under the prevailing statutory and regulatory provisions.”
After the hearing on Wednesday, the high court issued a notice to the RBI and Google India seeking their stand on the issue, which was raised in the PIL filed by Abhijit Mishra, who contended that Google Pay does not figure in RBI's list of authorised 'payment systems operators' released on March 20, 2019.
In addition, the spokesperson also said that Google was making efforts to comply with the government’s data localisation norms.
“In order to support our partner banks, our efforts in complying with the government's data localisation norms are underway, and given the scale and complexity, we are being mindful to prioritise data security and uninterrupted services to our users as we make this transition. The central bank is apprised of the progress and we remain committed to complying with the laws of the land,” said the Google spokesperson in his statement.
Abhijit had also raised a privacy concern in its petition stating that, “Google Pay, through its unauthorised operation in India as a payment and settlement systems, has un-monitored and unauthorised access to personal information of people such as Aadhaar, PAN, (financial) transactions, etc. of the public.”
MakeMyTrip has filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) that it has received Rs 103 crore from its holding entity in Mauritius SGG Holdings. MMT had allotted shares worth Rs 211 crore to this company in August and November 2018. GoIbibo and MMT will use the freshly raised funds to expand their partnerships globally.
The recent partnership with OYO is further going to increase MMT's reach in the country as the supply of hotel rooms will go up for ecommerce travel company. MMT has also launched assured hotels services to win loyal customers.
The company is an advertiser with an IPL team and is also planning to spend heavily in the Indian market going forward, although it still continues to be a loss making entity in India. Last September, the Mauritius-based parent had pumped in Rs 69 crore into the Indian arm.
At the time, MakeMyTrip Co-founder and CEO Rajesh Magow said,
“There is misinformation being spread in social media about hotel bookings on MakeMyTrip and Goibibo not being honoured. This information being spread is completely baseless...We remain committed to providing our customers with the highest level of quality and service.”
According to IBEF, India is the most digitally-advanced traveller nation in terms of digital tools being used for planning, booking and experiencing a journey. The country's rising middle class and increasing disposable incomes have continued to support the growth of domestic and outbound tourism.
During 2018, foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India stood at 10.56 million, achieving a growth rate of 5.20 percent year-on-year. FTAs in January 2019 stood at 1.10 million, up 5.30 percent compared to 1.05 million year-on-year.
No wonder MMT is backing it's Indian arm, consumption is on the rise in India and with it the appetite to travel is also expected to rise.
Uber files much awaited IPO; valuation reported close to $100B
In one of the most awaited IPOs of the world, San-Francisco based ride-hailing giant Uber announced what could be one of the biggest IPOs of all time. The offering could value Uber at a whopping $100 billion. Shares will begin trading from May on the New York Stock Exchange. Reports suggest that this share sale would make it the biggest since China's Alibaba Group began trading on the New York Stock exchange five years back.
PhonePe’s Sameer Nigam reveals its relationship status with Flipkart
Digital payments firm PhonePe recently made the headlines as reports suggested that the Bengaluru-based company was on its way to being hived off from parent Flipkart, after an in-principle approval from the board. Amid these reports, in an exclusive interaction with YourStory, Sameer Nigam, CEO of PhonePe, gives a candid take on the strategic value that PhonePe can deliver to parent company Flipkart, and how the group companies are strategically planning to play to each other’s strengths.
Breathe, walk, earn rewards with desi fitness app Nandoo
[Weekly funding roundup] Startups raise over $262M
Over the last week, the Indian startup ecosystem raised $262 million across 22 deals. The highest funds were raised by Delhi-based clean and renewable energy startup Avaada Energy, which raised $144 million, and CleverTap, which raised $26 million in Series B round, led by Sequoia India.
The very thought of unravelling your story in 3-5 minutes to a complete stranger (or not!) can be a daunting and unsettling proposition. But its possible…businesses have been won, people have been recruited and successes have been duly granted through this. So fret not.
If we look at our every day lives, we tell and live stories constantly, in an extraordinary sense. We live stories, we breathe stories, we dream stories, we weave stories. So really, its not that hard to crunch all these lovely pitches and stories into a 5 minute pitch. It takes practice and its an art …and its possible!
Let’s look at 5 ways to perfect your elevator pitch:
1. Be well appointed to grab attention
Its an old adage but stay well-dressed at all times because you never know who you will meet. To top that off, remember to smile. A cheery disposition can turn around any state of mind and is always bound to grab attention. Nobody likes to engage with a grouchy companion. Next and most important, exude confidence. You have to show an attitude that you know your stuff. A wallflower doesn’t progress very far and never makes the mark. Stay humble; don’t be cocky. No one likes to listen to a ‘I know it all’ man or woman. Speak slowly, maintain eye contact; omit the unnecessary words. Remember you only have 5 minutes to wing it!
2. Its about you and your idea
Talk about what drives you in your life and why you do what you do. Engage the listener, let him/her know what inspired you to think up this proposition. Then state the value of your proposition and talk about how you will go about changing or impacting the prospects or bottom line of your audience. What makes your idea different from what’s out there already in the industry. Answer the questions he may have, clearly and precisely.
3. The tag line
The central theme shapes your whole pitch. Make sure that the top 3 benefits of your idea tie in with your tag line. It’s very much like copywriting for an ad; First you craft your tag line and the storyboard is what packs the punch. Make sure your tag line has a ring to it. It needs to pack in all the benefits of your solution in one simple catchy line. If you have to describe the tag line in a tune, do it, just to be different!
4. Call to Action:
Ask your listener politely, if he/she has any questions. Share your contact details and try to schedule an appointment with your listener to take your idea forward. Use words that provoke emotion e.g. if you log on to our website today you can avail of xxx. Take advantage of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)
5. Be creative, Be unusual
If your idea is about a product, you could carry a sample product at all times and talk about it. Carry some light, colourful props if you have to enhance your pitch to make it fun and zippy. Take some tips from the movies! Use a bit of animation if you have to but don’t overdo it. Don’t hand over your business card. Its an online world today so think of something different that your listener will be bowled over with.
At the end of the day, it’s all about your verve, your passion and your focus. It all boils down to how badly you want to win that business…how badly you want to make a difference and how keen you are for your listener to share your story with someone else.
Go out there and practice your pitch, your storytelling flair. You may not get it right the first time but eventually, you will.
We come across many strangers in our lives and it’s a choice we make to create an impression on some of them. And that choice lies only with us. So got out there and tell it with soul and conviction.
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)
Tired of bargaining with autorickshaw drivers or of Uber’s surge pricing?
Bike-sharing platform Yulu wants to end those first and last-mile commute woes with its electric vehicles (EVs).
The startup launched its electric scooter,Yulu Miracle, in Bengaluru in the last week of February. With this, the e-bike company aims to provide a scalable, affordable, and green solution for first and last-mile, short-distance commutes.
In a video interview with YourStory, Amit Gupta, Co-founder of Yulu, delves more into how Yulu Miracle eases the everyday commute, how the startup is resolving the battery problem, and which cities the bike will travel to next.
The startup, which is operational in Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, and Bhubaneswar, launched its sharing bicycles in January 2018, to focus on an IoT (solution and address the traffic problem in cities.)
When it decided to expand, the Bengaluru-based startup initially considered offering customers petrol scooters for their commute.
“We soon realised that the city (Bengaluru) was already polluted, and we should not add to the existing problem,” Amit says. He adds that they felt that “scaling the business wouldn't be easy then.”
And that led to the launch of Yulu Miracle. Meant for one commuter, Yulu scooters have a 48-volt motor controller, a maximum speed of 25 km per hour, and require no licence or helmet for usage.
Yulu Miracle
Customers need to download the Yulu application and scan the QR code to access a scooter. The in-app map then shows different Yulu Zones; they can access/park the scooter there and also lock and unlock the vehicle using the application.
A user has to pay Rs 10 to unlock the bikes and another Rs 10 for every 10 minutes spent using the bike. The user can always pause the usage, free of cost.
A single charge can take the light-weight bike (45 kg) up to 60 km.
“The user need not worry about the battery; it has a swappable Li-Ion battery,” Amit says.
Like a smartphone, the scooter interacts with the server every five minutes. This helps the team know the charge level of every Yulu Miracle being operated across the city. The moment the battery charge drops below 10 percent, Yulu's on-ground staff swap the battery. The startup has already tied up with local kiranas and mom-and-pop stores in Indiranagar to avail space for storing and charging batteries.
Team Yulu sources the Miracle scooters, unassembled, from China, but the battery is from India. Local partners help assemble these scooters.
Currently only available for renting in Bengaluru's Indiranagar, Yulu is launching its Miracles in Koramangala soon. “For the time being we are only in Bengaluru; we will soon be available in other cities that already have Yulu bicycles,” Amit says. Bengaluru has 300 bikes currently.
“From April 15 this year, we plan to launch 50 more every week,” Amit adds.
Artists for Wildlife and Nature (AWN), formed in 2017, is a collective whose mission is to raise awareness about wildlife, environmental preservation, and artistic skills in portrayal of nature. One of AWN’s exhibitions at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath last year was in line with the celebration of 2018 as ‘Year of the Bird.’
Their earlier art show this year was held at Venkatappa Gallery in Bengaluru; the third exhibition is being held at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. It features dozens of paintings, linocuts, drawings and mixed-media works, priced from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000.
Featured artists include Paresh Vishwanath Churi, Jayavanth Jadhav, Smitha Kashi, Abhijna Desai, Prasanna Kumar, Prasad Natarajan (AWN founder), Umesh Prasad, and Sreelatha P. They showcase not just the usual ‘big game,’ but animals and birds some of whom are endangered.
Artists play an important role in raising awareness about social and environmental issues, but it is citizens that need to take initiative also to preserve our precious nature reserves, according to Prasad Natarajan and the AWN members.
“We received entries from fifteen artists, and ten of their profiles were found matching for the miniature format. From the 90 artworks submitted, 73 were selected,” Prasad said, in a chat with YourStory.
In their previous shows, AWN received feedback from many nature and art lovers that wildlife art was perceived as unaffordable for the common citizen. “Hence last year, I sat back and drafted a plan on how to make art affordable. Since art pricing all over the world is decided on the size of the artwork, I decided to go the small format way,” he explains.
Participating artists were therefore given three sizes to work on: 4x4, 5x7 and 8x8 inches. “The creative process remains the same, the only major challenge is scaling down the size. This requires a certain amount of preparation, research, and appropriate choice of subjects,” Prasad adds. Two of the AWN artists are also able to work on almost all available mediums.
The art collective has two more shows coming up during the year, one on birds in July and the second on all species in October. “In February, we had a nature camp in Thekkady Tiger Reserve for a few artists. We hope to have a couple more during the rest of the year. Every month we have bird watching and field sketching sessions that are free and open to the public,” Prasad says.
The green vine snake and Munnar bush frog are some of the animals that have attracted artist Abhijna Desai as subjects for her art work. “I chose some of my subjects based on how special they were to me in my personal life, and some that needed to be represented as an important species that requires conservation,” she explains.
She has used unlikely subjects because she would like people to see the beauty in these animals and not just the obvious choice, which are birds, tigers and leopards. “Snakes, butterflies, frogs and bats are worth just as much attention as the big cats,” Abhijna jokes.
Success for her means reaching out to people and teaching them something they don't already know. “I work on scorpions, bats and frogs which are quite stigmatised and not many people know about them. I also feel that success is when children can understand my work. They should be able to appreciate nature and feel motivated to do something towards conserving these beautiful species,” Abhijna explains.
She calls for more encouragement for the arts as a career. “When children are asked what their favourite subject is, they are expected to say maths or science. Arts are always considered to be extra-curricular activities. Arts of any form are never encouraged as a possible means of livelihood. If that changes, a lot of people will choose art wholeheartedly and pursue it without any inhibitions,” Abhijna emphasises.
Artist Smitha Kashi chooses her subjects as part of a series of observing and sketching them in the field and photographing them. “I paint most of them back in my studio, referring to my own images often. Usually my subjects are characters to me, they are personalities I connected to, or some times, a moment that is dear to me. I love to capture their expressions and that subtle communication,” she explains.
Through her art, she wants to encourage people to see the captivating beauty and diversity of our natural world. “It is an effort to help them appreciate and learn more about lesser-known species. I firmly believe that we protect what we like and we like what we know well,” Smitha says.
“Success to me is when my artwork captures the attention of a viewer, interests them about nature, and in turn helps conservation. For example, they may tell me that they didn't know such a bird existed, or that it is wonderful to know about some unique behaviour,” she adds.
She observes that wildlife art in India is getting better. “We all have a tough path to walk, but if one is truly passionate this becomes an enjoyable journey. Patience, perseverance and passion are the key ingredients to crack this code and succeed in this field,” Smitha signs off.
Now, what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and do your bit (and more) for nature?
See also the YourStory pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups,’ accessible as apps for Apple and Android devices.
Over the last week, the Indian startup ecosystem raised $262 million across 22 deals. The biggest round was raised by Delhi-based clean and renewable energy startup Avaada Energy, which raised $144 million (nearly Rs 1,000 crore) from Asian Development Bank.
Next was CleverTap, which raised $26 million in a Series Bround, led by Sequoia India. Other participants included new investor Tiger Global Management, and existing investor Accel.
The fintech sector received four investments this week.
Payments platform Cashfree secured $5.5 million in Series A funding, led by Korea's Smilegate Investments. Existing investor Y Combinator, and notable investors, including former Chancellor of the exchequer UK George Osborne, and former MD of Cholamandalam Investment Vellayan Subbiah also participated in the round.
Bengaluru-based API infrastructure company Setu raised $3.5 million as a part of seed round capital led by Lightspeed India Partners, with participation from Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund.
Eduvanz Financing raised $2 million in a pre-Series A round from Unitus Ventures, and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. The company will be using the funds to expand its geographies.
Online lending platform Credy received an undisclosed amount of funding in the form of debt and equity from MAS Finance.
Early-stage deals
Gurugram-based real money gaming startup Zupee raised $1 million from Smile Group in a pre-Series A round.
Hyderabad-based Monitra Healthcare raised angel investment from Indian Angel Network. The round was led by investors KNK Venkataraman and Dr Vinayendar Tulla. KNK also joined the company board as a mentor.
Healthcare services provider Digilooks raised an undisclosed amount of funding from angel investors in a pre-Series A round. Investors included Ashwani Gupta, Sunil Chawla, Sanjay Malhotra, and Harvinderjit Singh Bhatia.
New-Delhi based wellness startup for women Azah raised $200,000 in pre-Series A round.
Micro-tourism focused hospitality management startup V Resorts raised $10 million in a Series A round, led by various High Networth Individuals (HNIs). Existing investors Bedrock Ventures and RB Capital also participated in the round.
Technology-driven co-living startup Colive raised $9.2 million in a Series A round from real estate developer Salarpuria Sattva Group. The Bengaluru-based company will use the funds to scale up its operations.
Women-focused reseller platform GlowRoad raised $10 million in a Series B round, led by China-based CDH Investments, with participation from existing investor Accel Partners.
Bengaluru-based AI healthcare startup SigTuple raised Series C funding of $16 million, led by Trusted Insights. Existing investors Accel Partners, Chirantae Ventures, and Pi Ventures, along with Flipkart Co-founder Binny Bansal, and Trifecta Capital also participated in the round.
Online pharmacy startup 1mg raised $10.3 million in a Series D round, led by Redwood Global Healthcare Fund.
Others
Klook, a travel activities and services booking platform, confirmed raising $225 million in a 'Series D Plus' round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund. The latest fundraise takes the company’s total Series D funding to $425 million.
Software firm Kuliza raised $3 million from Silicon Valley-based Emergent Ventures.
Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart, invested $2.3 million in hyperlocal marketplace UrbanClap. Sources close to the matter said that the valuation of the company, post this round, stands at around $480 million.
Online gaming startup BalleBaazi announced that it has secured $1 million in funding from its parent company, Baazi Games.
Bhopal-based smart waste management system startup The Kabadiwala raised $434,000 in equity funding from early-stage investors, HNIs. Senior industry professionals Bhushan Gajaria, Advisor of Beehive Capital; Bharat Mandloi of ABCOM Investments; Suresh Parekh of Parekh Marine Transport; Naveen Reddy, Supply Chain Director of Unilever and angel investor Vishal Thaker participated in the round.
Online travel major MakeMyTrip’s Indian arm, MakeMyTrip India Pvt Ltd, received Rs 103 crore from the Mauritius-based entity.
Acquisitions
Marketing technology company Netcore Solution acquired AI-chatbot company Quinto.ai. The deal was facilitated by Propeluss.
Recently, have you taken a stroll in the park? If you have, you must have noticed something quite interesting: the shrubs and trees that line the boulevard, dotted with flowers and fruits of myriad colors, do not seem to be bothered about which of them is more beautiful. They do not concern themselves with which of them has the more fragrant flower, or the sweeter nectar. They are just there, relaxed in their own journey. In the garden of their lives, there seems to be no competition.
However, step outside this calm environment and we are met with a completely different message. It is thrust into us that to be successful we must compete. We must walk the walk and take every single opportunity we get or we’ll be left behind. We are living in a noisy world that screams “do whatever it takes to rise up or you will fail.”
The business world, especially, seems to be filled with stories celebrating this ‘do or die’ attitude. We have heard of the numerous stories about how the world’s largest online retailer Amazon has continuously suppressed its workers’ efforts to better their conditions. In some cases, workers have even reported having to use trash cans as toilets because of tall targets for productivity the company has set, with the aim of generating higher profits. We hear of oil companies and miners devastating the environment and people’s health. We read of the levels of corruption that executives stoop to, in a bid to increase their short-term earnings forecasts.
All of this does make us wonder, how should we be to succeed? Can nice people win? And what does it mean to be nice in a competitive world? Is it a sign of weakness to be kind, considerate and sometimes even slow? Is it possible for the numerous people who don’t constantly raise their hands to answer, get cozy with the bosses and work silently to win? These are very intriguing questions.
All the books and resources we read to guide us toward our North Star sometimes seem inadequate, especially when we are faced with questions that need answers from deep within ourselves. The good news is, the answers do come. And I found answers to these questions when I interviewed Arvind Pani and KK this week.
“Nobody can take my optimism and confidence, this is in me, a part of me,” he replied.
Like me, you might think these philosophical statements are easy to speak of but tough to practice. In the last couple of years that I have followed KK, however, he has consistently beamed the same tranquility. From our chat, I learned my optimism and positivity is mine, nobody can take it away from me.
According to KK, what makes his company tick was the high-performance, a high-integrity culture built over the last 20 years and they did not want to give up on that. Their focus on this fine balance of performance, integrity and good corporate governance helped them generate significant value to shareholders, KK said.
The other story was my good friend Arvind Pani, the CEO of a local language technology startup Reverie, recently bought out by Reliance Industries. Arvind is quintessentially nice. He is one of those people my mother used to talk about when I was a child - the neighbor’s son who always did the right thing. The one who’s too good to be true. Arvind has remained the same even as an entrepreneur. He always did the right thing, thought about those around him and was always ready to offer a helping hand.
These stories show that altruism can succeed too. In a world where most of us are taught to remain stoic in any adversity, to not retaliate or stand-up for ourselves, these executives are a shining example of what quiet confidence in the face of extreme odds looks like. Straight-talking people like KK and Arvind tell us that though we may see some people winning sprints with antics, the marathon will be won by people who stay true to their own hearts.
Both KK and Arvind show us that, like the trees in the park, those who focus on what's beautiful and strong about themselves, rather than compare themselves with others are the ones who succeed. Those who are mindful of their own values and cling on to them despite all adversity are those that are able to run the marathon and finish it successfully.
Nice people can finish first, and this week, we see that some of them have.
You may know him as Mikesh from Permanent Roommates, and as Chandan in the web series, TVF Tripling. But how much do we know of the man behind these popular shows? Sumeet Vyas, actor and writer extraordinaire, is Indian best-known web hero! As Season 2 of his show TVF Tripling is streaming now, we get to follow his new adventures that unfold on the screen and the changing dynamics among the protagonists.
But nothing came easy, Sumeet says, opening up about his struggles in showbiz since he was 17 and his career ever since. His mantra today is simple: ‘Don’t get tempted by money. Invest in your craft and money will follow.’ Want to know more? Don’t miss this exclusive interview with the young actor who can be goofy, smart, sunny and irresistible, all at the same time.
Sumeet Vyas
If you love music and believe that it has close ties to mathematics, meet entrepreneur Saket Modi who feels the same. As CEO and Co- Founder of Lucideus, he works hard at making his business thrive, but not without some music and salsa to brighten his days. There are monthly jamming sessions that are organised at his office for Saket and his team to take some time off to sing and dance together. Here’s a glimpse of the musical side of this well-known entrepreneur!
Saket Modi
As the summer sun scorches our part of the world, there is no better way to beat the heat than with a bowl of ice cream. But did you know that there are food scientists working behind the scenes to bring us the best flavours and finest blends possible? In an interaction with food scientist,Dr Maya Warren, who is currently Senior Director of Research and Development and Taste Master at Cold Stone Creamery, we find out all about the newest flavours of the season. For instance, did you know that Ube (purple yam), mango, chilli and cookie dough are the most popular ice creams now? Check out the latest news on frozen treats in an interview with a food scientist.
Maya Warren
Diets are a dime a dozen in the world of nutrition today, but which ones really work? Should you really deprive yourself of food for several hours to lose weight? Should you eliminate a whole bunch of food groups from your diet to make headway in your fitness goals?Meet Deepa Kannan, a Functional Nutritionist, who practises a system of nutrition which believes in the interconnection of all body systems. She also curates bio-individual diets after extensive analysis and assessment of a person. Don't miss her article where she busts every health myth that we have been following blindly for years.
Juices may not be as healthy as they look
Director-writer, Adarsh Eshwarappa is a man of many firsts. To begin with, he dared to launch a film with no godfather in the Kannada film industry. Secondly, he chose a woman-centric subject for his debut film when his peers were stuck on stereotypes. And eventually, he ended up winning critical acclaim and a noteworthy award for his very first film. Now, he’s all set to launch his next movie, Bhinna, which is a psychological thriller. Get all the juicy details in this interview with this immensely talented director.
Adarsh Eashwarappa
And finally, get a close-up view of Chef Rakhee Vaswani, of Palate Culinary Academy, who has trained celebrities like Malaika Arora Khan, Arjun Kapoor (for the movie Ki and Ka) and Kriti Sanon (for the movie Raabta).
Rakhee Vaswani
She has also hosted some shows for the popular food-tainment channel Living Foodz. We get to find out all about her ideas of perfect happiness, her greatest extravagances and her heroes. Her top tip for all aspiring chefs is: 'Keep tasting along the way and keep that work station clean.' Read all about this well-known chef who loves her craft and pursues it to perfection.
The first phase of General Elections in the country has kickstarted. And as people vote to decide the fate of the country – both the ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the Opposition party Indian National Congress (INC) have touched upon the cause of startups and technology in their election manifesto.
With both the parties releasing their manifestos earlier this month, here’s a look at what two of India’s biggest political parties are offering for startups and technology advancement in the country.
BJP has said it will create a 'Seed Startup Fund' for startups
Funding startups to create more opportunities
The BJP, which calls its manifesto ‘Sankalp Patra’ (pledge document), said that it will continue to create opportunities for India’s youth.
Under the section that addressed upon creating opportunities for India’s youth, the BJP said it will continue to promote and encourage startups through the creation of a ‘Seed Startup Fund’ of Rs 20,000 crore.
The ruling political party has also promised that it will launch a new scheme to provide collateral-free credit of up to Rs 50 lakh for entrepreneurs.
Women's entrepreneurship - Taking on the cause of women entrepreneurs, the BJP manifesto guarantees 50 percent of the above loan amount to women entrepreneurs.
Further, the party also promised that it will set-up a new 'Entrepreneurial Northeast' scheme to provide financial support to the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which will act as an employment generation opportunity in the Northeastern states.
According to the document, more than 17 crore entrepreneurs have availed loans under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, and the BJP expects to expand this initiative to take the total number of beneficiaries of Mudra loans to up to Rs 30 crore.
On the other hand, though the Congress hasn’t made big promises on the funding side. However, it has said it will allocate sufficient funds to promote science, technology, and innovation in the country.
Congress has also promised to enhance the India Inclusive Innovation Fund to provide funds to innovative enterprises to scale-up and expand their operations, as well as engage with persons at the bottom of the economic pyramid in order to promote innovation at the grassroots.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi addressing entrepreneurs in Bengaluru.
The Angel Tax issue
While pegging India to be among the largest startup ecosystem in the world, the BJP has said it will strengthen this ecosystem by easing regulatory requirement for startups, and will ensure that startups don’t spend more than an hour in tax compliances per month.
However, the BJP steered clear of addressing the issue of Angel Tax.
Earlier, in December, it was reported that a group of more than 80 startups gave a formal submission to the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking an abolition of Angel Tax.
However, the Congress, in its manifesto, has said that it will abolish Angel Tax. Just last month, it had organised a session called ‘Conversations with Entrepreneurs’ with its party president Rahul Gandhi in Bengaluru, where he proclaimed that his government will ensure the abolishment of Angel Tax.
The Congress manifesto says, “The Angel Tax imposed on Startups will be withdrawn completely. We will make India an innovation hub.”
Setting up infrastructure for technology and startups
In its manifesto, theBJP has said that it is aiming to facilitate the establishment of 50,000 new startups in the ecosystem by 2024, through the creation of 100 innovation zones in urban local bodies.
It has also promised to set up close to 500 new incubators and accelerators by 2024, and will initiate rankings of central ministries, departments, state governments, and CPSUs for their increased engagement with startups.
Under the ‘Stand up India’ initiative, the BJP also wants to support entrepreneurial ventures started by individuals from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Communities, or economically weaker sections, it said in its manifesto.
In January 2016, as a part of the Startup India action plan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a credit guarantee fund with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore to provide funding opportunities to startups in the country.
On the other end, the Congress, in its manifesto, has promised to set up a National Data Science Institute with adequate funding and human resources to train and produce world-class Data Scientists.
The Opposition party has said it will establish a National Mission focused on sunrise technologies such as Big Data, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, 3-D Printing and Manufacturing, and Knowledge Networks.
The Congress has also promised to revitalise the National Innovation Council, and make it the premier body to formulate, debate, analyse, and implement strategies for innovation for the deployment of innovative technologies in different areas.
And the BJP has said it will launch a new Science Mission for the development of cutting-edge technologies and future technologies. Specifically focused on Artificial Intelligence mission and robotic research mission, it aims to leapfrog into the future world of cutting-edge technologies.
The Congress has stated it endeavours to bring every Fortune 500 company to set up a business in India, along with encouraging and incentivising starting of new businesses.
In its manifesto, the party said,
“Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plays a crucial part in development. FDI will be welcomed in all sectors, subject to exceptions on the grounds of national security. Rules and regulations will be minimal. FDI will be accorded national treatment and there will be a level-playing field for foreign and domestic investors. There will be no expropriation and no retrospective taxation.”
While addressing FDI, BJP said more than 90 percent FDI approvals are now through the automatic route. FDI has grown by almost 50 percent in the last five years. Similarly, implementation of One Nation, One Tax through GST has brought all businesses under a single tax net.
Technologies and advancements
In the past, eKYC has been a big hurdle for the fintech ecosystem in India.
However, the Congress has addressed the issue and said that it will work with the RBI to simplify the KYC process, avoid repetitive verification, and use a wider range of documents for the purpose.
Addressing the Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs), the Congress manifesto said, “We are concerned by the recent failure of some NBFCs that has affected the bond market, mutual funds, and the flow of credit. Congress promises to review and strengthen the regulatory regime of NBFCs in order to prevent such failures and to restore investor confidence.”
The BJP has also taken the cause of urban mobility, and in its manifesto, the ruling party has promised the following under its mobility initiatives. It will launch a National Urban Mobility Mission to provide technology-based urban mobility solutions to all urban local bodies, and increase the use of public transport, while enhancing walkability and cycle use.
Under this mission, the BJP plans to incentivise cities to integrate public transport systems such as metro trains, local trains, and buses with private bus operators, private taxi operators, auto-rickshaws, e-rickshaw services, pedestrian, and cycling infrastructure for a seamless and smooth last-mile connectivity.
The BJP is also planning to promote a common mobility card and ticketing across different modes of transport.
The ruling party added that it was committed to using technology in classrooms and in imparting education, and will provide smart classes to students.
Munich is known as a hub not just for industrial manufacturing and beer festivals, but art and culture as well. The Brandhorst Museum, located in the art district of the city across from the Pinakothek museums, was opened in 2009, and celebrates its 10th anniversary next month. It builds on the collections of Udo Fritz-Hermann and Anette Brandhorst, and includes a range of modern art as well.
The striking multi-coloured building has spacious galleries spread across three floors, and also has a great view of the Pinakothek der Moderne (see our earlier photo essay here). Featured artists over the years include Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Jannis Kounellis, Francesco Clemente, Gerhard Richter, Alex Katz, Anri Sala, and Damien Hirst.
The gallery and showroom have a wide range of art books as well, as featured in this photo essay along with the artworks. From paintings and installations to reading materials and artist meetups, this venue has it all.
Now, what have you done today to increase your “art quotient,” and find ways of infusing creativity into your daily work?
See also the YourStory pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups,’ accessible as apps for Apple and Android devices.
There are a lot of dietary theories out there with everyone on a mission to find that magical diet, which will propel them to success! But is there any truth to them? Functional nutritionist Deepa Kannan breaks down the dos and don'ts of dieting, whether keto is actually good for everyone, if intermittent fasting is the wonder diet, is juicing after binge drinking really the best way, and more.
Adarsh Eshwarappa goes on thriller mode with Bhinna
Proust with Chef Rakhee Vaswani of Palate Culinary Studio and Academy
‘A good cook must taste, taste, taste and keep a clean workstation’, says Rakhee Vaswani, a chef, and the founder of Palate Culinary Studio and Academy. She has trained celebrities like Malaika Arora Khan, Arjun Kapoor and Kriti Sanon. Rakhee also hosted over four shows for the popular Foodtainment Channel Living Foodz. She tells us what her biggest fears, greatest love, and achievements are.
The Lenbachhaus museum in Munich is a prominent attraction in the city's Kunstareal (art district) at Konigsplatz, near the Pinakothek museums. The Lenbachhaus was founded in 1929 after a donation by the widow of the German artist Franz von Lenbach, and hosts popular exhibitions of contemporary art.
A museum extension was designed by the architectural firm Foster + Partners and inaugurated in 2013. The collections span photographs from the 18th century onwards, German expressionism (including the Blue Rider movement), post-war artists, and interactive digital art.
Some of the rooms have kept their original design from almost 130 years ago. Featured artists include Jan Polack, Christoph Schwarz, Georges Desmarees, Carl Rottmann, Eduard Schleich, James Coleman, Thomas Demand, Georgia O’Keefe, and Wilhelm Trubner.
The styles are drawn from Dresden to Berlin, and from Austria to the US. In this photo essay, we feature some of the pictures, paintings, metal sculptures, outdoor installations and ornamental clocks on display.
Now, what have you done today to spot the broader trends in the world around you, and anticipate how you may come up with a creative response?
See also the YourStory pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups,’ accessible as apps for Apple and Android devices.
Until last September, Mrinal Kashyap was heading Ola’s leasing business in Mumbai, and was responsible for the daily supply of vehicles to large B2B customers, including the city’s top hotels. Prior to that, he served as the sales and operations head for Meru Cabs. And, before that, he had founded a logistics startup - MyShipMate - in 2013, which was eventually acquired by Parcelled.in (a Delhivery-funded startup, now defunct) in 2015.
Even though Mrinal spent three years as a salaried professional, the urge to start up again stayed with him. He likes sporting the “serial entrepreneur” tag and is ready to “burn cash and build” something all over again. Late last year, he finally got the opportunity.
The idea of Habitro Labs,Mrinal’s new startup, germinated when he wanted to get his home automated. After a few Google searches and some on-ground recces across Mumbai, he realised that the city had tens of hundreds of local manufacturers and suppliers of home automation systems.
But, the market was highly unorganised; there was no single player who could be trusted with either products or after-sales service. Also, it is not easy for a layman to find these dealers.
Mrinal Kashyap, Co-Founder & CEO, Habitro Labs
Mrinal tells YourStory, “These are mostly small dealers without any technical background who import products from Europe or China, and integrate them in people’s homes. They have no branding, no after-sales channel, and certainly do not inspire buyers even if they have the spending power. Questions remain like what if the shop shuts down abruptly? Can a buyer trust them with a few lakhs of their money?”
Even international companies like Lutron, a global leader in home automation, lacks brand recognition and market connect in India. Their product offering is steeply priced, and they choose to cater to only the savvy, elite population.
“These are some of the loopholes we wanted to plug at a lower price and with a pan-India presence,” Mrinal explains.
Habitro was incorporated about five months ago in Mumbai. Mrinal’s ex-colleague (name undisclosed), an IIM alumni and former Fleet Manager at Ola, joined him as Co-founder. A third co-founder (also an ex-Ola guy) will soon be on board as the startup’s technical lead, Mrinal reveals. “I’m from the operations side and understand the marketplace model well. Now, we need a tech lead to drive the app side of things,” he says.
Essentially, Habitro (which has grown to 10 members now) wants to bea pan-India, Ola-like aggregator of home automation providers.
It has built an open source aggregation platform for all small-big dealers, suppliers, and manufacturers of home automation products. The testing, deployment, cross-selling, branding, and after-sales service is done by Habitro under its own brand name.
Mrinal says, “The end customer doesn’t know who the dealer is. To them, Habitro is the trustworthy platform delivering home automation at their doorstep.”
Further explaining the model, he says,
“Before Ola came in, the taxi industry was already existing. But it was unorganised. Ola aggregated it and made taxis more accessible. We plan to do the same with home automation. It will not be restricted to only certain segments of the market. We want to make it mass.”
Customer acquisition and market expansion
Habitro says that Mumbai and Pune are India’s top home automation markets. YourStory did a cursory search on JustDial and it threw up a 100+ home automation dealers in Borivali - a faraway northern suburb of Mumbai - alone. One could very well multiply that by 5x or more for the rest of the city.
Mrinal says,
“People in Mumbai are ready to spend on these devices. There is a lot of demand, and we’re looking to target residential societies and offices, mostly co-working spaces. We have done a few pilots too.”
This year, the startup will continue to focus on the Mumbai-Pune corridor, even though it has secured a few dealerships in Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, and Jaipur too. It is looking to raise Rs 10-15 crore in 2019, and is in talks with angel investors. “Both market expansion and hiring will happen after that,” the founder says.
Habitro is bootstrapped so far, but claims to have generated revenues of about Rs 75 lakh already. Most of it has been driven by B2B customers, including co-working spaces like OF10, and WorkSquare, and realtors like Tridhaatu, and others.
“We’re cross-selling through builders, architects, and interior designers instead of reaching out directly to the home buyer. Conversion rates are better this way,” Mrinal says.
“We are also tapping into the broker network and asking them to sell Habitro as a packaged service. We then go for a demo, and the broker gets a cut of the revenues,” he explains.
The startup claims to offer a distinct price advantage of 45-50 percent over existing domestic suppliers. An average 2BHK flat can be fully automated at under Rs 3 lakh by Habitro, while customers end up spending Rs 7 lakh or more on unbranded systems imported from abroad. People do have a choice to opt out of the “packaged” service, but most of them end up opting for it, Mrinal notes.
“Our research shows that people look for home automation either when they are buying a property or when they are looking for innovation. So, we want to be available to them right from the buying stage,” he says.
Going ahead, the startup has ambitions of manufacturing its own home automation devices, and capturing millions of data points on its platform, which it can later sell to companies in need of such data to analyse consumer behaviour. “Our end goal is data,” Mrinal says.
“The data we track will be refined and it will cover all activities, right from the alarm going off in the morning till the lights dimming at night," he adds.
But, despite the fact that home automation is a burgeoning market in India, which IDC estimates to be worth $5 billion by 2022, challenges of adoption remain.
The older population believes they can do without automation because they have manually switched off lights and fans all their lives. And, the younger population may not be able to splurge on advanced technologies.
Hence, Habitro’s core target audience is the 30-40 age bracket. “We’re looking at people who are buying their first home, who are aware of automation, and have the intent and spending power,” Mrinal says.
The curtains have just gone up – “automatically”. And, it’s show time for Habitro!
What’s the most important thing you need to take care of when it comes to developing a top-notch software product? Founders, especially those without a tech background, have a hard time finding out which technology stack they should use for their product. The frequently asked questions related to the tech stack, by non-technical founders are:
Should we use Python or Java as the programming language?
What would be the right choice for the web framework: Node.js or Flask?
What will be the perfect front-end option: React, Angular or Vue.JS?
What about the database: MySQL, or MongoDB?
Should we self-host the app or go with Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud?
Here's a quick guide to help founders with a non-coding background in choosing the right stack for their startup.
What is a tech stack?
In very simple words, the technology stack is a set of tools and frameworks used in software development. In other words, it's the combination of programming languages, frameworks, and tools used to develop web and mobile applications.
A typical web or mobile application is divided into two parts:
Although the backend of the application is not visible to the users, it powers the front end, just like a power station that generates electricity for your home. The choice of backend technology for developing the web or mobile application is of vital importance.
“LAMP”, an abbreviation for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP, was always one of the most popular back-end stacks. PHP is used as the scripting language, MySQL as the database, Apache as the web server, and Linux as the server's operating system.
But nowadays, “MEAN”, which stands for MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js, has become one of the more popular choices for tech stack for MVPs.
Front end (concerning client side)
Front-end development includes everything a user sees on their screen such as a website, web app or a mobile app. There are three major frontend technology stack components:
HTML: defines the structure of the information presented in the browser.
CSS: determines the style of the application content such as fonts, colors, and layouts.
JavaScript: enables the interactivity of the web page.
Google's AngularJS and Facebook's React.js are two of the most popular front-end stacks used by the developers today.
Benefits of choosing the right stack
Choosing the right tech stack for your application can be beneficial to your business in many ways. The benefits of choosing the right tech stack are:
The base performance of your product or software will be solid.
Your developer will able to code better and faster, and you’ll be able to retain the same developers for future projects.
Your software's codebase will be easy to maintain while choosing wrong stacks leads to additional maintenance costs and technical debts.
The stack will be well documented and it will be easy to fix common bugs and/or performance issues.
Drawbacks of choosing the wrong stack
Choosing the wrong tech stack can prove expensive, and you may face the following troubles:
A new stack will require additional time to adopt and the build time from ground up is equally long.
Some of the latest tech stacks have frequent update cycles that will require frequent changes to keep the app running with the latest codebase.
You may face trouble finding experienced developers.
The tech stack may become unsustainable.
Now that you know the possible advantages and disadvantages of choosing the right stack, how can you choose the right stack every time?
1. Stage of your business
Your technology stack plays an important role at every stage of your business. If you’re just starting out, your primary goal must be launch the MVP as quickly as possible. Any language/framework/CMS tool that lets you put together a working prototype in the shortest possible time should be a good fit.
WordPress is the ideal choice for a customer facing website or building a landing page as you do not require heavy programming knowledge. If your business is in the finance or banking space that requires security from the onset, opt for Java from the beginning.
2. Project requirement
Before choosing any tech stack, understand the requirements of the project. Does your app require real-time functionality, such as a chatbot or live chat? In such cases, go with a tech stack that is good at concurrency, such as Node.
If you’re a blogger who requires a functional website to increase conversions, WordPress or Drupal will work best. Is your frontend UI full of complex interactions? Then React or Angular may be good front-end tech stacks. Complete understanding of the project goals and business objectives along with the right selection of tech stack plays an important role in long-term success. Wrong selection may lead to financial loss.
3. Availability of resources
The availability of developers who will create your product is one of the most influential factors defining your company's technology stack. Look whether your developers are willing and able to work within your chosen tech stack. Suppose you select a programming language not in common use such as Lisp, you will be hard-pressed to find programmers who know how to use it. If they do, they’ll charge a premium.
Pick a tech stack that has a dynamic developer community. Commonly used programming languages will thrive in the near future and as a business owner it is easy for you to add new developers to the team.
4. Development and maintenance cost
The technology stack directly influences development cost. There are a couple of factors to consider before picking up the right tech stack:
The cost of hiring a developer: Developers must be skilled professionals and the cost of hiring them varies based on the technologies they work with.
Maintenance cost: The job doesn’t get over with the development completion of the MVP. Take into account the maintenance and upgradation cost. Consider sticking to open source technologies because they are cheaper and can be updated and changed without any restrictions.
5. Time to market
Time to market is perhaps the most important for all startups. The faster you develop and launch your application, the more exposure you’ll get. Also, the less the time you spend developing initially, the more time you get to learn from the feedback of the users.
Here is a list of the common issues you must consider while choosing a suitable tech stack:
Third-party integration: Make sure the technology stack you choose allows third-party integrations, to integrate the features you need into your web or mobile application without reinventing the wheel.
Developer availability: To turn your idea into a great web application, you need to have an experienced team of developers that can use the tools you choose and work with you in the long-term. Ask them if they will offer post-launch support.
Testing: Make informed decisions based on how easy it would be to run tests on the chosen platform. No software product is developed perfectly the very first time. The chosen tech stack should allow you to fix bugs or tweak features easily without eating up a lot of time.
6. Scalability and security
Products require a well-defined scalability matrix that works on both the scenarios either vertically or horizontally.
Vertical scalability: lets you add more features on top of the core value proposition of your product.
Horizontal scenario: lets you handle increased volume of users and transactions on the platform.
Security
Always make sure the application is developed keeping the best practices of security and threat mitigation in mind. Run security tests both on client and server side to eliminate the common security threats. The more robust your product is, the easier it becomes to sell in the market.
At the end, make a choice that works best for your business. You can choose the technology to go with, based on your business goals, requirements and the resources you can afford.
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)
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