The backlash against Big Tech heads into a new phase on Monday with another broad antitrust investigation, highlighting the mounting legal challenges facing the dominant online platforms.
Top legal officials from dozens of US states were set to unveil a probe of Google over allegations of "anti competitive behaviour," days after a separate coalition announced a similar investigation of social networking giant Facebook.
The latest probe come on top of a review launched earlier this year by federal regulators of major online platforms to determine if they have "stifled" innovation or reduced competition.
A coalition led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton scheduled a news conference on Monday where states were expected to launch the probe of Google, the Alphabet unit which dominates online search and advertising.
"I happen to think this will rewrite the standard for antitrust," Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody told CNBC television.
Moody said that while tech firms have largely avoided antitrust scrutiny because they offer free services, "I would argue they're not free at all in fact," because of how they use personal data.
Google confirmed that the Department of Justice had asked for its records on previous antitrust probes.
Kent Walker, Google's Senior Vice President of global affairs, said in a blog post on Friday that the company would cooperate with regulators while stressing that its services "help people, create more choice, and support thousands of jobs and small businesses across the United States."
Christopher Sagers, a Cleveland State University professor of antitrust law, said it was potentially "very significant" to see the state coalitions working on antitrust.
"After the past few years, the Trump administration's antitrust program has come to seem pretty inactive, influenced by a lot of politics that have made it hard to interpret," Sagers said.
"The states definitely seem more serious, and it seems quite significant that this new coalition is bipartisan."
On Friday, New York state Attorney General Letitia James announced an action on behalf of seven other states and the District of Columbia to probe "whether Facebook has stifled competition and put users at risk."
"We will use every investigative tool at our disposal to determine whether Facebook's actions may have endangered consumer data, reduced the quality of consumers' choices, or increased the price of advertising," James said.
Facebook offered no immediate comment, but in the past it has claimed it is not a monopoly and that consumers have many choices for how to connect with people online.
The antitrust actions come against a backdrop of declining public trust in big online firms, and fines levied against Facebook and Google over privacy violations.
Yet the legal basis for an antitrust action remains unclear, said Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University.
"It remains to be seen if the (attorneys general) have any merit to their complaints or if they will be conducting a fishing expedition hoping to find some damning evidence," Goldman said.
"Companies as large as Google or Facebook probably have minor problematic practices the AGs could target, but I'm still waiting for any evidence that would support more structural challenges to the internet giants' practices."
In the European Union, Google has faced a series of antitrust actions and Amazon is now being targeted by enforcers.
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has made a breakup of the big tech firms a part of her campaign platform.
In a bid to enhance customer experience and boost its delivery network, Amazon has launched an initiative that will allow deliveries from pickup points across four railway stations in Mumbai. As part of this, customers can select these four pickup locations on the checkout page of their order on Amazon.in and collect their packages on their way in or out.
Source: Shutterstock
Started in partnership with the Indian Railways, this initiative will be launched as a pilot across Mumbai’s local stations, including CSTM, Thane, Dadar, and Kalyan. To make deliveries easier, the US-based ecommerce giant will be setting up kiosks at the foot traffic locations within the stations, providing easy accessibility and better convenience to customers
“As a customer-obsessed company, we are constantly leveraging our resources and technology to build initiatives that are grounded in customer convenience,” said Prakash Rochlani, Director of Last Mile Transportation, Amazon India, commenting on this latest initiative.
He added, “The suburban railway network forms the backbone of public transportation in Mumbai. We are excited about our partnership with the Indian Railways because it will help us provide an easy and convenient service for customers via these pickup kiosks when they are in transit every day.”
As an online retailer, Amazon is committed to a convenience-led purchasing experience for customers. And with this move, the company will be focusing on its delivery network in Mumbai, a city which also has the largest suburban railway network in the country, servicing millions of passengers on an everyday basis.
“Millions of people use the suburban railways as a primary mode of transportation. We welcome this partnership as the launch of Amazon kiosks will help elevate our commuters’ experience at these stations. This will help Amazon customers pick up their orders during their commute, and thereby save time,” Indian Railways said.
India’s leading ecommerce marketplace Flipkart has introduced a new programme to help new shoppers from metro cities, Tier-II and III locations for an easy shopping experience for the forthcoming festive season and its Big Billion Days Sale.
Under this programme, called the “Flipkart Authorised BuyZone”, the company has partnered with close to 10,000 general trade stores in almost 700 cities, across 20 states. These will assist shoppers access a vast selection of mobile phones, select large appliances, and consumer electronic products from various brands, as per their budget requirements. These categories also play a key role in consumer consumption during the festive season.
As a run up to the festive season, Flipkart has begun partnering with the general trade stores, to handhold consumers who are traditionally comfortable engaging with these stores.
These stores have been trained to assist shoppers create a Flipkart account, and choose from a vast selection of mobile phones, select large appliances, and consumer electronic products from various brands, as per their budget requirements.
According to Flipkart, this initiative will help remove access barriers while increasing reach to newer regions and also ensuring additional income for the owners of general trade stores.
Consumers in these markets can look forward to accessing Flipkart’s full range of mobile phones, select large appliances, and consumer electronic products during the upcoming Big Billion Days at a general trade store nearest to them.
Speaking about the initiative, Aditya Soni - Senior Director - Mobiles, Flipkartsaid,
"Flipkart has played a key role in the adoption of smartphones in India by ensuring strong partnerships, and bringing the best offers to our consumers in a way that suits them best. Our ‘Flipkart Authorised BuyZone’ initiative is another example of being close to our consumers and will help us build trust and credibility for Flipkart in newer markets."
Sharing his views, Hari G Kumar - Senior Director - Large Appliances, at Flipkartadded, “We believe this initiative will play a significant role in improving access to the widest range of Large appliances that consumers look for during the festive season. While onboarding new consumers, we are confident that this initiative will also enhance consumer trust and experience .”
Earlier this year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) formed a five member committee under Nandan Nilekani to make recommendations to accelerate the growth of digital payments in the country. With the number of digital payment users expected to increase to 300 million from 100 million, the committee affirmed that the per capita digital transactions, which stood at 22 in March 2019, are expected to rise to 220 by March 2022. These figures are the perfect example of the progress digital payments have made in the country, which makes India a trend-setter in digital payments, globally.
Initially, digital payments were started as a pilot programme in the banking industry. The past five years, however, have seen the introduction of new technology (Unified Payments Interface) and subsequent expansion of use cases across sectors including bill payments, merchant payments, insurance and asset management, amongst others. This has led to the growth of fintech companies who are focused on addressing the existing and future needs of today’s digital customers.
Here are the top trends that will shape digital payments in the coming year.
Convenience and use cases will be the growth drivers
The early adoption of digital payments was led by Gen Z with others slowly embracing the innovation. This can largely be attributed to quick payments and instant end-results which payment apps enabled and early adopters saw great value in that. Over time, what is evident is that digital payments have moved from being just a transaction medium to a way of life.
As we move forward, the digital payments industry will need to continue creating new user experiences which are need-based and innovative. For instance, some payments apps have introduced features like “payment reminders” where users can set payments for recurring monthly bills. Similarly, the “auto payment” option has made life really easy while paying for daily use cases like cabs, etc. The idea will be to create more connected transaction experiences that add value to a user’s life. This will result in the entire financial landscape transforming. In short, a customer-focused approach will continue to be the key to creating use cases to deliver differentiated experiences.
Offline acceptance will be a game changer
More than 95 percent of Indian retail expenditure is offline, of which 70 percent are cash payments - herein lies the opportunity for digital payments to significantly move the needle. In fact, over the past year, penetration of digital payments is no longer restricted to urban India and is increasingly being adopted by Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV cities across the country. While the offline mass sector continues to be dominated by small retailers, it has increasingly become important for them to embrace digital technologies to compete with the convenience offered by the ever-growing online businesses. Store owners are recognising the benefits of having a digital payment infrastructure and understand how they have become instrumental in boosting their business. What is also helping drive this growth is fintech players are tailoring customised solutions making it easier for merchants to start accepting digital payments.
For instance, small merchantscan use the ubiquitousQR Code solution, that just requires a feature phone to get started. This solution is extremely simple to use and does not require extensive training for cashiers and/or proprietors. Fintech players have also introduced innovations such as a merchant app to facilitate end-to-end control for merchants on the payment process, including transaction confirmations and reconciliations helping to make the kiranas and small stores more digitally-savvy. Current trends indicate that digital payments are the way forward and small retailers are adapting their approach to remain relevant.
Collaboration will be the key
We live in an era of open banking and Application Programming Interface (API). These advances have made it possible for pioneers in the digital payments industry to deliver more valuable, consumer-focused payments experiences. The power of the mobile handset and the connected ecosystem has enabled the creation of new tools to deliver value beyond the realm of only transactions. Today, one can visualise an increased level of collaboration between banks, merchants/billers and fintech companies. Innovative use cases as well as new profit pools will open up as the ecosystem players collaborate with each other.
What does the future hold?
The Indian digital payments market is in early stages and is poised for exponential growth driven by continued growth and penetration of smart-phones, increased adoption of digital payments by both consumers and merchants and technological innovation by key ecosystem players. Over the next five to 10 years, increased personalisation, wider penetration and acceptance across Tier II, III and IV markets will help bring in the next 250 million Indians who are on the Internet, but not using digital payments yet.
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)
Jack Ma will step down next week as the Chairman of Alibaba, but the startup he built into and the online retail behemoth is expected to keep thriving into a new era, thanks to a culture of innovation he helped nurture.
A former English teacher whose often playful image shattered the stereotype of the drab Chinese executive, Ma officially leaves on Tuesday, his 55th birthday.
Ma plans to put his vast fortune - among China's biggest at $41 billion - into initiatives serving his first love, education, following the footsteps of a fellow tech innovator he admires: Bill Gates.
The departure of charismatic founders from big tech companies typically causes hand-wringing and wobbling share prices, but not at Alibaba.
Jack Ma, Chairman, Alibaba
The company's operational reins have for a couple of years now been in the hands of a respected team of executives who have kept it on ecommerce's cutting-edge.
Ma was Alibaba's driving force and a frequently irreverent ambassador for the company, known for stunts like a Michael Jackson-inspired dance at an Alibaba anniversary celebration two years ago, and starring in his own kung fu short film.
However, he is expected to retain some advisory functions.
But the transition to figures like CEO Daniel Zhang, and Co-founder and Executive Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai -- announced exactly a year ago - may prove to be the "gold standard" for tech-company succession, said Jeffrey Towson, an equity investor and professor at Peking University.
"He's succeeded at what Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and (Yahoo Co-founder) Jerry Yang failed at, which is making themselves redundant," said Towson, who has authored books on China's leading companies.
"He built a really robust culture at Alibaba, and they are still just innovating like crazy." Ma was a cash-strapped Chinese entrepreneur when he convinced friends to give him $60,000 to start Alibaba in the eastern city of Hangzhou in 1999.
With monthly active users of more than 750 million today, Alibaba helped to unlock China's massive consumer power, coincidentally a key objective of the government today as its seeks to fuel domestic demand to lessen the reliance on fickle foreign trade.
Its Taobao and Tmall platforms have helped countless businesses grow.
"(Ma) has been the driving force for the development of China's internet industry and economy. He is (China's) entrepreneurial godfather," said furniture maker Cheng Huaibao.
Cheng, 30, is one of millions of small businessmen, often located in so-called "Taobao villages" -- communities whose economies are oriented towards Alibaba's vast market -- who leapt into commerce thanks to the company.
Cheng started making bunk beds in 2010 in eastern Jiangsu province with 10 staff. Today his thriving operation has 100 employees.
"Without Teacher Ma, I wouldn't have come out and started my own business," Cheng said, using a common Chinese term of respect.
Alibaba and its imitators are accused of fostering rampant commercialism and materialism and the selling of counterfeit goods.
Chinese ecommerce today also produces mountains of packaging material, contributing to a rising national garbage problem.
And some of Ma's comments have drawn barbs, including recently dismissing concerns that Chinese workers were toiling excessive hours, as did the news last year that he was a Chinese Communist Party member.
But Alibaba has continued to expand its ecosystem, pushing into cloud computing, entertainment, and a "new retail" concept -- combining online ordering with bricks-and-mortar stores -- while its Alipay finance unit has pioneered cashless digital payments.
Despite slowing Chinese economic growth and the US trade war, earnings have so far remained strong.
Ma, who has established an eponymous charitable organisation, already has launched a range of education initiatives.
Last month, he sketched out his mantra going forward during a technology debate in Shanghai with Elon Musk, good-naturedly chiding the US entrepreneur about his obsession with putting a man on Mars.
"We need a hero like you, but we need more heroes like us improving things on Earth," Ma said.
One of the fundamental aspects of the global economy today is a focus on digital transformation. Oman is one such country that has been experiencing its own share of rapid digital transformation. As part of the country’s drive towards a digital economy, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Oman is organising a conference titled Oman E-Commerce Conference (OEC) 2019.
Speaking about the event, said Syed Khaleel, Director of Inovexic, says,
"OEC 2019 will be a very important business platform for electronic businesses, which will include inspiring sessions, exhibitions, meetings and initiatives that have been successfully tried-and-tested, all embedded in an inspiring event for bright ideas of digital commerce in the future."
OEC 2019 will be held on September 16 and 17 at Oman Convention and Exhibition Center. This year, the event is set to have a new theme and a new format of events, including 10 workshops on a number of interesting topics. Over 20 government representatives, 600 decision-makers, 50 global speakers and 50 exhibitors are expected to participate.
The main sessions and panel discussions will allow participants to communicate, exchange information and learn best practices for secure electronic transactions to accelerate the first digital strategy in the business workplace. In an exclusive environment, digital leaders from India, Europe and the US will engage with the audience in stimulating sessions.
OEC 2019 will put the spotlight on the growth of e-commerce and digital commerce to demonstrate the importance of digital transformation in business and find solutions to overcome the current fragmentation and sustainability questions. The conference will bring together a wide range of e-commerce community leaders who rely on digital solutions. The conference aims to bring together key stakeholders of the digital ecosystem to coordinate and align the various digitisation efforts through e-commerce initiatives and work together for a more sustainable economy.
On how they conceptualising the conference, Abdul Khalid M, Growth Lead at Inovexic, says, “Inovexic has researched and tuned into the local business ecosystem of Oman to such an extent so that ‘everything online’ has resonated all across the GCC. This has been a great revelation in the amount of digital transformation needs that businesses need to acquire and are looking at to expand into the Global Markets. Based on these insights – the everything online MENA series has been curated with the Saudi eCommerce Conference 2020 lined up and more versions to come all across the Middle East.”
The conference will be attended by a number of eminent personalities from the business and economic spheres, including Mohsin Khamis Al Balushi - Adviser to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Khalid Muhammad Al Zubair - Chairman of OMINVEST, Joy Ajlouny - Co-Founder Fetchr, Ali Al Shidhani - Group VP Technology Asyad, Mona Ataya - CEO Mumzworld, Dharmin Ved - CEO Apparel Group, Thomas Varghese - MD Mozanta Technologies, Sarah Jones - CEO at Sprii.com, Waqas Nakhwa – CEO Kart Block, Kishore Rajgopal – CEO NextOrbit, Varghese Cherian – MD Builder.ai, Geet Vaishnav – CEO Securitybulls, Matthew Sliedrecht – Marketing Director Cleartrip.com, Ahmad AR. bin Dawood, Majed Al Tahan, Bart Denolf, Oliver White, and Hammad Anwer and many more as speakers.
YourStory is proud to be a media partner for OEC 2019.
Game of Thrones is nothing less than a “once-a-generation” cultural phenomenon. Westeros has every possible element to lure viewers and keep them hooked till the very end. But it takes a management geek to understand that the helm of the show does not lie with dragons, White Walkers, or even the gruesome spoils of wars that it expertly captures.
Rather, it is the relationships among the characters and the dynamics of their interactions that drive the story. And if one were to look closely, they could draw numerous analogies against the corporate backdrop of our reality. Although much less grisly, the competition and politics here are just as ruthless.
Here’s a look at some of the best management lessons that we can draw from Game of Thrones:
(This is a post for readers who have already watched the show or read the book. We suggest you stop reading if you do not want any spoilers.)
1. Be a leader, not a manager
Case in point: Jon Snow. He was instrumental in uniting the Seven Kingdoms in the land of Westeros against an enemy that no one else saw coming. And while he was doing so, his aim was not to be acclaimed for his actions or to serve hidden agendas. Instead, he simply wanted to do the right thing for the greater good. The result of his selfless leadership was why he became the Commander of the Night’s Watch, the King in the North, and even managed to be the right-hand man of the Iron Throne’s occupant. It is the people around him who trusted and admired him, and who choose him as their leader.
And this is where our first lesson lies. A leader functions in stark contrast with a manager. While the latter believes in offloading tasks and micromanaging, a leader shows subordinates the way and exercises interpersonal influence. S/he focuses on taking teams beyond expectations by removing obstacles such as excessive bureaucracy, interpersonal conflict, and toxic cultures.
In the words of Tywin Lannister, “Any fool with a bit of luck can find himself born into power. But earning it for yourself…that takes work.”
2. Build trusted relationships to discover strengths
The character arc of Ned Stark reiterates this. Ned was popularly considered to be the protagonist of the show but critically failed to gather the trust of others around him. The result? We see him being beheaded just nine hours into the story.
In contrast, Tyrion Lannister craftily plays his hands in a similar situation. He builds a relationship of trust with Daenerys Targaryen by sharing intricate details and uniting against a common enemy. Some key management attributes in the scenario that helped Tyrion survive include:
Being an open and effective communicator.
Leading by example and demonstrating that he can be trusted.
Being transparent about his thoughts, even when he disagreed with Daenerys’ extreme measures of dealing with non-followers.
Showing heart whenever needed and taking the time to nurture meaningful relationships with key stakeholders.
3. Every decision you make has consequences
Decision-making is the cornerstone of lasting leadership. Critical thinking ability at defining moments is what enables managers to come up with solutions without wasting any time or going through the ordeal of overthinking. But it takes an insightful mind to realise that every decision ultimately has consequences that affect both the decision-maker and others around him/her. In fact, even the most well-informed or emotionally-backed actions can entice a daunting version of the butterfly effect that stops only at utter chaos.
Daenerys Targaryen is no stranger to this. At the moment she decided to take the help of a witch to save her ailing husband, her fate was sealed. This seemingly minute decision made her embark on a journey that ultimately impacted the lives of millions of people, for better or worse. In retrospect, a minute and desperate act of saving a loved one ultimately resulted in a character arc that would save half of the world and burn the other half. And all this while Daenerys proves to be a key ingredient in the war against the Night King, saving the world from impending doom.
This makes one wonder. Would all of this be possible had Daenerys been in an everlasting shadow of Khal Drogo?
4. Be adaptable and harness creative friction
Imagine an 11-year-old girl who has always been overshadowed and protected by her family, brothers, and even her younger sister. All she can ever dream of is to marry a prince and ride off in the sunset to a “happily ever after”. This was the character arc of Sansa in the first season of the show (or the book). And we all know how it ended. She had to watch her father being beheaded, came dangerously close to being raped or killed multiple times, and was sold off to the Boltons by Littlefinger, being forced to live with the very people who murdered her parents. All this while she was wrongfully charged of being an accomplice in the murder of Joffrey, the King of the Seven Kingdoms. The staggering amount of adaptation that Sansa had to go through is not for the faint hearted.
Businesses are the same, especially against a technologically-fueled backdrop. Organisations today are constantly finding their business models being disrupted and need to explore new avenues of revenue generation. Managers need to constantly optimise both internal and external processes by identifying dysfunctional habits and factors that proliferate transformative efforts. And just like the characters of the show, inadaptability can prove to be fatal for survival.
5. Always be prepared for winter
“Winter is Coming.” An article on Game of Thrones without this adage seems incomplete. And interestingly, it is the best possible management lesson that one can learn. Ned Stark’s favourite catchphrase expertly captures the essence of the entire show, while also providing substantial fodder for managers to ponder over.
The key to a lasting management regime is to be ready for the worst, no matter how stable the present looks. Having predetermined action plans for both expected and unexpected challenges, difficulties, or even disasters can prove to be the difference in your survival strategy. Some crucial steps that can allay fears include:
Assessing every associated business risk
Analysing key business functions
Preparing emergency responses
Being process-centric instead of people-centric
Creating an emergency fund
Planning for remote communication
Setting up a disaster chain of command
The verdict
On a closing note, never be outwitted, be the master of your own course, and have authentic contingency plans in place.
The greatest management lesson of all comes from the creators of the show themselves who created a multimillion-dollar pilot that was never aired. The control group that watched the episode deemed it to be so confusing and substandard that they completely missed major plot points. The creators requested HBO for additional funds to reshoot the pilot while tweaking 90 percent of the script.
Fast-forward eight years into the future and here we are, discussing every facet of the masterpiece.
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)
Reliance Industries (RIL), India’s largest private company by revenues, has gone on record and said it wants to support waste treatment and management startups, both domestic and global.
“We are looking to fund and are scouting around for all the technology available for waste segregation, recycling, and waste-to-energy. We are thinking about the bets we should be making in this regard,” said Vipul Shah, Chief Operating Officer, Petrochemicals, RIL, as reported by Mint.
Shah said the firm had reviewed a few hundred applications from startups and was looking at a model that could be replicated.
The Mukesh Ambani-owned company is keen to give back to the environment as there is a lot of environmental damage, particularly to the oceans, caused by the sheer volume of plastic waste.
Considered one of the largest recyclers of PET (Post-consumer) waste in India, Reliance converted about two billion waste PET bottles into fabric in 2018. And now, it plans to double the current capacity of PET bottle recycling to five million bottles in the next few years.
To create value from waste, Reliance has also used recycled plastic in road construction. In its annual report, RIL said the PET business has involved end consumers in its recycling initiative. It encourages end consumers to deposit empty PET bottles at reverse vending machines installed at Reliance SMART stores, railway stations, and various other locations.
Earlier this year, Raymond Group, India’s leading fashion and textile manufacturer and retailer, joined hands with Reliance Industries to unveil an eco-friendly range of fabrics.
Glance, the mobile first content platform and part of the InMobi Group has closed $45 million in investment from Mithril Capital. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Mithril Capital, with over $1.2 billion in committed capital, is a growth stage investment firm co-founded by Silicon Valley investors Ajay Royan and Peter Thiel.
Glance delivers artificial intelligence-driven, personalised content to screen zero of smartphones. As of August 2019, Glance has more than 50 million daily active users who spend 22 minutes per day on Glance, the company said in a press release.
In conjunction with Mithril’s investment, co-founder Ajay Royan has joined the Glance board.
According to Glance, Mithril’s $45 million investment anchors a larger financing round. The new funds will enable Glance to launch multiple new platforms, including Glance TV - a mobile-first, short form video platform; Glance Gaming - a destination for casual gamers; Glance Shopping, where content meets commerce; and Glance Nearby - a hyperlocal experiential platform. The company will also use the funds to expand into Southeast Asia in the coming months.
“Glance, the world’s first and fastest growing screen zero platform, is a powerful innovation to democratize content and commerce on the mobile Internet,” said Ajay Royan, Managing General Partner and Co-founder of Mithril Capital. “We share Glance’s global vision of breaking through the constraints of application architectures and linguistic markets to deliver rich, friction-less, and engaging experiences across a myriad of cultures and languages.”
“Glance is changing the landscape of content consumption to address the demands of the ‘attention economy’ we currently live in,” said Naveen Tewari, Founder & CEO, InMobi Group.
He added, “This investment from Mithril will help us further accelerate our journey through continued innovation in content-format, personalisation and content discovery, and expand into new geographies.”
Glance has partnered with all leading Android phone makers in India to deliver a universal screen zero experience. It is currently available in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu in India, and Bahasa in Indonesia.
Besides Glance, the other companies of InMobi Group includes InMobi Marketing Cloud and TruFactor.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) on Monday said it has invested close to $115 million in Gurugram-based logistics unicorn Delhivery, broadening its exposure in the logistics sector in India.
The investment was made through CPPIB’s Fundamental Equities Asia (FEA) Group, which performs fundamental research and invests in quality corporates for the long term throughout Asia.
It was earlier reported in June, by the media, that CPPIB was in the process of making a $150 million secondary market investment for a reported eight percent stake in the logistics startup. Further, the deal was approved by Competition Commission of India (CCI) last month.
Following the investment, CPPIB will have one seat on Delhivery’s Board.
Speaking on the fund raise, Deborah Orida, Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Active Equities, said,
“The continued strong growth of ecommerce has generated significant opportunities in India’s express logistics space for long-term investors such as CPPIB, and we are pleased to partner with a market leader. This investment in Delhivery builds on our Fundamental Equities Asia group’s strategy to provide strategic capital to high-quality companies in the region.”
Third-party logistics provider Delhivery currently operates in more than 2,000 cities (across more than 17,500 pincodes) offering a full range of supply chain services.
In March, Delhivery raised $413 million Series F round led by SoftBank Vision Fund, along with existing investors Carlyle Group and Fosun International at a valuation of $1.5 billion, making the company a part of the Indian unicorn list.
Speaking on the latest fund raise by CPPIB, Sahil Barua, Delhivery’s Founder & CEO said,
"We are delighted to welcome CPPIB as a new partner for our next phase of growth alongside our existing partners. The last year has been particularly exciting for us at Delhivery. We have crossed 17,500 pincodes across India, launched three new businesses, created over 10,000 new jobs and delivered handsome financial returns and liquidity for our early risk investors, while bringing in an incredible new set of patient partners who will continue to back us on our long-term ambition of becoming the operating system for commerce in India.”
Sahil also added that the company has crossed over 500 million in cumulative shipments to date.
“CPPIB has been active on the ground in India for nearly a decade and we continue to pursue opportunities to invest in the country as part of our focus on emerging markets. In Delhivery, we have found a highly reputable partner who fits well with our focus on supporting high-growth businesses,” said Alain Carrier, Senior Managing Director & Head of International, CPPIB.
As of June end this year, CPPIB’s total equity investments in India was up to $7.5 billion or (Canadian $9.9 billion) across all asset classes.
Delhivery today works with over 10,000 direct customers, which includes large and small ecommerce participants, SMEs, and over 350 leading enterprises and brands.
There’s no one single mantra for a startup to succeed. In fact, it involves a combination of factors. Some of these include having solid advice and mentorship from experts, technology that’s the right fit for them and at a price point that’s commensurate with their stage.
Finding a platform that offers all of these together is not easy. This is where HubSpot for Startups has been making a huge difference to over 8,000 startups across the globe. Since the programme has been designed specifically with startups in mind, it offers a combination of tools, strategic advice and support focussed on growth that's fast and scalable. Startups using the HubSpot Growth Platform also acquire and retain more customers, at a comfortable price.
With a global network that encompasses over 2,000 global VCs, accelerators, and incubators as partners, including leading names such as 500 Startups, Sequoia, TechStars, WeWork Labs, and Y Combinator, and regional programmes including Nasscom 10,000 Startups, Blume Ventures and 91SpringBoard, the programme has access to renowned industry experts and global support.
How push-notifications specialist iZooto scaled with HubSpot
Three-year-old Delhi-based SaaS startup iZooto, which is today counted among the leading players in the global push notifications space, is one of the companies that has benefitted from the HubSpot for Startups programme.
Vivek Khandelwal, Founder and CEO, iZooto, shares how the programme played a role in their journey to the top. “HubSpot acts as the operating system for iZooto. We run our entire business on HubSpot as the data flows between sales, marketing and service seamlessly. The HubSpot for Startups programme has been a boon for us as it really helped us scale our business without spending a lot of money on software tools. I highly recommend that startups in India leverage this programme and grow their business,” he says.
Here’s how startups will benefit from HubSpot for Startups
Not only does the programme allow startups to access HubSpot Growth Platform for up to 90 percent off, it also gives startups access to the following:
1. Education resources and tailored training
In addition to access to content, masterclasses and customised training, HubSpot for Startups also offers 24/7 phone support to startups, as well as advice from global HubSpot mentors to help them acquire and retain more customers. The entire onboarding experience is startup-friendly, with access to product training to help startups set up the software easily and use it best to increase customer acquisition.
2. Integrated platform for startups
Startups that are part of the programme get access to over 200 integrations with relevant apps and web services, including Stripe, Zapier, and others. You also get extra benefits such as credits from AWS and Stripe. These seamless integrations with HubSpot allow you to use the platform to best extend your capabilities and grow your company faster.
3. Full suite of professional software at startup pricing
An attractive feature of the HubSpot Growth Platform is that it is a full software suite that covers marketing, sales, and customer service, and CRM, and is flexible enough to grow as your company grows. Not only does it offer access to in-person product training, all of this comes at a startup-friendly price of up to 90 percent off.
Who can apply to the HubSpot for Startups programme?
Please note that to be eligible for HubSpot for Startups, you must be associated with one of the approved programme partners, either currently or as alumni, and must have raised up to Series A funding.
Startups with under $2 million USD in funding are eligible for 90 percent off in their first year, 50 percent in their second, and 25 percent thereafter. Startups who have raised over $2 million in named funding (up to and including Series A) are eligible for 50 percent off in their first year, and 25 percent off ongoing.
“At Blume, we work very closely with our startups to help them scale. HubSpot is our preferred partner as their startup program not only helps our portfolio companies automate their marketing and sales processes but also gives them access to tailored training, strategy and educational resources to help grow and scale their customer growth efforts, says Jitesh Luthra, Market Development, Blume Ventures.
If you are a startup from India, HubSpot for Startups is a great opportunity to grow your startup, scale faster, and get access to the latest tech and expertise, all at a startup-friendly price.
Losses for One97 Communications, the parent company of digital payments major Paytm, have been widening.
As a part of its annual report, a copy of which was reviewed by YourStory, One97 Communications' consolidated losses soared to Rs 4,217.20 crore in the fiscal year 2018-19. This is a 163 percent increase from last fiscal year (FY’18), when the consolidated losses for the company stood at Rs 1,604.34 crore.
In addition to this, One97 Communications reported a loss of Rs 899.64 crore in FY’17. Hence the losses from the last fiscal (FY’19) have mounted by almost five times.
What is surprising is that with losses mounting up, last fiscal, the revenues for Paytm’s parent hasn’t grown significantly.
One97 Communications’ consolidated revenues stood at Rs 3,579.67 crore in FY’19. This is not much of an increase (approx eight percent) since last fiscal (FY’18), when the consolidated revenues for the company stood at Rs 3,309.61 crore.
In comparison, consolidated revenues for One97 stood at Rs 780.19 crore for FY’17.
The consolidated numbers include One97 Communications’ other revenues including its investment platform, Paytm Money, as well as its entertainment and financial services businesses.
Replying to YourStory’s queries on the same, a Paytm spokesperson said,
"For the last two years, we have been investing $1 billion each year to expand digital payments ecosystem in our country. We will further invest about $3 billion in the next two years to scale the same. We believe India is at the inflection point of digital payments and Paytm’s sole focus is towards solving the merchant payments and offering them financial services. We will invest Rs 20,000 crore in the next two years towards achieving this."
The total expenses for the company also ballooned in FY’19 to Rs 7,730.14 crore, which is almost a 60 percent increase from last fiscal when One97 spent Rs 4,864.53 crore in expenses.
This news comes at a time when Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder, Paytm, is planning to take the company public in the next two years.
According to the annual report, One97 Communications is also increasing its existing ESOP pool from 1,923,620 equity options to 2,166,524 equity options of Rs 10 each.
Last month, Paytm (owned by One97 Communications Limited) said that it is allocating Rs 750 crore this financial year to acquire new customers and merchants in small cities and towns. Then in June, Paytm said it would invest Rs 250 crore for the expansion of Paytm QR in Tier IV and V towns this year.
Paytm expects to reach more than 20 million merchants across India by the end of this fiscal with this investment.
Mumbai-based edtech startup WhiteHat Jr on Tuesday announced that it had raised $10 million in Series A fundingled by existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Omidyar Network India.
The new funds will be used by the company to strengthen its technology platform, expand the course curriculum, and increase consumer awareness.
“We have been privileged to partner with Karan from the concept stage of the company, and have been very impressed with their execution and rapid growth. We are excited to strengthen our association with WhiteHat Jr’s mission of creating the next generation of innovators and thinkers.”
Owl Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based edtech focused venture capital fund, also participated in the round.
Amit A. Patel, Managing Director, Owl Ventures, said,
“This is our second investment in India and WhiteHat Jr has created something that is unique, scalable, and very relevant, not only in India but across other markets.”
Founded by Karan Bajaj, former Discovery Networks CEO, White Hat Jr helps kids aged between six to 14 build commercial-ready games, animations and apps online using the fundamentals of coding. It has developed its own original coding curriculum, which is centred on product creation, and imparts lessons through live, interactive online classes.
Started in November 2018, the startup earlier raised $1.3 million in seed funding from Nexus Venture Partners and Omidyar Network India.
Over the past few months, WhiteHat Jr’s online platform claims to have seen over 150,000 student trials, over 500 teachers on-boarded, and 1,000 online classes per day.
WhiteHat Jr’s CEO Karan Bajaj said,
“Our mission is to harness the natural creativity of kids and shift their mindset from an early age - from being consumers to creators of technology. It’s been heartening to see the projects of kids in the first six months of launch as they’re creating immensely creative, high utility digital applications that are bound to have long-term impact.”
WhiteHat Jr currently offers four levels of courses – Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Professional – for students in Classes 1-9. Kids create complex games, animations and apps using logic, structure, sequence, commands and algorithmic thinking—in a live online classroom.
Namita Dalmia, Principal, Investments, Omidyar Network India, added,
“We invested in WhiteHat Jr with an aim to improve cognitive skills and we’re heartened to see the impact of its curriculum on kids through improvements in creativity, concentration, and logical thinking as well as teachers who’re highly educated women tech professionals returning to the workforce.”
The wholesale arm of Flipkart received a fresh infusion of Rs 1,616 crore from its Singapore based parent entity – Flipkart Private limited, documents filed with Registrar of Companies (RoC) revealed. This is the first round of fund infusion for Flipkart India Ltd, which operates the wholesale business for the Walmart-owned ecommerce marketplace in India, in this financial year.
The latest round of cash pumping also comes at a time when the Indian market is set to witness the festive season of Dussehra – Diwali - New Year.
As per the RoC filings, Flipkart allotted 4,64,403 equity shares to its Singapore parent entity at Rs 34,800 per share that includes a premium of Rs 34,799 on each share.
The fund infusion also comes at a time when Flipkart is getting ready to kick off this year's Big Billion Days sale from September 29 to October 2. Rival Amazon has also put up a dedicated landing page for the Great Indian Festival sale but hasn't announced the dates yet.
Both the ecommerce giants are expected to bring their best for customers, especially at a time when slowing consumption forces customers to be more price sensitive.
Recently, Flipkart also announced a Hindi language platform as part of its strategy to expand in Tier II, III, and IV markets to serve the next 200 million internet users in India.
It has also onboarded nearly 27,000 'kirana' shops across 700 cities to strengthen its pan-India supply chain ahead of the festive season.
For FY18, the wholesale entity posted a 39 percent rise in revenue to Rs 21,658 crore from Rs 15,569 crore in the previous fiscal. The wholesale business unit, however, saw its net loss widening nine-fold to Rs 2,065 crore. In the fiscal year 2017, it had reported a net loss of Rs 244 crore.
Getting a ride has never been so easy. Yulu will confirm. Yet, what happens when you click that button? Who actually services your demands? What algorithms are used, and how do experts ensure you get to ride into the sunset, happily?
In the latest series, YourStory goes ‘Behind the Scenes’ to understand the workings of some of the most intriguing tech startups in the Indian ecosystem. In this edition, Yulu - a dockless cycle and electric bike rental startup lets us into their office to peek into how that mere click has behind it an exhaustive set of tasks for each team to give you an easy and breezy ride.
Yulu team
It’s a typical Monday morning at Yulu’s office in Bellandur, Bengaluru, everyone is busy hustling. Even the screens and monitors are in a frenzy with information flowing at breakneck speed - of streets, bikes and pick-up points.
So, what is ‘dockless’? Essentially, it means that you can pick up a cycle or a bike from any of the locations the startup operates in, unlock it with your phone, use and then drop it at the nearest Yulu location - no hassles included.
To us, it looks simple - all at the click of a button. But, a lot is happening on the backend. “You need to have the right mix of technology and on-ground operations to ensure that everything runs smoothly,” says Amit Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, Yulu.
Amit, co-founder and former president (OEM and Telco Solutions) at InMobi began Yulu in 2017 with Naveen Dachuri, RK Mishra and Hemant Gupta. The startup, operational in Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai and Bhubaneswar, aims to address traffic problems with an IoT solution.
Prior to joining Yulu as a co-founder, Naveen was the enterprise data architect and has been the co-founder of an edtech startup. Hemant, on the other hand, had co-founded a B2B enterprise software startup, and RK Mishra has several decades of experience in public policy.
While operationally involved at InMobi, Amit would often visit China on work. There he came across the tribulations and success of bicycle sharing players like Ofo and Mobike. It has taken these companies close to two years to gain market acceptance and mass adoption. He recalls,
“I had read reports that Didi (cab aggregator in China) reported a 20 percent drop in short trips because of bicycles. There was also an 8 percent drop in fuel sales. Inspired by the success in China.”
Amit dreamt of starting a similar venture that was customised to Indian needs. Read: Traffic snarls, bad roads and too many vehicles.
The Yulu team
To this end goal, he assembled a founding team comprising seasoned entrepreneurs and professionals with deep expertise in core areas. Amit says, “All of them are passionate about making a huge social impact. That is what we need to focus on.”
His pet peeve was, predictably, his commute in a traffic-jammed city like Bengaluru. Amit dreaded his ride from HSR Layout to Indiranagar. When a seven-minute ride starts taking 45 minutes, you know something isn’t right. He couldn’t help but wonder about the growing traffic woes of Bengaluru.
“The time had progressively been increasing from seven minutes, it went up to 15 and then 45 minutes. I felt walking was faster than driving or riding to work,” says Amit. Being his second entrepreneurial stint, Amit studied the market closely. The world around had moved to better, cleaner and greener modes of transport and Bengaluru was yet to catch up.
Amit also reveals that his research and estimates showed that a city like Bengaluru has over 80 lakh vehicles.
All that hard work helped in setting up base operations of Yulu. Now, in their office in Bellandur, the team relentlessly works to ensure a happy balance between human intervention and tech.
They ran the startup in stealth mode for a couple of months before opening operations.
As of today, Yulu has raised $7 million in funding. The startup is expected to raise more funds, and it is backed by investors including Blume Ventures, Binny Bansal, Naveen Tewari and Girish Mathrubootham.
Today, the light blue cycles and electric bikes are visible in some of the top traffic-congested areas in Bengaluru. There are different moving parts that ensure these bikes are available in the right density at each location at the right time.
As consumers, it is ridiculously easy getting a Yulu bike. You can open the app near a Yulu bike, unlock it with a phone and sensor. Registered users can unlock a bicycle by scanning the QR code on bicycles, and ride away. You can also lock the bike with the app.
On the backend, this means the use of mapping algorithms that see patterns and locations of the many zones of low supply-high demand and vice versa, during rush hour. A large flat screen television occupies a corner of the office, where the tech team sits and makes these matches possible.
The screen shows different coloured and patterned lines constantly. It is the Bengaluru city map that holds data and details of all bikes. Each pattern and colour depicts bikes in the space, and the onground team tracks them. “Some are even off the serviceable area, if you see,” says Naveen, cofounder and CTO, Yulu, pointing at a section of the map.
The algorithms leverage GPS data on bikes, and creates “heat maps” of these patterns, and addresses the process by rebalancing; Yulu’s on-ground fleet management team moves cycles manually to areas of high demand.
For payments, Yulu supports Paytm, Google Pay, PhonePe, UPI, and credit and debit cards.
On the security measures to prevent thefts, Hemant demonstrates how a loud alarm goes off if one tampers with the dockless mechanism. On the backend, Yulu’s on-ground team can access the location and intervene, if required.
While this works for ordinary Yulu bicycles, it also works for the newly launched electric bikes Yulu Miracles. While one office corner holds the mapping screen, another holds the prototype of the Miracles. A designer in the corner is furiously sketching models and forms.
The startup launched its electric scooter,Yulu Miracle, in Bengaluru in the last week of February 2019. With this, the e-bike company aims to provide a scalable, affordable, and green solution for first and last-mile, short-distance commutes.
“We soon realised that the city (Bengaluru) was already polluted, and we should not add to the existing problem,” Amit says, adding that he felt, “scaling the business wouldn’t be easy then.”
This 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 they require no licence or helmet.
Hemant, COO and CO-founder Yulu on the bike with the team
Explaining the workings of the Miracle, Hemant says,
“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. Like a smartphone, the scooter interacts with the server every five minutes. This helps us know the charge level of every Yulu Miracle being operated across the city. And if required, we send the onground ops team to swap the battery. The team gets an update the minute the battery levels drop below 10 percent.”
The startup has already tied up with local kiranas and mom-and-pop stores in Indiranagar (Bengaluru) to avail space for storing and charging batteries. Users must pay a mandatory Rs 10 for a Yulu Miracle ride, and another Rs 10 per 10 minutes of ride time.
“We procure certain components from China and a local partner assembles them. Our idea is to keep on indigenising the product like Maruti. In the next six months, the whole component, when seen from a value prospective, will be 70 to 80 percent from India. We will not rely on foreign countries,” Amit says.
Decongesting the city
Yulu’s vision is to decongest urban traffic by providing a scalable, affordable, efficient and clean mode of transportation to solve the first and last-mile connectivity and short distance commutes.
Amit estimates that market size of shared mobility space under bicycles is currently close to $8-10 billion globally, and is expected to grow beyond $1 billion in India by 2022. Since mobility needs a high-frequency use case, Amit believes it can be converted into a platform to increase business potential between 5 to 10 times.
Job cuts, hiring freeze, factory shutdown, and suspension of production are some of the headlines staring at us as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of the economy slipped to five percent for the first quarter of 2019-20, the lowest in over six years.
Sectors including automobile, real estate, financial services - non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) in particular, and manufacturing have shown signs of impact from this economic slowdown. Now, it remains to be seen whether the thriving Indian startup ecosystem will also come under the cloud.
The jury is still out on this as these are still early days. However, there is also a sense of unease on what the future holds for Indian startups.
The startup ecosystem in India can be broadly divided into two categories. Those that are just building their new companies while the others that are out there to gain a greater market share. In parallel to this is the funding environment, which can vary depending upon the growth stage of the company.
Rutvik Doshi, MD of Inventus (India) Advisors, a venture capital firm, says, “The economic slowdown will have a trickle down impact on startups.” He adds that startups focussed on the India market providing various kinds of goods and services may be impacted due to lower spending power.
Others in the industry feel that given how Indian consumers normally purchase low ticket price items online, the ecommerce sector is unlikely to be impacted by the economic slowdown.
“We are talking about an Ola or Uber ride, or ordering on Swiggy. These are not high-value purchases like cars or apartments. So, there may not be an impact,” an investor told YourStory on condition of anonymity.
An entrepreneur, who operates an online discount site and does business with Flipkart and Amazon, said, “Until now, there has been no visible change in our business. Our growth remains at the same level as it was last year,” he says, though adding that one cannot really say about the near future.
Market share concerns
For many early-stage startups with a limited market share, the impact of the economic slowdown may be minimal. But it is not a similar scenario for those who command a sizeable chunk of the market. Here, the economic slowdown is likely to affect their overall growth, say industry observers.
However, others believe that the economic slowdown may not have any impact on startups in India at all.
“If one looks at ecommerce, online delivery or cab hailing, it has been just a shift in market from offline to a lower priced convenience. It does not add to any economic activity,” says V Balakrishnan, Chairman of Exfinity Ventures, a B2B focussed venture capital firm.
Funding impact
Amidst this talk of economic slowdown, one of the most critical elements is funding for startups.
Rutvik says, “Slowdown generally does not impact the early-stage ecosystem as investments are done keeping in mind a five to seven year cycle. So, there is unlikely to be an impact.”
Though, he added that the same cannot be said about late-stage companies where funds come in looking at shorter duration of investment period.
“The slowdown may impact late-stage funding as it will have a bearing on the investors ability to exit or make returns on their investment,” explains the investor.
The Indian startup ecosystem is heavily dependent on foreign inflows and any changes in the overseas markets could put some brakes on the flow of money. It also depends on the direction of the public markets.
Navin Honagudi, Partner at Kae Capital, says “Public (listed market) and private market (startups) don't necessarily have a strong correlation. For example, in 2016-17, when the private markets was down, the public market was zooming ahead. But that doesn't mean that private market is completely insulated from the bigger macro factors. We could expect some slowdown even in private market.”
At present, the global stock markets are in no state of buoyancy and the same is reflected in India too. This could bring in some caution among investors.
Balakrishnan says, “High networth individuals (HNIs) who have lost money in stock markets may become more cautious and this could impact the angel funding stage of startups in India.”
Future - bright or bleak?
Given the current environment, funds that have already raised capital are most likely in a safe zone, but the same cannot be said about the ones with similar plans.
On the capital raising plans of startups, Manoranjan Sharma, economist and former General Manger of Canara Bank, says, “The slowdown may not impact the capital-raising ability of startups as they do not need heavy capital. Their fund raise will depend on various other factors such as nature of their business, competitive scenario, and risk factors.”
As the economy looks to emerge out of the slowdown, with automobile companies like Maruti Suzuki and Ashok Leyland forced to cut down production due to lack of demand, the new-age economy has not really offered any hope.
Navin says, “One of the factors for the auto market slowdown is the rise of shared economy that is generally provided by startups. So, there are two cases here - traditional economy is slowing down and shared economy is getting bigger.”
However, he agrees that the new economy has not been able to completely compensate the loss incurred by the traditional economy.
As the country goes into the festive season from next month, much hopes will ride on improved consumer sentiment and their buying behaviour. And, startups play a big role in this segment.
Manoranjan says, “For now, the indicators are not very good. The upcoming festive season are the times when sales automatically pick up.”
The litmus test for the Indian startup ecosystem will be the forthcoming special festive sales in October from the ecommerce biggies like Flipkart and Amazon. If the sales overtake last year’s number then all is well.
With 7,039 startups and 10 unicorns, Delhi-NCR has raced ahead of Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad to be the leading startup hub of the country, revealed a report titled 'Turbocharging Delhi-NCR Start-up Ecosystem' published by TiE-Delhi-NCR and Zinnov.
Launched in 2014, Delhi-based JOP Network specialises in channel curation, distribution, and syndication and claims over 25 million viewers across 30 countries. Founder and CEO Urvi Agarwal tells us why JOP Network is betting on TV despite the rise of OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar.
In a conversation with YourStory, Praneet charts his journey from building something from scratch at SolidCore, a startup, to working with a giant like McAfee and his stint at InMobi, which led him to see success as an entrepreneur.
Last week, Apple sent out invites for its annual extravaganza to be held at the Steve Jobs Theater, a 1,000-seat underground auditorium located in its Cupertino HQ. Tech observers predict the new Apple iPhone range could be “radically” different with a slew of ‘first-time’ features. Here’s what to expect.
To study and understand the effects of global warming and the vagaries of climate change, Neelima Mishra (33) from Odisha and Sukriti Kapur (25) from New Delhi joined the Climate Force Arctic Expedition, hosted by the 2041 Foundation this June.
Neha Kanodia and Meet Kanodia, Co-Founders, GoGaga
Started by Neha and Meet Kanodia, dating app GoGaga was incubated as part of the 2018 FbStart programme. Together, the duo is using innovation to help a generation, who much like them, have struggled when it comes to finding their significant other (SO). It is now targeting $500,000 in revenue with a 35 percent profit margin.
Global Governance Initiative (GGI) was started by Shatakshi Sharma (27) and Naman Shrivastava (27) in July 2018 in Delhi to bridge this gap and bring youth in line with the government’s policy making.
If you thought you were safe from health hazards in your plush, modern, swanky, upscale, all-amenities-provided office, think again. The average working environment may be affecting your health in more ways than one.
Parash P Borthakur and Nilpal Rabha, two electronics engineering students from Guwahati’s Royal School of Engineering and Technology, faced a pain point in the final year of their graduation. They had to work on a project, but couldn’t source most of the electrical components they needed to build the project.
“Electrical and robotic components were either not readily available or were too expensive for us students,” Parash says.
Determined to solve this problem themselves, Parash and Nilpal started an electrical ecommerce platform - OLatus in September 2014.
Today, besides being one of the first registered electronics company in Northeast India, OLatus has a research team developing new technologies and products at affordable prices. They also have a team deployed to deliver workshops in school and colleges, and supply DIY (Do it Yourself) kits to Government of Arunachal Pradesh - Directorate of Science and Technology.
Parash Pratim Borthakur CEO and Cofounder; Nilotpal Rabha CTO and Cofounder; Palash J Mahanta COO (L-R)
Today, the startup builds industrial custom devices and smart home automation devices. They have also built animal wheel carts for a few NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations).
"We are also working on building a robotic wheelchair for children and differently-abled people," says Parash.
Bootstrapped with Rs 2 lakh from the personal savings of the 29-year-old founders, the Guwahati-based startup recorded revenue worth Rs 1.2 crore in FY 2017-18.
“Our philosophy is to bring Northeast India in the mainframe silicon trade route of the world, with the help of technology,” says Parash.
Starting up early
Initially, when the duo set up their ecommerce business, they would source components from wholesalers and distributors in Delhi or Mumbai. While this allowed them to offer relatively competitive pricing in Guwahati, internet penetration wasn’t deep enough for the masses to adopt ecommerce.
While continuing with their ecommerce business, the duo entered the education system to build their brand, by publishing a series of handbooks for college students registered under the Guwahati University.
“We basically solved previous years’ question papers and sold around 25,000 copies,” Parash says. However, duplication and photocopies soon made it to the market, and the demand reduced.
At that same time, the Co-founders started conducting workshops to help engineering students with their projects. They conducted three workshops at the end of 2015, and trained more than 200 students from five colleges under Guwahati University.
However, between 2015 and 2017, they went on to do their Masters in Technology from Guwahati University. While their focus shifted to education, they kept their ecommerce business running.
Obstacle or Edge-avoider Robot developed by OLatus
“After completing our MTech in June 2017, we got back to focusing on our business and take it to the next level,” Parash says.
Instead of involving middlemen like the distributors in Mumbai and Delhi, OLatus started directly importing components from China, after receiving the Import Export Code certificate in 2017. At present, OLatus imports computational boards, motors for robots, and connecting wires from China.
OLatus also tied up with AD Electronics in Kolkata for manufacturing circuits and sensor boards. However, the designing is done by OLatus’ in-house team.
“We also manufacture DIY kits for students above Class 6, till engineering level. These mostly involve technical projects around electronics and robotics,” Parash adds.
Currently a team of 13 members, OLatus started receiving industry projects by the end of 2017.
“Starting with sourcing components from Delhi and Mumbai, we have completed the full circle, and now supply to distributors in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru,” says Parash.
OLatus is also certified under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, which is now called Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
B2B2C model
Once connected by an industrial player, OLatus conducts research, and then delivers customised products.
Further, it also supplies robotics and electronics parts pan-India and conducts workshops and training in schools and colleges.
The startup has two engineers who conduct two-day workshops in schools and seven-day workshops in colleges and universities. They charge Rs 1,500 for a group of three students, and the DIY kits cost Rs 2,000.
“We recently received a request from a Mumbai-based college to conduct a workshop. We couldn’t deliver it due to time-constraint, but are planning to start training students pan-India by the end of next year,” Parash says.
So far, OLatus has completed more than 500 projects and trained more than 1,000 students.
“We have sold more than 1,00,000 units of products,” says Parash. The cost or fee varies from project to project.
Last year, the company manufactured its first product - OLatus SGuard - the God of Security, an anti-theft device. According to the company, priced at around Rs 5,000, it has sold more than 350 pieces so far.
The customised board for industries depend on the customisation required by the client. Research work starts from Rs 5,000.
According to the founders, OLatus gets most of its orders from Guwahati, Bihar, and Shillong at present.
According to a report by Globe Newswire, the global industrial robotics market was valued at $33.16 billion in 2017, and is expected to generate revenues worth $62.19 billion by the end of 2024. The market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of around 9.40 percent between 2018 and 2024.
Companies like Mumbai-based Micron and Bengaluru-based Unisen Electronics are working in the same sector.
However, what sets OLatus apart is its “competitive pricing and innovative consumer products,” says Parash.
OLatus will be participating in the eXcellerate North East Summit that is organised by Indian Importers Chambers of Commerce and Industry (IICCI) this December.
“The business ecosystem in the Northeastern states is developing rapidly, and B2B events such as these enable networking with the right set of people - investors, potential co-founders, and others who can help us boost the business,” Parash says.
With plans to expand its business in the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) industry, lithium industry, and exporting to global markets, OLatus is looking to raise funds in the next one year.
“We are also planning to buy machines and start manufacturing more products ourselves - including lithium-ion batteries,” says Parash.
Pratiksha Gupta, a certified speech therapist and audiologist, started 1SpecialPlace almost out of an obligation.
After a brief stint in London, where she served at the UK’s National Health Service programme, Pratiksha returned to India in 2009. She was practising at Delhi’s Apollo Hospital, but had to move to Bengaluru in 2014 after getting married.
“My patients were left helter-skelter. They desperately wanted to stay in touch and requested for online therapy sessions. That prompted me to start this venture,” the Founder-CEO tells YourStory.
Pratiksha Gupta, Founder and CEO, 1SpecialPlace
Stats validate the dire need for speech therapists in India. One in 68 children (under eight) are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that leads to speech issues.
In fact, one in 10 kids have been identified with speech delays and other developmental problems. And, then there are stroke patients, who face speech and cognitive challenges.
But there are only 3,000-odd registered speech therapists in the country, according to the Indian Speech and Hearing Association.
“There is a huge demand-supply gap. Autism is spreading like an epidemic, but the solution infrastructure is very weak. In fact, this is a global shortage,” Pratiksha says.
Hence, 1SpecialPlace was launched in 2015 as India’s first healthtech startup dedicated to speech therapy and counseling. The same year, it was selected in UK’s ESparks accelerator programme spanning four months.
Pratiksha says,
“The accelerator programme validated our product and gave the company a shape. It gave us conviction that what we were doing was not off track. Our performance targets improved. We also started hiring better.”
Between 2016 and 2018, the startup claims to have conducted over 4,000 online sessions, and is doubling that number. 1Special has a team of 18 people now, including Co-founders Aditya Agarwal (CTO) and Aanchal Duggal, and 10 speech experts and consultants.
Besides the “telepractice” platform, the bootstrapped startup also developed a mobile app known as Speech Doctor. It is available on both iOS and Android, and has recorded 50,000 downloads in total.
Released in 2016,it is a self-diagnostic app, whichallows parents to detect speech and language anomalies in their children through a research-based questionnaire.
Parents have to take a ‘yes/no’ test with their kids. The test results are displayed in a colour-coded (red/yellow/green) format indicating the levels of speech difficulty in the child. If thescore is red, the parent can contact 1SpecialPlace for a complete diagnostic evaluation by its speech experts.
Speech Doctor is available in three languages - English, Hindi, Kannada - and the team plans to soon add more languages, video tutorials, DIY answers, recommendations, and suggestions. It is also available as an Alexa Skill.
Pratiksha says, “Speech disorders are all about early identification and intervention. Speech Doctor was designed to help parents detect a problem early on and improve their access to speech therapy."
Sessions are conducted using an interactive video software developed in-house by the startup. Parents can even track their child’s progress by taking the tests repeatedly.
Pratiksha adds, “The idea is to add more fuel to Speech Doctor so we can scale it faster and impact more children. We also plan to introduce paid subscriptions soon.”
At present, the app runs ads, and users pay for the services they use.
The startup’s other mode of revenue is online courses. Several schools have also approached 1SpecialPlace to improve their access to speech therapy.
1SpecialPlace is also beta testing its proprietary software platform TheraKonnect, which will connect therapists, clinics, and patients globally.
“About 50-60 clinics have already registered with us. We want to expand our love for therapy and telepractice through this,” Pratiksha states.
Essentially, TheraKonnectis a SaaS product with features such as teletherapy training, integrated video conferencing, appointment management, customer engagement, seamless payments, session recordings, data reports, and more.
While the startup has clearly identified a supply gap, the sector continues to be plagued by the fact that acceptance and awareness are still very low. “We are slowly getting there, but it’s a challenge,” says the founder.
On the positive side, however, there is a greater opportunity for the startup as speech disorders are not restricted to just kids. Even adults suffer from language disorders, articulation problems, voice modulation, stammering, and multiple cognitive difficulties.
Pratiksha explains,
"Several IT people look for online therapy because they do not have the time to visit clinics. Youngsters, who live in other cities, are opting for it for their ailing parents.”
And, to achieve that growth, the startup plans to raise a seed round of Rs 1 crore. “Yes, we are looking for a suitable investor,” signs off the founder.
In India, and the world, the importance of design has evolved over the years. Startups and companies are investing heavily on the design aspect of their products. In fact, design-led innovation is what is spearheading leaps that help in a company’s growth story. Today most companies have a design lead to harness the best out of their product, and answer competition aptly.
Canvs founder Debprotim Roy
The beginning
With this foundation, three IIT- Bombay alumnus Debprotim Roy, Vikash Choudhary, and Ankit Agarwal started Canvs.in in June 2015. Their aim was simple: to create a community of designers and artists.
The platform first looked into recruitment and job solutions as well as merchandising solutions. At the drawing board, the three IITians offer members a platform to upload work, sell online, interact with peers, find jobs and projects, and participate and curate offline exhibitions/workshops. An expo of sorts for players to network and connect, only this is purely design centric.
The team had earlier tested a couple of ideas in a beta run. Then, in September 2015, they raised seed funding of Rs 1 crore from undisclosed investors.
In February 2016, the team realised that the most preferred revenue-making model was the Canvs Club. A subsidiary of Canvs.in, which lets the community work towards projects and completion.
With this change in direction, their team of nine was reduced to five with Debprotim as the sole founder helming the change. The other two founders left the company.
“The real need was not connecting designers to the job. It was to make sure that the pipeline works. What companies look for now is the quality of work, and whether the work is coming on time - briefs need to be met properly. They don’t care about who is doing the work,” explains Debprotim.
Canvs Club gradually turned into a B2B service provider of digital designs for companies across the country. Based in Mumbai, it helps companies with their design requirements that are fulfilled by designers and inhouse product managers that are on-the-job.
How it works?
Debprotim feels that hiring is a problem in the design space. “The companies usually don’t want to hire a design team for a short period of time. That is where Canvs.in comes in,” Debprotim says.
Canvs Club works with companies and startups, specifically in sectors like VFX, insurance tech, mutual funds, debt financing, health tech, etc, fulfilling digital design needs.
The team spends a great deal of time getting the brief right with companies. It then breaks down the whole project into modules, and into smaller niches that cannot be mis-executed. It also breaks timelines based on what is deliverable by the team.
“We set product timelines for companies, an invision, and a plethora of products. We also ensure we are in touch with the company for most part of the project. This gives the company a feeling of security over the design agencies,” says Debprotim.
The price it charges its clients depends on the duration and the team or talent hired for a project. The costs range from around Rs 10 lakhs for short and small projects to over Rs 50 lakhs for larger ongoing engagements where teams have been set up and costs are recurring and monthly.
Expanding on the USP, Debprotim feels that the last-mile delivery of its products and its on-time delivery are what differentiates his startup from other players such as Uxexpert, Soch Technologies, and Designboat.
Even after completing the project, the company ensures that the final product is what the clients expected.
Canvs claims to have served over 60-70 clients since its inception. The team has around 80-90 designers apart from five main team members who are also the in-house product managers.
“A decent fraction of our work lately has been in the fintech (insurance, MF, and retail banking etc) domain where we have built products that are useful to savvy customers as well as the ones that are new to tech and online products in general. Aside of FinTech, we have been working on some very interesting products in the MedTech sector as well,” says Debprotim.
He further adds that most of Canvs’s work has involved digital product design such as building apps, websites, PWA's etc. “We have built products for Mutual Funds, insurance tech, large on-ground sales teams, High Frequency Trading, electronic health records, among others. Aside of building products for firms directly leveraging our canvs club design teams, we also work with firms to set up and oversee the execution of their design and product pipelines through our dedicated Design Ops setup. Design Ops has been a service that becomes especially beneficial for large firms undergoing a digital transformation with lots of moving parts.”
Going forward
While the company’s focus while starting up was to expand the community and test new products, today its main focus is on tech and the Canvs Club.
Reluctant to disclose the figures, the company, however, claims to have grown 3X in terms of revenue. Future plans include expanding its area of products and services. The company is also on the lookout for investment.
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