Samara Mahindra was 23 years old when she lost her mother to cancer. Having lost her father when she was just three, this was a big blow to her. 

“She was an integral part of my life and I didn’t know anyone else stronger than her,” she says.  

After the diagnosis, she saw her mother undergo treatment and beat the disease. But unfortunately, it relapsed, and she had to undergo further treatment for many years. It was then Samara started noticing how the disease can take a toll on not just the patient, but also on family and friends. 

In 2018, this led her to start Bengaluru-based Carer, an oncology startup that provides personalised cancer care to patients. The platform’s integrated therapy focsues on treatment to help patients during and after cancer treatment.

“There were many things lacking in cancer care. There is nobody to tell you what to do, how to take care, the nutrition you need to have when you are undergoing therapy, etc. There are also a lot of factors associated with care after treatment, and nobody talks about it. There can be a holistic approach,” says Samara. 

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What does Carer do? 

Today, Carer, which charges between Rs 18,000 to Rs 25,000 for its service, has treated over 500 patients. 

The startup has also raised an undisclosed round of funding from Zhooben Bhiwandiwala, Head, Mahindra Partners, and Sahul Agarwal of Sahul Capital. 

Carer mainly focuses on providing a holistic approach to cancer patients at home. 

“We work alongside the treatment and even post treatment. There is so much emphasis on conventional treatment that no one looks at what happens to the patient, their lifestyle, food habits, movement, and the emotional baggage that is being carried. That is what we focus on,” Samara says. 

Carer was started with the objective to offer extended care to cancer patients. It means being able to support the patient mentally and physically by educating and empowering patients and their caregivers with knowledge.

More than just information 

Carer was initially launched as an online platform to provide information about integrative and holistic therapies, and to connect therapists with those who were looking for help beyond treatment. While the information was essential, the startup soon realised that providing information is only going half the way. 

People wanted on-ground facilitation and one-on-one interventions. That’s when we took the mammoth task of building an integrative oncology solution on-ground with a network of some of the most credible and reputed therapists in the country, Samara says. 

However, the challenge Carer faced was that while these therapists were extremely professional, they weren’t trained in oncology specifically. This led to their next endeavour of creating a cancer care training programme for in-house therapists.

“We spent the rest of our time using the training material, creating a refined methodology, and testing this on over 39 cancers and 500 patients. And this led to the Carer Protocol built on the Carer methodology, which is being validated by the medical community, resulting in an integration of the protocol along with mainstream treatment in India,” Samara says. 

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How it works

Carer’s protocol comprises of three key therapies: Carer nutrition protocol, Carer movement and meditation protocol, and Carer mental well-being protocol.

The Carer nutrition protocol aims to provide customised nutritional plans for patients during and post treatment , and addresses the nutritional deficiencies of the patient in order to expedite healing and recovery. 

Carer movement and mediation protocol comprises of movement exercises that help improve a patient’s functional mobility, hormonal levels, strength, manage pain, fatigue, and other physical and mental symptoms, using an integration of functional exercise, physiotherapy, and yoga therapy.

The objective of the mental well-being protocol is to provide a supportive environment to the patient and his/her family by helping them accept the disease and move on.

Working around the challenges 

One of the biggest challenges faced by the startup was the lack of knowledge about the importance of integrative and holistic therapies, and the effects it had on the patient. 

“Most people didn’t know about it and thought it was a supportive, 'feel-good' programme that one could indulge in if they were economically equipped. This led to some amount of hesitation initially. But this began to change when Carer started proving its impact on the quality of life of cancer patients during and post treatment through substantial amounts of data,” Samara says. 

The team faced the same obstacle from the medical community as well. While they understood the importance of integrative oncology, they showed hesitation with the effects of the protocol on their patients. 

“This took excessive amounts of work in driving the quality, data, and refined approaches to prove impact. When patients were going back with positive feedback and testimonials, doctors started reaching out to us directly,” Samara says. 

The business model

Currently, the team focusses on a B2B model with services provided at home or in hospitals. It has also tied up with Manipal Hospitals, Aster CMI, Fortis, and Sparsh Hospitals to deliver its services. 

Commenting on investing in Carer, Sahul Agarwal says, 

“Investing in Carer was giving a chance to a concept or idea that has the potential to change the foundation of healthcare. We, as investors, buy into a vision that is not limited by the realities of here and now. Carer has a mission larger than what we can perceive today, and, if successful, can have a global impact. Also, it’s important to add that this vision needs to be led by a powerful presence of passion, commitment, and perseverance to ride the tide and see it through. Therefore, it was not just investing in Carer but investing in the Founder, Samara Mahindra, as well.” 

The market and competition 

According to the National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research (NICPR), as of last year, there were over 22.5 lakh cancer patients in India, and every year, over 11.5 lakh people are diagnosed with cancer. Close to 10 percent of Indians are at the risk of developing cancer before they reach 75 years in age.

While there are many top global research firms working on the problem, several startups are also looking to bring in awareness and care to patients and caregivers. Startups like Niramai, which is an artificial intelligence-based pain-free, breast cancer screening solution, helps detect breast cancer in its early stage. There are others like Sascan, Theranosis Life Sciences, Onco, and Onward Health, all of which focus on cancer care. 

Speaking of the market, Sahul says cancer rates and treatment costs are escalating rapidly, with a growing number of cancers that are lifestyle related. 

“In India, the market for cancer is more niche and relatively smaller compared to other chronic diseases, but the average spend on cancer treatment is well beyond many other diseases accumulatively, and this is only increasing. The oncology market is extremely lucrative and requires the involvement and investment to find long-term solutions,” Sahul says. 

Differentiator and future plans 

With Carer, he says, the objective has been to gather data and improve patient outcomes through research and evidence. Carer has primarily focused on this, which is now showcasing substantial improvement in the quality of life. 

“Carer has built a protocol that can be integrated and complemented with mainstream care for cancer, and this is a profound evolvement for any company in the span of one year,” Sahul says. 

Samara believes that when one is diagnosed with cancer, people think it’s the end of the road. This, she says, is far from the truth. Cancer can be managed if you have the right tools and therapies to take you forward.

Speaking about the future, she says, as the Carer Protocol has been significantly successful in improving the quality of life of cancer patients using lifestyle management therapies, they have been approached to adapt similar practices in other verticals such as neurological conditions, cardiac problems, nephrology, and so on. 

She adds, “While this is tempting, we aim to specialise in oncology at the moment, and provide the best to cancer patients. However, the future does look hopeful in being able to build Carer Protocols for all chronic and critical illnesses. While we offer therapies on-ground, technology is beginning to play a vital role in monitoring patients, retrieving data, and delivering therapies more efficiently. Online versions of the Carer Protocol are already being offered to patients from Tier II and some Tier III cities. Therefore, addition of new verticals, expansion to all Tier I cities, and technology solutions are the future plans for Carer.” 

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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The ongoing Amazon’s Great Indian Festival 2019 and Flipkart’s Big Billion Days 2019 have started with huge discounts, offers, and cashbacks on various products such as consumer electronics, home appliances, devices, apparels, cosmetics, and so on. The sales will end on October 4.

Along with Amazon and Flipkart, other ecommerce players such as Nykaa, Snapdeal, and many others, have also jumped on to the festive sales bandwagon.

YourStory brings you some industry insights, based on management consulting company RedSeer reports, to determine how this festive season is panning out for e-tailers and whether sales are better than last year.

75 Million GMV vs 45 Million GMV

In India, the ecommerce industry saw Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) jump 77 percent year on year, more than double the expected range of 35 percent of annual average sales growth for the e-tailing industry, during the festive sale in 2018.

For this year, RedSeer predicts overall e-tailing is expected to do gross sales of $3.7 billion (Rs 24,000 crore ) between September 29 and October 4, a year-on-year growth of 60-65 percent.

Compared to the usual business, the consulting firm expects e-tailers will likely see a GMV spike of seven times on festive days as compared to the six times in 2018.

“More than 75 million gross transactions are expected over the six-day period this year vs 45 million in the 2018 festive days,” the report stated.

For the festive month (October), gross sales are expected to top $7 billion (Rs 45,000 crore) for the e-tailing industry, up by more than 60 percent, year on year.

Shoppers from Bharat

Last year saw a massive growth in online shoppers during the festive sales, up by five times, with a large chunk hailing from Bharat, or Tier II and III cities, indicating the mass appeal of the event. In 2019, the total online shoppers during the festive sale are expected to be 32 million, up by 60 percent, year on year, primarily driven by shoppers from smaller cities and regions.

Anil Kumar, Founder and CEO, RedSeer Consulting, says,

“Our consumer and business research and prediction modellers clearly indicate that the market is ready to grow significantly during festive days 2019. This will be driven by strong demand in shoppers, especially from Bharat. This, in turn, is enabled by multiple themes that industry has been focusing and investing on viz vernacular, credit availability, wide selection, and fast shipping. The event is likely to mark a landmark for the industry as it democratises to reach new consumer segments and new categories over next few years.”

Mobiles no longer dominate

The mobile phone category dominated the 2018 festive sales, accounting for 56 percent of sales. However, this year, consumer electronics (beyond mobiles) and fashion category are expected to drive growth for etailers. The RedSeer report said willingness among shoppers to buy mobiles was slightly lower than last year. In 2018, 28 percent respondents said they were willing to purchase mobile phones, but in 2019, 40 percent respondents said they would buy consumer electronics instead.

Given the wider trend of slowdown in mobile phone sales, RedSeer’s consumer sentiment analysis also shows that consumer electronics and fashion are preferred categories among consumers this year.

Consumer electronics, with 26 percent share of GMV, and the fashion category, with 15 percent (as compared to 13 percent in 2018), are expected to drive growth this festive season, particularly from small towns.

“Vernacular enablement is attracting many first-time aspirational customers from Bharat, especially important in a category like fashion,” the RedSeer report adds.

However, even with a slightly subdued demand, mobile phones will continue to rule the roost with new launches and higher value proposition. They are expected to net 49 percent of the GMV. Mobile phone sales growth during festive days is expected to be significantly higher, as compared to the whole year forecast of 12 percent growth during 2019.

RedSeer estimates that mobiles will sell to the tune of $1.8 billion (Rs 11,700 crore), other electronics will sell $0.9 billion (Rs 6,200 crore), while the fashion category will sell $0.55 billion (Rs 3,600 crore), this year.

Wider categories

Amazon and Flipkart have a more diversified category in the of non-mobile phone section this year. RedSeer found that there are more than 500 brands to choose from, especially in TVs and large appliances. This season, companies such as OnePlus and Xiaomi have launched their TVs, exclusively on Amazon.

The furniture category will be the surprise package with the highest growth, driven by a wide selection of private labels, with stock keeping units (SKUs) of two to five lakh along with combo and bundled offers and faster deliveries, as players are reducing the delivery time to smaller cities significantly with dedicated fulfilment centres.

Anil says,

“This year we see that e-tailers have taken a multi-pronged and very category-customised approach to drive growth across categories. We see this in examples like the extensive credit availability to drive appliances growth, strong supply chains to enable furniture growth, and widest collection of brand/labels along with vernacular to enable fashion growth.”

He added that such a category-customised approach will go a long way in enabling strong sales from the millions of first-time shoppers and increase sale values to regular shoppers, who will likely have a better quality festive shopping experience than earlier years.

(Edited by Suman Singh)

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KhataBook, a mobile app that enables SMEs to record and track business transactions, has raised $25 million in Series A funding from Partners of DST Global, GGV Capital, Sequoia India, Tencent and others.

Prominent investors like Kunal Shah, Founder, Cred; Kunal Bahl, Co-founder, Snapdeal; Jitendra Gupta, Head - LazyPay; and Anand Chandrasekharan, ex-Facebook; were among others who participated in this round of funding. With this funding, the total funding raised by KhataBook will be $29 million. 

KhataBook is one of the 17 startups from the first cohort of Surge, Sequoia India’s rapid scale-up programme for early-stage startups in India and Southeast Asia. Y Combinator and Info Edge are also investors in Khatabook.

“With this round of funding, we are looking to scale our tech team, build more products that can help SMEs manage their business, and focus strongly on security and other essential apps,” said Ravish Naresh, CEO and Co-founder, KhataBook. 

He added that currently India is at an inflection point with dramatically low data costs and strong adoption of smartphones, especially by several merchants. “At KhataBook, we have taken early but significant steps towards leveraging this trend to digitise India’s shopkeepers. For most of our merchants, we are the first business software they've used in their entire life. And we will continue to build more India-first innovations to further enable the growth of what is still a largely untapped sector,” Ravish said. 

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As of August this year, KhataBook recorded over $3 billion worth transactions on its platform. This, the team adds, has cut down the receivables of merchants to half within few weeks of on-boarding them.  

Speaking of the fund raise,  Shailendra Singh, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital (India) Singapore, said: 

“KhataBook is having a huge impact on millions of Indian SME’s by becoming the system of record for their business dealings, the equivalent of a business ledger on their mobile phones. In most cases, it’s their first mobile SaaS product and could well be their gateway to using other mobile applications. For example, mobile payments is now growing on KhataBook at a very rapid pace. Sequoia India couldn’t be more thrilled with the exponential growth the company has experienced since joining our Surge programme. The team is thrilled to double down on the investment in KhataBook and excited to support Ravish and team on their journey.”

The team claims to have helped over five million merchants save over 600 working hours in a year, each. It adds that their UPI-based payment platform is doubling month on month. 

Impacting India's MSME sector

The app has helped its users recover approximately $ 5 billion stuck in credit in the space of six months. This trend can lead to significant impact on India’s MSME sector.

Hans Tung, Managing Partner, GGV Capital, said: “We are excited to partner with Ravish and the founding team of KhataBook. As a second time founder, he has demonstrated the ability to hire quality team members and identify areas for rapid growth – two essential components to scale. As a global investor, we seek out founders who understand the local market and respond to growth opportunities with speed and agility – we certainly see this with the KhataBook team.”

The team claims to be growing 20 percent every week and has use cases with more than 500 types of businesses. The team plans to launch other products for MSMEs in the next few months and also aims to reach over 25 million Indian merchants in the next 12 months. 

“We currently are building out the software for the merchants, and are focussed on ledger management. However soon, we want build out billing and invoices, and platforms to help merchants file taxes,” said Ravish.  

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)

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At Flipkart headquarters in Bengaluru, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan can be seen greeting people as they enter the office.

It's not the man himself but the cardboard cutout of Big B reflects the spirit of the ongoing The Big Billion Days (BBD) sale by India’s leading ecommerce marketplace Flipkart, with its employees going the extra mile, displaying their energy and spirit to make the scale even bigger.

Flipkart’s annual festive sale has always drawn eyeballs, and this has been possible only because of the employees passionately driving the entire process - be it for those who have seen it for years or others making their debut.

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“This is my sixth BBD, and it is a time when the whole company comes together to work dedicatedly for a common goal. It gets the best out of everybody as we are always trying to break new records,” says Nandita Sinha, Vice-President, Events, Engagement, and Merchandising, Flipkart.

The poster boy of Indian ecommerce, Flipkart’s goal has always been to break new records, and this year’s BBD saw a new peak with the first day’s sales overtaking last year’s numbers, according to the company.

Festive spirit everywhere

The festive spirit was also visible at the Flipkart office, as employees were buzzing with energy and joined the spirit taking selfies with BBD banners, which were displayed very prominently.

Ishita Bhatia, Director of Private Labels, Flipkart, who has also been part of six BBDs, says, “The teams have become bigger and scale is increasing, but our job is to provide that seamless experience to customers.”

This certainly means sleepless nights for employees, but “we welcome these sleepless nights”, Ishita says.

While mattresses are made available at the office for those who would like to catch forty winks, the staff is more interested in stretching their work late into the night.

The opening day of the BBD also rang in a festive atmosphere at the Flipkart office with a flash dance by employees, and a special hip-hop theme anthem created by singer Badshah.

Employees were also eager to see what their top boss had to say. Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group, after addressing the employees, ensured that he did not disappoint his co-workers, and indulged in some banter in putting on a blindfold to burst open a pinata.

If the excitement was very visible even for the veterans of BBD, this was equally shared by somebody who just joined Flipkart about six months ago.

Jyothsna Singh, Manager, Books, General Merchandise, and Home, Flipkart, says, “The atmosphere is just fantastic. From the other side of the table, I used to think it is just a sale, but once you enter the system one realises how big it is here.” She likens the entire atmosphere surrounding BBD to a college fest.

Over the years, the scale of BBD has only become bigger, and the range of goods on the platform has also expanded. This year, Flipkart entered into special marketing partnership with companies as diverse as SpiceJet and Burger King to create themes around BBD.

Shared excitement

Nandita says, “There is nervousness everywhere as we are reaching new heights in building ecommerce for the country. Just like in the past, we try and do something special or new with each edition.”

This something special also means extending the reach of ecommerce to those neitzens who are staying in Tier II and III locations, basically Bharat.

Ishita says, “Through Flipkart private labels, we are targeting those in Tier II and beyond with products of good quality at affordable price points.” This has led to good traction for Flipkart.

The preparation for BBD at Flipkart also means employees going the extra mile to make it a huge success. While the preparation begins six months in advance, closer to date, employees even skip holidays and leaves as everyone is keen to put their best foot forward.

“We were very young with our first BBD, but our leaders empowered us, and this same entrepreneurial spirit has passed on to the younger generation. The motivation has always remained high,” Nandita says.

This is also the time when employees cannot plan any personal event, be it an outing or even their own wedding. Ishita had to postpone her wedding dates as it fell around the BBD time. “Sometimes people do not understand how big BBD is, and I had to postpone my wedding dates to wait for all this to get over,” she says.

The buzz is visible, and even those who have been part of the event earlier still get the goose bumps. Flipkart employees stretch themselves with only one obsession: customer satisfaction.

It is often said that movies and cricket drive India. And this is very visible with celebrity cutouts displayed at Flipkart office - from Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni to Mahesh Babu and Dulquer Salman. The festivities have truly begun at Flipkart.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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Industry 4.0 cannot succeed without Workforce 4.0, a re-envisioning and reskilling of traditional human resources, according to business leaders at the recent Design and Engineering Summit 2019 in Bengaluru.

Organised by NASSCOM, the speaker lineup at the 11th edition of the summit featured CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, and heads of HR, innovation, and R&D. There was also a startup pavilion, showcasing new products in industrial IoT, 3D printing, electric vehicles, and smart factories.

The world is changing at an accelerating pace, thanks to exponential and converging technologies like AI, IoT, automation, and blockchain. Cloud computing, edge computing, 5G, AR, VR, additive manufacturing, and ubiquitous smartphones are other drivers of tech change in Industry 4.0.

Workforce implications of these transformations were debated by companies such as Caterpillar, Samsung, SAP, TI, Bosch, Mercedes, Western Digital, United Airlines, ZF, Denso, Continental Automotive, Hero Eco, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, HCL, Faurecia, Aequs, Shopworx, and Veoneer.

The speakers called for a systematic and inter-disciplinary approach to people, intellectual property, platforms and policy. Here are my eight clusters of takeaways from the two-day conference; see also YourStory’s Future of Work conference proceedings.

1. Upskilling the workforce

Companies need to promote a culture of collaborative innovation, where employees explore and immerse in emerging technologies to come up with transformative customer experiences. Innovation management practices should accelerate ideation and incubation, and strike partnerships with a range of external collaborators for high-level and high-speed innovation.

The right thing to do for companies is not to fire employees in the face of automation, but reskill and upskill them and take them along. Skills and learning curves should be mapped, and even technicians can be retrained to become digital engineers.

In addition to leadership support, employees themselves need to raise their hands and take the initiative to upskill themselves, get involved in new projects, and collaborate across disciplines.

Collaboration, agile development, design thinking, and cross-cultural communication will be increasingly valued, in addition to hard skills in micro-services architecture or analytics for digital twins. Managing in the face of uncertainty and unpredictability will be the need of the hour.

2. New design capabilities

Industry 4.0 opens up new technical possibilities, but Workforce 4.0 needs to have the talent to seize new opportunities via innovative design as well. Shopfloor and workspace processes will need to redesigned for cobots and smart assistants, along with wearables, AR, and facial recognition.

In the mobility sector, the new paradigm is described by the acronym CASE: connected, autonomous, shareable, and electrified transport. Open APIs can let car manufacturers and fleet operators unlock new kinds of innovative services and business models.

For example, mobility firm ZF is promoting connected solutions; its “Vision Zero” aims at zero emissions and zero accidents. It has designed airbags that can preemptively open up on the sides of the car when another vehicle is about to collide with it.

New kinds of designs can be envisioned for passenger seating in autonomous cars. For example, passengers can sit in a circle or around a conference table in the car, instead of in rows of seats.

Earth2Orbit is literally taking design to new worlds, with its design initiatives for spaceships, 3D-printed prototypes for bases on Moon and Mars, and protocols for communication between humans and robots. In such contexts, normal assumptions about space, light, gravity, and atmosphere cannot be taken for granted.

3. Ethics and values

Industry 4.0 can improve productivity and innovation, but Workforce 4.0 will need to have a solid foundation in ethics and values as well. They will also need to improve their skills in disciplines like sensemaking and data storytelling.

Explainability and accountability of AI and ML systems will become increasingly critical issues in future, particularly with respect to privacy, security, biases, and operational failures. Data ownership and share of risks and rewards across the ecosystem are becoming contention issues. See my reviews of the books A Human's Guide to Machine Intelligence and The Platform Society in this regard.

4. The playbook for startups

For India’s engineering services and product sector to become world-class, startups in areas like IoT and electric vehicles need to become an important part of the playbook. Entrepreneurs can play a pivotal role in this regard. For example, in the US, disruptors like Tesla have become transformational change platforms when it comes to electric cars and batteries.

Startups can up the game for corporates when it comes to quality and speed of innovation in new domains. See my book reviews of Dual Transformation and Seven Principles of Complete Co-creation, and framework of 15 innovation tips: how large corporations can successfully engage with startups.

Ease of business in India also needs to improve for startups, and industry connects to entrepreneurs should become deeper in terms of engagement. More joint ventures will also help improve credibility for scale-stage startups.

5. Environmental impact

While much attention understandably focuses on analytical and predictive powers in the Industry 4.0 world, the environmental impact also needs to be addressed. “Sustainable AI” will need to look at the carbon footprint of processing power, data centres, and the like.

Metrics factoring in environmental impact and offsets will need to be addressed in comprehensive audits. Electric cars are touted as the next shiny object, but the carbon footprint of electricity generation and environmental impact of discarded batteries need to be calculated as well.

Such environmental consciousness and activism needs to be ingrained in Workforce 4.0, and not left only to top management or external auditors. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is active in this regard, raising awareness about sustainability issues in mobility, food, home and leisure consumption. See also my book reviews of Frugal Innovation and A World of Three Zeros for related frameworks and case studies.

6. Education

The rote-learning and siloed system of education, particularly in emerging economies like India, needs urgent revamping to meet the needs of Workforce 4.0. More experiential learning is called for, beyond makerspaces and hackathons. This includes internships, and many companies are stepping up to offer paid internships to students.

Students need not only the latest courses but a mindset of lifelong, collaborative, and self-motivated learning. Even engineering education will need to be presented more holistically and not in silos. Disciplines like mechanical engineering and electronics are converging (‘mechatronics’), and AI is becoming embedded in products and processes. Students will need to combine domain knowledge with AI and ML.

Students need to “touch, see, feel, and communicate” with the workplace of the future; visits to factories and startup hubs can help here. More effort will be needed to extend this to Tier II and III colleges and schools.

7. Ecosystem linkages and visibility

Industry 4.0 will transform not just the private sector but government, military, and public sector agencies as well. Much more needs to be done to open up India’s space and defence sectors to private sector collaboration, according to the speakers.

This includes satellite development and testing. Such activities can be opened up to SMEs, startups, MNCs, and large Indian corporates. Otherwise, it may be impossible to have outside experts become prominent in the space sector, in contrast to the rise of mavericks like Elon Musk in the US.

There is too much duplication of effort in India in these sectors, and many initiatives are occurring in silos. In contrast, Europe and the US have mature ecosystems for funding and spinoffs involving the space, defence, and private sectors.

Furthermore, Indian science and defence labs need to do much more to market themselves to the broader public, and improve their outreach and branding. Governments play a key role in this regard, along with setting technical standards to improve competitive positioning of Indian industry at the global level for Industry 4.0.

Many speakers poked fun at Bengaluru’s traffic woes, while addressing the need to nurture design and engineering hubs beyond big cities. The rise of industrial clusters in north Karnataka cities like Belagavi is a good example of government support for initiatives of Industry 4.0 in this regard.

8. Rewriting the India story

India’s story as a services hub is well known around the world, but it is time to craft and sustain a new story: India as an innovation hub in design and engineering via Workforce 4.0. India needs to play in domestic and global markets simultaneously, and more government-industry support can help in promoting such clusters, eg. setting up centres of excellence, ensuring compliance with safety standards.

India can position itself as a hub not just for support but for core design, and on to co-design with customers around the world. This will give India a seat at the table in global companies, as well as an opportunity to solve wicked local problems.

In sum, the journey to Industry 4.0 has just begun, and its ripple effects are only beginning to shake up economies and societies. Company, community and country must come together to seize the moment and up the game for Workforce 4.0.

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)

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OEM factories are now becoming more interconnected with vendors. And as a result, more than ever, manufacturers are facing the challenge of sharing data across the ecosystem with transparency. Hence, industries are now increasingly using new-age technologies such as blockchain to reduce costs by capturing information flow with all stakeholders in the supply chain. Blockchain allows them to maintain transparency, track products, and improve supply chain governance.

A blockchain is a digital ledger that can verify transactions at each stage with consensus from the entire ecosystem. The technology allows various participants to connect to the network seamlessly, and there is no duplication of work or corruption in the system.

After spending two decades building enterprise applications, IIT-Kanpur alumni Sanjay Kuberkar and Yogendra Chordia decided to make use of this technology to address the challenges faced by many organisations across the world: integrating the fragmented ecosystems through blockchain.

The duo founded Schrocken in 2018.

The San Jose and Hyderabad-based startup is an enterprise blockchain-powered SaaS platform that helps businesses collaborate with other organisations to enable cross-enterprise transactions in a secure and trusted environment.

“We help the pharma industry track vendors that manufacture different ingredients that go into the final product, and we connect the same to the regulators and financial institutions,” Sanjay says.

The early days

Sanjay and Yogendra were batch mates at IIT-Kanpur; they passed out in 1994. Years passed, and they kept in touch by helping each other out in their professional journey.

In August 2018, they began to use their software experience to build on top of blockchain because it offered, for the first time, a consensus mechanism among all parties in a transaction.

“With blockchain, ad hoc inspections can stop and save the industry millions of dollars in fines and regulatory compliances. The inspection can be reduced simply because the blockchain has captured each and every transaction in the pharma industry,” Yogendra says.

For example, in 2010, pharma major GlaxoSmithkline paid $750 million for poor manufacturing processes. According to sources, this was the highest amount paid in fines for not having good quality practices. And this is where startups like Schrocken bring in their expertise by going after a zero-inspection regime.

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How it works?

Schrocken is using distributed ledger technologies such as R3Corda and Hyperledger fabric to help companies build blockchains for the industry. It is also combining IoT with blockchain to increase productivity of machines. For example, companies that are into manufacturing may not realise there is warranty on the asset, and not just on the paper.

Schrocken also tracks the IoT data on the machines, and the blockchain helps companies to know the status of each machine, why it failed, and whether it is covered under warranties.

Apart from the manufacturers, these machines have half a dozen stakeholders. The OEMs sell the product to the distributors, then to companies that lease the product, and they further sub-lease it before it is used on the field. It is important to capture this data, and to know whether a particular machine is in the warranty period before the asset fails.

“This is big business as we can combine all digital data of an asset and link it to the warranty. Blockchain will ensure that the ecosystem knows how the assets are working,” Sanjay says.

According to the founders, at present, a couple of pharma companies are working on the Schrocken blockchain.

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The market and future

According to Report Linker, the global blockchain technology market is expected to reach $57billion by 2025, registering a CAGR of 69.4 percent from 2019 to 2025.

At present, private blockchains in the corporate world are being championed by AWS, Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft. Open source platforms like Hyperledger and Ethereum are commonplace, and startups are using these to help enterprises build their blockchain platforms and trace their vendor ecosystem.

Schrocken, which was part of the Cisco Accelerator in 2019 and part of T-Hub, competes with other players in the space such as KoinEarth, Acyclic Labs, and Intain.

Currently bootstrapped, the companydoes not want to disclose its revenues, and says it makes money based on long-term contract with OEMs who want to handle their vendor ecosystem.

While Yogendra has been in the US for close to 20 years, Sanjay has been building businesses in India. The duo is now planning to focus on bringing in more customers from both the US and India on board.

But why the name? Schrocken is a district in the Austrian Alps. Known for its scenic peaks, it is an apt name for the startup, which wants to top information capture. Both Yogendra and Sanjay, apart from being classmates and founders, love mountaineering, and hence they came up with the name. And Schrocken aims to summit the blockchain revolution mountain.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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Mumbai-based Sleepycat, an online direct-to-consumer mattress and sleep-solutions startup, has raised Rs 11 crore in its first round of institutional funding led by DSG Consumer Partners and Sharrp Ventures. The round also saw participation from Gemba Capital and other angel investors.

In a statement, the startup said the capital raised will be invested towards building the online presence of Sleepycat through channel partnerships, new product launches and to build its management team. The company currently sells 1,500 mattresses per month.

As part of the deal, Hariharan Premkumar (DSG Consumer Partners) and Chaitanya Deshpande (Sharrp Ventures) will join Sleepycat’s board of directors.

Founded by Kabir Siddiq in August 2017, Sleepycat is on a mission to disrupt the sleep category and claims to be the first company in India to offer doorstep delivery of a 'mattress-in-a-box', a product where the mattress is vacuum pressed, and delivered in compact boxes. The company currently ships pan-India through its own website as well as on Amazon. 

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Commenting on the fund raise, Kabir Siddiq, Founder & CEO, SleepyCat, said, 

“We are very excited to partner with DSGCP and Sharrp on this journey towards building an innovative sleep solutions company. We are looking to build our team, infrastructure, and technology with the infusion of funds, and are happy to have found the right support during this journey.”

The brand's current product portfolio includes memory foam mattress, latex mattress (for adults and babies), waterproof mattress protector, platform bed base, and pillows.

Deepak Shahdadpuri, Managing Director of DSG Consumer Partners, said, 

"Given that the average person sleeps for a third of their life, the sleep solutions segment has seen little disruption or innovation in India. Sleepycat provides a compelling experience for the customer by simplifying choice at the time of purchase, employing lean distribution channels that enable attractive pricing and offering a 30-day trial period. We are excited to partner with Kabir to build India’s leading sleep solutions brand." 

Since its inception in 2013, DSGCP has backed over 40 startups including OYO Rooms, Zipdial (sold to Twitter), Redmart (sold to Lazada), Veeba, Epigamia Greek Yogurt, Raw Pressery, Chai Point, Eazydiner, SaladStop!, Chope, GOQii, Mswipe, Arata, The Moms Co, Sleepy Owl Coffee, Simplee Aloe, Piccolo, Pip & Nut, YouVit, Brewlander and Goa Brewing Co.

It is investing from its third fund, and currently manages $200 million of committed capital and has investment professionals and advisors in Mauritius, Singapore, and Mumbai.

Additionally, Rishabh Mariwala, Founder of Sharrp Ventures, said, 

"We are very happy to support Kabir on his journey to build SleepyCat into a great direct-to-consumer brand. The positive ratings and reviews the brand has received are lead indicators of their potential. At Sharrp Ventures, Marico's Family Office, our team is also excited to partner with DSG Consumer Partners in our first co-investment."

Sharrp Ventures is focused on investing in equities in India through public market funds, private market funds, and direct investments in unlisted enterprises. In the unlisted space, it invests in early and growth stage companies. Though sector agnostic, it has a bias for consumer and consumption related ideas.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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Jaipur-based MEngage, a platform which builds customised engagement apps for doctors on both Android and iOS platforms, has raised an extended Seed round of $100,000 from Bollywood singer Sukhbir and other angels.  

Keshav Sharma, CEO, Metacube; Nikhil Chaudhary and Dipesh Singhal, Founders, Buren, also participated in the funding round. 

In a statement, the startup said Startup Buddy’s CEO Amit Singhal introduced MEngage to Sukhbir over a lunch meeting in Delhi. In matter of minutes, Sukhbir made up his mind to invest in MEngage, it added. 

All hospitals and doctors need to automate OPD to the highest level and give maximum convenience to patients, said Sukhbir Singh. “I am excited to become part of MEngage journey as I believe the solution is solving a real problem and saving lots of time of patients,” he added.

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Incubated in 100 Co-founders Lab’s first cohort in April 2015, MEngage was hived off in August 2017. It works as an enterprise OPD solution for patients and doctors. 

“With enterprise OPD end-to-end processes, we plan to become a sort of OYO for clinics and manage the entire processes for them,” says Manmohan Singh, CEO, MEngage. 

“This will help doctors increase focus on their practice without getting involved in administrative and mundane tasks,” he added.  

The startup said it is a combination of Smart OPD + Smart Prescription + Smart Pharmacy + Smart Lab + Smart Patient Engagement. The firm claims that it already completed Smart OPD and Smart Prescriptions. The funds raised will be utilised for the rest of the pieces of Smart Pharmacy and Smart Labs automation. 

In last one year, MEngage has grown 7-8 times in terms of cumulative patient visits, and will be reaching 10 lakh figure by the month of Oct/Nov 2019.

The startup has on-boarded 350 doctors, out of which 250 doctors/clinics are now paid. MEngage also claims to be having one of the highest ratio of patient visits to the number of on-boarded doctors/clinics. And this, it claims, sets it apart from the rest of the pack.

Unlike other players, the doctors find MEngage platform interesting as it helps them to promote themselves through white label app in their own name/clinic/hospitals, the company said in a statement. 

“We have perhaps the best traction per unit money spent in this industry. This is one of the key differentiator, and reflects savvy product market fit," said Sanjay Yadav, Chief Planning Officer, MEngage. 

Most users on the platform are coming from Tier II, III and IV Cities like Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bhiwadi, Alwar, etc. The adoption rates are high in tier-III and tier-IV towns, which comes as a surprise package to see tech adaptability in smaller towns, Sanjay added. 

MEngage last raised $175,000 in seed round from a group of angel investors in July 2018. Investors who participated at that time included Siddharth Agarwal, CEO of Silk Asia and President of TiE Rajasthan; Mahaveer Sharma, Chairman of Rajasthan Angel Innovators’ Network (RAIN); Amit Singal, Founder and CEO of Startup Buddy; mobile tech accelerator, 100 Co-founders Lab; and others.

This August, Sukhbir Singh also backed two startups, namely Amritsar-based electric vehicle startup eBikeGo and Gurugram-based beverage startup LQI.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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Amazon.in on Tuesday announced its partnership with Vodafone Idea Limited to set up pick-up points in Vodafone stores for its customers.

The partnership will enable Amazon.in customers to choose their nearest Vodafone store as a pick-up point to collect their packages at a convenient time, it said in a statement.

Amazon India will leverage the wide reach of Vodafone stores to provide a "safe and convenient" option for customers who may not be available during the day to receive their package, the company said.

 Customers can select these points as a pick-up location on the checkout page of their order while shopping on Amazon.in.

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Currently, the option to choose Vodafone store as a pick up point is available in nine cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Jaipur, Indore and Ahmedabad.

Stores have been identified as pick up points based on high customer density to provide easy accessibility and convenience to Amazon customers.

Amazon.in aims to double its presence in the Vodafone store network by the end of 2019, it stated.

On the other hand, the day one of the festive season sale 2019 for ecommerce biggies in India –Flipkart and Amazon – began on a very positive note as both of them said they have crossed last year’s numbers. 

A statement from Flipkart said it has registered 2x sales growth on day one of TBBD 2019 compared to last year's Big Billion Day opening day. On the other hand, Amazon said more customers shopped on its platform than ever before with 91 percent of new customers coming from Tier 2 and 3 towns.

This year, it seems Bharat has given the big push to the ecommerce sales in the country, as Amazon said it saw the single largest day of sign-ups for its premium customers – Prime, with 66 percent of them coming from Tier 2 and 3 towns. Flipkart said the number of transacting customers from Tier 2 and beyond have doubled over 'TBBD 2018' on day one.

(Edited by Suman Singh)

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Pune-based digital lending startup LoanTap has raised $12 million in Series B funding led by Avaana Capital. 

The current round also saw participation from existing investors including 3one4 Capital, India Quotient, Shunwei Capital, and Kae Capital. 

Anjali Bansal, Founder, Avaana Capital, said,

“LoanTap is using the latest technology, and has developed a robust underwriting process to build a high-quality portfolio. We believe that LoanTap is well positioned to emerge as a lender of choice for millennials and middle India. Keeping customer cash flow needs at the centre of product design provides more flexibility to the consumer while reducing risk.” 

Avaana invests in businesses that provide financial inclusion, access to goods and services, and market linkages to middle India.

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Founded in May 2016 by Satyam Kumar and Vikas Kumar, LoanTap offers customised personal loans such as EMI-free Loan, rental deposit loan, holiday loan, and other differentiated offerings to white collared salaried professionals. The startup claims that it is one of the few fintech startups that became profitable within two years of its operations.

Satyam Kumar, CEO and Co-founder, LoanTap, said, 

“LoanTap has created a strong technology backbone, which offers a superior customer experience. We tripled our loan book last year and the current round of funding will further fuel this growth.”

With this fund raise, the startup has raised a total of $25 million till date. It raised $8 million in January 2019, a round led by 3one4 Capital. In 2018, the firm secured $6.25 million from Shunwei Capital, with co-participation from Tuscan Ventures and Ashish Goenka from Suashish Diamonds.

LoanTap competes with the likes of LendingKart, Rubique, CapitalFloat, Faircent, FlexiLoans, EarlySalary and Money Tap among others.

In September, LendingKart Technologies' Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Mukul Sachan has quit the startup to explore his interests in investment management. However, he will continue to be an active mentor and a consultant for Lendingkart, dividing his time equally.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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As a leading customer success platform for B2B SaaS businesses, CustomerSuccessBox is in the business of delivering success stories across all customer lifecycle stages. The company empowers customer success managers (CSMs) in companies like XebiaLabs, Raken, Zedonk, Locus and Hiver to manage hundreds of accounts while growing a multi-million dollar portfolio, while lowering the cost of delivering success per customer.

As any early stage seed funded startup knows, CustomerSuccessBox needed to focus on customer acquisition strategy to rapidly scale their business.

“We are targeting a niche market and we were early to realise the value of marketing and how this drives demand, and ultimately sales. With limited resources and lean teams, we needed to scale our businesses in an efficient way. HubSpot for Startups had everything we needed for sales and marketing success, and we were able to access these tools without having to exhaust our cash reserves.” Puneet Kataria, CEO Customer Success Box

Customer Success Box decided to join HubSpot for Startups so that it could be eligible for a 90% discount on the HubSpot Growth Platform – the combination of the Marketing Hub, CRM and Sales Hub – as well as tech support, mentoring and help with onboarding.

Some of the key features that helped CustomerSuccessBox streamline its marketing include the ability to add custom properties and implement lead scoring to improve sales efficiency.

“With HubSpot, we were able to have all our prospect and customer communications in one place. With the original source tracking feature in HubSpot, tracking my lead metrics by channel became so much easier,” says Nilesh Surana, Head of Marketing at Customer Success Box

After implementing HubSpot, CustomerSuccessBox has seen a number of benefits, including the following:

● Their qualified leads count grew by ~30% month over month

● Monthly organic traffic grew by 400% by the end of 2018, and has since then grown by 70% in 2019

● Revenue grew by ~20% month over month

Nilesh shares how they streamlined their marketing efforts with the help of HubSpot.

“The HubSpot for Startups program meant that we did not have to invest a lot in our initial sales and marketing stack. Because of this, I had the opportunity to run experiments on paid channels. Also HubSpot has enabled me and my team to react in real time to inbound leads. With the workflows feature, I have implemented automation to ensure that no form-fill goes without an immediate email response and no qualified lead is ever missed by the sales team.”

Like CustomerSuccessBox, you can grow your revenues, scale faster, and get access to the latest tech and expertise, all at an extremely startup-friendly price. This offer is exclusive to companies located in India. Apply to HubSpot for Startups today.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has ranked HDFC Bank, FINO Payments Bank and Paytm Payments Bank (PPB) as the top three banks in the month of July, based on their performance to drive digital payment transactions. 

The scores are based on the performance of the banks against targets assigned to them which includes – total digital transactions achieved, merchant deployment, active merchants, as well as, successful UPI and AePS transactions.

Based on the digital transactions achieved, HDFC Bank achieved 110 percent of the target assigned to it, with an overall score of 71. While FINO Payments Bank scored 70 by achieving 196 percent of its target, PPB was given a score of 69 and achieved 102 percent of the target.

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Of the 51 banks listed, MeitY also ranked HSBC, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and Canara Bank's performance as ‘Good’. 

In March 2019, MeitY sent a letter to the Chairmans, CEOs and MDs of different public and private sector banks, allotting digital payment transactions and acquisition targets of various banks. Most of the banks have been assigned different targets depending on their size and reach. 

The letter was reviewed by YourStory, at the time of publishing this article.

According to the letter, MeitY has set a target of 4,019 crore digital payment transactions for FY20, of which 3,411 digital payment transactions are allocated to banks. 

Over the course of FY20, banks such as, State Bank of India (SBI), PPB and ICICI Bank have been allocated steep targets of 768.76 crore; 501.16 crore and 280.24 crore digital payment transactions, respectively.

In addition, acquirer banks have also been given a merchant acquisition target of 85 lakh merchants on digital modes of Point-of-Sale (PoS), mobile PoS, QR, UPI and wallets in rural, as well as, north-eastern geographies. 

According to MeitY, banks are also expected to maintain at least 50 percent of their total merchant base as active in urban or Tier 1 and Tier 2 geographies. 

(Edited by Suman Singh)

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Foodtech unicorn Zomato completed 11 years on July 10, this year. Co-founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in 2008, Zomato launched its operations by scanning and putting restaurant menus online.

The company diversified itself from restaurant search company to food delivery company, and currently, the startup has expanded to 24 countries and serves 10,000 cities globally.

On the wake of the anniversary, CEO Deepinder Goyal in a blogpost said the company celebrated its 11th anniversary and every anniversary "makes us proud of what we have achieved yet, acutely aware of how much there is left to do."

The food delivery platform is backed by Silicon Valley venture fund Sequoia Capital, Singapore Government's Temasek Holdings and Indian ecommerce player Info Edge.

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Outlining the first half of FY20 journey, the Gurugram-based unicorn has shared some interesting insights.

Business Performance

The company that turned unicorn in 2018, said that it's burn rate was down 60 percent of what it was six months ago. Zomato clocked a revenue of $205 million in the first half of FY20, which exceeded a total of $206 million in revenue for FY19. However, it reported a loss of $294 million in FY19. As on September 2019, company's EBITDA loss dropped by 40 percent than March 2019.

"We achieved tremendous results in optimising our costs, without affecting new product launches or innovation," Deepinder said, adding that "we will shoot for market leadership, and simultaneously steer the business towards a more sustainable P&L."

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Currently, Zomato has three business segments, Food Delivery, Dining Out, and Sustainability.

In May 2015, Zomato launched its online ordering and food delivery services with Delhi-NCR followed by Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Kolkata. By April 2019, it had expanded the service in 200 cities. Today, it offers food delivery service in over 500 cities across India.

The order volumes in the top 15 cities have doubled in the last 12 months, while the remaining cities already contribute 35 percent to order volumes.

"Our food@work business is growing well, and some very large accounts are slated to go live soon. We are already doing 3 million orders a month for food@work, which is in addition to the orders reported in the chart below," Deepinder added.

Zomato also claimed that its average monthly transacting users have increased by 211 percent to 11.2 million users in H120, as compared to the same period in FY19. While, the average monthly active restaurants have increased by 177 percent to 119K restaurants.

Known as the 'backbone' of Zomato's operations by the CEO, the average monthly active delivery partners also saw a spike of 308 percent in the first half FY20. Currently, there are more than 200K delivery partners associated with the food aggregator.

Zomato also shared an interesting infographic with trivia of its delivery partners, such as Chennai having the largest women delivery partner to Gurugram having the oldest partner at the age of 60 years, among others.

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Restaurant listing, Zomato Gold, and Logout Campaign

The number of restaurant listings globally on Zomato has grown from 1.2 million in September 2018 to 1.5 million in September 2019. "Half of this increase comes from India alone," Deepinder said.

In April 2015, the food aggreagtor acquired the US-based restaurant reservations and table-management platform NexTable, in a cash and stock deal to start providing this service to its users. Soon after in January 2016, it launched its own restaurant reservation service known as Zomato Book.

On the table reservations front, Zomato has grown from 800K booked covers in January 2019 to 1.3 million booked covers in September 2019, organically and with zero investment, the CEO stated.

Its flagship product, Zomato Gold, saw its members increasing to 1.4 million. According to the FY19 report, Zomato had one million active subscribers of Zomato Gold globally, in the month ended March 2019. While less than five percent restaurants participate in Zomato Gold, less than five percent of Zomato's monthly active users (MAUs) are Gold members.

The cities dotted with Zomato Gold have increased to 54 as on September 2019, as compared to 20 in September 2018.

From a restaurateur point of view, Gold is not for everyone, Deepinder said, adding that,

"We always encourage restaurants to determine if participating in Zomato Gold makes commercial sense for them. Some restaurant owners in India campaigned against Zomato Gold last month (#logout campaign); we engaged with the restaurant owner community and rolled out some changes to the program that were widely accepted by most restaurants, as well as users – thus creating more balance in the program. A number of restaurants who have returned to Zomato Gold post these changes have seen a 100 percent increase in revenue."

At the start of the ‘#logout campaign', Zomato had 6,100 restaurants on Zomato Gold in India. Currently, it has 6,300 restaurants on its flagship product in the country. "The number of restaurants participating in Gold outside of India stands at 6,500," Deepinder added.

Sustainability

In the past six months, Zomato has executed over 65,000 orders for 2,200 restaurants across Delhi and Bengaluru. The food aggregator acquired Hyperpure in 2018 to provide fresh and clean ingredients to its restaurant partners and the revenue from its warehouses in H120 stands at $6.5 million, as compared to zero in H119, with a FY20 projection of 10x growth.

In July, Zomato started collecting used cooking oil (UCO) from restaurants, processed and delivered it to biodiesel manufacturing facilities. The company collects 130 tonnes of used oil per month, from about 1,000 kitchens in Delhi-NCR, and will expand operations to five more cities this October.

(Edited by Suman Singh)

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The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted patent rights to Bengaluru-based medtech startup Inito for its proprietary home diagnostics technology.

The Y Combinator-backed startup has developed a 'Flat-lens' technology that allows a single Inito device to perform dozens of lab–grade diagnostic tests at home by using only a smartphone.

The US patent grant will further its mission to become a "global health tech company" out of India, Inito said in a statement.

Inito also happens to be India's first medtech startup to be selected by Y Combinator in its Winter ’19 Cohort. “Being funded by Y Combinator, it allows us to think globally and access global expertise and resources," Inito co-founder Aayush Rai had earlier stated.

One of its first offerings is the fertility test that enables women to track their fertile window, and improve chances of conception by almost 89 percent. The device does this by measuring two fertility hormones, Estrogen and Luteinizing Hormone (LH).

Inito’s AI-based app collects the data to understand cycle variations for every woman, and throws up unique results. The startup claims that its results are "99.12 percent accurate", and have been tallied with results from lab-grade scanners.

The Inito device has collected hormone data from over 150,000 fertility tests so far. The startup plans to add eight more hormone tests to its device going ahead.

In a statement to the media,  Co-Founder and CEO Aayush Rai, said:

"The patent grant by the US Patent Office provides us defensibility in the global market and will help us cement our leadership position in bringing the quality diagnostic tests to every home.”

Inito plans to disrupt the $30 billion global fertility market with its proprietary device, AI and data analytics.

In the future, it wants to let users monitor several key metrics on the device, and even diagnose fertility conditions like anovulatory cycles, PCOS, and so on.

(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)

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Indian ecommerce player, Paytm Mall on Tuesday said that it is targeting to generate over Rs 500 crore in actual sales and business this festive season. It launched its Maha Cashback Carnival on September 29, along with major ecommerce players Amazon and Flipkart, and will end on October 6. 

Paytm Mall has on-boarded over 30,000 new retailers ahead of the festive season. Under the partnership, these stores offer their catalog on Paytm Mall app, in-store pick-up, local deliveries, and exclusive brand vouchers.

The partnership also enables Paytm Mall to acquire new users, strengthen its assortment and expand its reach to the neighborhood brand outlets.

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Speaking on the same, Srinivas Mothey, Senior Vice President - Paytm Mall said,

"In preparation for the upcoming festive season, we are aggressively on-boarding retail stores and collaborating with new brands. We have also introduced exclusive brand vouchers as part of our ongoing engagement and aims to offer an incredible shopping experience. Our team is overwhelmed with customers' response to our on-going Maha Cashback Carnival. We have already witnessed 3x GMV within the first two days of this sale and are aiming for $300 million (Rs 2,100 crore) in GMV during the festive season."

The company also claims that it does not own and operate warehouses, rather it partners with the sellers and encourages them to use the local courier services for delivery, thereby bringing down the delivery time and costs. Through this approach, it is targeting to become EBITDA positive within two years.

Last week, Paytm Mall also bought eBay’s global inventory on its platform, ahead of the festive sales. The inventory includes over a million products in categories such as toys, collectibles, fashion, automobile accessories, gifts, and decor festive items.

“We are expanding the World Store which makes international brands available to Indian buyers on our platform. We aim to become the launch partner for international brands to cater to the Indian market.” Mothey added. 

For sometime, Paytm Mall has been claiming to concentrate on the market outside Tier 1 cities. While the ecommerce player agrees that metropolitans contribute to about 35 percent of its business; it says the rest is generated from small cities and towns.

During the festive sale in 2018, the ecommerce industry saw Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) jump 77 percent y-o-y, more than double the expected range of 35 percent of annual average sales growth for the etailing industry, data released by management consulting company, RedSeer said.

This year, RedSeer predicts the overall etailing industry is expected to do gross sales of $3.7 billion, or Rs 24,000 crore between September 29 and October 4, a y-o-y growth of 60-65 percent.

(Edited by Suman Singh)

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Bengaluru-based ride hailing platform Ola on Tuesday announced that it had launched its services in Warwick and Coventry, its eighth and ninth cities in the UK.

Speaking on strengthening their presence in the country, Alok Pandya, Ola’s Regional Manager for the West Midlands, Coventry, and Warwick, said in a press statement:

“We have learnt a great deal in the last 12 months since the launch, and feel immensely proud that our drivers have already provided over one million rides across the UK. Coventry is the home of the black cab, and as such we are delighted to be able to boost income opportunities for local drivers. We are leading the way with driver benefits, and are the only app in the area to include black cab drivers in our dynamic fleet.”

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Ola offers commuters the option of both black cabs and private hire vehicles. The team claims to offer the highest driver rates in the region. The team added that for the past three weeks Ola had been working with local councils to grant the technology and transport licences needed for both taxi and private hires. The team claims this to be the first for these areas.

Ola’s easy to use ride-hailing app will redefine the transportation needs of over 600,000 locals in the area, the statement said. Customers will also enjoy competitive pricing – with new users receiving 50 percent off on all rides for the first two weeks, as well as the important 24-hour safety support offered by Ola’s in-app customer care and emergency service.

Ola has invested $60 million in its international operations in the last 15 months. This was reported in filings made by Ola Singapore Pte, the company's entity that controls international markets, to Singapore's Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.  Of the amount, the company pumped in $6 million in March this year.

Currently Ola Singapore controls Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and even the US. UK operations have reportedly been moved from the Singapore entity to The Netherlands.

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)

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Urging people to shun tobacco, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said e-cigarettes were banned to prevent the youth from falling into the new way of intoxication.

These are his first remarks on the issue of health hazards linked to e-cigarettes after the Union Cabinet earlier this month banned its sale, production and storage through an ordinance. The ordinance will be converted into a bill in the next session of Parliament.

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In his latest edition of 'Mann ki Baat' radio address, he also said a "myth" has been spread that e-cigarettes pose no danger.

Like the conventional cigarette, it does not spread odour as fragrant chemicals are added to it. He said these chemicals are harmful and pose a health hazard.

" ... do not harbour any misconceptions about e-cigarettes," PM Modi said.

Discourses and debates will continue, the support and opposition will continue, but, if some things are checked before they proliferate, then there is a huge benefit, he said referring to the ban.

" ... e-cigarette has been banned so that this new form of intoxication does not destroy our demographically young country. It does not trample the dreams of a family and waste the lives of our children. This scourge and this obnoxious habit should not become rooted in our society," the prime minister asserted.

There is no confusion about dangers posed by a cigarette. It causes harm. The smoker and the seller know the harm it causes, he pointed out.

"But the case of e-cigarettes is quite different. There is little awareness among people about e-cigarette. They are also completely unaware of its danger and for this reason sometimes e-cigarettes sneak into the house out of sheer curiosity," he warned.

Urging people to shun tobacco, the prime minister warned that e cigarettes, which are used as a 'fashion statement', are a new way of getting addicted to nicotine.

As if a magic show is on, children at times blow smoke in the presence of their parents without lighting a cigarette or striking a match.

" ... Family members respond with applause. There is no awareness. There is no knowledge ... once teenagers or our youth ... become hooked and fall prey to this noxious addiction," he said.

An e-cigarette is a type of electronic device unlike a typical cigarette. In an e-cigarette, the heating of nicotine-containing fluids creates a type of chemical smoke and this is the pathway through which nicotine is consumed, the prime minister explained.

The government had on September 18 banned production, import and sale of e-cigarettes and similar products, citing health risk to people, especially youth.

Making sale, manufacture and storage of the product a penal offence, the ordinance states that first-time violators will face a jail term of up to one year and a fine of Rs one lakh, and for subsequent offences, a jail term of up to three years or a fine of Rs 5 lakh, or both.

Storage of electronic-cigarettes shall also be punishable with an imprisonment up to 6 months or fine up to Rs 50,000 or both.

The owners of existing stocks of e-cigarettes on the date of commencement of the ordinance will have to declare and deposit the stocks with the nearest police station.

The ordinance was issued on September 19.

(Edited by Suman Singh)

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The Indian economy is expected to start its recovery from later part of this fiscal, thanks to the initiatives taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for policy rate transmission, and the steps by the government to boost growth, says a report.

According to D&B Economy Observer report, a pick-up in the industrial production will only be gradual, and an uptick is expected to be visible during the festive months of September and October 2019.

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"The slowdown is real and there is a 'need to be cautious, but it is too early' to press the panic button," Arun Singh, Chief Economist, Dun & Bradstreet India, said, adding that the magnitude of slowdown is not as deep as was witnessed during the global financial crisis in 2009, and the debt crisis in 2012.

Economic growth hit over six-year low of 5 percent for the first-quarter ended June 2019, mainly driven by demand slowdown.

He further noted that the loss of momentum in investment demand is "worrying". Besides low business optimism, low returns on investment by the corporate and increase in inefficiency in capital employed also raises concerns over the pace of revival in investment.

The spate of measures taken by the government, including reducing the corporate tax rates, is expected to revive the corporate sentiment and provide an impetus to the corporate to kick-start their capex plans.

However, amid various emerging challenges, both globally and domestically, "it is highly likely that the slowdown will last longer than expected earlier", he said.

"We expect the economy to start recovering from late FY20, as the funding constraints ease further with the RBI's recent measures to strengthen the transmission channels and the stimulus measures taken to address the current issues from both short term and long-term perspective," Singh said.

Just last week,, the government also slashed effective corporate tax to 25.17 percent inclusive of all cess and surcharges for domestic companies.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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Kerala’s neighbouring states – Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana – are known for their booming entrepreneurial ecosystems. Abundant in man power and industries, the whole environment is extremely startup friendly in all three states.

The God’s Own Country, on the other hand, is mostly dominated by tourism, handloom, handicraft, bamboo, and cashew industries. But the state is now moving from being a scenic destination with serene beaches and tall coconut trees to an emerging startup hub. And the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the central agency of the Government of Kerala for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state, is fuelling the budding startup ecosystem.

Saji Gopinath, CEO of KSUM, got into a candid conversation with YourStory to reveal what it takes to help grow the Kerala startup ecosystem and the emerging trends in God’s Own Country.

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Edited experts from the interview:

YourStory: How does KSUM help startups and entrepreneurs here?

Saji Gopinath: KSUM offers help at two different stages – at the school and college level, and also once the startup is already formed.

Being a state where there are no high investor activities and only a few industries, we need to have a ground-up model. We believe that a startup needs a non-linear but impactful growth.

People have to think in an innovative way. We have something called an Innovator’s Programme. We distribute electronic kits and Raspberry Pi kits in schools so that students can start working on these. This initiative is undertaken by another agency under the education department. The agency now provides kits to 50,000 students across schools in the state, so that children start experimenting from an early stage.

However, the more serious work begins in college. We work with science, technology, and engineering colleges where we have set up ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship Developing Cells’. It’s almost like an National Service Scheme (NSS) activity – we shortlist colleges and provide Rs 2 lakh to run entrepreneurship programmes and conduct innovation programmes. If colleges perform well and there are a lot of student entrepreneurs coming out of these colleges, we offer up to Rs 10 lakh. In fact, one of the products developed by college students here was sold to Lockheed Martin.

So, this is more like a learning programme, and 90 percent of the time, students will be experimenting. And if we find some of them serious about their experimentation, we provide them with infrastructure support.

YS: How do you help startups once they are formed?

SG: Every two months, we have something called an ‘Idea Day’ when any college student with a business idea can come up and pitch their idea to a panel. If the panel finds the idea interesting and viable, we provide them funds worth up to Rs 10 lakh. So far, some 2,800 ideas must have been pitched, and we have funded about 500 of them.

We have created not just physical infrastructure but also infrastructure for digital fabrication. We provide tab-labs, AR-VR, and blockchain networks and space for innovation.

We also provide soft loans at five percent interest. In addition to that, we have selected a few angels and have created a fund of funds. So, in a sense, we are trying to curate this ecosystem right from schools to enterprise level.

YS: What can startups from metros learn from those in Tier II and III cities?

SG: I won’t say learn, but startups in the metros can do a few things differently.

Metro startups are mostly concerned about valuation. Non-metro startups, on the other hand, are more about profit. Now, the challenge is that when you make profit, you are not necessarily investable – because it means you’re not really getting the customer base, but trying to make an early profit.

They fight to get an early breakeven, which means scalability is a challenge for them.

But, at the same time, the whole valuation game also comes with challenges. There have been cases where the expected valuation bubble has actually gone and burst at some point.

YS: What qualities do you look for in startup founders?

SG: We believe that the tech world needs a techie. So, the founder must have some background in tech. It doesn’t mean s/he has to be an engineer. I have seen some of the best startups being founded by doctors.

Startup founders have to be good at their work and they must be passionate. As a state, although we are promoting more student startups, we believe that experience matters.

YS: Do you prefer single founders or multiple founders?

SG: A startup is all about fast growth. One person cannot be great in all aspects. We have also found that investors generally look for multiple founders.

There have been cases where we have had single founders, but we try and help them find another founder and nurture these co-founders.

YS: Any particular trends that you notice in the Kerala startup ecosystem?

SG: We have more hardware startups. That’s probably because hardware startups are stickier, and software startups find it easy to migrate. We provide an environment that supports hardware startups; we have a hardware incubator. Fintech is also quite popular. Ecommerce is not as relevant.

There are a few healthtech startups as well, but not as many edtech startups.

I believe for edtech it’s a long runway and it requires a lot of financial support. Investment cycle of angel funds is shorter and they want exits in six years; and edtech might not become viable in six years.

YS: According to you, what are the top five startups from Kerala?

SG: I would say GenRobotics (they have built remote-controlled robot that can be sent down a manhole to remove sewage), Sastra Robotics (Uses robotic technology for a wide range of industry applications), Rapidor (A B2B platform that helps in sales order management, inventory control and business dashboards), and Neuroplex (developed AI-powered video content analysis modules to enhance security at petrol pumps).

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)

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