Fiercely brave and loyal, Mudhol hounds are the first Indian dog breed to be drafted into the country’s army. Possessing traits that make them the perfect guard dogs, these animals are known for their graceful features: their athletic and long limbs, slender body, elongated skull, and tapering muzzle.

Not many would know this fact, perhaps — the Mudhol hounds, hailing from the state of Karnataka, also have a long-standing history with royalty. Long before their recruitment into the defence services, the hounds were used by kings and princes as hunting and guard dogs.

Little known as they may be, these magnificent creatures are an integral part of Indian history and culture. Their stories and those of other elements of the country—from the majestic Mysuru Palace to the lore of the ‘chocolate town’ of Ooty—are now being deservedly spotlighted in the form of short, factual, and insightful videos by digital story-telling platform MINDIA.

“Often, wonderful stories get lost in the diverse discourse of this country,” says Ganesh Shankar Raj, Founder and CEO of MINDIA.

MINDIA (pronounced ‘MIND-IA’) is an initiative of its parent company, Inner Eye World Films, a film production house. Started in 2018 by Ganesh (45), along with Sujit Nair (33) and Arjun Kumar (25), it is dedicated to telling these very “unknown, untold, unique, and positive” stories that can change the narrative around India and Indians across the globe.

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From history and culture, to nature and people

The unsung heroes and the influential who’s who ⁠—MINDIA profiles a wide range of Indians from every part of the world, curating and telling their stories. The idea behind starting such a platform was to tie up with up-and-coming filmmakers from across the country to shoot interesting stories that catch the attention of MINDIA’s research team.

Says Ganesh,

“As creative people, we felt that existing media channels, especially international media, focus mostly on negative stories on India and Indians. They generally look for clickbait content based on our country and people.”

Ganesh—a filmmaker himself—as a partner at Inner Eye World Films has worked with prestigious and diverse brands such as Volvo, National Geographic Channel, Eicher Motors, Karnataka Tourism, Discovery Channel, Andaman Tourism, and the Ministry of External Affairs, to name a few.

With MINDIA, his vision was to get the world hooked to a positive narrative with two to five minutes of storytelling. The startup has been capturing stories in the form of short films, web series, and micro documentaries, touching upon a wide variety of subjects including history, travel, people, nature, and culture.

Says the filmmaker-turned-entrepreneur, “So far, we have filmed about 100 stories across the country, and released about 25 of them on our YouTube channel, MINDIA.”

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Archiving the ‘mind of India’

Every time, the startup’s name surfaces in conversations, says Ganesh, people end up mispronouncing it. “We make an effort to correct it,” he continues, adding, “We are thinking of a new and innovative method [to correct the pronunciation of] the name, which will come up in our new releases very soon.”

Explaining why the pronunciation of the brand’s name matters, Ganesh shares that the word, coined by Justus Hultgren, stands for ‘Mind of India’. Justus, who has also designed the logo, is a well-known art director and an advertising professional from Sweden as well as an associate of Ganesh’s startup.

“The logo depicts an abstract and symbolic version of the elephant and, when tilted, depicts a single quotation mark, which we use in our films for the statements made by the protagonists,” the entrepreneur says.

Together, all these elements—as minute and trivial as they might seem—represent what the platform stands for and what it aims to do, which is to tell brilliant, compelling stories of India and Indians. And, so far, team MINDIA has managed to put its most creative foot forward with their visual stories.

From spotlighting the incredible feats of 107-year-old environmentalist Saalumarada Thimmakka aka the ‘Tree Mother of India’, who has planted over 8,000 trees in her lifetime, to tracing the journey of ‘The Saree Run’, an initiative involving saree and Indian clothes as fitness wear — MINDIA has truly captured the essence of India in their archive so far.

The team comprises eight to 10 scriptwriters/research persons, a director, executive producers, and post-production head/editors. The founding trio know each other from working together at Inner Eye World Films.

“I had started Inner Eye about decade ago,” says Ganesh, adding, “Sujit joined as an associate director while Arjun joined as an intern with Inner Eye. When the idea of MINDIA was born, I requested them to be part of MINDIA as their talent, hard work, commitment, and sincerity in their respective fields are hard to come by.”

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1 million views, 5K subscribers – the journey so far

MINDIA was launched with an initial investment of Rs 35-40 lakh. While it is self-funded, the plan, says Ganesh, is to go to market shortly for fundraising through angel investors. He adds, “We're in the process of determining valuation.”

In the little over a year of its existence, the digital storytelling platform has collaborated with some of the biggest brands in India to create unique, relatable stories that match the startup’s philosophy.

On this, Ganesh says,

“Karnataka Tourism is one of the clients we have been working with, which has helped us to identify the tourism sector as one of our potential business targets going forward. We also have three other potential clients (MNCs) in discussion stages.”

The startup’s stories are definitely grabbing eyeballs. In the past year, MINDIA’s YouTube channel has raked close to 5,000 subscribers, while its videos have garnered more than one million cumulative views and over two million watch minutes. Currently, the startup’s official website is in the beta stage, which once fortified will mark the next phase for the platform: the app launch.

“We are aiming for about one lakh subscribers over the next year,” says Ganesh, adding, “Views for each of our videos range from 20,000 to over six lakh.”

While an increasing user-base is a sure-shot indication of the platform’s growth, what stands out as MINDIA’s biggest distinguishing factor is its brand of storytelling and unique production style, which was perfected after a few hits and misses. Without compromising on the principles and virtues of filmmaking, the team takes pride in filming each visual story in less than a day’s time with a minimal crew.

In the future, Ganesh says his team is looking to focus on producing a web series based on factual stories. 

“These will include food-based series, travel series, and five-minute-long micro documentaries based on issues, all in the positive news category,” Ganesh says.

(Edited by Athirupa Geetha Manichandar)

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Nexus Venture Partners-backed co-living space provider Zolostays is in talks with Credit Suisse to raise around $100 million (about Rs 710 crore) to fund its expansion plans, a top company official said.

The Bengaluru-based firm is planning to increase its portfolio to 2 lakh beds by the end of 2021, Zolostays Co-founder and Chief Executive Nikhil Sikri told PTI.

"We are in talks with Credit Suisse to raise $100 million in Series C round to fund our expansion plans to increase the number of beds to 2 lakh," he said, adding the company will also increase its headcount.

However, Nikhil didn't offer any timeline for the funding plan.

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In January this year, Zolostays had raised $30 million in Series B funding round led by IDFC Alternatives, Mirae Asset, and Nexus Venture Partners.

Founded in 2015 by brothers Nikhil and Akhil Sikri, the company had raised $5 million in Series A round led by Nexus Venture Partners.

Currently, the shared space market is estimated at around 10 million beds and the organised sector, which includes co-living service providers, contributes under one percent.

"We have a portfolio of 35,000 beds spanning nine cities, which includes 3,000 dedicated to students. Additionally, 15,000 beds are under various stages of development and will be live before March. Our target is to have 2 lakh beds by 2021-end," Nikhil said.

However, he ruled out expanding too much into the students space or entering new cities.

He added that Zolostays' student living portfolio will be limited to 10 percent at least for the the next few years.

While adding more beds, the focus will be existing markets only, Nikhil said, adding "we are present in nine cities -- Bengaluru, Chennai, Kota, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Noida and Coimbatore" -- and "will limit ourselves to these cities as we know these markets well."

Zolostays boasts of marquee realty developers like Godrej Properties, Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, Sobha Developers, Olympia Group, DRA, and Ozone Group as it partners.

Explaining the business model, Nikhil said, "We either lease out an entire building from the developer or share the upside with them. Given the current slowdown in the realty sector, many developers are looking to partner with people like us as they are assured of good returns."

(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)

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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, we profile Licious, the Bengaluru-based meat brand. In four years, the brand has become synonymous with online meat delivery. But what makes this startup tick and what does it take to build a meat brand? 

Dressed in gumboots, wearing shower caps and rubber aprons, the first shift of workers at the Licious factory at Hoskote get ready to receive a fresh stock for cleaning, treating, and packaging. 

Their shift started sharp at 6 am and a truck came in with fresh stock of chicken. As the meat comes in temperature-controlled trucks to the factory, the meat’s temperature is first tested and then moved for further tests. Then, it is packed and sent for delivery.

There is a clockwork precision in ensuring that the meat is delivered to every customer fresh, clean, and hygienic. The startup works on an ecommerce model and customers can order on the company’s website or its app. 

Licious has partnered with 180 vendors to date. It has 56 delivery centres and an employee strength of 2000.

The startup has built contractual arrangements with large institutional meat vendors who are trained in managing livestock and meat handling techniques, according to international standards. It is also FSSC 22000 certified. 

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The emotions of meat

India consumes meat worth around $30 billion every year and the demand is only expected to grow. About 90 percent of this demand is addressed by the unorganised market.

But, Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta saw an opportunity for an entrepreneurial venture here. The two believe that meat is a product that evokes an emotional response from customers and there wasn’t a player in the country that could cater to them.

“There is an imagery of a carcass, a butcher chopping meat in ambient temperatures, and, of course, the smell always associated with buying meat. But it doesn’t have to be that,” says Abhay. 

When the duo dug deeper, they found that the market could be bigger, given that many people had concerns about the quality of meat available. “It isn’t like people do not want to cook or consume meat in India. The market needs a transformation,” says Vivek.

Abhay adds, “But meat in India has a very strong negative perspective. There are three things that are shared in black polythene bags - sanitary napkins, condoms, and meat.” 

Even their families were uncomfortable with the idea of establishing a meat brand. But the two entrepreneurs had a simple idea – give consumers the best quality meat brand. 

Bengaluru-based Licious, founded in 2015, is an online meat brand that delivers fresh and clean meat products. Now, after four years, the startup even has an offline experience store in Gurugram, which opened this June.

At present, Licious claims to be delivering an average of 10,000 orders in a day and has an average basket size of Rs 700. Since its inception, the startup has raised more than $65 million. 

The end-to-end model for meat

“We initially thought of the aggregator model but the market scenario showed that a farm-to-fork model seemed best,” explains Abhay. 

It all begins with the sourcing. The duo began working with livestock and poultry farmers. They set in a list of expectations and processes even beginning with how the stock are reared and handled. The task began with setting ironclad standards in terms of caring for the livestock, feeding, and breeding in a way that ensures the end consumer gets the best produce. And this goes across all categories. 

The meat reaches the factory that is temperature controlled. Licious’ Hoskote factory is divided into three parts - one for chicken and white meat, one for red meat, and one for seafood. After the meat is sorted, it is then tested for quality and stored in temperature-controlled rooms. 

The factory also has a laboratory that tests different elements like acidity, toxicity, shelf-life, and other factors that determine the quality of the meat. “We are working on proprietary material and software for that,” adds Abhay. 

It just isn’t the meat though. Even the ice used to store the meat is made in-house through a proprietary machine.

“When we looked for ice, we found that the quality of ice itself wasn’t good. The water used to make the ice isn’t hygienic. So, we decided to make our ice. For that we needed an RO water purifier, which is installed in the factory,” says Vivek. 

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Bringing in technology and data

Since Licious sells highly perishable items with a delivery time ranging between 90 and 120 minutes, demand forecast is critical. This is where the startup’s algorithm and predictability engine come into play. 

This is based on several factors, including past sales, traffic on the website, what customers are browsing and clicking on, how many times a product is in stock or out of stock, times each product was added to the cart and checked out, etc. 

Each data input makes Licious’ engine smarter – even preventing wastage. In an earlier conversation with YourStory, Abhay had told us Bengaluru is the most efficient city with only three percent of wastage, which was at 40 percent when Licious started.

One of the startup’s unique features is allowing customers to add out of stock items to their cart and check out. The founders claim that this helps them optimise their deliveries. While in-stock items are delivered within 120 minutes, out-of-stock items are delivered the next day. 

Control the entire process

Abhay and Vivek believe that what sets Licious apart is its control over the complete supply chain. 

This ensures that every member of the team looks at Licious as their brand and company. From the delivery staff to butchers and even customer service executives – everyone is on the company’s payroll. 

The startup’s offline store is another step towards bringing in awareness and not restricting Licious to one business channel. The team adds that it is evolving into an omnichannel format to provide customers with a real touch and feel of the brand. 

Why Gurugram? Licious feels that the region has a deeper penetration of semi-organised and organised meat stores.

The centre is also completely knife-free and has only pre-packed products brought directly from the production plant to ensure no compromise on quality and hygiene. 

Working the competition 

India’s fresh meat industry is worth Rs 180,000 crore while its seafood industry is considered one of the biggest in the world, exporting a wide range of products. 

But, Licious is not alone in this market. It competes with Easymeat, Zapprfresh, FreshToHome, and even grocery giant Bigbasket. 

At present, the startup is looking to launch more products to its packed food range and is already operational in seven cities. 

Abhay says, “We might grow at a relatively slow pace, but it doesn’t matter much. Our focus is to build a food brand out of India, one that is loved and consumed globally.”

Copy Editor: Saheli Sen Gupta

Camera: Rukmangada Raja

Video Editor: Siva Prasad

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To help the Indian entrepreneurial community connect with customers and grow businesses, WhatsApp has announced that it is investing $250,000 in the country's startup ecosystem.

Through a partnership with Startup India, WhatsApp will provide 500 startups approved by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) with $500 each of Facebook ad credits. With the ad credits, the startups can create ads that invite customers to click and open a chat on WhatsApp, towards deepening connections and increasing sales.

In order to be eligible for this incentive, startups must be at an early traction or scalable stage and must be recognised by DPIIT. Interested startups can apply on the Startup India website, and the selection would be on a first-come-first-served basis. Once registered, the first 500 entries will receive the free Facebook ad credits.

Abhijit Bose, Head of WhatsApp India, said,

“Startups and small businesses are the lifeblood of Indian communities and are a powerful driver of local economies. India’s entrepreneurs are at the forefront of bringing impactful social and economic change, and we at WhatsApp are committed to providing them support in achieving success.”

This investment comes on the heels of the Startup India-WhatsApp Grand Challenge that inspired entrepreneurs to develop India-specific solutions with socio-economic impact. WhatsApp awarded five winners with a grant of $50,000 each (approximately Rs 35 lakh).

Deepak Bagla, CEO and MD of Invest India, said, “India is at an inflection point, and, as it has the second-largest community of startups in the world, our focus has always been to support the ecosystem and promote innovative solutions to today’s challenges. The Startup India portal has played a pivotal role in enabling the ecosystem to drive inclusive growth and we’re constantly working to support the next generation of Indian innovators with partners like WhatsApp.”

Launched on January 16, 2016, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India. Over the last three years, over 19,000 startups, spread across 513 districts and covering all 29 States and six Union Territories, have registered under the Startup India programme.

(Edited by Athirupa Geetha Manichandar)

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Glance, the mobile content platform and part of the InMobi Group, has acquired Roposo, a short video platform for an undisclosed amount. This acquisition will give Glance access to more than 42 million users, and also to vernacular content creators.

Founded in September 2018, Glance currently over 60 million active users across five languages with presence both in India and overseas. Roposo, a Tiger Global and Bertelsmann backed venture, was founded by three IIT Delhi alumni - Mayank Bhangadia, Avinash Saxena, and Kaushal Shubhank in July, 2014.

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Roposo offers a TV-like interface that allows users to watch videos in 10 languages and across 24 channels that are powered by a pan-India network of regional influencers. It had raised $10 million in funding.

According to a press release issued by Glance, nearly 60 percent of its users in India belong to Tier II and Tier III cities, and spend an average of 22 minutes per day consuming content in a language of their choice. Glance provides content in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and English. The platform uses artificial intelligence powered personalisation to provide content across various genres.

“Most of India wants high-quality video content in vernacular since only 10 percent of India speaks English,” said Naveen Tewari, Founder and CEO, InMobi Group.

“Glance’s focus on 3Vs - video content across a variety of topics in vernacular - has already made it India’s fastest growing content platform. This acquisition will enable Glance to bring to the fore content created by Roposo’s large vernacular influencer community,” he said.

Glance, which had announced an investment of $45 million from Mithril Capital in September 2019, has been growing rapidly since its first shipment in Q2 2018. It is integrated with the native user experience on most Android smartphones from India’s leading mobile brands. Glance has more than 60 million daily active users (DAUs) as of November 2019, up from 50 million DAUs in September 2019.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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Global alternative asset manager Investcorp announced that it has invested Rs 316 crore (approximately $45 million) in Hyderabad-based dialysis service provider Nephrocare Health Services Private Limited. 

Gaurav Sharma, Co-Head of Private Equity, Investcorp India, said, 

“NephroPlus meets every criteria Investcorp looks for in an investment: outstanding founders supported by a solid team, impeccable clinical quality adherence, and market leadership focused on providing access to high-quality services at an affordable price point across a large and growing addressable market.” 

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Previous investors in NephroPlus include Bessemer Venture Partners and IFC (the private-sector arm of the World Bank), who will continue to stay invested alongside Investcorp, while one of the earlier investors, SeaLink Capital, has exited.

The primary capital raised in this round will be utilised for organic growth in India and taking the proven business model of NephroPlus to other markets, starting with Southeast Asia. NephroPlus aspires to build a regional network of dialysis centers spanning India and select countries in Asia and the GCC region.

Founded in 2010 by Vikram Vuppala and Kamal D Shah, NephroPlus claims to be the leading dialysis service provider in India, with over 140,000 dialysis sessions provided per month in 196 centers spread across 115+ cities.

NephroPlus has a strong focus on patient-centric care with each patient treated as a “guest”. Over the last five years, it has become a strategic dialysis partner of choice for almost all the top hospitals in India including Max, Medanta, FMRI, and 180 other reputed hospitals across the cities it operates in. It also acquired DaVita’s India business late last year, with the integration completed earlier this year.

Vikram Vuppala, Founder and CEO of NephroPlus, said, 

“Over the last decade, NephroPlus has refined its high quality but cost-effective model to become the most widespread healthcare delivery network in India.  Now is the time to grow beyond India while also cementing our leadership position in India with continued growth momentum.”

In India, Investcorp targets investment opportunities across three key sectors – healthcare, financial services, and mass-market consumer. Apart from NephroPlus, Investcorp Private Equity Fund II has so far invested in six companies, namely, InCred, ASG, Zolo, Citykart, Intergrow Brands, and Bewakoof.com.

(Edited by Athirupa Geetha Manichandar)

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Smartphone maker OnePlus said that it discovered a security breach last week while monitoring its systems. The company said in a statement on Friday that some of its users' order information was accessed by an unauthorised party.

"We can confirm that all payment information, passwords and accounts are safe, but certain users' name, contact number, email and shipping address may have been exposed," it said.

The company also said that it has started notifying customers via emails. It also said that right now, OnePlus is working with the relevant authorities to further investigate this incident.

If you have not heard from OnePlus, this means your information is still safe.

However, it cannot be said if OnePlus users in India have been affected as the company has not shared any further details on the affected users.

In the statement, the company added that it took “immediate steps to stop the intruder and reinforce security”, and released a FAQ, which said that the impact of this breach may result in users receiving spam and phishing emails. OnePlus is partnering with a world-renowned security platform next month and will launch an official bug bounty programme by the end of December.

This isn’t the Chinese company's first security incident. In January 2018, up to 40,000 OnePlus customers were affected by a security breach that caused customers’ credit card information to be stolen.

Closer home, OnePlus holds almost 40 percent of the premium smartphone segment in India. This August this year, the company opened its R&D facility in Hyderabad – its first such facility in the country.

It said that the R&D centre will serve as one of the main sites for the company's innovation for global markets. The OnePlus R&D centre houses three labs - camera lab, communications and networking lab, and automation lab, which will focus on camera development, 5G testing, software with a focus on AI and performance testing. 

With regards to software and network, the centre specifically will work on the development of India-specific OxygenOS features, including OnePlus applications design and development and drive the 5G enablement for regions like India, EU, and the UK.

(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)

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Ola Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd (Ola Electric) announced on Monday that it has inked a partnership with power distribution companies BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) and BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) to bring charging stations to New Delhi. This is a step forward in Ola Electric’s efforts to drive growth across India’s EV ecosystem.

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P R Kumar, CEO of BYPL, said,

“BSES is gearing up to play a major role in the promotion of the EV sector in the national capital. This partnership with Ola Electric is in continuance of these efforts. Setting up of battery-swapping stations will virtually eliminate the wait-time for charging, thus removing a major impediment preventing the adoption of EVs. I am confident such measures will provide the much-needed trigger to increase the penetration of EVs in Delhi and go a long way in reducing pollution.” 

The company has already set up charging networks around the country and is running several pilots to deploy electric vehicles and charging solutions, including battery-swapping stations, among other initiatives.

As a part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Ola Electric will work with BYPL and BRPL to develop battery swapping and charging stations in New Delhi. It is a first-of-its-kind agreement in New Delhi and is expected to accelerate the adoption of EVs in the national capital.

Ankit Jain, Co-founder of Ola Electric, said in a press release:

“Ola Electric has been working closely with ecosystem partners across the country to facilitate mass adoption of EVs and create solutions to operate with minimal restrictions. This program further augments our efforts to lay a strong foundation to enable the smooth functioning of EVs across the country by creating a widespread network of charging solutions that vehicle owners and operators can rely on.”

Ola Electric will also be working with power utility companies in Delhi to build a network of charging and swapping stations, providing charging facilities to existing and future EV users. EVs – two and three wheelers and e-rickshaws – will be able to use these services.

The EV swapping stations will be set up at manually identified locations across Delhi where BYPL and BRPL operate. BYPL will facilitate the identification of these strategic locations, depending on the optimum usage and potential of EVs in the area.

Amal Sinha, CEO of BRPL, said, “BSES is committed towards green and sustainable initiatives. Promoting e-mobility and renewable, key to attaining the climate action goals, are the two main drivers of this endeavour. As part of this, we are actively engaging with key stakeholders to create an ecosystem, including allocation of land for setting up such stations, for the promotion of e-mobility. Setting up battery-swapping stations will not only boost the adoption of EVs, but also help in reducing power theft by e-rickshaws.”

(Edited by Athirupa Geetha Manichandar)

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Indian telecommunications major Bharti Airtel (Airtel) on Monday announced it will be acquihiring Gurugram -based startup Quikmile, which focuses on building tech-enabled logistics platforms for India.

Post this acquisition, Quikmile’s team will join Airtel X Labs – Airtel’s digital innovation factory, which focuses on IoT, digital engineering, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

Started in 2018, Quikmile leverages digital technologies to bring efficiency, quality, and safety to fleet owners in India’s highly disorganised logistics sector.

This includes easy monitoring of fleet minutiae including engine behaviour, tire conditions, mileage, etc. to remove transportation dynamics such as route planning, demand forecasting, analysing vehicular performance, and organised achievement of targets.

It also resolves manpower issues through monitoring of driver behaviour by tracking complex data including distance travelled per day, maximum and average speed, harsh braking, etc.

Speaking on the acquisition, Harmeen Mehta, Global CIO and Director – Engineering, Bharti Airtel said,

“At Airtel X Labs, we are on an extremely exciting journey to build digital solutions for India’s unique requirements. As we scale up our team with world-class talent, we are thrilled to welcome the Quikmile team as part of Airtel X Labs. India is now among the largest economies in the world but has a highly disorganised and inefficient logistics sector. We see a massive opportunity to solve problems for this segment through scalable technology solutions and workforce management platforms that will make organisations much more efficient”.

In a statement, Airtel said that it used Belong.co’s AI Talent Platform to discover, engage, and close this acquihire.

Earlier in October, Airtel also acquired a minority stake (8.82 percent) in Bengaluru-based startup, Vahan, as part of its startup accelerator programme. Vahan focuses on finding blue collar jobs for millions of young Indians.

Over the last year, startups in the logistics sector have also been attracting private equity investments.  YourStory Research shows that in the first five months alone, the logistics sector has already witnessed a capital infusion of $6.25 billion across just eight deals. That’s more than a six-fold increase from the amount it raised last year, across 20 deals.

According to Associated Chambers of Commerce (ASSOCHAM), India can save over $50 billion if the cost of logistics and transportation is reduced from around 14.4 percent of GDP to nine percent of GDP. By comparison, other developing countries spend less than eight percent of their GDP.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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Hike, India’s AI-led unicorn is working at the intersection of AI and art to innovate and build magical experiences for the Indian market. With AI, Hike believes technology can finally begin to wrap itself around people, and together with art, bring a bit of romantic value into these incredibly personalised experiences.

Introducing HikeMoji

Using advancements in the field of AI together with a unique art style, Hike recently launched HikeMoji, the first and only made-in-India hyperlocal avatar. Hike believes in the online world one can go beyond the constraints of the offline world, hence one of its principles with HikeMoji is that it’s 60 percent of what a user is and 40 percent of what they would love to be.

The role of AI in HikeMoji

AI plays a key role in bringing HikeMoji to life, using advanced Computer Vision and deep neural networks.

• Creating the HikeMoji: HikeMoji is created using advanced Computer Vision and deep neural networks. Hikers can take a selfie and this enables the platform to search around 100 trillion combinations of facial shapes and colour features to create a HikeMoji and HikeMoji Stickers reflecting the user’s looks within a few seconds

• Discovery of HikeMoji Stickers: With hundreds of HikeMoji Stickers of themselves to choose from, ML and NLP play a key role in enabling easy discovery and providing apt sticker recommendations for each user across a total of nine languages

“Behind the scenes, all of this comes to life through Machine Learning. It’s at the intersection of both art and ML that we’re able to bring such novel and unique experiences to life. While we launched the first version recently, we are quite excited to build upon this foundation,” says Kavin Bharti Mittal, Founder and CEO, Hike.

The role of art in HikeMoji

Hike is also one of the only tech companies that also has a huge focus on art which enables it to create an incredible hyperlocal experience. With HikeMoji Stickers, hikers can supercharge expression beyond the keyboard. With over 1,000 hairstyles, facial features, bindis, local clothing, nose pins and more to choose from, users can make their HikeMoji truly their own. To start with, users get over 100 exclusive HikeMoji Stickers of themselves in any of the seven regional languages available, in addition to English and Hindi.

Talking about how the artwork was key to making it work, Kavin adds, “People need to feel that this is them, so we’ve ensured that the HikeMojis feel relatable but they’re also aspirational. There’s a local flavour to the avatar and all the 1000+ customisations that come with it. Users also get over 100 exclusive HikeMoji stickers that only they can use to start with.”

HikeMoji uses hyperlocal elements to reflect a relatable ethnic identity to the emojis. What’s unique to Hike is that the artwork across has an essential Indian feel. From colours, design schemes and personalised nuances, it all comes to life with hand-drawn elements to maintain high quality.

Leading with research and innovation

As India’s AI-led unicorn startup, Hike takes its growth and innovation pretty seriously. The company is one of the top three patent filers in the field of IT, with 66 patents filed in the year 2017-2018. Hike has also launched the Hike Patent Program, which not only incentivises Hike employees with rewards and grants but also lends legal and market guidance to prospective patent filers. The company is also offering rewards and grants ranging up to ₹60,000 per inventor, depending on the impact of the idea. The company has also presented papers in IJCAI, ECIR and has represented in global platforms including Tensor Flow and the World AI Show.

AI First: Innovating at the intersection of Art and AI

Excited to find out more? Well, now you can! Hike is bringing its exclusive event, AI First: Innovating at the intersection of Art and AI to Bengaluru. This is where attendees can get a ringside view of its innovation story and strategy,

The event will focus on the areas they have worked on so far, and the road ahead. You will hear from Kavin Bharti Mittal (Founder and CEO, Hike), Dr. Ankur Narang (VP of AI and Data Technologies), and Anshuman Misra (VP of Operations), on all things AI and Art. It will be hosted on November 30, 2019 at the Ritz Carlton Bengaluru.

Entry to the event is by invite only and is non-transferrable, think you should be on the list? Register below and get a chance to score an invite and be part of this exclusive event.

Register for an invite here.

Consumer brand Mosaic Wellness on Monday announced that it has raised $10 million as a part of its maiden round of funding led by SAIF Partners, Sequoia Capital, as well as Matrix Partners India.

Along with them, a host of angels, including the likes of Kunal Shah (Founder of Cred), Jitendra Gupta (Co-founder of CitrusPay), Jaydeep Barman (Co-founder of Rebel Foods), Raj Dugar (Managing Partner at Eight Roads Ventures), Amit Lakhotia (ex-Paytm and angel investor in BharatPe), Sahil Barua (Co-founder of Delhivery), as well as Rohit Kapoor, also participated in this round.

Mosaic Wellness was founded by Revant Bhate, earlier CXO at Rebel Foods and Partner at Kstart, and Dhyanesh Shah, earlier Principal at Eight Roads and McKinsey.

Revant used to invest in seed stage B2C firms at Kstart before which he has built brands such as Behrouz Biryani at Rebel Foods. While Dhyanesh drove investments in the consumer and healthcare sectors at Eight Roads and spent several years advising enterprises at McKinsey.

The founders were colleagues in their first jobs at Oracle 15 years ago and have remained friends ever since. 

Talking about the venture, ​Co-founder & CEO, Revant ​said,

“​We see a large opportunity to create solution-oriented consumer brands in a digital India, where businesses will now be built consumer-first rather than category-first.”

Dhyanesh, Co-founder & COO, added, “​We are highly indebted by the confidence shown by SAIF, Sequoia, Matrix and our angel investors, and excited to have them as a part of our journey.”

The venture is modelled on building digital-first and customer-first brands in the growing consumer brands space in India and is expected to launch operations soon. 

"Revant and Dhyanesh have excelled in their respective careers as operators and investors. We found both of them to be very complementary and strongly customer obsessed. We find their vision of creating solution-oriented consumer brands to be unique and exciting and are thrilled to partner with them on this journey," said ​Mukul Arora, Managing Director, SAIF Partners​.

As a part of this round, Mukul Arora from SAIF, GV Ravishankar from Sequoia, and Avnish Bajaj from Matrix will join the board of Mosaic Wellness. 

“Due to our long relationship with Rebel Foods, we have worked closely with Revant. He is a great operator with a keen eye for customer success which translated into him building strong brands at Rebel Foods. This helped the team build quick conviction on the idea and partner early with him,” said​ GV Ravishankar, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India LLP. ​

Sequoia India was an early investor in Rebel Foods and partnered with the company from the seed stage.

Revant, on the other hand, worked at Rebel for half a decade in various leadership roles, and saw significant value creation with the business.

“At the confluence of our theme of backing the trend of new consumer brands and experienced founders, we are privileged and excited to partner with the pedigreed and experienced team of Revant and Dhyanesh, along with co-investors SAIF Partners and Sequoia Capital, in building a large consumer business in India,” said ​Avnish Bajaj, Founder and Managing Director, Matrix India​.

(Edited by Dipti Nair)

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Their love for food – especially a rich, creamy milkshake – led two college friends to bootstrap a startup in the F&B space. College roommates Nishant Tripathi and Anil Paremal, who crossed paths during their engineering days, took their memory of that "sad and watery canteen milkshake" and converted it into a bootstrapped startup: Shake It Off.

“This was around 2008,” Nishant recalls. “Anil would continuously rant about the quality of milkshakes at college. And I would wonder what he was going on about. The question was answered when I visited Dubai to meet him in 2015 and we to a couple of gourmet shake shops there.”

When compared to their college’s watered-down shakes overloaded with sugar and syrups, the shake outlets in Dubai offered a refreshing and flavoursome change. Nishant and Anil already had a startup dream and a milkshake business added fuel to that entrepreneurship fire. In 2016, the duo bootstrapped milkshake brand Shake It Off with an investment of Rs 10 lakh.

What began with a single outlet in March 2016, has since grown to nine outlets and three cloud kitchens based out of Bengaluru, Chennai, and Delhi, serving close to 50,000 customers.

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Taylor Swift to the rescue

Shake it Off is a fun, young, and vibrant brand. Quite like its owners, Nishant (30) and Anil (29), who seem to have their finger on the pulse of the milkshake industry in India, a market segment that is poised to grow at a CAGR of 25 percent between 2019 and 2024.

The absolute necessity of a relatable moniker with a recall value was important. This is where US singer and pop star Taylor Swift and her popular single Shake it Off came to their rescue.

Nishant says,

“We always wanted a name that was catchy, and had a fun vibe. We had pretty much zeroed in on Shakealot; that’s when Tay Tay came to the fore and started singing Shake It Off through Anil’s earphones.”

But it’s not just the name that evolved in the process. Even their offering was improvised to best cater to the taste of millennial and Gen Z customers who make up the majority of Shake It Off’s target audience.

“We curated a menu that complements and completes the #thiccshake experience,” say the founders. This curation started with sandwiches and burgers, and soon shifted to a more Indian palate, comprising fries and momos. All this while creating new shakes that continue to pair well with the menu, and do not burn a hole in the pocket.

“Our shakes start at Rs 79 at the store, and our food starts at Rs 69,” says the duo, before letting us in on their biggest USP – a visibly different ambience marked by a laid back, colourful vibe and replete with a bunch of board games for that much-needed dose of nostalgia.

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From cloud kitchens to kiosks

Snicka Snicka, O!rio, Vanilla Sky, Salty Carrie, Bubba Bubba, Kitty Kat, Pink Floyd, and James Bondwa – these are just a few sinful indulgences off the top of the menu. However, the menu also keeps in mind the health-conscious milkshake lover with options like the Berry Yogurt Shake, The Whey Protein Shake, and The Meal Replacement.

The founders aspired to serve a holistic menu keeping in mind unique palates and an authentic #thiccshake experience. This, perhaps, is the reason why, despite not being a completely novel concept in the F&B market, the business has successfully taken off within three years of inception, clocking a revenue of Rs 185 lakh for FY19.

Even the team has grown over the years, from two employees during inception to 40 members today. “We have grown pretty organically,” say the founders, adding, “Our customer base is around 50,000 at the moment and we project to serve at least 300,000 customers over the next financial year.”

The Shake It Off experience currently includes a mini café, kiosk, and cloud kitchen model with a food truck model in the pipeline.

Figuring out the F&B space

In the Indian milkshake market, Shake It Off competes with the likes of the Thick Shake Factory, Makers of Milkshakes, Tempteys, Frozen Bottle, and Keventers. Making any headway in a crowded and competitive space is a daunting task, especially since the founders had no previous experience in this sector.

But Nishant and Anil are taking things in their stride. The engineers-turned-entrepreneurs explain, “Since we’ve come into the F&B Space with no prior background, every day has been an incredible learning curve.”

This learning curve, however, includes quite a few bold measures and making optimal use of limited resources. For instance, in the initial days, strapped for cash, the founding duo would resort to social media and small-scale events at local colleges for their brand’s marketing and promotion.

It’s all about timing and rate of growth at the moment, and to score on both these metres, the co-founders have taken to the franchising route to speed up expansion and capture more of the market.

“We are looking forward to selling master franchise rights for potential regions in India and abroad. We are also looking for strategic investors who can help us set up, maintain (or both) company operated units for even more direct profits,” they say.

Shake It Off is eyeing $1.5 million in funding to accomplish the founders' goal: 100 outlets by 2022.

(Edited by Suruchi Kapur Gomes)

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“My father will give Rs 50,000 to a religious institution without any query but will have hundreds of questions if I ask him some funds for my venture,” says the founder of a HR startup half-jokingly.

The above example captures the narrative of investments in the Indian startup ecosystem where domestic investors are still not a significant lot when it comes to investing in new companies compared to other countries like China, Japan, or Australia.

McKinsey Global Institute, in its study – The future of Asia: Asian flows and networks are defining the next phase of globalisation, states, “Capital flows are often a leading indicator of where innovation is taking root, and these flows are changing dynamically. The startup funding in Asia has grown rapidly, and Asia’s share increased from 16 percent in 2013 to 47 percent in 2018. China and Japan tend to raise funds domestically, while less advanced economies in emerging Asia are experiencing strong capital inflows from other economies within Asia, especially from the economies of Advanced Asia and China.”

The study shows how the domestic investment ratio into startups stands at 26 percent when compared to 57 percent in China or 84 percent in Japan. In countries like Australia it stands at 49 percent, while it is 30 percent for South Korea.

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The joke doing the rounds among the fund managers of Indian venture capital firms is that is it easier to sell the India story to overseas investors rather than the domestic counterparts.

While India is said to be emerging as the next startups and innovation hub in the world, thanks to an improvement in its ease of doing business and becoming one of the top-three startup-friendly ecosystems in the world, back home investors are not actively contributing to its growth story.

Overseas dependent

Till now, the Indian startup ecosystem has largely received funding from North America and Europe, followed by Japan and China.

Japan’s SoftBank is a leading investor, with significant stakes in unicorns such as Oyo and Ola. On the other hand, Chinese companies such as Alibaba and Tencent have been ploughing funds into the Indian startup ecosystem with stakes in companies such as Byju’s and Paytm, etc.

However, in India, apart from the Mahindra Group, Hero Group, or Marico Industries, most venture funds or domestic investors, which also includes the corporates, have not been significant players in the startup ecosystem.

Bhasker Majumdar, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, an early-stage technology fund, says,

“Domestic investment from Indian investors is much less when compared to China or Japan. Though one must remember that this asset class of venture capital investment in India is still very new.”

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This has actually led to Indian startups either receiving interest from overseas investors or seeking their capital proactively. The McKinsey study says, “About 70 percent of venture capital funding in Asia is inter-regional.” This means the capital flow is within the Asian region and cites the example of SoftBank leading several large funding rounds for Indian unicorns.

Siddarth Pai, Founding Partner and CFO, 3one4 Capital, says, “Indian investors are used to a model of investing where profitability and growth counts which come under the domain of listed companies. They are still unsure about these new-age startups where the models are different.”

Risk appetite

On being asked whether domestic investors have the appetite to pour in large capital like the foreign counterparts, the founder of an Indian unicorn says, “It is both a cultural aspect and lack of such large pools of domestic money.”

He feels that Indian investors are not culturally aligned to make those big bets, and neither is such large investible capital available.

A domestic private equity and venture capital investor on his engagement with high net-worth individuals (HNIs) while raising a fund, says, “We tell them not to park their entire investible surplus in VC investment, but make certain provision for us.” He reasons that these HNIs typically invest in gold, land, or equities, but they should allocate certain funds towards VCs as it is a high risk, high return game.

The lack of enthusiastic participation from domestic investors into the startup ecosystem has also got to do with the regulatory environment. Bhasker provides example of the UK where there are tax breaks given to this asset class of investment. “If the government in India comes out with clearly defined schemes which encourages domestic VC investors, then this segment will accelerate.”

Siddarth says there is a significant difference in the tax rates on investments between the publicly listed entities and privately held companies. This, he feels is a major deterrent for domestic investors to invest in startups, which are all private entities.

Industry observers believe that the spectre of Angel Tax also discouraged investors from investing in startups.

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Future positive

However, amidst this tepid environment of lower amount of domestic capital into Indian startups, there's some hope for the future. Bhasker says, “There are certain distinct changes we are witnessing, and the signs are positive. In our second round of fund raise, the receptivity to this asset class was much better than the first one.”

Siddarth says there is higher interest among FMCG companies in India to invest in startups to understand or collaborate on how these entities operate.

The asset class of domestic venture capital investors is also undergoing an evolution which, from a historical point of view, is much younger when compared to China, Japan, or the US, but this is certainly turning for the better.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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The genetic disposition of an individual determines more than just physical characteristics and behaviour. It goes deeper – predicting health patterns, genetic anomalies, illnesses and nutritional needs of an individual. In fact, a recent study claimed that a genetically tailored weight loss programme helped people lose 33 percent more weight. 

Mumbai-based startup The Gene Box is exploring the labyrinth of genetic markers for this very purpose. 

TGB works in the area of genomics. It conducts research and provides reports and recommendations to help professional healthcare practitioners guide clients on a wide range of issues - disease predisposition, nutritional needs, and most effective fitness regimes. 

So far, the startup has conducted over 1,000 tests with research being a major driver. The team recently tied up with a genetic company in Mexico and in Malaysia.

TGB collects blood or saliva samples to analyse DNA. The individual DNA is subject to genotyping through DNA microarray technology which gives the team individual raw data. This data is fed into an algorithm that yields a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative report with just a click. The Gene Box analyses over 700,000 data points from raw data with actionable recommendations on various health parameters. 

How it all began for The Gene Box

Founded in September 2015 by childhood friends Pranav Anam and Shiraz Siddique, the idea of TGB consumed Pranav as a student when he heard of the Human Genome Project. 

Today, the core team has Taher Kagdi, Head of Operations, who has over 12 years of experience in running various ventures. 

Pankaj Chandra, former COO, BigFlix Reliance Entertainment Company, heads business and strategy, and Manvi Vernekar, a PhD in biotechnology, nutrigenomics and human genetics, heads the research team. Since starting up Shiraz Siddique has moved on. 

“Soon after graduating from Newcastle University, I joined the biotech workforce where the applications of all that I have studied for years came to life – that was a fascinating experience. Over time, the prices of genome sequencing dropped drastically – against the $3 billion to sequence one genome in the Human Genome Project, a high-quality ‘draft’ whole human genome sequence could cost $1,500 in late 2015. When we map this to the demographic variety that India consists of, the possible results of the genome sequencing exercise are fascinating,” says Pranav. 

Addressing a market gap 

The early industry players mostly generated reports that were technical in nature, and didn’t guide professionals or layman on the next steps. The data was also primarily focussed on European and American population. It didn’t take the Asian or more specifically Indian audience into account. 

Pranav explains that the low incidence of Asians made it challenging to look deeper into population-specific issues in India. Thus, there was a gap in the needs of the Indian population, who are increasingly susceptible to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) besides the usual genetic disorders. This was what Pranav aimed to fill with TGB.

“The status of genome-related activity then helped us to feature in the list of countries where the technology is available, but I realised more could be done. As a geneticist, I understand the significance of the knowledge about genes going to the masses,” Pranav adds. 

Thus, the need of the hour was to create products that are based on scientific rationales and not just associations. This started TGB’s scientific foray into gene-based wellness.

How the gene pool grew

In the initial years, the team focussed on building the database. One of the biggest challenges was to create awareness about the usefulness of such information and it’s applicability in generating further business. 

“While setting up the business, finding the right match in the workforce was a challenge – we needed a multi-disciplinary and academically oriented team that could connect the dots and make the insights both meaningful and actionable,” says Pranav. 

In the past six months, the bootstrapped startup has been focused on marketing and sales. The Gene Box follows two models - it builds genetic tests for dieticians, nutritionists, healthcare professionals, diagnostic labs, insurance, FMCG, nutraceuticals and other pharma companies. This model costs between Rs 6,000 and Rs 16,000, dependent on requirements. The other is a SaaS-based model that works with genetic testing companies. Here, TGB provides companies with backend support from which genetic companies run tests. The price varies from $20 to $50 per report. 

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The revenue models and future 

It is this SaaS-based model that separates The Gene Box from Hyderabad-based MapMyGenome, which also analyses and formulates health reports for healthcare professionals based on genomics (its reports, titled Genomepatri, focus on different aspects of the DNA). 

On TGB’s future plans, Pranav explains,

“The Gene Box is embarking on various scientific projects on endogamous studies, disease-specific studies, developing newer products with different panels such as dermatology, hormonal health, etc, to give a wider coverage to genetic risk assessment, which could benefit the healthcare professional and the end consumer. India’s diversity is an asset and in the next 24 to 36 months, we aim to serve as many as 100,000 Indians with the benefits of their respective genetic information. Market awareness is a constant factor that we are working on. The stakeholders and the general masses need to be made aware about the idea of genomics and its potential – constant engagement with them will create trust and help us penetrate better.”

(Edited by Suruchi Kapur-Gomes)

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Ever since we were kids, TV commercials, celebrities, and even our parents urged us to drink two glasses of milk every day. The popular narrative was that milk makes our bones and mind stronger. A ‘complete food’ in itself, we were told that milk has a host of nutrients that can make us stronger and sharper.

While these claims were true, the commonly consumed cow and buffalo milk might not be our only options out there. In fact, recent research suggests that milk from other animals – goats, camels, and even donkeys – are much better for human consumption. Drinking camel milk might sound bizarre to a lot of us, but you will definitely change your mind once the numerous benefits of these milk alternatives are revealed.

Benefits of alternate animal milk

Camel milk contains immunoglobulins and lactoferrin that boost human immunity. It is also rich in iron, vitamin C, calcium, and protein. In fact, it contains thrice the amount of Vitamin C and 10 times more Iron compared to cow milk. Also, the fat content in camel milk is much lower than any other animal milk.

It contains mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids that help lower cholesterol levels and decrease the risk of heart disease. As a natural probiotic, the milk contributes to better gut health, boosting our overall health and illness fighting capacity. Overall, it is much more competent in making bones and muscles stronger compared to cow and buffalo milk. Most importantly, camel milk does not contain the A1 casein so it can be consumed by those who suffer from lactose intolerance.

On the other hand, goat milk is light on the stomach with much smaller fat molecules than other animal milk. It is rich in high-quality protein, which is essential for growth and repair of the body. While it cannot be consumed by those diagnosed with lactose intolerance, it has lower amounts of lactose than cow milk. Goat milk also has exceptional amounts of calcium. Just three servings of the milk can provide more than 100 percent of an adult’s daily requirement of calcium. It also contains potassium, phosphorus, and iodine that are essential for overall wellness.

Finally, donkey milk is fast emerging as an antioxidant, anti-ageing elixir. It was already being used by cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies to make healing and therapeutic face creams. It does not contain coagulable casein and very little fat, which is why it is quite easy to digest. It is rich in minerals such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, and iron along with immunoglobulins that boost immunity. This milk can also be consumed by those who are allergic to cow milk.

Alternate milk being promoted in India

Considering the multiple benefits of the aforementioned milk alternatives, it is no surprise that several farmers, manufacturers, and even the government are pushing for the commercialisation of these kinds of milk. In fact, it was recently revealed that the Modi government is seriously exploring the possibility of promoting donkey milk among the masses. Along with it being extremely healthy, the idea behind promoting this milk is also to sustain and possibly grow the dwindling camel populations in the country.

The commercialisation of camel milk is also aimed at helping camel herders in the desert states earn a steady income in lieu of their diligent contribution towards the protection and breeding of camels. For this purpose, paradigm-shifting camel milk startups have emerged across the country that directly deal with camel herders to procure, process, and sell the milk across multiple markets.

Such an approach to collecting and supplying alternate animal milk will encourage breeders to continue working with these animals while protecting their ecosystem. Startups engaged in the procurement of these milk alternatives are not only promoting breeding by incentivising it, but also protecting our animals and conserving the vast biodiversity of India.

(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)

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Transport for London (TfL), the governing body for the UK capital's transport network, on Monday refused to renew taxi hailing firm Uber's licence to operate in the city because of safety and security concerns.

TfL said the US-headquartered taxi app was not "fit and proper" as a licence holder despite having made a number of positive changes to its operations.

"Transport for London (TfL) has concluded that it will not grant Uber London Limited (Uber) a new private hire operator's licence in response to its latest application," it said in a statement.

Uber said it will appeal against the decision because it was "extraordinary and wrong". Meanwhile, it can continue to operate until the appeals process is ongoing.

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"As the regulator of private hire services in London we are required to make a decision today on whether Uber is fit and proper to hold a licence. Safety is our absolute top priority," said Helen Chapman, Director of Licensing, Regulation and Charging at TfL.

"While we recognise Uber has made improvements, it is unacceptable that Uber has allowed passengers to get into minicabs with drivers who are potentially unlicensed and uninsured," she said.

The move could potentially benefit Indian ride-hailing start-up Ola, which clinched an agreement for its entry into the London market in July.

Ola's model, already operational across a number of regions in the UK, is expected to involve London's traditional black cabs to also use the ride-hailing service.

Uber originally lost its licence in 2017 due to safety concerns, but was granted a 15-month extension. It had received an additional two-month extension in September which expired on Sunday.

"We have fundamentally changed our business over the last two years and are setting the standard on safety," said Jamie Heywood, Regional General Manager for Northern & Eastern Europe at Uber.

"TfL found us to be a fit and proper operator just two months ago, and we continue to go above and beyond. Over the last two months we have audited every driver in London and further strengthened our processes," he said.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan welcomed TfL's decision on safety grounds.

"Only in the last few months it has been established that 14,000 Uber journeys have involved fraudulent drivers uploading their photos to other driver accounts - with passengers' safety potentially put at risk getting into cars with unlicensed and suspended drivers," said Khan.

"I know this decision may be unpopular with Uber users but their safety is the paramount concern," he said.

TfL's concerns included Uber's approach to carrying out background checks on drivers and reporting serious criminal offences. Uber's use of secret software, called Greyball, which could be used to block regulators from monitoring the app, was another factor, according to the transport regulator.

(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)

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Apple is now making its iPhone XR in India for domestic market and exports, while one of its suppliers, Salcomp, will invest Rs 2,000 crore over the next five years to make components at a plant in southern India from March 2020, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Monday.

Prasad said Salcomp, the world's largest manufacturer and a major supplier of chargers to Apple for iPhone, has reached an agreement to take over the closed facility of Nokia in a special economic zone (SEZ) near Chennai.

The facility, which has been closed for nearly 10 years, will be revived and made operational from March 2020. The unit will produce chargers and other equipments, and will boast of a diversified portfolio of products. This will entail an investment of Rs 2,000 crore in five years, he said.

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"It is a very proud moment for India. Earlier, it (iPhone boxes) used to be designed in California and assembled in China. Now it says assembled in India and also manufactured and marketed in India. We welcome Apple to expand operations in India. That is our expectation," Prasad said showcasing a 'Made in India' Apple XR device.

He added that all Apple products, including mobile phones being manufactured in India, will be used for domestic market as well as exports. Apple, which also works with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron in India, already makes iPhone 6S and 7 here.

In September, Prasad, after a CEOs roundtable with over 50 electronics and phone companies, had exhorted Apple to expand manufacturing base in India and to use the country as export hub, promising to line up fresh incentives and sops to galvanise electronics as well as phone industry.

As Apple continues to place big bets on India, the US-based company said its revenues in India 'established new records' in the September 2019 quarter, including achieving its highest revenue from Mac sales in the country.

After the Indian government relaxed FDI norms offering more flexibility on local sourcing norms in August this year, Apple had said it was keen on offering online and in-store experience to Indian users that are at par with its global standards, and aims to open its maiden retail store in India.

Apple, which competes with the likes of Samsung and OnePlus in the premium smartphone market, made an entry into the top 10 smartphone brands tally in July-September 2019 quarter due to price cuts on XR model along with good channel demand for its newly launched iPhone 11, a report by Counterpoint had said.

Apple India recorded a net profit of Rs 262.27 crore in the year ended March 2019, while its revenue from operations were at Rs 10,538.25 crore for 2018-19, as per regulatory documents.

Talking about Salcomp, Prasad said, "I am happy to share Salcomp, the world's largest manufacturer and major supplier of charger to Apple for iPhones, has reached agreement to take over entire facility of Nokia handset that was lying closed for 10 year. It will start from March 2020," he said.

Prasad added that the unit will manufacture chargers and other equipment.

"Apart from charger and other equipment, it will lead to diversified product portfolio of CMC, moulding, painting etc...(About) 10,000 people will get jobs in this and indirect job creation will be 50,000. About 70 percent of products from this SEZ facility will be exported, mostly to China. It will lead to value addition also," he said.

In the ongoing financial year, mobile phone exports from India will be at $1.6 billion while that of components will also be at $1.6 billion, he said.

"It is a welcome development...earlier we had almost zero exports but our consistent efforts for last three years is bearing good results," Prasad said.

"We have an ambition to make India a preferred destination for manufacturing. I have also instructed officers to accelerate this," he said.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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Bengaluru-based last-mile micro-mobility platform Yulu has raised Series A funding of $8 million, led by leading automobile manufacturer Bajaj Auto Ltd. Existing investors invested an additional $2 million.

With this funding, Yulu will look at building strong electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and also fast-track refining its electric scooter, Yulu Miracle. The team is looking to support over 100,000 Yulu Miracles by the end of 2020. It is also looking at building an extensive network of battery-swapping stations across the cities where it operates.

Yulu will source from Bajaj electric two-wheelers which have been co-designed and manufactured exclusively for shared micro-mobility. Bajaj will also consider facilitating Yulu's vehicle finance needs for large-scale deployment of its micro-mobility electric vehicles.

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In a conversation with YourStory, Amit Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, Yulu, said,

"In 2016, we began with our use case of bicycles, and late last year we launched our EV product. It was then we realised that the infrastructure like batteries and charging stations wasn't strong. So we began building on those, and in the effort towards that, we partnered temporarily with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in China. We also designed our own batteries, and focused on setting up charging infrastructure. At the moment, charging stations are restricted to Yulu's private fleet, but the infrastructure needs to expand."

It was with this in mind that Yulu partnered with Bajaj Auto, which was handling the assembly for the EV startup. This investment is a further strategic alignment between the auto giant and mobility startup. The Yulu team believes that consumer adoption of EVs has been limited due to practical factors like range anxiety and availability.

On the other hand, improving asset utilisation of the existing class of vehicles with shared-mobility platforms has not been able to reduce the dual problem of traffic congestion and pollution in a significant way.

Speaking on the investment, Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj, said:

“At BAL, we believe that the two factors of congestion reduction and pollution control will drive the segment of shared micro-mobility in the future. That, coupled with the expansion of Mass Rapid Transport System like Metro in large cities, will further boost the demand for flexible last-mile connectivity. In Yulu we find an experienced and committed partner with robust achievement of success metrics in a very short time. And this is why we decided to partner with them in their journey of bringing Yulu services to every neighbourhood of Urban India.”

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.

Amit explains that the aim is to build an ecosystem of EV-led micro-mobility to expand its services to eight mega cities and select smart cities under the current Smart Cities Mission.

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)

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Dharmesh Shah, Co-founder and CTO of global marketing and CRM software company HubSpot, is clear about one thing. "The first rule of disruption is: you do not talk about disruption."

The 52-year-old founder of HubSpot, which offers the industry's first inbound marketing system for small businesses, had a serendipitous foray into the world of entrepreneurship. And the self-confessed introvert has come a long way since then, disruption-wise and otherwise.

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Dharmesh began by working as a software developer at Birmingham-based SunGard and went on to found Pyramid Digital Solutions, a software company that was later acquired by SunGard. Along the way, he started OnStartups, an extremely popular blog that now boasts of 350,000-plus subscribers worldwide.

In 2006, he, along with Brian Halligan, launched HubSpot, which offers a full stack of software for marketing, sales, and customer service, with a completely free CRM at its core. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company now claims over 68,000 customers in more than 100 countries use their software to grow their business.

But despite being the brains behind a company valued at more than a billion dollars, Dharmesh still finds himself playing with code. "It just feels like something that I was always meant to do," he says.

Getting started

Dharmesh is well versed with the dictum, ‘change is the only constant’. He shuttled between 18 schools during the 20 years of his education as his parents moved between India, Canada, and the US. His father was an electrical engineer and his mother a homemaker.

Calling himself "an introvert" and "not a people's person", Dharmesh says he spent his early years in Bilimora, a small town in Gujarat. He went to the US for a few years because his father was on a student visa there, and returned to India to finish high school.

After high school, he began studying mechanical engineering in India. In the US for a summer break, he decided to take a summer course in computer science at Purdue University; his interest in mathematics had led many relatives to suggest his looking at options in computers. This was during the late 80s and early 90s.

The course – and subject - sparked an interest that refused to die. Dharmesh decided not to go back to India to finish his bachelor’s course; he decided to get a degree in computer science from the University of Alabama, Birmingham.

This one change led to a constant in his life: software development.

"I liked the thought of being able to craft something inside your head and convert it into something that a machine would understand," Dharmesh says.

Work in progress

In 1992, a year after graduating from the University of Alabama, he began working as a software developer at SunGard Employee Benefit Systems in Birmingham. He built a good rapport with his bosses and organisation but in 1994 decided to quit to pursue another dream: entrepreneurship.

Coming from India, where the mindset wasn’t in favour of starting up – especially back then – it wasn’t easy. Dharmesh also did not seem to display the qualities of a typical founder: the ability to aggressively sell, connect with people, and network relentlessly.

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But at 24, when he didn’t even have a bank account, Dharmesh decided to take the plunge. He bootstrapped Pyramid Digital Solutions, a software company for financial services, with a personal investment of under $10,000.

"I had a sense of what made computer programmers happy, which was a need in the marketplace, especially in financial services. The good thing about software, in terms of starting companies, is that it doesn't really require a lot. All you really have to do is buy a computer and spend some time with it," Dharmesh says.

Over the course, SunGard became a distributor to Pyramid Digital, and as the latter started to grow, so did competition. Subsequently, SunGard approached Dharmesh multiple times, seeking to acquire Pyramid Digital, which was already making over $15 million in sales every year.

Worried about lower price and valuation, he ran the startup for a few more years to be confident of getting a fair price. After running it for 11 years, he decided to get a clean exit and figure out what he wanted to do next. Dharmesh sold the startup to SunGard systems in 2004 for an undisclosed amount.

The famous thesis OnStartups

The next question was simple: what next?

"I always wanted to do a master's in computer science, but realised I was already way too deep into it. My family recommended that I do an MBA if I wanted to run a business, saying it would give my career some balance," he recalls.

Between 2004 and 2006, Dharmesh went to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to do a master's in technology from Sloan School of Management. This was where he met Brian Halligan, now Co-founder of Hubspot.

At MIT, he was required to write and submit a thesis; the subject he chose was patterns and practices followed by modern-age software entrepreneurs. His thesis advisor said Dharmesh needed real data and industry perspective, not his opinions and insights.

The idea sounded unpleasant, mainly because that would "need interaction and networking". Dharmesh found a way out by starting a blog to get comments and insights that he could use in his thesis. His onstartups.com is active till date; it now has more than 350,000 subscribers and is the go-to place for numerous developers and product owners.

"I wrote about startups, about the things I'd learned from my own entrepreneurial experience, and the insights I got from interviewing several software entrepreneurs at the time. I may have only been a student, but they were happy to help," Dharmesh recalls.

The birth of Hubspot

His insights revealed that most startups struggled with their marketing before digital marketing became mainstream. Companies had to either cold call or meet with potential clients at events and forums, acquire leads, and convert them into sales.

Brian was then working at Longworth Ventures, a Massachusetts-based VC firm. The duo met every weekend and exchanged ideas to see what they had learnt from their work. When Brian looked at the traffic OnStartups was generating, he was shocked; none of his portfolio companies ever got as much traffic on their websites.

Putting these variables together, Brian and Dharmesh came up with the idea of HubSpot. They started it in June 2006 when Dharmesh was almost completing his master's course at MIT Sloan.

Today, the marketing tech and CRM software company, headquartered in the Boston area, has offices in Portsmouth, Bogota, Berlin, Dublin, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, and Singapore. In over six funding rounds, the company has raised more than $100.6 million from the likes of Google Ventures (GV) and Sequoia Capital.

With 12 acquisitions and 10 investments to its name, Hubspot went for an IPO when it was valued at only $759 million.

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The Hubspot tech

Before building the platform for Hubspot with Brian, Dharmesh had a dilemma: to choose C sharp (C#) or Python for the development of the platform.

He chose C#, due to one strong and dominant factor: "I was more productive in C# and that mattered a lot."

"In the early days of a startup, you’re looking to mitigate unnecessary risk and get to market as fast as humanly possible. Within reason, my general advice is to go with what you know," he says.

He picked C# and .Net, which he says he would not have if he had to build HubSpot all over again. Dharmesh says he made the choice rationally and because he was solving for the company. It worked well and the company is now an industry leader in marketing and CRM software.

Starting with C++ and transitioning to C# and on .net, Hubspot was on Rackspace's cloud for hosting. With Rackspace, it was easier to push the product out to deployment, without having to worry about infrastructure. However, over time, as more engineers started to join the company, Hubspot had a VP of Engineering who wasn't comfortable with the then-existing closed environment, but only open-source databases and OS.

Dharmesh soon got the backend to switch to Java and Python. The product at HubSpot is now entirely run on Java, while Python is where the machine learning happens.

He says that there will definitely be a time to learn new things and experiment with new technologies, but the early days of a product's development and deployment are never the best time.

"Either you need to know the language completely yourself or you need to have immediate access to people that you can rely on and that do," he says.

The journey continues

Several things in the tech world have completely changed, be it databases or operating systems, since Dharmesh began his journey. However, he continues to believe in the fundamental idea of just writing software code.

"I am a big believer in the consistency of writing code, no matter what. The tech world and engineers today should inherently try to solve a problem that's worth solving, but not do it for the sake of high salaries. The goal is to become perfect over time at your craft."

Apart from focusing on tech, Dharmesh is now also an active angel investor in the Greater Boston Area. He has invested in as many as 83 startups so far, of which 28 saw exits. Some notable investments include AngelList, Orb Intelligence, Nimble, Life360, Coinbase, and Change.org.

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)

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How many of you remember the trademark glass of milk we had to drink every morning? Some of us liked it – while others had to pinch our noses and guzzle it down. India's dairy market – worth Rs 9,168 billion – is catered to by a complex network of farmers, dairy cooperatives, private players, cooperative federations, and more. 

But it all began with Amul Founder Verghese Kurien, also known as the 'Father of the White Revolution'. And his birthday, November 26, is celebrated as National Milk Day. Although Kurien passed away in 2012, his ideas still live on in companies that are on a mission to bring milk to the masses.

Here are five such dairy brands that use simple farming and procurement models to make crores of revenue each year.

WhatsApp to invest $250,000-worth ad credits in Indian startups

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What Licious needs to organise India’s $30B meat consumption market

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, we profile Licious, the Bengaluru-based meat brand. In four years, the brand has become synonymous with online meat delivery. But what makes this startup tick and what does it take to build a meat brand? 

InMobi's Glance acquires short video content platform Roposo

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Ola Electric to expand charging station network to Delhi

Ola Electric has inked a partnership with power distribution companies BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) and BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) to bring charging stations to New Delhi. This is a step forward in Ola Electric’s efforts to drive growth across India’s EV ecosystem.

Why single women above 35 are saying ‘Yehi hai right choice, baby!’

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OnePlus data breach: how does it affect you?

Smartphone maker OnePlus said that it discovered a security breach last week while monitoring its systems. The company said in a statement on Friday that some of its users' order information was accessed by an unauthorised party.

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