All Posts by Himanshu Sheth

|In: e-commerce|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

When we think about e-commerce in India, the only websites that come to our minds are Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal, Shopclues etc. All of these players are horizontal e-commerce portals. There is plenty of room for players in the vertical/niche e-commerce space

Today we have a discussion with Vineet Singh, Co-founder & CEO of Buildzar. Buildzar is India’s largest marketplace for all the construction and home renovation solutions. It aims to make online buying of construction goods seamless just like we buy items like clothes, books etc. online. So let’s start of with the Q&A

Can you give a small background of Buildzar and its founders

Founded by Vineet Singh & Swapnil Tripathi, Buildzar.com is India’s first & largest marketplace for all home construction and home renovation solutions. It is the single largest online platform for home-owners, builders, architects and designers to make the home building experience smooth and hassle-free. We offer a complete range of construction materials such as cement, steel, sand, bathroom fittings, electricals, tiles and paints.

We have also launched, one of its kind turnkey home building solutions, where anyone planning to build a home can get design, materials & labour services – all in a one-stop shop. This unique offering called as Build Your Home with Buildzar [BYHB] offers an extremely professional way of consumer interaction in this industry and allows them to make decision about building the right home within few minutes or hours.

To remove the information asymmetry that exists as of today, we have created unique products like Beztimate, a construction cost, quantity and timeline calculator & store organised as per the budget [Budget/Standard/Premium/Luxury]. With us, customers get complete peace of mind through ‘B-Sure’ guarantee, which means that all the deliveries are backed by quality and quantity guarantee from sellers. In order to instil confidence into the consumers’ mind, we have also started sending samples to customer’s doorsteps before they make purchases, so that they can touch and feel the products they like.

We have designed use-case based combos according to each stage of construction, so that customer does not have to take care of dealing with multiple vendors & scheduling deliveries.

Vineet Singh, Co-founder, CEO and MD of Buildzar.com, has more than 16 years of experience in the consumer internet industry. Prior to Buildzar, he was EVP & Business Head of multiple businesses in Info Edge including Naukri.com, 99acres.com, JeevanSaathi.com & NaukriGulf.com.

Swapnil Tripathi, Co-founder and COO, Buildzar.com, has an MBA from MIT Sloan. Prior to Buildzar, he headed Consumer Operations at Ibibo Group. He has also been the Business Head at Meritnation.com. He also worked as Business Head of consumer business [Resume Services] in Naukri.com and Sales Head of Jeevansathi.com. After leaving Meritnation.com he was a bootstrapping entrepreneur and founded his venture India Art Village.

Every idea is born out of a problem, what was the trigger for starting Buildzar ?

Two years back, I was building my house in Delhi. It started as a joyful journey filled with excitement and learnings, but slowly began converting into a painful experience. There were myriad issues popping up at each stage of construction – Which materials to buy, in what quantities to buy, from where to buy? There was no single platform where we could go for the solutions.

We had to spend hours doing online search and research, and scroll through several home magazines. There is too much theory everywhere but no implementable advice. There had to be a better way. Few months later, I came in touch with Mr. Puneet Dalmia, the MD of Dalmia Cement Bharat Limited. He was renovating his house at that time and his experience was equally worse. It occurred that if a person like Puneet, who is a big name in the building materials industry, had to face such problems with all the resources at hands, what would be the extent of pain that a regular consumer faces. The common pain-point led us into detailed discussions and it was then the idea of solving this problem for the regular consumer came to our mind, and Buildzar was born.

Does it only operate in the B2C Space or there are plans to venture into B2B [by tying up with builders, real estate portals etc.] ? 

Our current focus is B2C segment. Currently, the major share of our target audience as well as customer base are individual home builders, but as we are successfully aggregating demands from commercial sectors as well, we may become equally relevant for B2B clients too.

Does Buildzar operate on inventory model or marketplace model (or both) ?

As of now, Buildzar is operating on a marketplace model. It will be a challenge to move to an inventory based model with building materials as our niche product, but if need be, we may plan to move to that model too.

Is Buildzar bootstrapped, VC funded or Angel Funded ?

Buildzar got its initial funding from Puneet Dalmia, MD at Dalmia Bharat Group, and We are planning to raise series A funding in the next few months.

How does Buildzar manage logistics (is it in-house or you have tied-up with different logistics partners) ?

At present, all our deliveries are managed by the logistic services of our suppliers. We haven’t tied up with any of the logistics partners as of now. For our samples-at-your-doorstep services and visits to experience centres, we have our own logistic vehicles.

Which are cities where Buildzar is operational ?

We are currently operational in Delhi-NCR and plan to expand in 12-15 metros and tier-2 cities over a span of three years.

Many years back Flipkart exited the Heavy-Product business (like TV, Fridge, Furniture etc.), what do you think is the major challenge when shipping such products?

Delivering tonnes of cement and steel is different than delivering fashion products. One of the major challenges is the non-reachability of the site at which the product has to be delivered. It increases the overhead costs and delivery time. Off-loading the heavy product is also a matter of concern.

Who are some of your competitors ?

At present, we have companies like Supplified and Brick2Wall as our competitors in Delhi-NCR and MSupply, Buildmantra, Material Tree and Apna Stock in southern part of India.

How do you manage to cope-up with the reverse logistics issue which is so prevalent (and also eats up margins) in today’s online consumer businesses ?

Returns and cancellations are inherent part of the ecommerce industry. When it comes to building materials, it becomes a challenge. We have received only 3 return requests in last six months of operations. If a case of return occurs, we are left with no option but to have to ask the customers to pay for logistics, as our order size is large in terms of both product quantity and value.

Buildzar.com team

What are the major changes that you experienced when you became an entrepreneur ?

Leaving a job to start something of your own takes many efforts. I have learnt to prioritize between what is “need to have” and what is “good to have”. In today’s scenario, everybody want to start their own business or join a new startup but no one wants to get their hands dirty.

If young entrepreneurs want to have great dish, they must learn to bear the heat. I have always been a workaholic so exhaustive work hours don’t bother me much but yes, I have mastered the science of learning, unlearning and relearning.

What key advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs ?

Doing a startup is like a roller coaster ride with many ups-and-downs. To have a happy ride, one must go through a process of learning and un-learning many things.

I am a strong believer of the fact that beauty lies in the fine print of things. Drill deep down into the problems you are addressing and find solutions for them. Ask questions. Any detail is too small to escape close attention. Leave no stone unturned. Leave no dot unconnected.

To succeed at something, always have an eye for the details.

Can you give some pointers on Scaling up & Customer Acquisition (some take-away for entrepreneurs) ?

  • Identify the Hero product of your business. Focus on your USP and determine what excites your target audience the most.
  • Try automating everything in your business. Focus on technology intensive processes that will act as a force multiplier. Even though it takes a lot of time, this activity will pay for itself in long term. This will help in streamlining all the operations for a scalable model.
  • Create a product with a great customer experience. Focus on offering an experience to the customer, which is not only unique but also compelling.

Bootstrapping or Funding, what are your views on the same ?

According to me, there is no ideal capitalization structure for a startup. As entrepreneurs, you must always start with a bootstrapping mind-set. Focus on building a business that is self-sustainable and generates business without burning of cash.

Instead of sticking to a single option, determine the market size and dynamics and make an informed choice based on the research. Just keep in mind that money is always limited and you have to value money and spend prudently.

Your views on whether to start a vertical e-commerce or horizontal e-commerce startup ?

All the 4 big institutionally funded players (Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal & Paytm) are horizontal ecommerce businesses. So, there is no doubt in the success of selling products from large number of categories. However, customer acquisition comes at cost in these cases.

Vertical market has definitely more opportunity when it comes to addressing a larger section of loyal customers without burning huge funds on customer acquisition. Businesses catering to a niche vertical must understand what it takes to build a sustainable and profitable business. We are big believers of giving our customers a unique experience. By addressing the $100 Billion construction and building materials market, we are making a bet on differentiated vertical ecommerce.

Your view about GST and how it would affect e-commerce startups/companies ?

The Indirect taxation laws in India have become a hindrance in the e-commerce operations, as they have not been able to identify the continuously evolving hybrid business models.

When talking about the challenges, the entire e-commerce segment is facing issues in categorizing their offerings as ‘Goods’ or ‘Services’ for charging the Value Added Tax (VAT)/Central Sales Tax (CST) or Service Tax. Presently, both VAT and Service Tax are levied on all digital transactions, leading to frequent disputes.

It is expected that Goods & Service Tax (GST), which is likely to be implemented from the next fiscal, may be the answer to most of these problems. It may resolve many supply chain and logistics issues of the ecommerce companies.

Some hiring tips for entrepreneurs (especially the core team) ?

Keep your hiring strategy very simple. A great business gets built with good people. Keep meeting individuals with innovative ideas, creativity and conviction to do something new. Keep expanding your network. Rest all will fall into place.

Any parting words from you for budding entrepreneurs

Firstly, value is created by cracking something tough. Easy ideas do not create value. Whenever you come up with an idea, think about what problem will it solve and how. Start putting things into action and focus on sales and marketing manically. In business, nothing happens until a sale is made. You will need to find a good way to get leads, convert leads into sales, and make sure you keep getting repeat sales from your customers.

We are sure that you would have got some handy tips from the discussion we had with Vineet Singh of Buildzar. If you have any questions related to Buildzar or have any general query, please leave them in the comments section.

[Image Credit* – LinkedIn]

|In: Books|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

Every person in life has dreams & aspirations but many times or should we say, most of the times “Plans remain plans” & finally, things divert into an unplanned direction. Some of them can do anything i.e. virtually anything to achieve their dreams. If this sounds like an interesting plot straight from a Bollywood movie, than you should definitely get your hands on to Ravi Subramanian’s latest book The Bestseller She Wrote. It is a story about Love, Betrayal & Redemption.

About the author

Ravi Subramanian is an Indian author. A banker by profession, Subramanian has written popular thrillers about banking and bankers, including award winning trilogy The Incredible Banker, The Bankster and Bankerupt. An alumnus of IIM Bangalore, batch of 1993, Subramanian spent close to two decades in the financial services industry. After having worked with companies such as Citibank, HSBC and ANZ Grindlays, Subramanian is now the CEO of a listed Non-banking financial company [Source – Wikipedia]

Detailed Review

‘The Bestseller She Wrote’ is the latest novel in the Thriller genre by Ravi Subramanian with an interesting plot with many twists & turns. Like his previous books The Incredible Banker, If God was a Banker and many more, the main character of the book – Aditya Kapoor is a banker, however banking has no role to play in the entire story.

The story revolves around three characters – Aditya Kapoor, his wife Maya and Shreya Kaushik (an IIMB Student). Let’s get into the skin of each of these characters. Aditya is not only a successful banker but he is also a best-selling author (nicknamed the Paperback King). He has a loving wife Maya and they are blessed with a son. It sounds like a happy-go-lucky family from Sooraj Barjatya’s movie 🙂 But their lives becomes topsy-turvy when Shreya Kaushik enters Aditya’s life.

Shreya Kaushik is a beautiful and talented girl who is pursuing her MBA in IIM, Bengaluru. Shreya has another aspiration i.e. to become a best-selling author. As expected, they meet again. Aditya visits IIMB to give a guest talk where he ends up with an argument with Shreya over a particular question raised by her. The authorities at the college are not very happy over her behavior. In order to compensate, she reads a novel written by none other than Aditya.

Now comes the fourth character, Sanjay (Aditya’s colleague & friend) and to make things worsen for Aditya, they visit IIMB for campus hiring. Aditya again meets Shreya during the campus interviews and Shreya gets placed in Aditya’s company.

Like a good-old masala movie; from ‘Just Friends’, Aditya and Shreya become ‘Very Good Friends’. They both develop an extra-marital affair and Shreya aims to capitalize on Aditya’s feelings in order to get her novel released in the market. Life is smooth for both of them until Maya comes to know about their affair.

What’s in-store for Maya, Aditya and Shreya? Would Shreya become a best-selling author, would Aditya choose Shreya over Maya, would Maya continue to stay with Aditya or divorce him ? Would Aditya redeem himself & regain his lost self-respect ? This is where the twist comes in the story and the story races in the second-half.

The Bestseller She Wrote : Pros

Roles of all the three main leads – Aditya, Maya and Shreya are very well etched out though some more light could have been thrown on some of them.

There are references to real world names like Chetan Bhagat, HSBC, Anurag Kashyap, Poonam Saxena etc. that make the story more compelling since user’s can visualize the actual characters while reading this book. The story is fast-paced with many surprise elements coupled with emotions resulting in lot’s of twists in this thriller. And yes, Bangalore is referred as Bengaluru which was definitely a ‘welcome surprise’ for us.

With so many aspiring writers willing to become ‘Best Selling Authors’, this book definitely gives an insight into the Best-Selling game 🙂

The Bestseller She Wrote : Improvements

Some insights into Shreya’s life before she enters into IIMB could have made her character even stronger. Aditya’s son has no role to play in this entire thriller & in our opinion, he was only kept to inform the readers that Aditya and Maya were leading a happily married life.

Aditya’s friend – Sanjay also had less role to play in the entire story. In some cases, there were minor grammatical errors that could have been avoided.

Closing Thoughts

The book provides an “Edge Of the Seat” thriller experience & the “Plot” creates this experience !!!  The book is written in very simple language. Strong Characters are the backbone of this book. We really enjoyed the whole journey :) At around 295 pages, The Bestseller She Wrote is definitely a book recommended for readers who love the ‘Thriller’ genre

Final Verdict – 3.5/5

Thanks Mr Ravi Subramanian for sending us an auto-graphed copy of the book 🙂 This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books !

Buy ‘The Bestseller She Wrote’ from Flipkart by clicking the below link (Affiliate Link)

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

With its aim to address the skilling needs of time-constrained working professionals, Simplilearn, a leading global Ed-Tech company that provides professional short-term certification courses, announced the launch of its Online Classroom Flexi-Pass, a revolutionary on-demand live instructor-led training solution.

This unique offering surpasses classroom and e-learning options by combining the interactivity of classrooms and the on-demand convenience of e-learning. The product allows learners to attend unlimited real-time face-to-face online sessions with world class trainers, unbound of their geographies and time-zones.

Flexi-Pass customers get 90 day access to attend unlimited live virtual training sessions with the opportunity to gain knowledge from the best of global trainers. Learners can move at a schedule of their choice through live online classrooms with industry experts, without the hassles of commute, traffic or blocking a few days for specific online classes.

Flexi-Pass gives learners the ability to attend multiple subsequent sessions with different industry experts to revise the subject, to clarify doubts, or in lieu of a missed session. Betting big on the Flexi-Pass product, Simplilearn will offer all its courses in the Flexi-Pass format and expects this to be one of the biggest growth drivers for the company in 2016.

Speaking on the launch of Flexi-Pass, Kashyap Dalal, Chief Product & Marketing Officer at Simplilearn, said

We wanted to create a rich interactive learning solution which working professionals could use to up-skill at their convenience, without making difficult trade-offs. What we have engineered with the Flexi-Pass product is in effect on-demand streaming of live instructor led learning. Based on the initial traction, we are confident of doubling our current rate of learner acquisition backed by a genuinely superior product to anything out there.

Game changing technologies like social, mobile, analytics and cloud computing are impacting every aspect of professional lives and it has become imperative to up-skill and re-skill in these latest technologies to become job ready for surer career growth. With less time at their disposal, professionals find it challenging to devote time for their career advancement and Flexi-Pass is a perfect solution for professionals looking to up-skill or re-skill.

With offices in Silicon Valley and Bangalore, Simplilearn is the world’s largest certification training company today.  In June 2015, Simplilearn acquired Silicon Valley based training company Market Motive.

About Simplilearn

Simplilearn is the world’s largest provider of short term certification courses that addresses the unique learning needs of working professionals. Having trained over 4,00,000 professionals worldwide,  Simplilearn provides unmatched customer experience, which handholds a customer – right from enrolling into an online course to getting Industry-recognized certificate in hand.  Simplilearn’s course contents are recognized by over 40 certification bodies, prominent ones being PMI, Axelos, Scrum Alliance, Peoplecert, and The Open Group. Simplilearn has also diversified into vendor certification like those from Microsoft, Cisco, and Salesforce. For more information, visit SimpliLearn

|In: Food-Commerce|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

For the first time in the history of the Indian food-tech industry, Eatfresh – an online platform delivering high quality, chef-made meals in Bangalore, received an astonishing order of 7000 kg plum cake worth Rs. 22 Lakhs from a city-based MNC.

As part of the Holiday season, these cakes are expected to be distributed internally to employees. Eatfresh bagged this order, courtesy its customers working with the MNC, given the quality of the food and service they experienced first hand.

EatFresh

Sharan Urubail, Head Sales, Eatfresh said

This is a huge moment for Eatfresh and for the food tech industry in India at large. We are seeing a rising trend among several individuals and companies who are now approaching the online space for ordering food and cakes.

Online orders for Christmas cakes and on-demand home delivery are a novel experience for Bengaluru this holiday season as such options were not available earlier. Consumers have now experienced and validated the quality of Eatfresh in terms of taste, culinary experience and the service we provide. Their trust in our products and service is of immense pride for us and our people. We will continue to deliver such experiences in the future to our valued consumers.

This Christmas, Eatfresh is offering a variety of special seasonal treats to its consumers across all its outlets in Bengaluru. Now you can order your special cake by logging on to the website to celebrate and spread some holiday cheer.

Definitely something to cheer about in the turbulent times faced by other food-tech startups !!!

About Ubiquitous Foods

Eatfresh was launched in August 2015 and delivers in 15 delivery areas around Bangalore. Fresh meals are created and prepared from scratch, by a carefully curated team of top professional chefs working from hygienic, A-Grade commercial kitchen facilities. All dishes are prepared with quality ingredients sourced daily from carefully chosen vendors.

Eatfresh’s delivery logistics are built on a world-class technology platform that guarantees that meals are delivered fast, hot and fresh. Eatfresh is a part of Ubiquitous Foods, which operates the bakery retail chain Ovenfresh in 50 locations serving 10,000 customers every day. For more details, please visit Eatfresh or follow them on Facebook and Twitter

|In: Infographic|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

The awesome folks at TheLadders, a US based company providing online job search service posed the following 2 questions to Marketing Professionals

  • What is your educational background and how do you feel your degree has aged as your career has progressed ?
  • If you could give one piece of advice to a new marketer looking to stay relevant in an ever-changing industry what would it be ?

The answers resulted in the below infographic where they have shared 8 essential tips from marketers on Breaking in & Staying relevant. Marketing has definitely changed since last couple of years & these tips would help the new-age marketers to stay abreast with the latest skill-sets.

Some good news for marketers in touch with latest trends is The unemployment rate for marketers with the right mix of skills is trending towards zero

Do share your feedback/comments or tips on how you have stayed ahead of the curve in this new-age Marketing era!!

|In: Embedded|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

GlobalEdge, announced that it has been featured in the GSPR report 2015 as a true engineering partner capable of complete product development, executing on new and innovative business models. The report is an annual initiative by Zinnov, a leading globalization and market expansion advisory firm.

Speaking about the inclusion, M.P. Kumar, CEO & Founder, GlobalEdge said

GlobalEdge has been focusing on embedded software for over a decade, providing world class services to Fortune 500 customers. Our long standing relationships with customers is a testimony of the quality we deliver.

Zinnov’s GSPR Report 2015 surveyed PE companies all over the world and confirmed GlobalEdge’s high execution capabilities in providing services in embedded software especially for our focus areas like Semiconductors, Telecom and Automotive. I am happy to see the report reiterating, and confirming, our commitment towards enabling customer success stories.

The report highlights GlobalEdge’s unique position to cater to the growing needs of making a connected world for industries like Semiconductor, Automotive, Telecom and Embedded Systems and cites some very interesting points:

  • Rated as an established player in the Embedded Systems category, GlobalEdge is high on its capabilities on scale, number of verticals and client speed
  • Rated at the top in the Semiconductor category, GlobalEdge has been recognized for its capability of delivering complete product development, building reusable IPs and its strong alliances with customers who are industry leaders
  • As one of the few players with R&D Practice maturity, breadth, innovation and a strong eco system connect, GlobalEdge comes out high in ranking under the Automotive and Telecom category

These findings reiterates GlobalEdge’s long standing strategy to continue to focus on being a Chip-to-Cloud partner to enterprises across the globe.

Raghavendra CS, Vice President and Head of Engineering & Customer Delivery, GlobalEdge said

Our single minded focus is on enabling our customers become leaders in their domain. We are continuously working with our customers across the globe to make a more connected world. Our deep domain knowledge and understanding of how global businesses work make us a perfect partner for success.

Ranking high and prominent in its capabilities for delivering solutions for customers in areas such as Semiconductor, Automotive, Telecom and Embedded systems, this report reiterates GlobalEdge’s commitment to come up with world class solutions for its global customers.

About GlobalEdge

At GlobalEdge, it’s not a world of things, it’s the Intelligence of Things. GlobalEdge is a product engineering company, constantly designing and defining the behavior of objects and things around us. The company induces intelligence in things to make global enterprises smarter in a new connected world. In a world of connected things, it delivers solutions that are specific to the Internet of Things. For more information, please visit GlobalEdge

|In: Accelerator|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

After successfully setting up start-up warehouse in Bengaluru, National Association of Software & Services [NASSCOM] has announced the inauguration of its second warehouse in the city in presence of Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka Shri Siddaramaiah, Shri. K.J. George, Hon’ble Minister for Bengaluru Development and Town Planning, R Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM and Rajat Tandon, Vice President, NASSCOM 10,000 startups

What is Startup Warehouse

‘Start-up Warehouse’ is a mosaic, which binds startups and entrepreneurs together in a novel working space, with an electric atmosphere that ensures sustained inspiration. Apart from the coffees, the synergies could be endless here More about it here

Over the years, Bangalore has developed as the start-up capital of India. The city has nearly 3,100 to 4,900 dynamic tech start-ups and has attained the second highest growth rate for exit volume and VC investment among the top 20. The warehouse currently has 20 start-ups and with the new space, the warehouse will consist of 100 start-ups. There will be 5 seats allotted to one start-up.

Startup Warehouse Programme

The start-ups will operate for six months. The entrepreneurs will have a list of benefits which could help polish their entrepreneurial skills as well as polish their marketing ability including; Connect sessions, early stage mentoring, access to resources from Google, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM cloud, Kotak banking etc. The selection would be finalized by a selection committee comprising of stakeholders from the government as well as the industry, viz. Government of Karnataka and NASSCOM. They will be required to sign a lease agreement with the Start-up Warehouse.

The NASSCOM warehouse is a four folds expansion from 10,000 Sq. ft. to 40,000 Sq. ft. area. The warehouse will be equipped with Internet of Things Labs, Design Labs & Mobile Experience Labs.

  • Internet of things Labs : A space for incubating IoT/hardware-play start-ups as they build, test and validate concepts and prototypes. It’ll be a meeting place for industry practitioners to share best practices, case studies with these start-ups and for peer founders to learn and assist each other. These will be feeder to the NASSCOM-Diety IoT Labs.
  • Design Labs : The Design Labs will be a co-working, co-learning space for ideation and creation of user centric design products. It will house multi-function spaces, innovative tools, usability studios and digital whiteboards for cutting edge design collaborations and ideation sessions. It will also serve as a center for excellence for design practitioners to gather and share best practices.
  • Mobile Experience Labs : The Mobile Experience Lab will allow developers, designers and startups access to a wide range of mobile devices from multiple major vendors across all major platforms for testing and building of next generation mobile products and technologies. Testing mobile applications across different platforms and devices helps ensure apps are accessible and fully functional.

Chief Minister of Karnataka Shri Siddaramaiah said

Karnataka has traditionally been an entrepreneurially rich ecosystem. Over the years, the city has seen an unprecedented growth in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. We are committed to scaling this even further and are pleased to co-opt with NASSCOM to make this dream a reality. NASSCOM start-up warehouse will further provide a platform for the talented entrepreneurs and give them the space they require. The Government is happy to cooperate and support such programs in order to boost the entrepreneurial culture of the city.

Rajat Tandon, Vice President, NASSCOM 10,000 Start-ups said

Karnataka is an entrepreneurial hub. Bangalore is easily the best place to start-up in India right now. There is easy access to capital and a relative abundance of talented youth who are passionate about working for start-ups. The expansion will help nurture over 500 entrepreneurs under one roof, thereby, driving growth and foster innovation under one roof, where start-ups can share knowledge and help build an inclusive yet vibrant economy.

The start-ups can bring in up to four team members into the incubation program. All start-ups will get showcased at select NASSCOM events and other events of partner organizations.

The Start-up warehouse will also host meetings and workshops with innovators and leaders from the technology and business community. With this expansion, NASSCOM aspires to impact 200+ startups by the next quarter from Bangalore adding to the overall 10K impact number.

More information about the NASSCOM Startup Warehouse can be found here & you can apply for the program here

Download the 2015 Startup report from here

About 10,000 Startups

Started in April 2013, 10,000 Startups is an ambitious attempt by NASSCOM to scale up the startup ecosystem in India by 10x. 10,000 Startups aims to enable incubation, funding and support for 10,000 technology startups in India over the next ten years. The initiative brings together key stakeholders of the ecosystem including startup incubators, accelerators, angel investors, venture capitalists, startup support groups, mentors, and technology corporations.

Since its launch in April 2013, they have done about 450+ events in 22 cities of the country which were attended by a whopping 25,000 attendees and received 9000 Applicants, 800 Startups Shortlists, and 150 Impacts.

Nasscom-Partners

For more information about IBM Cloud, please visit http://www.ibm.com/cloud-computing

|In: e-commerce|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Flipkart, India’s largest online marketplace, officially introduced #FlipTrends2015, a comprehensive and in-depth view into how Indians shop online.This study across 50 million Indian shoppers analysed consumer buying preferences between January 1st and December 14th 2015 and offers a detailed analysis into what trends dominate the online retail space today.

Rising mobile internet penetration and availability of a wide variety of brands and products at affordable prices across the country at the touch of a mobile screen have truly made 2015 the year of e-commerce in India. According to #FlipTrends2015, electronics and mobiles have emerged as the top performing categories. Delhi NCR tops the chart as the most online shopping savvy city in India, closely followed by Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.

Commenting on this, Ankit Nagori, Chief Business Officer of Flipkart said

2015 is truly the year of the digital Indian consumer. The data taken from FlipTrends, an analysis of over 50 million registered Flipkart shoppers in 2015, shows that Indians are taking to shopping online at a very fast clip. What is particularly gratifying to note is that Flipkart is taking the lead in introducing the ease and convenience of online shopping to millions of Indians in Tier-2, Tier-3 towns, and in rural areas. We continue to stay committed to fulfilling our goal of transforming commerce through technology in the coming years.

Key takeaways of the survey

  • Electronic accessories, mobile, lifestyle accessories & women apparel are consistently the top performing categories across all regions.
  • The study shows that 69% of the online shoppers are male, this gender clearly dominates the online retail space
  • While Delhi NCR emerges as the most e-commerce savvy metro, Southern India has a significant presence with Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai featuring among the top 5 cities that shop the most online along with Delhi NCR and Mumbai
  • Among the Tier-1 cities, Pune is the leader followed by Coimbatore, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. Bhubaneshwar is the only city from East India to feature in this list.
  • Mangalore has emerged as the top Tier-2 city of digital Indian shoppers followed by Mysore. The hill town of Dehradun is third in the list followed by Salem in Tamil Nadu and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh.
  • The e-retail space is largely dominated by consumers falling between the 25-34 years age group. More than half of the consumers shopping online are office goers closely followed by students.

You can have a look at the complete list in the #FlipTrends2015 info-graphic below

FlipTrends_Overall