Microsoft Accelerator, a global program built to empower start-ups, and Accenture Ventures, which partners with and invests in growth-stage companies that create innovative enterprise technologies, today announced a new ecosystem partnership that aims to strengthen the start-up ecosystem in India.
The two companies will help growth-stage technology B2B start-ups boost their enterprise readiness and go-to market, and help achieve scale in national and international markets. This was announced at Microsoft Accelerator’s flagship event, ThinkNext 2018. The event, which was attended by over 400 business and industry thought leaders, start-ups, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs also marked the graduation Microsoft Accelerator’s 11th winter cohort.
Microsoft Accelerator and Accenture Ventures will support growth-stage technology B2B start-ups in India specializing in artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, Augmented/Virtual Reality, Blockchain, Fintech, Big data, Security and Customer experience solutions, and provide access to Accenture’s global clients and Microsoft’s global network. The ecosystem partnership will help start-ups deploy solutions in large India and global client environments, improvise on their business model and sharpen their go-to-market strategy. Start-ups stand to gain by developing innovative solutions for enterprise use cases created out of the synergy between Microsoft Accelerator and Accenture Ventures and their shared innovation ecosystems consisting of start-ups, venture capitalists, universities and corporate R&D Labs.
[L-R] Bala Girisabala, Managing Director, Microsoft Accelerator and Avnish Sabharwal, Managing Director, Accenture Ventures India on the signing of MoU between the two entities
Speaking on the ecosystem partnership, Bala Girisaballa, Managing Director, Microsoft Accelerator, said
Start-ups are the centers of innovation, and over the past decade they have played a crucial role in disrupting many industries worldwide. Today, the need is to create a collaborative environment and bring start-ups and corporates together to co-create and co-innovate. Our partnership with Accenture showcases our commitment to connect start-ups with large corporates and help them scale up to become successful businesses.
At Accenture Ventures, we believe that an open innovation approach can help enterprises accelerate adoption of ‘The New’, underpinned by innovation and digital. This ecosystem partnership is an example of how we orchestrate the innovation ecosystem and create opportunities for start-ups to grow and scale-up. We are excited about the unique value that Accenture Ventures and Microsoft Accelerator can together create for start-ups and enterprises.
Through this ecosystem partnership, Microsoft Accelerator and Accenture Ventures together will host various start-up events and summits in India which will enable them to engage deeply with the start-up network and bring new opportunities to innovate for clients. In the process, the ecosystem partnership will significantly strengthen the Indian B2B start-up network and support Startup India and Digital India programs.
About Microsoft Accelerator
Microsoft Accelerator is a global program built to empower startups around the world on their journey to build great companies. We work with market-ready startups to provide the tools, resources, connections, knowledge and expertise they need to become successful companies. Our goal is to help startups mature into enterprise-ready companies by scaling every aspect of their business. For more information, please visit Microsoft Accelerator
The year 2018 is nigh! And like every year, it is time to draw up your new year resolutions. Whether or not you say it out loud, the one wish you have is to be in a better financial shape. How about you make a resolution towards a better financial health then ?
Here are a few steps to ensure your financial health is in order.
Take stock of your financial health
The first step is to review your financial health. One barometer of your financial health is your CIBIL score. This is a three-digit score [between 300 and 900] assigned to you on the basis of your credit repayment track record. This is applicable to all lines of credit such as loans and credit cards. If you repay your debt on time, you are likely to have a good CIBIL score. If your CIBIL score is 750 and above, you can rest easy, else scan your CIBIL report to see where you can improve.
The next thing you need to do is put a financial plan in place. It can help meet your life targets. So, this new year, outline a financial plan that can help you fulfil your long-term goals.
Are you adequately insured ?
The first step of financial planning is to ensure your loved ones are financially secure in your absence. This is why opting for a life insurance is ideal.
The most ignored aspect of insurance is health insurance, especially when one is healthy and young. Considering the fast lives that we lead today and the skyrocketing costs of hospitalisation, health insurance should not merely be an option. In fact, the younger you are, the cheaper your health insurance policy will be. This is the best time to get a health cover.
Build an emergency fund
The next step should be to build an emergency fund. Life is such that it can throw a curveball at you at any time. You may fall prey to a health condition or lose your job. At such times, repaying your debt or even meeting regular expenses may become an uphill task. To avoid falling prey to such situations, it is prudent to build an emergency fund that can take care of all such expenses and debt repayments for at least nine months.
Do not worry about building it all at once. You can start by putting away at least 10% of your monthly income. Instead of saving, you can invest it in a liquid or a debt mutual fund through a Systematic Investment Plan [SIP]. Liquid or debt funds are ideal because they can provide inflation-adjusted returns at low risk.
Consider long-term goals
The most crucial step is investment planning. It is important to build a kitty large enough to finance your child’s education, wedding and even your retirement. The good news is that you do not need to go from pillar to post looking for appropriate instruments to fulfil each financial goal. Mutual funds, especially equity oriented ones, can step in to meet your long-term goals. These funds have the potential to yield high returns in the long run.
It is not only about their performance. There are several other advantages of investing in equity mutual funds. You can reap the benefits of professional fund management for one. You do not need to worry about your own level of expertise in stock picking. You can trust fund managers to meet your investment objective. Secondly, equity mutual funds are liquid. This means you can redeem units of the scheme at any time, unless you have invested in an ELSS scheme where your funds are locked in for a minimum of 3 years. Thirdly, you get the benefit of diversification when you invest in equity-based funds. You can own a diversified portfolio rather than buying a single stock and risking losses.
Investing in equity-based mutual funds is advisable through the Systematic Investment Plan [SIP] route. SIPs allow you to invest in mutual funds for as less as Rs 500 every month. They also you also reap the benefits of compounding.
Compounding means that the returns generated from your investments are reinvested in your principal. The longer you remain invested through SIPs, the more you stand to gain. Therefore, investing in equity mutual funds through SIPs can be best to meet your long-term financial goals.
To sum up, improving your financial health is not difficult. All you need is a little discipline. So, here’s to your better financial health in the new year!
We are a digital avatar tech company; we at Mobigraph think users deserve better digital communication tools and all our innovations including XPRESSO app are geared towards meeting this need. Our technology can be seamlessly integrated with keypad, messaging, camera, Augmented Reality [AR] apps and handset OEMs. The Best Enhanced Communications App award for XPRESSO is recognition of our contribution to the mobile communications space.
In our nearly 25 years of promoting the best in mobile, we still take pride in leveling the playing field for mobile tech innovators – whether they be creative new app startups or big-name companies. Because many of our readers and social followers have years of experience with mobile products, we trust them to have the strongest voice in picking the year’s best mobile apps and companies.
Jon Covington, Founder and CEO, MobileVillage, said,
A ‘Best of 2017’ Mobile Star Award is an accomplishment that’s recognized by the entire mobile industry, customers and buyers. Mobile Star Awards winners and nominees truly stand out and shine among millions of other mobile products as the greatest innovators and stars.
Since 2001, the Mobile Star Awards program has showcased the best products in categories covering consumer mobile apps, mobile devices, enterprise mobile services, technology visionaries, and success stories. Nominees and winners are chosen by the mobile-savvy followers of MobileVillage.com. All categories and winners are listed on MobileVillage.com here
About Mobigraph
Mobigraph’s vision is to make conversations Personal, Expressive and Playful for Users and Brands. Experts in mobile graphics software, cloud computing and creative arts, the team is onto change the way people express and emote in digital communication. XPRESSO App was launched in March 2017 and it is organically growing fast with over 12 million GIFs generated in a month. For more information, please visit Mobigraph
If you use any type of app or online service that requires a password, you may be familiar with waiting for the code to be sent via SMS. This code is known as a OTP for short, and can only be used once to login. As we sit and wait for the OTP to appear in our inbox, the bigger hassle is when trying to copy the code. Well, Truecaller has solved that for Android users!
Simple Copy OTP
Most messages containing an OTP are filled with other text, however, all we are searching for is that number. At Truecaller, we have created a clean and clear copy button on the notification containing the OTP. This means Truecaller recognizes and highlights the number you need and provides a one-tap way to copy.
How to Enable OTP Messages
To get this feature, you will need to enable Truecaller SMS in your app. You can make Truecaller your default SMS app, and gain additional features of spam protection.Make Short Calls with an Improved Flash!
With flash messaging, you can avoid calling or writing a full text message! It’s a great tool when you need to ask a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question, and avoid the small talk. In fact, most SMS responses take around 15 minutes. But with Flash, replies are received in around 30 seconds!
In the newest Android update [v. 8.69], TrueCaller has improved the functionality their users have asked for!
NiYO Solutions Inc., an emerging fintech startup for salaried employees, has raised $13.2 million [85 crore] in Series A funding to drive the continued expansion of its payroll and benefits platform in India. The investment was made by Social Capital, JS Capital LLC [the family office of Jonathan Soros], and Horizons Ventures with participation by existing investor, Prime Venture Partners. In total, the company has raised more than $14 million in venture capital. Adding on to its continued growth and popularity among businesses across India, NiYO aims to serve 5000 organizations and over 1 million salaried employees by the end of 2018.
NiYO was launched in July 2016 as a pilot in Bengaluru and has already clocked more than 500 corporates and is being used by over 100,000 salaried employees in these organisations, through its partnerships with YES Bank and DCB Bank. NiYO is a one-stop solution for all employee payouts; it’s solutions include salary accounts, meal cards, canteen solutions, corporate gift card, reimbursements account, international travel card and corporate credit cards.
With this fresh funding, NiYO plans to strengthen and expand its product suite for the salaried segment besides taking the product to tier 2 and 3 towns. The funding will also be used for further product development, team expansion and increasing presence in tier 1 cities. The addressable market is close to 75 million salaried employees in India who can benefit through a simple payroll & benefits solution which can increase the take home salaries and simplify financial planning & other banking needs.
Employee Payroll in India and around the world has traditionally seen very little innovation in the past several decades with banks hardly providing any differentiation to customers. This, coupled with inefficient, paper-driven processes mean that most employers and employees fail to take advantage of tax exemptions and other savings that the law provides for. Same holds true for investment and lending products for salaried class where the power of payroll is largely ignored in product design.
NiYO believes that it’s cutting edge technology and processes can combine the erstwhile unconnected worlds of Human Resources and Financial Services. The future is mobile and with support for disruptive platforms such as Aadhaar and the Unified Payment Interface [UPI], NiYO will enable its customers to simplify and control their banking, taxation & finance needs. All this while ensuring a transparent, compliant & efficient process for employers. NiYO has also filed multiple product & process patents in this space.
NiYO comprises of a corporate portal for salary disbursal, payroll card to receive salary and spend on ATM/POS/Online and a mobile app to track transactions and do basic banking functions like fund transfer etc. With eKYC and self-onboarding enabled on the NiYO app, users can easily access their account details and keep a tab on their expenditures and allowances digitally. It also has a capability to attach bill proof through mobile and also allow digital storage of bill and receipts on the cloud.
The mobile app allows employees to review all card transactions as well as check balances in real time. While it helps the organizations to digitize the benefits and payroll process and be more compliant and transparent, it also provides employees a unique experience of a single card for all requirements. The solution does not require either the corporate or the employee to change bank accounts.
These are exciting times at NiYO. We deeply believe that the rapidly growing number of salaried employees in India have not seen much innovation when it comes to their own payroll and benefits. They are mobile and app-savvy and very demanding. At NiYO, our core objective is to maximize employees’ effective salary by bringing innovations in payroll and benefits processes. Our aim is to optimize the product suite for employees in areas of taxation, lending and wealth. We have been fortunate to partner with JS Capital, Social Capital, Horizon Ventures and Prime – all of whom are top tier investors with deep fintech and operational expertise to take us to the next level.
NiYO is digitizing the entire employee payroll and benefits value chain, making the process easier and more transparent for employers and employees alike. This is an area that hasn’t seen much innovation in the Indian technology ecosystem, despite the massive addressable market. We believe that India is on the brink of unprecedented consumer consumption, and that movement begins with infrastructure that manages people’s earnings in a reliable and modern way.
Sanjay Swamy, Managing Partner, Prime Venture Partners, said
NiYO’s strong growth since its inception is testament to both the innovative nature as well as rapid customer adoption of their solution which addresses a massive opportunity – providing effortless and innovative solution to manage payroll and benefits, powered by mobile. The combination of SmartPhone penetration and IndiaStack makes the timing right for NiYO’s patent-pending innovations to come to market. We are privileged to be associated with this stellar team from the start of their journey and be part of their vision to disrupt the payroll landscape.
About NiYO
Founded in 2015 by Vinay Bagri and Virender Bisht, NiYO’s mission is to increase cash flow for all salaried individuals by leveraging technology in areas of payroll & benefits. NiYo features an integrated solution comprising of a Multi-Pocket Card, a Mobile App and a digital account with multiple wallets.
Vinay has spent more than 18 years working with diverse organisations like Parle, 3M, ICICI Bank, SCB, ING and Kotak Mahindra Bank. He combines deep understanding of distribution and retail banking having spent over a decade in leadership roles across unsecured lending, retail liabilities, corporate salary and retail banking strategy.
Virender is a seasoned technology professional with 16 years of experience in creating world-class software products for companies like MobiKwik, Makemytrip (MMYT), StudyPlaces.com, Exponential Inc, GE Medical Systems and Tata Consultancy Services. Virender is a hands-on technologist and has a reputation for building scalable solutions for e-commerce and payments domain. For more information, please visit NiYO
Marketing has changed considerably over the last few years, especially after the advent of social media. Online marketing has now become an integral part of any campaign, with social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. being the widely used ones. It is not only social media, companies are now utilizing emerging technologies like AR, VR, etc. for providing an enriching experience to their customers.
It goes without saying that ‘MarTech’ or Marketing Technology is something that can no longer be ignored, irrespective of the sector that the startup caters to. Marketers not paying attention to MarTech will soon find themselves behind the times. Because every new tool that arrives on the scene changes and influences the way marketers work with, and speak to, our customers. US based Wrike that specializes in collaboration software tools and project management tools have explained ‘Significance of MarTech’ in an insightful infographic and the content is still relevant in today’s changing times.
Infographic brought to you by Wrike collaboration software tools
There is a saying by the well-known investor Warren Buffet – ‘Never become dependent on a single source of income’. This saying is also applicable to someone who has a stable job but has to invest his money in order to get better returns. Everyone has some hobby e.g. photography, music, writing, etc. but few of them might be aware that there is a manner in which they can convert their ‘hidden talent and passion’ into a tangible business. Many times it is about identifying a lingering problem and finding an effective solution to solve that problem.
There are close to 3 million Indians living in the United States but there was not a single reliable portal where they could buy stuff like Puja Items, Sarees, Mandirs, etc. online. There are India based websites that ship abroad but shipping, tracking, and returns is always a huge hassle. This is the problem that entrepreneur couple Deepak Agarwal & Sadhana Bothra, who are settled in the US since last 19 years wanted to solve and also make that a secondary source of income. With this intention, they founded DesiClik.com [earlier called theindiabazaar.com] in 2014, a vertical e-commerce marketplace that addresses the above mentioned problem and also provides Indian homepreneurs in the US an opportunity to sell online through their platform.
Today, we have a chat with Deepak Agarwal, Co-founder of US-based DesiClik.com. The discussion revolves around their e-commerce foray, overall market, competition, etc. So, let’s get started with the Q&A….
Can you please give a small background about the company and its founders ?
DesiClik.com was started by us, an Indian couple named Deepak Agarwal and Sadhana Bothra in 2014.
I [Deepak Agarwal] am from Udaipur and grew up in Kolkata. Apart from a degree in commerce, I hold a diploma in computer science from NCC Education, UK. I completed my Masters Certification in Business Management from Tulane University as well because I wanted to have some formal knowledge of growing a business. I have been in the US for 19 years.
Sadhana also grew up in Kolkata. A commerce graduate from Calcutta University, she too holds an honours Diploma in Computer Science from NCC Education, UK. She is a Java Certified Programmer from Sun Microsystems who quit her top-notch position in the IT industry as an Assistant Vice-President with Whitehall Bank on Wall Street when our first child was born.
After Sadhana gave up her career to be with our first born, we realised it was not easy to survive in the US on a single paycheque. So we were looking at creating some extra income while letting Sadhana also enjoy motherhood. After a lot of research, we found out that there was a huge demand for Indian apparel for kids. That’s how we started Desi Vastra. We didn’t have any competition at that point and the business did well till 2008.
While the recession brought bad tidings to Desi Vastra after four years, we decided to use the competition in the market to our advantage by bringing together our competitors through a marketplace. In 2010 we started theindiabazaar.com, which we re-branded as DesiClik.com in 2014. Today DesiClik.com is the largest US-based vertical e-commerce marketplace specialising in Indian products that span apparel, jewellery, handicraft, gifts, furniture, grocery, restaurant equipment, religious and puja items, festive goods and household items.
What is the problem you are trying to solve and how has the overall response been from the Indian diaspora ?
The response from the Indian diaspora has been quite positive and encouraging. There are many towns in the US where people have to drive for not less than an hour to find an Indian grocery store. With more than 3 million Indians living in America, and the expanding space and possibilities of online shopping, there was no single shopping portal where people could find everything Indian and talk to someone in their language while shopping for them. Added to this was the fact that when they bought from sites in India, delivery took longer, there was no easy way to return goods and service was not reliable. It is this yawning market gap that we have tapped into.
DesiClik is a very interesting name, what are some of the other potential names that you explored before you zeroed in on this name ?
Our team went through a significant list before zeroing in on DesiClik.com. We wanted a name that wouldn’t exceed eight characters, is easy to remember and connects people instantly with what the site is about.
We evaluated Mangoes, Mirchi, Jhalak, Spicykart to name a few. Prior to DesiClik, our site was call theindiabazaar.com which was lost among others, was too long, hard to spell and was very generic.
What are some of the items being sold on DesiClik and if you can highlight details about the top-5 bestselling items on the website ?
We have broadly classified the products into nine main categories – Clothing, Accessories, Jewellery, Home & Garden, Indian Grocery, Music & Movies, Books & Magazines, Puja & Festivals, Toys & Games. As for categories, Puja & Festival, Home & Garden are our top sellers. Apart from seasonal items, mandirs, gifts, kids’ clothes, utensils and puja items are the top 5 bestselling items on the site.
How does your venture promote homepreneurs and what is some of the hand-holding that your team does in order to get the sellers started [and accelerated] on the platform ?
We have managed to bring together more than 50 Indian women home entrepreneurs in the US to sell their products online on our site. These are women who want to build their business without sacrificing their family goals.
For immigrant women, it is quite a challenge to set up a business from scratch, beginning with networking and figuring out everything about running a business. As Sadhana was faced with several hurdles when we started off, she felt there were many women like her who could do with help to build their businesses. As Desiclik is a vertical marketplace, we used the platform to help these women to sell their products online. We offer guidance in terms of product optimization, competitive pricing, service and internals of doing business online.
Logistics is a very important aspect of the e-commerce experience, how do your sellers manage logistics to provide an enhanced shopping experience ?
At this time, sellers use their own preferred method of shipping. DesiClik does help them in finding better options for shipping the products faster and reliably.
Deepak and Sadhana, Founders of DesiClik
e-commerce sector is clogged with Fake Products Problem [especially if it follows a marketplace model], how does your team ensure the authenticity of the items being sold on the platform ?
We work very closely with vendors so that the DesiClik brand and customer satisfaction are maintained. We have implemented a good feedback mechanism. Since orders are fulfilled directly by the vendor, our main source of feedback is from the customer. Once an order is received by the customer, we reach out to the customer to get feedback about the quality and the service to help us rate the vendor.
Can you please comment on the Return Policy and what is the Rate Of Return for the items being sold on DesiClik since Reverse Logistics plays a very important role in optimizing of the e-commerce supply-chain ?
We have guidelines on return policy for each seller and they all set their own return policy. In case of material defect, products can be returned for no cost to the customer and in most other cases – customer pays for the shipping. Our rate of return is less than 2 per cent.
Is DesiClik serving only the B2C segment or you have also cater to the B2B segment ?
At present we are only catering to the B2C segment. We have plans to expand with a B2B offering sometime this year which will help connect manufacturers in India with vendors in the USA.
What is the metric your team uses to calculate the overall growth [GMV, etc.] and can you comment on the Daily Active Users [DAU] & total number of active sellers on the platform ?
We have more than 10,000 products listed on the site from 100 plus vendors. Daily page views at DesiClik is 12,000 plus and over 25 per cent returning visitors.
Since DesiClik follows a marketplace model, can you let us know if your sellers also sell on other marketplaces like Amazon, etc. ?
Many of the sellers exclusively sell at Desiclik. Some of them do sell at other marketplaces such as Amazon, Rokutan and others.
Repeat Customer Rate and Customer Retention are two important parameters for growth in any venture, what are some of the measures taken by your team to ensure that there is customer delight ?
As mentioned before, we do have a feedback mechanism and are actively looking to improve based on customer feedback. Our testimonials and reviews do speak for themselves.
Can you walk us through the funding of DesiClik & are you looking out for institutional funding ?
DesiClik has been completely bootstrapped, with no external funding till date. We had started with an investment of $15,000 initially and have so far invested around $150,000 over the past few years. We are looking for investments to take the business to the next level – both in terms of the B2B platform as well as for our worldwide expansion
Right now there is no mobile app for DesiClik, is there any definitive plan for releasing the same ?
By mid 2018, we will evaluate the potential of having an app and based on the analysis, we will release it at the end of 2018.
How exactly is the Startup Eco-system in US different as compared to that in a country like India ?
The recent boost in the startup eco-system is not too different from the US. Many of the venture capitalists who invest in India have their headquarters in the US. Good validated ideas with good execution team make the difference.
AI, ML, AR/VR, etc. are some of the emerging trends, what according to you would be technological highlights of 2018 ?
I feel that AR/VR related technology will become more prominent in areas that have not been seen earlier.
DesiClik is a bootstrapped company, when according to you should an entrepreneur approach for external funding and if you can highlight some pros/cons of being a bootstrapper ?
I feel that the idea must be validated by the entrepreneur with their own initial investment. Once the company becomes a real business with a path to the future, it should approach the VC. Many of the start-ups have failed due to a lack of vision and as they wanted to grow too big, too fast without an idea on how to get there. This is true both in India and in the US. Lack of funds in a bootstrapped company may slow the growth and is built on solid foundation.
Any closing thoughts for aspiring entrepreneurs and what keeps you motivated in your entrepreneurial journey ?
To all the young entrepreneurs – If you have a good idea, sit on it like sitting on a needle. It should make you jump and do something about it. Validate your idea, assemble a good team and go for it. Do not be scared of failure.
We thank Deepak for sharing her insights with our readers and walking us through his journey. If you have any questions for him, please share them via a comment to this article.
JetSynthesys’ Sachin Saga Cricket Champions announced a successful milestone of achieving 2 Million downloads within less than a month of its launch. The mobile game has now become one of the top-most downloaded cricket games on Google Play in the month following its launch and the fastest cricket game to reach this download milestone.
Launched last month by the Master Blaster himself, the game gives fans an opportunity to relive the legend’s career by stepping into his shoes. Sachin Saga is the only game to receive almost 1 million pre-registrations on Google Play and was also featured as #1 by Google on pre-registration amongst top global titles.
Going beyond the digital realm, JetSynthesys is all set to celebrate this milestone with the introduction of mobile eSports to cricket fans in India and the qualifier rounds began on 5th January, 2018. For the first time ever, the gaming company will host the mobile e-Sport finals at the India Gaming Show from 19th~21st January 2018 in the city of Bengaluru.
A one of a kind mobile game entertainment event, the platform will witness lakhs of mobile game players of Sachin Saga, competing virtually to qualify for the final rounds and participate in the real-life tournament to win prizes of INR 1 lakh and more at the finale!
Sachin Tendulkar tweeted this download milestone and flagged off the tournament qualifiers on his twitter handle
Talking about this remarkable milestone, Rajan Navani, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, JetSynthesys said
The game has grown from strength to strength since its launch and we are absolutely thrilled that it has become so popular among cricket fans and mobile game lovers. Celebrating 2 Million downloads, we’re bringing mobile eSports to the country for the first time in cricket and aim to blur the line between physical and digital, and simultaneously engage gaming enthusiasts in a unique experience of sporting events.
