Fintech Valley in Vizag, a sustainable global Fintech ecosystem have announced the establishment of government sponsored Fintech Valley Accelerator at Visakhapatnam in collaboration with ICICI Bank and Mahindra Finance as corporate partners and Microsoft as the technology & acceleration partner.
Fintech Valley in Vizag created by APEITA [Government of Andhra Pradesh], is a self-sustainable global Fintech Ecosystem that focuses on converging finance and technology to create large avenues of growth through industry-enablers, world-class infrastructure, entrepreneurship and innovation.
ICICI Bank and Mahindra Finance have always leveraged technology to pioneer digital innovations and provide world-class banking experience to their customers. These institutions are focused on leveraging the current transformational trends in technology to bring value to their offerings. The first cohort of the accelerator program will have 10-12 startups working to develop solutions for ‘Financial Inclusion’, ‘Security and Fraud Prevention’ and ‘Customer and Risk analytics’ for a period of 12 weeks. This will be a resident program based out of Visakhapatnam and will provide selected Fintech startups an opportunity to catalyze their development through a combination of support, guidance and training.
The recruitment process for the accelerator has commenced, and the first cohort will start in first week of October. The program will conclude with a grand demo day in January 2018, in presence of corporates, mentors and investors from across the world. This is in continuation of the vision of the AP Government to bring ecosystem players together in the Fintech Valley and nurture a ‘fintectonic’ culture in the state that enables traditional models of business. The accelerator program aims to act as a catalyst in the growth of startups by connecting them to Fintech ecosystem players and develop the startup community in Visakhapatnam.
Mr. J A Chowdhary, Special Chief Secretary & IT Advisor to the Chief Minister – Govt. of AP said
The Andhra Pradesh Government and Fintech Valley Vizag is excited about the Fintech Valley Vizag is all set to converge finance and technology and create large avenues of growth. The accelerator program aims to act as a catalyst in the growth of startups by connecting them to the leading Fintech ecosystem players.
For application process and other details about the Program, please visit #FintechValleyVizag
The Indian School of Business [ISB] and SAP Labs India have entered into a collaboration to nurture technology-based start-ups in the social space, focusing on ventures which are working in areas that have relevance to national priorities.
Image Source – Jumpstart Social Enterprise Accelerator
Titled Jumpstart Social Enterprise Accelerator, the programme aims to identify and support 10 early stage and 5 growth stage promising ventures by providing guidance, mentorship and scaling up their technology solutions thatcan bring about a large scale impact in the lives of common people. Start-ups targeting sectors such as education, healthcare, water & sanitation, energy, agriculture, financial technology, infrastructure, livelihoods and others are eligible to apply for the programme.
ISB is committed to its goal of taking on a larger role of incubating and supporting entrepreneurial ideas as well as scaling up ventures that will potentially generate employment, foster economic and social progress and create significant social value for the country.
The ISB SAP Jumpstart accelerator programme is one such initiative to support promising entrepreneurs in thinking big and help scale their businesses to create impact in areas of national priority and help build a better tomorrow.
Dilipkumar Khandelwal, Managing Director of SAP Labs India & Executive Vice President, Enterprise Cloud Services, SAP SE said
We are pleased that the SAP ISB Social Enterprise Jumpstart program is growing to accommodate more social enterprises. Through this initiative, we are supporting in creating investible and growth oriented social enterprises which can contribute to the economic development of our country.
The first cohort of this accelerator programme was launched in July 2016 where ISB and SAP received 400+ applications from diverse sectors. Five early stage start-ups in the areas of financial technology, sustainable development & livelihood, agriculture and skill development were shortlisted and mentored. As a result, all the 5 ventures from the first cohort have scaled up their business operations, received funding or have been taken over.
How to apply for the Jumpstart Social Enterprise Accelerator
Start-ups will be short-listed through a nation-wide selection process based on their innovation, social impact and scalability. Shortlisted finalists would be invited for a business plan pitch and interview by a panel consisting of business experts, investors, faculty & members of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at ISB, & SAP. To know more about the application process and criteria, click here
Uberhas announced several rider and driver focused safety initiatives, as a part of its UberSAFE campaign, highlighting the company’s continued commitment to safety during rides on its platform. These include a Share Trip feature for drivers, which will allow them to share the details of trip, including route & ETA, in real time with family or friends.
Uber also launched an initiative to check and de-duplicate driver partner accounts on its platform, a step forward in the company’s efforts to ensure the right person is behind the wheel and rider’s have a safe and reliable experience while on a ride.
Driver ‘Share Trip’ Feature – Uber already offers a way for riders to share their trip status with their contacts, and so the Share My Trip feature now allows drivers to share the trip information with loved ones, without implicating the privacy of the rider or divulging personal information or specific drop off or pick up points.
It gives drivers a way to let their friends or family members know, not just their whereabouts, but also when to expect them home. This feature will be rolled out today in Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Lucknow and will be fully rolled out across India by end of this month.
Driver De-duplication – In addition to a comprehensive on-boarding process, background checks and initiatives like ‘Real Time ID Check’, driver de-duplication further helps eliminate account sharing incidents. Driver partner accounts could be duplicated due to one of the many reasons – drivers may have created new accounts because they may have forgotten their ids or phone numbers. In some cases, the driver partner may have forgotten the password to the account and created a new one.
When it comes to the de-duplication drive, Uber’s technology will help identify the duplicate accounts and these accounts will be temporarily paused. Driver partners will receive an in-app message telling them why their accounts have been paused and will be asked to verify their accounts by logging in. Those accounts that are not verified will be deleted and barred from use in the future. This will ensure that only verified drivers have access to the Uber app, thereby ensuring a safe ride for the riders.
[L-R] Pradeep Parameswaran and Aurva Dalal at the event
Whether you are behind the wheel or sitting in the back seat of the car, Uber’s commitment to safety for everyone is unwavering. We will continue to invest in technology and innovation to help ensure a safe, reliable trip from beginning to end. Every single day, it remains our endeavour to provide a seamless experience to our users, and the UberSAFE campaign is aimed at streamlining our efforts in this direction. Our safety features are unmatched and are uniquely dto provide a safe ride experience.
We strongly believe that ensuring a safe ride experience requires concerted efforts – riders, driver partners, Uber, law enforcement agencies, policy makers and the India Inc., must come together to make our cities safe and give citizens the freedom of mobility. With this in mind, we are working closely with the law enforcement agencies, NGOs and the Government, at both city and country level, through series of partnerships and programs that will help pre-empt and prevent any untoward incidents and keep our cities UberSAFE.
Apurva Dalal, Head of Engineering, Uber India, said
At Uber, being innovative means leading the way, leaning in to new technologies to improve safety in new ways. At every step, we are maximizing the usage of technology to bring transparency and accountability through features such as two-way feedback and ratings, telematics and GPS, among others, which we believe will have a positive impact on furthering trust and empathy between riders and driver partners. Today, we are excited to roll out Driver Share My Trip as part of a series of technology-focused safety features for driver partners in India and around the world to give drivers control and peace of mind while behind the wheel and feel UberSAFE.
Partnerships and Programs
Himmat App Integration – Uber partnered with Delhi Police to allow quick access to Himmat, a women safety mobile app, through the rider app
Dhaka Helpline – Uber integrated the nationwide emergency number 999 in its rider app to enhance rider safety in Dhaka
#DontDrinkAndDrive – Uber joined hands with the top bars in town to fight against drunk driving. Click here to find out more
Kings Learning, a technology-driven spoken English learning startup, has raised USD 2.5 million in funding from Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, together with other US based tech investors. The organization aims to address the employability issue in India amongst underserved youth owing to poor English language and communication skills, through offline, online and blended delivery channels.
Enguru, Kings Learning’s mobile-based spoken English app, allows users to self-learn both general spoken English and employability-focused conversational English. It also allows users to learn English in their native language and currently supports 28 different languages. The app has been downloaded about 2 million times till date, and is currently being used to improve spoken English skills by more than 120,000 active users monthly. The app’s platform is adaptive & gamified with real time assessments, which makes it easier for not just individuals but also corporates to use it for their employee training modules.
Arshan Vakil, Co-Founder and CEO, Kings Learning, said
Our goal is to leverage innovative technology and creative content to deliver high quality and engaging English education to all. We are excited to partner with our investors as we move into the next phase of our growth which will primarily be focused on scaling up our offerings like Enguru, strengthening our technology and analytics engine and expanding the Kings Learning team.
Prachi Windlass, Education Director, India, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, said
English has become a ticket to enter the booming knowledge-driven job economy of India, however, few have access to quality English language training. Almost half of the graduates in India, primarily from underprivileged backgrounds, are considered unemployable in most of the sectors due to lack of spoken English skills. Thankfully, mobile internet explosion, supplemented by exemplary work undertaken by technology-driven organizations like Kings Learning, is helping address this problem. We are excited to support Kings Learning’s efforts in their journey ahead.
About Kings Learning
Founded in 2014, Kings Learning is an ed-tech startup aimed at providing employability focused English language & communication skills training through technology products. For more information, please visit Kings Learningand EnGuru App Website
Brigade REAP, an accelerator program with its key focus on the Real Estate sector, had its Handover Day of the second cohort at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, Bengaluru. Launched in October 2016 with an intention to leverage technology which can help in delivering greater efficiencies to the Real Estate sector, 340 plus start-ups were evaluated for Cohort 2 and after two rounds of intense jury selection, 8 start-ups were inducted into the program.
These start-ups went through a rigorous four month mentorship and training program before being handed over to the real estate Industry for consumption of their products and services.
At the Handover Day of the 2nd cohort, these 8 start-ups presented their business to the audience which included eminent developers from the Real Estate Industry, Investors, HNI’s, other start-up founders and top management of global corporates. The representatives of the real estate industry participating in the program also spoke about technologies impacting real estate which indicated the improving intervention of technology into the Real Estate sector.
Speaking on this occasion, Ms. Nirupa Shankar, Director, Brigade REAP said
The first cohort of REAP saw success, with 3 of the 4 graduating start ups getting funded. The 4th start up is currently in the process of closing their funding as well. Brigade invested in QwikSpec as a lead investor along with other prominent investors. Snaptrude, which is also part of Cohort 2, is another company Brigade will be investing in, alongside other developers. We feel the Real Estate industry is opening up to Tech adoption as potential for tech to improve operational efficiency is undeniable. Our role at REAP is to ensure that the start ups curated during the program are ready to tackle pressing issues of the industry.
The 8 start-ups that presented at the Handover Day are:
Aap Ka Painter – A house painting Solutions Company that delivers a hassle free experience by simplifying the path from inspiration to transformation of a dream home by leveraging art, science and technology. More information here
CRE Matrix – A data analytics platform that provides information on accurate and trusted Lease & Sale transactions, Rental & Absorption projections, Asset level reports, micro-market analysis and Asset Valuation for commercial real estate. More information here
DesignSense – A Cloud based collaboration platform that helps Real Estate companies get RERA ready by connecting Project Management, Location and Engineering data with various stake holders and customers, enabling seamless flow of information between them. More information here
Natura – An Urban Plantscaping company that helps create easy to maintain green spaces resulting in breathing environments with reduced energy & Construction costs. More information here
Props {AMC} – A Real Estate Insights & Asset Monitoring Platform with a single, integrated, tech platform backed by robust data & information enables, seamless, transparent and complied transactions to monitor both Real Estate properties and securities. More information here
Snaptrude – An intelligence enabled 3D Rapid Modelling for Real Estate that solves the design problem by automating digital designing that transforms a hand drawn sketch to a 3D BIM model. More information here
Soukwagon.com – A one stop B2B procurement marketplace for food & beverage businesses that helps HORECA (Hotel, Restaurant, Catering) industry in sourcing & procurement by listing products with negotiated B2B prices on their platform. More information here
ZeeSense – A Unified, Safety and Security Solution for gated community that solves the problem with an approach to Connect, Automate and Analyze. More information here
The REAP accelerator is now accepting applications for the third cohort and has received an overwhelming response so far. For more information, please visit Brigade REAP
About Brigade REAP
Brigade REAP is an accelerator program focused on technology start-ups whose end product/ service is applicable to Real Estate. Be it Residential, Commercial or Hospitality they have their hands on all the streams.The program is headed by John Kuruvilla, Chief Mentor for the program and Apul Nahata, Mentor-in-Residence. REAP has partnered with CISCO, Intel and Microsoft Accelerator as technology partners to make technology intervention better and also partnered with JLL, a professional investment management firm.
Internet of Things [IoT] has become one of the most popular terminologies, especially when the discussion is about creating an overall connected eco-system. As per a report by Gartner on IoT, there might be around 20 billion connected things by 2020. Things in IoT would not only be limited to smartphones, PC’s, etc. but also extend to objects like vending machines, connected cars, agriculture equipment’s, manufacturing equipment’s, etc.
IoT has been instrumental in the creation of new business models, transformation of businesses to the digital front and helped enterprises improve the overall operational efficiency. Though there has been a lot of discussion about the growing usage of IoT in the consumer devices, it is playing a very important role in the transformation of the Manufacturing industry, also called as Industrial IoT [IIoT].
In simple terms, Industrial IoT harnesses the power of data by amalgamating it with Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, M2M Communication, etc. thereby improving the overall productivity and quality in an industrial setup. From smart manufacturing to home automation, Industrial IoT is shaping enterprises for a connected future.
Indian enterprise Sasken has deep-rooted expertise in industrial analytics that enables smart services through data ingestion, data processing, and actionable insight generation. It has various offerings for enterprises looking to capitalize on the IIOT wave. Today, we have a chat with Ram Ramaseshan, Senior VP & Head, Automotive and Industrials Business Units, Sasken Technologies Limited about IIOT, trends & challenges in IIOT, how enterprises can leverage the power of IIOT, etc.
What are some of the drivers of growth of the Industrial IoT [IIOT] eco-system?
IoT has catalyzed the tapping of existing data faster and in significant volumes. IoT is one of the key factors that have pushed the adoption of digital transformation. When IoT technologies are applied to the manufacturing industry, we call it the Industrial Internet of Things. Industrial IoT continues to disrupt the way machines and human beings collaborate. Some of the drivers of growth are:
Availability of relevant and economical wireless connectivity technologies
Decreasing cost of hardware components such as Sensors, g/w and software components and in addition, cloud storage, analytical tools
Emergence of more robust IoT platform such as Thingworx, Predix, etc.
Standardization that would allow aggregating data for decision making
What are the use cases and industries where you see the massive traction for IIoT?
Increasing adoption of the Internet of Things presents manufacturers with tremendous business opportunities. And, through a connected factory setup, manufacturers can effectively gather and apply insights to monetize these opportunities. Today, the IoT-driven Industry 4.0 solutions are helping businesses to improve productivity, reduce operating costs, and enhance worker safety. Reduced cost of ownership is one of the major benefits linked to IIoT. Some areas where IIoT will see major traction are:
Logistics in general, especially high-value shipments
Security and surveillance systems
Asset Performance management for safety and reliability of equipment
Energy sector such as wind turbine, solar power plants, Oil & Gas monitoring, etc.
Remote management of assets
How can executives at industrial companies exploit the revenue-generating opportunities of the IIoT?
The adaptation of IIoT is not an alternative but an essential tool for survival and success in today’s time. Since technological advancement is directly proportional to enhanced profits, every firm, be it large or small, must work towards the achievement of complete digitization and must also empower their workers with the necessary skills. A few things executives in Industrials sector can keep in mind are:
Productivity/utilization of equipment can be increased thus increasing revenue
Implementation of IIoT can help reduce downtime thereby increasing revenue
Wastage can be reduced and quality can be improved
Allowing machines in sequence to be connected thereby moving to silos to better utilization of capital assets
What are some of the key challenges [be it technical, infrastructure, security, etc.] that your team encountered while implementing IoT/IIoT solutions?
The Industrials customer, today, has some really challenging needs that include decreasing operational cost, increasing productivity and quality, and ensuring the interoperability of information technology [IT] and operational technology [OT]. Some of the challenges that we at Sasken have helped solve in the recent past are:
Unavailability of a single tool/platform which can provide easy installation and maintenance of IIoT system
Right connectivity solutions as there is no one size that fits all
Convergence of IT & OT is difficult as the lifecycle of both technologies varies by default
Concern over security/cyber-attacks
Managing data coming from disparate systems becoming a deterrent to IoT implementation
Ram Ramaseshan, Senior VP and Head, Automotive and Industrials Business Units, Sasken Technologies Limited
Which are some of the emerging technologies with the rise of IoT and AI in the area of Industrial Automation?
The introduction of IoT in the Industrial space heralded the advent of expanding connectivity, more digitalization, utilizing cloud infrastructure, and newer business models. The implementation of IoT and AI in the Industrial landscape is giving rise to technologies such as machine vision, machine learning, sensor automation, mesh networking with short range communication protocols, and wearable technology such as the smart helmet.
From an enterprise customer’s perspective, how much savings/reduction in OPEX will an industrial enterprise get when shifting to an IIoT solution?
Market research shows that 86% of maintenance is reactive [too late] or scheduled [unnecessary] and typical maintenance practices have not changed much over the years. This could be attributed to the unavailability of tools robust and mature enough to fundamentally improve maintenance practices. At present, the most asset intensive industries follow scheduled [time/usage based] preventive maintenance practices. This practice still does not eliminate the possibility of unscheduled maintenance and catastrophic failures. So companies are trying to make their operations reliable and ensure optimal performance at a lower maintenance cost by predicting and preventing failures in a timely manner.
As per The International Society of Automation:
5% of plant production is lost annually due to unplanned downtime
$647 billion is lost globally by manufacturers across all industry segments
Being able to predict the health of an asset on a continuous basis and avoiding the OPEX spent on regularly scheduled maintenance can bring down the OPEX by as much as 50-70%. E.g. being able to predict the health of a rolling stock can avoid bringing the rolling stock back to the yard for regularly scheduled services and this can result in significant cost savings to the rail services as it can now run those many more trips.
What is the role of wearable technologies, AI, machine learning, etc. in shaping up the entire IoT industry [be it IoT or IIoT]?
We see them as the important building blocks for the realization of IoT/IIoT for:
Safety
Remote management of assets
Collaboration for decision making
Intelligent Alerts and Events management
Condition based monitoring, in its true sense
are some of the applications we see being realized through these technologies.
Who are some of the customers, industry partners of Sasken for its IIoT business?
Some customer problems that Sasken is trying to solve include enabling legacy controllers by ensuring compatibility at the shop-floor and control-level, asset management, and using AR and virtual reality (VR) to make field service operators more effective and efficient. These are complex problems and require reliable and proven partnerships.
Sasken has partnered with the following companies to solve such complex business challenges:
PTC ThingWorx
Intel
Qualcomm
TI
Smartrac
QNX
Can you share some thoughts about Digital India [particularly Housing For All] and what are the challenges if ‘Smart Housing’ needs to go mainstream?
Digital technologies including smart devices [e.g. smartphones and wearable devices] and cloud computing applications have emerged as catalysts for rapid economic growth and consumer empowerment across the globe. The emergence of smart devices is the key to the vision of a Digital India. The Indian government envisions transforming our nation and creating opportunities for all citizens by harnessing digital technologies and to empower every citizen with access to digital services, knowledge, and information. Mobility, Analytics, and Cloud are the foundations that will enable the Digital India visions of providing ‘e-governance and services on demand’ and ‘digitally empowering citizens’ and support the social inclusion schemes being launched by the government. Here IIoT can play a major role in the government’s Digital India vision by digitizing the government initiative and tracking systems.
The Andhra Pradesh Government’s dashboard is a good example of what we can achieve with the implementation of IIoT. This will enable government schemes to become more transparent thereby reducing spillage and corruption. With respect to Housing for All, smart lighting, drinking water, drainage systems, and security can be managed much better through IIoT implementations. The wastage of electricity and water can be monitored and prevented through smart metering and lighting solutions for electricity and water.
What are some of the data security measures and energy efficiencies within smart building and home automation services?
Smart Homes will provide increased flexibility of energy consumption with smart energy management. The user will be able to control HVAC and lighting remotely from his smartphone. This will result in reducing the load on electrical grids thus bringing down the need to use expensive generators.
The typical challenges continue to be security of the data and information, interoperability issues, complex systems trying to talk to each other, evolving standards, etc. More importantly, the world is still not a full-fledged connected place; there are infrastructure issues which have to be fixed first for IoT to become a reality. The good news is that the whole industry is working towards addressing these aspects.
How important is a requirement for Open architecture, shared platforms, etc. for the growth of the entire IoT/IIoT eco-system?
One of the challenges in implementing IIoT faster is the non- interoperability between industrial devices from multiple vendors. In order to make the implementation easier for end users, it is important to have an open architecture, shared platform, etc. in the IIoT eco system. This will help the existence of multiple vendors and healthy competition thereby enabling customers to achieve better value.
We thank Ram Ramaseshan for sharing his insights with our readers. If you have any questions for Ram about IIOT, How your startup/enterprise can leverage capabilities of IIOT, etc. please email them here or share them via a comment to this article.
Hundred of the most innovative Karnataka start-ups have got a license to dream as Karnataka government opened floor to the two-day grand finale of India’s first comprehensive entrepreneurship platform, ELEVATE 100 at the Lalit Ashok, Bengaluru on 29th August, 2017.
A brainchild of the Government of Karnataka, ELEVATE 100 programme is a combined initiative of the Start-up Cell, Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Services [KBITS] Government of Karnataka. ELEVATE 100 roadshow traversed the length and breadth of the state in a rigorous hunt to pick the 100 most innovative start-ups and help them turn their ideas into successful businesses. This initiative will give them access to the Government’s INR 400 crore start-up fund as well as offer mentoring from industry experts, idea validation, advisory and legal support.
The efforts of Karnataka government doesn’t stop at elevating the chosen 100. We see ELEVATE 100 as a continuing process where the best ideas from the state gets the support and guidance it deserves.
Karnataka is home to the world’s fastest growing startup ecosystem. The government is trying to nurture this ecosystem with strong policies like the IT Policy, Start-up Policy, BT Millennium Policy, ESDM Policy and the KAVGC Policy, giving the ecosystem a strong foundation to help entrepreneurs and established industries to flourish.
Delivering the welcome note, Mr. Gaurav Gupta, IAS, Principal Secretary Department IT, BT & ST, recounted the year-long journey of ‘ELEVATE 100’ roadshow, through the length & breadth of the state in search of the next big idea.
Mr. Gaurav Gupta, IAS, Principal Secretary Department IT, BT & ST added
This is just one of the many initiatives aimed at creating the largest pool of talented entrepreneurs in Karnataka. Sub segments such as AI & Robotics are already being nurtured through various Centres of Excellence. A harbinger of great things to come, the target is to create 20,000 successful start-ups by celebrating and supporting them through continuous engagement.
This was followed by a chat with Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO – Ola Cabs, hosted by KK Natarajan, Chairman, Mindtree. Attending entrepreneurs got a first-hand take of the nuts and bolts of starting up.
The Karnataka ecosystem fosters entrepreneurship and celebrates failures. Startups here need to move forward, learnings from failures and balance passion with rationality. They need to engage with the community at large. Valuation and value creation are two different things. Capital isn’t the end, it is just the beginning of the journey.
Shruti Mishra of CNBCs Young Turks fame anchored ‘Stories of Success’ segment, where successful entrepreneurs Vikas Malpani, Co-Founder, CommonFloor and Pavithra Y. S, CMD, Vindhya Infotech, shared their experiences from the road not taken. Pavithra stressed on the need for inclusion in organisations.
Beyond valuations, there is a larger social role that startups play. Startups expand the space for those with dreams to become job creators and ultimately contribute to the empowerment of society at large.
Manish Sharma, Co-Founder, Printo, spoke about customer validation of an idea in the early stages of product development, in a segment titled ‘Listening to the customers’. Don’t react to price early in the game; the proposition will evolve, he told the entrepreneurs in attendance.
Ram Narayan, Member Advisory Board, Zinnov, detailed the art and science of making a product the market actually needs in the session ‘Achieving Product Market Fit’.
[L-R] Salma Fahim, MD, KBITS, Gaurav Gupta, PrSec, IT/BT Department, GOK, Bhavish Aggarwal, Co Founder, OLA Cabs, Krishnakumar Natarajan,, Chairman, Mindtree, Honble Minister Priyank Kharge
Another big draw was Peter Yorke, CEO – Yorke Communications who enthralled the audience on the art of molding traditional marketing techniques and channels to the digital age in ‘GTM Masterclass’.
While startups are all the rage and many have scalable business models with the potential to soar, not everyone gets the chance to live out their potential. This valuable lesson was a part of the session by Anjana Vivek, Founder-Director, VentureBean Consulting, who detailed the science of startup valuation, with nuggets on best practices, models and real-world examples of good and bad valuations. Jawahar Bekay of Captive Aide took a ‘Masterclass on Sales for Start-ups’ which was a lesson for startups on what sells and what doesn’t.
[L-R] Bhavish Aggarwal, Co Founder, OLA Cabs, Krishnakumar Natarajan, Chairman, Mindtree
TiE Board Member Sanjay Anandaram moderated a session on big corporates working with startups where industry captains like Nipun Mehrotra, Chief Digital Officer – IBM India & South Asia, Madhurima Agarwal – NetApp, Alok Kumar – Swiss Re, Amey Mashelkar – Gennext Fund and John Kuruvilla – Brigade Reap spoke about the rules of engagement for startups working with the big boys.
The Pitching Sessions were held in Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Mangaluru, Hubballi and Bengaluru, where 1,700 startups pitched to elevate their ideas to successful ventures. ELEVATE 100 is the largest pool of funds that has been offered by any State Government in India for startups. It also highlights the startup climate in Karnataka, which also has the distinction of being first in the country to launch a dedicated startup policy for budding entrepreneurs and a Startup Cell that provides extensive services like legal and accounting advice, mentoring, incubator options, subsidized tariffs, and seed funding, among others.
Day 2 of Elevate 100 will hold The Women Entrepreneur Summit, aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs with access to mentoring and funds earmarked for women entrepreneurs. More than 300 women entrepreneurs, mostly from Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi and Kalaburagi areas of Karnataka, are expected to participate in the event.
Uber, the ride-sharing app that connects riders with driver partners to provide convenient, reliable and affordable rides at the push of a button have announced a phased roll out of two new features namely In-app chat and Multi-destination to make the Uber experience as frictionless as possible for riders and drivers alike.
The in-app chat featureaims to help riders and driver partners get in touch with one another to provide information such as their exact location. As a result, coordinating the pickup can be faster and cost effective, since they don’t have to switch between apps or incur call charges.
Both riders and driver partners will see if their chats are delivered and read, helping to confirm the other actually received the communication. They can even choose to communicate in their preferred local language, if required. This features also means that regardless of where they are located across the globe, riders and drivers won’t have to share their phone number with one another should they have to get in touch.
How the In-app chat feature works
When connected to a driver, a rider should go to the Uber feed and tap ‘contact’ and then ‘chat’
During a POOL trip, the feature lets the driver partner know which rider sent the chat
Both riders and driver partners will see if their chats are delivered and read, helping to confirm the other received the communication
Multi-destination featureenables riders add multiple stops along their route. Whether it’s a ride to the airport and the rider needs to pick up a friend en route, or going home after dinner, and need to drop off a loved one on the way, it’s easier than ever to pick up and drop off your friends or family along the way. This takes just a few taps on the app when requesting a ride. With this feature, riders can sit back and relax during your trip and there’s no need to make any changes.
How it works
Tap ‘Where to?’
Tap the ‘+’ next to the ‘Where to?’ box
Add the addresses of the additional stops en route
Riders can also add and remove stops during the trip
As courtesy for driver’s time, it is recommended that each stop be limited to 3 minutes or less
