|In: Funding|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

O4S, India’s fastest growing Supply Chain SaaS startup helping brands with 360 degree visibility in their downstream supply chain, today announced USD 2.1 million in Pre-Series A funding led by Venture Highway to expand its operations in India. The three-year-old startup till date raised a total of USD 2.5 million including a seed investment of USD 400K in 2017. The new funding will be used to strengthen its workforce, accelerate client acquisition and build technology infrastructure across industries within India.

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Currently O4S focuses on industries such as Agriculture, FMCG, Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care products. Some of its clients include PepsiCo, ITC, Honeywell, DCM Shriram, Campus Shoes among others. O4S’ core offerings – Supplytics and Original4Sure are built on product serialization powered by advanced technologies such as Machine Learning and Internet of Things [IoT] that adapt to the dynamic nature of businesses.

Supplytics helps brands connect directly with retailers and distributors by tracking products throughout the supply chain, while Original4Sure’s key focus is on consumer engagement. O4S ecosystem is built on cloud-based infrastructure and engages all supply chain partners on a mobile app. The key value propositions include real-time inventory visibility across the retailers, brand protection, retailer trade promotions and an integrated BI dashboard that provides real-time actionable insights.

Divay Kumar, CEO, O4S, said

In the past one year, we have tracked over 500 million unique products across 100 thousand retailers in general trade. Over 10 million consumers have verified their products using O4S. This has helped brands increase their shelf space and tighten the control over the quality of goods sold to the consumer. This new funding will aid our next phase of growth to enable fraud-free supply chains and become a SaaS offering of choice.

Samir Sood, Founder, Venture Highway, said

With businesses focusing on increasing deeper engagement with retailers and end users, obtaining visibility along the supply chain has become more important than ever before. It has been successful in winning key contracts with large marquee brands within a short span of time. We are delighted to continue supporting O4S in their next phase of growth.

About O4S

Launched in May 2016, by co-founders Divay Kumar and Shreyans Sipani, O4S is headquartered in Gurgaon. While Divay has over 5 years of experience in Strategy Consulting, Shreyans stayed closer to his passion for coding and working with startups. Now an expert team of over forty enthusiasts, O4S counts over 25 prominent companies as clients across India and Middle East Asia.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Furthering its commitment towards accelerating hardware innovation and entrepreneurship in India, Intel India recently hosted the 2nd edition of Plugin Startups Demo Day as part of the Intel India Maker Lab program in Bengaluru. At the event, 11 startups showcased innovative products and solutions developed by them as part of Plugin, a collaborative incubation program between Intel India, Department of Science and Technology [DST] – Government of India and Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship [SINE] – Indian Institute of Technology [IIT] Bombay.

As part of the initiative this year, these startups worked on their prototypes by leveraging key tools & platforms, funding, mentorship and ecosystem connect from Intel India Maker Lab in Bengaluru and SINE IIT-Bombay to develop products and solutions. Through the use of exponential technologies like Artificial Intelligence [AI], Machine Learning, IoT [Internet of Things], Cloud and Edge computing, the current batch of startups developed innovative products and solutions that can advance digitalization by solving some real life problems in key industries like healthcare, manufacturing, retail and transportation.

Out of the 11 startups, 5 startups have revenue generating products, 3 are doing customer trials, another 3 are in the final product stage of product development. The Plugin Startups Demo Day offered them a platform to showcase their products and solutions to the industry, including potential investors and hardware startup accelerators.

Speaking on the occasion, Nivruti Rai, Country Head Intel India and VP Data Center Group, Intel Corp, said

Intel India is deeply committed towards advancing innovation and entrepreneurship in the hardware and systems space that maximizes the use of data-centric technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud and Edge computing to develop exciting products and solutions. This paves the way for India to become a product innovation hub for the world.

Underlining this commitment, the third batch of startups from Intel India Maker Lab have developed exciting products for both local and global markets. Many of these products are already in the market, generating revenue and other products look equally promising; we hope to see them achieve greater heights soon. In this effort, we deeply value our collaboration with DST and SINE, IIT-Bombay.

Dr Anita Gupta, Associate Head, NSTEDB [National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board], DST, Government of India, said

Furthering its commitment towards creating an enabling ecosystem for innovative startups with a focus on hardware systems and products, DST initiated the Plugin program, a partnership with Intel and SINE, IIT-Bombay to promote startups to develop new products that deliver remarkable innovations. Through the program, we encourage startups that have real solutions to problems of the society, to shape their idea into commercially scalable products.

It’s very encouraging to see very innovative products and solutions from the second batch of the Plugin startups from segments like healthcare, manufacturing, retail and transportation. We are proud to collaborate with Intel India and SINE, IIT Bombay for Plugin as together they bring a lot of value along with technical & industry expertise to the program.

The 11 startups of the third batch of Intel India Marker Lab are below

Segment – Transportation

Kaaenaat

Technology – AI-Deep Learning, Computer Vision

Kaaenaat’s intelligent automotive solution, KROOZ, uses real-time, deep learning inference at the edge to provide driver assistance and route monitoring capabilities for vehicles operating in unstructured driving conditions. It leverages computer vision at the edge and analyze video data in real-time without needing them to be streamed to the cloud for analysis and processing.

Combat Robotics

Technology – IoT, Computer Vision

Combat Robotics‘ solution Arishta is an unmanned remote-controlled portable vehicle for tactical surveillance and intelligence gathering on difficult terrains with its unique and adaptive chassis-less motion technology.

Cyrrup

Technology – IoT, Machine Learning

Cyrrup‘s solution, Diesel Eye, helps in building trust and reducing operating expenses for commercial fleet owners by monitoring fuel theft in real-time built on a robust IoT platform and offering host of services.

Segment – Retail

NOOS Technologies

Technology – IoT, Machine Learning

NOOS Technologies  provides Unified Brand Protection Solution using Innovative Non-Clonable Patent-pending Packaging Security Technology.

Maxerience

Technology – AI-Deep Learning, Computer Vision

Using AI and Internet of Things (IoT), Maxerience‘s solution Helix enables FMCG companies comprehend product availability at the retail shelf level in real time using vision edge analytics.

Entropik Tech

Technology – Artificial Intelligence – Deep Learning, Computer Vision

Entropik Tech‘s Affect Lab is a SaaS Emotion AI platform that enables brands and agencies to measure human emotions at scale to optimize marketing ROI. The cloud-based solution uses Electroencephalograms, facial coding, and eye tracking to measure human emotions.

Segment – Manufacturing

SensoVision Systems

Technology – Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning

SensoVision is enabling automation of quality inspection in manufacturing units through its artificial intelligence [AI] solution. Combining AI and computer vision with custom mechanical and optical engineering, the solution helps automate parts inspections ranging from screws to big automobiles. The end-to-end solution QualViz identifies visual and dimensional defects with a 99.99% accuracy while processing 250,000 parts per day.

Its product, QualViz, is a fully automated and accurate quality inspection solution for manufacturing industry built upon advanced AI powered image analytics capability.

Constems-AI

Technology – AI-ML, Computer Vision

Constems-AI uses computer vision-based AI to automate business operations processes by eliminating manual interventions and enhancing safety, security, control, and operational efficiencies. Its range of solutions offer critical insights for industrial product quality checks, retail store asset tracking and in-store consumer engagement with the help of Deep learning enabled image analytics.

Segment – Healthcare

SkinCurate Research

Technology – AI-Deep Learning, Computer Vision

SkinCurate Research‘s product, DerminSIGHT helps primary health physicians screen and diagnose different skin conditions using a Deep Learning inference models on an edge device.

Cyclops MedTech

Technology – Artificial Intelligence – Computer Vision

Close to a billion patients suffer from medical disorders like vertigo, migraine, epilepsy, concussion, ADHD and over 20 other conditions. All these conditions show up as measurable manifestations in the eye.  Cyclops MedTech is catering to this need by building clinical and wearable diagnostic and rehabilitation products for early and timely detection of neuro-vestibular disorders using eye tracking technology.

Its product BalanceEye helps neurologists, audiologists and ENT specialists ascertain the root cause of dizziness and multiple balance disorders using eye tracking technology.

Uber Diagnostics Pvt Ltd

Technology – IoT, Machine Learning

Uber Diagnostics’ Cardiotrack is an AI based SaaS platform for cardiac care solution that provides cloud and edge computing based diagnostics for heart care. They significantly reduce the cost of diagnosis through continuous innovation. The Cardiotrack m-Health platform allows primary care physicians to view ECG data captured by the IoT sensors, store patient records for easy retrieval and send the information for secure storage in the cloud.

About Intel India Maker Lab

Since its inception in January 2016, the Intel India Maker Lab, a first-of-its-kind incubation program for hardware and systems startups in India, has supported 60+ startups by offering infrastructure, technology, mentorship and business connect support for their products in the areas of manufacturing, retail, healthcare, agriculture, BFSI, and e-governance, across AI, cloud, IoT, and client compute.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds [PUBG], the popular battle royale game has announced the launch of its Beta service for PUBG LITE version in India. PUBG LITE, a free-to-play game is compatible with lower-end computers, with optimized game-play and graphics to ensure a more inclusive and wider gaming experience.

To enhance the user experience on the new version of the game and make it even more engaging, PUBG LITE has partnered with Jio. This exclusive association in India, marks the coming together of two iconic and loved brands that complement each other’s vision to deliver new-age digital experiences to its users.

Jio users who register for PUBG LITE will be able to enjoy exclusive rewards by way of free skins for their in-game merchandise.

How to enroll for the free Jio Gift

  1. To enjoy this unique experience on PUBG LITE, Jio users can visit  GamesArena & fill up a simple 2-step registration form.
  2. Users will then receive a verification link on their registered email ID.
  3. Once the verification is complete, the user will receive another mail with unique redemption code which can be claimed within the game.

How to use the redemption code

  1. After downloading and registering for PUBG LITE, user can go to Menu Store
  2. In the menu options, user needs to click on “Add Bonus/Gift Code”
  3. Now the user needs to add the redemption code in the blank space and click on redeem

|In: Finance|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

A few days after applying for a used car loan, Rakesh was in for a rude shock. His application for the second-hand car loan had been rejected. On further investigation, he was informed that he did not meet all the eligibility criteria and hence the rejection.

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Rakesh is not the exception to the rule. Many loan applicants face similar rejection while applying for a loan. If you have suffered a similar fate or are planning to submit an air-tight loan application for a used car loan, here is a list of 4 common reasons why secondhand car loan applications are rejected.

  1. Incorrect Information

The information you provide to the used car loan provider is extremely vital. All the information will be used by lenders to assess your creditworthiness. For example, the address and phone number you have provided will be checked for validity. If a small mistake happens, even unknowingly, the second-hand loan application can be cancelled.

Solution – Go through your loan application forms carefully. Verify every detail. Make sure everything is 100% correct. Confident?

  1. Lack of a stable income

Used car loans are disbursed based on many factors. One of the important parameters is borrower’s ability to repay. Stable income is a good indicator of repayment ability. Lack of a stable job or a new job may be a negative. Self-employed people are also allowed to take second-hand car loans if they have a running business, amongst other norms. You can be salaried or self-employed, but do not forget to check the used car loan eligibility norms.

Solution – It is important to know the eligibility norms before applying. So, give them a read and arrange documents to support your used car loan eligibility. If you have less than two years’ work experience with a minimum of 6 months with current employer, wait before applying.

  1. Poor credit record

If you already availed too many loans, your used car loan eligibility may be impacted. Too much debt is a consideration when a lender investigates a potential borrower like you. If you have signs of poor management of current debt, your used car loan application can be rejected straightaway. It is important to understand before you ask for a new loan, whether you can service the existing loan. If it is difficult, do not immediately buy the second-hand car. Wait for a few months to let the situation improve.

Solution – It is important not to take too much debt. If you have too much of it already, there is no quick fix. You must build a track record of timely repayments and a clean slate to impress second car loan lenders.

  1. Large loan request

There is a limit to how much you can borrow based on your income. If you ask for more loan than you can manage, the financial institution can reject your used car loan application. Tata Capital provides second car loan for amounts up to Rs 50 lakh.

Solution – Take funds according to your current income situation. Just because you are getting a Mercedes or Audi at throwaway price compared to a new car does not mean you will get the loan. If you are confused, speak with experts to fine-tune your requirements and help you get closer to your dream car. There may be flexible EMI options that can help you.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

CropIn has released the ‘SmartFarm’ app for iOS users, in addition to the existing version that is available on the desktop and Android. SmartFarm is a complete farm management solution that monitors the pre-harvest farming processes.

The solution leverages weather advisory, satellite image processing and insights strengthened by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to enable efficient operations, and to improve traceability and output predictability. This empowers agribusinesses to enable data-driven farming in their operations by tracking, managing and monitoring every step – from input to execution – all in one place.

SmartFarm is validated by a number of organizations in the agriculture value chain — from farming companies, agri input firms, and seed production companies, to crop insurance providers and governments. Major brands that use SmartFarm to improve their farming processes and associated outcomes include McCain, Syngenta, BASF, Government of Karnataka and the World Bank.

With the introduction of the mobile app on iOS, SmartFarm will now be accessible on iPhone/iPad devices. This version of the app will equip the heads of agribusinesses to have complete visibility of near-real-time farming operations and enable access to actionable data insights on-the-go to make timely decisions. With the release of the SmartFarm app on iOS, CropIn is crafting a holistic solution that makes monitoring the entire farming process extremely easy.

SmartFarm app for iOS & Android is available here & here respectively.

About CropIn

CropIn is a leading full-stack agri-tech organization that provides SaaS solutions to agribusinesses globally. CropIn’s unique suite of products enables various stakeholders in the agri-ecosystem to adopt and drive digital strategy across their operations.

Using cutting-edge technology like big data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and remote sensing, CropIn creates an interconnected network of all these stakeholders at different levels of the agriculture ecosystem, enabling clients to analyze and interpret data to derive real-time actionable insights on standing crop. Businesses can thus leverage technology to effectively drive their initiatives around Digitization, Compliance, Sustainability, and Traceability.

Thus far, CropIn has digitized over 5 million acres of farmland and enriched the lives of nearly 2.1 million farmers, while gathering data on 265 crops and 3,500 crop varieties in 30+ countries. The SaaS solutions offered by CropIn are crop and location agnostic and are available on the web and on mobile devices.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Swiss startup iProPal offers a curated marketplace for connecting Swiss/European IT projects to the top talented Indian remote developers. iProPal launches its web platform for IT remote  developers in India who are seeking opportunities in the Swiss/European markets. The platform  enables remote job seekers & providers to post their profiles and requirements, and intelligently  matches the seeker’s requirement of skills, time and budget with the best IT developers.

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iProPal provides opportunities to work on niche IT technologies like Blockchain, Machine learning, Python and Java. They have set up a development centre in Hyderabad to handle sensitive projects and to train developers. Bangalore and California based startup, HackerEarth, is a platform partner for iProPal’s India launch venture. The profiles on iProPal are activated after successful completion of HackerEarth’s coding challenge and portfolio verification.

Speaking about the collaboration with iProPal, HackerEarth’s co-founder Vivek Prakash said

These are exciting times for developers across the globe. Bringing our local talent on this international platform will revolutionize the freelance marketplace for software developers. India’s large community of innovators are going to be at the center of all the action. HackerEarth
has always had a developer-first approach, and this collaboration will help thousands of developers find work with leading Swiss companies and fuel their careers.

As an Innosuisse [innovation agency of the government of Switzerland] startup, iProPal has been coached by swissnex India in its entry into the Indian market. swissnex India has also enabled iProPal in establishing a successful partnership with HackerEarth, who are, in turn, playing a key role in their expansion into the India market. The web platform will be  launched at swissnex India on 20 July 2019 where developers will be given an opportunity to network with the innovators and thought leaders from iPropal, Hackerearth and swissnex India.

Jakeer Mohammad, techpreneur at iProPal, on asked his thoughts on launching in India said

India has a vast pool of IT talent with diversified skills. Developers are seeking flexible and challenging projects, while Swiss companies have a huge shortage of IT talent. iProPal is bridging the gap by connecting the Swiss IT projects to Indian developers.The developer skills are curated through our strategic platform partner HackerEarth. This could be a game changer in scaling the Indian and global IT freelancing market.

|In: Finance|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Your deadline to make tax-saving investments for the financial year 2018-19 is over. If you have missed out on making some beneficial tax-saving investments during the previous financial year, you must pay adequate attention to tax planning for the financial year 2019-20. Tax planning should be done at the start of the financial year and it should be implemented throughout the year. By postponing tax- saving investments, you are making bad financial decisions. Hence, you must start looking for attractive tax-saving options at the earliest.

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Save tax under Section 80C

Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 offers a huge tax benefit with a deduction limit of INR 1.5 lakh. In order to avail of this deduction, you can invest in different tax-saving options like Public Provident Fund [PPF], Employee Provident Fund, National Pension Scheme, Equity-Linked Savings Scheme [ELSS], life insurance, and expenses on home loan principal and children’s tuition fees. If you want to know how to save tax, you need to be aware of these tax-saving options.

Once you are aware of the limit and the investment options available to you, you can recall each eligible expense and investment, which you have made in the past. If the investment is eligible for the claim, you will be able to arrive at the deduction benefit, which is yet to be exhausted. Alternatively, you can plan all the investments keeping Section 80C in mind. Distribute the investments into different products to enhance your portfolio.

Factors involved in tax-saving investments

Listed below are a few important factors that you need to consider when you look at tax-saving investment options.

  1. Liquidity

As an important criterion for many taxpayers, liquidity plays a crucial role in your investment decision. You need to ensure that you do not choose an investment option simply to avail of the benefit of tax deduction. You need to understand the role of every investment in your financial plan and consider the liquidity it offers.

  1. Risk

One of the most important tax-saving tips is to make an investment, which is in alignment with your risk appetite. Investments in instruments such as Unit-Linked Insurance Plans [ULIPs] and ELSS are considered riskier as compared to PPF or National Savings Certificate [NSC]. Hence, check your risk appetite before making any investment decisions.

  1. Returns

Do not make an investment decision thinking how much tax can be saved under 80C. Instead, try to look for investment options that generate maximum returns for you. PPF, NSC, and tax-saving FDs will generate minimum returns at low risk. The returns will be fixed. However, options like ULIP or ELSS will give you better returns but the risk associated with the same will be slightly higher.

Make investment decisions keeping your long-term goals in mind. A good portfolio will give you high returns, help save tax, and provide you with high liquidity. Start planning beforehand to make the most out of the available tax-saving instruments.

|In: Funding|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Freight Tiger, India’s leading B2B logistics technology startup, announced funding of 8 million USD. The funding round is led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from Alsthom Industries [one of the Dalmia Group Companies] and Pawan Munjal Family Trust.

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Mumbai-based Freight Tiger with offices in Bangalore and Delhi is a company building a real time logistics visibility and collaboration platform for the freight industry.

In order to ensure a strong ecosystem, Freight Tiger adopts a collaborative approach in the rapidly emerging space. It works closely with 3PLs, logistics service companies/transporters and consignors. Close collaborations with leading brands and manufacturers allow Freight Tiger to focus on end to end supply chain and not be limited to only one part of it. Their goal is to empower key stakeholders to make better and faster decisions.

Swapnil Shah, CEO and Founder, Freight Tiger said

We are keen on building an internationally transformative company. We have built a world-class multidisciplinary team with technology, operations and product backgrounds to make a significant impact. The current fundraising round and investors’ confidence strengthens our vision to build an operating system that powers the entire logistics and freight ecosystem.

Ashok Goyal, Managing Director, BLR Logistiks said

We have been working with the Freight Tiger team for the past several years and impressed by their customer centricity. They have been a great technology partner and a neutral platform in our goal to digitize our operations and drive transformative customer service to our customers.

Bejul Somaia, Managing Director, Lightspeed India said

The past couple of years has seen rapid technology adoption by Indian Enterprises and Freight Tiger has been at the forefront of powering supply chains for some of India’s largest companies through its depth and breadth of software products. We look forward to partnering with the Freight Tiger team as they unlock new possibilities in one of the world’s largest logistics markets.

Shekhar Kulkarni, Head of Supply Chain Management at Saint Gobain – Gyproc Business said

We at Saint Gobain India Pvt Ltd., have been using the Freight Tiger platform for a while now and have realized the advantages of working with a dynamic startup that is trying to build an operating system for the logistics space. It has helped us focus on our core business processes and we have gained great insights on our business’ freight movement using their offerings. We look forward to deepen our cooperation with Swapnil and team Freight Tiger.

Freight Tiger is the largest logistics technology platform and network in the country today with 170+ customers including some of the largest consignors/manufacturers such as Saint Gobain, JSW Steel, Apollo Tyres and leading logistics companies such as BLR Logistiks and several 3PLs.

Freight Commerce Solutions Pvt Ltd, the parent company of FT had earlier received seed investment from Shriram Transport Finance Corporation and Mathew Cyriac – former Co-CEO of Blackstone’s India Office. Following this funding round, Freight Tiger plans to connect with more customers, expand its product and technology through Artificial Intelligence as well as Machine Learning and build industry specific AI extensions on the platform.

About Freight Tiger

Freight Tiger is a real time logistics visibility and collaboration technology platform. We bring 100% visibility into every freight transaction including shipments on market trucks and build a single version of truth for all the stakeholders involved. We help companies reduce their total logistics cost, provide visibility to their customers/trade partners for better customer service and improve safety.  For premium customers, we provide comprehensive data analytics dashboard, control tower software and managed services where we provide skilled control tower manpower resources for exception and escalation handling. For more information, please visit Freight Tiger.