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|In: Digital|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Atos, an international leader in digital services, and NASSCOM Foundation jointly announced the launch of National Digital Literacy Mission [NDLM] centers dedicated to training and imparting digital literacy at Vadodara, Gujarat. The NDLM centers will conduct skill development programs in the area of Information Technology for the aspiring persons interested to undertake IT literacy programs.

Atos in collaboration with NASSCOM Foundation, will endeavor to leverage the IT training as envisaged under the NDLM Scheme with the objectives of appreciation of Digital Literacy- that aims to make a person IT literate, so that (s)he can operate digital devices, like mobile phones, tablets among other electronic devices and send & receive emails and search the internet for information among other things.

Atos in India will facilitate the training infrastructure and the trainers at these NDLM centers with the help of NASSCOM nominated NGO’s at its respective location centers. These centers together will provide training on all digital devices, specifically, computers and mobile phones.

Once trained, the beneficiaries will be able to send emails, connect on social media, buy from e-Commerce websites, and will even know how to use internet to avail various government services such as registering for AADHAR Cards, Ration Cards, PAN Cards, and other such internet enabled services.

On the occasion, Surendrasinh Gohil, SVP & Head Global Delivery Centers for Infrastructure & Data Management Division said

As a leading international digital services company, we are pleased to announce our association with NASSCOM Foundation in accomplishing the larger goal of Digital Saksharta Abhiyan [DISHA] or also known as NDLM Scheme. The mission is both aspiring and ambitious in its scale to train the non-IT literate citizens to become IT literate. A sound foundation starts with a modest beginning; this is quite an enabling initiative across India. We are confident that this initiative will help a part of the society, that otherwise wouldn’t have been able to access the opportunities offered by the Digital economy in India. We are happy to partner with NASSCOM Foundation and Deepak Foundation in this initiative and look forward to make this community service a success for Vadodara citizens.

Shrikant Sinha, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation said

We believe that digital literacy is one of the most potent tool for the empowerment of the underserved communities in today’s digital and cashless economy. Working in partnership with Atos, NASSCOM Foundation is proud to announce the launch of four new centres across India, taking the total Atos Centre count to eight. Being digitally literate would help the citizens access services as Vadodara leaps forward in its journey towards becoming a smart city.

The National Digital Literacy Mission is a far-sighted, dynamic and integrated platform of digital literacy awareness, education and capacity creation programme that will help rural and the under-served communities to fully participate in the global digital economy. NASSCOM Foundation is the industry partner to the Government of India to accomplish the first phase goal for NDLM or ‘DISHA’ by making 52.5 lakh individuals in India digitally literate in the next four years.

|In: Digital|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Following the digital India dream of Government of India, BSNL has offered free E-Mail Address service in 8 Indian Languages to its broadband users by launching a DataMail service. Now BSNL broadband users will be able to open an email ID in DataMail service in their own language.

Anupam Shrivastav, Managing Director, BSNL said

Providing the linguistic email address is one of its kind initiative in the world to achieve our Prime Ministers Vision of Digital India. It’s now possible in every part of India to have an email address in their own language and communicate in preferred language.

Few months back, Government of India had launched Dot Bharat domain in Indian languages to increase the reach of internet users by providing domain names in their own language so as to cover over 70% of the country’s population living in the rural and remote areas. BSNL is also known for its network in the rural and remote India especially in 2G and 3G data. Launching free linguistic Email address service for its millions of customers is another strong step on fulfilling the dream of digital India taken by the Govt. of India Enterprise, BSNL.

Dr. Ajay Data, Founder & CEO of Data XGen said

Our fully ‘Made in India’ software product enabling DataMail service is a revolution in the world as many countries are waiting to inject the linguistic email address to empower the non-English speakers of the world. We are happy to contribute to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s Digital India dream by partnering with BSNL, country’s strongest network telecom company having rural and remote connect.

As per Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators Report (April-June, 2016) released by TRAI, total internet subscribers in India is about 350.48 million which is just about 30 percent of the country’s population. So, about 70 percent of population is not having access to the internet and most of these belong to rural India.

On the other side, Indian languages account for less than 0.1 per cent content on world wide web. Also, over 89 per cent population is non-English speaking and unable to read and communicate via email as the language utilized to communicate is English.

The most spoken languages in India in 2016, according to our analysis based on secondary data, are approximately Hindi [544.39 million], Bengali [107.60 million], Telugu [95.40 million], Marathi [92.74 million], Tamil [78.41 million], Urdu [66.47 million], Gujarati [59.44 million], Kannada [48.96 million], Punjabi [37.55 million], Assamese [16.98 million]. The total of population using these key languages comes about 1147.95 million that is a larger share of current population in India.

Steps to use this Service

  1. BSNL broadband customers can use DataMail app which is free to be downloaded from any Android or iOS system through their respective play store.
  2. User will have to select the language in which they want his/her email address.
  3. Insert the mobile number
  4. Select the checkbox ‘I am a BSNL broadband Customer’
  5. Insert BSNL broadband number with STD code
  6. You will receive an OTP on your registered mobile number
  7. Type the desired Email address in your own language
  8. Start using and share with your friends!

What is DataMail

DataMail is Made in India – World’s first email service supporting Internationalized email  supporting email IDs in Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Punjabi, Telegu, Bengali, Marathi.

The services are FREE for everyone through the simple Mobile app download on iOS and Android phone and anyone can go on their play store and download DATAMAIL and gets their first email address in their preferred language.

About Data XGen Technologies

Data XGen Technologies is one of the largest Complete Enterprise Solution company catering to the needs of unified communication. Having 13 years of experience, the organisation was initiated as an Email Management solution company which provides Email platforms for its users. The vision of Data XGen Technologies is to continue to innovate and be a global leader in the email market-place by being a premium next-generation email platform and to serve the entire spectrum of organizations – from small businesses, to enterprise, to multi-million user data centers – on the same scalable, secure and affordable platform. For more information, please visit Data XGen

 

|In: Mobile|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited delights Indian gamers by bringing the sought-after, first-of-its-kind, Augmented Reality game Pokémon GO to India in partnership with Niantic, Inc. – publisher and developer of Pokémon GO in association with The Pokémon Company. With this partnership, thousands of Reliance Digital Stores and select partner premises in India will appear as ‘PokéStops’ or ‘Gyms’ in the Pokémon GO game beginning December 14, 2016.

Image Source – Cnet

This launch is in line with Jio’s mission to empower Indians with opportunities that are fueled by the power of data and a Digital Life and to delight them on an ongoing basis with entertainment-based apps, such as ‘Pokémon GO,’ the leading app in the gaming category.

John Hanke, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Niantic said

We are delighted to partner with Jio to launch Pokémon GO in India.It’s exciting to see Pokémon fans in India step out and explore their neighborhoods in search of Pokémon and Jio’s disruptive high speed 4G LTE Network will be an excellent way to experience the game.

The two companies will work together to bring Indians a richer and more enjoyable mobile entertainment experience for Pokémon GO, including activating Jio retail locations & charging stations as PokéStops and Gyms within the game and allowing Indians to catch, train, and battle at any of Jio’s outlets throughout the country.

On Jio’s social messaging app, JioChat, Pokémon players have access to an exclusive Pokémon Go Channel. The Pokémon Go Channel will enable Pokémon Go players to collaborate and be part of an exciting community of players with daily tips, contests, clues, and special events. The Pokémon Go Channel on JioChat a fun way to socialize with other players and level-up faster.

Mathew Oommen, President Reliance Jio said

With over 500 million downloads globally, we are excited to launch Pokémon GO officially in India on the Reliance Jio network. Our partnership with Niantic not only brings access to the Pokémon GO app but also opens the door to more opportunities for our customers to enjoy content on Jio’s one-of-a-kind mobile broadband network.

The partnership puts Pokémon GO players on a world-class all-IP data strong network, and during the Happy New Year Offer, Jio SIM customers will be able to download and play Pokémon GO without incurring data charges, like any other apps and content, till 31st March 2017.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

The Banking and Finance sector (BFSI) is witnessing one of its most interesting and enriching phases. Apart from the evident shift from traditional methods of banking and payments, technology has started playing a vital role in defining this change. The phenomenal swing from offline payments to online payments over the last two decades has been aided by mobile apps, plastic money, e-wallets and bots. Now, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in BFSI is expediting the evolution of this industry.

Source – LiveMint

AI enables a computer to behave and take decisions like a human being. Coined in 1956 by John McCarthy at MIT, AI was little known to the layman and merely a subject of interest to academicians, researchers and technologists. However, over the past few years, it is more commonly seen in our everyday lives; in our smartphones, shopping experiences, hospitals, travel etc. The BFSI sector uses AI because of its inherent advantages-efficiency and faster processing, accuracy, daily application & data availability. Here are some artificial intelligence technologies and what they offer for Banking and Finance.

Machine Learning, Deep Learning, NLP Platforms, Predictive APIs and Image and Speech Recognition are some core AI technologies used in BFSI today. Machine Learning recognizes data patterns and highlights deviations in data observed. Data is analysed and then compared with existing data to look for patterns. This can help in fraud detection, prediction of spend patterns and subsequently the development of new products. Key Stroke Dynamics can be used for analyzing transactions made by customers. They capture strokes when the key is pressed (dwell time) and released on a keyboard, along with vibration information. As second factor authentication is mandatory for electronic payments in India, this can help detect fraud, especially if the user’s credentials are compromised. Deep Learning is a new area in Machine Learning research and consists of multiple linear and non-linear transformations. It is based on learning and improving representations of data. A common application of this can be found in the crypto-currency, Bitcoin.

Adaptive Learning is another form of AI currently used by Indian banks for fraud detection and mitigation. A model is created using existing rules or data in the bank’s system. Incremental learning algorithms are then used to update the models based on changes observed in the data patterns.

Natural Language Processing (NLP) is the ability of a computer to understand human speech as it is spoken. In India, ICICI has started using NLP for sentiment mapping. It is predicted that the NLP market will reach USD 13.4 billion by 2020 at 18.4% CAGR. NLP and AI bots may also be used for Whatsapp-based banking, similar to how WeChat is used for banking in China. Voice Recognition used for secure banking transactions can take payment security to the next level.  The Santander Group, based in Spain, has already announced the usage of this feature in their app. Similarly, AI can be used to answer customer questions as well. Swedbank uses Nina (a web assistant) to artificially interact with customers and build loyalty.

Banks across the globe, including India, are increasingly providing Spend Analysers and Smart Wallets as value added services to customers, helping track expenses and understanding spending patterns. The lending industry can also use AI to derive user needs, borrowing patterns and the payment sequence, making lending a less risky proposition. Predictive APIs can be used for detecting frauds and for speech/voice recognition.

In India, one can see increased momentum for research and funding of AI start-ups. According to CB Insights, venture capitalist funding in AI firms has increased from USD 415 million in 2012 to USD 2.38 billion in 2016. Image recognition, product and service discovery chat bots and developer tools for enterprises to create their own AI systems are some technologies that start-ups are focusing on.

In the gamut of BFSI and the imminent marriage of Fintech companies and banks, using AI becomes all the more significant to accelerate change and improve customer experience and design. Soon we will see Advanced Robotics being implemented, Digital becoming mainstream, Blockchain playing a key role in payments and regulators turning to technology. With Asia taking the lead in technology innovation and playing a prominent role in the world of payments by 2020, BFSI should accelerate the adoption of AI and make it the core engine for business transformation.

About the author

Sanjay Goswami is the VP-Software Development at Worldline India, a leader in payment and transaction services. At Worldline India, Goswami leads product development, technology and competency building with a focus on new and emerging businesses and innovation. Prior to Worldline, Goswami has worked with reputed companies like Samsung, HCL, CSC and Syntel Inc. Sanjay is a BE graduate & has completed the Executive General Management Program from IIM, Bangalore.

|In: Interviews|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Couple of years back when I was associated with an early stage startup where the product was it’s IP, it was critical for us to patent the product! Though it was couple of years back but entrepreneurs still face the mounting challenge around registering their startup, protecting trademarks, etc. (Source)

Ideas are born out of problems that you face and the same is true for Manmeet Singh, Founder & CEO of QuickCompany. Manmeet faced lot of legal hurdles while running his earlier startup and this is where he saw a market opportunity and QuickCompany was born!

Today we have a chat with Manmeet Singh about QuickCompany, entrepreneurial journey, learnings, tips for aspiring entrepreneurs, etc. So, let’s start with the Q&A…

How and when did you come up with the idea of QuickCompany

Manmeet Singh had a startup running for weddings on his personal account. He wanted to register a company, went to some CAs and realized the pain in running behind CA’s, getting work done and figured out why not do a start up which registers companies since it would solve the problem as bureaucracy is a big pain in India.

Can you give a small background about you and it’s founders ?

Manmeet is the Founder, CEO of QuickCompany. He has graduated from London and worked there for a couple years. After that he was working for MNCs and every product he made got popular and made the company rich. He figured its high time he should have his own startup and this is what made way for QuickCompany. You can find more about Manmeet here

QuickCompany is a very interesting name (since the name speaks for it’s service), what are some of the other potential names that came up while forming your company ?

We wanted to emphasize on Speed and Low cost of registrations. At the same time, we also wanted a name which is very simple to remember and can click in the minds of our customers. Hence, we chose QuickCompany, some of the potential options were Rocket Registration, GoLimited (Inspired from GoDaddy) and RabbitRegistrations.

What are some of the crucial learnings for you (as an entrepreneur) when you started QuickCompany ?

There are many learnings so far and the list just keeps on growing day by day. Some of the top learnings are below:

1. Pick a fight, if you know you are right (since the CAs might be over charging)
2. Engineering is the easy part, people management is more difficult
3. Market Products are overrated (We were using Sales Force and Lead Squared and thought they were not good enough)
4. Bi-Products can be highly valuable (We made our own ERP)
5. You can do big things with a small team (We only have 3 developers including the founder, no designers, no network people) and still we have a kick-ass product
6. Decision making is progress

Please walk us through the Business Model of QuickCompany

It is a simple model, we charge you a small fee per registration. The more the registrations the lower the price (as the Internet is all about multiples).

What are some of the services that startups can look forward to when approaching QuickCompany

IP, Trademarks, Registrations and Taxes

So far based on your insights(and services so far offered to startups), what are some of the biggest pain-points of entrepreneurs w.r.t IPR, Company registration, etc.

All Startups seek funding. Funding is Plan Z not Plan A, no one builds a startup to solely get into the funding game. Entrepreneurs start companies to change the world! Idea is worth nothing. It is all about execution (Google is not the first search engine, iPhone is not the first smartphone, Tesla is not the first battery Car). We learnt at 91Springboard that startups generally have big plans but many of the startups fail since there is no product or execution. They are unable to convert the grand vision into a viable and market-fit product.
How does QuickCompany stack up against it’s competitors ?

We have a very lean team. We are technology based not people based. In the year 2015, QuickCompany was only 1 year old and we achieved the same registrations as our competitors! That was a very significant milestone for us at QuickCompany. Many of our competitors brag about 160 people in a team, we like to keep lean. We are able to provide more services to our clients with less burn-rate since we are only a team of 30 people in QuickCompany.

Can you please shed some light on what care startups need to take care of especially if their idea is highly technology based (and their idea is the IP) ?

This is a myth, it is not about the technology you use but it is about having the right product fit. If you have a hammer you tend to see every problem as a nail. The mantra is Always be focused on the problem you are trying to solve, everything else is secondary.
Solve problems of the future in the future. Your startup does not need Big Data and Enterprise solutions, start up small and as you grow learn, change and evolve.
Key is to be lean. Overhead walks on 2 legs, it becomes really difficult to get rid of dead weight if you gain some. That is one of the fundamental reasons why so many heavily-funded startups are laying employees in huge numbers!
Is QuickCompany bootstrapped/VC funded and are you looking out for funding ?
Bootstraped. As mentioned earlier, Funding is Plan Z and we adhere to that policy. Look for funding only when necessary & required. The point is many startups get over-funded and many times that is also a bigger worry!
When according to you should an entrepreneur look out for external funding ?
When there is no choice and when the entrepreneur is run out of funds from FFF (Friends, Family and Fools).
Some tips for aspiring entrepreneurs and something that keeps you motivated everyday for your startup ?
Passion is overrated and will burn out. You need a system, not a goal. To give you an example if you exercise everyday regularly, you will have the body of a model and that is what is termed a system. It is always best to ensue things, not pursue things.
Your thoughts on Digital India and how it has sprung the entrepreneurial zeal in India ?
There is a lot of zeal but somehow the talent that you find in the market is sub-standard. We only believe in one thing – To have mastery in what we do and that is what keeps us ticking all day long!
Some tips on Scaling up and Hiring especially for SME’s
Scaling up is a post process of marketing. There is no point having big warehouse and operations teams since that would add up to your operational expenses. Scaling up is a very organic process. To give you a perspective, think of it as drug dealing – if Walter White deals in the best Crystal Meth, he better find a way to scale else very soon the growth will be flat instead of showing a hockey-stick curve!
How much important is Marketing & Brand building for startups ?
In the initial year, branding does not count for much. After you hit a critical mass and a super service, it counts a lot.
Any closing thoughts for our readers on entrepreneurship ?
Do not Start, if you do not have perseverance. It will suck the life out of you, always remember 99.99% will fail and hence, building a startup is a beautiful journey with many ups and downs (which are all a part and parcel of the game).

If you have any questions for the QuickCompany Team, please leave them in the comments section.

|In: Internet|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Mobility and Digital Transformation are no longer just buzz-words and it is very difficult for individuals as well as organizations to ignore them! In fact, having a long-term as well as sound Digital Strategy has become one of the key agendas’ for any organization. Existence of technologies like hyper-connectivity,  IoT, smart devices, drones, VR, AR, cloud computing, etc. are acting as the key pillars of connected growth. In such a connected world, organizations are having access to huge amount of data that can then be leveraged to transform them into tangible actions.

Image Source - Cloud Computing
Image Source – Cloud Computing

 Some of the growing challenges of Digital Transformation are below:

1. Increasingly complex environments and the growing need for efficiency
2. New cyber-security threats everyday
3. Support both existing and new apps/services/frameworks

Keeping your website’s up-time optimum, keeping data at the back-end secure and ensuring that it functions smoothly is very important in this age where information spreads like fire and can adversely affect your business if these factors are not handled with care.

VMWare, a subsidiary of Dell Technologies that provides cloud and virtualization software and services made a plethora of exciting announcements at the recently concluded vForum 2016 that was held in Mumbai. It aims to revolutionize and optimize businesses via it’s products in areas of Private Cloud, IoT, Enterprise mobility management (Air Watch), Network virtualization (NSX), Software defined data centers, etc.

Image Source – Facebook

Some of the major highlights and announcements from vForum 2016 are below:

Adopting digital route using VMWare’s Cloud infrastructure

As per a study by IDC, only 20% of traditional businesses are leading in the digital transformation and Culture & Technology are the key factors that differentiate the leaders from the laggards. From a culture perspective, leaders rewrite the rules and from the technology perspective, they consider the mobile-cloud core to their business.

Using VMWare’s Cross-Cloud Architecture, customers can run, manage, connect and secure their applications across clouds and devices in a common operating environment. VMWare’s Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) strategy ensures that all the elements of infrastructure namely network, storage, security, etc. are abstracted from the user and are delivered as a service [Source*].

John Gilmartin, VP & GM at VMWare stressed upon advantages of Public-Private Cloud, ease of setting up a private cloud in less than two hours, reduced over-head cost and power consumption, design of Virtual SAN w.r.t high performance & scalability.

Organizations, irrespective of their size can utilize VMWare’s secure cloud infrastructure to simplify their IT infrastructure and take the digital route.

VMWare’s Vision [Courtesy VForum 2016, Mumbai]
vSphere 6.5 : Built-in security, simplified experience and more…

vSphere 6.5 is considered as a turning point in VMWare infrastructure security. It is built on three basic principles:

Comprehensive built-in security – This is possible via Secure access (using Audit-Quality logging), Secure Infrastructure (Secure boot) and Secure data (using VM level encryption).

Superior performance and scale – As shown in the snapshot below, vSphere 6.5 is 6x times faster than it’s predecessors.

Universal App platform – Stressing on the need for Digital work-spaces, growing focus on mobility and meeting the demands on diverse set of customers; vSphere 6.5 has a universal app platform for running any application.

It also supports new REST APIs and provides a simple method to migrate from Windows to any Appliance model.

Since the average cost of data breach is around USD 4 million [Source], security is the central focus in vSphere 6.5 due to which there is micro-segmentation level security in NSX.

Partnerships with Amazon Web Services, Skype for Business

VMWare announced that it is collaborating with Microsoft for Skype for Business where VMWare would ensure that Skype is able to deliver the best user experience using it’s Horizon platform. VMWare also announced it’s strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services. This new offering will allow customers to leverage their existing investments in VMware skillsets and seamlessly take advantage of the flexibility and economics of the AWS Cloud [More].

Tech talk on NSX, PowerCLI

VMWare NSX is the network virtualization platform for the Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC). In NSX, entire network stack is abstracted from the user and is moved to the software level and it’s goal is to reproduce all Network and Security services in the Logical Space. It is at the core of the SDDC approach.

Below components are all moved to the logical space:

1. Switching (DHCP Server or Relay, DNS)
2. Routing/NAT (Distributed or Centralized)
3. Firewall (Distributed or Centralized)
4. Load Balancing (InLine or OneArm)
5. L2 & L3 VPN (L2VPN, Site to Site, SSL VPN)

Since, all the changes are done in the logical space hence no modifications are required in the VMs. More information about VMWare NSX can be found here

VMWare vSphere PowerCLI provides an easy to use Windows PowerShell interface for command-line access for creating executable scripts or for administration tasks. It follows the Noun-Verb structure where the Verb represents the action and Noun represents the object on which to operate. All command categories take parameters and arguments. More information about vSphere PowerCLI can be found here

More announcements

Within a span of 2+ years, VMWare Virtual SAN (Storage Area Network) is the widest deployed HCI Solution and has scaled to more than 5000+ enterprise customers!

The staggering figures of VMWare Private cloud are below

VMWare India has around 4,000 employees and has offices in six locations, with R&D centers in Bengaluru and Pune. VMWare registered revenue of USD 6.6 billion in 2015 and has over 50,000 customers and 75,000 partners worldwide [Source]

We started this article with Importance of Digital Transformation, hence if your organization aims to accelerate the Digital journey, consider using these technologies that are front-runners to drive that strategy!

Image Source - VMWare Blog
Image Source – VMWare Blog

The complete guide for acceleration of Digital Transformation can be found here

For further updates on vForum 2016, please visit vForumIN on Facebook, vForum on Twitter

|In: Mobile|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Kotak Mahindra Bank announced the launch of Kotak Now-India’s first truly digital account opening process on mobile. ‘Kotak Now’ is an end-to-end digital process where verification of KYC documents and signature is done via a video call with the bank. This is a complete end-to-end online account opening experience, without any need of physical interaction or bio-metric verification. The entire process is 100% paperless.

The account opening process is simple, and takes only a few minutes. Once the Kotak Now app is downloaded, the prospective customer can upload KYC documents (PAN card, and either Aadhar Card or Passport), and the image of the signature. Thereafter, on entering a few personal details, the Customer Relationship Number (CRN) and Account Number is generated. The app automatically selects a branch closest to the customer’s address for correspondence. The account is activated, after a video call with a bank executive.

‘Kotak Now’ is in sync with Honourable Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Digital India’. India is on the verge of a telecom transformation as 4G speed becomes a reality for the country’s average household. High speed data connectivity will also revolutionise banking transactions and open new vistas of innovation. While majority of banking transactions have already gone digital, ‘Kotak Now’ aims to completely digitise banking by offering paperless account opening via mobile.

Deepak Sharma, Chief Digital Officer, Kotak Mahindra Bank, said

About 50% of all transactions in the last few years have moved to digital channels like net banking and mobile banking. Additionally, most services are now being made available on-the-move to customers via these platforms. However, the account opening experience for Indian consumers was still a challenge, and has thus far required high level of manual effort from their end. ‘Kotak Now’ is in-line with our mobile first approach and is a path-breaking step in making banking truly digital.

Kotak has played a pioneer’s role in the digital banking space. ‘Kotak Now’ is yet another addition to Kotak’s long list of innovative digital initiatives. In March 2014, Kotak launched ‘Jifi’, the first-of-its-kind social bank account that combines the power of social media with conventional banking. It was also the first bank in the world to offer Hashtag Banking, whereby customers can bank via Twitter. This was followed by ‘Kaypay’ – the world’s first bank agnostic instant funds transfer platform using Facebook and Social Commerce, which integrates social media banking with e-commerce. In June 2015, Kotak launched ‘Kotak Bharat’, a multi-lingual mobile banking app which requires no internet connectivity.

‘Kotak Now’, developed with the patented technology of Germany-based WebID Solutions, reduces the time involved in opening a bank account and also ensures data security.

Currently, ‘Kotak Now’ enables customers to open a Jifi account through this process. Other savings account variants will be introduced in a phased manner. ‘Kotak Now’ can be downloaded from Google Play Store.

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

IIT-B’s Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) in Mumbai and Global Venture Alliance (GVA) in Moscow are partnering to run a bilateral entrepreneur exchange program, entitled India Russia Bridge for Innovations (IRBI). In the second half of September this year, a cohort of ten innovative startups from across India will participate in a 2-week accelerator program in Moscow that will include educational, practical, networking and cultural components aiming to facilitate a structured introduction into the Russian market.

The program is the first initiative between India and Russia with a focus on science and technology based entrepreneurship. The entire program is fully sponsored and supported by the Government of India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the GVA in anticipation that partnerships and collaborations forged in course of IRBI, will not only lay foundations for increased bilateral trade across the nations, but also further goals of key national initiatives like Start-Up India, Make-in-India and Digital India.

The selected startups are in areas of medical devices and applications, energy, IoT, Ed-tech and Retail Tech. The startups have been identified on the basis of scalability, and with the inputs from GVA for potential of immediate partnership with businesses in Russia. The expected outcome of the program is for the entrepreneurs to acquire knowledge from experts in Russia in order to find partners, clients and test their products in local market through a collaborative ecosystem. There is also a potential to pioneer new cross border partnerships and collaborative programs between the two countries.

Relevance

As Dmitry Rogozin, the deputy prime minister of Russia and his Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj meet on September 13th in New Delhi at the 22nd session of the Indo-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) to discuss a plethora of topics including expanding bilateral trade to reach the $30 Billion goal, Indian entrepreneurs behind 10 innovative startups will leave for Moscow the very next day for this one-of-a-kind Indo-Russian entrepreneur exchange program in attempt to do further just that goal.

Leading up to the much anticipated India-Russia summit between PM Modi and President Putin on the sidelines of the 6th BRICS Summit in Goa on 15-16th of October, officials and entrepreneurs in both India and Russia have been eager to make the ambitious commitment of increasing the bilateral trade threefold in the next decade a reality.

Programs such as the IRBI will go a long way in sparking a strong bilateral economic tie in innovation and entrepreneurship between the two nations.

About the India Russia Bridge for Innovations (IRBI)

The program with its educational, practical, networking and cultural components will facilitate a structured introduction into Russia for the participating startups. This two-week immersion program will cover a plethora of topics ranging from the ways to engage the 150 million strong Russian market to the nuances of doing business there. The entrepreneurs, other than attending networking events with a wide range of industry stakeholders, will also visit the Skolkovo Innovation Park, a one-of-a-kind Innovation and Entrepreneurship hub just outside Moscow.

About the selected Startups

Field Assist – Divir Tiwari – is an on-field sales monitoring tool for mobile sales teams using smartphones and tablets. Website – http://fieldassist.in

Ecolibrium Energy – Harit Soni – Big Data Energy analytics Platform provides the insights that increases operational efficiency of utilities, commercial & industrial consumers by optimizing energy usage & improving asset utilization. Website – http://ecolibriumenergy.com

Transcell Biologics – Dr Subhadra Dravida – Transcell is a Biotech company with a strong commitment to develop innovative & transformative stem cell based approaches in advancing evidence based practice in disease management. Website – http://transcell.in

Frodo – Amardeep Singh – A technology start-up striving to create the perfect adventure camera called Frodocam which could be the world’s first truly wearable camera which you can strap on your wrist, head, bike or any adventure gear. Website – http://www.frodocam.com

A3 RMT – Vishal Shah – Customizes wireless portable medical technology to tackle area-specific healthcare inefficiencies in emerging markets, with innovative and reliable products. Website – http://a3rmt.com

Medprime Technologies – Binil Jacob – is a medical device company, dedicated to developing the best, customer-centric solutions for the healthcare needs of people around the world, with a focus on patient monitoring and diagnostic devices.  Website – http://medprimetech.com

CareNx Innovations – Aditya Kulkarni – builds technologies to deliver healthcare services to remote patients using mobile platforms, it’s latest offerings are in the prenatal caregiving sphere. Website – http://carenx.com

Algosurg Products – Amit Maurya – is developing the next generation of products, that can revolutionise the way surgeries are being performed, using advanced computing methods, enhanced visualisation and automation. Website – http://www.algosurg.com/

Campus Time – Amruta Desai –  is a mobile app for students on college campuses to engage with their college community by making it easy to connect, collaborate & explore. Website – http://www.campusti.me

ShopsUp – Anmol Vij – is a hyperlocal store discovery app with cognitive capabilities, which enhances the shopping experience of it’s users and helps brick and mortar stores to get more relevant foot traffic to their stores. Website – http://www.shopsup.com

About SINE

The Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) is a leading technology business incubator backed by IIT Bombay. Since it’s inception, SINE has incubated over 85 startups of which many are revenue generating, raised many rounds of funding and also have cross border operations.

About GVA

Global Venture Alliance (GVA)’s primary focus is on high-tech entrepreneurs. GVA, based out of Moscow’s central administrative district, organizes development programs for high-tech entrepreneurs, educates and invests in them. It works closely with Governments, large international corporations and investors in a number of countries. The company currently has permanent offices in San Francisco and Moscow and also has over 20 partners in different countries around the world.