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SMARTup is a series of round table knowledge sharing and networking events being organized by ah! Ventures & meetingsandoffices as part of their endeavour to connect the start up fraternity and create valuable business centric conversations between domain specialists and entrepreneurs.

The focus of these events would be to deal with issues and problems that plague young companies and divert their focus from their core competences and business. Issues such as business planning and strategy development, aligning immediate and long term goals, generating investor interest, scaling a business, managing cash flows, building sticky relationships & customer loyalty, getting paying customers, regulations, compliance, understanding term sheets, understanding how to go about building your tech as a non-techie without a tech co-founder, sales and marketing processes, how to focus on and enhance the logic of business, what is the role of IoT in business, when do you need AI and what does Ai mean beyond chatbots for your business etc. will all be amongst the critical topics that would be covered under the series. [Source]

Note – Himanshu Sheth’s Blog is an Outreach Partner for the event !

SMARTup is a focused and enriched networking and knowledge sharing experience that will bring tremendous value to entrepreneurs and young businesses. Each SMARTup event shall have limited seating.

SMARTup has traveled across 10 cities in India and of the 190 startup companies that participated, 10 are already shortlisted for funding on the ah! Ventures Funding Platform. After having taken the SMARTup revolution to 10 Indian cities & Dubai, SMARTup is back at Bengaluru. SMARTup is offering at least 3 1-on-1 Meetings to all Gold Pass Startups at SMARTup Bengaluru with some of the best investors in South India. Book your 1-on-1 Meetings today & take your startup to new heights.

The event would be held at 91SpringBoard on the 7th of July. More details about SMARTup, Bengaluru can be found here.

For registration, please click on the link below

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Happn, the hugely popular dating app which helps daters find people they have crossed paths with have today unveiled an innovative new element to their app – happn map.

Image Source – Happn

Launched in India in 2016, happn has been a huge hit with people on the lookout for romance, particularly in cities, as it uses geo-location to help individuals crush with those they have walked past in the street, sat next to on the train or spotted from afar who appear on their easy to view timeline. But now, the interactive mapping feature will give individuals the opportunity to tap any location they have visited over the past seven days and see other individuals on the lookout for love.

So – you remember crossing paths with someone that took your fancy three days ago, but you haven’t seen them since?  If you remember where, in a matter of seconds, just open the mapping feature, click on the location and see if they appear as the location of all happners you have crossed paths with over the past seven days will appear.  For example – if you were at a concert, a sporting event or a bar – he or she can find others at the same event – or within a 250 metres radius – and immediately have something in common!

The launch coincides with the announcement of happn having 50 million users worldwide which founder Didier Rappaport describes as ‘an incredible achievement for the team’.

Didier Rappaport, CEO and Co-founder – Happn, said

The crossing of paths between two people has always been the DNA of happn. With happn map, we go further in our promise by separating the dimensions of space and time, because time flies, but places stay still!  The profiles are no longer only sorted in chronological order and in real time but also according to your place of geographical crossings.

The new timeline we launched in spring quickly appealed to users as we saw a significant increase in their activity in the app.  However, we felt something was missing – the possibility of having an over-arching view of people you have crossed paths with is a massive win that we hope will be very popular.  Scroll your timeline or explore the map – it’s your choice!

happn is constantly evolving depending on the needs of their users.  Earlier in the year happn launched a new version of its timeline that allowed for more prominent and easier to read profiles while last month they announced a new ‘invisibility mode’ feature that gives users the freedom to make their profiles invisible during certain points in the day – something that has proved hugely popular in the workplace! The new mapping feature will use the same geo-location data that happn use already to help individuals scroll through their timeline.

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

There was a time when the basic necessities of mankind used to be Roti [Food], Kapda [Clothing] and Makaan [Shelter], but with fast-changing times, a fourth requirement has been added to the list i.e. Internet. Whether it is about buying clothing, electronics, ordering food or planning an outing with your near & dear ones, the fast penetrating medium of internet has made our lives simpler and important things accessible with a click of a button!

Image Source – Online Real Estate

Rise of online real-estate in India

One sector that has also changed significantly with this internet wave is the ‘Real Estate Sector’. The online real-estate market is expected to reach a staggering $180 billion by 2020. Implementation of government policies like Startup India, Housing For All and RERA [Real Estate Regulatory Authority] Bill have opened up new avenues for entrepreneurs as well as brought trust & focus on the housing sector in India. There was still a problem that had to be solved and the problem was how to enable the ‘buyers’ in a manner that they can choose the best interior decorators & designers to design their rooms or when consumers are looking for interior design for small spaces. This was a potential  ‘gap’ or an opportunity for entrepreneurs to help consumers in providing required architecture & design services in order to fulfill their dream of owning a dream home.

Fragmentation in the ‘Interior Decorator & Designer’ industry

Imagine that you have managed to purchase your dream home with your hard-earned money or as an entrepreneur you have managed to move to a bigger office space due to business expansion, the next hurdle that you might likely face is identifying the right interior decorator for getting the designing right for your home/office. There are slim chances of ‘easily’ shortlisting a well-qualified & experienced interior decorator for the task and implementing the same with minimal distress.

IDprop, a startup based in Ahmedabad is solving that problem and wants to make this entire experience friction-less and ensures that the humongous task of small space interior design, home and office is made easy for the end consumers.

Image Source – IDprop

IDprop – Disrupting the ‘Online Home & office interior design Market’ in India

IDprop is India’s fastest growing network of Home Improvement Professionals. IDprop has more than 11000+ professionals registered with them and has PAN India presence. As a customer who might be looking for furnishing the complete home; you get ‘verified’ options while looking out for interior decorators. Seller’s experience, expertise and recommendations are three major points on which they are evaluated, before they are on-boarded as a seller on the IDprop platform.

Since the sellers are rated for their work, there is transparency and a lower rating pushes the sellers to work on their mistakes & strive for providing a ‘WoW’ customer experience. Interior Decorators or Designers listed on their platform can get more leads for their business and get an opportunity to widen their customer base. As far as the funding is concerned, the Ahmedabad based startup is bootstrapped and is founded by a stellar team that has a vast experience in e-commerce, vendor management and technology. More details about the team can be found here.

IDprop – Conclusion

IDprop is creating real-value for all the stakeholders involved in the fragmented ‘home/office interior industry’ eco-system by bringing them on one single platform. Next time when you are looking to renovate or build interiors for new home/office or looking for small living room design ideas, expand your search horizon and turn to IDprop to narrow down your search…

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Doodhwala, a subscription based, early morning delivery platform for fresh milk and other perishable groceries, has announced its expansion to Hyderabad. A household name across Bengaluru and Pune, Doodhwala currently supplies 30,000 liters of milk daily, along with other fresh products sourced directly from local farms and dairies.

Ebrahim Akbari, Doodhwala’s Co-Founder, said

Hyderabad is a milestone victory. We have proved our model in Bangalore and Pune by reaching 4 million orders till date. Our success in both these cities has helped us develop a great playbook for geographic expansion. By pairing our lean operating model with low inventory dependency and a rock bottom Rs 3.3 last mile delivery cost, we are poised to dominate the fresh grocery space.

[L-R] Doodhwala Founders Ebrahim Akbari and Aakaash Agrawal

Doodhwala will initially offer Hyderabad customers a huge variety of fresh milk and dairy products, and over time will add a selection of fresh grocery items including eggs, fruits, vegetables, juices, and breads.  In Bengaluru, the company has partnered with over 50 milk brands including organic and A2 dairy farms, to cater to the diverse needs of Doodhwala customers.

Aakash Agrawal, Doodhwala’s Co-Founder, said

The convenience of ordering milk and daily essentials on a subscription basis guarantees stickiness and reduces customer acquisition costs. Doodhwala has become a beloved part of the morning schedule for its rapidly growing customer base.  Doodhwala is expected to expand across 15 cities in the next two years. By 2021, over 10 million households will subscribe to Dooodhwala.

Commenting on the expansion, Mark Kahn, Founding Partner, Omnivore said

Doodhwala has the leanest e-grocer model in the industry and is well positioned for massive pan-India growth.

In February 2018, Doodhwala received 2.2 million in Seed funding from Omnivore, a venture fund focused on food and agriculture startups. Back in 2017, the company received angel funding from Thomas Varkey, a partner at Stonehill Capital.

About Doodhwala

Doodhwala is a subscription based, early morning delivery platform for fresh milk and other perishable groceries sourced directly from local farms and dairies.  Doodhwala offers customers a variety of fresh milk and dairy products, as well as eggs, fruit, fresh juice, vegetables, meat, and other daily essentials. Doodhwala customers use the company’s app to set their subscription schedule and receive their groceries for the day promptly before 7 am. Founded in 2015 by Aakash Agrawal and Ebrahim Akbari, Doodhwala, is present in Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad. For more information, please visit Doodhwala.

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Today, one of the main components of an increasingly digital world is data and with data being collected in heaps, there are thousands of companies working on how to capture, store and leverage it to derive maximum business value. They are on a continuous look out for innovative solutions that will help them change the world with data. NetApp being one of the leaders in the data domain comes with a rich legacy of innovation in the data management space. In June 2017, the company launched the NetApp Excellerator program [information about first cohort here] with an aim to help data driven startups realize their full potential and enable them to build innovative world-class products and solutions that are market-ready.

NetApp had selected six data driven startups for their second cohort of the NetApp Excellerator program. The selected startups had received $15,000 equity free grant and access to NetApp facilities, their technology, HR, Marketing and other functions that would help them scale to the next level. The startups from the second cohort of NetApp Excellerator working in interesting areas [Artificial Intelligence, Analytics, Cloud & Machine Learning] graduated in June, 2018 and are all set to enter the market.

We were invited for the ‘Startup Meet’ that was held at the NetApp Premises in Bengaluru. Ajeya Motaganahalli, Senior Director – Engineering Programs and Leader of NetApp Excellerator walked us through the following

  • Overall selection process
  • Status of the first cohort
  • Learnings from the startup founders [and their team] and
  • How these startups [first and second cohort] are an integral part of the entire eco-system.

They had received close to 450 applications for the first, from around 250 that registered for the first cohort. Of these, 11 were shortlisted to participate in a rigorous boot camp that concluded with the six being selected for the second cohort [the selection was based on their team and technical expertise, product capability, etc.]. He stressed upon how the NetApp Excellerator is more than a startup accelerator and how the startup’s team members are fueling the startup mojo and entrepreneurial culture in NetApp.

The six startups from the second cohort presented their respective ideas along with core differentiators, business potential, funding status, NetApp’s role in helping them with technology; marketing and deep-rooted expertise in building B2B focused products. Below are the startups that graduated from the second cohort

Blobcity

BlobCity provides its customers with end to end data capabilities by making storing and processing diverse data easy. Most analytic products today are required to collectively analyse data of diverse natures, BlobCity offers real-time analytics over this diverse data. For the analysis of transactional data at the speed of transactions, one needs a real-time analytics system. Example in case could be ATM fraud detection, where your analytical algorithm needs to analyse possible fraudulent nature of an on-going ATM swipe, before the machine actually dispenses the cash.

Unlike ATM’s, not all systems need analytics at real-time. If you want to analyse stock market data of the previous day, compare it with a year’s trend and then take a position when the market opens next day, you need a system that can perform this analysis with low-latency to be able to complete analytics for all stock quotes before the markets re- open. Depending on the nature and complexity of the requirement, the term low-latency covers processing times from a few milliseconds to even several hours. BlobCity’s analytics solutions are extremely well suited for such requirements and support high volume of transactions without compromising on analytics speeds. More information about Blobcity can be found here.

DataKen

Dataken’s Data Science Platform with cognitive capabilities provides Ingest, Transform, Visualize and Analyze capabilities to deliver actionable proactive and predictive business insights across segments. With highly scalable computational, storage and machine learning capabilities along with 250+ industry adaptors are designed to deliver results in complex ecosystem. The platform’s capability has empowered business and operations team to extract, configure and analyze data to meet business demand, real-time.

Dataken’s platform provides one-stop solution to meet the future demand of organizations embarking on IoT, SDN, NFV, LTE, Social commerce and data monetization. The business layer provides 100+ out-of-box solutions for Communications, Banking & Finance, Insurance, Health Care and Manufacturing sectors to accelerate their outcome. More information about DataKen can be found here.

SigTuple

SigTuple builds intelligent screening solutions to aid diagnosis through AI-powered analysis of visual medical data. They are building an artificial intelligence (AI) platform called Manthan which helps them analyze visual medical data efficiently for their customers. Manthan enable Sigtuple team to work on five major high-volume, screening processes of the healthcare industry – analysis of peripheral blood smears, urine microscopy, semen, fundus & OCT scans and chest x-rays.

They are working with pathology labs and hospitals to get data for developing our solutions. Each of their solutions is built in partnership with a medical institution and specialists so that the product scope and roadmap are in line with the requirements of the final users. More information about SigTuple can be found here.

Nanobi Data & Analytics

Nanobi delivers analytical insights to clients that help them better understand their customers. Their analytical solutions deliver measurable business impact across revenue upside, cost optimization and end-consumer delight to clients in the Healthcare, BFSI space.

Their powerful LiquiData Platform integrates data warehousing, business intelligence, predictive and prescriptive analytics into a single visual stack thereby allowing their clients the ease, efficiency and flexibility of using a one-stop platform to serve their analytical requirements. With a “nanomart” based data architecture and a rich API framework, solutions are built speedily and in easy to consume modules. Nanobi’s platform has built-in conversational bots, which makes it easy for anyone across the enterprise to use analytics to drive decision-making. More information about Nanobi can be found here.

Anlyz

Anlyz is a next-gen security product with granularity and visibility of enterprise threat landscape, using machine/deep learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address enterprise cybersecurity needs.

In the current ecosystem, information is the most valuable currency. Anlyz’s wheels are constantly in motion, scanning the slightest digital cues to keep information safe for their clients. Equipped with advanced cyber capabilities like machine learning, AI & sophisticated hunting, Anlyz is geared to take on threats to predict and prevent attacks even much before they happen. More information about Anlyz can be found here.

ArchSaber

Founded in Feb 2016, ArchSaber automates the diagnosis and prediction of issues occurring in a large and complex IT stack. ArchSaber helps enterprises by giving real-time diagnosis of an incident including comprehensive details, from root cause(s) to the critical services, so the resolution can be handled immediately before it becomes an outage.

The firm does deep analytics over finely grained data and ensures that clients get clear causalities amongst events, depicting the domino effect in form of a cause & impact graph. More information about ArchSaber can be found here.

A snapshot of all the startups that presented is below

Adya & Scalend Technologies, startups from the first cohort also presented about their experience and business developments. Each team was given approximately five minutes for the presentation [which sounded more like an Elevator Pitch :)]. After the presentation, there was demo walk-through and interaction with the startups where we had a chance to interact with the members present from the respective startups. You can get more information about the ‘Startup Meet’ on NetApp India’s official Twitter Page.

We plan to interact with founders of a couple of startups from the second cohort, so if you have questions for any of the startups do leave them in the comments section.

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

CashKaro – India’s Largest Cashback & Coupons Website has launched the CashKaro App for Android devices. The app which is available for download on the Google Play Store clocked over 10,000 organic downloads within just a week of its launch. In line with CashKaro’s mobile first approach, it is loaded with benefits that make it more lucrative than the website.

Image Source – CashKaro

The CashKaro App promises to give users a smooth and unified Cashback experience. Users will now earn cashback and rewards at over 1500 sites like Amazon.in, Tata CliQ, Nykaa, Jabong among others. The power to shop at all of India’s most popular e-commerce sites from one simple app will likely attract many new users to CashKaro.

CashKaro App users will also get special access to App Exclusive deals of up to 100% Cashback on many retailers. This essentially translates into free shopping opportunities for App users every month. The App Exclusives section offers users nothing but the best cashback deals in the country. For example – The CashKaro App offers Flat Rs 425 Cashback on Rs 425 at Teafloor, Rs 150 Cashback on Rs 150 at MyVishal and a Flat Rs 100 Cashback over Rs 100 on Chumbak – all of which essentially allow users to shop for free!

Apart from these offers, CashKaro also have Cashback Deals for popular sites that already offer great discounts. For example: They offer 24% CashKaro Cashback on top of a Flat Rs 1500 Off Code at AJIO and Rs.300 CashKaro Cashback on top of a Flat 20% Off Code at Shoppers Stop. In a bid to simplify the Cashback journey the app will use push notifications to display important Cashback updates at a glance. This will be a huge convenience since users won’t have to rely on email & SMS updates alone.

The App also gives users a native experience even if they are on the retailer’s site. This is something no other Cashback site offers and will make shopping more intuitive than it has ever been. The app allows, users to check CashKaro powered coupon codes even when they are on the retailer’s site.

Commenting on the launch of the CashKaro App, Rohan Bhargava, Founder, CashKaro.com said

We are excited to share the CashKaro App with the world because it makes earning Cashback and using coupons super simple. It gives users the freedom to save money on everything they buy online from over 1500 of India’s top retailers. The CashKaro App therefore, adds great value to the lives of online shoppers.  Considering the 215% rise in Indian app downloads over the last two years, we expect a large number of users to adopt the CashKaro App. An added incentive for people to use the app is that the deals & cashback rates on our app are even better than the website many have grown to love.

We also plan to roll out the iOS version of our app in the next 3 months. Going forward, the CashKaro App will open up a path to tech innovations in the Cashback & Offers domains.

Everything is seamlessly integrated for ease of navigation- including a section for click tracking that is updated in real-time. Users can easily track their cashback purchases which is a huge factor in evoking trust among consumers. Users can download the App from here.

|In: CryptoCurrency|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Bengaluru-based CoinSwitch, a multiple cryptocurrency exchange platform has partnered with four leading crypto-assets exchanges, across the globe. The association will make available the offerings of Live Coin, Cryptopia, Hitbtc and KuCoin to the Indian users. By its extension, digital assets available at these platforms will be up for grabs for Indian crypto traders and investors.

Image Source – Coin Switch

As an exchange aggregator platform, CoinSwitch allows Indians to participate in the global phenomenon of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Supporting over 100 cryptocurrencies in India and 300 across the globe, CoinSwitch hosts daily transactions worth more than USD 1 Million. With the entry of these four globally leading exchanges, the aggregator platform aims to offer further ease, convenience and choices to Indian crypto enthusiasts.

Commenting on the latest development, Ashish Singhal, Co-Founder & CEO of CoinSwitch said

We started CoinSwitch with a vision of making it easier for everyone to transact in crypto-currencies, bringing in transparency and trust in these transactions. To the same end, we are glad to partner with four of the global leaders crypto exchange platform and provide our Indian users with more investment alternatives. At CoinSwitch, our users can expect parity with the international standards and find easier alternatives to bank upon the growing wave of cryptocurrencies.

With the latest development, CoinSwitch users will enjoy a truly world-class experience. For instance, Live Coin is multi-cryptocurrency exchange supporting both, newcomers and experiences digital assets traders. Cryptopia is a powerful exchange supporting over 400 global crypto assets. HitBTC is a world-renowned exchange, allowing users to transact in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, Zcash and others, while KuCoin supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero, ZCash and more. With the addition of these exchanges, Indians at CoinSwitch will also be able to trade in Tron, EOS, Zilliqa and BAT [Basic attention Token], Request network, and a lot more.

About CoinSwitch

Headquartered in Bengaluru, CoinSwitch is a blockchain-based cryptocurrency exchange aggregator platform that supports transactions in over 100 cryptocurrencies in India and 300 across the globe like altcoins, tokens like Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], Ripple [XRP], Litecoin [LTC], etc. Given its diverse offering, CoinSwitch.co has been driving daily sales volumes upwards of USD 1 Mn.

CoinSwitch aggregates multiple exchanges, facilitating transactions in all coins that are available with partner exchanges. Users can easily compare the price across multiple exchanges and opt for the best bargain. CoinSwitch further allows users to convert their existing crypto-assets into other pairs, supporting over 7,000 currency pairs in India and over 45,000 across the globe.

|In: acquisition|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Last year in March, Truecaller had announced its foray into the digital payments segment, incorporating UPI-based transfers in its app. Truecaller has announced a strategic investment into the payment space in India by acquiring Chillr, India’s first multi-bank payments app launched in 2014.

Image Source – Chillr

The founders of Chillr, Sony Joy, Anoop Sankar, Mohamed Galib and Lishoy Bhaskaran and the rest of the organization will be joining Truecaller, and Sony Joy will be the Vice President of Truecaller Pay. Chillr’s team of engineers and designers have a profound understanding of mobile payments, and a deep passion for products that they will now bring to Truecaller. The company plans to leverage its full reach of over 150 million users in India as well as its 300+ existing partnerships in India to enable Truecaller Pay as a platform.

Nami Zarringhalam, CSO – Truecaller

Nami Zarringhalam, Truecaller Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer, said

Since launching Truecaller Pay in 2017, we have seen an increasing number of use cases to make the lives of our users in India easier. By acquiring Chillr, we are reaffirming our commitment to mobile payments and strengthening our plans to increase its adoption amongst our user base. We will, together, have a far bigger impact in this space through the foundation of the team’s expertise and a strong user base that trust our platform and use it on a daily basis.

Sony Joy, Co-founder & CEO – Chillr

Sony Joy, Co-founder, Chillr, said

After spending time with the founders and the Truecaller team, we have realized that we share a lot of synergies; values; culture; and a sharp focus on user experience. Our roadmap on payments and financial services which when combined with the scale and resources of Truecaller, can create amazing experiences and solve genuine problems at an accelerated pace.

About Truecaller

People use Truecaller to stay ahead. It helps them know who’s getting in touch, filter out unwanted calls and SMS, and focus on what really matters. The company provides a suite of unique services such as a dialer that offers caller ID, spam detection, messaging and more. Truecaller’s mission is to build trust everywhere by making communication safe and efficient. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, the company was founded in 2009 by Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam. Investors include Sequoia Capital, Atomico and Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers.

With the launch of Truecaller Pay 2.0, the company has brought banking and payments features to the forefront of its app, and in the coming months Truecaller is planning on rolling out credit and other financial services to users in Indiain a mobile-first way.