India’s most loved health/fitness app, HealthifyMe hit 1 million downloads on Google PlayStore. With a rating of 4.3/5, HealthifyMe is ahead of all the other apps in this space. Adding to this success, the app has also received an additional USD 1 million [INR 6.7 crores] in funding from Dubai based investor Neelesh Bhatnagar whose company NB Ventures has been actively investing in Indian startups.
One in four Indians risk dying from a non-communicable disease like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and hypertension, among others; before they reach the age of 70. Most of these can be prevented by incorporating healthy habits in one’s routine. HealthifyMe does exactly this for its users in a smart way.
Speaking on the success of the app, Tushar Vashish, Co-founder & CEO, HealthifyMe, said
Hitting 1 million users is a great validation since most of the growth has happened organically. To me, our 4.3 rating matters a lot more as it speaks of how much our customers believe in us. I hope we sustain this momentum by crossing 10 million downloads in the next 18 months.
HealthifyMe has been rated as a Top of 2016 mobile app by Google and it has featured multiple times in the health/fitness category by both Apple and Android.
Speaking on the funding, Neelesh Bhatnagar said
I am keen on investing in emerging digital first Indian startups that have the ability to expand internationally with an asset-light approach. I look forward to helping them expand to the Middle East at the right time. HealthifyMe’s growth journey has been fascinating so far.
This is the second round of funding HealthifyMe has received this year. USD 6 million was raised earlier this year from IDG, Inventus and Blume. The additional funding will be used to hire top leadership and invest in product and tech innovation.
The New Year is an important time for making health and fitness resolutions. We have some in-store activities for our customers to help them stick to their resolutions. I am glad that we got Neelesh’s support at this critical time in our company’s evolution as we make great strides.
About HealthifyMe
HealthifyMe is a mobile health/fitness company that combines power of technology with real human services to deliver measurable impact. Cofounded in 2012 by Tushar Vashisht, Sachin Shenoy, Mathew Cherian, and incubated by Microsoft Accelerator, Bengaluru, it today is India’s largest digital wellness platform catering to 1 million users with over 150 coaches. Its app is rated 4.3/5 and has been featured by Google, Apple multiple times for quality. For more information, please visit Healthify. You can Download the Healthify app from Google Play and iOS Store
Innoplexus, a Germany and India based DaaS [Data as a Service] startup has announced the closing of their Pre-Series A funding from HCS, a Germany-based Venture Capital Fund. With the capital raised, Innoplexus plans to file more patent applications, further develop their trademark platform, iPlexus, and invest in marketing.
Innoplexus helps Life Sciences companies generate actionable insights across pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory and commercial stages of a drug. It’s unique Data as a Service [DaaS]engine with real-time data and insights along with an ecosystem of Continuous Analytics as a Service [CAaaS] applications help enterprises make better data-driven decisions.
Hans-Christian Semmler, managing shareholder of HCS, will join as Chairman of the supervisory board of Innoplexus. He started his career in investment banking eventually serving as the CFO of VosslohAG and then as the CEO of Haupt Pharma AG.
Speaking on the recent development Dr. Gunjan Bhardwaj, Co-Founder & CEO of Innoplexus said
We envision to fundamentally transform the Data as a Service landscape for Life Sciences by leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence to generate insights from the public as well as enterprise data.
Gaurav Tripathi, Co-Founder and India CEO, further added saying
We are working in cutting edge technology areas of Information Retrieval, Network Analysis, Computer Vision and Ontologies and are one of the rare startups with a strong focus on creating proprietary Intellectual Property.
Within their investment strategy, HCS Beteiligungsgesellschaft GmbH strongly focuses on organisations that are distinguished by their technological expertise and their market potential. Innoplexus clients are Fortune 500 companies including some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. The startup employs more than 100 highly qualified data Science and software development experts in India and Germany.
About Innoplexus
Innoplexus is a consulting-led technology and product development company focused on big data and analytics. Headquartered in Germany, with over 100 employees working from Pune, Innoplexus services large global pharma & life sciences companies, many of them Fortune 500 companies. They help companies move to continuous decision making by generating insights from structured and unstructured private and public data. Established as a bootstrapped startup in 2011 with no external investments or funding and with a vision to be the dominant player in data and analytics for Life Sciences, Innoplexus has been profitable from day one. For more information, please visit Innoplexus
ah! Ventures, one of the key players in the Indian start-up space, is taking a big stride forward in the Indian alternative investment universe by playing a key supporting partner role to India’s largest gathering of alternative investment professionals, limited partners, alternative investment funds and private wealth professionals at the upcoming fourthAnnual Alternative Investments Summit India (AISI2017), scheduled in Mumbai on January 18th.
AISI2017 is being organized by the Association of International Wealth Management of India (AIWMI) and Indian Association of Alternative Investment Funds (IAAIF). IAAIF is the newly formed representative and advocacy body for the Indian Alternative Investment Funds.
The summit, the most prestigious event in the domain of alternative investments, celebrates the immense growth of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs). A landmark in this field of investment was achieved when the net worth of the total commitments of AIFs reached INR 50,441 crores on June 30, 2016. Imminent speakers will discuss vital opinions and build business models and open scope for forging business ties.
Promise of a Dynamic Flow of Events
Akin to the success of the preceding summits in the years 2013 to 2015, this summit promises to bring more to the table. The CEO of the Association of International Wealth Management of India, Aditya Gadge has said
India has seen a spectacular growth in the alternative investment market. Numerous HNI Investors have been putting money into Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) for the past 3 years. Starting from global expertise to a perfect platform for brainstorming innovative investment ideas, the summit promises to bring a lot to the table. This is the first year ah! Ventures is participating in this Summit and as one of the major stakeholders in the Indian alternative investment space is expected to add a lot of value to the content and proceedings. CLUB ah! comprises over 200 potential investors with investment power ranging from US$ 100,000 to USD 1 million each.
Benchmark Success for Alternate Investments
On a global scale, enormous scope is present for the increment of assets. By 2020, a spectacular increase from USD 10 trillion to USD 18.1 trillion has been estimated. 235 AIFs already boast of SEBI accreditation and is being endorsed by over 20 distinguished financial institutions. Although competition in this arena is expected to get tougher, there are plentiful opportunities for new market leaders.
80% of CLUB ah! members are the next-generation professionals open to innovations and new investment challenges.
There are a uncountable number of young professionals looking to establish successful entrepreneurship, and the alternate investment platform will help them more than they can imagine. Clients seeking a network of investors need not look any further.
The Royal Platter of Keynote Speakers
The summit will be opened with a few words by Aditya Gadge. He said
I encourage all those interested in any form of investment or trading to participate. This boom cannot be grasped without understanding the finance behind it.
Some of the keynote speakers among many, who will grace the event are Hemant G Contractor, Chairman of Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA); Srinivas Jain, Executive Director and Chairman of SBI Funds Management; Sarath K. Reddy, Managing Director and CIO of Unifi Capital and Nalin Moniz, Founder and Director of Forefront Capital (Edelweiss Group). ah! Ventures hopes to revolutionize the domain of alternative funding with the support of imminent financial institutions.
Various aspects of alternative investments, including a detailed comparison with traditional investment schemes, will be elaborated. Categories 1, 2 and 3 AIFs will be discussed by figures of authority affiliated to renowned investment planning firms such as Unifi Capital, IIFL Asset Management, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Premji Invest, ICICI Prudential, IFMR Capital, etc.
To be a part of such an educative event increases the success rate of any form of investment, not just the alternate ones. We are excited to be partnering such an event.
ah! Ventures brings the power of funding an idea within reachable limits. Renowned as one of the best private equity clubs, CLUB ah! has been the hand behind many successful global investments. CLUB ah! has provided detailed analysis on consumption and investing models in the Private Equity space. In association with ah! Ventures, one can hope to be a part of the best ideas and create an enviable investment portfolio. For more information, please visit
Mumbai-based entrepreneur & founder of SutraHR, Waqar Azmi, recently launched MumbaiCoworking in Andheri West, Mumbai. This marks the formal start of SutraHR in the business of co-working in India. ‘MumbaiCoworking’ has currently established 60 work seats in the office. The company also announced that it would be expanding its business very soon.
It’s a known fact that finding a cheap place to rent out an office or a house in Mumbai is not easy, especially for budding startups. Imagine, operating from coffee shops or cafes in the city, which itself would not be an affordable affair. This has apparently increased the demand for co-working spaces in the city. Waqar Azmi understood this need, as he himself runs a startup called SutraHR. The company majorly targets startups, SMEs, freelancers, independent consultants, etc.
Snippets of MumbaiCoworking
MumbaiCoworking is location friendly, based in Andheri, in the heart of Western suburbs. It is just 2 minutes away from the nearest bus stop, 10 minutes from D.N Nagar metro station and 12 minutes from the nearest railway station. The company aims to establish its presence as a leading provider of shared office spaces in Mumbai.
SutraHR started out of a garage like office with limited office amenities. We ended up spending more than usual for setting up meetings in cafes, low quality internet service and running around for menial things. We therefore will offer every basic thing that is needed for our coworkers. All they need is to just step in a quirky office and we will take care of the rest.
‘MumbaiCoworking’ offers its clients daily cleaning services, high-speed internet, unlimited access to snacks and beverages, a quirky and colourful office, and other amenities.
The rental cost ranges from Rs. 500 a day to 7,000 a month. Their budget friendly prices start as low as Rs. 5,000 for a floating seat and go up to Rs. 7,000 for a fixed seat inclusive of access to meeting rooms. Members can also avail discounts when they book bulk seats or take up the entire 8/14/16 seater rooms. ‘MumbaiCoworking’ also offers meeting/conference rooms separately on a half and full day basis for Rs. 3,500 and Rs. 5,000 respectively. You can also get a daily pass at just Rs. 500.
It is also well suited for the digital nomads or travelers who are in the city for business meetings or people from other cities who are in the initial stage of setting up an office in Mumbai.
About MumbaiCoworking
MumbaiCoworking is a shared office space located in the western suburbs of Mumbai. The office offers a quirky rental space for startups, SMEs and anyone looking at an affordable space.It is conveniently located 2 minutes from the nearest bus stop and is at close proximity from the metro and railway station. The company aims to establish its presence as the leading provider of shared office spaces in Mumbai. For more information, please visit MumbaiCoworking
DigitalOcean, a cloud platform focused on simplifying the complexities of infrastructure for software developers and businesses and Hasura, a technology platform that helps developers build apps faster are collaborating with IITM Shaastra 2017 to find and foster the next generation of great Indian start-ups.
At the Shaastra Launchfest Hackathon, 20 student teams will get 48 hours to hack out the MVP of their dream startup and demo it to VCs, tech CEOs and CTOs. Hasura and DigitalOcean will offer the participating teams a giant leap into launching their startup through cash prizes, free credits, technical mentorship, and help in gaining the network and exposure that can aid these projects. Chosen teams will also be provided the unique opportunity to be Hasura Summer Fellows, getting a chance to work in the Hasura office in Bengaluru with engineers helping them architect their apps.
India will soon have the largest number of software developers in the world and student entrepreneurs are likely to play a key role in building next generation technology businesses. We are glad to support initiatives like these that help identify budding student entrepreneurs.
College life represents an enormous opportunity. It is a time when potential entrepreneurs have time, access to resources (labs, equipment, books) and exposure to students pursuing a diverse variety of degrees. However, this potential is frequently left untapped. While the ecosystem around student startups is starting to develop in India, with most of the premier institutes boasting of entrepreneurship cells and incubators, there is still much to be done.
Rajoshi Ghosh, Co-founder of Hasura – a technology platform that helps developers build apps faster said
The need to address this gap is what motivated Hasura and DigitalOcean to lend a helping hand by setting up a platform that can support enterprising students.
Registrations for the event are now open at shaastra.org, and teams have until the 24th of December to submit their ideas. The event is scheduled for the 1st and 2nd of January at the IIT Madras campus.
How many times have you found that the short poem or quote you posted on Facebook or Twitter was copied by someone else and no due credit was given to the creator 🙁 Wouldn’t it be great if your work was recognized including the one-liners [or quotes] which you felt would be liked by others!
Whether it is a one-liner/poem/stories, with YourQuote you can showcase your work to the online fraternity with the credit given to you. YourQuote is a mobile-first micro-blogging platform for writers that is created with a vision to empower every person who writes to have their writings one Google search away.
Today we have a discussion with Harsh Snehanshu, Co-founder & CEO of YourQuote where we discuss about journey of YourQuote, learnings for entrepreneurs, Hiring for startups, etc.
The idea came primarily because one of us is a writer and felt the dearth of any good writing app. We being two co-founders, Ashish Singh & Harsh Snehanshu,
IIT Delhi graduates of 2011. While Ashish is the tech-whiz, Harsh is a writer [having published books & freelanced for all major magazines] and a marketeer. As a writer, Harsh felt there was no way to inspire the layman to get into the fulfilling habit of writing everyday. YourQuote merges brevity and beauty to make it the perfect app to write short pieces [~1200 characters] everyday.
Our website is search engine optimized in such a way that every time a user posts anything, it gets searchable on Google [by “Your Name Quotes”]. Our vision is to empower every common person who writes to have their writings one Google search away. Imagine how people search for Abraham Lincoln quotes, they will find your name quotes on Google. It’s already in action. You can see “Harsh Snehanshu Quotes”or“Ashish Singh Quotes”on Google.
Can you give a small background about you, your start-up and it’s founders ?
We are two IIT Delhi grads of 2011 batch. Ashish Singh is the Co-founder and CTO, Harsh Snehanshu is the Co-founder and CEO. Harsh is also a writer, with 6 books and 36 magazine features in his portfolio.
What were some of the crucial learnings for you [as an entrepreneur] when you started WhereAbout [then later moved to found YourQuote] ?
Major learning was to not start-up in a domain where we lacked key insight. For YourQuote, I as a writer for the past ten years had a lot of behavioural and psychological insight as in what do writers want. For Whereabout, we lacked any key insight. Everything was based on hypothesis.
Please walk us through the Business Model of YourQuote ?
Right now, our focus is on community building instead of revenue model. However, we run marketing campaigns for brands where brands crowd-source creative content using our app.
How does your team ensure that there is no Content Infringement of the Quotes used by your users ?
Every quote has a flag button. You can flag a quote for abuse/spam/plagiarism and our community values the original content. So if you post anything copied, the community will flag it immediately.
Your startup recently re-located to the Himalaya’s, what are some of the pros [and cons] w.r.t hiring, scaling, etc. or any other points that you would like to share ?
Pros are many, especially if your team is small. It’s a distraction free environment and you get a lot of work done. You need to have a team that’s eager to move to contemplate going to a smaller town. In our case, we had. For a bigger team, it might get a little difficult. I wrote an elaborate article on our learnings for YourStory and the link is here
Just like Twitter, would YourQuote remain free to use or there is any freemium model planned for YourQuote ?
Yes, it will remain free. We will make revenue by running branding contests for corporates.
Any plans of launching YourQuote Ads or YourQuote for brands ?
Too soon to monetize. We are a social product. We will rather focus on community building right now.
Please share some insights into hiring for startups [especially from the backdrop of WhereAbout] ?
Hiring requires people whose values match with yours. We are very lean, flexible and don’t fear dirtying our hands if need be. We look for such people. Generally, anyone who has run a start-up before or scaled or built a product before.
Is YourQuote available only for Android or is it available for iOS users as well ?
Is YourQuote bootstrapped, are you planning to raise external funding
Yes, we are currently in talks with investors.
Are there any existing competitors of YourQuote, how has the response been so far from the users ?
Response has been great. Textgram, lettrs are our competitors.
What are the initial challenges that you faced once you started working on the idea [or turned an entrepreneur] ?
Finding good talent at less cost was quite a challenge. Moving to the Himalayas helped.
What are some of the growth hacking techniques that are being used for YourQuote and some tips for our readers.
Building the right product. Making the user feel good about themselves also works like a charm.
YourQuote has not yet raised external funding, when according to you should an entrepreneur look out for external funding ?
After reaching product market fit, in the current market.
Some tips for aspiring entrepreneurs and something that keeps you motivated everyday for your startup ?
I would like to advise young entrepreneur the best advice I got from my mentor, Ashish Tulsian [CEO, Posist], and that is – Don’t startup if you are not mentally prepared to bootstrap for at least 2 years.
If you are a writer or aspiring to be one, then you can download the YourQuote app for Android or YourQuote for iOS. You can leave your feedback for the app in the comments section. If you have any further questions for YourQuote team, please leave them in the comments section or shoot a mail to himanshu.sheth@gmail.com and we would get it answered for you..
SERV’D had participated in a boot camp organised by the DFS Lab, a global initiative that seeks to bring together promising entrepreneurs working towards digital inclusion of the least served communities among developing economies.
The 7-day boot camp, attended by 20 organisations from 10 countries, provided them an opportunity to benefit from hands-on advice, mentorship and strategic counsel from industry stalwarts, as well as the chance to be awarded a share of USD $2 million of total investment and a further six months of intensive mentorship.
The DFS Lab did an extensive search for startups around the world. Out of the 700 applicants, 225 were evaluated and SERV’D is among four organisations that have received a grant from DFS labs.
Jatin Agarwal, Co-founder, SERV’D said
We are honoured to be among the four organisations chosen by DFS to receive this grant of USD 100000. The funds will be utilized to develop tech for new roles as well as drive activation for the existing product.
Digital financial services have the power to transform developing country economies, profitably and at scale. We are looking for breakthrough ideas with the potential to bring low income households from the cash economy into the digital financial realm and give them tools to improve their lives.
The entrepreneurs were a very diverse and talented group from all over the world. Their different skills, perspectives and levels of experience produced valuable insights and led to dynamic, highly productive collaborations. We are very proud to be able to play a part in helping them reach their full potential. We are looking at funding the next multi-million dollar and potentially the next billion dollar startup in this space.
About SERV’D
SERV’D Tech Pvt. Ltd (SERV’D) is a fin-tech platform that aims at ‘organizing’ the unorganized workforce, which includes millions of ‘unregistered’ workers in a typical household-maids/ housekeepers, cooks, nannies, drivers and more. This service aims to bring accountability, professionalism and discipline to this sector by ensuring the service providers are registered and documented; and therefore over time, creating a legitimate legal work history for them that enables them to assimilate into the mainstream via financial inclusion. In the long turn, this initiative will enable them access to financial loans thus removing the need for Service Consumers to be the Service Provider’s personal banker. For more information, please visit SERV’D
The store opening was done in the presence of Shri. Sanjeev Ralli, Dy. General Manager, Maharashtra State Office, Shri. N A Gangakhedkar, Manager (RS-NFR), Maharashtra State Office,Chief Divisional Retail Sales Manager, Mumbai Divisional Office, Shri. Sunil Mishra, Manager (retail Sales), Mumbai Divisional Office, Shri. Prasad Gawade, Business Manager, COCO Sahar along with dealers and other industry people.
This is Express Bike Work’s first outlet at an IOCL station in Mumbai; the other one being in Bengaluru which was opened recently.
As a part of the launch, EBW is giving out free washes to first 50 bikers for the first two days and thereafter, free wash for people buying premium petrol from the same IOCL pump worth Rs. 200 or more. This offer will be valid till 31st December, 2016.
Sahar Village is a high density area with International airport and top five star hotel chains having their properties in the same vicinity. With this EBW gets the opportunity to expand its reach to all the bikers and two-wheeler owners who visit the station for fuel and air services.
IOCL is the market leader in petrol pumps in India and has the largest number of stations across country. We are fortunate to be partnering with them and catering to their clients. COCO Sahar station in Sahar Village is a high density station giving us access to a large number of two-wheeler riders. Services available at the IOCL station will include 2-minute automated motorcycle washing, detailing, health check-up, express maintenance and on-road assistance anywhere in India.
Express Bike Works will also be launching franchisees at IOCL retail outlets and stand alones, across Pune, Surat, Hyderabad, Cochin, Nagpur, Delhi, Coimbatore and Mysore in the coming year.
Sanjeev Ralli, Dy. General Manager, Maharashtra State Officesaid
It is a very fast service for two wheeler owners. A wash in 2-5 mins with additional services like polish and Teflon will be appreciated by two wheeler owners. It should be expanded at more outlets so that customers can find this facility in the nearby IOCL pump.
N A Gangakhedkar, Manager (RS-NFR), Maharashtra State Officesaid
It is the need of the hour considering everybody lives in a busy world today and for everybody time is important. Everybody wants to keep their bike in best condition. Having a bike which is clean and neat in a short span of time, gives the customer more confidence to drive. So, all that put together, I think this is the best thing that can happen.
Express Bike Works uses smart cloud based technologies to remotely monitor the operations of the centre. The technology enables them to keep a track of the number of washes that happen in a day, billing and consumables, thus making the stores self-reliant. Installation of EBW machine is as simple as plug and play and it is a mobile unit that can be installed anywhere.
The EBW machines are regularly and rigorously tested by Hero Moto Corp and other OEMs and have successfully catered to more than 2,30,000+ bikers till date.The machine is capable of washing even the dirtiest of motorcycle within 5 minutes, which is the fastest in the world. It is extremely efficient in conserving water and power and requires one-fifth of the water a conventional wash care requires. Conventional wash takes 50-60 litres while EBW takes 10 litres only. Furthermore, the water is recycled for constant use until it is deemed unfit for wash care, which then can be used for gardening purpose. Also, the price to customer for a wash at EBW is equal to the amount one would spend at any local bike wash centre and that too in lesser time. EBW stores delivers touch free, scratch free, shining bikes with no waiting time to their customers along with offering them a world class bike care experience.
About Express Bike Works (EBW)
Founded in early 2013, Express Bike Works is a brand of Entropy Innovations, an engineering innovations company that has disrupted the two wheeler service industry. The team, alumni of IIT & IIM, has designed and manufactured India’s first fully automated motorcycle wash machine that addresses multitude of problems faced by an individual owner as well as a service station. The machine is capable of washing even the dirtiest of motorcycle within 2-5 minutes, which is the fastest in the world, capable of washing over 230 bikes in under 10 hours. Starting with a few retail touch points in Mumbai under the name – ‘The EBW Store’ the company has now forayed into international markets. The company has one manufacturing unit in Mumbai. For more information, please visit Express Bike Works (EBW)
