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|In: Funding|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Bangalore based media-tech startup, ZAPR, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by Flipkart, with participation from Saavn, Micromax and Mu Sigma co-founders – Dhiraj Rajaram and Ambiga Dhiraj. This round also saw participation from existing investors – Dinesh Agarwal, Samir Bangara, Sanjay Nath and Arihant Patni. Funds raised will be primarily used to expand on the company’s product portfolio for the media & advertising industry as well as to scale up the technology team.

With its proprietary technology platform, ZAPR has been making waves in the Indian media industry and is now working with leading media agencies, brands and broadcasters. It helps them better understand the media consumption preferences of millions of Indians, and to engage with their audiences seamlessly across TV as well as the mobile and social universe. Over the past year, ZAPR has scaled tremendously and its media consumption data repository is now over 100 times larger than any other in India.

Sandipan Mondal, CEO of  ZAPR said

We’re excited to have Flipkart, Saavn, Micromax as well as Dhiraj and Ambiga from Mu Sigma join our latest round of funding. These companies have redefined the concept of innovation and have disrupted their respective industries. We at ZAPR, share their DNA of leveraging technology to solve intractable problems and their participation in this round, along with the tremendous support we’re received from the media and advertising industry, further reinforces our beliefs.

As the importance of seamless 360 degree marketing increases for brands, ZAPR’s ability to connect the TV screen with the mobile screen, ensures that the same user can now be engaged across several mediums. Brands are increasingly looking to move their budgets from TV to mobile and the ZAPR platform is suitably positioned to catalyse that shift. Additionally, the sheer scale of ZAPR’s data, drives incredible insights for brands and broadcasters.

Nishant Verman, Sr. Director- Corporate Development, Flipkart said

With mobile and internet bringing in a paradigm shift in the way media is consumed, Zapr is surely looking at a very exciting growth road-map. The team has firm grounding in terms of understanding of the media ecosystem. We are confident that with a well-defined strategy and innovation; Zapr will have a unique position in the media space.

ZAPR was a graduate of the first batch of the GSF accelerator, founded by Rajesh Sawhney. Since graduating from the accelerator, it has been working closely with numerous media veterans like Samir Bangara. Samir, formerly MD Disney (Digital) and currently Co-Founder, MD Qyuki has been closely associated with ZAPR as an angel investor and mentor supporting the team on strategy and fund raising.

Other media and technology veterans such as Roshan Abbas, Naveen Tewari, Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Rajesh Kamat, are also investors in ZAPR.

About ZAPR

ZAPR was co-founded in 2012 by IIM Ahmedabad batch-mates, Deepak Baid, Sajo Mathews and Sandipan Mondal. The company is India’s largest media consumption repository and audience targeting platform. ZAPR’s proprietary technology profiles the offline media consumption behaviour of millions of people, enabling content owners and brands, for the very first time, to identify their offline audiences and re-engage with them on digital and mobile. For more information, please visit ZAPR

[Image Credit* – pixvc]

|In: Funding|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Hike Messenger, India’s only homegrown and fastest growing messaging app, has announced that some of the world’s top notch tech veterans have invested in the company in their personal capacities and are playing advisers to it.

These top veterans include:

Adam D’Angelo, Founder and CEO, Quora – Adam previously served as Chief Technology Officer at Facebook, where he oversaw new product development and managed the engineering team. In addition, he guided the site’s architecture and infrastructure and started the company’s growth team.

Prior to serving as CTO, Adam led the Facebook Platform team and, as an engineer, built the initial infrastructure for news feed and the first generation of the company’s advertising targeting and delivery systems. He has invested personally in Instagram, Nextdoor, Asana and Wealthfront.

Aditya Agarwal, Vice President Engineering, Dropbox – Aditya came to Dropbox via the acquisition of Cove, a company he co-founded that was focused on improving group collaboration and communication. Prior to Cove, Aditya was the Director of Product Engineering at Facebook where he oversaw the development of core products such as News Feed, Search, Photos, Profile and Applications. Aditya was one of the first engineers at Facebook.

Ruchi Sanghvi, Ex-Vice President, Operations, Dropbox – She was responsible for product, recruiting, marketing, communications and other functions. She came to Dropbox through its acquisition of Cove, a collaboration software company she founded in 2011.

Prior to that Ruchi was the first female engineer at Facebook, and was instrumental in implementing the first versions of key features such as News Feed. In the past, Ruchi has been awarded the Tech-Fellow award for ‘Engineering Leadership’, included in Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business’ & featured by BBC as one of five Indian technology pioneers. Ruchi is an active angel investor and advisor to many technology startups.

Matt Mullenweg, Founder & CEO of Automattic Inc. and Co-Founder of WordPress – As an online social media entrepreneur, Matt gives back to the startup community through his angel investment firm Audrey capital, which has backed over 100 companies since 2008, many of which have been acquired.

Kavin Bharti Mittal, Founder and CEO, Hike Messenger said

It’s great to have the world’s top brains in tech share Hike’s vision; and not just entrust us with their investment, but more importantly, also advise us on our product and strategy. Each of the them brings with him/her a core area of expertise, which we at Hike find immensely useful as we aggressively grow in India.

Hike has seen phenomenal growth in India over these last 3 years, having acquired 70 million users and transacting over 30 billion messages per month. Over the last year, Hike has brought on board solid leadership from brands like PepsiCo, Amazon, Unilever, Zynga etc. to power its next phase of growth and has been hiring top global talent.

Quotes about funding & Indian Market

Ruchi Sanghvi, ex-Vice President, Operations, Dropbox & Aditya Agarwal, Vice President, Engineering, Dropbox

India is close to our hearts and we understand the challenges faced by the billion plus people of India. It’s quite clear that messaging is playing a key role in bringing people online in a mobile first market like India and Hike Messenger has begun to play a pivotal role in that market. We are both aligned to Hike’s vision and are excited about what comes next.

Matt Mullenweg, Founder and CEO of Automattic Inc. and Co-Founder of WordPress

As an online social media entrepreneur myself, I have keenly observed India. I believe in Hike Messenger’s vision and I can see the team gearing up and are well positioned for aggressive growth in the country.

Hike’s Growth Story

  • Dec 2012 – Global launch
  • Feb 2013 – Messaging traffic grows 10X week on week
  • April 2013 – Hit the first 5M user milestone in just 4 months of its launch | Raised $7M from BSB
  • Feb 2014 – Hit the 15M user mark
  • April 2014 – Received $14M fresh funding from BSB
  • June 2014 – Crossed 20M user mark, launched first TVC
  • July 2014 – Hit #1 rank on App stores
  • August 2014 – Crossed 35M user mark, receives $65M fresh funding led by Tiger Global & BSB
  • November 2014 – Launches regional stickers on hike
  • January 2015 – Launched free Hike Calls
  • February 2015 – Launched Cricket Scores on hike
  • Aug 2015: Hike announces 20 billion messages per month and launched Hike News
  • Sep 2015: Launched Group Calling with upto 100 people

Additional information

You can download the app at – http://get.hike.in For more information, please visit the Hike Blog

[Image Credit* – Wikimedia]

|In: Funding|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

iBus Networks & Infrastructure private Limited, leading provider of connectivity solutions inside buildings; raises Series ‘A’ growth capital of Rs 150 Million from Vallabh Bhanshali of Enam, N Squared Management LLC, USA & family office of Mr. Jagdish & Sandeep Mehta

iBus has also announced the appointment of Sanjay Kapoor, former Micromax chairman, as the Non Executive Chairman of the company and Mohandas Pai, ex-Infosys board member and will be an advisory board member. Mr. Kapoor will steer and provide strategic direction to the company and Mohandas Pai will mentor and advise the team both Mr.Kapoor & Mr.Pai are early investors in iBus.

[From left Mr. Sunil Menon, Mr. Ram Sellaratnam and Mr. Subash Vasudevan]

The funding will be used to drive deployment of iBus solutions across the country and multiple segments to deliver connectivity inside buildings

Reflecting on the infusion of growth capital, Ram Sellaratnam, CEO, iBus said

Today connectivity is basic utility. When people look at premises, they check water, electricity and connectivity. If connectivity is poor, the location will suffer. Inside buildings connectivity is a multi-dimensional problem. Our patent pending technology platform comprehensively solves voice, data, proximity marketing and machine to machine connectivity problems. That makes us a unique and innovative solution provider.

Cipher-Plexus has been an exclusive Investment Banker to the transaction as well as one of the Investors. Kunal Kumthekar, Founder & Managing Director of Cipher-Plexus said – We are extremely happy to be associated with iBus team and will keep on adding value as we have been doing so far.

About iBus Networks & Infrastructure Pvt Ltd

iBus Networks & Infrastructure Pvt Ltd was founded in 2012 by technology professionals with proven executive experience from Airtel & Infosys. iBus is a leading provider of connectivity solutions inside buildings. It not only provides for ‘Talk solutions’ but data, proximity marketing as well as building IOT- Internet of Things solutions using proprietary technologies.

IBus endeavours to work closely with all eco-system players including Service providers, device players, content & storage partners etc. to enhance in building data experience of consumers. All major telecom provider are partnet and all major malls, hotels, commercial premises, hospitals etc. are clients for iBus. iBus is promoted & led by Mr. Ram Sellaratnam, Mr. Subash Vasudevan and Mr. Sunil Menon who bring many years of operating experience from companies like Infosys, Airtel, Essar etc. For more information, please visit iBus Networks

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Startups Club, a premier destination for early stage startups announced the kick-off of their year-long event, Demo Day 2016 in Bangalore. Demo Day 2016 will take place across 10 cities and provide early stage startups with the opportunity to attend boot camps, meet investors, secure funding and win prize money.

The 4th edition of Demo Day will be hosted in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Kochi, Ahmedabad and Vizag. Each city will have local startups presenting their ideas and one winner from each city will win prize money of Rs. 1 Lakhs.

These top 10 winners will then participate in the Chennai finale in December 2016, where they will present their ideas to a prestigious panel of Investors, Mentors & Entrepreneurs. The national winner will be awarded with a Grand Finale Prize of Rs. 5 Lakhs plus many tools as support system.

Indian startups are attracting more funding in early stages than ever before. In the first nine months of 2015, around $1.4 billion in early stage investments—the highest ever for the country—has been pumped into startups, according to data from Venture Intelligence, a research firm. Last year, 304 deals saw a total funding of $1.2 billion.

Salma Moosa, Core Organizer, Startups Club said

Demo Day is a platform for a cherry-picked set of startups to pitch to a set of investors to possibly raise funds. Demo Day 2016 promises to be bigger and better, covering 10 cities across India, with over 1500 attendees across locations and participation from around 100 startups. We are confident that early-stage startups will leverage the platform to take their ideas to a larger audience and create a compelling value proposition.

A PAN-India hunt for startups, Demo Day simplifies the process of meeting with investors one on one, to pitch ideas directly, get validated and get funded. For participants it is a platform for sharing ideas, networking with industry veterans and reaching potential Seed and Angel investors.

Visitors can listen to the thought leaders of the ecosystem, network with entrepreneurs and observe the trends in the startups world. More information on Startups Club Demo Day 2016 is available at the following link.

About Startups Club

Startups Club is a premier destination for early stage startups. Startups Club is present across Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad and Mumbai, with Ahmedabad, Cochin, Delhi, Pune, Vizag & Dublin [Ireland] just launched. They organise startup meetups across the 11 cities regularly. As a part of the meetup, they discuss various topics that are relevant to startups and encourage discussions amongst members based on their experiences. The meetings attract between 30 and 70 members on an average and our member base has grown to more than 6000 plus.

[Image Credit* – Startups Club]

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Zeta, the newest portfolio company of the Directi group, introduces Zeta Meal Vouchers, a mobile-based meal voucher platform. Introduced for the first time in India, this revolutionary new solution will provide HR Managers with an instant one-click distribution platform to employees across cities.

This path breaking solution provides HR Managers a simple desktop interface that can be used to initiate transfer of meal vouchers to hundreds of employees at one go. Employees can then receive these meal vouchers on their smartphones and start using them instantly.

What’s even more interesting is that Zeta Meal Vouchers can be used across any outlet for purchasing food and non-alcoholic beverages – irrespective of whether the outlet is a Zeta affiliated partner or not.

Zeta CEO & Co-founder Bhavin Turakhia said

We are really excited about our new initiative and foresee a lot of scope for this product. The meal voucher market today is worth about Rs 4,000 crore with approximately one million employees using meal vouchers in some form or the other. The potential market size is estimated at over 10 million users. However, given the cumbersome distribution process, many corporates and employees shy away from this benefit. We genuinely think Zeta can make this process 10x better than any current practice.

This tax saving instrument is also the only solution in India that is fully compliant with Income Tax and RBI laws as prescribed under the new RBI norms updated in December 2014.

With Zeta, HR Managers can easily distribute vouchers digitally to employees without wasting time or resources. This solution also eliminates the problem of storage of vouchers until employees have collected them. The fact that these vouchers are available to employees on their smartphones also implies that they do not have to carry bulky booklets or worry about vouchers being damaged or stolen. The Zeta app ensures the vouchers are tamper-proof and fully secure.

Zeta CTO and Co-founder Ramki Gaddipati said

Technology is at the heart of this product. We have directed all our efforts to make Zeta a completely secure product. Zeta is smarter and more relevant in this fast-changing world. Moving from paper to digital is the way to go. Whether it is about saving trees from being sacrificed for paper manufacturing or making complicated processes streamlined and quick, digital is the new way of life today.

Zeta Meal Vouchers are also equipped with many other features that make it even more convenient for users. The app has a location-sensitive merchant directory that helps users locate outlets in the vicinity. The app also eliminates transaction hassles caused by rigid denominations in paper-based solutions, thereby allowing employees to pay odd amounts without worrying about change. All-in-all it is the most convenient meal voucher solution in the market today.

The Zeta app is supported on Android, Windows & iOS platforms currently. To know more on how Zeta Meal Vouchers work, click here

About Zeta

Zeta is the newest portfolio company of the Directi Group. It promises to give the world ground breaking offerings and tech solutions that would change the face of commerce. Completely digital in nature, Zeta believes in making commerce more inclusive and accessible to more and more people. Zeta is co-founded by Bhavin Turakhia, the CEO and co-founder of the Directi Group and Ramki Gaddipati, who is also the CTO of this tech-driven company. To know more, log on to www.zeta.in

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

EPPS Infotech, a new-age start-up in the ERP [Enterprise Resource Planning] landscape announced the formal launch of its indigenously developed ERP solution devised on the aspects of agility, efficiency, customization and scalability.

The solution, while catering across to all industries irrespective of the size of the organizations, specifically focuses on addressing the needs of the SME’s [Small & Medium Enterprises], who otherwise have a very limited access to advanced technologies in this field.

EPPS’ ERP solution aims to address the latent demand of enterprises that are presently sandwiched between using either a modestly developed ERP solution offered by domestic players or premium priced solutions offered by global MNCs.

EPPS’ value proposition comprising of a competitive price as well as product innovation promises to auger well to the overall business interests of the enterprises in general and SMEs in particular. The most noteworthy feature of EPPS’ new-age ERP solution is the mobile ERP functionality; a feature that till now is not offered by even the premium priced ERP solutions from global MNCs. The mobile ERP solution offered by EPPS will enable quick decision-making even while on the move – ‘Business Any-time Any-where’ redefined.

The competitive price point of the EPPS solution will extend the reach of mobile ERP feature beyond the large enterprises to even the SMEs.  The solution works seamlessly across all prevalent OS [Operating Systems], browsers and smartphones as well as tablets.

Asheer Kapoor, Managing Director, EPPS Infotech commented

With the launch of our ERP solution, we aim to further drive  the Digital India and Make in India initiatives announced by the government of the India to the extent of making it inclusive and accessible for the SMEs as well. We are confident that our foray in the new-age ERP space will usher in new industry benchmarks and apparently benefit the interests of the end-user.

Apart from Asheer Kapoor, the Pune head quartered company is also managed by Atul Pimple, in the capacity of Joint Managing Director. Together they have over 30 years of experience in the ERP landscape. The leadership of EPPS has established success in other ongoing business ventures as well that cater to the Steel and Packaging industries.

About EPPS Infotech

EPPS Infotech is a new-age start-up in the ERP [Enterprise Resource Planning] landscape. It has developed a technology platform that promises to offer an ERP solution devised on the aspects of agility, efficiency, customization and scalability. The company’s vision is to facilitate efficient, agile, balanced and enduring business decisions for customers. For more information, please visit EPPS Infotech

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Hike messenger, India’s first homegrown and fastest growing messaging platform have announced the launch of Hike 3.5 for Windows Phone 8.1. The update will bring Windows Phone 8.1 users a host of Hike’s most popular and much wanted features.

Commenting on this new release, Kavin Bharti Mittal, CEO and Founder, Hike Messenger, said

Our users on Windows Phones absolutely love hike. Today, Windows is our 2nd largest platform by users. We know they have been eagerly waiting for this update, which is the biggest we’ve ever released for Windows, and we’re excited to finally get it in their hands.

What’s new in Hike 3.5 for Windows Phone 8.1

Hike Now Looks Better than Ever Before – Hike 3.5 has a brand new user interface that makes navigating simpler than ever before. It has 10 brand new exciting chat themes that will allow you to set the tone of every conversation you have!

Share Files and Attachments that are up to 100 MB – Sharing will never be the same with this new update as one can send practically all formats and any number of files through hike — PDF, ZIP, APK, MP3, Audio, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc. The update also allows one to send or receive files and videos that are up to 100 MB in size!

Take Better Control of Your Social Circles – You can now form large groups of up to 500 members on hike — friends, colleagues, alumni etc. Not only this, you can even manage these groups better by having multiple administrators in each group and also the ability to mute groups and messages from your contacts so you are not disturbed if you don’t want to.

Hike’s Growth Story

  • Dec 2012 – Global launch
  • Feb 2013 – Messaging traffic grows 10X week on week
  • April 2013 – Hit the first 5M user milestone in just 4 months of its launch | Raised $7M from BSB
  • Feb 2014 – Hit the 15M user mark
  • April 2014 – Received $14M fresh funding from BSB
  • June 2014 – Crossed 20M user mark, launched first TVC
  • July 2014 – Hit #1 rank on App stores
  • August 2014 – Crossed 35M user mark, receives $65M fresh funding led by Tiger Global & BSB
  • November 2014 – Launches regional stickers on hike
  • January 2015 – Launched free Hike Calls
  • February 2015 – Launched Cricket Scores on hike
  • Aug 2015: Hike announces 20 billion messages per month and launched Hike News
  • Sep 2015: Launched Group Calling with upto 100 people

Additional information

You can download the app at – http://get.hike.in For more information, please visit the Hike Blog

[Image Credit* – Wikimedia]

|In: e-commerce|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

India is one of the best places in the world to age gracefully, as the younger have always looked after the older here.  Yet, a lack of information and of professional support leaves families to deal with issues of senior care on their own.

“Not anymore!” says Vladimir (Vladi) Ruppo, the promoter of a Bangalore-based startup BeautifulYears

Vladimir (Vladi) Ruppo said

We are creating on-line communities of people taking care of ageing parents with conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Diabetes, etc.  Here you can ask any question on senior care, and get answers from our experts, as well as advice and support from people like you, in situations like yours.

Vladi, 51, is a seasoned software executive with almost 30 years of international experience. Born and brought up in St. Petersburg, Russia, he worked for 12 years in Jerusalem, Israel, and for the last 15 years he has been in Bangalore.

Vladi came here in 2000, to set up a branch office of a British MNC.  He has brought it up from zero to 2,200 people.  “At this stage in my life, I am looking into doing something of value and meaning.” says Vladi. “There is so much to be done to help people age better. And we are just starting!”

With a dozen people on board, BeautifulYears has got a solid start. It is not only a social platform; it is also an e-shop for life-improving senior care products as small as nail cutters with a magnifying lens, book holders, tablet cutters and crushers, motorized wheelchairs, patient hoists and much more.

In addition to locally manufactured products, BeautifulYears is going to import advanced high-tech products from overseas – from augmented reality glasses for Parkinson’s patients, allowing them to steady their walking, to special shoes for diabetic patients; apparel for bedridden patients and much more.

Those who buy senior care products probably need related services – and there are plenty of them. BeautifulYears lists providers of caregivers, physiotherapists, home diagnostics services, medical equipment suppliers, as well as senior living facilities. The BeautifulYears.com team verifies all services, talking to their owners and visiting some of them. Most importantly, these services can be reviewed by people who have availed these services.

Users are the true owners of the BeautifulYears platform, and indeed, they are endorsing it:

I am very impressed with the BeautifulYears! Community discussions are relevant and I have found valuable tips helping me to take care of my elders. I intend to purchase some of their products.  I have become a regular visitor to the site!

Srivibhavan Balaram (Vibhav), a technology and engineering leader from Bangalore.

BeautifulYears is now launching in Beta version, with an aim to improve lives of senior people and of those who take care of them, by:

  • Creating communities for mutual support
  • Bringing innovative products
  • Providing socially reviewed listings of senior care services and housing options.

“May all senior people and their families enjoy many beautiful years together!” wishes the BeautifulYears team.

Keeping Elders Happy: The Beautiful Years team with Vladi [center]

For more information, please log on to BeautifulYears