On-demand repair services & refurbishment startup, Gadgetwood rebrands itself as Yaantra. The company had raised approximately USD 6 mn in funding from Carpediem Capital, an India focused private equity fund, and its investors earlier last month.
As part of the transaction, and to strengthen governance, Anurag Bhargava of Duane Park has joined the board as Chairman. Abhishek Sharman, Managing Director of Carpediem has joined the board to help with growth, capital structure and operations. A strategic advisory board will be added to aid in growth and to assist with partnerships going forward.
This will position Yaantra, the re-branded company, for growth and profitability for the years ahead and differentiate Yaantra from its competitors.
We are very excited to partner with Carpediem and Duane Park. The strategic inputs from Anurag and Abhishek will help us build the leading consumer services brand focused on repairs and refurbishment of smartphones and tablets. Yaantra will provide support across the product life cycle of smartphones and tablets and will provide the next gen innovative services to end users, corporates, retailers, OEMs and ecommerce companies.
To end users, Yaantra will offer door step repair service, after repairs warranty and extended warranty on multi brand smartphones and tablets across 30,000 pin codes in the country; users in Delhi NCR and Bangalore can currently enjoy express service delivered at the door step within 2 hours. Yaantra will also offer high quality accessories, useful android apps and offer financing on the complete set of service offerings.
Yaantra plans to build its own service centers and presence across 25 major cities across India.
The company will also sell high quality unboxed, refurbished smartphones, including exclusive models certified by Yaantra at attractive prices on its portal Yaantra.com. as a differentiator from the current refurbished smartphone sellers. All the products will be pre bundled with door step warranty and the customers will also have options to buy extended warranty, accessories and get easy finaning on all the products bought from the portal.
Yaantra also works with OEMs, ecommerce and market place leaders, corporates, retailers, franchisees and distributors. At present the company works with more than 50 partners and plans to expand it substantially in the months to come.
Manipal University has commenced its first cohort of full-time and part-time programmes in data science, which will culminate into a PG Diploma from the university.
Simultaneously, Manipal Global Academy of Data Science (MGADS) announced the launch of short term certification programmes for corporate learners. The offerings to enterprise clients range from boot-camps for fresh entrants to advanced modules in various aspects of data science across BFSI, IT, healthcare, retail, e-commerce, and many others.
Given that various industry estimates suggest that India will require over 2,00,000 data scientists by 2018, there has been strong interest in the PG Diploma programmes from both freshers and working professionals.
Dr. Vinod Bhat, Vice Chancellor – Manipal University, said
The unprecedented demand in this field and the rigour and professional skills that the Manipal educational institutions bring in have made this a much sought-after program. As cohort sizes are limited, we have closed admissions for this batch. However, we will announce the next batch dates very soon. For the first batch, we are also evaluating world class certification offerings with international universities through our recently announced partnership with Coursera.
To ensure that the programme has strong industry relevance, the Manipal Education group has tied up with leading corporates like Experian (a USD 4.8 billion global information services company), Genpact (a global leader in business process management and services), and IBM’s Big Data University as partners who will help in building the curriculum, providing real case studies for students and participating in the placement process.
Speaking at the event, Mr. A. P. Ramabhadran, Sr. Vice President, Manipal Global Education Services,said
With the explosion of data in literally every field of the business world, there is a strong need to train tomorrow’s roles in Data Science: data engineers, data visualizers, data scientists, and business analysts. At Manipal Global-being leaders in the corporate education space with our Academies in Banking and IT-we are focused on creating curricula and learning methodologies that train the students to be productive from the word go.
Our corporate partners help us achieve this. Overwhelming interest from more organizations to partner with Manipal Global helps us to strengthen the professional readiness of our learners and in turn helps industry gain ready talent. This creates a virtuous cycle of contemporary professional talent.
Speaking about this partnership, Siddharth Shishoo, Vice President – HR, Genpact, said
Data needs to be deciphered for intelligent insights and it is imperative to build talent in this field for more meaningful actionable insights across industry domains. With our deep expertise in analytics, we are delighted to extend this knowledge through our partnership with MaGE towards the common purpose of building a market-ready talent pool in the analytics world.
Speaking about this partnership, Mohan Jayaraman, Managing Director, Experian India, said
Data is fundamental to the world we live in and it has the potential to transform lives. Given our expertise in providing data and analytical tools, we are excited to be a part of this programme which is dedicated to nurturing young talent in the field of data science.
Fostering talent and succession planning is integral to Experian’s talent strategy and we believe that through this initiative we will continue to develop the strength and depth of our talent pipeline; thus creating future leaders in this space.
The PG Diploma in Data Science is a first-of-its-kind programme because the first nine months will teach the learners the concepts, give hands-on experience on tools and programming languages, and familiarise them with real data sets. The last two months will be an internship or a live project with various companies. In the full-time program, many organizations have expressed their desire to hire the candidates on successful completion of the programme.
Manipal University offers an 11-month Full Time and Part Time Post Graduate Diploma in Data Science award. The Full time program is an intensive residential program while the Part Time program caters to working professionals with classes on weekends at Bangalore.
Manipal Global Academy of Data Science (MGADS) is Manipal Global Education Services (MaGE)’s latest offering to address skill challenges in India. MGADS offers a full-suite of solution to individual learners and enterprises. The academy is equipped to hire & assess data science talent, conduct boot-camp and on-boarding for data science hires at entry level and advanced level training interventions in niche areas such as machine learning, natural language programming, financial analytics and marketing analytics amongst other domains.
About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to our clients around the world. It helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. For more information, please visit Experian
About IBM Big Data University
The Big Data University, an IBM community initiative, is not like other on-line training sites. The content is free, access to tool sets used within the courses is free, and the course is designed to be accessed at your pace based on your priorities. For more information, please visit IBM Big Data University
T-Hub, India’s largest startup ecosystem builder, in partnership with Uber and TiE Silicon Valley today announced the launch of T-Bridge, a new program that will connect Indian startups with global market opportunities, and help bring global startups to India. T-Bridge will enable startup communities in India and around the world to cross-pollinate ideas, innovate and create channels for knowledge transfer. It will also create a network of mentors, VCs, incubators and accelerators that is advantageous to the Indian startup ecosystem.
Telangana is now recognized as one of the world’s leading destinations for startups within India. The city of Hyderabad offers some of India’s best infrastructure, a large and growing technology talent pool, and a vibrant, cosmopolitan international community. Of particular significance to innovative tech startups worldwide is Telangana’s great position as a gateway to leveraging India’s massive technology markets. Startups can hit the ground running instead of being buried in red tape. T-Bridge will provide a platform for such fast-track tech companies looking to tap into India’s huge consumer market for technology.
T-Bridge will help startups access UberEXCHANGE, Uber’s flagship startup mentorship program and TiE Silicon Valley’s mentor network. Shri K T Rama Rao, Telangana Cabinet Minister for IT E&C, MAUD, Industries & Commerce, Public Enterprises, Mines & Geology, Sugar and NRI Affairs inaugurated T-Bridge in association with Uber and TiE Silicon Valley at Uber’s headquarters in San Francisco.
We have a strong vision to make Hyderabad one of the top 10 startup cities in the world. T–Bridge is one such move towards opening a channel of investment from the world to the state of Telangana. I am proud to open our first outpost in the U.S. in association with Uber and TiE Silicon Valley and believe that this association will forge new partnerships and spur investment and innovation between the two countries.
Mr. Ram K. Reddy, incoming President of TiE Silicon Valley stated at the inauguration
The Telangana government has been one of India’s most progressive states. The vitality and transformational mindset of its leadership gained quick notoriety within the startup world. TiE Silicon Valley is pleased to host the first T-Bridge outpost in Silicon Valley.
Rachel Whetstone, Uber’s senior vice president for policy and communications, said
Telangana is one of the most progressive states in India; and it has set up a culture of ‘regulatory incubation’ – allowing new ideas and business models to thrive. Today more and more people around the world want to build something themselves. Through initiatives like UberEXCHANGE, our mentorship program for Indian startups, we hope to spur entrepreneurship. Creative partnerships like T-Bridge will continue to strengthen ties between India and the global startup scene.
Since the launch of T-Hub last year, we’ve witnessed a threefold increase in startup activity in Hyderabad. The city is abuzz with over 30 incubators and co-working spaces. There is something happening in every corner. We are committed to enabling and growing this community and to helping Indian entrepreneurs access global resources. T-Bridge is one such initiative in that direction. We are proud to set up our first outpost in the heart of the startup activity-at Silicon Valley.
About T-Hub
T-Hub is a unique public/private partnership between the government of Telangana, three of India’s premier academic institutes (IIIT-H, ISB and NALSAR) and key private sector leaders. It stands at the intersection of the startup, academic, corporate, research and government sectors. T-Hub aims to forge many such partnerships with governments and corporates across the world to setup T-Bridge centers, to strengthen trade relations and attract investment into the state of Telangana.
T-Hub is one of the largest startup ecosystems in India today with over 2000 startups in its database. The members of T-Hub are clustered into various stages of growth across sectors of specialization, a model of community development which is unique to Hyderabad. For more information, please visit T-Hub
About TiE Silicon Valley
TiE is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship around the World. TiE strives to inspire entrepreneurs through mentoring, networking, education, incubating and funding programs and activities. With nearly 2000+ events held each year, TiE brings together the entrepreneurial community to learn from local leaders, as well as each other. For more information, please visit TiE
Actress and rapper Sonakshi Sinha has replaced Priyanka Chopra to become the most sensational celebrity to search for online in 2016, according to Intel Security. The McAfee Most Sensational Celebrities study now completes a decade globally and has helped uncover pop culture icons including Bollywood celebrities that have generated risky search results, which could expose fans to viruses and malware while searching for the latest information online.
Priyanka Chopra who was most sensational celebrity for 2015 is down to No. 7 this year. This year’s list saw major changes as younger (Gen-Y) movie celebrities making their presence felt in the top 10 list. Farhan Akhtar is second in the list (racing from No. 11 in 2015) and is followed by Kareena Kapoor at No. 3 (from No. 10 in 2015). Tiger Shroff and Arjun Kapoor shared their ranks at No.4 (Arjun was No. 18 in 2015). Shraddha Kapoor follows suit at No. 5 (down from No.2 in 2015) and completes the top 5 celebrity list.
With the increasing penetration of broadband, consumers rely on the internet to find more information such as award and TV shows as well as movie premieres, album releases, celebrity breakups and more. The study, published by Intel Security, highlights the various ways hackers can take advantage of consumer interest around several facets of Bollywood cinema news and entice unsuspecting fans to visit sites loaded with malware that can steal passwords and personal information. Accordingly, it emphasizes on the risks of their online behavior and how to best protect themselves from potential threats.
Venkat Krishnapur, head of R&D operations for Intel Security’s India Development Centre said
Cinema and celebrity culture continue to be synonymous with Indian consumers. Cyber-criminals are increasingly targeting consumers who access information-on-the-go, without considering the potential security risks online around celebrity interest. We at Intel Security remain committed to creating a positive online experience by educating and protecting the Indian consumers.
A search for ‘Sonakshi Sinha + Torrent’ results in a 21 percent chance of connecting to a malicious website
Sonakshi Sinha topping the list highlights the trend towards Gen-Y celebrities becoming high value targets. Consumers are now, more than ever, streaming videos, and movies online. As file sharing and torrent use continues to grow in popularity, it’s no surprise that movies are a target for cyber-criminals seeking to create malicious files.
The top 10 celebrities from this year’s study with the highest risk percentages include:
How to Search Safely
Think before you click! – Don’t click on a third-party link. Instead, access content directly from the original source or company websites to ensure you aren’t clicking on anything that could be malicious.
Use caution when searching for “torrent.” This term is by far the riskiest search term – Cyber-criminals can use torrents to embed malware within authentic files making it difficult to determine if a file is safe. It’s best to avoid using torrents especially when there are so many legitimate streaming options available.
Keep your personal information personal – Cybercriminals are always looking for ways to steal your personal information. If you receive a request to enter information like your credit card, email, home address or social media login don’t give it out thoughtlessly. Do your research and ensure it’s not a phishing or scam attempt that could lead to identity theft
Browse safely using protection like McAfee WebAdvisor software – WebAdvisor will help keep you safe from malicious websites by helping to identify potentially risky sites.
Use cross device protection – Consumers need to protect all facets of their digital lives regardless of where they are, what device they use or where they store their personal data. Use solutions that work across all your devices to deliver protection against threats, such as malware, hacking and phishing attacks.
Truecaller is opening up TrueSDK to millions of app developers via a globally accessible self-service portal. TrueSDK helps end users quickly and frictionlessly utilize their Truecaller credentials with a one touch sign-up to third-party apps with their phone numbers. The TrueSDK kit can be used by any app to offer one touch sign up, update a user’s information, or verify the user’s phone number based identity in their mobile apps through the users’ consent.
Since its launch in February this year, TrueSDK has become a preferred app sign-up mechanism for a diverse set of brands and startups. It has also achieved significant traction from consumers using Truecaller to sign up or on-board third party apps. Early access partners across industries are seeing over one-third of their sign-ups on their apps coming from TrueSDK. With the one-click sign-up process, partners have increased their sign-up rates with over 25%.
Priyam Bose, Director of Worldwide Developer Relations at Truecaller said
TrueSDK is a catalyst in our journey to become the mobile identity platform of choice. The ubiquitous phone number is already the native identity for millions of users both online and who are yet to come online, especially in growth markets. For next billion connected users, the email based web identity will not even be a relevant option. At the same time, we are seeing TrueSDK contributing to over one-third of daily signups of apps integrated with TrueSDK and significantly increasing their user growth from across geographies.
With this positive momentum, we have now launched the TrueSDK self service. We are democratizing the access to the TrueSDK to all app developers globally and can start accessing and using TrueSDK in their apps from the self service developer portal.
At CarDekho we work relentlessly on making our user’s experience seamless and delightful. To deliver this, we ensure that business goals like OTP verification does not come in between user’s goal of finding the right car for him/her. By integrating TrueSDK from Truecaller we have been able to realize the authentic details flawlessly without making users fill forms or enter OTP for tedious verification.
This innovative solution from Truecaller is currently contributing over 25 percent of our user on-boarding, and has significantly improved our successful sign-ups/form fills by over 30 percent while allowing us to serve users anywhere around the world.
By integrating Ixigo apps with TrueSDK from Truecaller, we are solving many problems at one go. With Truecaller, our users no longer need to go through tedious OTP (One Time Password) step to sign-up or fill in information manually with the autofill option available.
It is frictionless, one touch and a key enabler in enhancing our in-app user experience. Currently we see over one-third of sign ups via TrueSDK and using it has grown our successful signups by over 25 percent.
TrueSDK from Truecaller is a one touch product to offer verified phone number based sign up/login feature. For OYO Rooms, where we are mobile first and use phone number for user account creation, this really has helped us in reducing customer friction in signing up. With Truecaller’s large user base, we see this feature benefitting a large number of our users.
Our users while signing up on Mobikwik app, now have a frictionless and one step registration with their Truecaller verified phone number. We are seeing over 30% of our daily registrations coming via TrueSDK and has significantly contributed to grow our conversion rates.
The self-service portal will initially only be available for Android users. App developers who wish to sign up for TrueSDK please visit TrueCaller for developers
Global professional training company Simplilearn has launched an initiative aimed at creating a larger ecosystem of Twitter-advertising aware professionals. Simplilearn is presenting educational content, powered by Twitter, as the core of its certification in Twitter Advertising. The objective is to educate marketers on how to leverage Twitter successfully for their business’s digital and social media marketing efforts.
Twitter ads have strategically benefited Fortune 500 and small and medium enterprises in customer acquisition, customer and user engagement as well as brand building. Edric Subur from Twitter’s marketing team will be presenting on the power of Twitter Advertising through Simplilearn’s Online Self-Learning (OSL) model.
Speaking about the partnership, Edric Subur, Global SMB Agency and Resellers, Twitter, said
We are really excited to work with Simplilearn to distribute a structured Twitter Ads course to thousands of marketing professionals. Many marketers are interested in leveraging Twitter Ads to grow their business but are unsure of what’s the best way to do it.
We have designed this course to help marketers leverage Twitter to not just engage with their followers effectively, but also drive customer acquisition and business impact. Regardless of whether you are a beginner or an expert on Twitter, this course will take your Twitter marketing skills to greater heights!
Kashyap Dalal, Chief Business Officer at Simplilearn, said
Twitter is an amazing platform with extremely engaged users. Building the right kind of follower community on Twitter can deliver great brand impact, and if done right, the platform can help businesses drive lead as well as customer acquisitions at scale.
However, using the platform for marketing brands is not the most intuitive, as it requires a more subtle approach than many others. Twitter marketing is not just about pasting a banner all over, but planning content that engages with customers. We are very excited to launch our Certification in Twitter Advertising. Edric will be able to help our marketing curriculum students to understand the nuances of Twitter Ads and make the most of this wonderful social channel.
The Certification in Twitter Advertising will also be a part of Simplilearn’s flagship offering – the Full-stack Digital Marketer Masters Program. Learners on this course will be trained to make the most of Twitter’s advertising platform, gain insights into audience targeting and content strategies, and learn how to measure results accurately to gauge the success of Twitter ad campaigns.
About Simplilearn
Founded in 2009, Simplilearn is one of the world’s leading providers of online training for IT, Software Development, Project Management, Data Science, Cloud Computing, Digital Marketing, and many other emerging technologies. Based in San Francisco, California and Bangalore, India, Simplilearn has helped over 500,000 professionals and companies across 150+ countries get trained, acquire certifications, and upskill their employees. The company has been named the 8th most influential education brand in the world by LinkedIn. For more information, visit SimpliLearn
The year 2016 has so far been an eventful for Fintech startups in India and initiatives like Digital India, Aadhar, UPI etc. are opening up new opportunities for entrepreneurs. There is one sector P2P (Peer to Peer) lending which is a financial innovation that connects verified borrowers seeking unsecured personal loans with investors looking to earn higher returns on their investments.
Though P2P is popular financing option across the globe, it is still at a nascent (or growth stage) in India. However, it is gradually becoming an attractive option for investors who are looking for better returns via short term loans.
Today we talk to Raghavendra Pratap Singh, Co-founder of P2P Lending website i2ifunding.com. The extensive discussion revolves around i2ifunding, P2P market landscape, UPI, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, tips for fintech entrepreneurs etc. So, lets start with the Q&A…
Can you tell us more about the origins of the company?
We started working on this idea in late 2014. One year later after spending numerous number of hours in discussion, planning, development and operational set up, we launched i2ifunding.com in Oct 2015. Since then, we have never looked back. We have a diverse, intelligent and committed team which works in unison to achieve the dream of making i2ifunding a leader in Peer to Peer lending space in India.
We have 5 co-founders from diverse background who take care of different responsibilities.
Vaibhav Kumar Pandey: Vaibhav has 10+ years of experience in setting up large scale operations from scratch, driving operational efficiencies, and building and leading large teams. He has successfully designed and led the development of various enterprise level solutions. Vaibhav completed his MBA from IIM Ahmedabad in 2009 and his graduation from T.S. Chankya in nautical science in 2002.
Raghavendra Pratap Singh: An IIM-Calcutta alumnus and ex-merchant mariner, Raghavendra has more than 10 years of global experience in Product development, e-commerce, operations, digital marketing and client servicing. At i2i, Raghavendra is part of founding team and responsible for Product development and Marketing. He is also actively involved in formulation and execution of growth strategy of i2i. He has worked in British Petroleum, Genpact and Aptara previously. He is a sport enthusiasts and follows politics passionately.
Neha Aggarwal: Neha in her short span of career has worked from brand management in FMCG sector to product development in financial sector. She has handled SHG & FDOD instruments in past of over $25 million. With her ever resilient attitude, she has launched multiple successful products in the Indian market. Neha completed her MBA from XIM-Bhubaneswar and graduated from Delhi University with distinction in Finance.
Abhinav Johary: Abhinav has more than 7 years of strong experience in business operations and setting up new processes. Prior to i2i, Abhinav was engaged with Flipkart and worked on several strategic initiatives in it’s market place operations. At i2i, Abhinav is part of founding team and responsible for managing loan origination and operations. He was instrumental in setting up the processes. This engineer cum MBA is a go-getter to whom you can assign any task and rest assured that it will be done.
Manisha Bansal: Manisha is a Chartered Accountant and brings with her over 8 years of domestic and overseas work experience in various fields. She has also worked in the past with NGOs like CAT Protection and ADHD in UK overseeing finance and treasury activities. She has also worked with Birla Sunlife Insurance in the past. Manisha looks after investor interaction, strategy formulation, strategic tie-ups and regulatory relationship management besides day to day business involvement and overseeing Mumbai office activities.
i2iFunding is all set to change the way in which financial transactions are being currently carried out in India. Traditional financial systems due to their high operating costs such as high office rentals, high employee costs etc. are unable to diligently assess each of the customers as per their risk profiles. Therefore, they consider the retail loans (i.e. loans offered to individual persons) as ‘flow’ business which results in customers with varying credit quality getting bucketed together. This is not only unfair to borrowers with high credit quality but also leads to inefficient utilization of financial resources.
How much funding was needed? How much was raised at what valuation?
Initially, we were boot strapped and launched the portal in Oct 2015. We received funding of $300k in May 2016 at the valuation of $ 4 million. We are looking at next round of funding in the range of $3-4 million to ensure, we are complaint with regulations from RBI (Central Bank) which is expected in next few months and maintain the growth rate.
What is your product? Business model? Pricing?
i2ifunding is an online platform, we connects verified borrowers looking for unsecured personal loans and investors looking for alternative investment opportunities for higher returns. i2iFunding does detailed Credit Risk evaluation each borrowers and only qualified borrowers are made live on portal along with recommended interest rate and risk category.
Once the funding is complete on the website, we conduct physical verification facilitates legal documentation between borrowers and Investors.
We understand the importance of timely repayments, and hence, endeavors to keep full track of the loan repayment schedule and report any delay or default at the earliest. We also suggest a corrective action plan and assist in loan recovery and collection etc. if required. Our aim is to ensure seamless investing and borrowing experience.
Processing Fee from Borrowers: Depending upon the risk category – A to F ( 3% to 6% of loan amount disbursed)
Fund Management fees: 1% of investment amount from Investors
How does it differentiate from other existing P2P players in the market?
i2ifunding.com is much more than P2P marketplace. Apart from providing end to end loan servicing, i2i diligently evaluates the credit risk of each of the loan projects, post which it assigns risk category and recommends an interest rate for that project (a borrower can borrow at an interest rate which is higher than or equal to this rate).
This helps the borrowers as well as the investors to have a benchmark interest rate. In the process, the investors get an opportunity to earn higher ‘risk adjusted returns’ while the borrowers get an opportunity to get funded at the lowest cost possible as per their risk profile and market based demand. We also provide legal and recovery support to investors in case of default by any borrower along with Principal Protection to ensure downside is limited for investors in case of default.
How has the P2P industry changed or you foresee any changes after UPI was introduced?
UPI introduction has not made any impact on P2P industry. UPI can reduce the transaction effort between borrowers and lenders but again P2P platform will have to be dependent upon borrowers and lenders for confirmation of payment and larger issue of automation will not get solved.
There is a general question with lenders, what happens if borrower is not able to return the money. How is the lingering question of Credit Risk taken care of ?
On our platform, very detailed Credit Risk evaluation of borrowers are done and almost 90% applications get rejected at this stage. So only good credit worthy profiles are available on our portal.
All the loans are backed by legal agreement and promissory notes along with undated cheques. In case of default, legal action is initiated against the borrowers. Both Civil as well as criminal suite can be filed against the defaulter.
On top of it, we also have Principal Protection in place, which protects part of principal against default depending upon the risk category of borrower.
Can you share with us the main key performance numbers of your company? How did they change over time?
i2ifunding started operation in October 2015. Within 11 months we have more than 3500 registrations. We have already closed the funding of around 150 loans and have more than 500 investors with an investment commitment of over INR 50 million.
Before angel round, we were doing around INR 0.5 – 1 million/ month and now we are doing INR 3-5 million of loans/month with MoM growth of 20-25%.
What is your competition like? What is your edge on the competition?
P2P lending is a very new concept in India. Although it is a very successful model in countries like China, US and UK. All the players in India are startups (around 10), most of them began operations in the last 1-2 years and are still trying to find their feet in this segment. We are mainly competing with Faircent, Lendbox and i-lend.
We have very strong focus on credit quality of loans. We have our own Propriety Credit score model which evaluates borrowers on more than 40 parameters. We also have mandatory physical verification in place before disbursal of funds.
Our focus is to keep delays and defaults to the minimum by continuously improving our proprietary credit risk evaluation model with the use of technology. In longer run, platform with credible repayment track record will move ahead of others.
We also offer Principal Protection to investors in case of defaults by Borrowers. Offering principal protection further shows our confidence in our underwriting process. No other platform in India, except i2iFunding is offering principal protection plan to investors.
Can you explain in detail how the entire process of selecting right investor works (in case there are multiple investors that match the borrower’s requirement) ?
All the live loans are listed on portal along with risk category and interest rate and other important details about the borrowers. Investors can see and show investment interest in that profile as soon as they do that available amount in that loan will reduce by that much amount. So for other investors only available amount will be left for investment. We restrict one investor to invest only up to 20% in a particular loan so that his investments are diversified.
According to your data, which is the biggest category (buying house, repairs, wedding etc.) where borrowers require money ?
For Salaried: Personal Debt Consolidation (Credit Card repayment) and House Renovation For Self-employed people: Business expansion
Please give some insights into the implications of Money lending (on P2P sites like i2iFunding) on income tax returns (for borrower as well as lender)
For investors, this income will be treated as interest income and it needs to be added into income for tax purpose. Borrowers will not get any benefit on interest paid as with other personal loans.
What is the TAM of the consumer debt market that i2iFunding is trying to address
Informal lending market which already exist in India is of Rs. 1 Lakh crore in Urban India which is 15% of total debt market in personal loan sector. MSME lending sector is much bigger and we are trying to tap that market as well.
Apart from CIBIL score, Social score; are there other data points that i2iFunding has to evaluate members (lenders/borrowers) ?
We evaluate each borrower on more than 50+ parameters through our proprietary Credit scoring model. Some parameters are like-Type of Company, Employment stability, Employability of person, Education back ground, type of education and marks, Type of accommodation, Stay duration at current location, Debt to Income ratio after loan and many more.
Who are your typical customers? Why do they works with you?
Borrowers Profiles: People who are not getting personal loans easily from existing financial institutions. Banks/NBFCs do not give loans to people who do not have credit history or people whose credit report got bad due to some unavoidable reasons. Also, these institutions do not give loans below certain salary level and in certain geographies.
Borrowers can submit loan requirement in a few simple steps without unnecessary paperwork or a trip to the bank from the comfort of their own home. They can monitor the progress of loan online and once the funding is complete, money is transferred by the investors in to their account directly.
Investors Profile: People with annual income of more than INR 1 million and who are looking to earn high returns and have some appetite for risk. i2i provides excellent opportunity to earn higher returns in comparison to mutual funds and equities with much lower risk.
i2iFunding is an alternate mode of investment and financing, which is much faster and efficient than prevalent legacy systems. It provides seamless user experience in terms of ease of transaction, ability to view and download detailed account statements, transaction analysis and many more features. Investors can lend to a borrower in a few simple steps.
Few years back, there was huge wave about MFI’s (like SKS Microfinance), in 2016 the wave is around fintech sector (NBFC’s), what are your thoughts about the future of Fintech ?
Fintech space is definitely going grow especially in country like India where traditional financial institutions have failed to cater demands. There is still huge population in India which does not have access to credit at the same time people do not have many investment options. There are already too many innovations happening in this space and it is evident from the growth of Fintech companies in India.
There is huge potential for P2P in O2O space, are there any plans to address those set of customers (who are credible) but do not use the online medium for attaining short-term loans?
Yes, we agree there is huge market potential in O2O space for P2P and in some ways we have already started that. We are using our channel partners to reach out to them. They create their profiles online and then we verify all the details before approval of loans. In last month, we approved many borrowers from MCD who did not know how to operate computers.
Are there are any specific laws regulating the P2P businesses in India or to put it the other way round, is there a requirement to regulate P2P lending in India?
RBI has taken cognizance of this sector and they have already come up with a consultation paper for regulating this sector. We are expecting regulations from RBI in coming months.
There is a need of regulation from RBI as it will give credibility to this sector and deter non serious players. Also, it will bring more discipline and transparency.
Does i2iFunding have plans to serve BOP segment (similar to what MFI’s do)?
As of now, we do not have any plans to cater to this sector but we will surely reach out to this market once we are established.
Does i2iFunding have any e-commerce partners where customer on that platform can get short term loan from lenders on i2iFunding (instead of opting for EMI or other payment mechanism)?
We are under discussion with many players but as of now nothing has been finalized yet. One key challenge is that investors are looking for higher returns on P2P platforms and many e-commerce players are looking for loans to their customers at low interest rate. But it would not be too late before we crack this model.
What do you think about the direction of the industry?
While P2P lending is still at a nascent stage in India, it is one of the leading means of financing in countries such as the US, the UK, Germany, China etc. and many p2p players have grown to become Billion dollar companies. It has been growing in leaps and bounds around the world, thanks to an increase in the internet penetration and tremendous acceptability of e-payments.
In India also, we see P2P lending to follow the similar growth trend that has been witnessed by ecommerce industry. We currently have investors from all across the country; however, borrowers are mainly from 4 metros. We are looking to expand to all major cities of India in next couple of years. We are investing very heavily in technology, and will be a technology driven platform which will help investors and borrowers transact very easily.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also taken cognizance of this phenomenon in India and has already come up with a consultation paper. Very soon RBI is going to come up with regulations to govern this sector and make it a credible alternative financing option.
Can you please talk about the particularities of the India market? Interest rates for savings? Ease to get loan?
In India, almost 75% population does not have easy access to credit. Penetration of Established financial institutions in India is very low. At the time of need, many people take loans from friends, family and relatives. There is also a huge offline market of taking loans from private money lenders who charge very high interest rates.
Established financial institutions have very strict and legacy underwriting models based on traditional mode of lending and loans are rejected for reasons like low or no credit history, working in a particular industry, stays in a particular geography or has existing loans. Banks do not have resources and time to analyse each loan application purely on the basis of its merits and so they have decided some broad parameters which filters large population even though most of them are credit worthy.
It is even more difficult for self-employed businessmen or professionals as banks do not give them unsecured loans.
Also, overall time taken in processing the loan application and documentation process is overwhelming and cumbersome. People looking for small business loans are finding P2P as very good option to take loans and slowly it is becoming major portion of P2P loans. Though it is difficult to underwrite the business loans but it provides huge opportunity to P2P players. I2i has also developed its own model to assess the risk of business loans and has started offering loans to MSME sector as this is place where the growth is.
Investors in India have very few investment options. Bank fixed deposits and secured investments options can give you returns only up to 8-9%/ annum. A country like India where inflation varies from 3-8%, these returns are not attractive. They have also lost trust in Mutual funds and Equity market. Real estate sector and gold has also lost it’s charm as average returns from these investment options are not attractive and vary drastically. P2P sector is providing them a very good alternative investment option where they can earn returns in the range of 20-25% per annum. Though they are still sceptic about this concept but slowly P2P is gaining traction and many early innovators have started shifting their investments from Mutual funds and equities to P2P sector.
India has right ingredients in place for P2P industry where there is huge population which is denied of credit and a very big middle class which wants to earn higher returns on their investments.
In past 2 years, we have seen around 10-15 start ups in P2P sector, however only few of them are serious players and are here for long term. In India, there are some P2P sites that cater to individual loans, pay day loans, while others do a mix or individual and business loans. There is also social P2P lending companies who provide loans to underprivileged section and interest rates are nominal.
Are there are any the RBI norms around the P2P lending market?
The Reserve Bank of India, recently came up with a consultation paper to regulate the sector. P2P lending has great potential, especially in a country like India, where huge parts of its population do not have any access to institutional sources of finance. The Central Bank rightly feels it is very important to ensure the sector plays a constructive role in bridging the divide.
“P2P lending promotes alternative forms of finance, where formal finance is unable to reach and also has the potential to soften the lending rates as a result of lower operational costs and enhanced competition with the traditional lending channels. Therefore, the importance of these methods of financing needs to be acknowledged. If properly regulated, the P2P lending platforms can do this more effectively,” says the RBI consultation paper.
It goes on to add that regulations at this stage would also prevent any unwanted surprises, something that became evident in the Chinese market. India is the only country with a billion mobile phones and biometrics. There are about 350 million using the Internet today, but by 2020-23 there will be about 1 billion people in India using the Internet. As products and services move online and the country becomes increasingly connected, the role of online lending is expected to grow manifold.
“If the sector is left unregulated altogether, there is the risk of unhealthy practices being adopted by one or more players, which may have deleterious consequences,” says the RBI.
Your thoughts on Digital India campaign and how it has created opportunities for startups/companies catering to those areas?
Digital India campaign has surely brought more focus to this sector and as internet penetration increase all online/internet based startups/companies will get benefited. Combined spend being planned by corporate and government is in excess of Rs 4 lakh crores.
This huge investment will create lot of opportunity for start-ups where they can add value. Nothing measurable can be seen as of now but very soon we start seeing benefit of digital India campaign.
Can you share some hiring tips for entrepreneurs (especially when they are building the core team)?
Know your business and key skill set without which your business will not survive. Your core team should have people who can run the company without being dependent upon any one. And skill set should be complementary to each other so that effort spent by everyone gives better results.
Bootstrapping vis-a-vis Institutional Funding, your views on the same?
Both have their own pros and cons. While Bootstrapping forces you to become more innovative and spend money only in those areas where real value will be added to product and customers get benefited. But at the same time, there is lot of pressure on you which may affect your decisions adversely. Also, you cannot experiment much as you have limited funds.
Institutional funding gives you comfort and your main focus becomes making product and services better rather than looking at ways to save money. Also, you can do some experiments and pilots and then decide best possible action to expand the business. With money in your hand you can really expand fast if your idea is creating value for customers. Institutional funding also brings lot of unreal expectations and pressure to beat competitors. Sometimes you also get carried away with your plans and spend unnecessarily on things which are not adding value.
There are many startups in P2P Lending, what are some of the growth marketing techniques used by i2iFunding?
As of now we are only web based portal and very soon we are going to launch our app. We are creating app, as we have received request from lot of customers especially investors that it would be much easier for them to do small investment transactions on app rather than website.
For an online startup, digital marketing is very important and appearing in top 3 for all important keywords is a must. It saves lot of money in advertisement if you can get organic ranking in Google searches. Never neglect SEO, many companies especially start-ups suffer because they do not have skill set for SEO and in spite of having great product they are not able to reach out to potential customers.
Apart from Fintech, what are the next wave of startups that would excite entrepreneurs interest, VC interest?
I think something in Education, Medical or Energy sector. There are some start-ups but still there is huge potential as demand in this sector will never get over and it is increasing day by day.
Many startups/growth stage companies are now looking at unit-economics, how important is it to look at that factor early on in the startup’s journey?
Unit economics is important parameter but it should not be most important one. Most important parameter is value being created for customers and how customers should be dependent upon your product in that sector.
If Google or Facebook had started looking at unit economic in the beginning they would have never reached to this stage. But at the same time, you should know that you will be able to make money by leveraging the customers being acquired by you. Acquiring customers by giving them freebies is not a good strategy as they will shift as soon as you start charging them.
Closing thoughts to aspiring entrepreneurs.
Have faith in your idea and don’t lose patience. One of the most important factor to get success is Perseverance. Success will never come over night and be ready for long haul.
We thank Mr. Raghavendra Pratap Singh for his time and sharing his insights into P2P Lending, Fintech, etc. with such minute detail. We hope that our readers, specifically fin-tech entrepreneurs would have definitely taken few tips from this exhaustive discussion!
If you have any further questions for i2ifunding 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..
Focusing on the rise and evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT) across industries in India, NASSCOM today kick-started the 8th edition of NASSCOM Design and Engineering Summit. The two-day event focusing on the theme of, Imagineering for the Digital Future analyses the role that IoT will play in creating digital utilities especially in the areas of design and engineering that will drive the growth of future technologies in the country.
Expressing his thoughts on the upturn of applied IoT in India, Mr. Kevin Ashton, Inventor of the Internet of Things and Author, mentioned that
IoT has started being incorporated into both consumer and industrial applications being utilized in critical verticals like Healthcare, Automotive and Manufacturing. The ecosystem is rapidly expanding, owing to demand for both Industrial and Consumer IoT applications and is set to be a critical part of the next level of growth for the IT industry.
On the sidelines of the summit, NASSCOM in collaboration with Deloitte also launched a report on IoT – Revolution in the Making. The report lays emphasis on the growth of Internet of Things, as not just creating consumer solutions but also adding value in industrial applications. Reiterating the need for innovative solutions, the report states that the IoT segment is expected to grow across industries, with Utilities, Manufacturing, Automotive and Transportation & Logistics providing greater opportunities for development, compared to other sectors.
Speaking of the focus of IoT in the Design and Engineering industry Mr. R Chandrasekhar, President, NASSCOM, said
IoT as a concept has seen vested interests from across industries globally and is set to become a major differentiator in driving the next generation of services and products. In India, while the industry is at a nascent stage industrial applications of IoT primarily in manufacturing, automotive and transportation & logistics are expected to drive IoT revenues by 2020.
Expressing his thoughts on the launch of IoT: A Revolution in the Making, Munesh Makhija, CTO-GE South Asia & VP-GE India Technology Centre stated
This report comes at a time when the Industrial Internet of Things is poised for exponential growth, both globally and in India. As the world’s premier digital industrial company, GE is at the front and centre of this revolution. We believe India has an important role to play in shaping the IoT landscape and players in the Indian IoT ecosystem must collaborate to capitalize on the market opportunity.
About NASSCOM
NASSCOM is the premier trade body and the chamber of commerce of the IT-BPM industry in India. NASSCOM is a global trade body with more than 1800 members, which includes both Indian and multinational companies that have a presence in India. NASSCOM’s member and associate member companies are broadly in the business of software development, software services, software products, consulting services, BPM, e-commerce and web services, engineering services and animation and gaming. NASSCOM’s membership base constitutes over 95% of the industry revenues in India and employs about 3.5 million professionals.
