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|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Organized by UNICOM, the IoT Conference 2016 brings together the brightest innovators and business visionaries from India for one day of focused networking, strategy sharing, and technology showcasing at the cutting edge of IoT.

According to Gartner, there will be nearly 26 billion devices on the Internet of Things by 2020. ABI Research estimates that more than 30 billion devices will be wirelessly connected to the IoT by 2020. The data generated and the business opportunities created will be staggering. Now is the time to position for success.

The conference is a unique opportunity to share IoT insights and strategy with professionals across the full range of industry verticals, including Smart Building/Home Automation, Consumer Electronics and Connected Living, Smart Cities, Environmental Monitoring, Intelligent Transportation, Medical and Health Care Systems etc.

Theme – Internet of Things (IoT) – Link your World
Date – 4th February, 2016
Venue – Le Meridien Bangalore

Detailed Agenda

Main Attraction of the event

  • Learn How IoT is most closely associated to machine-to-machine [M2M] communication
  • Opportunity to network with experienced Business and Technical practitioners and Start Ups in the area of IoT
  • Know – What are the key aspects of IoT that businesses should know about ?
  • Case Studies
  • Key Note presentation
  • Exhibition area, where you can find what Start-Ups are doing in the area of IoT. Experience their products, their Ideas
  • IoT Workshops
  • Startups Showcase

Great opportunity to strategically brand your organization

As a sponsor, you will receive a tremendous amount of visibility and numerous other benefits at the conference. This conference has three sponsor categories, which helps organizations of all cadres to participate at their level. Sponsors will also have the added benefit of tailoring their sponsorship packages, based on their strategic intent.

Who Should Attend

The conference is designed especially for both technology experts & end-user business executives across industries, who are looking to leverage the emerging IoT opportunity. This includes –

  • IoT Developers, Designers & Project Managers
  • Entrepreneurs, Senior Executives & Business Strategists
  • IoT hardware vendors and software developers
  • Commercial & industrial business executives looking to apply IoT technologies
  • VC investment and financial professionals
  • Public policy and municipal government representatives
  • Regulators and government policy makers
  • Academic researchers and university professionals
  • IT and software providers
  • Internet service provider and communication companies
  • Consumer electronics and computing companies
  • Start-up firms and incubators

Registration

Registration for One Day Conference [till 4th February] : Rs 9,999+ 14% Tax. Click Here to register

Know more about the Conference : Click Here

[Image Credit* – TechQuark]

|In: Social Entrepreneurship|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Tata Social Enterprise Challenge, a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta [IIMC], celebrated India’s most promising early-stage social enterprises, which could bring about long-term solutions to India’s social problems.

The grand finale of the fourth edition of the programme held on January 16, 2016, at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta [IIM-C], saw HelpUsGreen from Kanpur [Winner], Jeevtronics from Pune [1st Runner-up], & Hasiru Dala Innovations from Bengaluru and Disease Diagnose Group from Boston, USA [joint winners of the 2nd Runner-up position], emerge as the most promising social ventures, winning prize money of Rs. 2.5 lakh, Rs. 2 lakh and Rs. 1.5 lakh, respectively [Details about the idea can be found here]

Tata Social Enterprise Challenge [TSEC] is a quest to find India’s most promising early-stage social enterprises. The endeavor of the challenge is to create an ecosystem for social entrepreneurship and encourage sustainable, scalable and measurable social impact.

This year’s edition received 600+ registrations from across India, out of which 210 met all the eligibility criteria and moved to the next round of the competition. These impact proposals were in the area of agriculture, food and dairy; healthcare, water and sanitation; technology and development; education & skills development; housing; handicrafts; and energy and micro-finance/financial inclusion. The ventures were judged on three parameters – Business Model, Social Impact and Sustainability.

Ankit Agarwal, the winner of the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2015-16 has started HelpUsGreen. A Kanpur based social enterprise, HelpUsGreen preserves the rivers by flower cycling the waste from the places of worship into bio-fertilizers and lifestyle products like incense and bathing soaps, among others, and in doing so also empowers women self-help groups [currently the venture is managing five women self-help groups with sixteen members each].

Ecstatic with his win Ankit said

It’s been an overwhelming experience. We have won many competitions before but Tata Social Enterprise Challenge is like the Filmfare of social entrepreneurship.

Jeevtronics, a Pune based venture, was declared as the 1st Runner-up. Ashish Gawade representing the venture said, It was a great experience for us. The knowledge, mentoring and feedback that we received from the jury was really helpful, and it was good to collaborate with the other start-ups too.

Jeevtronics is dedicated to designing and implementing affordable medical devices for underdeveloped and rural areas. It has patented a hand-cranked defibrillator – a life-saving device for heart patients – which has a built-in power generator that enables it to work in off-grid rural areas, mini ambulances and disaster relief camps, among others. The hand-crank generator requires 12 seconds to charge and comes at one-fourth the cost of competition.

(more…)

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

In yet another move to disrupt the traditional shopping landscape in India, Flipkart, India’s leading online marketplace, is now available for Windows 10. Available to consumers across all Windows 10 platforms [mobiles, tablets, desktops], the new universal Windows app is a reflection of the company’s focus to redefine online shopping.

Building on Flipkart and Microsoft’s constant efforts to make technology adapt to consumers and deliver an enhanced end user experience, Flipkart’s new universal Windows app will offer consumers a seamless app experience across all form factors.

The new universal app will offer a more personalized app interface with features such as customized shopping recommendations, merchandising and notifications, and interactive guided search. Additionally, consumers will also be able to avail all the ‘App-only’ offers right from the app.

The Flipkart app for Windows 10 has been developed specially for hybrid devices [touch and non-touch] and optimized for use of different inputs such as touch, keyboard, track-pad and mouse. Another ground-breaking addition is that the Flipkart app for Windows 10 is one of the first apps to introduce the product tabs feature, enabling consumers to open tabs in the background to view products later as well as compare different products for a faster browsing experience. Users can also access the ‘Image search’ feature to find visually similar items when shopping.

Commenting on the launch, Amar Nagaram, Director, Mobile Engineering, Flipkart, said

At Flipkart, we strive to innovate and re-invent the customer experience at every touch-point. Over the last few months, we have been working on the Windows 10 platform to create richer and more personalized experience for our consumers. We have been working towards creating a seamless experience similar to that of an app and Windows 10 surely provides opportunities to introduce innovative features.

Harish Vaidyanathan, Director of Independent Software Vendor Programs at Microsoft added

The Flipkart app for Windows 10 has been designed to offer a seamless and consistent experience across various form factors. By virtue of an online store being available 24×7, consumers will be able to pick up their selection and shopping process from where they left off across their range of Windows devices. Apart from the added convenience and enhanced experience, consumers will also get access to app-only offers and in-app notifications that will keep them updated on the latest deals and discounts. The new app integrates beautifully with the Windows 10 interface and we’re confident that our consumers will love the Flipkart experience.

Users with Windows 10 OS can download the app from here and share their experience on Twitter  or write to flipkart-win10@flipkart.com

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

The Young Entrepreneurs Academy, Inc. [YEA!] with Incredible Ideas Ltd has announced the launch of its first two Academy centers that will launch this August in Mumbai and Delhi. The Young Entrepreneurs Academy celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit of India’s youth by teaching students ages 11-18 how to launch their own, real companies.

The YEA! class will launch in Mumbai at the American School of Bombay and at the Shri Ram School in Delhi, 2 premier education institutes in India. Each YEA! class is designed for 30 students between the ages of 11 and 18 to participate in a 25-week after-school entrepreneurship program to generate business ideas, conduct market research, write business plans and pitch to a panel of investors for startup funding. By the end of class, students launch their own, real companies.

The Young Entrepreneurs Academy is proud to announce the launch of the Mumbai and Delhi centers as Prime Minster Narendra Modi announces ‘Start-Up Action Plan for India’ and ‘Start-up India’ an initiative that celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit of India’s youth.

Namita Thapar, founder of Incredible Ideas Ltd and Chief Financial Officer & Executive Board member of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Ltd has partnered with YEA! to bring this program to India. Being a Chartered Accountant and MBA from Duke University, she is passionate about the field of education and hopes to scale this program Pan India in the coming years.

Students will get an opportunity to hear as well as get inspired by several celebrity guest speakers. The list comprises of entrepreneurs from some of the top industrial houses in India as well as some of the larger e-commerce start-ups. In addition, students will take behind the scenes, fun-filled trips to India’s most successful businesses. They will work with mentors from top consulting and venture capital funds in India.

Finally, they will participate in a ‘Shark Tank’ style Investor Panel, where they will present their business ideas to a panel of India’s most successful business leaders for the opportunity to secure real funding to launch their businesses.

One YEA! India student will be named the YEA! Saunders Scholars National Winner and qualify to speak at a national event in Washington, DC. Quikr, Luxor and Cello, 3 reputed companies founded by Indian entrepreneurs, are the national sponsors of this program. Incredible Ideas in India is the first overseas organization to license YEA!.

YEA! was founded in 2004 at the University of Rochester, New York with support from the Kauffman Foundation. YEA! classes are currently available in more than 103 centers across 39 states in the U.S.A. To date, more than 4,000 YEA! students have launched over 3,000 real businesses.

YEA! alumni include 15-year-old Rachel Zietz, CEO of Gladiator Lacrosse who was featured in The New York Times and Entrepreneur.com for her business success as the number one re-seller of lacrosse re-bounders on Amazon. Zietz is now a contender on season seven of ABC’s hit show, Shark Tank.

YEA! is sponsored by the United States Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Sam’s Club and supported by other companies including Toshiba, American Express, General Motors, Coca Cola, FedEx, Kodak and Microsoft.

To learn more about YEA! visit YEA USA and YEA india

|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]