Author: Devya

Using UV Technology, Sanitary Waste Management Startup, PadCare Labs develops two products to combat coronavirus

UVSATHI and UVHANDY are two products that are developed recently by the startup.

As coronavirus cases are increasing, the demand for disinfection services is also increasing.

According to the 6W Research report, “Indian surface disinfectant market is expected to register high growth during 2020-2026 owing to the increased demand for the disinfection services amid the pandemic.”

6W Research is a market research company headquartered in Delhi. During such a global health crisis, many entrepreneurs are focusing on disinfection derived market as it has become an hourly need mainly due to the unlock phase that India is in.

Such an example is PadCare Labs which is a sanitary waste management startup. Ajinkya Dhariya founded PadCare in 2018. Its main business is to deliver menstrual waste management services. The core products of the startup are SANECO and UVECO. They have been laid out to guarantee the proper disposal of sanitary napkins.

However, due to the COVID-19 emergency, the startup was forced to change its business model. However, it has now come out with two products – UVSATHI and UVHANDY – to disinfect surface areas and inanimate objects with the use of UV-C technology.



Prior to pandemic

Ajinkya considered the idea of PadCare, the creation of a circular economy. How? The hazardous sanitary napkin waste is converted into an eco-friendly waste. Moreover, the leftover products of sanitary napkins such as paper and plastic pellets are recycled for new use.

Ajinkya explained, “Around 12 billion pads are used annually by women. Around 98 percent of the waste ends up in water bodies and landfills, and a single pad takes up to 800 years to decompose. Apart from this, if incinerated, a single pad can release 380 kg carbon in the atmosphere. We are trying to address the gap in menstrual disposal to maintain hygiene and reduce its adverse impact on the environment.”

UVECO is PadCare’s business-to-business product. It is a touchless sanitary pad collection bin based on UV technology. It is fitted into washrooms. Interestingly, the bin has a sensor for the automatic opening of lids as one hovers hand over it. Then, the transfer of sanitary napkins to the centralized processing unit, SANECO, takes place where disinfections and segregation of waste processes are done.



 Battle against COVID-19

The startup has conducted five pilot runs of the products for half a year across Pune. Interestingly, it has served 350 women per day. Moreover, the startup was about to implement the products commercially but due to lockdown, the plan is at a halt.

Ajinkya informed, “We started getting calls from doctors who needed something devised for decontamination of surfaces at the ward level and of the N95 masks. We started working on it and developed a basic prototype within a week since we had basic resources available as we have been working with UV devices.”

UVSATHI and UVHANDY are two products that are developed recently by the startup. UVSATHI is a certified remote-controlled air and surface disinfection unit which can decontaminate areas from 50-500 sq ft. The certification was approved by the NABL-accredited lab. Presently, the product is under test at ICMR labs mainly for its impact on COVID-19.

The product can be used for the purpose of disinfecting hospital wards, school classrooms, and offices. The UV-C fitted in the product will eat up all kinds of pathogens. Depending on the surface area, the product comes out in different variants for decontamination. The product needs to be fitted in a room and plugged on.

Cautiously, there should not be any living being in that particular room when the decontamination process is taking place. Therefore, it has a technique to start the process after it is on so that people leave that room in that span of time.

Sound buzzers and detection sensors are fitted in this product. In case it detects any living presence, it automatically switches off. Remote can be used to control UVSATHI so one can switch it off from a distance.

On the other hand, UVHANDY is a portable handy sanitization system for the decontamination of inanimate surfaces. It is mainly used for disinfection of office desks, door handles, parcels, food deliveries, and bags. To sanitize and disinfect N-95 masks for reuse, both the products can be used.

These products mainly work on UV technology. UV-C light attack on the DNA molecules of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. This makes them inactive, hence lose their reproductive capability.



More into Business

PadCare is B2B based model and has deployed more than 50 units of the products across Pune, Mumbai, and Delhi. The price of UVHANDY is Rs 7,500 whereas the price of UVSATHI varies from Rs 25,000 to 85,000 depends upon the area of room.

Currently, the Indian Air Force is using UVSATHI for the disinfection of their meeting rooms. Sahyadri Hospital, KEM, and at local clinics across Pune are using the product for disinfection.

No revenue and turnover figures were revealed by the founder, but he gave a clue about its product sales. There is a high demand for these products from businesses across India, as well as from the Gulf and European countries.

Ajinkya said, “Our immediate goal is to scale up and make both the COVID-19 products available across India and also tap the international markets. To achieve this, we have joined hands with automotive manufacturer Kinetic Engineering Limited for manufacturing and distribution. Currently, the production rate is 10,000 units per week.”



Future perspective

Presently, the main motive of the Startup is to get the regulatory approvals and to launch the product for deployment across the country.

Ajinkya further explained, “PadCare Labs is planning to launch the core sanitary napkin disposal and recycling within the next three months. We are planning to sell 50+ units with the next 12 months which can provide sustainable hygiene and sanitation to a minimum of 200,000 women and 100+ waste pickers. We have received pre-order from the Maharashtra government and other corporate industries for our units.”

Other Startups

Apart from PadCare, there are many other startups too that provide waste management services, are coming forward with UV technology for disinfecting surfaces. For example, Log 9 Materials Pvt. Ltd is a nanotechnology startup based in Bengaluru has developed CoronaOven for disinfecting e-commerce packages, grocery items, milk packets, wallets, electronic gadgets, masks, and gloves. UV-C light used in the product disinfects within 10 minutes.

Another example is the Green Grapes Device which is based in Delhi. It has a UV Sterilisation Box for the disinfection of small-sized daily use items such as cell phones, keys, watches, rings, and masks.



How Dusala Kashmir became one of the most popular among Bollywood biggies

Dusala Kashmir is a crafted brand, featuring shawls stoles and scarfs.

After working for six years as a television journalist in Delhi, Sugandha Kedia got married and moved to Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

The previous Zoom and NDTV employees started posting about her makeup and fashion on Instagram. Lockdown has increased the engagement of people, it helps her in marketing efforts of her most recent passion project, Dusala Kashmir. Dusala Kashmir is a crafted brand, featuring shawls stoles and scarfs.

Started in January 2020, the six-month-old brand is already a favourite among Bollywood celebrities like Shilpa Shetty, Dia Mirza, and Karishma Kapoor, and Europe based award-winning fashion blogger Masoom Minawala Mehta.

“After working for a number of years, I thought of taking a sabbatical. it doesn’t happen as planned and so I went ahead and launched a multi-designer store, One in 2017 that featured several well-known brands like Sabyasachi, Rani SVA, Anju Modi, Saaksha & Kinni, Deme by Gabriella, Anavilla and Limerick,” she said.



Journey

In the fashion industry, Sugandha started her career as a correspondent in the entertainment beat at Zoom. Between 2008 and 2011, she went on to work at NDTV Good Times, IBN7, and Focus TV. Later on, she worked for Property TV Dubai as well as HomeShop18. Along the way, she evolved as a self-taught fashion designer.

Dusala Kashmir is her second venture which is her childhood dream. She grew up in Delhi and recalls how fascinated she was by the shawls and scarves that weavers would sell door to door at an extremely lower price.

“As a child, it bothered me that they put in so much hard work in exchange for a very little money, and wondered how they could take care of their children and family I wanted to do something in that direction,” she says.

Before one-and-half years of the launch of the brand, Sugandha started working on it. To start her brand, she had to make numerous trips to Kashmir and there she had a hard time convincing some women who turned out to be the main weavers to her surprise.

Eventually, the entrepreneur bought many of their handcrafted pieces and requesting them to design for her. Sugandha employed 50 weavers across Kashmir to meet queries of people from the US, the UK, and Australia to meet the diverse tastes and preferences of customers.

The price of the shawls handwoven and fabric, ranges from Rs 2,500 to Rs 10 lakh presently, also sold on its website. Particularly, the value of hand-woven Pashmina is around Rs 10,000, and therefore, the price of handwoven Kani which is formed through an extended process, spanning three years ranges between 98,000 to Rs. 2.5 lakh.



Representation Globally

Kashmiri shawls have immense popularity, so much that a person travelling anywhere abroad certainly comes across a store selling these shawls.

“The products are sold basic in terms of design, something that was possibly in fashion 20 years ago  With our artisans, we aim to showcase the real essence and beauty of the craft, how they have guaranteed to new design and techniques, modern colours, and blends,” she says

Before COVID-19 struck, she had almost closed a deal with coveted fashion week brands. Her work demands frequent travelling to the network to discuss designs with the weavers.

She says, “I’m sure everyone is suffering, and I should not be complaining.” To stay updated on work, Sugandha and her team of waivers have now paved the way to communicate via WhatsApp video calls where she shares new designs.

It is not always all work. She says she is blessed to be treated like family by the weavers. Videos of her cooking are sent to her and also apples on the trees are shown. The heritage fashion venture might be born from a childhood dream but the effects of it, have been huge.

Sugandha says she been able to travel help the words and become a part of their families. The credits of this growth and success she gives to her family’s unflinching support in love.



27 year old Shantanu’s startup talk ‘On Your Sparks’ grabs Ratan Tata’s attention

The startup ‘On Your Sparks’ was started by Shantanu Naidu. It is an online talk especially in the Lockdown situation, mainly to help aspiring entrepreneurs. 

Shantanu Naidu is a 27-year-old MBA holder from Cornell University and has been assisting the chairman of the Tata Group of companies, Ratan Tata, for two years. Now, he has started his own startup talk ‘On Your Sparks’ where he delivers entrepreneurial lessons based on the lessons learned by him.

How ‘On Your Spark’ startup came into existence?

Last winter, Shantanu shared Ratan Tata’s startup pitch deck template on his Instagram handle, which had a huge response. Interestingly, he received a 97% vote in the Instagram poll from his 1 million followers. On this, Tata Trusts was asked if they would like him to put together a basic startup pitch deck template.

For the past seven months, Tata’s office has been receiving thousands of queries and calls. It is mainly for the help from young entrepreneurs asking how to helm ideas into entrepreneurial paths. Helping Ratan Tata in addressing all these queries, an idea about how to address queries clicked in his mind. This is how ‘On Your Sparks’ came into existence.



Every Sunday, Shantanu comes live with ‘On Your Sparks’ on his Instagram handle and there are always limited attendees i.e. not more than 30 in one session. Till now, he has conducted 7 sessions.

However, the charges per person for ‘On Your Sparks’ webinar are Rs 500, the proceeds which then go towards Motopaws. Motopaws designs and produces dog collars that shine in the dark. They are designed to protect the lives of dogs from being run over. Today, Motopaws has expanded in 20 cities and 4 countries.

Shantanu published a post on his Facebook where he informed that he had made collars with reflectors for stray dogs, this will help drivers to spot them on the roads of Mumbai. After reading about this innovation, Ratan Tata called him for a meeting.For this opportunity, Shantanu overwhelmingly wrote, “Word spread and our work got featured in the Tata newsletter.” Though he left India for further education, once he came back, Ratan Tata called him again and offered him a job in his office.



Nykaa, FirstCry two of the three Indian startups to receive ‘unicorn’ tag in first half of 2020

In the first half of 2020, only three startups have received a ‘unicorn’ tag, each one valued at over $1 billion against six startups in H12019. These three startups are – FirstCry, Pine Labs, and Nykaa.

According to the data analytics firm, Tracxn, there has been a decline of 29% in Startup funding activity to $4.2 billion in the first half of 2020. In 2019, it was $5.9 billion during the same period. Therefore, Indian startups are witnessing a downsize in funding activity amid coronavirus pandemic. A small number of companies have received funding between January and June.



As per Tracxn’s India Tech Semi-Annual Factsheet, only 443 companies have received funding. Whereas, last year, 725 companies had secured funding for the same duration. In the first half of 2020, only three startups have received a ‘unicorn’ tag, each one valued at over $1 billion against six startups in H12019. These three startups are – FirstCry, Pine Labs, and Nykaa. FirstCry is an online baby products store, Pine Labs is a financial tech company and Nykaa is a beauty products e-tailer.

On the other hand, Byju, Unacademy, and Bounce have received funding. Both Byju and Unacademy, are edtech companies whereas Bounce is scooter sharing company. Tracxn cited that 28 companies had the potential to cross the $1 billion valuation mark soon in H12019. But in H12020, it has lowered to 17. Tracxn stated, “alternative lending and test preparation technology were the spaces that generated the maximum interest and saw large increases in funding.”



In H12020, all the companies that are in the test preparation technology space have recorded a total investment of $666.2 million, therefore, up of 538%. However, Companies in the alternative lending sectors such as Navi, Lendingkart, and InCred have elevated $704.5 million in H12020. This implies the investments are 67 percent higher than those recorded in the same period last year.



With highest number of new start-ups during January-June, Delhi-NCR emerges as hotspot for budding entrepreneurs

Delhi is not making news only for recording the highest number of cases of COVID-19 but has also seen the highest number of new start-ups across the country during January-June. 

Delhi is not making news only for recording the highest number of cases of COVID-19 but has also seen the highest number of new start-ups across the country during January-June.  The surge in the start-ups has been primarily on the back of its digital ecosystem, government support, and infrastructure, including start-up accelerators, incubators, and enablers.

According to the data released by Tracxn, a total of 109 startups were founded in Delhi-NCR, followed by Bengaluru (63) and Mumbai (44). Edtech, fintech, and enterprises are the three sectors that saw more traction with several start-ups also repurposing their solutions to offer COVID-related solutions.

Delhi might have topped the chart in terms of the number of startups but it is Bengaluru who has garnered maximum funding. Startups in Bengaluru have raised $2,436 million in the first half of 2020, while Delhi has raised $602 million. Mumbai retained its position with $397 million.



The new start-ups from the national capital offer various solutions from a different domain.  The list includes Fashinza.com which is a fashion-focussed website, ramjagenosensor.com develops smart sensors for the detection of bacterial infection and antibiotic resistance. Meanwhile, Marvey.app is a cloud-based productivity app, while Owo.in is an app-based platform offering water-based in Gurugram. Reezy.in is an online reward-based rental payment software.

Park Plus is another app headquartered in Delhi offering QR-based contactless parking solutions. Interestingly, it has already raised $11 million this year, in a round co-led by Sequoia India and Matrix Partners India. The application is riding high, with Delhi being the biggest car market in India.

“For us, Delhi is a great fit for our business both from the market as well as talent perspective,” said Amit Lakhotia, CEO and Founder, Park Plus.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru saw an agritech startup, farmtheory.in. Apart from this, there is a social platform, mitron.tv that showcases short videos during this period. Interestingly, they are raising funding during the coronavirus pandemic.

As per analysts, the propagation of startups in Delhi-NCR is on account of a bigger market base because of the area spread that comprises of Delhi, Noida and Gurugram. This matches Bengaluru on investor ecosystem support, along with Delhi being the policy hub as well.

TiE report 2019 reported that NCR was home to more than 7000 startups. In fact, the national capital region has produced about 13 unicorns including PayTM, Oyo, and Zomato, with at least one new unicorn emerging each year since 2013.



But not all have success stories. Elate Well-being, that focuses on premium well-being services was launched in January but had to shut the operations in March due to the lockdown. However, they managed to bounce back with online services. It is currently offering more than 20 short-duration online programs for physical and mental well-being.

“The NCR population is tech-savvy and were able to readily transition to online services during the lockdown phase,” said Ashutosh Pandey, founder of Elate.

Moreover, other young startup founders have the same sentiments about Delhi. For instance, High Street Essentials’ co-founders, Tanvi Malik and Shivani Poddar, who have launched fashion brands for women such as FabAlley and Indya said, “Delhi NCR is home to a throng of angel investors, family offices, and investor networks that help the start-up community with early-stage funding, crucial to scaling and optimising in the first few years of a start-up’s life cycle.”

TiE report shows that Delhi-NCR has the potential to be one of the top five global start-up hubs, with 12,000 startups, 30 unicorns, and a cumulative valuation of about $150 billion by 2025.

Further fuelling the sentiment, the TiE report had suggested that Delhi-NCR has the potential to become one of the top five global start-up hubs, backed by the suitable government and private sector interventions. By 2025, Delhi would be home to 12,000 startups, 30 unicorns, and a cumulative valuation of about $150 billion.



These 5 startups are using yoga, meditation and wellness programmes to keep employees motivated during pandemic

Startups are ensuring that employees do remain motivated throughout the lockdown and are not stressed because of the pandemic.

During the pandemic, the psyche of many individuals has been affected due to staying at home, WFH and limited social interaction. Moreover, many are worried about the futures, job losses and debt that are burdening and affecting their mental health.

In fact, talking about mental health openly in India is none less than a smirch. Looking for professional aid is both expensive and inaccessible. Considering all of the above, many startups have taken a social initiative to avail counselling and mental wellness programmes for their employees to motivate them and maintain their mental well-being.

Here is the list of top 5 startups:

  1. CredR

CredR is a used two-wheeler sales platform, based in Mumbai. CredR is a full-stack, vertically integrated, and universal ecosystem of two-wheelers. It has roped in mental health experts from Harvard University. The company is running counselling sessions for its employees for anxiety, stress, loneliness, and low motivation levels.

Furthermore, it is also arranging yoga and meditation sessions to de stress and rejuvenate. It has also introduced helplines for its employees internally.

Harish Mahadevan, VP-Human Resources of  CredR, said, “Ever since Lockdown 1.0, the startup has been proactively conducting various sessions on yoga, physical and mental fitness, and team bonding activities to battle the isolation that many employees might be facing during the lockdown.”

  1. Swiggy

Swiggy is a food delivery platform based in Bengaluru. It has recently introduced a curated wellness programme ‘Built Around You’ for Swiggster on account of World Health Day. Its aim is to strengthen the overall wellness and fitness of the entire Swiggy family and their closed ones. The programme revolves around four pillars – physical, emotional and mental, financial, as well as legal wellness.

The startup has offered unlimited tele and video consultation sessions with independent experts like doctors, dietitians, counsellors, psychologists, financial, and legal experts. They are also customizing digital wellness programmes for weight, addiction, diabetes management, maternity care, and marital counselling, among others. It has used AI in order to adapt to the experience.

In its onsite wellness programmes, check-ups, wellness workshops/webinars, meditation/yoga/fitness sessions, etc., are also provided.

  1. Power Gummies

To keep its employees physically fit and combat loneliness during the Lockdown, activities like Zumba, yoga, and Bhangra dance are conducted by Power Gummies which is a health supplement startup.

Divij Bajaj, CEO of Power Gummies, said, “Employees often start feeling demotivated as the whole lockdown situation becomes very exhausting mentally. To eliminate that, we make sure we all are physically spending energy as it helps to vent out negativity, and channels us towards positivity.”

The startup was founded by 2018 which looks after nutritional needs required for hair and nails. In order to serve modern health, it has also begun its marquee in the nutraceutical market.

Divij further said, “We have also started activities such as playing online games like Call of Duty and Ludo. Along with this, we have also made a fun group on WhatsApp, wherein we keep sharing memes, and throwback pictures.”

  1. Letstrack

Letstrack is a GPS tracking and global security service startup. It was founded by Vikram Kumar in 2016 and headquartered in Gurugram. It enables APP-to-APP and APP-TO-WEB mobility solutions.

The IoT startup is going to introduce an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). It will provide counselling and consultation to its employees and their families too in order to curb stress, depression, and anxiety along with financial consultation.

Vikram expressed, “At Letstrack, we believe that a healthy mind can do wonders, and also realise the importance of employees’ emotional wellness, especially during these uncertain circumstances. And to achieve them, we have always encouraged our employees to exercise and meditate every day. Our team leaders and human resource team are making sure that they stay connected with all the employees and keep them informed.”

  1. Oliveboard

Oliveboard is an e-learning platform which conducts Zoom/Hangout calls in smaller and company-level groups to motivate employees during such unprecedented times.

Oliveboard works upon B2C model and founded in August 2012. It provides preparation aids about more than 50 graduate-level India specific exams under the categories of MBA, banking, SSC, Railways, insurance, and government job exams to the candidates.

Abhishek Patil, Co-founder and CEO of Oliveboard, said “While work is going on constantly, to keep employee motivation level high, we also share fitness challenges in our company WhatsApp groups. We play games like Tambola, Quiz, etc., to keep our spirits high during these times. This initiative was started in March.”

Here is what Indian entrepreneurs have to say regarding scrapping of H-1 B Visa by Donald Trump

The move has not been appreciated by most but entrepreneurs see a ray of hope for Indian Startups now

On Monday, US President Donald Trump made an announcement for the suspension of H-1B, L-1, and other temporary work permits to aid US resident workers who are facing critical unemployment.

On this move of his, many stakeholders in the Indian tech and startup ecosystem have shown their reactions.

So, here is glance of their expressions about this move:

Amrish Rau – CEO of Pine Labs:

Amrish believes that Trump could act as the fuel for Indian Tech Sector.

He tweeted, “Murthi, Ramdorai, Premji and Nilekani were the catalyst of first wave in Indian Software. Trump might be the catalyst for the second wave in Indian tech.”

Hemant Mohapatra – Partner of Lightspeed India:

Mohapatra called professionals back to India in order to yield local startups.

He tweeted, “Since last night received two emails from friends at companies like Google about returning to India. This feels different. People are sick of the uncertainty; ban was a personal betrayal. Indian startups pay well (some roles are at bay area salaries) and do very exciting work. COME HOME AND BUILD!”

Ash Lilani – Managing Partner of Saama Capital

Lilani believes the innovation and discoveries have come from immigrants which take US economy at a high. He called this move a ‘short sighted’.

He tweeted, “Unfortunate decision by DonaldTrump today on visas. So much of the innovation that has driven the US economy and made it a global powerhouse has come from immigrants. They have been contributors to society and paid their taxes. Very short-sighted.”

Anu Hariharan – Partner in Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund

Anu has provided advice through the series of her tweets for the students who are in expectations of getting H-1B visa. She assured that there is always hope and more opportunities to learn despite receiving disappointing news.

Debjani Ghosh – President of Nasscom

Ghosh calls this a bad move for an economy and innovation of US. He mocks over the recovery of US that is going to be a great challenge for the country.

He tweeted, “This is especially bad for the US economy and innovation…that too at a time when the US should be doing all it can to build back the economy. Recovery without access to talent is going to be an uphill challenge.”

Kunal Bahl – CEO of Snapdeal

Kunal considers India a land of opportunities. He expressed that he wasn’t regretful when his H-1B Visa got rejected 13 years ago.

Rahul Ganjoo – VP Product of Zomato

Rahul made himself accessible for the Desi folks who are returning back from US after H-1B Visa ban. He is trying to boost up the sentiments of the folks and to believe that India has tons of opportunities.

He tweeted, “Cross-posting from LI here – anyone in the US exploring a move back to India in view of the H1b ban – pls feel to reach out. Happy to help in any way I can.

Vaibhav Agrawal, Partner in Lightspeed India

He tweeted, “I moved Valley—> India due to a personal situation outside my control. It SUCKED to wrap up my startup abruptly. 4Y later: 1) Joined the incredible team at LightspeedIndia 2) at Reliance Jio wave 3) Backed amazing return-founders e.g. Acharya amrit at zetwerk. When life gives you lemons!”

Bipin Preet Singh – CEO of Mobikwik

Bipin believes in building India and building for the world.

Pravin Jadhav – Ex-CEO of Paytm Money

Pravin tweeted,

“2010-2015:

Many US startup ideas came to India.

2015-2020:

Many Chinese startup ideas came to India.

2020 onwards:

Indian startup ideas are going to take on the world. Already seeing few going to South East Asia, more will happen.”

Mona Gandhi – Founder of Upraised

Mona believes that Trump with his H-1B decision will definitely help Canada to succeed.

Clover, Bengaluru start-up on its way to get food from greenhouses to our plates

The ring of greenhouses clover supports, in Bangalore helps it handle the most basic issue of predictability and consistency of horticulture output to walk in pace with the urban consumer demand.

R. Ashwatha, who is a farmer has numerous things to think and worry about be it the pests, fluctuating prices, weather, and many more like this. The previous year, he was less worried than his neighbour in Anur village of Sidlaghatta taluk, Chikkaballapura district, Karnataka.

The main crop of the farmers in that area is capsicum. His neighbour sold Capsicums at the price ranging from Rs. 12 to Rs. 28 per kg whereas Ashwatha was sure he would get Rs. 30 per kg as he was in a contract with the agritech startup, Clover in Bangalore. Clover picks up the produce from Ashwatha’s greenhouse. He is aware of the market price which tends to go up to Rs. 60 per kg when there is a shortage of supply and more of the demand, but he contends with the stable price.

His crops are less vulnerable to the pests and the weather conditions compared to his ancestors who grew vegetables for the consumers in Bangalore 65 km away. Three years ago, he adopted precision farming with greenhouses. Every now and then at the periodic interval, an agronomist from Clover visits his farm. The agronomist suggests and advises him on the cultivation schedules as well as crop maintenance including the introduction of new vegetables like zucchini.

Ashwatha’s first choice wasn’t Clover in agritech. He was engaged with an Indo-Dutch venture, FoodTechIndia previously.  Ashwatha says, ” I had a tie-up with them for two crops, but the problem was support. Clover’s regular visits help.”

Costs are lowered on pesticides due to the protected environment in the greenhouses which increases the growth of capsicum to nearly 60 tonnes a season compared to that of 22 tonnes an acre in the open field earlier. The recovery expectations of the amount spent on the greenhouse structure are three years. Presently, the predictability of his farming he fond of.

He gets weekly payments for the produce that is collected from the farm. There is no need to carry his produce to the government APMC market, which is 18 km away, struggle with the middlemen, and wait for his delayed payments. Ashwath says, “Assured returns give me the confidence to go ahead with the cultivation without compromising on inputs costs.”

Industrial Way of Approach

The ring of greenhouses clover supports, in Bengaluru helps it handle the most basic issue of predictability and consistency of horticulture output to walk in pace with the urban consumer demand.

Co-founder of clover Avinash B. R. says, “We do the orchestration for our network of farms. We know which farmer is going out of cycle for a crop and the appropriate time for another farmer to plant the crop keeping in mind the demand for that SKU.”

Before jumping into entrepreneurship, Avinash was a manager for Bosch. He comes from an automotive background. Avinash correlates Clover’s approach to Toyota which specifies the quality and quantity of components from the vendors and supports them to produce the parts. “That’s the kind of industrial approach we are bringing into the volatile entity like farming,” he says.

Clover wishes to build a brand that promises quality in perishable vegetables for the consumers. “We pick up produce and sell to consumers, which makes a supply chain agile and fast,” says Avinash.

The COVID-19 pandemic has stuck the startup hard. They were serving hotels, retailers, and restaurants before the COVID-19 crisis and did have a predictable demand. Later, they came up with a B2C model reaching out to the Kirana stores and apartment complexes. Furthermore, they plan a website and app for consumers to order directly. Avinash says, “We were looking to a B2C down the line but COVID has advanced the timeline.”

Switching to B2C is not easy. The B2B sales team had to be reassigned and new systems were built. Even during the lockdown, the startup ensured that all the farm produce was picked up and distributed. in Bangalore one of its warehouses was an upon time zone half the workers did show up at the other two co-founders pitched in, sorting grading and packing. “The first three or four weeks were intense,” says Avinash.

Directly to Consumers

A positive outcome from the pandemic was an upward trend in inquiries from farmers which included floriculturists who were affected by traditional sales outlets shutting which meant managing double SKUs from 40 to 80 and in new areas, getting the best practices for farmers.

Avinash Aadarsh co-founders Santosh Narasipura Gururaj Rao and Arvind Murali who are childhood friends grew up and study in engineering in Bangalore. in 2018 the four friends came together and created an experimental farm near Nelamangala in Bangalore. They got other farmers to adopt the model.

When they were in stealth mode, the seed funding they got was from Accel and Mayfield. Just before the pandemic, in February, series A round of $5.5 million was led by Omnivore and in the previous month, a debt funding of nearly $1 million was from Alteria as COVID accelerated the progress. With its hub-and-spoke model, Clover has expanded to Hyderabad.

Egynte brings the new startup playbook to avoid unicorn habits

Though lean startup is the best method to grow, a very small number of startups exist as lean startups. The culture of massive venture capital backing can be difficult to resist.

The playbook for startups in Silicon Valley was comprehensive for years. You could raise money, get more users, and never turn it down. And then, you could conclude the business model part.

Eventually, you could pick up that billion-plus valuation and you have made it. However, the sheen was already off the overvalued-company-with-a-scary-balance-sheet by the outset of 2020.

Vineet Jain, CEO of Egnyte, has long been boosting for a new breed of a startup – Stallions – firms that might not be charming as compared to its consumer users but proves creditable fiscal prudence.

Presently, the COVID-19 crisis is dominating the economic system and threatening the foreseeable future. But the need for stallions is that much more putative. Ultimately, this has completely flipped the knowledge of ours about building a tech startup. Though the situation is unpredictable, few investors are investing bravely. So, here are the reasons.

Possibly delay raising money

Though lean startup is the best method to grow, a very small number of startups exist as lean startups. The culture of massive venture capital backing can be difficult to resist.

Egnyte was flashing constantly consistent growth in 2013. This was the time when its investors have driven them to raise more money, but they denied it. Everyone found their decision bizarre. But the fact was they were not ready, they still had not fully looked upon their business model.

It is true that if you are working out on your own, the market will point out you. More money can help but it can make things messier.

Do not fix your business model on someone else’s   cent

Yes. This is heterodox. Many cooing for risks and pivot and then pivot. But right now, startups need inceptive operations with a capital sound mindset, figuring out to get positive cash flow as soon as possible. So, this is the best method for your startup’s real need identification and the path to sustainability.

Stretch your market when you have maxed out

Many times we have seen unicorns launch into new areas – news products or market – before they have been adept in their core competencies. But this directs towards distractions and sluggish responses and errors.

Find out the best talent

Creating an environment of inclusion is a major boon. Companies with multiple talented workforces outperform their rivalries and signify an overwhelming data. Geographic diversity is one overlooked consideration. Selecting candidates from Silicon Valley or established tech hubs like Austin or New York may accidentally close you off to the best talent.

Egnyte did the best thing that it bought key remote hires and open offices in Poland, Raleigh, and Spokane. Elongating the land has helped them to bring in talents with a range of backgrounds and experiences and that has pitched into the success of Egnyte.

Moreover, a silver lining of quarantine has been showing how productive and active their remote teams really are. This is an encouraging sign that remote hiring is unlocking a whole new world for today’s startups.

Work upon acquisition

Acquisitions are challenging such as compatibility issues, looming culture problems, and more distractions. Even the strongest and the most financially sound mega corporations or conglomerates found the same. But there are many unicorns that buy companies because they can afford. This situation can trip you off and bring new burden if acquisition doesn’t add exponentially to your own business.

Putting IPO on the side

It is going to be a bit even for the definite of things in Startup land. Focus on building your company completely and the rest things will follow.

This is somewhat hard to hear, and even harder to grasp. Yet, we at some point realise unicorns aren’t real but stallions are. They are beasts with stronger muscles. They direct the blinder and make them run. Therefore, they can move faster further than other animals, with a purpose.

Here’s how China has its roots deep in the Startup ecosphere in India

Chinese roots are deep in the Indian economy. In the Indian start-up ecosystem, Chinese companies are big investors.

On June 15, 2020, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the deadliest clash with the Chinese Troops in Galwan Valley of Ladakh during disengagement exercise to end an extended standoff along the Line of Actual Control.

First Indian casualties’ conflict with China since 1975 has pushed the already tense ties furthermore. The anti-China sentiments will grow stronger as time passes that will call for the boycott of Chinese goods in the coming days.

Chinese roots are deep in the Indian economy. In the Indian start-up ecosystem, Chinese companies are big investors. This has not only created a new class of entrepreneurs but also has given India some new jobs all the way as well as the technological push that was needed.

Some of the biggest Chinese players in the Indian Startup ecosystem are:

Ant Financial/Alibaba

Ant Financial, the Jack Ma-owned fintech arm conglomerate Alibaba group, one of the most prolific Chinese investors in India has invested million dollars in Paytm and Snapdeal. It has invested in almost seven companies across India and the amount invested is close to $2.7 billion.

Apart from Paytm, it has separately funded the e-commerce offering Paytm Mall as well. Ant Financial had said in November 2019, it is been trying to raise a billion dollars for the sake of fresh investments in startups in India and Southeast Asia.

Tencent

Another major investor in the Indian startup sector is Tencent. Unicorns like Flipkart, Swiggy, and Ola are sponsored by Tencent. Back in China, WeChat, an instant messaging platform that is their equivalent of WhatsApp is run by Tencent as well as a host of e-commerce business and gaming apps.

Tencent has around 15 startups and close to $2 billion of exposure in India. Some of the growth-stage players such as Khatabook, MyGate, Niyo solutions, and some other established players such as PolicyBazar and Udaan are backed by Tencent. Reportedly, Tencent is also in talks with multiple new startups looking for rounds in the range of $10 to $15 million.

Shunwei Capital

Indian startups like food delivery giant Zomato, social commerce startup Meesho, messaging app Sharechat and lending platforms Krazybee and Loantap Shunwei Capital have a lead. Across 17 companies, the investment made is $129 million.

Fosun Group

Fosun RZ Capital an interesting Chinese investor, founded in 2013 is fast emerging. In 12 Indian startups, the investment made is around $85 million. Some of the late-stage investments like Ixigo, Delhivery, and some of the early-stage investments are LetsTransport, Mylo, and others. The firm run by Tej Kapoor cuts smaller cheques and does not compete with the likes of Alibaba and Tencent directly. In India, the digital lending startup, Kishht, is the only fintech investment by Fosun.

Xiaomi

The popular smartphone brand and maker, Xiaomi is also an active investor in Indian startup sector. Including lending startup Krazybee and Sharechat it has led round in few others. Manu Kumar Jain, the top India executive said that the company was thinking to invest in Rs 6000 crore in across 100 Indian startups back in 2018. It has invested in 8 companies around $61 million as of now.

Hillhouse Capital

An investor in Baidu, Grab Airbnb and others, Hillhouse Capital has already invested in more than $165 million in India. Including Swiggy, Udaan, and Cred, it has stakes in 7 companies. Hillhouse was started in 2005 and it has been active in the mobility segment since then. It invested $50 million in an online automobile comparison platform CarDekho in 2014.

TR Capital

TR Capital popularly known as the secondary specialist is an active secondary investor in India. In 2018, it has even set up an office in Mumbai. Amongst the nine companies it has invested in Flipkart, Lenskart, Urban Ladder, and BigBasket are some. The investments made by it in India are to the tune of $111 million.

BYJU’S competitor, GoodEd gained 10 cr. revenue per annum, in past 4 years

GoodEd Technologies Pvt. Ltd. was founded by Kapil, Jay, Anis, and Ghanshyam during 2015

GoodEd’s co-founder, Ghanshyam Tiwari noticed the weakness of the state’s Public High School System while he was working with Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar. During the board exams, images of mass copying went viral over the internet which showed how relatives were helping students cheat by climbing buildings and trees. Ghanshyam and his several friends which included Kapil Gupta, Jai Prakash, and Anis Bari discussed this problem together. All of these believed in purpose and value for education.

GoodEd Technologies Pvt. Ltd. was founded by Kapil, Jay, Anis, and Ghanshyam during 2015. The idea behind this was to build a strong network of good high school teachers who are capable of teaching students online in vernacular languages. Ghanshyam told, “GoodEd is solving for providing affordable access to aspirational programmes online in the vernacular languages to high school students. GoodEd provides direct, video-based coaching to high school students in vernacular languages. The company aspires to offer best-in-class learning from good teachers to high school students using recorded and live video lectures, quizzes, tests, counselling and more.”

A network of outstanding teachers by references from students at IITs and peers was built in January 2016. GoodEd succeeds in creating a very strong network of over a hundred teachers who once taught for IIT-JEE and medical entrances by April 2016.

In May 2016, when the supreme court announced the National Entrance and Eligibility Test (NEET) of combined entrance examination in all the states for those students who aspired to join MBBS and BDS courses, the journey of GoodEd began instantly. After GoodEd built the teachers’ network, it made sure to instantly build NEETprep.com whose goal was to set new thresholds in not so crowded markets for the aspirants preparing for NEET exam. Compared to 2 to 2016, nearly 114% more than the seven lakh students who wrote the exam will be writing in 2020. Almost 15 lakh aspirants will be writing the exam in 2020.

“Right of the supreme court declared that NEET exam will be combined entrance across the country for admissions to MBBS and BDS, GoodEd went live in 24 hours, announcing an online video course for NEET 2016 which was to be held 12 weeks later. The company created the learning model, content, learning management system, and sales support on the go as students began by the subscription to the course.” says Ghanshyam.

In a B2C format, this startup will be able to offer courses to more than 1000 students across the country in the next 3 months. “The first year at GoodEd became the foundation for creating NEETPrep online programmes+ videos, quizzes, technology, and the system online marketing and sales. NEETPrep, now a leader in the K12 test practice has more than nearly 500,000 subscribers learning free on YouTube, 25,000 paying students enrolled in online programs, and 60000 daily active users who attempt more than 1.2 million questions every day on the website.” says Ghanshyam.

According to GoodEd, the students and parents get to know about NEETPrep basically through word-of-mouth, YouTube, and the market campaigns that are digitally circulated by the start-up. Firstly, the students sign up on the website for a discussion session with an educational counsellor. The educational counsellor next suggests the students glance through the free trial course.  Once the students are convinced, they buy the 1st year or 2nd year course for NEET. Once the enrolment process is completed, a full schedule, chapter, and topic wise recorded video lectures, live lectures, online tests, doubt service, quizzes, and constant counselling is made available to the students. For those students who do not have access to quality internet, the videos are also made available encrypted in a pen drive.

Learner.in is a B2B2C online high school extension. The schools who sign up on Learner.in, get a full-time course set for the students to learn directly through recorded and live lectures. Students can get themselves enrolled in various courses which will give them access to learning materials, tests, online doubt clearing services as well as quizzes.

Not a bit of personal capital was invested by the founders in the startup.  From seasoned investors led by Traxcn and other angels which includes Anand Chandrasekharan, Kunal Shah, Aditya Berlia, Mekin Maheshwari, and others GoodEd secured an Angel investment of rupees 2.4 crores. In 2016 and 2017, GoodEd was able to raise Rs. 3.3 crore in angel rounds.

Two different products are run by GoodEd. A B2C offering, NEETPrep.com leads the online K-12 test prep in NEET in India. The products included are Two-year, one-year, and short-term video coaching on NEET. The range of these products is from Rs, 35,000 to Rs. 7,000 as well as learning materials such as the test series and masterclasses which ranges from Rs. 500 to Rs. 3000.

Ghanshyam also added, “A lot of videos, quizzes, and tests are also made available for free on YouTube and over the website.” Another platform product offer by GoodEd is Learner.in, which now runs an online school with live lectures for over to 150 schools across the country and nearly 15,000 students in classes XI and XII.

Challenges faced

Building a B2C business in the market which was surrounded by cash-rich incumbents and heavily invested in completing startups, was a big challenge for the founders. “We asked several questions. How do you raise institutional capital when the founding team is not one that fits the conventional frame? What happens when you face the reality of the sink or swim every time the cash reserve becomes thin? How do you attract top talent when cash reserve is thin, competitors have high publicity and backing from top investors, and ESOPs is run out of favour as incentives?” says Ghanshyam.

In September 2017, the startup faced the most difficult times. The startup ran out of cash, the investment made was not on the plover and the cash was yet to become positive. Again, as signups made by the students increased over the next six months the figures of GoodEd read positive by April 2018. During this period, GoodEd increased the average revenue per user and the number of paid and free students for NEETPrep. The backbone of the business model at GoodEd is the successful steps that are mentioned above. Starting in 2018, with a CAGR over 200 percent in the last three years the startup has remained profitable.

Some future plans

In the upcoming next 18 months, NEETprep plans to enroll 100,000 students into different long-term and short-term paid programs. At Learner.in, the goal is to become the online extension school for more than 10,200 private high schools across the country and be capable of serving more than 5,00,000 students. In support of this expansion, the startup has made plans to raise Series A of $8 million on the back of $3 million for million to $4 million in financial year 20-21 revenues which are expected to be up by 200 percent from that of the financial year 19-20.

“There is no doubt that a mix of online and offline education would trump pure classroom-based learning in the next two to three years. We do not think that any of the incumbents, large or small, has figured out the complete replacement of classroom coaching and the one that figures out who will win in the huge market. We believe that the opportunity trick in K-12 space lies in developing the requisite motivation in the student to consume the content offered. Significant efforts of GoodEd Technologies currently are going into developing delivery mechanisms that build the requisite motivation in the student to consistently study and test their learning levels.” says Ghanshyam.

There are 25,000 students who have enrolled themselves in the paid programs and over 500,000 students who use the limited access to study from the free content available on YouTube channel presently on NEETprep.  The value proposition for NEET prep is a full stacked course with a strong brand, a very influential and popular brand ambassador in Kapil Gupta as well as a product that claims to be better than offline coaching.

Learner.in is work in progress. To become a plug and play expandable online extension school for every high school across India is the USP at Learner.in.  The revenue of the start-up in financial year 19-20 was Rs 10 crore and the expectations for the financial year 20-21 are somewhere between Rs. 18 to 25 crores.

Impacts of COVID-19

NEETprep.com has become one amongst the top 1600 most visited sites as per SimilarWeb. As all the schools are shut and all the students are indoors due to the coronavirus crisis, the classroom coaching concept has to be struck off by default, online learning and teaching have become the only option for time being. “Over the next two to three months when students universally would be studying online, we strongly believe that a lot of these students would reconsider going to physical coaching again. A lot of preconceived notions about online education would get broken. So, that aspect is good for us as well as for incumbents in online education. Traffic on NEETprep.com is up to 500 percent post the lockdown,” details Ghanshyam.

NEETprep made sure to move all its faculty, technology, and operations team as well as counselors to work from home because the most important part was motivating students and get them back to studies again. The first live class conducted by Kapil on March 25th wherein he asked the students to keep themselves busy with non educational tasks. This startup competes with BYJU’s. Anyway, the founders strongly believe in India, edtech is a large opportunity with over 150 million students in schools and 35 million graduate students.

Amid Boycott China slogan, Realme CEO revealed its smartphones are made in India

To stop the noise for #BoycottChina, Seth squelched the concerns of those who have been interested in knowing about the history of the company and if it belongs to China or not.

Madhav Sheth, CEO of Realme India, has come forward to describe the brand’s history and dedication towards Indian consumers amidst the #BoycottChina scenario. Madhav Sheth in his latest episode of Ask Madhav series on YouTube has revealed that Realme is an Indian Startup. To stop the noise for #BoycottChina, Seth squelched the concerns of those who have been interested in knowing about the history of the company and if it belongs to China or not.

Basically, Sheth has answered two things.

Replying to the question that Realme is an Indian brand, he said, “I can proudly say Realme is an Indian startup, which is now a global MNC (multinational corporation).” While recognizing the achievement of the brand in such a short period of time, he expressed, “Realme is among the top seven smartphone brands in the world.”

But the Realme page on Wikipedia shows that it is a Chinese Smartphone manufacturer which has BBK Electronics as its parent company that began its operation in 2018, starting with India.  Moreover, Realme has spun off from Oppo and headquartered at Shenzhen in China.

The recent unrest between India and China has engined the anti – China sentiment which started with a sagacity that the deadly coronavirus is a gift from China. So, it is becoming more difficult for Chinese brands to publicizes their product with the #BoycottChina slogan, hence, resulting in less sale for them theoretically.

A collection of Internet citizens shows a denial of purchasing and consuming products which are either belonging to a Chinese brand or having some sort of connotation to China. This has accelerated the hurdle rate, especially for tech brands. Realme which took birth from the Chinese company Oppo has now stuck by the anti-China squad.

Although, Realme was successful in India as it contributes more than 50% of Realme’s overall revenue. This is the reason the company introduces its Mostly products in India first. For example, Realme TV, Realme Watch, and other AIoT were recently launched in India before other markets.

Despite having no infrastructure to access 5G in India, Realme was the first brand to introduce X50 Pro 5G, India’s first 5G smartphone, argued by the company about its future-proof. Interestingly, most of the Chines companies including Realme has followed the Make in India initiative.

Sheth informed, “the company is in line with all the government of India initiatives and that it procures more than 60 percent of components required for its products from local suppliers.”

Each and every Realme smartphones are made in India and the manufacturing facility which is Oppo’s facility at Greater Noida has generated more than 7,500 jobs which will further elevate to 10,000 by the end of 2020. The company has future plan to expand the offline presence in India with the recruitment of over 5,000 “sales promoters.”

Sheth expressed, “We understand the Indian users much better. We are now looking to become self-reliant in the future.”

YFret offers online shopping in an easy way especially for non-tech savvies

URA helps businesses draw their customers, also for the new visitors, and offers personalized recommendations accordingly.

Everyone is wished to have a Genie to listen to one’s wish list and so US-based startup has brought such a Genie for us.

Tina Mani, the co-Founder of Delaware, US-based startup YFret, works upon artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies that help customers in a store and online shopping sites to look upon products and add them to the cart or wishlist. It offers the overall shopping experience conversationally, any kind of without manual intervention.

Moreover, this is a B2B model-based startup that serves retailers and e-commerce platforms, hence, it does not provide service to customers directly.

Alluring its customers

YFret was founded in 2015. Currently, it has Tanishq, Titan, Fastrack, FabAlley, and over 100 small and medium businesses in its client list.  When businesses embody YFret’s service into their website, a real-time personalization engine AURA will be located. This also provided voice shopping. AURA helps businesses draw their customers, also for the new visitors, and offers personalized recommendations accordingly.

For example, if someone has to buy clothes, then AURA reads and records a customer’s taste by analyzing certain parameters like the product category, gender, sleeves, and patterns of the fabric, and budget, thus gaining a 360-degree understanding of the audience.

Moreover, customers can also check trends through it and re-targeted by businesses on multiple channels such as messages, email, and browser or app notifications. Tina wanted to make e-commerce experience easy which is popular in the country. This week, YFret is stepping into brick-and-mortar stores to enable contactless service, introducing with a store in Kerala.

Tina explained, “Customers can visit kiosks equipped with a TV screen and tablets and initiate a conversation by asking for a product. All the options will appear on the screen from which they can shortlist a few and the seller will then present the selected few out of 20 odd products to try.”

She believes that this will bring a new era of shopping as it is apt for social distancing norms during the COVID-19 pandemic and also feasible to reach the older generation and people who are not tech-savvy. The moto of YFret is to help retailers to flourish in a similar way on virtual platforms. Presently, the startup provides services in Hindi and English and will add regional languages too in the future.

Market value

YFret is competing closely with Haptik, a conversational AI platform owned by Reliance Jio, which provides a similar service. But the co-founder of YFret has trust in its personalization engine, Blueroo, voice commerce startup, works in a similar manner on the global platform.

But the key challenge is to raise funds. So far, she has raised $345,000 from friends and family. Currently, the company is in talks to raise funds and wishes to pull up the product to the global market including the US and UK and scale faster.

She further explained, “These were not institutional funds but helped me in staying afloat for some time. If I had raised funds in one go, it would have been easier to plan for the long term or for a year.”

Turning towards the entrepreneur ecosystem

Tina had worked in Telecom industry for two decades and left it long back and took the entrepreneurial plunge into the booming e-commerce space.

Tina Mani is a computer science graduate and worked as a coder at Nortel telecom company in the US in 1995. She always believed that product management was her forte. She was also a member of a team that launched the 3G network in the US and when the company decided to introduce the network in South India with BSNL, she grabbed the opportunity and come back to India in 2005.

Later, she worked at Nokia Siemens where she came across the cultural shock. She recalled, “Nortel had an open culture and I never felt like I was working in a large setup, I got the freedom to do what I wanted. But when I moved to Nokia Siemens, there was a hierarchy of sorts, a lot of politics and too many people trying to do the same thing. I just felt meaningless.” In 2012, she resigned from her job and forayed into the startup world in 2015.

Tina is being characterized by an explorer and writer. Now, she is engaged in hosting webinars, editing short video content as a marketing strategy post the COVID-19 outbreak. Her wish is to make YFret a go-to product for conversational commerce in India as well as in global markets like the US.

Top 10 startups forced to lay off employees amidst coronavirus pandemic

Here is the list of top 10 startups that have lopped off manpower to sustain the impact of COVID-19 crisis

The adverse impact of the Coronavirus crisis on the Indian economy can be seen clearly. This unthinkable virus is engulfing the world in such a way that no one expected. This has not even spared the Indian Startup ecosystem which is the 3rd largest in the world.

Several surveys have been conducted on startups.

The following results are found

  • 70 percent of startups have less than three months of cash runway.

This is the detail of Nasscom survey.

  • Around 40 percent of startups have either temporarily shut down operations or are on the verge of shutting down.

This is the result of the industry body’s month-long e-survey, which was conducted to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Indian startups.

There are many challenges that startups face across sectors i.e. from food tech to hospitality and travel in order to sustain their business in terms of cash liquidity, getting funds from investors, etc.

This has led to, on one hand, job losses, temporary leave, or furlough of many employees, and on the other hand, founders and CEOs are cutting their salaries to make up the revenue downturns.

Here is the list of top 10 startups that have lopped off manpower to sustain the impact of COVID-19 crisis

  1. Ola

Last month, ride-hailing unicorn Ola has informed that it would lay off around 1,400 employees due to crumbling situation. Although, salary cut was observed among its senior management to avoid such a situation.

But informed it would be the last time any COVID-19-related job cuts would be made. The company did not mention the department or positions that would be affected.

Co-founder and CEO of Ola, Bhavish Aggarwal, has sent an email to employees in which it was written: “Ever since my last email to you six weeks ago, I had hoped to write again soon in better times. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 crisis continues to unfold all around us, causing unprecedented economic and social destruction. It has also become evident that the coronavirus crisis will not be eliminated any time soon. We will rather have to learn to live with the virus and resultant implications.”

Therefore, the revenue of Ola has plunged to nearly 95% over the last two months. The company was permitted to restart its services in 160s cities in mid-May and looking for ways to conserve cash aggressively for the future.

  1. Swiggy

In May, food tech lead Swiggy has made an announcement that the company would be knocked down and reduced costs.

Co-founder and CEO of Swiggy, Sriharsha Majety, has sent an email to employees which stated, “Today is one of the saddest days for Swiggy as we must go through an unfortunate downsizing exercise. With a heavy heart, I have tried to share the reasons and details of the process below, because you deserve to know. In line with the above business decisions, we, unfortunately, have to part ways with 1,100 of our employees, spanning across grades and functions in the cities and head office over the next few days.”

In solace, the mail has also mentioned that all affected employees would get at least three months of salary, irrespective of their notice period or tenure.

Swiggy is also focussing on a healthcare plan. It will offer medical insurance cover for employees who have lost jobs and their families till December 31, 2020, and also offer insurance cover for their parents till December 31, 2020. Not only this, Swiggy is concerned, so it is focussing to ensure a smooth career transition and offering necessary career support for the next three months for the affected employees.

  1. Curefit

Curefit, too, has fired 300 trainers, mostly access staff, who were assigned for a future extension from smaller towns.

Co-founders of Curefit, Mukesh Bansal, and Ankit Nagori had confirmed, “Close to 90 percent of our trainers are still with Curefit. We are, in fact, committed to keeping them on the payroll for the foreseeable future while we ride off this crisis. We are also supporting them in all ways possible. While there is a change in their compensation models, it has been done to ensure that we are well set to ride this crisis out in the long term.”

Mukesh further informed, “Even for the trainers who have been laid off, we are giving them two months of severance and two months of salary. We are also providing them with health insurance for an extended period and a separate emergency fund, which they can tap into.”

  1. Uber

 

Uber has made two rounds of layoffs in two weeks. In the first round, it has laid off 3,700 headcounts via Zoom call in mid-May, and in the second round, it has laid off 3,000 headcounts. In a note to employees, CEO of Uber, Dara Khosrowshah, informed, “Uber will be re-focussing on its core business, moving people and delivering food and groceries.”

In fact, Uber will close or consolidate 45 offices globally and there will be an impact of layoffs on almost all departments. Moreover, the company is planning to close its incubator and AI labs and pursue strategic alternatives for its job recruiting app, Uber Works.

  1. Zomato

 

Zomato, a Gurgaon-based food delivery giant, has made an announcement of reducing 13% of its workforce along with salary cuts as the COVID-19 crisis has a worse impact on its business.

Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal of Zomato, has sent a note to employees, that stated, “Multiple aspects of our business have changed dramatically over the last couple of months and many of these changes are expected to be permanent. While we continue to build a more focused Zomato, we do not foresee having enough work for all our employees.”

Due to lockdown, several restaurants are closing permanently which is ultimately affecting the business of food delivery. It is expected that there would be a further 25% – 40% shrinkage in the next 6 to 12 months.

Moreover, the company will continue to provide support in terms of financial, outplacement support, healthcare, and equity to its affected employees. Besides, the company will continue to provide a 50% salary for the next 6 months.

  1. OYO

OYO has put some of its employees on furlough globally. Founder and Group CEO of OYO, Ritesh Agarwal, has sent a letter and said in the video message, “as global occupancies continue to reduce in the hospitality industry, furlough (in markets like the US) or temporary leaves in select other markets will give OYO the opportunity to do what is right for the business while ensuring employees are safeguarded against a potential job cut.”

Ritesh in a press statement stated, “While taking these necessary and tough decisions in the interest and health of the business and its long-term sustainability across markets world over, we assure we are not considering job cuts at any location at this time, despite the significant economic pressure.”

To all the affected employees, the company is allotting employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) worth around Rs 130 crore as part of its efforts to minimize the disruption being experienced by them.

Ritesh expressed, “I would like to recognize your contributions and this love and passion for OYO by making you a co-owner and shareholder of the company. I would like to inform you that all impacted OYOpreneurs would be eligible for ESOPs worth around Rs 130 crore (around $18 million).”

  1. Livspace

Livespace, Bengaluru-based home design, and renovation startup have laid off 450 employees due to the coronavirus crisis. Due to this decision, around 15% of the organization has been affected but this was the last resort for them.

Founders of Livespace to forgo their salary in the month of April, team leaders handed over their annual bonuses, and the company has introduced success-based variable pay across the broad. Moreover, the company will offer health coverage to the affected employees and their families for the next three months.

  1. MakeMyTrip

Lockdown has impacted brutally on travel firms. MakeMyTrip has also laid off 350 employees.  Executive Chairman and founder Deep Kalra and Group CEO Rajesh Magow of MakeMyTrip Group sent an email to employees which stated,  “even as times remain unpredictable, what is evident is that the impact of COVID-19 crisis is going to be long drawn for the company. Keeping this in mind, we have had to take this sad but inevitable decision of rightsizing our workforce in these businesses.”

  1. BookMyShow

 

Online ticket booking platform BookMyShow has also put 270 employees on furlough as the expected revenue in the coming month will be intensively reduced due to the pandemic.

Ashish Hemrajani, Founder-CEO of BookMyShow, has sent an email to affected employees stating, “…we have had to resort to the task of reducing our costs to align them with what we believe will be greatly reduced revenues in the months to come…out of 1,450 employees at BookMyShow in India and globally, about 270 employees across various functions and teams will be impacted through this exercise.”

Further, teams that are staying back will be facing a salary cut from 10% to 50% depends upon the leadership level and have to give their bonuses and salary raise. Moreover, the company is trying to provide financial support continued health insurance cover and outplacement support for affected employees.

  1. Cardekho

Cardekho, an online auto classified website, has also laid-off employees and slashed salaries due to the bumpy ride of the Indian automobile sector and disruption caused by the pandemic.

Girnarsoft Group, the parent company of Car Dekho, said in an email statement: “We were constrained to look at rightsizing and salary cuts in a few businesses given the period of slow recovery, and in some cases a permanent change in the pattern of consumer spends.”

It is expected that the number of laid-off employees is as high as 200.

Sanitization and disinfecting made easy with CoronaOven

Log 9 Materials Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru headquartered nanotechnology startup has been trying to solve the surface sanitizing problem with the help of its product CoronaOven.

The Covid-19 pandemic has made people completely aware of their hygiene and hygienical practices. Apart from keeping the hands clean and sanitizing them every now and then, it has become extremely necessary to clean and disinfect objects as well as surfaces that are regularly touched by many people.

Log 9 Materials Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru headquartered nanotechnology startup has been trying to solve the surface sanitizing problem with the help of its product CoronaOven. CoronaOven is a patent-pending Technology this oven uses UV-C light to disinfect the surfaces of various objects.

It was founded by Akash Singhal and Kartik Hajela, in 2014. Log 9 Materials is a graphene (single layer of carbon atoms) research and development startup. Log 9 Materials is involved in designing original products using graphene and is helping in commercializing its use.

Akshay says, “CoronaOven is primarily a disinfectant technology. It sanitizers any object which can be placed inside its chamber. It uses appropriate UV-C light intensity approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to kill coronavirus and other pathogens.”

Working of CoronaOven

As per the co-founder, this plug-in disinfecting chamber is a little bigger than a microwave oven. It can be used to disinfect any materials which will fit into it. For example, e-commerce packages, grocery items, milk packets, wallet, masks, gloves, electronic gadgets, among others. Within 10 minutes, all the items which are put into this oven will be disinfected.

Akshay explained, this machine uses the in-built UV lamp and is designed in such a way to disinfect all the objects from every possible angle. Not only does it have certification from ICMR but this product has been tested and verified even in the laboratory of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

“The chamber is contactless and provides cold sanitization thus no harm is done to the products via heating. Apart from this, at a time when mask and gloves are facing supply shortages, sanitizing the product and reusing them is a better alternative than watching them” he adds.

Talking of the technology, the co-founder added a certain controlled amount of UV-C light permanently damages the RNA sequence of the SARS-CoV2 virus. It also damages the ability of the virus to multiply in living cells.

In a press release, this startup has also claimed that the CoronaOven has received a biological indicator test certificate from the Trustwell Hospital in Bangalore. Presently, it is undergoing BSL-3 virological testing in the ICMR- approved laboratories.

Apart from this, to test the use of this product on different microorganisms such as gram-positive and negative bacteria and drug-resistant fungus which are actually known to be difficult to disinfect from objects and surfaces, Log 9 Materials has joined hands with ICMR approved Dr. Dangs Path Lab in Delhi.

More of the business plans

Presently this startup is providing three Business to Consumers (B2C) variants in CoronaOven which depends on the size of the machine. As per Akshay, 20 litres variant costs Rs. 11,000, 33 litres variant cost Rs. 16,000 and 40 litres variant costs Rs. 23,999. he also said that instead of 10 minutes the 40-litre variant requires only 4 minutes to disinfect the product. Log 9 Materials has sold approximately 1,500 CoronaOven machines to date.

Talking about the future plans, the co-founder said, “We are now planning to expand the technology to disinfect bigger surfaces and expand the application of the product. We are now developing larger variants too. For example, for sanitizing baggage and trolleys at the airports, cabinet-sized machines to disinfect body coveralls and PPE gears, disinfecting products in apparel stores, etc.”

He also added that the startup is already in talking terms with Bangalore International airport for installing larger variants to sanitize luggage.

Akshay explained that emits the coronavirus pandemic many others have come up with UV light disinfection solutions. but he on the other hand believes it is most important for technology should be backed up by certifications and Science.

He also explained that this technology only works with a certain amount of UV light and it needs to be measured as well as certified as done by this particular startup.

Delhi headquartered startup, Green Grapes Devices is one among its competitors, has developed the UV Sterilization box. This can be used to disinfect small-sized and daily use items such as cell phones, keys, watches, rings, masks, etc.

Indian Unicorn, OYO falls into trouble after many accusations

Indian Unicorn OYO Hotel and Homes are being dragged to the court for breach of contract by another hospitality firm.

Indian Unicorn OYO Hotel and Homes are being dragged to the court for breach of contract by another hospitality firm. According to the Delhi based, Pearl Hospitality and Events, OYO has refused to pay the amount OYO owes for exiting the property and breaching their contract.

The company further explained that on September 4, 2019, it signed a ‘Management Service Agreement’ with OYO. According to the agreement, from September 12, 2020, OYO has a lock-in period of 16 months. If in any case this agreement is cancelled before the lock-in period, the company would have to pay Pearl Hospitality a particular amount. the hotel partner claimed that OYO made its payment only till November.

Reportedly, last week, Delhi High Court has issued a notice to OYO to give a response to the complaint that is filed by the Delhi based hotel partner. For the breach of the lock-in period terms in the contract, the Delhi based hotel partner is now seeking a financial compensation of INR 5 cr. The reply from OYO must be received by June 19.

The legal counsel of OYO informed the Delhi High Court that Pearl hospitality took the discussed property on lease from the original landlord, the agreement of which was terminated this year in January. The Softbank-backed company also added that as the deal between the landlord and Pearl Hospital is terminated, there is “no question of petitioner maintaining any claim.”

Despite repeated requests, Pearl Hospitality has not submitted many documents like no objection certifications, licenses, the legal counsel added.  A spokesperson commented on the case that the company will not comment on the specific of the case as it is sub judice. “At OYO, safety and security of guests and employees are paramount. Hence compliance of all mandatory guidelines and license is non-negotiable and any failure to comply invokes relevant corrective actions.” they added.

Conclave Infratech, a Hyderabad based hospitality company, has moved the National Company Law Tribunal’s Ahmedabad chapter against OYO for non-payment of dues in March 2020. OYO was accused by Conclave Infratech of breaching the assured revenue clause in the contract, for which it owned approximately INR 13 lakh every month since May 2018.

OYO has been multiple times accused, for breaching its clause especially the minimum guaranteed dues clause. Hotel owner from Bangalore had filed an FIR against Ritesh Agarwal and some other top executive for non-payment of the assured threshold revenue of INR 7 per month in November 2019.

Apart from this, a constant protest against OYO is going on since August 2019. All those hotel owners who are not affiliated to any major union association also carried out their own independent protests in multiple cities which includes Nashik, Kota, Manali, Jaipur, Pune, Delhi, and Ahmedabad.

Postman raises $150 million at $2 billion valuation

Postman is a SaaS-based (Software as a Service) API (Application programming interface) development firm that has raised $150 million led by Insight Partners at a valuation of $2 billion

Postman is a SaaS-based (Software as a Service) API (Application programming interface) development firm that has raised $150 million led by Insight Partners at a valuation of $2 billion. CRV and Nexus Venture Partners are existing partners who have also participated in it.

Therefore, it is a high jump in the valuation of company. Last year, it has raised around $350 million at a valuation of $50 billion worth Series B round. In the global markets, the valuation of Postman has increase by 6X times which is a testimony to the rising clout of Indian product companies.

Poster-boys in the local SaaS area are FreshWorks, Eka Software, Zoho, Druva, Icertis. The mentioned companies will be joined by Postman in the coveted list of SaaS unicorns from India.

In fact, Postman has been elevated $207 million in total funding across three institutional rounds with the Series C round. Postman, Bengaluru, and San Fransisco – based firm has 250 staff in its ecosystem and Microsoft, Twitter, PayPal, and DocuSign being its customers.

For building APIs by using a collaboration tool, Postman has assigned 10 million developers across 500,000 organization.

Postman is led by Abhinav Asthana. It has permitted firms to create APIs directly in its ecosystem, maintained a single source of truth along with supports such as API schema, version control, and tagging.

The company charges as per the size of the firms like $8 per user per month for a team of 50 people and $18 per month for larger firms. Asthana stated, “Developers all over the world is rapidly transitioning from the code-first mindset to an API-first mindset with Postman being the center of this revolution.”

Although Postman doesn’t have many rivals, it does battle against API Tester, API Fortress, and Amazon API Gateway.

Startup Shaktistellar converts waste into cooking gas, reduces the need for LPG by half

A Bhopal-based startup, Shaktistellar, provided a sustainable living solution by developing Portable Biogas Units.

Globally, 3.5 million tonnes of garbage are produced every day by 7.8 billion population. In India, about 0.1 million tonnes of garbage are produced alone.

But the question arises that where all these trashes would go as we continue to produce waste.

A Bhopal-based startup, Shaktistellar, provided a sustainable living solution by developing Portable Biogas Units. Basically, these units or say digestors transform kitchen waste into cooking gas by disposing of waste safely, properly, and hygienically. Ultimately, half of the LPG needs to get reduced by this.

Shaktistellar was founded by Ankit Roy and Praveen Modi. Ankit said, “An average Indian family consumes one cylinder a month, which is 12 in a year. According to government provisions, only 6 cylinders are provided at a subsidized price of Rs 400, the other 6 months, it costs Rs 700-800. If a portable biogas unit is installed in homes, families will spend 2400 for the first 6 months on LPG and use biogas, to power the stove, for the next six months. This way, they can save an average of Rs 4800.”

The story behind the solution

In 2012, Ankit passed out from National Institute of Technology (Bhopal) and began working with a firm in Mumbai. He was involved in the power sector very closely and this job helped him to explore sustainable energy solutions for homes.

Then he moved back to Bhopal in 2016 started the process of installing a solar panel on his rooftop. However, this news fallen in the ears of the Electricity Board of Madhya Pradesh, they visited his place and asked him to hold up the project.

With a smile, Ankit informed, “They were not happy to see what I was doing and asked me to uninstall the grid from my roof because it was against the law. But I was familiar with rules and regulations pertaining to renewable energy, so I wrote a letter to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, which, in turn, led to a series of amendments in Madhya Pradesh’s policy for the same. This victory encouraged me to start a company that offers an all-around sustainable living solution.”

The startup was established in 2017 and was bootstrapped in the beginning. Later, in 2019, they received a grant from Scotland India Impact Link for Social Enterprise.

Now Shaktistellar offers the following facilities

  • Portable biogas digestor
  • Solar rooftop installation
  • E-vehicle conversions
  • Rainwater harvesting solutions.

Ankit said, “Currently, we cater to places in and around Bhopal that are accessible by road. The raw materials are carried in a truck that we rent, and the installation is done by myself and my team.”

Biogas Units

The biogas units can be installed in the terrace, backyard, or even in the balcony but it needs 1.2 sq. metre to be installed.

It has a digestion tank which comes with two different capacity I.e. 3 litres, costs around Rs 40k and 5 litres, costs around Rs 51k.

Firstly, kitchen wastes such as vegetables and fruit peels, leftover foods, and more are dumped into the tank or digester.

To ensure the waste decomposes quickly, digester crunches all the waste that is dumped. The motor will stop immediately if there are any hard metal or stones.  Then, those particles must be taken out manually from between the blades.

From waste to useful gas

Cow dung is required for this to obtain the right bacteria to digest the waste. But this is added only first time to activate anaerobic decomposition. Then, only waste is to be dumped into the tank. Fresh cow dung is hardly available in urban India. So, dry cow dung is mixed with water to make a paste and use it as a starter. The dry dung is attained from a plant that manufactures briquettes in Bhopal.

Decomposition takes place within 10 to 15 days, but this depends on climate too. For example, it takes 10 days to decompose in summer whereas it may take even longer than 15 days to decompose in winter. When the slurry (mushy waste) settles down at the bottom of the chamber, then methane gas rises within it.

There is a fiber dome placed above the digestion chamber through which methane gas rises. An outlet is connected to the gas stove in the kitchen. So, the chamber exerts pressure over the gas and pushes it through that outlet. The remaining slurry in the digester tank will continue to decompose. Or else it can be used as a manure for plants.

Duration of using biogas unit

The unit is equipped with a Gas Level Indicator that indicates the quantity. Usually, 5 litre tanks provide 5 hours continuous gas supply whereas 3 litre tanks provide 2.5 hours run. A resident of Mumbai named Kailash Narayan Nayak has also installed a 3 litre Shaktistellar biogas unit in his house and found it useful and he is glad about its performance.

He said, “For the last 6 -7 months, my family and I have been using the biogas stove. Though the flame is not too strong, it works just perfectly to make rice, roti, sabzi, and other basic food items. It has helped us save money. And the environment from a lot of waste. Apart from the gas, I also use the slurry as manure for my garden.”

Shaktistellar biogas unit fits for home users as well as industry. A commercial hostel, Samrat Ashok Technological Institute, and an army regiment hostel are among the clients of Shaktistellar. To enhance and expand their business to other cities, Ankit and his team are planning for a Series A funding.

Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, urges the board to appoint a black candidate

The entrepreneur is married to Serena Williams, tennis star said he made this decision for the sake of his daughter.

Co-founder of Reddit Alexi Ohanian has announced his resignation from the board of the social media site. He has also urged the board to appoint a black candidate in place of him.

Ohanian is a white and has linked his move to the protests that are going around the globe over killing George Floyd, the black man in Minneapolis after a police officer kept pressing his knee against his neck for several minutes even after he passed away.

The entrepreneur is married to Serena Williams, tennis star said he made this decision for the sake of his daughter.

“I am writing this as a father who needs to be able to answer is black daughter when she asks: “What did you do?” Ohanian said in a Kaepernick. Kaepernick which is known for kneeling to protest popular spirituality and racism in 2016 and later a grievance was filed claiming the league had blacklisted him as a result.

San Francisco based Reddit calls itself “the front page of the internet.” It has millions of users. Just like all the social media sites, it has had issues balancing of freedom of speech against posts with racist, inflammatory, and abusive content over the years.

Co-founder and CEO, Steve Huffman said in a Reddit post that, “The board would honor Ohanian’s wish to replace by a black candidate. Reddit was working with moderators to explicitly address hate speech.” he added

Guwahati based Startup is helping companies to keep the employees motivated even during the Covid-19 pandemic

This Guwahati based startup declares to be the largest Indian employee recognition and rewards solution provider in the country.

In 2010, friends Anjan Pathak and Partha Neog came up with the idea of engaging employee programs while discussing startup ideas. Partha has a decade long experience in different tech companies and has observed the impact other brands have due to the spending nature of corporates.

in 2011, this duo then decided to start Vantage Circle with the initial capital of Rs. 30 lakh. It took off as a discount program and deals for employees. Vantage Circle, today, is a cloud-based comprehensive employee benefit and engagement platform which provides benefit package to corporate employees through corporate offers, engagement programs, and rewards.

This Guwahati based startup declares to be the largest Indian employee recognition and rewards solution provider in the country. Some of the names of its big clientele include Infosys, Cognizant, PayPal, Wipro, HCL, GE etc.

Anjan says “With over one million users and serving some of the top global MNCs of the world, Vantage Circle is a one-stop global employee engagement program for corporates looking to engage their employees.”

Anjan has almost spent his 17 years of IT career as a freelance consultant in the UK. He has been architecting and building an enterprise web application for more than a decade and has spent most of the time working for global giants like Tesco, Philips, Thomas Cook, and Royal Mail. From the time he has returned to India, he has been involved with Vantage Circle in building and monitoring the product, operations, and marketing team.

Anjan says that one of the initial struggles for the company was in scaling. Being in a Tier II city, attracting investors’ attention was also difficult. Thus, until about 2014 Anjan and Partha focused mainly on sales and marketing.

The company was started just with two people and now the company has about 65 people in its team and has plans to grow to 100.  “However, as 95% of our employees are from Guwahati, we face significant challenges in getting skilled manpower. Urgent hiring is always a big problem for us. Recruiting, training, and keeping our colleagues motivated is probably one of the biggest challenges I faced. This was another reason for the slow rate in scaling. Today, the average experience in our team for three years. The attrition rate is also low.” adds Anjan. He believes the greatest strength and advantage to his company are the employees.

The employee revenue generated is reaching more than $500,000 dollar and the company is now profitable. Even in terms of clients, Anjan says that “it is growing massively with almost all major corporates outsource their employee engagement part to them. Currently, we have a tour of the top 10 Indian IT firms as our clients and have offices in Delhi Bangalore and are expanding rapidly in Guwahati. we have partnered major E-Commerce portals like Amazon Flipkart Myntra etc to provide customized deals and discounts to corporate employees in India.”

Vantage Circle was awarded a large contract for the employee rewards and recognition platform by one of the largest enterprises in the US last year.  Vantage Circle’s platform provides over 90,000 employees of the clients based in the US and India and easy way to devote their points through this.

This contract marks the entry of Vantage Circle in North America and they have opened in New York recently.

In the current business environment, where competition persists it is important for a company to keep its employees engaged. An employer must always keep the employee satisfied and motivate them and boost their morale for better productivity and achievement of the goals. Vantage Circle helps in the same to the companies and corporates.

Anjan says, “We are changing the way HR manages Employee Engagement and Benefits programs. Creating one single platform to engage employees through Rewards and Recognition, Wellness, Perks, Sentiment Analysis, and more – both through web and mobile – a business model makes it very cost-effective (in some cases zero costs) for the corporate to use our platform.”

This platform provides some benefits like rewards and recognition, wellness programs, and shopping discounts to employees that have previously been the hassle filled tasks to the HR department in corporates. It’s a difficult and time-consuming task dealing with multiple vendors.

The bridge between vendors and corporates is Vantage Circle bringing them together on a single platform. It helps the corporates in providing a cost-effective and comprehensive employee benefits package to their employees.

 Anjan adds, “Our platform is specially designed for attracting and retaining key employees, through a range of privilege programs such as corporate offers, rewards and recognition, health and wellness, and others.”

Vantage Circle considers the combination of its products suite covers the entire range of employee engagement as well as its low pricing as its UPS over all its competitors such as Xoxoday in India and OC Tanner, Workhuman, Achievers, etc in the world.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused an Unexpected shift in the work habits, with millions forced to work from a distance from the day crisis began. Companies are now depending on tools like video conferencing, more permanent collaborations, and team management.

Under the pandemic, moving employee engagement measures is also tough. Thus, it is important to keep the businesses cultivate motivated as well as a satisfied workforce. Vantage Circle is being the latest cloud-based technology helping in the same.

Vantage Circle incorporates on spot recognition reward points unique awards to boost morale and peer to peer appreciation. It also helps companies in learning about employee experiences and satisfaction through user-friendly feedback features. This platform is designed for leaders to recognize and reward teams distinctly offering them a huge range of incentives which will inspire them to work hard. Also, discounts on top brand products available so that businesses can appeal to a variety of shopping on leisure interests.

Vantage Circle achieves services through features such as:

Vantage Fit: To rejuvenate the overall wellness of the employees there is an advanced and customizable health Wellness mobile app.

Vantage Rewards: This is a points-based rewarding, peer to peer appreciation and social recognition platform.

Vantage Perks: This is an employee discount platform offering a wide range of deals and discounts from leading brands, and,

Vantage Pulse: This is a powerful employee survey tool which helps in measuring employee engagement, boost their performance and improve company morale in the workplace.

Future of Vantage.

After entering the US, Vantage Circle is now planning to expand aggressively to other countries as well. Moving ahead, Vantage Circle wishes to catch hold of a bigger market amongst mid-segment companies in India as well as abroad.  “On the technology front, our future is to make the platform easy-to-use and scale globally. We also want to achieve operational efficiency by automating a lot of tasks we do.” Anjan says.