FanCode Acquires FanDuniya and Strengthens its Sports Data and Statistics Offering

FanCode, India’s first digital sports fan destination, has acquired FanDuniya, a sports research platform, to accelerate the growth and development of its comprehensive multi-sports research and statistics service for all sports fans. FanCode currently provides access to credible sports data and statistics for sports fans and fantasy sports users through Fantasy Research Hub (FRH). FanDuniya was founded by Viswanath K and Ramkumar V in 2019 to provide meaningful statistics assistance for fantasy sports players.

As part of its sports data and statistics offering, FanCode provides easy access to a plethora of information and data on sports leagues, teams and players for sports fans and fantasy sports users. Match previews, venue details, pitch reports, weather forecasts, player performances and even post-match analysis are some of the research categories available for sports fans. There are about 20 experts on-board with FanCode across sports categories to provide data and predictions through a detailed analysis of players and teams, supplemented by video representation, infographics, and even blogs as official authors.

It is interesting to note that fantasy sports has witnessed rapid growth and has grown from 20 million users in 2016 to 100 million in 2020. As fantasy sports is a skill-based fan engagement platform, to succeed at creating a winning team, it is crucial to research and study sports match conditions, player stats and multiple other factors. At the moment, there is a dearth of organized and reliable multiple sports data and statistics platforms in the market for sports fans to access.

Talking about the FanDuniya acquisition, Prasana Krishnan, Co-Founder of FanCode, said, “We are happy to merge FanDuniya’s expertise and services with FanCode’s sports data and statistics offering including the Fantasy Research Hub. In a short period, FanDuniya saw organic growth and favour among the fantasy sports users community. Being at the intersection of sports and technology, this strategic integration will help FanCode to scale our sports data and statistics offering and build a robust research and tech team.”

Talking about the new innings and sports research in India, Ramkumar V, Co-Founder of FanDuniya, said, “Sports fans are deeply engaged and constantly looking to equip themselves with in-depth understanding and knowledge of the sport they love. FanDuniya was founded with the idea to provide best-in class stats and research to fantasy sports users. FanDuniya’s  business proposition and expertise fits perfectly with FanCode’s aim to provide credible and comprehensive sports data and statistics. Synergising our  services, FanCode will become a single destination for sports fans providing comprehensive and authentic sports statistics, analysis, expert views, prediction and much more.”

Since the launch in 2019, FanCode has garnered over 1.5 crore+ users and launched interactive live streaming of matches with multimedia commentary, fastest live scores, news on the sports industry across the globe, bite-sized video content like match highlight packages, chat shows with sports personalities in a new-age format, fantasy sports research and expert opinions. FanCode Shop is the latest sports fan merchandising offering by FanCode that provides easy access to a range of authentic and affordable fan gear of leading sports brands. Dream Sports, India’s leading Sports Tech company, is the parent company of FanCode. Dream Sports also has Dream11 and DreamX as part of its portfolio brands.

Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund Launches ‘Mahindra Manulife Focused Equity Yojana,’ that Concentrates on Investing in 30 Stocks

* Selection of the next potential winners through the GCMV process#

* High conviction focused portfolio with strong risk management processes

* Potential to generate relatively better risk adjusted returns

# GCMV is an internal process framework to optimize stock selection based on growth, cashflow, management and valuation

Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Private Limited (Formerly known as Mahindra Asset Management Company Pvt. Ltd.), a 51:49 joint venture of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited (MMFSL) and Manulife Investment Management (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (‘Manulife Singapore’) launches ‘Mahindra Manulife Focused Equity Yojana,’ an open ended equity scheme that aims to invest in maximum 30 stocks across market capitalization (i.e. multi cap). The scheme is suitable for investors who are looking for long term capital appreciation. It is also suitable for medium term investors looking for relatively better risk adjusted return potential. 

Mahindra Manulife Focused Equity Yojana (‘Scheme’) will be a professionally managed agile focused fund that aims to identify the most potential winning ideas through robust research and risk management. The Investment Style for construction of the Scheme’s portfolio of upto 30 stocks will be from across market caps. In addition, several factors will be considered for building the portfolio such as – domestic and global macro-economic dynamics; stage of business cycle of companies; absolute versus relative valuation; assessment of portfolio weight based on liquidity and market cap; sector’s future growth outlook; business outlook (priority to 1-3 years of growth); valuation of stock versus future growth; management capabilities and corporate governance.

Mr. Ashutosh Bishnoi, MD and CEO, Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Private Limited, said, “Indian economy and the equity markets are poised for a strong recovery, as the economy unlocks and we see improvement in corporate performance. Mahindra Manulife Focused Equity Yojana scheme is suitable for medium to long term investors looking for better risk adjusted market returns. The focused funds have the advantage to define their own market cap mix and hence the flexibility to find opportunities anywhere in the equity market. The selection of potential winners is done through research, adequate quality check, and by following a robust risk management process. The whole attempt is to ensure better risk adjusted return on investment”.

The New Fund Offer opens on October 26, 2020 and closes on November 9, 2020. The scheme will reopen for continuous sale and repurchase from within 5 business days from the date of allotment.

Mahindra Manulife Focused Equity Yojana under normal circumstances would invest 65% -100% in equity and equity related securities, upto 35% in debt and money market securities including tri-party repo, reverse repo, and upto 10% in units issued by REITs & InvITs. 

Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully

Mr. Krishna Sanghavi, Chief Investment Officer – Equity, Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Private Limited said “The present equity market environment offers investors an opportunity to generate returns over the medium to long term horizon. Mahindra Manulife Focused Equity Yojana plans to invest in limited number of companies that have strong growth potential. Our endeavor is to construct a high conviction equity portfolio complemented by strong risk management processes. We expect to select potential winners through our GCMV process and offer investors reasonably better market returns.

Investors understand that their principal will be at moderately high risk

* Investors should consult their financial advisers if in doubt about whether the product is suitable for them.

About Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Private Limited and Mahindra Manulife Trustee Private Limited

Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Private Limited (formerly known as Mahindra Asset Management Company Private Limited) (MMIMPL) acts as the Investment Manager of Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund (formerly known as Mahindra Mutual Fund). On 29th April 2020 MMFSL divested 49% stake in MMIMPL to Manulife Investment Management (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. to form a 51:49 joint venture.

Mahindra Manulife Trustee Private Limited (MMTPL), (formerly known as Mahindra Trustee Company Private Limited) acts as a Trustee to Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund (formerly known as Mahindra Mutual Fund). On 29th April 2020 MMFSL divested 49% stake in MMTPL to Manulife Investment Management (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. to form a 51:49 joint venture.

Learn more about MMIMPL on www.mahindramanulife.com, Twitter: @MahindraMMF

Facebook: @MahindraManulifeMutualFund

About Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited (Mahindra Finance), part of the Mahindra Group, is one of India’s leading non-banking finance companies. Focused on the rural and semi-urban sector, the Company has over 6.9 Million customers and has an AUM of over USD 10 Billion. The Company is a leading vehicle and tractor financier, provides loans to SMEs and also offers fixed deposits. The Company has over 1,300 MMFSL offices and reaches out to customers spread over 3,70,000 villages and 7,000 towns across the country. 

Mahindra Finance is the only Financial Institution from India to be listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in the Emerging Market Category 2019. Mahindra Finance has been ranked 25th among India’s Best Companies to Work 2020 and Ranked 6th on the list of Best Large Workplaces in Asia 2020 by Great Place to Work® Institute. 

Learn more about Mahindra Finance on www.mahindrafinance.com / Twitter and Facebook: @MahindraFin 

About Mahindra 

The Mahindra Group is a USD 19.4 billion federation of companies that enables people to rise through innovative mobility solutions, driving rural prosperity, enhancing urban living, nurturing new businesses and fostering communities. It enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, information technology, financial services and vacation ownership in India and is the world’s largest tractor company by volume. It also enjoys a strong presence in renewable energy, agribusiness, logistics and real estate development. Headquartered in India, Mahindra employs over 2,56,000 people across 100 countri

JOHNSON’S Baby Brings the New Cottontouch in the Indian Market

JOHNSON’S Baby has always strived to offer the best baby care products for mums across the world. Continuing the momentum, the iconic baby care brand recently launched the new Cottontouch® in India. The TVC highlights a mum’s commitment to providing the softest touch to her baby with the gentlest products. It has captured the uniqueness of the latest Cottontouch® and shared the messaging of softness one has never experienced before. The TVC has been released pan India in 10 languages.

Conceptualized by DDB Mudra Group, the TVC is a cluster of sequences where a mum bonds with her baby by using the new Cottontouch® range. She is seen embracing and experiencing the softness of Cottontouch® and is filled with a sense of wonderment of how soft her baby’s touch is. The TVC successfully communicates the product’s innovative ingredient that is natural cotton, its attributes like designed for zero irritation and promises to provide softness one has never experienced before.

Speaking about the launch, Manoj Gadgil, Vice President Marketing, Johnson & Johnson Consumer India said “Johnson’s has been at the forefront of providing the best baby care options through years. This campaign highlights the new range of Johnson’s Cottontouch® that promises mums products that will offer softness they have never experienced before. The new Cottontouch® is an innovative range of products that has cotton as the key ingredient and through this TVC we emphasise our commitment towards baby care through science and research. We brought this new range with a lot of love even during these unprecedented times only to enhance the mother-child bond with the softest touch.”

Commenting on the TVC, Rahul Mathew, National Creative Director, DDB Mudra Group, said, “For Johnson’s, we don’t just launch products, we evolve the mother-baby bond and their relationship with us as a brand. And touch is an essential part of this bond and relationship. And that’s what we’ve brought alive in the work.”

Link to the TVC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92c8lzHL76g

Renault Expands Network Presence to More Than 415 Sales and Service Touchpoints in India

* Renault India has a wide-spread network of more than 415 sales and 475+ service touchpoints, which include 200+ Workshop On Wheels locations across the country  

* The increasing network is planned to support the strong product range and business strategy in India which is a key market for Renault’s international growth  

* After the TRIBER AMT; KWID 1.0L RXL and DUSTER Turbo Petrol launched recently, Renault launches KWID NEOTECH Edition  

Renault India announced the addition of 34 new sales and service touchpoints across India over last 2 months. This marks a total of more than 90 new sales and service touchpoints that Renault has added across India in less than a year. The aggressive network expansion is part of a strategic business focus to grow the brand across existing and emerging markets. The new dealership facilities are located in Madhya Pradesh Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal. 

With this expansion Renault India has bolstered its network presence to more than 415 sales and 475+ service touchpoints, which include 200+ Workshop On Wheels locations across the country, with benchmark sales and service quality.  

The dealership expansion comes at an opportune moment when Renault India is further strengthening its position in India. Renault achieved sales of 8,805 units in September, its highest sales volume in 2020. Renault holds a market share of 3.2% in 2020, which is a growth of 0.7 percentage points over last year, wherein Renault’s market share was 2.5%.  

This has been enabled by a strong demand for TRIBER and the TRIBER AMT, a good response to the newly launched versions in the KWID range and much excitement around the recently introduced 1.3L Turbo Petrol versions on the DUSTER. Renault is also seeing a surge in demand across rural markets and even better acceptance, which is a strong indication of the increasing popularity of the brand.    

“Renault India’s network presence is strategically expanding which is a testimony to the encouraging response that we are receiving, from both our customers and dealer partners. We are not only attracting new dealers in these times, but also getting more investments and expansion requests by existing partners. An increasing network presence is making it possible for us to cater to more customers across the country, and thereby playing an important role in our consistent sales volumes,” said Sudhir Malhotra, Head - Sales & Network, Renault India. 

India is one of the key markets for Groupe Renault and has been part of the top 10 global markets on a cumulative sales basis, for the last few years. The brand has some of the most popular global products in its portfolio, led by KWID which is one of the top cars for the group globally. TRIBER continues to garner an overwhelming response and has established itself as a breakthrough product. DUSTER keeps building on its legacy and sets itself apart as a true SUV, with superior capabilities and enhanced features.  

The newly inaugurated dealership facilities have been designed according to the RENAULTSTORE concept. RENAULTSTORE is a new generation of dealerships which have been conceptualized to best address the evolving needs of customers by highlighting the value of the brand, products, services and accessories in a modern and more effective manner. 

Renault is taking all necessary measures to safeguard the health and wellbeing of its customers and dealership partners. All dealerships - showrooms and workshop, are being completely sanitised every day before they are opened for customers. There is a manpower health screening for all dealership employees, and only post that employees are allowed to start their work.  

All dealerships are advised to maintain daily monitoring, social distancing, periodic temperature checks, regular sanitization including staff, customers, meeting rooms and test drive fleet. Masks and sanitizers are also advised to be made available across all showrooms and workshops.    

Brightcove - Global and Industry Defining Leader in Video, Unveils Complete New Brand Identity

Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOV) the global leader in video for business, today announced a complete reimagination of its brand, inclusive of all-new positioning and voice, as well as a bold new graphic identity. The rebrand comes at a time when video is being fully embraced by both consumers and businesses across all sectors. This solidifies the company’s mission to own the video platform conversation globally as the definitive voice on how video is hosted, shared, monetized and experienced, while achieving customers’ goals through its leading technology.

Brightcove has been an integral part of the video industry for more than 15 years, pioneering innovations and creating award-winning technology and services used by media organizations and enterprises around the globe. Now, during a time when video reliance has quickly accelerated and seen exponential growth, this vibrant new identity reflects Brightcove’s ceaseless efforts to push the boundaries of what’s possible in video, establishing its continued dedication to empower its customers to tell their stories. 

“This is a pivotal time for our industry, and the need for video will remain an anchor for brands who understand the power it can deliver to unite, engage, and communicate,” said Jeff Ray, CEO of Brightcove. “Our customers represent some of the most innovative companies in the world, and we’re proud to partner with them to own the moments that matter. This brand evolution reflects who we are today, our ambitions for the future, and our commitment to the companies who place video at the center of their business.”

With over 50 industry-defining patents under its belt, Brightcove lives and breathes video - a key message the company clearly illuminates through this brand evolution. Whether it’s solutions for broadcasting or publishing, marketing, enterprise communications, virtual events or livestreaming - the Brightcove team takes pride in making video easier for its partners, and has yet to meet a video challenge it can’t tackle and innovate upon.

Brightcove provides its game-changing video solutions to over 3,381 customers globally. This roster includes industry leaders spanning verticals, from media titans like SXSW and AMC Networks, food and beverage giants, Chick-Fil-A and Dunkin Brands, authorities in entertainment like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Tribeca Film Festival, virtual education company MasterClass, along with sports partners like USGA’s U.S. Open, and many more. 

About Brightcove 

When video is done right, it can have a powerful and lasting effect. Hearts open. Minds change. Creativity thrives. Since 2004, Brightcove has been helping customers discover and experience the incredible power of video through its award-winning technology, empowering organizations in more than 70 countries across the globe to touch audiences in bold and innovative ways.

Brightcove achieves this by developing technologies once thought impossible, providing customer support without parallel or excuses, and leveraging the expertise and resources of a global infrastructure. Video is the world’s most compelling, exciting medium. Visit www.brightcove.com for more information. Video That Means Business.  

Dubai Sets Up World's Largest Hub for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

Emirates SkyCargo is stepping up its readiness to handle the logistical complexities of distributing a potential COVID-19 vaccine globally by creating the world’s first dedicated airside cargo hub for the vaccine in Dubai.

The air cargo carrier is taking a global leadership position by announcing that it will be re-opening its Emirates SkyCentral DWC cargo terminal in Dubai South to serve as a dedicated anchor hub for cold chain storage and distribution of the vaccine.

Watch a video about Emirates SkyCargo setting up the world's largest GDP compliant airside hub for COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

The freight division of Emirates has also set up a dedicated rapid response team to coordinate requests from the various partners involved in the international vaccine distribution ecosystem and to streamline the carrier’s response to vaccine transportation requests.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Chairman and Chief Executive said: “Dubai is well positioned to serve as a gateway and distribution hub for COVID-19 vaccines to the rest of the world.

"We have the infrastructure and logistics connections, and a geographic location that puts markets representing more than two-thirds of the world’s population within an 8-hour flying radius.

Major Savings Expected from Jordan-Israel Airspace Agreement

"Over the years, through our continuous investment in capabilities and processes for the transport of temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals, Emirates SkyCargo has managed to position Dubai amongst major global pharmaceutical customers as the year-round preferred point of transit for their valuable cargo.

"Setting up a dedicated airside hub for COVID-19 vaccines is a keystone project harnessing our network, reach and competencies to positively impact the lives of people around the world.”

Emirates SkyCargo’s vaccine hub in Dubai South will be the largest dedicated airside facility in the world for COVID-19 vaccines.

The Dubai hub will allow the air cargo carrier to fly in vaccines from manufacturing sites globally, store and prepare shipments for regional and global distribution.

Emirates SkyCentral DWC has over 4,000 square metres of temperature controlled GDP certified dedicated pharma storage area allowing for large scale storage and distribution of the potential COVID-19 vaccines.

Overall, it is estimated that the facility can hold around 10 million vials of vaccine at a 2-8 degrees Celsius temperature range at any one point of time.

Emirati Interns at Lockheed Martin Showcase New AI Solution

The state of the art infrastructure at Emirates SkyCentral DWC is also complemented by one of the world’s largest fleet of Cool Dollys helping protect temperature sensitive cargo during transit between the aircraft and cargo terminal.

Additionally, the availability of a large number of temperature controlled trucking docks and the proximity of the terminal to the aircraft parking gates will ensure rapid and efficient clearance of cargo for further distribution.

Over the last few months, however, Emirates SkyCargo has worked on restoring its worldwide network and cargo connectivity with flight services restored to 75 destinations by May, 100 by July and nearly 135 destinations by early October.

Emirates SkyCargo’s network covers all major pharmaceutical clusters and manufacturing locations, facilitating the eventual transportation of the COVID-19 vaccine once manufacturing commences.

Ashok Leyland Launches BOSS LX and LE with i-Gen6 Technology

Ashok Leyland, the flagship Company of the Hinduja Group and India’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer, today launched the BOSS LE and LX Trucks, with i-Gen6 BS-VI technology in BS6. BOSS Brand has been one of the leading brands, from Ashok Leyland, in the Intermediate Commercial Vehicle (ICV) segment. These two vehicles will address the 11.1 tonne to 14.05 tonne GVW market. Customers can choose from multiple combinations – Loading span from 14ft to 24 ft and body type options of high side deck, fixed side deck, drop side deck, cab chassis, container and tipper. Prices of BOSS LE and LX start from INR 18 Lakhs, ex-showroom Mumbai / Delhi / Chennai.

The BOSS platform offers multiple applications including usage for parcel & courier, poultry, white goods, agri-perishable, e-commerce, FMCG, auto parts and reefer, among others. Customers can choose from two cabin options and expect multiple improvement over BS-IV technology like up to 7% higher fluid efficiency, up to 5% better tyre life, up to 30% longer service interval and up to 5% lower maintenance cost. BOSS will be available as a fully-built option with class-leading ergonomic and safety features for the driver. It comes bundled with digital solutions like i-Alert, remote diagnostics.

Mr. Vipin Sondhi, MD & CEO, Ashok Leyland, said, “We have been on track with our plans, despite the challenging year we are all facing. Starting with the AVTR launch, followed by DigitAL Nxt suite of digital solutions, BADA DOST and now the BOSS ICV trucks, we aim to give our customers the latest and most advanced products and technology.  With this launch in our BOSS range, our ICV offering is now one of the best in the market. ICVs are seeing a spurt in demand and this is the best time to introduce our proven I-Gen6 BS-VI technology in one of our best-selling brands in the portfolio. These launches will further strengthen our portfolio and help us achieve our Vision of being in the Global Top 10 CV makers.”

Mr. Anuj Kathuria, COO, Ashok Leyland, said, “We have been steadily gaining market share in the ICV segment for the past eight years and our brand, BOSS, has been leading that growth. From 6% market share in FY12, we are now selling over 20% ICVs in the Indian market. With the new BOSS LE and LX, we have further improved on our USPs of higher fuel economy and durability, making it a compelling choice for ICV customers. These new vehicles address a fast growing segment, which demands high uptime, for long distances. We are confident that the new BOSS will not only drive us towards a cleaner future, with its i-Gen6 engines, but also contribute to our Vision of being in the Top 10 Global CV Makers. A true example of ‘Aapki Jeet, Hamari Jeet’, BOSS promises to deliver higher profitability while keeping the operations stress-free for customers.”

The BOSS LE and LX comes with 4 Yrs /4 Lacs Km warranty which can be extended up to 6 years.  It also comes with 4 hrs Response and 48 hrs restoration promise.  Considering the high uptime requirement for these vehicles, it will be supported with ‘Quick accident repair’ and will have an exclusive bay at workshops. Customers have 3000+ touch points for ease of access to sales and aftersales support, all supported by 24x7 customer assistance Uptime Solution Centre and Service Mandi network.

Bengaluru Residential Markets on Path of Recovery, as Consumer Demand Shifts to Peripheries: Magicbricks PropIndex Report

* Searches amongst the BHKs and size buckets in Bengaluru remained  unchanged pre-COVID vis-à-vis post-COVID

* Consumer preference in Bengaluru is focused in peripheral areas

* Mid-segment configurations (2 & 3 BHKs) continued to drive most traction

With the easing of the economy due to the gradual process of unlocking, the residential real estate market of Bengaluru has scaled back to normalcy as searches for property grew by 47% in the July–September quarter after witnessing a fall of 14% during the April-June quarter amid COVID lockdown, reports the latest Magicbricks PropIndex Report for the July-September 2020 quarter.

A clear demand shift towards affordable housing was witnessed during the September ending quarter, as searches increased for properties costing less than Rs.5,000/ sqft. However, home buyers are retaining size preference but reducing budgets to move to the periphery regions as revealed by the Magicbricks PropIndex Report.

Interestingly, the decline was witnessed in the sub-Rs.7000/sqft price buckets. Under Construction properties continued to be sluggish and posted a 1.5% price dip in Q3 2020. Overall price decline arrested to just 0.5% in Q3 2020 post the onset of unlock process.

Commenting on the PropIndex report, Sudhir Pai, CEO, Magicbricks, said, “The next 6-8 months are crucial for the revival of residential sector. The onset of the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown have changed consumer preferences. Today, the shift is towards affordability as home buyers have reduced their budget but they haven’t changed their preference in terms of BHK or size, they are moving towards the peripheral regions. With the festive season just around the corner, we are witnessing a sharp recovery in demand and prices have remained stable for the July-September quarter. This augurs well for the industry and we hope consumers’ buying sentiment will continue to improve and translate into transactions in the coming quarters.”

It is interesting to note that Bengaluru has a healthy market for most BHK configurations, with demand matching supply. The market is well distributed between affordable and mid-sections, with 2 and 3 BHKs having the largest share of demand and supply, while 1 or greater than 3 BHKs taking up ~10% of the pie. It was observed that Mid-segment configurations (2 & 3 BHKs) continued to drive most traction, and accounted for more than 90%.

Whitefield, Sarjapur Road and Bellary Road continue to be the top 3 micro-markets of Bengaluru due to continuous IT development in the region and the upcoming metro facility. The upcoming metro line in Kanakapura Road has led to a significant rise in demand in Q3 2020. The development of new office spaces such as Amazon and Apple is likely to boost residential demand in close proximity areas.

About Magicbricks: India's no 1 property site

Magicbricks is India’s No.1 property site. With monthly traffic exceeding 20 million visits and with an active base of over 1.4 million+ property listings, Magicbricks provides the largest platform for buyers and sellers of property to connect with each other in a clear, transparent manner. With this in mind, Magicbricks has innovated several product features, content, and research services, which have helped us build the largest audience pool.

DoctorC - Leading Diagnostics Provider Sees 5x Growth in Home Service in South India

DoctorC is a tech-first healthcare provider based in Hyderabad. Their core business is medical diagnostics. Over the past 6 years, they’ve become a leading diagnostics provider in the south, serving lakhs of customers every year.

According to recent data, the number of cases and deaths due to COVID-19 has started slowing down, especially in India. While COVID-19 persists to spread fear across the country, healthcare start-ups are leaving no stone unturned to provide some relief to the affected regions. DoctorC, a new age diagnostics player has been on the forefront to extend its services in Hyderabad, Chennai & Bangalore. They have delivered timely assistance to over 50,000 families in the past 5 months, via their home service.

DoctorC has stood strong through the pandemic and is proud to be part of the fight against COVID-19. The home service facility that DoctorC dispenses is hassle-free, affordable, and reliable. They work only with NABL accredited labs to ensure the highest quality of healthcare. Appropriate safety measures are taken to ensure there is no unwanted spread of infection.

The next-gen actress, Ritu Varma said “I used DoctorC’s home service recently. It was a great experience - smooth, hassle-free and in the comfort of your own home. In today’s environment, such convenience, safety, and quality are very much needed! Kudos to the team.”

Speaking on this progress, Neehar Cherabuddi, CEO & Co-founder, DoctorC said “COVID-19 has made consumers more aware of their health than ever before. With the increased adoption of tele-health and at-home testing, customers are able to access high-quality healthcare more easily than ever before.”

DoctorC is currently present in 10 cities, has over 1.2 million registered users, and has an NPS of 70+ across tens of thousands of reviews for their home service. Its partner labs include some of the largest diagnostic chains in the country.

About the company

DoctorC is a tech-first healthcare provider in India. Our core business is medical diagnostics, both at-home (through our own medical teams) and at-provider (through our partner network). Our services include medical diagnostics, tele-consultations, lab software and more. Our mission is to be the most consumer friendly healthcare provider in the world.

We started as a small team coming back to India from Silicon Valley. We were founded in 2014 by Neehar Cherabuddi, Mansi Gandhi, and Karan Kurani to address the problem that healthcare services in India were not designed for consumers.  Today, we stand with a team of over 250+ people and work with some of the best healthcare providers in the country. DoctorC offers the highest quality diagnostic services in 10 cities across India.

Mswipe Helps Brick-and-Mortar Launch their Own Website to Compete with Ecommerce Giants

* Mswipe adds PayByLink for contactless collections from customers

* Small businesses can be part of online commerce

With online commerce witnessing a spiralling demand from customers, Mswipe, India’s leading financial services platform for SMEs, has launched a free-to-use business website to enable small businesses and proprietors to go live online with their own website within minutes.

To enable SMEs to provide seamless digital experience to customers, Mswipe has also launched PayByLink, which can be shared on SMS, WhatsApp or on any social media platform as preferred by the customers to access the digital bill and complete purchase.

Manish Patel, Founder and CEO, Mswipe said, “While the lockdown has impacted the earnings of SMEs, it has also created the opportunity for them to become a part of the digital economy with customers embracing online commerce. Mswipe believes in providing an end-to-end solution to make it easier for SMEs to go digital. With the Microsite and PayByLink, merchants can engage their customers online for product/service discovery, selection and also complete the loop with digital payments. The two offerings, coupled with digital bill and convenience to choose payment method, will definitely help SMEs provide for their customers’ needs just as other ecommerce players.”

SME merchants and retailers can create their own website through their existing account on the Mswipe merchant app by filling in their shop details. They can also quickly add photos and social media links and go live online.  To support SMEs in increasing visibility for their online store, Mswipe will also support in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) of their microsites. 

Close to a fourth of total transactions facilitated by Mswipe are now done through contactless options including NFC, QR and its newly launched PayByLink.

Mswipe has also provided PayByLink as a separate offering to SMEs at Rs.499 plus GST – making it the most affordable solution available to initiate business transactions. Merchants can activate the PayByLink in a few simple steps on Mswipe merchant app.

Mswipe is the only player which has a complete range of digital payment solutions for SMEs in India including UPI QR, NFC based Tap and Pay, POS and Payment Link. The largest POS acquirer in India with 6.75 lakh POS and 1.1 million QR merchants, Mswipe is also the fastest growing issuer with its prepaid Moneyback Card.

Earlier in August, Mswipe announced Bank Box Go – a combination of mPOS, UPI QR and Moneyback Card - an offering that ushered in the era of zero rental and zero MDR. The company has also recently partnered with MyPinPad, a UK-based secure personal authentication solutions provider and Visa to further to propel contactless payments in India.

About Mswipe:

Mswipe aims to be India’s largest financial services platform for SMEs and merchants by providing seamless mobile POS and value-added Services. It is the largest independent mobile POS merchant acquirer and network provider with 6.75 lakh POS and 1.1 million QR merchants across the country. Mswipe offers a host of POS solutions for all types of payment acceptance - cards, wallets, mobile payment apps and bank apps, contactless and QR payments. Headquartered in Mumbai, Mswipe began operations in 2011. Its key investors include B Capital, UC-RNT, Falcon Edge Capital, Matrix Capital Partners, DSG Partners and Epiq Capital.

39% of India Inc. Employees Ready to Return to their Workplaces: TimesJobs Survey

Around 39% of employees in the Indian formal sector are prepared to resume working from office premises amid unlock 5.0, found a TimesJobs survey. The survey titled, ‘Back to Work After COVID’, was conducted to understand the preparedness of both the employees and the employers. TimesJobs surveyed 1,268 employees and 863 HR managers working across different sectors.

Among the employers, nearly, 51% HR managers said that their firms could revoke the work from home policies soon. The rest 48% said that their firms could continue working remotely for some more time.

Here are the key takeaways from the ‘Back to Work After COVID’ survey:

* 23% organisations claimed that they are not yet prepared to resume their office even in unlock 5.0.

* 67% employers plan to provide cab facility to their employees for commuting to maintain social distancing

* 42% employers said that the future workplaces will have strict hygiene protocols as a standard mandate

“The TimesJobs survey findings indicate that organisations are all set to re-open their offices with an array of policy changes and a bunch of safety checks in place. While many employers are eager to get back to work to ensure the business continuity and manage employee productivity, it is certain that the work environment won’t look the same as it was in the past. Companies will have to think how they wish to operate, innovate and compete while getting back to work”, said Sanjay Goyal, Business Head, TimesJobs and TechGig.

Other significant findings of the survey are:

Companies to limit personal contact to ensure employee safety

A majority (65%) of HR managers plan to limit person-to-person contact to ensure safety at their workplace. Nearly, 53% surveyed professionals stated that the focus on hygiene protocols will increase. Almost 50% respondents said that temperature checks will be a mandate at their workplace. 37% said that they will reduce working hours of employees to facilitate cleaning and fogging thereafter.  

No access to cafeteria, gym, and breakout zones

Infrastructure-wise, around 89% of companies plan to implement changes such as placing workstations apart, installation of barriers between two workstations. Almost 69% of them plan to discontinue cafeteria services along with blocking specific areas such as gym, common space, breakout zone, etc.

Touch points such as doorknobs to get replaced by hands-free devices

Nearly, 55% of respondents stated that they will be installing sanitizers at close distances to maintain hygiene at workplace. Next, 59% of them revealed that they plan to replace the touch points (i.e. door knobs, attendance touch points etc) with hands free devices along with changing the surface materials regularly.

Contact tracing and thermal imaging system to detect infected employees

As per 40% of HR managers, their firms plan to implement contact tracing to detect a COVID-19 infected person. As many as 36% of individuals said that they will initiate regular temperature checks of employees. While, 24% of participants said that their company will facilitate installation of thermal imaging system.

Organisations to take strict disciplinary actions to reinforce new workplace practices 

A majority (48%) of the respondents said they will sensitise and educate their workforce about the new workplace conducts. Next, 27% of them revealed that they plan to take strict disciplinary actions against the employees who fail to adhere to the new protocols.

About TimesJobs:

TimesJobs is India’s leading career portal, with a sharp focus on helping companies and businesses connect with competent professionals. With over 25 million registered job seekers across the board and more than 60 million page views every month, it is the most preferred career portal among the ambitious professionals who want to make smarter career decisions and accelerate their career progression.

Kuchipudi Parampara Foundation - Presents its Seventh Edition Natya Parampara Utsav 2020

Kuchipudi Parampara Foundation,Bengaluru Presents its Seventh edition Natya Parampara Utsav 2020 on Saturday Oct 31, 2020,  6.30PM live streamed online on Kuchipudi Parampara Foundation Youtube channel, Facebook page and Instagram.

Programmes will include Recognition & Honouring of the works of senior Kuchipudi Guru of Kuchipudi village Pasumarthi Keshavprasad, Bharatanatyam danseuse Mamatha Karanth Bangalore, Kuchipudi Solos presentation by Raktim chanda disciple of Guru Deepa Narayanan Sashindran, Padmaragini Puttu from Moscow Russia, Geetha Padmakumar from Kerala, Anna Mashak from St Petersburg Russia, Mohiniattam by Gopika Nath from Kerala and concludes with an talk by Guest Guru Sailaja, Kuchipudi Exponent from Chennai.

The event is curated by Deepa Narayanan Sashindran, Kuchipudi Exponent and Life Trustee Kuchipudi Parampara Foundation, Bangalore.

Kuchipudi Parampara Foundation, Bengaluru a Non Profit Trust founded by Kuchipudi Exponent and Managing Trustee Deepa Narayanan is presently offering systematic Kuchipudi dance training and choreography in Bengaluru to bring forth artists of high calibre.

For more information’s contact kpf.bangalore@gmail.com/ 9845315272.

www.kuchipudiparamparafoundation.com

Bank of Baroda with Toyota Kirloskar Motor Introduces Finance Options for Customers & Dealers

In pursuance of its customer-first approach, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today announced the signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the country’s leading public sector bank, Bank of Baroda, to enable finance options for both - its customers and dealers - across a vast number of cities and towns in India.

Following the tie-up, Bank of Baroda will be one of the preferred financiers for the entire range of vehicles sold by TKM. The new service facilitates customers to avail customised solutions such as high on-road funding of 90 per cent, long repayment period of 84 months, no prepayment or foreclosure charges. On the other hand, TKM dealers will benefit from the best Digitized Supply Chain Finance with competitive interest rates.

Sharing his thoughts on the alliance, Mr. Murali Ramaswami, Executive Director, Bank of Baroda, said, “We are delighted to be associated with one of the India’s valuable passenger car manufacturers. This alliance gives us an opportunity to penetrate deep into the relationship with automobile dealers and augmenting our Dealer Finance Portfolio through our branches spread across the country. Given the huge potential to cross-sell our other products to these dealers, we are hopeful that this agreement would give us mutual synergies by way of strengthening  our presence in  supply chain financing segments on one hand and increases market penetration for TKM on the other hand.

Talking about the MoU, Mr. Vikramaditya Singh Khichi, Executive Director, Bank of Baroda, said, “We are very pleased to sign a MoU with Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd for the Auto Loan Finance. This alliance augments our focus on Retail Auto Finance business and will give value to our Customers and Toyota’s customers. With our wide branch network of over 9000 branches, we will be able to finance customers across the country and further penetrate into Auto Loan market share. This relationship will further unleash the potential of both organizations and will augment our MSME segment with Dealer Finance Program and Retail segment with Auto Loan Finance.”

Commenting on the tie-up, Mr. Naveen Soni, Senior Vice President, Sales and Service, TKM, said, “The association is part of our efforts to enable new-age banking and finance solutions for a hassle-free and seamless experience for both our customers and dealers. Under our customer-first approach, we will continue to innovate and offer more options to our customers and dealers reflecting the prevailing needs and emerging market demand. The MoU with Bank of Baroda comes at an opportune time for us, with our recent foray into the B-segment with new models like the all-new Toyota Urban Cruiser. We have also been witnessing good demand from both large and small cities and towns for both Urban Cruiser & Glanza. Under the association, we will have access to their extensive network spread across the country including metros and Tier II and III cities and towns. They are an ideal partner for us and we are delighted and look forward to working closely with them to increase the reach of Toyota products to every nook and corner of India.”

TKM always strives to enhance the customer experience throughout the life cycle by launching timely and relevant schemes for easy finance, sale of old vehicles, service etc. This new association with Bank of Baroda will promote various finance options to customers and dealers at all the branches of the bank to help them with quick and easy access to loans.

JK Tyre Financial Results for Second Quarter - PBT at RS.167 Crore

Indian Tyre Industry major, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd. (JK Tyre) today announced its results for the second Quarter of the current financial year.  On a consolidated basis, it recorded a Sale of Rs.2290 Crores, while Operating Profit was Rs.368 Crores and the Profit before Tax was Rs.167 crores.

Commenting on the results, Dr. Raghupati Singhania, Chairman and Managing Director of the Company said, “JK Tyre achieved higher sales on the back of economic recovery, more so in the automotive sector, which has taken place during the quarter. The Company was well positioned to take benefit of this emerging opportunity, and as a matter of fact, it could achieve healthy sales in the replacement market, doing better than the industry.  The renewed thrust on exports resulted in higher Export Sales of Rs. 337 Crores during the quarter.”

Dr Singhania added that “Profitability improved significantly due to aggressive cost cutting, more particularly Fixed costs. The Company could achieve savings in interest costs due to its ability to reduce its working capital requirements.”

Dr Singhania further mentioned that Company’s subsidiaries i.e., Cavendish and JK Tornel, Mexico, contributed significantly to both, improved Sales and Profitability”.

The Board of Directors has appointed Mr. Anshuman Singhania as Managing Director of JK Tyre & Industries effective 21st October, 2020.  Mr. Anshuman joined the Company as an Executive and over the years has been deeply involved in various activities of the Company in different positions, current being Dy. Managing Director.  During this period, he has demonstrated leadership and vision under the mentorship of Dr. Raghupati Singhania, CMD and the Board.

Dr Singhania concluded, that he expects the Indian economy to sustain its growth momentum in the coming quarters as well.

JK Tyre & Industries Limited

The flagship company of JK Organisation, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd is amongst the top 25 manufacturers in the world. Pioneers of radial technology, the Company produced the first radial tyre in 1977 and is currently the market leader in Truck Bus Radial segment. The Company provides end-to-end solutions across segments of passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, farming, Off-the-Road and two & three-wheelers.

A global force, JK Tyre is present in 105 countries with over 180 Global distributors.  The Company has 12 globally benchmarked ‘sustainable’ manufacturing facilities - 9 in India and 3 in Mexico – that collectively produce around 35 million tyres annually. The Company also has a strong network of over 4000 dealers and 550+ dedicated Brand shops called as Steel Wheels and Xpress Wheels.

JK Tyre’s unwavering commitment towards innovation is reflected through its state-of-the-art global research and technology centre – the Raghupati Singhania Centre of Excellence - in Mysore, which houses some of the world’s finest technologies and techniques.

JK Tyre launched India’s first ever ‘Smart Tyre’ technology-and introduced Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) which monitors the tyre’s vital statistics, including pressure and temperature. The company recently rolled out its 20 millionth Truck/Bus Radial tyre becoming the first and the only Indian company to achieve this milestone.

It is the only Indian tyre manufacturer to be included in the list of Superbrands India in 2019 for the seventh consecutive year. JK Tyre has been conferred the Sword of Honour for Safety across its plants by the British Safety Council, UK. The company entered the Limca Book of Records with the country’s largest off-the-road tyre - VEM 04.

JK Tyre is also synonymous with motorsport in the country. For over three decades, the Company has relentlessly worked towards shaping India’s positioning as the motorsport hub of Asia, developing the right infrastructure for the sport and promoting young talent in the arena.

IBM Drives Capabilities for Clients to Run Business-Critical SAP Software Workloads on Hybrid Cloud

* Coca-Cola European Partners, Cementos Pacasmayo, Primadonna Collection adopt IBM Cloud to run SAP® software workloads in a secured and open environment

* SAP and IBM grow ecosystem of GSIs and ISVs including Syniti, TCS, Tech Mahindra

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new services, partnerships and capabilities designed to help clients accelerate their hybrid cloud journeys and deploy and run SAP® software workloads wherever they choose – from the IBM public cloud to on-premises. These new offerings expand on IBM and SAP’s global alliance partnership to help clients optimize their SAP software workloads.

Global clients across industries are choosing to run their SAP software workloads on IBM Cloud, including Peruvian construction company Cementos Pacasmayo, Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP), the world's largest Coca-Cola bottler based on revenue, and Italian fashion footwear retailer Primadonna Collection. Reinforcing IBM’s commitment to investing in a hybrid cloud ecosystem, IBM and SAP are also expanding their ecosystem of GSI and ISV partners, to include Syniti, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tech Mahindra and others, to help simplify and speed how clients run their SAP software workloads on IBM Cloud.  

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, enterprises around the world are looking to modernize their operations. According to a recent IBM IBV study,64 percent of executives surveyed now plan to shift to a more cloud-based business model over the next two years. With this acceleration comes the need for deploying complex enterprise resource planning (ERP) and business process workloads in a way that provides clients with the industry’s highest levels of security. Based on IBM Hyper Protect Crypto Service, the only service in the industry built on FIPS 140-2 Level 4-certified hardware.

"The global pandemic has seen a year's worth of digital transformation efforts with the acceleration of cloud adoption compressed into months,” said Harish Grama, general manager, public cloud, IBM. “Clients across industries are looking to shift to cloud and this is the core focus of our collaboration with SAP – giving our clients the ability to embrace the benefits of cloud without compromising on security and controls. This is all done through an open hybrid cloud architecture so our clients have a choice in how they approach their digital transformation, guided by the industry expertise needed to be successful in their journey.”

Clients globally choose hybrid deployments to run SAP software workloads:

Clients working to deploy their SAP software workloads to IBM Cloud include:

·        Peruvian construction company Cementos Pacasmayo, who deployed its SAP S/4HANA suite to IBM public cloud as it sought to expand beyond construction sales to value-added services, which allowed it to handle the additional ERP complexity that came with its new business line.

·        Coca-Cola European Partners, who is deploying several large SAP software workloads -- including the SAP ERP application and the SAP BW/4 HANA® solution -- as part of its hybrid transformation. The work is designed to help CCEP deliver higher levels of service to its customers by leveraging advanced analytics while retaining a reliable infrastructure.

·        Italian footwear retailer Primadonna Collection, who deployed its IT infrastructure to a certified SAP software environment on IBM public cloud for VMware to improve manageability and performance. This is designed to help Primadonna Collection modernize its business-critical processes, such as sales and customer care, as it looks to expand its global footprint.  

IBM launches new partnerships, services, and capabilities to support SAP software deployments:

New partnerships, services and capabilities are designed to make it easier for businesses to deploy their SAP applications to IBM public cloud – or another environment of their choice.

·        Expansion of partner ecosystem: To help clients more quickly and easily deploy SAP technologies in the cloud, IBM is expanding its SAP ecosystem of GSI and ISV partners with the addition of Syniti, TCS, BlueIT, H.T. High Technology, and Tech Mahindra. Syniti’s Knowledge Platform™ Cloud Edition on IBM Cloud is helping speed project times by up to 46 percent for clients deploying complex datasets to SAP S/4HANA. SAP also sells the SAP Advanced Data Migration application by Syniti, with a cloud edition delivered on IBM Cloud. Syniti is an SAP partner offering solution extensions to SAP software. IBM and TCS are engaging in joint go-to-market initiatives focused on accelerating cloud transformation journeys with TCS industry solutions and extensions for large enterprises.

·        New offerings through IBM Services: To help ease and speed clients’ cloud deployment processes, services including IBM Rapid Move for SAP by IBM, are powered by IBM Cloud to help clients deploy to SAP S/4HANA. The services are bundled to include access to IBM Services, IBM Cloud and IBM Global Financing. IBM Services offers clients a hybrid option to allow customers to selectively deploy applications to the new cloud-based platform.  

·        New SAP certifications: IBM recently acquired several new SAP certifications – adding to its portfolio of more than 100 solutions tested and certified by SAP -- to allow customers more choices around where and how to run their SAP software workloads. These will allow clients running SAP software workloads on an IBM infrastructure to access SAP applications in an optimized, quality-controlled way. The new certifications include:

o        IBM Power Systems Virtual Server – helps customers modernize their SAP software workloads with the option to run them in a virtualized infrastructure hosted in IBM data centers. With this certification, IBM can run applications based on SAP HANA® or the SAP NetWeaver® technology platform within its virtual server stack. IBM Power Systems Virtual Server is a private infrastructure-as-a-service offering with access to the full catalog of IBM Cloud offerings.

o        2nd Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processor-based servers on virtual private cloud -- enterprises can grow business value with faster data insights from SAP certified instances on IBM Cloud with Intel technologies.

o        NetApp certified storage for SAP workloads – gives clients running large and highly complex enterprise workloads access to ultra-high performance storage. IBM is now offering up to 180,000 IOPS of NetApp-based storage in the cloud – previously available only on-premises – to deliver high levels of performance, resilience and reliability.

As part of their global alliance partnership, IBM and SAP have worked with hundreds of clients across the globe on more than 5,500 individual projects to modernize their systems and business processes based on an open, hybrid cloud approach. IBM brings deep industry expertise and experience gained from 37,000 SAP-certified professionals, and is one of the most awarded SAP partners, named an SAP Pinnacle Award winner 36 times.  https://www.ibm.com/blogs/digital-transformation/in-en/blog/the-ibm-sap-digital-transformation-partnership/

About IBM Cloud For further information visit: www.ibm.com/cloud/.

Intel, the Intel logo, the Intel Inside logo, and Xeon are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds Introduces “One India One Gold Rate”

 

Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one of the leading gold and diamonds jewellery retail chains in the country launches ‘One India One Gold Rate’ - an initiative offering uniform gold rate across all states in the country for 100% BIS hallmarked and responsible sourced gold without compromising on the quality and purity of gold. 

While the international gold prices are transparent and uniform custom duty and taxes are applied across the globe, in India, there exists a disparity across states in the rates of gold, even though gold is primarily sourced from the same designated banks. Such differentiated pricing of gold, which is essentially a commodity of specified and measurable quality, does not favour consumer interest. In some cases, the price difference between the states with highest gold rates and lowest rates is as high as Rs.400 per gram. Malabar Gold & Diamonds, over the years has recognized this issue and worked towards creating a uniform pricing policy to safeguard gold buyers across the country.  

In India, gold is not only considered auspicious, it also is a primary instrument of saving and investment across strata. The One India One Gold Rate initiative will ensure the customers across the country purchase gold at fair price. Also, the gold they are buying is conflict-free and pure by ensuring responsible sourcing. Another key aspect from Malabar is the buyback assurance to the customer whenever they want to sell or exchange their gold all across India.  

Commenting on the new initiative, Ahammed MP, Chairman, Malabar Group said, “While the Covid-19 pandemic has caused severe turmoil across sectors, the demand for gold has stayed consistently high. This shows the Indian consumer’ affinity towards the yellow metal as a saving and wealth creation instrument. Our initiative of One India One Gold Rate aims to further protect the consumer interest by providing them with a uniform gold rate without compromising on purity. Gold is a part of Indian tradition since centuries and is a part of all auspicious occasions. However, for it to be truly auspicious, it needs to be procured responsibly without exploitation of the stakeholders. We at Malabar, believe in our key principles – consumer interest, transparent business practices, and sustainable and inclusive growth. This is one big step towards our commitment to our customers across the country.” 

As the customers gear up for Dhanteras and Diwali, Malabar’s initiative on uniform gold pricing would be implemented across its 120 showrooms in the country. Malabar Gold & Diamonds is known for its quality and exquisite designs. The company prides itself in maintaining complete transparency and ensures responsible sourcing of gold, diamond, and platinum to provide its customers conflict-free products. 

Enthusiastic about the One India One Gold Rate, Asher Ottamoochikkal, MD India Operations, Malabar Gold and Diamonds said, “It is time for the Indian gold sector to set a standard in pricing, sourcing responsibly, and exchange policies to build a sustainable ecosystem. The only differential between buying gold from one manufacturer to another should be the value of designing the ornament and the auxiliary benefits provided to the customer during and after purchase. One India One Gold Rate is a step in this direction and demonstrates our market leadership as far as customer centricity is concerned. At Malabar, we believe that by being transparent and by empowering the customer, we can create an ecosystem built on trust for the sector.” 

The sector has several challenges in term of supply chain, certifications and documentation needed to deter unscrupulous business practices. For this, the industry needs to seek transparency throughout, from the mining source and enabling tracking mechanisms till it reaches various establishments. Tracking of gold throughout the supply chain will help arrest malpractices and strict provisions from the govt will bolster the sector. Lowering duty and other levies will also discourage and help eliminate smuggling of gold, which is a major concern for the sector. Malabar’ One India One Gold Rate is a step in the direction to create a transparent and level playing field, while ensuring the benefit to the consumer as the primary objective.  

The best part is One India One Gold Rate is not an offer campaign, but this is Malabar Promise to its patrons. Malabar Promise’ is a set of assurances offered by the brand exclusively to its customers to enable worry-free shopping as well as to safeguard their purchases for their lifetime.  All existing privileges such as 0% deduction on exchange and best value on buyback continue like before. Malabar Gold & Diamonds has been offering 100% BIS hallmarked gold ornaments for more than two decades despite no government mandate to ensure the same in the interest of customers. 

Godrej Appliances Makes its Refrigerators Work Harder for Consumers, with 6 in 1 Convertible Freezer Technology

 ~ Available in two of its Frost-Free refrigerator ranges -Godrej Eon Vibe and Godrej Eon Valor, the 6 in 1 Convertible Technology delivers maximum flexibility

~The technology can deliver a freezer temperature of -25°C, lowest in the category, ideal for long-lasting preservation.

Staying true to its philosophy of ’Things made thoughtfully’, Godrej Appliances, leading consumer durables manufacturer, brings yet another smart technology for its consumers - Convertible freezer Technology with 6 in 1 Freezer Modes – from Freezer to Deep Freezer and even, Cold Storage Mode. 

Owing to the pandemic and fear of infection, people continue to stock more in their refrigerator – more fruits and vegetables, more cooked food, more food prep for the next set of meals, more frozen foods. New practices are being adopted by consumers – borrowing from each other – of more meal preparation and more long-term preservation hacks. Herbs and Vegetables are being chopped and frozen, kulfis and ice creams are replacing store-bought ice creams, newer items are finding their way into the freezer and fridge for longer preservation and so on. Where in earlier days, freezers were not used enough, today more often than not the freezers are going full. And so is the main compartment. 

This is where 6 in convertible freezer technology comes into play. It lets you pick from 6 unique custom cooling options-

·         Auto Mode – the default setting which intelligently controls freezer temperature 

·         Low Load Mode – consumes less power even when the freezer is loaded

·         Ice Cream mode – just the ideal temperature for ice creams

·         High Load Mode – even when the main compartment is stuffed, the high load mode continues to maintain the right freezer temperatures

·         Deep Freezer Mode –provides frozen food preservation at temperatures as low as -18°C ideal for frozen desserts, frozen peas.

·         Cold Storage Mode - provides frozen food preservation at temperatures as low as -25°C, ideal for frozen meat.

Available in two Frost Free refrigerator ranges -Godrej Eon Vibe and Godrej Eon Valor, powered by Intelligent Inverter Technology, the refrigerators adjust cooling with variable compressor speed, resulting in greater efficiency, durability and silent operation. With the PUF thickness of 2.75 inches, these refrigerator models provide best-in-class cooling retention, giving long-lasting freshness. It also offers a large vegetable tray of 27 litres which gives consumers enough space to store all their veggies. In times of lockdown, consumers’ food preservation and storage habits are changing and the new Godrej EON VIBE and EON VALOR are an endeavor to meet these needs better. Available in 261L and 290L capacities, these models start from INR Rs. 23,500 (+ taxes).

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Kamal Nandi, Business Head and EVP – Godrej Appliances said, “The fear of pandemic is driving shifts in consumer behaviour and decision making. Storage space, flexibility and convenience are features that consumers seek even more today as they can in turn deliver higher safety to consumers reducing frequent trips outside and help them manage their umpteen chores better. At Godrej, we endeavour to bring meaningful innovations that transform the lives of our consumers, based on insights gathered from their current needs. Our new Godrej 6 in 1 Convertible Freezer Technology is one such attempt at addressing the core concern of our consumers. With consumers seeking the right value proposition in today’s difficult times, we are confident this unique technology will help them in their day to day lives.”

Mr. Anup Bhargava, Product Group Head – Refrigerators, Godrej Appliances, further added, “Our recently launched Convertible Freezer Technology with 6 in 1 Freezer modes allows consumers to get more convenience out of their refrigerator. Stylish and sleek, these are uniquely designed to cater to the underlying need for more storage and lasting preservation, especially during this pandemic. We are confident this new range will generate a revenue of INR 250 Cr in this year and further strengthen our position in the refrigerator category.”

Truecaller Introduces Call Reason - Next Step in Evolution of Caller ID & Releases SMS Scheduling and Message Translation

Building upon its core proposition of making communication safer and more efficient for their users, Truecaller has rolled out three highly anticipated features: Call Reason, Schedule SMS and SMS Translate for users globally.

Truecaller has been the pioneer in the mobile identity space, and has pushed the innovation of Caller ID to great heights. Consumers trust Truecaller to tell them who is calling but now they will also know why they are calling. Call Reason enables users to set a reason for their call, enabling the receiver to check what the call is about, whether the incoming call is personal, business or something urgent. This would increase pick up rates, especially when callers are calling from new numbers.  

The new 'Schedule SMS' extends the platform’s Caller ID feature to enable users to schedule a message reminder of any events, meetings, or what groceries you need to pick up at the end of the day. Additionally, the SMS Translate feature allows users to instantly translate the content of their messages directly in Truecaller without leaving the app. This feature works for both SMS and instant messages (IM). All these features will be free for all consumers.

Commenting on the feature, Rishit Jhunjhunwala, Chief Product Officer at Truecaller said, “We are thrilled at the launch of Call reason, Schedule SMS and SMS Translate. We have been working towards building an innovative communication suite for our users and these three features are the next big step in line with this mission. Communication in 2020 is easier in many ways, but also complicated by the vast ways in which people connect for information. As a brand, we strive to stay true to the core principle of building a product for masses while always acting in the public interest. We are constantly listening to our users and want to help them by putting more power in their hands.”

About Call Reason

The new Truecaller is bringing your communication home, by organising everything for you more easily and smartly. Call Reason was one of the most requested features in 2020 from Truecaller users around the world. With this, the new feature extends the platform’s Caller ID feature to help users to send a note in their outgoing calls. This would empower users in higher pick-up rates on outgoing calls as the receiver would know "what reason the call has been placed". Businesses can set a customized text before every call which would increase engagement with their customers .

This feature will start rolling out today to all Android users and will be launching for iOS early next year.

Schedule your SMS

Users can schedule SMS by simply selecting the icon while messaging and choose a date and time. Your message will be sent then, and you will always be able to see it scheduled in your chat. This feature is available for Android users only.

SMS Translate

The app automatically detects if a foreign language is used in the messaging screen and will show that a translation is available. This feature is powered by Google’s ML Kit and all messages are processed locally in the phone, which means the content of your messages never leaves your device. Language packs are downloaded to your device before translation begins. Users can also download additional languages to use them offline, anytime and anywhere. SMS Translate will only be available for Android.

About Truecaller:

People use Truecaller to stay ahead. It helps them know who’s getting in touch, filter out unwanted calls and SMS, and focus on what matters. The company provides a suite of unique services such as a dialer that offers caller ID, spam detection, messaging and more. Truecaller’s mission is to build trust everywhere by making communication safe and efficient. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, the company was founded in 2009 by Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam. Investors include Sequoia Capital, Atomico and Kleiner Perkins.

Zendesk Offers Instagram Messaging for Businesses Across India

Zendesk, Inc. today announced the addition of Instagram messaging to its customer support offering. This means businesses can now provide customer service on Instagram from directly within Zendesk. As a leader in messaging for customer service, this aligns with the company’s continued investment in new social messaging channels and a new, modern workspace for businesses to connect, engage and transact with customers.

The Messenger API for Instagram offers support for businesses to efficiently manage customer service inquiries that come over Instagram messaging. With this API, companies can have rich, seamless conversations with customers who respond to stories, start DMs, and more. For example:

· A retail company that receives a direct message from a customer about the status of their order can reply to the customer quickly with accurate information about the shipment directly from Zendesk.

· A customer who is scrolling through Instagram and watches a brand’s Story promoting a holiday sale can immediately message them for more information. The customer could then receive a personalized response from an agent, whether it be a promo code, website link or shipping information that will remain in the conversation history for when a purchase is made. This eliminates the need to switch to another support channel such as phone or email.

Zendesk makes it even easier for businesses to get up and running on Instagram quickly by integrating this API directly into the Zendesk platform. At launch*, customers will be able to access these capabilities from right inside the agent workspace, and also be able to turn on Instagram for other software built with Zendesk.

From February to August of this year, customer service inquiries through channels such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Twitter DMs, and SMS rose nearly 50 percent. Also, according to Zendesk’s yearly Benchmark report, messaging apps have the highest customer satisfaction rating of any channel, with a CSAT of 98%. With over one billion active monthly users, Instagram is an important channel for businesses to add to the mix.

“At Zendesk, we work to make it easy for brands to communicate with customers across any channel, and social media is quickly becoming the preference. All social messaging conversations can easily flow into one place inside Zendesk,” said Mike Gozzo, VP of Product, Zendesk. “With its tremendous popularity, Instagram is a key addition so businesses can serve customers who reach out on Instagram in a more timely, consistent and personal manner.”

“We are thrilled Zendesk is launching support for Instagram messaging. Businesses and people are messaging with each other more than ever, and Instagram is a critical platform to connect with customers and build relationships,” said Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, VP of Platform Partnerships at Messenger. “Messenger API support for Instagram means businesses and developers can now manage their customer communications on Instagram at scale.”

*This capability is currently available to a limited number of customers in early access, more details on broader availability to come in 2021.

To learn more about Zendesk and Sunshine Conversations visit zendesk.com/conversations.

About Zendesk

Zendesk is a service-first CRM company that builds support, sales, and customer engagement software designed to foster better customer relationships. From large enterprises to startups, we believe that powerful, innovative customer experiences should be within reach for every company, no matter the size, industry or ambition. Zendesk serves more than 160,000 customers across a multitude of industries in over 30 languages. Zendesk is headquartered in San Francisco, and operates offices worldwide.

Infogain Recognized as ‘Major Contender’ in Everest Group’s Digital Interactive Experience (IX) Services PEAK Matrix Assessment 2020

Infogain, a Silicon Valley based digital platform and software engineering company, today announced that it has been recognized as a ‘Major Contender’ in Everest Group’s Digital Interactive Experience (IX) Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2020.

Everest Group’s PEAK Matrix® is a proprietary framework for assessing market capability, impact, and vision.  The Digital Interactive Experience (IX) Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2020 categorizes 18 Digital Interactive service providers as Leaders, Major Contenders, or Aspirants. The assessment is based on Everest Group’s interactions with leading Interactive Experience (IX) service providers, proprietary database of participants, client reference checks, and an analysis of the digital IX market.

Vikas Kamran, EVP - Infogain and CEO - Revel Consulting said, “With customer acquisition costs on the rise, most business leaders believe their companies need to provide authentic experiences that build trust, instill loyalty, and grow customer lifetime value. Infogain’s experience-led approach blends human-centered design with software engineering to understand, reframe and unlock latent value. We’re passionate about improving customer and employee delight through personalized digital experiences that feel valuable, not intrusive.”

Ayan Mukerji, President and Chief Operating Officer, Infogain, said, “Digital Interactive Experience (IX) is an important part of Infogain’s Value Delivery Framework, where we identify B2B and B2C digital strategies and unlock new potential by delivering touchless and frictionless experience. We adopt a cloud-first digital platform approach to drive competitive advantage in the network economy.” 

“Digital Interactive Experience (IX) services are helping enterprises differentiate in the experience economy and unlock more value for their customers, employees, and partners. The new experience ecosystem, accelerated by the ongoing pandemic, is characterized by digital-first, touchless operations, coupled with increased consumption of at-home experiences,” said Nitish Mittal, Vice President, Everest Group. “Infogain has made notable strides in digital IX services by establishing a credible set of offerings in marketing, digital experience, and commerce.”

Everest Group is a consulting and research firm focused on strategic IT, business services, and engineering services. For more information on the report, click here.

About Infogain

Infogain is a Silicon Valley headquartered company with digital platform and software engineering expertise in the travel, retail, insurance, healthcare, and high technology industries. We accelerate design-led transformation and delivery of digital customer engagement systems and platforms. Infogain engineers business outcomes for Fortune 500 companies and digital natives using technologies such as cloud, microservices, robotic process automation, IoT, and artificial intelligence.

A ChrysCapital portfolio company, Infogain has offices in California, Washington, Texas, London, Dubai, India, and Singapore, with delivery centers in Austin, Kraków, New Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, and Mumbai.

Odias in ML Global Conference 2020 Discussed How to Leverage AI/ML for Overall Socio-Economic Development

Odisha can chart out a data-driven strategy to propel the next phase of its growth leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning, agreed participants in a global virtual conference, Odias in ML, organized by a group of Odias, also called Odias in ML, with a shared interest in AI and M recently. The first-of-its-kind conference saw participation of a multitude of stakeholders including researchers, IT professionals, data scientists, academicians, linguists, administrators, entrepreneurs, business executives, media persons, and community leaders. 

The conference comprised four sessions, themed AI for Odisha, AI for Odia language, Research & Career Opportunities in AI; and Entrepreneurship and Business Opportunities in AI. Each session was a combination of keynotes, presentations and panel discussions.

Speaking in the session, research and career opportunities in AI/ML for Odisha, Prof Prasant Mohapatra, Vice Chancellor of Research, University of California Davis, identified two specific areas – agriculture and healthcare – where leveraging data and application of AI/ML could help Odisha significantly.  Prof Panchanan Mohanty, noted linguist and President of Linguistic Society of India, outlined areas which natural language processing (NLP) technologies could address. The community agreed to work towards forming teams for developing fundamental lexicographic tools needed for NLP in Odisha. Dr Pragyasmita Nayak, Chief Data Scientist at Hitachi, outlined how Odisha could leverage data for its development and administration. Manoj Mishra, Secretary, Electronics & IT outlined areas (including in COVID management) where Odisha is currently using analytics, and expressed his desire to work closely with Odia techies and data scientists across the world for betterment of Odisha. Prof Chitta Baral, Professor of Computer Science at University of Arizona, talked about his research in the area of natural language processing.

Various speakers and panellists also suggested that Odias across the world should consistently collaborate with each other in this area to create opportunities for Odisha and Odias. Many speakers stressed the need to create a conducive environment for entrepreneurship in Odisha. Many also agreed on the need to impart AI/ML and data science education across universities and institutes in Odisha.

“The response to the conference was beyond all our expectations. We immensely thank the Odia community for their overwhelming support and encouragement. We will continuously work to strengthen the Odias in ML community and will work closely with government, educational institutions and various external stakeholders like technology companies and institutions to continuously further the cause,” said Anjan Kumar Panda, Convenor, Odias in ML. 

The inaugural session on AI for Odisha saw participation of Manoj Mishra, Secretary Electronics & IT; Dr Pragyasmita Nayak, Chief Data Scientist, Hitachi; Kirti Sundar Sahoo, researcher at University of Waterloo, Canada; and Kuku Das, President, Odisha Society of Americas. The session was moderated by technology editor Shyamanuja Das.

The session on AI for Odia language has participation from Prof Panchanan Mohanty, noted linguist; Tushar Pattnaik, Joint Director C-DAC; Vivekananda Pani, CTO, Reverie Language Technologies; Subharadashi Panda and Soumendra Sahoo, architects of Odia-English translation bot MTE2O. The session also had a discussion featuring Prof Sanghamitra Mohanty, ex HoD computer science Utkal University & ex Vice-Chancellor of North Odisha University; Dr Shantpriya Parida,  post-doctoral researcher at Idiap Research Institute;  Soumendra Sahoo, architect and Kumarika Mohanty, leader of community at MTE2O, an English-Odia language translation bot, with Subhashis Panigrahi, independent researcher moderating the discussion. The entire session was moderated by Anjan Panda, the convenor of the Odias in ML conference.

The session on Research & Career Opportunities in AI/ML had speakers like Prof  Prasant Mohapatra of University of California Berkley; Prof Chitta Baral of School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering at Arizona State University; Sudeept Maharana, VP Engineering Priceline & Country Head, Priceline India; and Pradeepta Mishra, Head of AI - Leni at LTI. Abhijeet, Parida, Data Scientist at Deepc.ai;  Jyotirmay Senapati, Assistant Research Scientist, Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging; Subhadarshi Panda, PhD scholar in Computer Science at the Graduate Center City University of New York and Satwik Panigrahi, student at Dougherty Valley High School San Ramon, CA, USA shared their research experience. The session was moderated by Damodar Sahu, Head of Global Strategic Alliances, New Age & SaaS Applications, and Wipro.

The final session on Entrepreneurship & Business Opportunities in AI included talks by Sitikantha Panigrahi, Managing Director, Software Research at Mizuho Americas; Chidananda Khatua, noted technologist and CEO of Equbot; Ayaashkanta Mohanty, Managing Director, Tatwa technologies; Dhirendra Kar, President, Business Intelligence Professionals and Dr Sanjay Raut, CEO of Innovation Solution Lab. Sitikantha Panigrahi also moderated the session.  

The conference ended on a high note with participants across the world pledging to work together in various areas of AI/ML application that could benefit Odisha, Odia language and Odia people.

Odias in ML has also received a lot of suggestions from stakeholders post the conference. The group is compiling those suggestions to create a definite plan of action, which will be released soon.

About Odias in ML

Odias in ML is an umbrella organization for Odias in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning, Data Science. This is an organization of volunteers from the Odia community participating in various capacities in the field of machine learning.  Applying Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning for growth and prosperity of Odisha and Odia language by creating an ecosystem for Odisha and Odias across the globe. A group of interdependent, complementary skilled collaborating volunteer Odias globally is a platform on while Odias in ML is nurturing the next generation of researchers, entrepreneurs will build the next generation solutions for Odisha and Odia.

10 Startups Selected for Accenture’s 2020 FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific

Ten leading fintech companies have been selected for the seventh annual FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific, a mentorship program created by Accenture (NYSE: ACN) that helps startups fine-tune their business plans and solutions by pairing them with mentors from leading financial institutions.

This year’s program received applications from 162 companies across more than 30 countries, with solutions related to the five themes for the 2020 program: data & analytics; digital bank solutions; emerging technologies; health insurance ecosystem; and intelligent automation.

Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), advanced analytics, natural language processing and other technologies, the 10 selected startups — which hail from seven markets, including India — have developed innovations designed to help financial institutions address a variety of challenges, including keeping up with compliance requirements, analyzing large volumes of structured and unstructured data, and building more-personalized customer products and services.

The Lab will partner startups with senior executives from the participating financial institutions, as well as with technology entrepreneurs and industry experts. The mentors will work with the companies to further develop their solutions and business strategies through a series of virtual meetings, user-group sessions, workshops and networking opportunities, helping them connect with potential customers at top institutions.

“The quantity and high caliber of this year’s applicants have resulted in an extremely strong class for the 2020 program, and the pandemic has not stopped the demand for more innovation in financial services,” said Ravinder Chhabra, a managing director at Accenture and the executive sponsor of the FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific program in Hong Kong. “In fact, we’re seeing more firms accelerate their digital transformation journeys, and investors are increasingly looking at fintech solutions to help banks, insurers and payments firms improve how they operate and serve customers. We remain committed to nurturing a healthy forum for startups and financial institutions to learn from each other and continue to innovate.”

Sonali Kulkarni, Lead – Financial Services, Accenture in India said, “We are seeing some fantastic innovation coming out of India’s fintech ecosystem, be it for digital payments, credit and risk management, underwriting or security. As per an Accenture analysis of data from CB Insights – a global venture-finance data and analytics firm, released in February 2020, fintech investments in India nearly doubled, to US$3.7 billion in 2019, making the country the world’s third largest fintech market.”

The FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific is a collaboration between Accenture and leading financial institutions, which this year include AIA International Limited; Bank of America; BlackRock; China Construction Bank (Asia); Credit Suisse; Dah Sing Bank; Generali; Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited; J.P. Morgan; Macquarie Group; Maybank; Morgan Stanley; Natixis; Saxo Markets; Société Générale; SC Ventures by Standard Chartered; Sun Life; ZA International; and Zurich Insurance Company Ltd.

The 2020 Lab formally kicks off in October and culminates in December, when the participants will present their solutions at a virtual Demo Day to an audience of venture capitalists and financial industry executives.

The 2020 FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific participants are: 

Knight FinTech (India) – A Singapore- and India-based fintech, Knight FinTech provides an AI-powered, SaaS-based treasury management and credit assessment platform to help financial firms increase returns and decrease risk. Its interest rate and credit risk models analyze millions of data points to provide actionable insights to treasury managers or dealers taking a position on yield curve or taking a corporate credit risk exposure.   

Fedo (India) – Fedo’s algorithm quantifies an individual’s risk for various diseases and his/her propensity to file a claim over the next few years, based on a photograph, enabling insurers to onboard and underwrite customers digitally with little to no manual intervention. The solution has helped Fedo’s retail health insurance clients reduce underwriting costs by 50% and turnaround times by more than 70%.

Fano Labs (Hong Kong) – Specializing in speech recognition and natural language processing technologies across a wide variety of languages and dialects, Fano Labs helps enterprises with customer service, compliance and other lines of business, enabling them to accurately identify potential compliance risks, reduce costs, and uncover potential sales opportunities.

KADA (Australia) – KADA’s AI-based platform, known as K, enables financial institutions to scale data knowledge across the organization. By analyzing millions of event logs, K helps companies identify hidden context of data, understand how its people use data, and create networks between data stored in data warehouses, data lakes and analytical tools — giving people the knowledge they need to deliver faster and better data outcomes.

Flybits (Canada) – Flybits is a leading customer experience platform for the financial services sector, delivering personalization at scale. With an extensive collection of customizable modules that preserve consumer privacy, Flybits enables banks to increase speed to market, and maximize return on investment through its digital channels. Flybits enables financial institutions to elevate their mobile apps, creating a ‘human-touch’ experience and advancing the customer experience beyond transactions.

SPIN Analytics (United Kingdom) – SPIN Analytics helps tier-one and digital banks improve credit risk management with its explainable AI-based platform, RISKROBOT™. The platform provides 10x acceleration of model development, validation, documentation and deployment, which reduces maintenance time by at least 90% and total costs by 70%. Encoding 28 years of credit risk-modeling experience into AI and insights, the platform helps banks make decisions and control assumptions. The solution covers all types of credit risk models for regulatory, risk management, and business purposes.

Capitalise.ai (Israel) – An Israeli-based startup offering non-technical traders the ability to automate their trades, using free-style text with no coding needed. Capitalise.ai’s trading platform turns text into complex algorithmic trading strategies, using natural language processing technology. Capitalise.ai’s platform is already being used by leading brokers around the globe, amplifying their performance by offering their traders a unique trading experience.

UVAS (Singapore) – UVAS (by Atlant.io) is a securities exchange offering primary issuance of shares and debentures, secondary trading and optimized post-trade process, with automatic clearing, settlement and custody, all at 90-95% cost savings compared to other exchanges. UVAS strives to remedy the situation of illiquidity and opaqueness in capital markets and serves as a turnkey solution for the alternative asset space.

Symbo (Singapore) – Symbo uses its proprietary digital insurance platforms to digitize insurance distribution in partnership with insurance companies. Its award-winning mobile app helps insurers digitally engage with intermediaries, tied agents and financial advisors by simplifying insurance transactions.

Staple (Singapore) – Staple’s cognitive AI-based solution helps reduce the costs of back-office operations, such as compliance and onboarding checks. By combining computer vision, natural language processing, optical character recognition and machine learning, the solution can read, interpret and extract data from documents at scale, regardless of layout, format or language.

Launched in Hong Kong in June 2014, the FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific has received more than 1,000 applications since its inception, and the program’s 49 alumni companies have raised US$525 million and created more than 1,500 jobs after participating in the program.

The FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific is modeled on similar programs that Accenture co-founded in New York and London in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Globally, the Labs’ alumni companies have raised, in total, approximately US$2 billion in venture financing after participating in the program

About Accenture

Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Interactive, Technology and Operations services—all powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. Our 506,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities.