Win Big Money at Demo Day for Startup’s in Ten Indian Cities

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

The 4th edition of Demo Day will be hosted in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Kochi, Ahmedabad and Vizag. Each city will have local startups presenting their ideas and one winner from each city will win prize money of Rs.1 lac. These top 10 winners will then participate in the Chennai finale in December 2016, where they will present their ideas to a prestigious panel of Investors, Mentors & Entrepreneurs. The national winner will be awarded with a Grand Finale Prize of Rs.5 lacs plus many tools as support system.

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

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

A pan-India hunt for startups, Demo Day simplifies the process of meeting with investors one on one, to pitch ideas directly, get validated and get funded. For participants it is a platform for sharing ideas, networking with industry veterans and reaching potential Seed and Angel investors. Visitors can listen to the thought leaders of the ecosystem, network with entrepreneurs and observe the trends in the startups world. More information on Startups Club Demo Day 2016 is available at http://startupsclub.org/demoday/

Vikas Thapar Takes Charge as New Sr VP – Finance at Micromax

India’s leading smartphone player and consumer electronics brand, Micromax Informatics Ltd., has announced the appointment of Vikas Thapar as its new Senior Vice President-Finance. In this role, Thapar will be responsible to build the company’s asset and revenue base while leading the external relationship developments with all key stakeholders including bankers, equity partners, investors and government authority among others.

Commenting on the appointment, Rajesh Agarwal, Co-founder, Micromax Informatics Ltd. said, “We are delighted to have Vikas who brings with him a wealth of financial experience across industries and is very much aligned with our industry, brand and culture. With his expertise spanning over two decades, Vikas will be a great asset to our company as we transform from just a devices company to a hardware, software and services organisation. His extensive insight, knowledge and experience should allow him to quickly contribute to driving performance at Micromax."

Thapar will also be responsible for overall financial and management accounting policies and procedures, fund syndication and financial resourcing, group operations, legal entity structuring while providing strategic support for business expansion through operational and functional optimizing activities. He will also be taking charge of risk management, control and compliance.

Commenting on his new role, Vikas Thapar, Senior Vice President-Finance, Micromax Informatics, said, “Micromax is an incredible organisation that maintains its entrepreneurial spirit while ramping up to grow as a formidable force in the global handset industry. I am excited to have joined the company at such an important juncture to lead its finance initiatives as it enters the next phase of growth led by disruptive innovations and commitment to consumers and business partners.”

SanDisk’s New X400 Client SSD Offers Faster Response and Longer Battery Life

SanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash storage solutions has announced availability of the new SanDisk X400 SSD, the world’s thinnest one terabyte (1TB) M.2 solid state drive (SSD). It is the first single-sided 1TB SATA M.2 form factor with a mere 1.5mm height. The X400 SSD is designed for fast start-up and application launch, as well as for extended battery life. Consumer research conducted by SanDisk in late 2015 indicates that these benefits are important for more than 70% of consumers when using PCs.

“Consumers have spoken. They want to work faster, with fewer interruptions. Our ultra-slim 1TB²  M.2 X400 SSD enables our OEM customers to build completely new form factors with outstanding reliability and the near-instant boot-up and application loading that consumers expect,” said Tarun Loomba, Vice President and General Manager of Client Storage Solutions at SanDisk. “The X400 SSD is the flexible, highly reliable platform that our customers need to ensure an exceptional user experience for consumers.”

“We have been witnessing a major shift in PC user-adoption as more consumers are increasingly choosing ultramobile devices,” said Jeff Janukowicz, research director for solid state drives and enabling technologies at IDC. “The evolution of flash storage and its form factors has helped this category grow. SSD-based machines that are thinner, more lightweight and optimized for mobility provide a compelling and powerful solution to consumer and business users.”

            

Designed for High Reliability

Both consumer and enterprise PC users can expect exceptional reliability even with heavy use. For example, in testing, a 256GB X400 SSD was rated to operate for more than 5 years with a workload of approximately 40GB/day. This performance makes the X400 SSD an optimal solution for enterprise or other OEM customers who need a highly reliable solution for systems that are broadly deployed in the field, such as digital signage, networking gear, point of sale (POS), and commercial PCs.

The X400 SSD also achieves increased reliability and endurance by implementing SanDisk’s own nCache 2.0 technology and DataGuard technology as well as additional error correction mechanisms. Based on SanDisk’s 6^th generation X3 Technology, the SanDisk X400 SSD uses 90% less power than a traditional hard disk drive. Consumers that upgrade to the X400 SSD will now have the luxury of working longer without a power source, and enjoying faster response times while moving data more efficiently.

In addition, the X400 SSD offers data protection through AES 256-bit compliant encryption and TCG Opal 2.0 compatibility, targeting users in the healthcare, financial services and education sectors who need to be compliant with industry regulations.

The SanDisk X400 SSD is currently available in 2.5’’ cased and M.2 2280 form factors at 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB capacities.

Netflex Enter Indian Market; Offers Entry Level Monthly Package Starting Rs 500

Netflix has officially launched operations in India on Wednesday, with plans starting at Rs 500 per month.

The basic plan starting at Rs 500 per month offers access only SD content and is limited to a single user. For Rs 650 per month you can watch HD content on 2 screes at a time, and Rs 800 per month will get you 4K content on up to 4 screens simultaneously.

Netflix is aggressively moving into new markets and aims to reach 200 countries by the end of 2016, as slowing domestic growth puts pressure on the company.

Users can access Netflix through an app on a smart TV, a videogame console, a streaming player, a smartphone or a tablet.

Agencies

HMT Pinjore Tractor Manufacturing Unit Likely for Shut Down Shortly

Over five decades after its inception, the massive tractor manufacturing unit of the Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT), a PSU located on the outskirts of Chandigarh, in Pinjore, in Haryana, is likely to shut down its operations. 

It was the first HMT unit to be established away from its Bengaluru factory way back in 1964. A communique from Union Heavy Industries Minister Anant G Geete to the state government has asked Haryana to take over the entire land of the unit.

This would come in lieu of settling dues of voluntary retirement of its employees and for dealing with other outstanding liabilities.

The ministry’s response follows a communication by the state government, which had asked the ministry to transfer surplus land of the unit to the state for creation of another industrial estate.

Now, in the wake of a different, perhaps, unexpected response from the Centre, the state government is viewing the matter afresh. But the decision to shut down the unit may not be easy, given its political ramifications and the effect it will have on the 1,800 employees.

It is also being met with stiff resistance from politicians, including those of the ruling party who are against any such decision to shut down the plant, even as the ministry has said it could consider attractive compensations for the workers, before the unit is shut.

HMT has been in the red for several years now, and from a high production of nearly 19,000 tractors at one time in 1999, the production currently has dropped to about 10 per cent of its optimum high production.

HMT fell flat to competition and poor strategies. Around 12 years ago, the Centre had approved Rs 1,083 crore for its revival, but to no avail. The situation was so bad that nearly 1,500 employees were not paid salaries for 14 months until October.  

Agencies

Online Retailer Snapdeal to Invest in Logistics & Tech to Surpass Completion

Online marketplace Snapdeal, backed by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp and others, will spend more on logistics and technology to better compete with Flipkart and Amazon's Indian unit, its co-founder said recently.

Shopping online is becoming more popular in India due to the rising use of cheaper smartphones and e-commerce firms are struggling to cope with the growing demand and make faster deliveries in different parts of the country.

The e-commerce market in India is expected to grow to $220 billion in the value of goods sold by 2025, up from an expected $11 billion this year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a recent report.

Flush with $500 million from a funding round in August, led by China's Alibaba, SoftBank and Foxconn , Snapdeal is now looking to expand its services.

One area Snapdeal will focus on is to cut delivery times by investing in better data analytics and demand forecasting, co-founder Rohit Bansal told the media.

"We have done over 10 acquisitions and investments in the last one year, almost all of them in the field of technology or supply chain and payments," he said. "With all these investments we have been able to reduce our delivery times by 70 per cent in the last one year."

Quick and cheap delivery is important to be able to win over customers in a competitive industry in which companies are burning through substantial cash to grow.

Snapdeal, which had $4.5 billion in Gross Merchandise Volumes (GMV), a measure of value of goods and services sold, by August, bought mobile wallet company FreeCharge in April for around $400 million.

It has also spent around $35 million to buy about 50 per cent stake in logistics services company GoJavas.

Bansal said that Snapdeal had received interest in part of its stake in FreeCharge to raise funds for the mobile wallet company, but declined to comment further.

"Our view is that in five years from today 10 percent of India's consumption will happen online, not just products, but all consumption, and we want to build a technology ecosystem for that," Bansal said.

Agencies

Over 100 Million Users for Reliance Jio in First Year of Launch

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) has set a target of reaching 100 million users in the first year of its launch, an ambitious one as considering the total 3G subscribers in India is at about 93 million.

Moreover, the 3G subscribers were garnered over a period of five years, following the 2010 spectrum auction, even though it took another 2-3 years for a complete rollout. The total 3G penetration stands at just 9 per cent of the total mobile subscriber base of 981 million, according to a recent study by brokerage firm CLSA.

“Today, nobody believes Jio will have 100 million customers in our first year. But we will accomplish it because we believe so,” Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said, answering an employee’s question during the launch of the company’s 4G services in Navi Mumbai.

On Sunday, RJIL, a subsidiary of RIL, has launched its 4G and digital services at a gala event attended by nearly 35,000 Reliance Group employees and their families. The event was also like webcast across 1,100 locations simultaneously over RJIL network, enabling a total of 1.5 lakh employees logging on.

“With the employee launch, we will bring in lakhs of people on to the Jio network,” Ambani said.

With the launch of the services, RJIL intends to put India among the top 10 countries in terms of internet and mobile broadband penetration in the “next few years”, he said, adding at present, India ranks about 150 among the 230 countries. “Jio is conceived to change this,” he added.

Stating that India has the youngest population in the world, Ambani said that RJIL intends to tap the opportunity to transform the lives of 1.3 billion Indians.

 “The world is at the beginning of a digital revolution. Anything and everything that can go digital is going digital at an exponential rate, faster than what you and I can imagine. Whether it’s entertainment, commerce, healthcare, education, governance, life is going digital,” Ambani said as the reasons for the group’s foray into the digital arena.

“Through the ages, information and knowledge have driven humanities’ progress. Life itself has relied on information to progress. Our genetic code, our DNA, the basis of our evolution is nothing but information,” he added.

Reliance Jio’s service will include video streaming, music streaming, money payments and video calling.

Agencies