Banking, Retail & Healthcare Biggest Adopters of Startup Tech in India

A big push towards digital transformation amongst enterprises is leading to increasing adoption of startup technologies. Banking, Retail, and Healthcare are the top adopters based on their growth potential, willingness to adopt startup solutions, and availability of such complex solutions locally. These are some of the highlights in the Ecosystem Report on Enterprise Ready Startups 2016 released by Microsoft Accelerator. The report is focused on those startups that are serving large and small enterprises through deep and complex technological solutions.

Key highlights from the Report:

The report was unveiled along with a periodic table which showcases the top 151 enterprise ready startups in India and the 10 sectors that have demonstrated momentous growth. Ravi Narayan (Global Director, Microsoft Accelerator), unveiled the report along with Jayanta Dey (Vice President & CTO Manufacturing and Technology SBU at Wipro), Peter Gartenberg, (General Manager, Enterprise and Partner Group, Microsoft Corporation India), Ben Mathias (Managing Director & India Head at Vertex Ventures) and Vinod Muthukrishnan (CEO, CloudCherry), at Microsoft Accelerator in Bangalore today. The report is available to download on aka.ms/entreadyindia.

“We are very happy to note that Indian enterprises are looking at startups for innovative solutions and expertise for their Digital Transformation in India. This Ecosystem Report provides insights into how this enterprise-startup partnership has evolved in last few years, underlining the value of collaboration and building the startup ecosystem.” says Ravi Narayan, Global Director, Microsoft Accelerator.

This report focuses on B2B and B2B2C business models, taking market traction and external funding as indicators of growth. Key findings of the report are:

1)    50% of the Enterprise Ready startups are in the Healthcare, Retail and Banking sectors. Driven by optimization, these three sectors have emerged as the biggest adopters of the enterprise technology solutions. Banking and Healthcare have proven to be the most receptive to startup solutions. With the rise of digitization across sectors, deep technology companies play a pivotal role in empowering these corporates to build innovative ways to engage with customers and address complex business requirements. With the help technology banks manage to increase customer traction and achieve customer satisfaction while companies in the healthcare space are expanding physical reach and affordability through machine learning and data sciences.

2)    Data Sciences and Security startups find it easiest to find customers

This is driven by the broad base of customers and sectors that these startups can address natively. Disruption of technology has helped these businesses to build deep expertise and position them uniquely vis-à-vis other companies in multiple sectors and domains.

3)    Startups catering to Banking sector find it easiest to raise funds

The startups catering to Banking sector are at the forefront of the digital transformation of India. India already has a billion mobile phone users, as well as a billion citizens with active bank accounts that are linked to their digital identities by way of Aadhaar. The tremendous scope of opportunity these startups can leverage is one of the key reasons these startups are successful in attracting funding.

To compile a comprehensive & accurate study, the exercise was restricted to a pool of over 500 enterprise focused startups that were founded post 2000 and are headquartered in India. The report lists the startups based on their Enterprise Readiness Score, which is measured based on three parameters – customer traction, funding velocity of a startup (Total Funds Raised / No. of Rounds of funding) and size of the company.

Post PM’s Announcement, Paytm Sees Over 435% Increase in Traffic

India’s largest mobile payment and commerce platform, Paytm is registering massive growth across India within hours of the Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing his plans to have a corruption-free India. The Paytm platform saw an overwhelming 435% increase in overall traffic as millions of consumers across India have taken to using their Paytm Wallets to transact offline.

Within hours of the Prime Minister’s announcement, the company has registered a 200% hike in number of app downloads and 250% surge in number of overall transactions and transaction value. The number of Saved Cards also grew by 30%, pointing at a strong set of repeat customers the platform has now acquired. The company has noted 1000% growth in money added to the wallet and 400% growth in transaction value of offline payments. This is a great showcase of how fast consumers across the country are taking to the ease, convenience and safety Paytm’s cashless payments offer. 

Madhur Deora, CFO – Paytm said, “This is the biggest and most ambitious step ever to crack down on black money and fake currency. We stand by the government in its efforts towards taking black money out of the equation and offering a major boost to the Indian economy. Since Paytm is fast becoming synonymous to all kinds of payments, we are happy to announce we have registered a strong surge in volume on our platform.”

Paytm’s cashless payments are widely accepted across India owing to the ease, convenience and safety they offer. Brick-and-mortar merchants and other Online-to-Offline sectors present a huge opportunity for Paytm to integrate its fast, secure and convenient payment solution. With the country’s overwhelming response to Paytm, it is setting bolder targets to achieve its goal of helping India’s transition into a cashless economy.

Paytm users can pay virtually anyone who has a smartphone just by scanning their QR code or entering their mobile number in the Paytm app. Paytm Cash can be used to pay for local taxi/autos fares, paying at petrol pumps, grocery outlets, restaurants and coffee shops, multiplexes, local tea/vegetable vendors or other service providers who prefer Paytm because of its seamless payment solutions. The platform also allows users to do online recharges and bill payments, book movie tickets, do travel bookings and shop for products online among others. The safety and convenience of the process has triggered mass adoption across various categories, and has seen thousands of new users joining the Paytm cashless ecosystem within hours.

Paytm is charting the next chapter in the evolution of the country’s app ecosystem with the Paytm Super app. Being the segment leader in mobile payments and commerce, Paytm has been ramping up its customer and acquisition efforts as they realize the benefits of the strong positive network effect and its diverse use-cases. The company is already dominating the country’s offline commerce with its seamless online-to-offline (O2O) payment solutions with an aim of building the country’s largest offline payment network.

KSTPA & Tally Solutions to Simplify GST for STPs in Karnataka

Karnataka Sales Tax Practitioners Association (KSTPA) has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tally Solutions Pvt. Ltd., the premier Indian software product company to educate STPs across Karnataka on GST compliance.

KSTPA will conduct GST education camps for all its members taking them through the nuances of GST and the impact it will have on their business while Tally Solutions will enable them with the knowledge on how technology and its adoption can help STPs comply seamlessly in the GST era. These GST education camps are stated to commence from early November and aim to address the entire STP community in Karnataka within the next 60 days. 

On the occasion of the MoU signing, Sathya Pramod, CFO, Tally Solutions, said, “The dawn of the GST era would mean that millions of businesses would need to be educated and updated with technological tools to be tax compliant. The STP community will play a major role in this regard. KSTPA’s initiative to on-board all its members with GST information is commendable and being in the technology space since the last 30 years, we see it as our duty to help all our stakeholders be GST ready, in every way we can.”

S Prakash, General Secretary, KSTPA, who was also present at the event said “With GST we are headed towards a new environment of compliance verification and accounting that is entirely computerised with minimum human intervention. In this regard, it is crucial that our members understand this technology based law in time and are fully prepared to embrace it. We are happy to collaborate with Tally in this and hope they will extend full support in imparting GST related know-how, much like what they did when VAT was introduced in the country.”

NVIDIA Brings Best Indian Minds in Deep Learning on Dec 6, 2016

NVIDIA, the pioneer of GPU-accelerated computing, is hosting the first Indian edition of the GPU Technology Conference, the world’s biggest and most important conference for GPU developers. GTCx India will bring together the country’s luminaries in deep learning, high performance computing, artificial intelligence and visual computing from across industry, startups and academia.

From self-driving cars to robotics and AI, the single-day agenda at GTCx India will cover the technologies and concepts that are changing how humans engage with the virtual worlds. This includes professional visualization, virtual reality, deep learning, and high performance computing. A curated selection of presenters will showcase their applications in each of these areas through papers and posters. The NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute will provide hands-on tutorials and training on the subject, offering the only opportunity in India to learn the concept from global experts. The VR village will provide a real life experience the virtual world.

“India has reached an inflexion point where large industries, startups and researchers are realizing the power of parallel programming to accelerate change. For the first time the intent, resources, minds and technology are all available to transform the nation. We want to enable this ecosystem with the tools, support, learning and collaboration needed to capture impending technology waves that are revolutionizing not only technology, but every human endeavor over the next two decades,” said Vishal Dhupar, Managing Director, South Asia, NVIDIA.

The GTCx India program would also feature a variety of keynotes, speakers and hands-on labs across a range of topics. Two eminent personalities would grace the event as keynote speakers. They are:

·  Padma Bhushan Dr. Vijay Bhatkar, internationally acknowledged scientist and a well-respected Indian IT leader

A Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee, Dr. Bhatkar is best known as the architect of India's first supercomputer. He is also the Founder and Executive Director of India's national initiative in supercomputing, C-DAC.

.    Dr. Steven Parker, Vice President, Professional Graphics at NVIDIA

Dr. Parker leads the Professional Graphics division at NVIDIA. Combining a history of ray tracing, rendering and high-performance computing, he has been focused on bringing physically-based rendering systems to interactive applications.

GTCx India will be held on December 6, 2016, at the Renaissance Hotel Convention Centre, Mumbai and will see over 1,000 delegates from industry, academia, scientists, government and startups. Registration is free of cost and can be made at http://www.gputechconf.in/. 

Mega IT Event BengaluruITEBIZ in City from November 28-30, 2016

Karnataka’s Flagship event on IT and Electronics is set to take off from November 28 to 30, 2016 at Bengaluru Palace Grounds. The event is organized by the Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, in association with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Bengaluru.

Bengaluru leads the country in IT exports and has emerged as the second largest technology hub in the world. Several companies including MNCs deliver cutting-edge products and services with thrust on new disruptive technological innovations. Bengaluru is a leading innovation hub which is home to over 4000 active tech Startups. It is the only Indian city to be ranked within the best 20 Startup eco-systems across the World. 

STPI has been playing vital role in supporting the IT, ITES and ESDM industry not only in policy implementation & monitoring but also in providing various Technology & Communication services which includes internet, datacenter, hosting, technology consultation, IT security audit, support for e-Governance etc.

Keeping in view the fact that technological innovations happen in Bengaluru, the theme of Bengaluru ITE.biz 2016 event is ‘Define the Next’. The event will focus on Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Robotics, Big Data, Virtual Reality (VR) & Augmented Reality (AR), Electronics System Design, Animation, Visual Effects and Gaming, Apps Development, Startups, Entrepreneurship Development etc. 

The event spectrum would include keynote talks, powerful conference sessions, B2B Tradeshows, Experience Zone, CEO Conclave, Awards Function, Start-up Karnataka YESSS. It would be a unique blend of over 1800 registered delegates profiling C-level Executives, thought leaders, policy makers, technology experts, young innovators and investors. 

The 3-day event has the support of leading IT and Electronics Associations, such as NASSCOM, IESA, TiE, ABAI, Data Security Council of India (DSCI) etc. Countries such as UK, Germany, Netherlands, Korea and Japan are participating in various sessions of the event. Day-1 of the event is focused on Technology Leadership, Day-2 on the Emerging and Futuristic Technologies and Day-3 on Startups. Awards to top ICT exporting companies, best employers, best emerging companies etc, will also be given during the event. STPI will be conducting the prestigious IT export awards event on Nov 29, 2016 to recognise the performance of the IT, ITES and EHTP companies under 10 Major Awards Category with 24 sub-categories.

An additional feature of this years’ ITE.biz is the co-location of Creativity World Forum-2016 with the theme, “Cities in Transition.” World Creativity forum, is an annual conference organized by the District of Creativity (DC) Network, founded in 2004 with 13 of the most creative and innovative regions around the world as its members and is being hosted in Bengaluru this year. The forum’s objective is to propagate concepts of creativity and innovation and foster sharing of knowledge and best practices.

At the Curtain Raiser of the 19th edition of the event, UK Minister for International Trade, Rt Hon Greg Hands and Priyank Kharge, Karnataka Minister for IT, BT and Tourism, were present and spoke about collaborating in the field of technology innovation and promotion of entrepreneurship, especially in emerging and futuristic technologies. Rt Hon Greg Handsstated that as a first step towards a more lasting partnership, UK intends to sign a MoU to mutually support and strengthen the innovation ecosystems in Karnataka and the UK, targeting Startups and SMEs.

Priyank Kharge, Minister for IT, BT and Tourism highlighted the role of connected devices in the emerging digital economy having potential to transform the economy, business landscape, governance and society. The BengaluruITE.biz event would provide a platform for enterprises to partake in a digital solutions marketplace and create exciting experience for their customers. Principal Secretary, Department of IT, BT and S&T, V. Manjula, stated that the event has been instrumental in promoting the IT Industry for almost two decades. This year’s event is focused on providing opportunities to fuel innovation and promote entrepreneurship in new technologies, by convergence of software and hardware for connected devices. 

New logo of the event was also unveiled at the function

Earlier in the day,  Priyank Kharge, Minister for IT, BT and Tourism, and  V Manjula and senior officers of the Department participated in the roundtable organised by UK High Commission, wherein CEOs from UK and India working on Smart Cities, Cyber Security, Advanced technologies deliberated on potential business opportunities and partnerships. In a bilateral meet between the Minister of State for Trade and investment, UK and Minister for IT, BT and Tourism, Government of Karnataka, opportunities for mutual cooperation in the field of advanced technologies and furthering the growth of Startup ecosystem in both the countries were discussed.

The Minister for IT , BT and Tourism, GOK stated that ‘’We intend to work together with the Government of UK to strengthen collaboration between the innovation ecosystems and technology hubs of UK and Karnataka, with a focus on furthering the links between academia, Industry and policy makers on both sides, for mutual growth and benefit’’

Three Day Conference To Help Better Understanding of Epilepsy Patients Among Neurologists

Vikram Hospital, Bengaluru’s trusted quaternary care and multi-specialty health facility inaugurated a three-day CME on ‘Epilepsy in Clinical Practice’ today at the Hotel Chancery Pavilion, Bangalore. Ambreesh M H, renowned actor and politician was the Chief Guest for the event. The objective of the conference is to improve the understanding of epilepsy care among neurologists and neurosurgeons and discuss the latest developments in the field. This conference was attended by more than 150 delegates including practicing neurologists, neurosurgeons and students of neurosciences across India. Few delegates from Nepal and Bangladesh also participated in the conference. This initiative will help significantly improve overall epilepsy care in this region. 

Speaking on the occasion Ambreesh M H, renowned actor and politician appraised that“I am happy to be part of this International conference.  This is a good initiative taken by Vikram Hospital Bengaluru to train the neurologists, neurosurgeons and students of neurosciencesin recent advances inmanaging epilepsy.

Dr Rajesh B Iyer, Consultant Neurologist and Epileptologist, Vikram Hospital Bengaluru, pointed out that “Epilepsy care needs to be improved in India as there is a huge treatment gap for both medically and surgical treatable patients. Epilepsy affects 0.5% of the population. It is important to improve awareness of recent advances in treatment of epilepsy among doctors.

Dr. Raghavendra S, Consultant Neurologist and Epileptologist Vikram Hospital, appraised that most of the people perceive that epilepsy is shaking of limbs and loss of consciousness and associated injuries. There is a lot of social stigma associated with this. However, there are many types of epilepsies and some of them are as simple as just a momentary blackout. Often children suffer from impaired scholastic performance just because of a silent epileptic process in the brain which can be easily corrected and children can return back to their normal school.

Dr. B. A. Chandramouli, Consultant Neurologist, Vikram Hospital, Bengaluru"About 20 to 30% of patients with epilepsies remain resistant to medicines. About 2 to 4 lakh people in India are potential candidates for epilepsy surgery. There have been tremendous advances in investigative technologies to identify the seizure focus and enable surgical removal. The surgery will help control epilepsy, improve quality of life and reduce economic burden on the family.

Sudhir Pai, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Vikram Hospital, Bengaluru emphasized that “This is a unique conference because more than 50 experts in the field of epilepsy will come together to discuss various options of epilepsy care”.  "Vikram Hospital has facilities to perform these highly advanced procedures and has been effectively running the epilepsy program from last 5 years.”

Epilepsy care requires a comprehensive approach amongst various specialists including a trained epileptologist, highly experienced neuro surgeon, accurate electrographers who can do good EEGs, neuroanaesthetists, neuro radiologists, neurophsycologists, occupational therapists, psychiartists etc. to run a comprehensive epilepsy program. At the conference, 50 specialists will be invited from the field of epilepsy including some international specialists who will discuss various aspects of epilepsy and its treatment.

Vikram Hospital Bengaluru is a quaternary care, multi-specialty hospital. It provides high-quality care in all clinical disciplines and has outstanding capabilities in Cardiology, Cardiac Surgery, Neurology, Neuro Surgery, Stroke and Epilepsy, Orthopaedic and Trauma Care, Spine Surgery, Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, Gastroenterology and Hepatobillary, Nephrology, Urology, Critical Care, Pulmonology, Endocrinology, Maxillofacial, ENT, Plastic Surgery, Medical and Surgical Oncology, Gynaecology. 

iRelief Mobile App Now for Blood, Ambulance During Emergencies

Patients and their relatives in need of blood need not get panic henceforth. They could know the availability of blood just by tapping their mobile phone. iRelief, a city-based firm has developed an app, which gives you information about availability of safe blood during your time of emergency. The government has joined hands with iRelief for this socially relevant project.

Many patients do not get blood on time during emergencies. Their relatives virtually run from pillar to post to get the blood. Lack of a system which provides comprehensive information about the availability of a blood is the long-felt need of the healthcare system. iRelief has taken up the responsibility to fill this gap.

iRelief has entered into an understanding with blood banks in the city to get information on the availability of blood. iRelief provides you accurate information on the type (group) of blood you can get from a particular blood bank, through its app. All you have to do is to download iRelief app from Google play store and install it on your mobile phone. Apart from giving you information about the blood availability, the app also allows you to put a demand for a specific type/group of blood, which will be delivered to you at your place. The app also has a data bank of blood donors. The moment you place an order for a unit of blood, iRelief alerts the voluntary donors. The identity and privacy of the donors is guarded while providing you the service.

Ambulance on app

Apart from providing information on blood availability, iRelief app also allows you to book an ambulance quickly and easily. The app enables shifting the patient in the nick of the time to the hospital so as to ensure availability of emergency medical treatment and save the life. iRelief provides you with well-equipped ambulance in the shortest possible time and ensures the patient reaches the hospital as quickly as possible. The relatives of the patients can even monitor the movement of the ambulance on the app.

iRelief also works as a link between pharmacists and consumers. It contacts the pharmacy on the advice of the doctor or the consumer. If you are unable to purchase medicines, the app facilitates door delivery also.

Thus, with iRelief you can avail of medical services from your house, at the tap of your mobile phone.  You can also get access to laboratory tests, caregivers/nurse service, medical equipment on hire through this app. It facilitates medical advice over email or phone and reminds you of the time when the patient has to take medicines. You can leave instructions in your own voice to the patient on this app with pictures.

With a wide gamut of services that facilitates access to emergency medical service to patient care, iRelief app will verily be a boon for patients. It is a multiutility app which ensures timely medical assistance and comprehensive medical care.