Government of Karnataka in Pact with 3M for Mentoring Start-Ups in State

3M signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Karnataka at the ongoing three-day Bengaluru Technology Summit here today.

As per the MoU, 3M will provide a ‘Booster Service Kit’ and conduct, on a ‘pro-bono’ basis, mentoring sessions to start-ups in the areas of commercialisation process, stage gate discipline, building a business case and accelerating product launch, competitive and pricing analysis, and differential value and options analysis. This will be conducted as per the program and schedule mutually agreed by the parties involved.

Speaking on the occasion, Priyank Kharge, the State Minister for IT, BT and Tourism, said, “We are pleased to announce a partnership with global conglomerate 3M. It is our hope that start-ups in the State will benefit from the wide range of mentoring sessions by industry specialists from 3M in the areas of commercialisation, stage gate discipline, building business cases, competitive pricing analysis and differential value analysis.” Kris Sridhar, Head R&D, 3M, was present at the event.

3M is a multinational conglomerate corporation that transforms technology into solutions. It supplies an array of innovative products across applications such as electronics, healthcare, industrial, safety and security.

Karnataka Govt and Intel Sign Agreement for 'Automotive Safety’ Projects in India

Karnataka Government, in an attempt to boost technology advancements and fostering innovations today announced 'Automotive Safety Innovation' project with Intel India - along with Mobileye, an Intel Company -as its technology advisor.

As technology advisor, Intel will work to create a repository of road and traffic information.

Speaking on the occasion Minister for IT, BT and Tourism Priyank Kharge said, "Automotive Safety Innovation Advancement Project is aimed at making vehicles smart and intelligent, leading to better driving and road safety.

"Nivruti Rai, Country Head, Intel India, Vice President of Data Center Group, said, "Intel India has been committed to accelerate technology innovation through ecosystem collaboration for the last 15 years.

Our innovation expands across design engineering, research by engaging with startups and students.

India and Japan Agree for Joint Lunar Mission at APRSAF Summit

India and Japan will launch a joint lunar   mission to jointly explore the moon.     Announcing this at a press conference, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman A S Kiran Kumar and his Japanese counterpart Dr Naoki Okumura said that an implementation agreement for the collaborative mission will be finalised within the next two months.

Both India and Japan have already conducted separate lunar missions and wanted to further probe the mysteries of moon through joint work.

India’s next lunar mission, Chandrayaan 2 was expected to take off before March next year with a proposal to land a rover on the surface of the moon.

Dr Kiran Kumar and Okumura said that the proposal was still in its infancy and no specific time frame has been set up. However the two countries would move fast and realise a joint mission as soon as  possible.

Apart from the Lunar mission and the mars mission, ISRO has recently set out expression of opportunities for interplanetary explorations, including missions to Venus, a repeat mission to Mars and study of astrides. It has also taken up a solar Mission Astra.

Okumara expressed confidence that the two countries could effectively collaborate in utilising the space for societal benefit of the region. His country was also looking forward for collaboration in the fields of remote sensing and climate change.

Kiran Kumar said that India was also looking into cooperation with Israel on various space segments. An agreement has been signed with that country recently and a definitive move would be made soon.

Israel Space Agency Director Avi Blasberger said that an agreement for space collaborations were signed during the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his country.

The key areas of joint collaboration identified included electric propulsion for smaller satellites and atomic clocks. Israel was already providing electric propulsion to satellites.

Both Okumura and Blasberger were here in connection with the 24th meeting of the Asia Pacific Region for Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) which concluded in the city.

Phonon Comm Acquires iDelivr, Home to India’s Largest Loan Bot

Phonon Communications, a pioneer in automated customer interaction solutions, announced the acquisition of Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot company iDelivr. Gurgaon-based iDelivr was founded in 2015 by IIT/IIM alumni Vijayendra Singh and Kumar Gyanendra with a vision to develop game-changing AI-based bots that can revolutionize customer acquisition and servicing on digital channels by reducing acquisition costs and ensuring scalability.

iDelivr specializes in building AI-based industry specific chatbots aimed at providing human-like interactions for a superior customer experience. Powered by AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP), the chatbot can provide intelligent, seamless and human-like chat experience to users and help banking, financial, insurance and mutual fund companies achieve faster resolution of customer queries.

The company’s flagship product, ‘Loan Bot’ is a revenue-generating service which has achieved 2 lakh+ prospective loan interactions in a short period of time. It has an inbuilt loan eligibility calculator, answers FAQs on loan application processes and facilitates loan application. The service has helped banks increase leads received from static forms by 30% and has boosted application fill rate by more than 50%.

Post the acquisition, Vijayendra would be joining the Phonon team as Chief Operating Officer (COO) while Gyanendra will be the new Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

Speaking about the acquisition, Ujwal Makhija, CEO, Phonon Communications said, “Consumer preferences are shifting from traditional call center support towards newer support platforms which include web chat, Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter. iDelivr team’s deep expertise on AI and NLP as evidenced by Loan Bot being one of the few commercially successful bots in India will make us a truly multi-modal, speech and text-based, automation enterprise.”

Vijayendra Singh, co-founder, iDelivr added, “We are thrilled to incorporate our AI technologies into Phonon’s innovative products and services. Digital channels will redefine the future of communications and AI bots are a significant part of the change as they can help businesses increase efficiency and reduce costs.”

The banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector has been the largest adopter of AI chatbot services. High demand by customers and a focus on reducing staffing costs has driven BFSI enterprises to implement AI chatbots. Vadodara-based Phonon has a strong presence in the BFSI sector with the segment accounting for nearly 60% of its topline. With ‘Loan Bot’, the company believes that it has made a strong addition to its suite of cutting-edge automation products for the BFSI sector.

India’s Fastest Growing Social Media App ShareChat Now in Kannada

India’s fastest growing social media app, ShareChat, is now available in Kannada. ShareChat is a first-of-its-kind regional language social networking platform, focused completely on India with 1.5 crore registered users and available in 10 languages of Hindi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Odia and Kannada.

A report by KPMG and Google states that nine out of 10 new internet users will be using internet in their native language. Though this is a very positive sign, one drawback is that there are still no world-class products available which can deliver a truly Indian experience digitally. In this background, ShareChat was started by a team of IIT alumni in 2015 to address this need gap.

Recently, ShareChat has developed a Kannada only interface, using the locally prevalent words and phrases. All the technical terms in the product have been recreated in Kannada, so that a person who is not well conversant with English can also use the product with ease. ShareChat has been made keeping in view the first-time internet users and is thus very simple and intuitive by design. The app promises to host special categories and tags for festivals celebrated locally, encompassing culture and literature, education, locally trending news, Sandalwood (Kannada cinema) along with fun, entertainment, devotion and sports.

If the user finds the content interesting he or she can even share it on WhatsApp to his or her friends, thus maximizing the reach. This eventually will result in digitization of a lot of specialised areas including literature, thus preserving and further developing the varied cultural heritage in these times of fast paced technology.

The existing users have been really excited about the launch in Kannada. As of now many users knowing Kannada were using the app in other languages such as Telugu and Tamil.  The persistent demand from the users was one of the primary inspiration to launch the language soon. Ravi Kumar, a ShareChat user from Mandya commented, “One of my friends recommended ShareChat to me, as he was accessing the app in Telugu. I was eager to install the app in Kannada, but unfortunately it was not available at that time. I am now looking forward to be on the Kannada version.”

Another user, Shankar from Hubballi said, “It is wonderful to have a social networking app in Kannada. Now I will be able to access interesting content such as jokes, news and updates from here in Kannada which I can send to my friends and family through WhatsApp.”

Commenting on the launch, Farid Ahsan, CEO of ShareChat said, "ShareChat has always focused on providing a culturally relevant and truly Indian social media platform for the internet consumers of India. We at ShareChat feel proud in launching another two languages, Odia and Kannada today. It is one of the many steps taken by our team to promote the digitization of Indian languages. We are determined to make the vision of Digital India a reality and our efforts are a big leap forward in that direction."

Voylla Celebrates Launch of‘The Bangalore Edit’, Inspired by the Spirit of the Global City

India’s largest omni-channel fashion jewellery brand Voylla has presented its most stylish selection of hand-crafted jewellery ‘The Bangalore Edition was held at BBQ’d- Global grill & brewery in Bangalore.  Inspired by traditional dance forms and the architecture of spectacular palaces, imposing temples as well as the cosmopolitan spirit of Namma Bengaluru, Voylla is bringing a curation of their most refined, rooted and contemporary collection of hand-crafted jewellery.

‘The Bangalore Edit’ features Voylla’s finest and bestselling collections presented for the discerning and evolved global city. The Brandbelieves in enabling women to #LookThePart. From occasions and family affairs to more private intimate dates, to school functions to a trip to the mall, or simply a day on your own, there is a piece of Voylla for every moment of your life.

According to. Vishwas Shringi, Founder & CEO-Voylla.com, "We are extremely excited to launch the very special ‘The Bangalore Edit’. This has been one of the most gratifying projects at Voylla, featuring a selection of our modern and classic designs with high craftsmanship”

He further added, “With 13 retail points in the city and many more to come, an average ticket size of Rs 1200, Bangalore has been a major contributor to the Voylla growth story. 

Voylla has been doing pioneering work with traditional arts and crafts, reimagining tradition for the contemporary Indian woman. Whether it is the dance form of Kathakali or the royal palaces of Rajasthan, the majestic temples of Madurai or the rich embroidery of Kashmir, we have travelled the length and breadth of the country to draw inspiration for our drawing board.”

The event saw an eclectic bunch of guests - beauty pageant winners, writers, editors, classical dancers, musicians and social workers and home makers besides a smattering of fashion bloggers and celebrities.

Voylla was the first fashion jewellery brand to drive ecommerce in the omni channel experience with almost 250 offline retail touch pointsand a robust online presence, Voylla has now emerged as the category leader, defining it for all other brands that are yet to catch up - both in terms of range of products, quality on offer and price points. 

Jagrati Shringi, CTO & CMO- Voylla.com adds, “As with every other category, Bangalore, has responded to Voylla with significant enthusiasm, living up to its well deserved tag of 'Early adaptor.' Right from the time we launched our first off-line touch point in the Global City, to this day, Voylla has managed to strike a chord with consumers who have responded well to its offering. Especially with the brand ethos of #lookthepart that resonates well with the receptive, aware, empowered professional women who define the city's cosmopolitan culture.”

Voylla plans to launch 300 stores in India by end of this year and has recently launched its most romantic collection inspired by the TAJ MAHAL in New Delhi. The brand also recently tied up with Rannvijay Singha as a brand ambassador of its exclusive men’s collection “DARE” and launched its first offline store dedicated to men's accessories in Kochi.

ThinkTac’s Experiential Science Programmes Aims at Standard V-VIII Students Across India

ThinkTac, a social enterprise platform for children today announced the launch of Experiential Science Programmes aimed at students in the V-VIII standards of CBSE, ICSE and Karnataka State Board Schools today at the Maker Faire, Bangalore.

                

The ThinkTac annual programmes are aligned with the curriculum of a child, designed to cover up to 80% of all topics in the science curriculum. These programmes consist of a series of 20-60 Tactile Activities (TACtivities) for each standard, delivered over the academic year.

Each programme, is curated from a well-researched set of over 300 TACtivities that use a range of simple materials and resources to create, experiment, tinker and innovate and inculcate a better understanding of scientific phenomena and improve cognitive life skills.

While TACtivities (Tactile Activities) form the core of the programme, multiple modalities are employed for sustained learning outcomes. Engaging, topic-specific games are designed to create deeper engagement with topics. A Learning Management System (LMS) offers easy access to Videos and Guides covering the TACtivities as well as the theory behind them. Children have access to forums, enabling collaboration within the cohort and the ability to upload media of their work and seek feedback from educators. Regular Virtual Classrooms answer queries and provide guidance for further exploration.

Ravi Rangan, CEO, ThinkTac commented on the launch “Our mission is to empower every child to engage, enjoy and innovate with science as they learn. Though our Experimential Science Programmes we would like to make science fun and engaging to children, enhancing their creative thinking skills, thereby broader and life-long benefits, even outside the sciences. WE are excited about our venture and we look forward to building confidence and capability of children at each step.”

The programmes are available for individual learners and schools to suit every budget. Our starter programmes with Four TACtivities retail at Rs. 600 and the Explore Plus programmes, that include the intense exploration of one topic with 65 TACtivities retail at Rs. 8,500. With technology-enabled features, the programme can be availed from anywhere in India from the comfort of homes.

The platform also gives access for the parents to the guides available to each TACtivity and points out their role in the child’s learning process.