Facebook Partners with VC Funds to Enable India’s SMB Ecosystem for Faster Growth

Facebook India has announced an industry-first initiative which will see it collaborating with Venture Capital (VC) Funds to accelerate the growth of the small and medium businesses (SMB) they invest in. The VC Brand Incubator Program will be the first in a series of programs by Facebook that will be geared towards laying a strong foundation for SMB growth in India by providing them with timely skilling and guidance, enabling these businesses to hasten socio-economic growth of the country as well.

As a part of this program, Facebook will work with VC funds with the aim of skilling and mentoring the brands by sharing insights on best practices, proven solutions, playbooks, vertical-insights among other key learnings. For the first edition, Facebook is working with Sauce.vc, a Mumbai-based early-stage venture capital fund that among others has partnered with startups in the food and beverages, personal care, apparel, and the lifestyle space.

Speaking about the VC Brand Incubator Program, Archana Vohra, Director, Small and Medium Businesses at Facebook India, said, “With the VC Brand Incubator program we hope to unlock the potential of SMBs in India, enabling them to enhance their and the country's socio-economic growth. SMBs are the backbone of our economy and Facebook is the default destination for them to thrive and grow. Several SMBs are actively working towards creating a larger social change, and many are empowering women entrepreneurs and generating impact in tier-2 and tier-3 towns. Their seamless growth can lead to consistent job creation, adding to the GDP growth. Working with VC funds is crucial as it allows us to scale and support SMBs at an early-stage itself, fast-tracking their growth.”

India is home to one of the largest startup ecosystems in the world, and venture capital funds are an integral part of this network. The number of small venture capital funds with active investments has been rising steadily in recent years. However, a robust skilling and support infrastructure to ensure the swift scale-up of SMBs is still lacking in the country. The VC Brand Incubator program aims to solve for this gap by supporting the VC funds and the brands they are invested in to facilitate their growth and remove roadblocks.

Manu Chandra, Founder, Sauce.vc said, “The VC Brand Incubator program provides a much needed understanding of Facebook, its family of Apps, and the digital landscape. As a consumer focused investor, we look for social marketing expertise in teams that we back as it is a huge driver of success for small startups that have to optimize every rupee spent. The entire consumer startup ecosystem benefits from these initiatives, both from a skill-development and a community-building perspective.”

The VC Brand Incubator program is a series of events that will be held across Mumbai, Bangalore and other key cities, where SMBs will be provided with skilling and training sessions by Facebook experts on a range of themes and topics that will help them build their brands on the digital medium more effectively. The first VC Brand Incubator program was held last month in collaboration with Sauce.vc and saw participation from 25 brands of which five were women-led businesses.

Speaking about how an in-depth understanding of Facebook and its family of Apps will help to grow his business, Yogesh Kabra, Founder, XYXX Innerwear said, “For a small and growing brand like ours, Facebook and Instagram can be intimidating and complex sometimes. The program has really helped me understand the platforms much better as a founder. I am now very confident about how to execute brand-building and advertising initiatives on these platforms to scale my business quickly with good ROI. It’s great to see their team take such initiatives for small startups like ours.”

Facebook believes that SMBs are key to the Indian economy’s growth, and their unhampered growth can fuel entrepreneurship and lead to consistent local job creation. Recently Facebook also announced an investment into Meesho, a social commerce company empowering first-time entrepreneurs, especially women, across Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns. In order to cater to the differing needs of SMBs, Facebook will be launching a slew of programs in the coming weeks that will benefit SMBs at different stages of their lifecycle. Some of these programs will be curated for agencies as well as industry partners who regularly work with SMBs.

Facebook is home to more than 90 million small businesses globally and is the default destination for SMBs to build their brand and grow their business. The new initiatives by Facebook India are geared towards simplifying the ease of doing business as well as improving digital adoption by SMBs in the country.

Nasscom Foundation Boosts Student Entrepreneurship through Cisco ‘thingQbator’

NASSCOM Foundation, today announced the successful completion of the first year of ‘Cisco thingQbator’ initiative at the felicitation ceremony held in Bengaluru. Over the last 12 months, over 600 student teams combined innovation and rapid prototyping with access to ‘Cisco thingQbator’ labs, world-class mentorship and industry connects through NASSCOM. 

The Cisco thingQbator innovation spaces were set-up at Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Kerala (IIITMK) - Trivandrum, IIT-BHU-Varanasi, Amrita University-Coimbatore, Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women- Delhi and Trident Academy of Technology-Bhubaneswar.  Over Six hundred students from across the five technical institutions got a first-hand experience on working with high-end tools like 3D printers, LoRa gateways, cloud infrastructure, AI optimized development kits like Jetson Nano to enable technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Apart from designing digital solutions to solve real-world business problems, the students were encouraged to conceive digital solutions to local community problems.  Students with the best solutions from each institute were felicitated at the ceremony.  Some of the innovations include –

·       TrashCash, a waste management solution that incentivizes usage of bins
·       DOST, an app for students dealing with the stresses of competitive exams
·       Bend, a VR platform to gamify physiotherapy exercises

Speaking at the ceremony, V C Gopalratnam, Senior Vice President, IT, Cisco, said, “The thinkQbator initiative was launched on the premise that we are smarter when we work together. We created this programme to curate a community of technology enthusiasts, who will build digital solutions and solve some of the societal and business challenges we face.  We are proud to partner with the NASSCOM Foundation to provide digital and entrepreneurial mentorship and bring the students’ ideas to fruition.”

Ashok Pamidi, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation, said, “The Cisco thingQbator program is a true embodiment of fostering change through technology innovation. The program works towards the increase of innovation quotient at college level while injecting entrepreneurial thinking and creating a social mindset.  This is exactly what we at NASSCOM Foundation want to spearhead under the Innovation Spaces umbrella, where young minds are offered a platform to chase their dreams, try, fail and succeed while enabling a large scale social impact through technology.”

Congratulating the students, Ashok said, “Some of the social innovations created under the thingQbator program are game-changing and I congratulate all the students on achieving this feat. We are glad to find an amazing partner in Cisco in our quest of using technology for social good and hope that the relationship only grows from here.”

The program was implemented by Project Defy and Li2 Technologies. As implementation partners, Project Defy and Li2 managed the thingQbators’ on-ground engagement through regular events and workshops. Li2 also created a portal for self-paced learning.

Encouraged by the success, Cisco and NASSCOM Foundation will not just support the thingQbators for another year; they will also be setting up a sixth thingQbator at Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), Allahabad.

Dr Agarwal's Eye Hospital Surgeons Conduct Breakthrough Surgery on 9-Year-Old-Girl Suffering from Paralyzed Eye Nerve

A nine-year old girl suffering from a rare condition called Congenital Superior Oblique Palsy, leading to a vertical squint and abnormal head posture to avoid double vision, was successfully treated at Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital in the city, bringing relief to the young patient, Hafsa Fatima, who was suffering from the problem since birth.

The spindle-shaped Superior Oblique muscle originates from near the nose and controls eye movements such as internal rotation (looking toward the nose), depression (looking downward), and abduction (looking away from the nose). Its weakness or paralysis (Palsy) gives rise to a vertical misalignment of the eyes.

Dr. Ravi, Medical Director, Senior Consultant, Cataract Oculoplasty said, “Patients avoid double vision by tilting their head, leading to an abnormal head posture. The condition in majority of cases is present from birth (congenital). It is a rare disorder with an incidence of 3.4 cases per 1,00,000 population.”

Said Dr. Muralidhara Krishna, Cataract & Paediatric Ophthalmology Specialist, Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, Bengaluru, who conducted the surgery: “Due to the disorder, Fatima had developed vertical squint and an abnormal, tilted-head posture with face turned to a side and depressed chin. This had opened her to ridicule from her peers due to her distorted appearance. Even going to school had become difficult. If Fatima was left untreated, her head posture would have worsened further and there would have been permanent changes in the muscle, making surgery difficult and unpredictable. Fatima’s surgery lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes as surgeons operated on three different muscles. The patient has now got rid of her vertical squint, her eyes are straight and properly aligned, and her abnormal head posture has almost vanished. She will now need regular follow ups once every 6 months, and treating the refractive error in her eyes.”

Said Dr. Raghu Nagaraju Senior Consultant, Cornea & Refractive Surgery, Dr Agarwal’s Hospital, Bengaluru: “Surgery on superior oblique muscle is very difficult technically and can cause bad diplopia (patient seeing two images of the same object) if not done expertly. That’s why many ophthalmologists simply refuse to do this surgery. As Fatima’s case shows, patients with such condition need not get disheartened because a solution is available in medical science, though it requires a meticulous examination of the eye and a challenging surgery.”

Added Dr. Muralidhara Krishna: “Congenital Superior Oblique Palsy in newborns may get unnoticed or untreated. Children may suffer severe double vision and vertical squint. They develop a head posture to decrease their double vision. If surgery is delayed, permanent fibrotic changes in muscle take place which make the condition even worse.”

The patient and her family are ecstatic since surgery. Said Fatima’s father: “We want to thank the doctors of Dr Agarwals Hospital from the bottom of our heart for the successfully surgery on Fatima. With this, our daughter has got her life back – she can now lead a normal life like any other child of her age. We still cannot believe it when we see her head and eyes perfectly straight and aligned normally.”

Manage Your Debt in Five Easy Steps

Hena Mehta, Founder & CEO of Basis

Is that sinking feeling that accompanies overdue bills and loans becoming too common? It’s time to fix our toxic relationships with recurring debts.

Debt isn’t the only thing that adds up with unpaid bills. Worry piles up too. They might seem minor at first, but if short-term debts such as overdue credit card bills and personal loans are ignored, they start nibbling away at our finances and peace of mind. So, here’s a five-point action plan that won’t just resolve current debts, but change our relationship with debt for good.

1. Restrict yourself to a budget
Jot down your fixed expenses and try to shift a good portion of what remains towards settling your debts. Give your trusty credit cards a rest and cut down on spending. Postpone big purchases and, if you must, dip into your savings to pay debts off. And most importantly, keep paying the minimum monthly payment on your credit cards on time to avoid late fees.

2. Choose a repayment strategy
Make a list of these details under each debt:

·         Amount owed
·         Interest rate
·         Minimum monthly payment
·         Due date

Now, try to pay off the debts with the highest interest rate first. Repayments are initially used to clear the interest before the principal that’s owed, so if you can make extra payments towards this debt, you’ll end up paying less in the long term. If that sounds daunting, start small. Tackle the debt with the lowest balance first. It will give you the satisfaction of striking one debt off your list and the motivation to deal with the bigger ones.

3. Lower the interest rate
Try to negotiate with your bank to lower the interest rate on your credit card dues. Some banks oblige in the hope of recovering at least a certain percentage of the dues quickly. It also helps to have a good credit scoreand payment history. If that’s not an option, try shifting your debt to a credit card with a lower interest rate. But, as they say in hyperspeed in all financial ads, terms and conditions apply, so read the offer document carefully.

4. Build an emergency fund
Once you’ve cleared your debts, create a financial buffer of 6-12 months’ living expenses. So, if you’re faced with an emergency, you won’t have to lean on your credit card or a take a personal loan with a high-interest rate. Keep adding to this fund with investments in low-risk options such as liquid funds or low duration debt funds, that can be easily converted into cash if required. 

5. Get an expert to help
Financial planning companies such as  Basis can work with you to build a healthy financial portfolio based on your resources and goals. Think zero debt, plus a robust investment plan and retirement fund. We also offer information and tools that don’t just empower you to make better financial decisions, but also change your approach to money.

We often see debt as a necessary evil that’s always popping in and out of our lives. The truth is, with the right kind of financial planning, it could be something that we can happily look back on as a vague, distant memory. 

UL Acquires Healthy Buildings, An Indoor Environmental Quality and Sustainability Services Company

UL, a global safety science leader, announced the acquisition of Healthy Buildings International, Inc., a U.S.-based indoor environmental testing and sustainability services company with expertise in indoor environmental quality, sustainability services for green building certifications, energy audits and water audits. The acquisition enables UL to extend its sustainability and air quality expertise across the built environment value chain to building owners and expand in global markets.

Healthy Buildings is a privately-owned company whose services make buildings more valuable through indoor air quality, water and mold assessments that save owners money and heighten occupant productivity, and technical expertise that helps buildings achieve green building and wellness certifications to make them more marketable. Healthy Buildings conducts more than 4,000 annual indoor air quality inspections and has completed more than 1,200 projects that contribute to green building certification projects, building value for their clients’ building assets.

“Buildings have an enormous impact on sustainability, health and wellness,” said Alberto Uggetti, vice president and general manager, UL’s Environment and Sustainability division. “By combining our expertise in product health and sustainability and Healthy Buildings expertise in building health and sustainability, we will help product manufacturers and building owners realize more value and reinforce UL’s mission to make the world a safer place, while helping companies create and enhance their brand value.’’

Healthy Buildings’ employees will join UL’s existing Environment & Sustainability division and maintain offices in global locations including Marietta, GA, Fairfax, VA, Lake Forest, CA, Guangzhou, China, Cabiate, Italy, and additional global locations. UL’s global footprint will enable expansion of indoor air quality and building sustainability services into the EU and Greater China, where demand for building health and sustainability is growing.

“We are excited to join forces with UL to offer unparalleled expertise in indoor environment quality for buildings, and technical expertise to help our clients develop healthy, sustainable buildings,” said Healthy Buildings’ CEO Richard Silberman. “UL’s footprint will enable us to rapidly expand into global markets that have demand,” He continued, “Like UL, our primary focus is maintaining a high level of service to our existing clients, while providing them additional services and expertise to increase their assets’ value.”

The transaction closed on June 28, 2019. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The Chennai Angels Invests in Online Healthy Cookware Products Store - The Indus Valley

The Chennai Angels (TCA) today announced 1crore Investmentin The Indus Valley, engaged in running an online healthy cookware products store.

The Indus Valley, was founded in 2016 by the husband and wife duo Jagadeesh Kumar and Madhumitha Udaykumar. Their idea is to transform Indian kitchens with healthier cookware options. The funds will be used to expand their presence in India’s growing home and cookware products space.

“Indus Valley is a natural cookware brand designing and selling healthy cookware options that are made using natural materials like iron, clay and wood, working with artisans to produce the products. Their core customers are women in major cities between 25-40 years of age, who are health conscious. The cookware industry is poised to grow at 21% p.a. and customers are getting increasingly health conscious and the organic food, wellness market, fitness market is growing are all growing at 20-25%. We look forward to working with the Indus Valley team and help them scale up their operations,"said Mr. Chandu Nair who lead the investment from The Chennai Angels.

“We are extremely excited to partner with The Chennai Angels. Our investors come with varied skill set and would be a great value addition to our company through their constant mentoring and support. More people in India are moving towards healthier lifestyle choices. Our solution to transform Indian Kitchens with healthier cookware products is a constant hit among our target group.” said Mr. Jagadeesh Kumar Co-Founder of The Indus Valley.

The Chennai Angels(TCA, www.thechennaiangels.com) is one of India’s most active angel investing groups. Founded in the year 2007, it is comprised of successful entrepreneurs and business leaders with a track record of starting and scaling large enterprises. Additionally, several seed and venture capital firms hold institutional membership in the group. Though it is located in Chennai, TCA’s investing members and portfolio investments are not limited by geography. Unusually for an angel investing group, TCA has a diversified portfolio that goes well beyond a restrictive tech focus, reflecting the diversity of its members’ interests. TCA portfolio companies benefit from the collective expertise and rolodex of its members.

vivo Unveils First Z Series Smartphone - #FullyLoaded Z1Pro Sold Online from July, 11, 2019

vivo, the global innovative smartphone brand, today launched the all-new vivo Z1Pro in India, under its brand new Z-series portfolio that targets the ‘Generation-Z’ consumers. The #FullyLoaded Z1Pro is vivo’s first offering in the online focused Z series. The vivo Z1Pro will come in three variants – 4GB+64GB, 6GB+64GB and 6GB+128GB and will be available in three attractive color options - Sonic Black, Sonic Blue and Mirror Black. The device will go on sale starting 11th July on Flipkart and vivo India E-store. The three variants are priced at INR 14,990, INR 16,990 and INR 17,990.

The Z1Pro has been designed to offer a perfect integration of performance, speed and mesmerizing design.

The vivo Z1Pro is equipped with the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 with AI engine, 32MP In-Display selfie camera, and massive 5,000mAh battery with 18W Fast charging, and AI Triple Rear Camera with a 16MP Primary camera, 8MP Super Wide-Angle camera and 2MP Depth camera.

Consumers will also get an array of attractive offers* on the purchase of the vivo Z1Pro including:

·         INR 750 instant discount on ICICI debit and credit cards on Flipkart
·         Jio benefits worth INR 6,000 on vivo India E-Store

*terms and conditions apply

Expressing delight on the launch of Z series, Mr. Nipun Marya, Director Brand Strategy, vivo India said, “Innovation has been at the core of our India strategy. With the Z1Pro, we’ve put performance at the forefront, ensuring a line of highly advanced products at budget friendly prices for consumers from all walks of life. This device caters especially to the increasing expectations of our Gen-Z consumers who are on a constant look-out for the best offerings and first-in-class innovative features. With the Z1Pro, we are introducing a new breed of smartphones for India’s Generation-Z that are a blend of power-packed performance for a superior smartphone gaming experience and a refreshing design.”

Commenting on this collaboration, Mr. Aditya Soni, Senior Director, Mobiles at Flipkart said, “We are delighted to launch vivo's Z series on Flipkart. At Flipkart, our continuous endeavor has been to provide innovative and high-quality differentiated products, easily accessible to Indian customers at aggressive price points. With the launch of the vivo Z1Pro, we are confident that consumers in India, especially our Gen-Z consumers will be able to enjoy the best-in-class performance, camera technology and a great overall experience."

#FullyLoaded Performance

Equipped with Snapdragon 712 AIE along with 4/6GB RAM & 64/128GB ROM. At the heart of this premium platform is a 64-bit CPU - Qualcomm Kryo 360 with an advanced 10nm design, clock speed of up to 2.3 GHz and Adreno 616 Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) leading to increase in the overall performance by 10%3 and gives you the extreme performance while gaming and multitasking.

#FullyLoaded Viewing Experience

Z1Pro features a 16.59cm (6.53) bigger display, screen ratio improved to 90.77%, 19.5:9 super wide view and FHD+（2340X1080）resolution creates a vivid and life-like viewing experience that makes games and videos more immersive and exciting than ever before. Super Black “hidden” front camera, app interface optimization brings better visual experience.

#FullyLoaded Selfies

For self-portraits, Z1Pro comes with a 32MP In-Display front camera to capture the most delicate facial details and produce more precise results which gives unrivalled clarity. AI Face Beauty enhances your facial features even further with customized solutions, so you can spend less time editing your selfies and enjoy more time looking glamorous on camera.

#FullyLoaded Rear Camera

When you see the world through an AI Triple Rear Camera, creating photographic masterpieces is easier than ever. The Z1Pro features AI Triple Rear camera setup with a 16MP Primary camera, 8MP Super Wide-Angle camera and 2MP Depth camera. From magnificent landscapes to beautiful portraits, these three cameras help you capture your most impressive shots – with the least amount of effort. The camera also offers modes like backlight HDR, portrait bokeh, portrait light effects, AR stickers, slow motion, time-lapse photography, AI Beauty etc. The AI Super-Wide-Angle1 camera expands your view to 120°, so you can capture more landscape, more of your friends, and more impressive pictures.

#FullyLoaded Battery

Z1Pro innovative 3D shape design could cover 5000mAh battery with only 8.85mm thickness. A large, industry-leading 5,000mAh battery keeps Z1Pro going longer, for a more enjoyable gaming and video experience. Now, battery worries are a thing of the past. It also comes with vivo’s exclusive 18W Fast Charging technology to re-juice quicker than ever. Not only that, but the Z1Pro also supports the OTG reverse charging2 function, which is a mobile phone and a charging treasure.

#FullyLoaded Gaming

The new vivo Multi-Turbo with ART++ compiler enhancement technology, provides a breakthrough in mobile phone performance. ART++ compiler enhances Turbo greatly improving the performance of the phone and the response speed of the app. Net Turbo network acceleration, Z1Pro maintains better network status and Center Turbo processor accelerates to ensure the game's CPU and memory resources are smooth. The AI Turbo recognize the usage pattern and enabling common applications to open faster.

The Ultra Game Mode is designed for the ultimate gaming fun. Play e-sports like a pro by using Competition Mode, which allocates system resources that prioritize your game performance. 4D gaming vibration and 3D surrounded sound effect allows a fully immersed like a real game scenario. Gaming countdown will always remind you the exact show time so that you will never miss the chance to become the leader of your game. It is also equipped with a low blue eye protection function to effectively filter blue light.