Divine Solitaires Felicitated for its Breakthroughs at National Jewellery Awards in Mumbai

Divine Solitaires, India’s first solitaire jewellery brand was recognised at the prestigious National Jewellery Awards (NJA) for achieving complete transparency in the diamond industry. The awards function took place on Saturday, 15th February 2020 at Hotel Renaissance, Mumbai.

Divine Solitaires was felicitated for being the first-ever solitaire brand in India to offer complete transparency in quality and pricing along with a unique digital solitaire experience to diamond consumers.

Since its establishment in 2006, the brand has introduced some pathbreaking innovations such as a 123-parameter quality guarantee, a Nationwide Standard & Transparent Price List, the Divine Solitaires mobile application and a Solitaire Price Index. The brand has an outreach in more than 160 stores across 82 cities in India, and has also reached out to consumers in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand and Nepal.

The National Jewellery Awards is considered as one of the most prestigious jewellery award in the gems and jewellery industry.  The All India Gems and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) accords recognition and award through the NJA platform annually to stimulate talent, honour innovation and creativity of the jewellers & designers to boost the industry.

NJA honours the work of designers and manufacturers in various categories such as Best Jewellery Designs, Best Diamond & Precious Metal Jewellery, and even has an award for the Best Retail Ambience. The jewellery platform aims to drive excellence across the various aspects of the industry segment and reward the passion and innovation, setting new benchmarks within the industry each year.

On winning the award Mr. Jignesh Mehta, Founder and Managing Director Divine Solitaires said “At Divine Solitaires, we constantly strive to meet our customers’ requirements and make their experience of solitaire shopping, hassle-free. We thank the GJC for selecting us for this award and recognising our efforts in the gems and jewellery industry. This award will further motivate us to work harder in creating world-class solitaire jewellery and offer unique services which will benefit the customers and the industry as a whole.”

About Divine Solitaires (www.divinesolitaires.com)

Founded in the year 2006, Divine Solitaires offers its consumers the world’s finest and brilliantly crafted quality solitaire diamonds that have been obtained through ethical sourcing and given quality certification. The brand offers a quality guarantee on all their diamonds on the basis of 123 parameters as against the international standard of 40 parameters. Globally only Divine Solitaires has a retail pricing mechanism that is standard and transparent. Realising the need for organised marketing of diamonds and diamond jewellery, Mr. Jignesh Mehta conceptualized and founded Divine Solitaires and the branding of solitaires along with the core values of consistently offering high quality diamonds with transparency and standardisation in pricing. Mr. Mehta is a 1st generation entrepreneur, having completed his Masters in marketing from Australia and a diamond grading course from Antwerp, Belgium. He and his brother, Mr. Shailen Mehta, Co-founder Divine Solitaires bring with them nearly 20 years of rich global experience of the diamond industry.

Edtech Startup PlanetSpark Raises INR 3.2 Cr Pre Series A from IAN, FIITJEE and Others

Gurgaon based edtech startup, PlanetSpark has raised a follow-on Pre-Series A round of INR 3.2 Cr from Indian Angel Network, Lead Angels and Hyderabad Angels. Existing seed investor and one of India’s largest education companies, FIITJEE Limited, also participated in this round, showing its faith in the company’s vision. Vikas Kuthiala and Nitin Zamre were the deal leads on behalf of IAN.

PlanetSpark provides neighborhood learning zones where children learn and develop all the 'new age' skills under one roof. It combines online learning with an offline experience for young children in grades K-8 through its in-house learning products. It operates in an asset-light model of partnering with unutilized assets in pre-schools, schools and strategic partners such as Oyo Townhouse to set up its neighbourhood blended-learning centres in a low cost and scalable manner.

“Pure online learning through videos is passive and suffers from very poor completion rates. The presence of a dedicated space, time and a mentor is essential for young kids to learn effectively. Hence, we blend online with an offline experience  at our neighbourhood learning spaces where kids can learn academic skills (English, Maths, Science) and 21st century skills (coding, robotics, public speaking etc) in the presence of a qualified teacher.”, said Kunal Malik, Co-Founder.

The company will use the funds in expanding its business into new geographies and increasing enrolments by 10x over the next 12-15 months. According to a report by KPMG, Primary and Secondary Supplemental Education will be the largest online education category at 773 Million by 2021 and growing at CAGR of 60%. While the grade 9 to 12 market has seen a red ocean with numerous big players established in the market in the past 20 years, there has been no trusted brand in the K-8 space to cater to the needs of young parents looking to develop their kids.

“Though our asset light model and an omnichannel approach, our acquisition costs go down considerably with time. As a Learning Zone grows, its brand builds in the area and it acts like a magnet to attract more students due to network effects, with a 42% referral rate. Due to our face to face interaction with children and learning analytics and live-feed system for parents, our engagement is very high, leading to 95% retention rates”, said Maneesh Dhooper, Co-founder.

The market for developing new age skills in young children is growing exponentially across the world, especially in China and the US to cater to the need to prepare children to be critical thinkers and problem solvers in an ever changing world. There is a growing trend towards using a Blended Learning model that combines online with offline. PlanetSpark is uniquely positioned to leverage its products and offline play to capture the market.

Delhi based CENSIE Capital Partners was the adviser to Planetspark for this transaction, “We are always passionate about the team that brings fresh prespective to the industry, said, Ankul Maheshwari, Founder – CENSIE.

About PlanetSpark:
Founded in 2016, Gurgaon-based PlanetSpark is the brainchild of Maneesh Dhooper and Kunal Malik. PlanetSpark provides neighborhood learning zones where children learn and develop all the 'new age' skills under one roof. It combines online learning with an offline experience for young children in grades K-8 through its in-house learning products. It operates in an asset-light model of partnering with unutilized assets in pre-schools, schools and strategic partners such as Oyo Townhouse to set up its neighbourhood blended-learning centres in a low cost and scalable manner.

Team of Indian Investment Experts Launch ‘PrimeInvestor.in’ Platform for Investors

Investment advisory veterans Srikanth Meenakshi, Vidya Bala, and Bhavana Acharya have announced the launch of a new-age subscription-based research platform – PrimeInvestor.in. With a focus on providing research-as-a-service (RaaS), PrimeInvestor.in is a platform for retail investors seeking quality, unbiased guidance for their personal finance decisions. Investors will be able to access in-depth research and recommendations on mutual funds (MFs), bonds, fixed deposit products and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Soon, stock and insurance recommendations will be added to the offerings as well.

The team that has launched this platform has extensive experience in investment research and advice having helped thousands of investors across the country attain their financial goals. Srikanth was the co-founder of FundsIndia, a leading mutual fund platform in India, while Vidya headed the research function along with Bhavana.

To equip its customers in making informed investment decisions, the team at PrimeInvestor.in sifts through hundreds of personal finance products and filters them using exhaustive quantitative and qualitative metrics. The extensive research is distilled into a shortlist of investment-worthy products that can meet every imaginable financial aspiration.

New users can begin with a 15-day trial and get access to all articles and select recommendations.

Srikanth Meenakshi, co-founder, PrimeInvestor.in said, “There are several platforms that cater to the order execution needs of investors, including those that offer ‘Direct’ plans and such. However, investors are left to wonder as to where to invest and what are the best products out there. PrimeInvestor was conceived to cater to this felt need that could make or break an investor’s wealth”.

He added, “At PrimeInvestor, we are working together with a purpose to equip our customers with in-depth research to help them take informed investment decisions. Throughout our journey, without any external influences, we will stay committed to ensure financial wellness of our customers.”

Vidya Bala, co-founder, PrimeInvestor.in said, “Ours is a purely customer-focused no-commission, no ad model. Our only source of income would be subscription. This will enable us to stay free from biases and conflicts of interest and focus on what’s good for the investor.”

Bhavana Acharya, co-founder, PrimeInvestor.in said, “We cater to a wide range of investors – regardless of how experienced they are with investing. Every investor will benefit from our list of recommended funds – Prime Funds, our review tool that gives you firm opinions about your funds, and Prime Deposits, our curated list of deposit products. We also have ready-to-go portfolios for beginner investors, and ETFs and Theme Park selections for the knowledgeable”.

There is more – subscribers will be regularly engaged with high-quality insights and updates about funds, investment options, markets, and strategies. Prime Ratings is PrimeInvestor’s innovative in-house rating system for mutual funds.

All these solutions and services are available for an annual subscription fee – which has an introductory price of Rs 2,500 per year, a figure kept deliberately accessible relative to comparable offerings in the market to ensure that the benefits of the platform are within the reach of every investor in the country.

Trend Micro Boosts Channel Leadership with Expanded and Enhanced Partner Program for Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today announced that it is launching a newly expanded and enhanced channel partner program in Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA). Underpinning the program are several key initiatives designed to help channel partners generate more margins, capture new revenue streams, and drive tighter alignment with Trend Micro in the field by taking a customer-centric approach.

“Our channel-first business model has reaped immense success over the years, cementing Trend Micro’s channel leadership position in the industry. After 30 years in this business, we continue to stay true to our unfaltering commitment of making our partners successful and achieving growth together”, said Dhanya Thakkar, senior vice president, Trend Micro, AMEA. “With the AMEA channel program, we aim to reward performing partners with extended benefits, and the right tools to create and close more business opportunities.”

The major enhancements include:

Higher profitability and margins: Streamlined discount structures based on deal registration; sales and marketing incentives across all partner tiers and distributors; and new rebate schemes for gold and platinum partners
Customer-centric approach: Highly-subsidized and strategically-curated not-for-sale (NFR) packages of Trend Micro’s solutions for partners to better address real-world customer cybersecurity pain points
Cybersecurity talent development: Complimentary training series delivered through the TRENDs Campus – Trend Micro’s new channel sales and technical enablement initiative designed to educate partners in the latest cybersecurity knowledge and trends, Trend Micro’s industry-leading solutions, and the art of opportunity discovery
Tighter collaboration: A set of enhanced business tools, including a refreshed partner portal, a new mobile app, and a business analytics dashboard, to drive joint field activities

Channel partners in AMEA can get in touch with their local Trend Micro channel account managers to receive more information on how to maximize the new program and drive more business together.

A Toast to Fanzart’s Fans Success Held Recently in Bangalore

Fanzart has had an extraordinary 2019, finishing with 12 awards, including the Economic Times Business Leader, Power Brands - Rising Star, Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, Best Luxury Designer Fans and more. Moreover, Fanzart bought a pro golf league, called Fanzart Eagles and won the maiden Pro Golf League held in Bangalore to finish off the year.

2020 has just begun and Fanzart has already started it with a bang, with coalitions with bigger brands, partners beyond India and patented technology to be released in March, 2020 - around the same time Fanzart completes 8 years of redefining luxury from the ceiling point of view. With 70 experience centres across India, as well as presence at 10 Future Group's Hometown showrooms, Fanzart now sees a good amount of market adoption from both offline as well as online channels.

As a way to show their gratitude, Fanzart’s promoters celebrated the extraordinary 2019 with family and friends, including well-known Architects and Interior Designers, prominent developers, team Fanzart Eagles as well as well-wishers. 

“Cross Connection” - Debut Novelist Preety Praveen Unveils Unique Love Story in Bangalore

Preety Praveen launched her maiden novel ‘Cross Connection’ on 14th February 2020, at Sapna Book House, Bangalore. The realistic fiction read is inspired by a true story and published by Blue Rose Publishers.

Speaking at the launch, Sandhya Mendonca, author, media entrepreneur, cultural evangelist and chief guest of the event said “When love is in the air, right in time for Valentine's Day, here's a good old fashioned love story - girl meets boy and then follow the pangs of separation and hardships that destiny throws their way. This couple shares an extraordinary love story and the romantic in me cheers them!”

Cross Connection is a story of love, commitment and destiny. Set in the simple town of Salem, Tamil Nadu, the storyline takes readers through the lives of Simar and Naveen, who are distinctly different people, with whom one can identify with almost instantaneously. With nothing in common, destiny brings them together in a captivating plot, connecting them in a lifelong bond.

“I have always been passionate about writing, and penning down this love story which is really close to my heart, was a beautiful experience. The readers of Cross Connection will surely enjoy the roller coaster ride of emotions. I want them to believe in and cherish the value of true friends, how and when to stand by them and most importantly the power of destiny,” says Preety Praveen speaking about her debut novel.

Cross Connection is sure to strike the right chord as it connects the lives of Simar, a bold and brilliant girl with a pampered upbringing and Naveen a determined youngster with a brusque exterior. While she traces her roots to Punjab, he comes from Kerala. Long after recognizing and accepting their love for each other, the couple have a tough battle ahead of them convincing their respective parents to accept their relationship. Simar has to also cope from the turmoil of recovering from a life threatening car crash without Naveen by her side. Through love, tears, anger, sacrifice, sadness, hope, triumph and joy, the captivating plot makes Cross Connection a compelling read.

Syed Asad Hassan, Managing Director of Blue Rose Publishers, speaking on the launch of Preety’s novel said “It was a pleasure working with Preety Praveen on this book. The moment we read the story for the first time, we knew instantly that it was one that would connect with people on many levels. Also, what better time to launch a book like this than the valentines season itself. This book is definitely a must read book and I am confident that it will leave a mark on this genre for many years to come.”

A Bangalore based psychologist, Preety Praveen draws from her personal and professional experiences to give readers an insight into the ups and downs of relationships and the importance of commitment. Cross Connection is released in collaboration with Avasar Foundation and a percentage of the profits are pledged to open doors of education for girl children.

Cross Connection is priced at Rs. 299 and available for purchase on Amazon, Flipkart, ShopClues and leading bookstores across the country.

Preety Praveen is also penning down a sequel to the book, titled ‘A Pocket Full of Promises.’ As the name suggests, the book is an honest take on the ups and downs Simar and Naveen face after marriage.

Blurb of the book:

To accomplish the dreams of her parents, Simar, a girl from Punjab, lands up in Tamil Nadu to complete her degree in dentistry. But fate had written a different story for her. Struggling to survive in a new world, she meets the love of her life, Naveen, a boy from Kerala. Smiling in the world of their love, they weave a beautiful life around their dreams. But everything changes once Naveen leaves India, trying his luck to get a job abroad. After a year, he comes back to marry her…but…is she still there waiting for him…?

AMP Convenience Mall Now Launches in Namma Bengaluru

India’s unique and first of its kind AMP (Mini Mall/Neighborhood mall on Saturday  making its debut in Bengaluru with its first innovative mini shopping mall & Food court at Bilekahalli, Vijayabank Layout. AMP further plans to add 20 outlets across Bengaluru in next 24 months which will create 1000 plus employment in Bengaluru. Mrs Padma Priya- Mrs Universe along with other celebrities will be launching this unique neighborhood AMP Mall.

AMP has its current footprint in TN, Kerala and now in Karnataka through this first AMP Mini Mall, AMP Further plans to Expand across India.

Speaking at the launch Mr.Rajesh-CEO-Ask Era Infra Pvt Ltd “ Our aim is to create 1000 job opportunities in Bengaluru by opening 19 more AMP Mini Malls. We are also excited to create 200 to 300 full time entrepreneurs and to provide a platform for 500 women part time entrepreneurs. Our mission is to provide a high potential retail space without monthly rental, Big saving in labor cost to provide quality and  trained manpower.

Mr. Rajesh – CEO AMP, He has 18 years of experience in Retail Industry worked for 3 fortune 500 retail Companies (Reliance, YUM (KFC) Staples International, Future Group)

Mr.Suresh-Vice President-AMP , he is Ex-Walmart-Head of Quality & Compliance and 30 years of experience in  retail sector  Said ” Especially in retail people likes multiple assignments in one go, such as shopping, eating and self  grooming.

Mr.Narasa Reddy- Has vast experience of 30 Years in Real Estate Industry. His 30 years of rich experience in developing various Commercial, Residential and Government projects across India. He is also the Managing Director of Valdis homes Pvt Ltd.

Ask Market Place(AMP)  is located at  : 17/18, Kodichikkanahalli Main Rd, Anugraha Layout, Vijaya Bank Layout, Bilekahalli, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560076.