Innoviti Enhances ESOP Pool to US$10 Million to Create Payments Business

Leading provider of intelligent payment solutions, Innoviti, announced has that it has enhanced its ESOP pool to US$ 10 million.  This pool was created as a part of the structuring carried out during the recent fund raise from FMO and Bessemer.

Innoviti’s ESOP scheme, constituted during pre-Series A, is open to all full-time employees of the company and is awarded based on performance and loyalty.  With the recent enhancement, more than 30% of all employees, from senior leaders to system architects, field officers and call center executives are now covered. The objective is to motivate, retain, and attract employees to participate in Innoviti’s vision of transforming digital payments in India at scale. ESOPs provide an opportunity to these employees to create significant wealth, that would not be possible through life-time savings from salaries.

Innoviti’s payment solutions help merchants extract the full power of digital payments by using data and design intelligence, not possible with stand-alone terminals and QR stickers. Innoviti's solutions help merchants get extra sales, extra savings, and extra customers, by using data intelligence to form digital partnerships with banks and brands, enabling them to collaborate and create targeted offers for common customer pools and intelligently and instantly enabling them at the point of sale, driving unmatched marketing efficiencies.

Processing over 6.5B$ of annualized offline merchant payment volume (~5% of India’s offline merchant volume, based on RBI data), Innoviti is transforming digital payments at scale. The company leads monthly terminal throughput at 7000$ per terminal, 2X of India’s average of all other payment providers (RBI data). The use of technology to relentlessly drive reliability and automate processes has further fuelled gross margins, making Innoviti the most capital-efficient company in this space (based on publicly available data). This reflects the speed and scale of impact, number of lives touched and the exponential learning team Innoviti has created along the way.

Innoviti is backed by marquee investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, USA, SBI Venture Capital, Singapore, FMO, Netherlands, and Catamaran, India.  Series C funding was led by FMO and Bessemer.

Quotes:

“Great companies require great teams, and great teams need exceptional talent.  We love to spot and nurture talent that demonstrates outstanding levels of commitment, curiosity, and capability.   While for these people their joy is their high in discovering and solving tough problems, ESOPs are one other way to make their contributions to the company worthwhile for them.

As a start-up our team members fight against several odds to create successes.  It is a difficult journey and its moving to see how some people relentlessly drive this fight, dedicating their time, often way beyond office hours, to leap over hurdles and create phenomenal successes. ESOPs are a small token to make those victories that much sweeter.

Our shares have been quite liquid, and over the years several of our team members have sold their shares to fulfill their dreams.  When we hear stories from our former team members of how they used this wealth to build their home, buy a car or even start their own business, the real purpose of ESOPs comes alive - to enable employees to fulfill their dreams, as they help the company fulfills its.

We are very thankful to our investors who have supported the company time and again in not only expanding the ESOP pool, but also making it accessible and attractive for team members to see meaningful benefits during their journey at Innoviti.” – said Mr. Rajeev Agrawal, CEO, Innoviti.

The New Mantra: Future of SMEs Post COVID 19 in Indian Market

By Sandip Chhettri,COO,TradeIndia

While the novel coronavirus has wreaked havoc upon the organized world, it has also ushered an opportunity for the new tides of transformation to emerge. This evidently bleak situation where businesses and institutions have suffered substantial losses on account of the global pandemic also holds the potential for heralding a profound paradigm shift in the way businesses are imagined and defined, namely the shift from offline to the online digital medium. While most organisations in the world have sanctioned their employees to work from the safety of their homes, there is still a lot of ground left to cover. There is an overwhelming gamut of businesses belonging to sectors, which have hitherto operated in a conventionally offline manner.

Industry types such as the manufacturing industries, retail operations, hospitality, mobility, etc have always existed along the physical contours of operation. While the big multinational corporations have the advantage of vast capital and resource to their disposal, small and medium enterprises benefit from their agile and more compact nature of working. Therefore, opportunities exist for both David and Goliath in this new world order to streamline their operational mediums to achieve seamless objectivity.

The lockdown has taught the entire business world a lesson in the survival of the fittest tactics and how best to leverage seemingly adverse conditions to one’s own gain. The Government of India has brought in a surfeit of bailout packages, amended fiscal policies, rate cuts, loans and waivers to rescue the ailing industries in the country. It has also unequivocally championed the need for the nation to become self-reliant, besides heralding a slew of ingenious schemes such as the ‘vocal for local’, financial aid and an INR 20,000 crore security reprieve. The centre is also endorsing the immediate need for businesses, academic institutions, and public sector units to immediately and effectively shift to online means of business to maintain market relevance.

Here is a slew of essential factors every SME and MSME must go through before recommencing their operations once the lockdown gets lifted:

Neutralize the scene

No matter the size, nature, or dimension, the primary concern for every business is to initiate an in-depth assessment of the existing company assets, its overall financial health and security aspects. As the pandemic has interrupted operations, productions and sales across frontiers, it is essential for companies to arrive at a realistic and holistic overview of the present situation in the face of the virulent pandemic. The company leadership must resolve the various deficits, prospective inflow and outflow of capital, latent expenditures and burdens. Obtaining dependable and actionable reports regarding the various respite from government, apex trade and commerce bodies, investors are important before undertaking critical decisions such as pay cuts, scrapping of potential future investments, growth and expansion plans, etc

Realigning your goals 

Re-appraisal of all business blueprints is of the utmost essence for SMEs in the event of such an industrial setback. The post-pandemic landscape is surely going to be different than the pre-COVID days and businesses have to revamp and realign their planning and strategy for the future accordingly. There is a need for a realistic and well-formed map for the road ahead while taking into consent the outlook of the various stakeholders of the company. The leadership should also reschedule the company objectives in accordance with the unprecedented coronavirus developments. Reforming the annual execution plan can constitute a spectrum of diverse business variables such as suspension of funding rounds, forging new partnerships, or discontinuing unfavorable ones.

Embracing the digital

The current environment dictates that SMEs as well as the smaller entities immediately switch to the digital pathways of business engagement and create a strong and veritable online presence. By tapping optimally into the potential of social media, businesses can even generate sales through interactions with peers and customers via online channels of communication. This is the age of digital media marketing and entrepreneurs must harness it now, more than ever. Those organizations that have hitherto operated through offline modes should etch out a transition layout for the imminent digital future without compromising on employee efficiency or data safety. 

The revolution must be live

The fourth industrial revolution is a well-timed boon indeed, a veritable blessing in disguise for businesses around the world. The latest technological disruptions such as the AI, ML, IoT, CRM, Cloud and other innovations must be leveraged by even the SMEs. Businesses should adapt to the fourth revolution of smart automation and invest appropriately to bestow a new-age tech-empowered operational facelift, thus thriving in the digital economy. Tech-empowered businesses have the edge over conventional competitors churning greater ROI and market performance even in the times of a pandemic.

Though the necessary investments for these overarching business augmentation and up-skilling may seem unfeasibly vast, it is an essential cost that must be undertaken considering the future consequences.  Businesses must execute optimum risk-mitigation strategies in the face of the pandemic and should also seek to acclimatize for any future crises.

MG Motor India Signs Up 6 More Start-Ups Under “MG Developer Program & Grant”

MG (Morris Garages) Motor India has announced that it has signed up 6 more start-ups for its ongoing MG Developer Program & Grant. The 6 finalists include Highway Delite, Socialcore, InCabEx, CamCom, ClearQuote, and the Alexa-based project Meeseeks. The start-ups will receive a grant and mentoring from technology experts and may get an opportunity to work directly with specialized MG teams on selected projects.

Demonstrating its firm focus on encouraging innovation within the start-up community, MG Motor India has already supported over 60 start-ups since 2017 to drive innovation in the automobile space of India. Such start-ups are working in the fields of engine & emissions, technology, child in-car safety, navigation, connectivity, and electric vehicles ecosystem alongside others. The overall objective of the program is to support the local start-up community by creating a specialized grant. The brand intends to indigenously foster innovation and contribute towards the development of the start-up ecosystem in India, thereby holistically contributing to the society.

The MG Developer Program & Grant is a part of the carmaker’s focus on innovation as a core pillar of the organization. Launched in partnership with several tech giants including Adobe, Cognizant, SAP, Airtel, TomTom, Unlimit, and others, the program aims to nurture ground-breaking solutions within the Indian urban mobility space.

Speaking on the development, Rajeev Chaba, President & MD, MG Motor India said, “MG thrives on innovation and has developed a symbiotic relationship with the Indian start-up ecosystem. Our goal is to indigenously develop a comprehensive, sustainable, and smart infrastructure for urban mobility in our country. The MG Developer Program has received an overwhelming response and we welcome all teams who have been signed as a part of the initiative. We look forward to mentoring and closely working with them. MG will also explore synergies with these start-ups and may deploy their solutions in its upcoming vehicles.”

The program had received over 300 entries, out of which, 60 teams were shortlisted in the first round. These teams were provided mentorship by 25 industry experts including MG India’s leadership as well as its technology ecosystem partners, making it one of the largest mentoring programs’ in the automotive segment.

Amongst the selected candidates, Highway Delite is India’s first free travel app to make highway travel and road trips both safe and fun. Meeseeks leverages Alexa/MG’s Voice Assistant to digitally manage and improve customer’s service experience.

Socialcore uses Artificial Intelligence to enhance customer interactions with sales improvement and cost reduction, while InCabEx creates a better in-cabin experience by personalizing car profiles as per users’ preferences.

CamCom is an AI-based start-up that provides defect and damage assessment while ClearQuote generates repair estimates via images/videos of a damaged car.

The 6 start-ups will be joining the already signed companies including Voxomos, Driftly, and Innvolution under the MG Developer Program & Grant.

MG’s journey with start-ups started back in 2017 with its first MG Innovation Hunt that was launched in partnership with TiE Delhi. Since then, MG India has conducted a total of 6 start-up programs, in partnership with India’s start-up community and leading educational institutions, all coming together in the MG Developer Program & Grant. The various MG start-up programs have attracted over 750 applications from start-ups and innovators so far in auto tech across India. 

About MG Motor India

Founded in the UK in 1924, Morris Garages vehicles were world famous for their sports cars, roadsters, and cabriolet series. MG vehicles were much sought after by many celebrities, including the British Prime Ministers and even the British Royal Family, for their styling, elegance, and spirited performance. The MG Car Club, set up in 1930 at Abingdon in the UK, has thousands of loyal fans, making it by far one of the world’s largest clubs for a car brand. MG has evolved into a modern, futuristic and innovative brand over the last 96 years. MG Motor India has commenced its manufacturing operations at its car manufacturing plant at Halol in Gujarat.

All-New Series ‘Jeremy Wade’s Dark Waters Premires on Animal Planet and Discovery Plus on July 06

Biologist Jeremy Wade has spent the last 35 years solving mysteries that lurk in our planet’s rivers, lakes and seas. In 2017, he hung up his rod after nine seasons on Animal Planet’s one of the top-rated series, River Monsters, where he reeled in some of the rarest, most elusive and most dangerous creatures lurking beneath the water’s surface. But the waters of the world run deep; they’re dark and forever changing and many mysteries remain. Jeremy returns to Animal Planet in a captivating new series that brings him back to the water’s edge to investigate reports of the unimaginable and unexplained in JEREMY WADE’S DARK WATERS premiering July 6 at 9 PM on Animal Planet, Animal Planet HD and Discovery Plus app.

In JEREMY WADE’S DARK WATERS, Wade spotlights the bizarre, the weird and the mysterious as he investigates baffling, unsolved mysteries. He takes Animal Planet’s audiences on journeys beneath the water in remote areas, to islands lost in time and out into the open ocean to investigate reports that include, among others, entire fish species suddenly disappearing; unexplained sightings of mythical beasts; once thriving rivers now empty; and genetic oddities that may have produced the biggest monsters yet. 

“These are detective stories with a difference - fishy tales from remote waters, and from right under our noses,” said Wade. “If anybody thought that by now, I’d seen it all, you’re in for a surprise - as I was.”

“Jeremy is adventurous, passionate and one of our best storytellers. We look forward to sharing new stories and mysteries with our audiences across all screens around the globe,” said Global President of Animal Planet Susanna Dinnage.

JEREMY WADE’S DARK WATERS episodes this season will include:

* Italy’s Lake Monster - According to legend, one of Europe’s most beautiful lakes guards an ancient secret. First reported in the 16th century, the Lake Garda Monster has been described as a huge humped beast - half snake, half dinosaur. Jeremy travels to Northern Italy to investigate but is faced with more than one possible culprit. It turns out these lakes and rivers, despite being in one of Italy’s most populous regions, could be hiding more than one enormous beast worthy of the monster title. 

* Alaska’s Lost River Kings - Jeremy Wade travels to Alaska to investigate reports of the mysterious disappearance of the majestic King Salmon. His search for answers takes him from the state’s most heavily fished rivers to the mighty Yukon River where the King Salmon is the lifeblood of the native communities and out into the ocean, following a trail of evidence that leads him to encounters with some of Alaska’s most formidable predators. Who or what is killing the kings? 

* Return of the Outback Beast – A report of an underwater attack in Australia has caught Jeremy Wade’s attention. The story of a diver tangling with a colossal fish is intriguing, but according to most people, there shouldn’t be any fish of significant size in the area. Chasing a lead, Jeremy travels to eastern Australia to investigate, and discovers that the fish responsible for the attack could be a species back from the brink of extinction.

JEREMY WADE’S DARK WATERS is produced for Animal Planet by Icon Films where Laura Marshall and Andie Clare serve as executive producers with Nicholas Head as showrunner. For Animal Planet, Lisa Lucas is executive producer with Patrick Keegan as supervising producer. 

About Animal Planet

Animal Planet is India’s number 1 wildlife channel that immerses viewers in entire spectrum of life in the animal kingdom with high quality content. For more than 20 years in India, Animal Planet has carried purposeful programming from every corner of the world capturing the beauty and splendor of the animal kingdom. The channel has recently adopted a new brand philosophy ‘Humans Like Us’.  As a part of the new brand purpose, Animal Planet has sharpened focus on stories linked to animal conservation as it aims to awaken viewers to the need for animal welfare and conservation. 

SAP Launches MSMEs Initiative “Global Bharat” to Make them Globally Competitive

SAP India announces the launch of Global Bharat, a program designed to enable Indian MSMEs become globally competitive by equipping them with digital technologies. In association with NASSCOM Foundation, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Pratham InfoTech Foundation, the program further compliments Government of India’s vision to empower MSME sector by providing them access to global marketplace, digital skilling for the workforce and transforming business processes.

Given the current business environment and state of economies, Global Bharat will enable Indian MSMEs to become future-ready while driving greater efficiencies by adopting these 3 initiatives:

Gaining Access to Global Marketplace: MSMEs will have open access to SAP Ariba Discovery where any buyer can post sourcing needs and any of the four million suppliers on Ariba Network can respond with their ability to deliver the goods and services required with no fees through December 31, 2020. Ariba Network is the largest digital B2B marketplace where more than USD $3.3 trillion in global commerce flows annually. By accessing the SAP Ariba Discovery offer, Indian MSMEs can enroll themselves as suppliers and access a global customer market.

 

Digitally Skilling Workforce: Business owners will have access to SAP India’s Code Unnati, a coveted Golden Peacock Award winning digital skilling initiative. MSMEs will be provided accessibility to 240 courses (more getting added in a few months) on Digital Financial, Soft Skills, Productivity Technologies that will digitally skill the workforce and adapt to the new working environments. The curated courses will be made available through a mobile application for people to access via their android smartphone devices. Under this digital literacy program, SAP India has already trained over 1 million youth with the help of 1500 physical training centers

Digitally Transform Businesses: Global Bharat brings affordable and accessible enterprise technology for MSMEs. Through Bharat ERP initiative, they can now adopt SAP’s world class ERP; Business One Starter Pack on the cloud.  We understand from SAP’s partner ecosystem that they will make available this cloud offering for Rs 3999 per user per month with accessibility for maximum of 5 users per MSME. This Digital transformation will enhance efficiencies for businesses while enabling them to provide better products and services to their customers.

Speaking about the program, Deb Deep Sengupta, President and Managing Director, SAP Indian Subcontinent said, “The impact of pandemic on economy and businesses has been felt majorly by MSMEs across the country. Being a potential contributor to India’s GDP (29%) and providing employment to over 111 million people, it is imperative to strengthen the sector for the revival of the country’s economy. Global Bharat, is our endeavour to enable MSMEs to augment business operations and re-access critical processes that overcome inefficiencies and make them globally competitive.”

Subramanian Ananthapadmanabhan, Vice President and Head of General Business, SAP Indian Subcontinent further states, “80% of SAP’s customer base are SMEs that have adopted digital technologies and witnessed exponential growth. As India opens up to a post-COVID business landscape, we are excited to partner with Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises on their digital journeys and support them with technologies and skills necessary to gain scale and compete in the new environment.”

MSMEs can access these offerings under the Global Bharat program at www.GrowthMattersForum.com 

PNB Sanctions Loans of Rs. 6757 Crore to Around 3 Lakh MSMEs Under Credit Guarantee Scheme

Punjab National Bank, India’s second-largest public sector lender has been one of the top lenders to small businesses under the government’s emergency credit line guarantee scheme (ECLGS). As of 25th June, PNB has sanctioned Rs 6757 crore in 296753 eligible MSME accounts under 3 Lakh crore Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL) out of which disbursements have been made to 59204 accounts amounting to Rs 2030 crore.

27th June is observed as the International Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Day by the United Nation since 2017. This year’s global theme reflects on “MSMEs: first responders to societal needs”. Government of India has acknowledged and focused on the MSMEs as it is the building block of the country; the sector is also the second largest employer.

Post pandemic reigniting their operation will bring back vibrancy to the economy and social fabric of the country  

On the occasion of International MSME Day, Sri S.S. Mallikarjuna Rao, MD & CEO of Punjab National Bank assured its customers in the statement, “PNB values its esteemed MSME customers and the bank will stand by them and support them through this crisis. This year we commit our support to overcome this crisis and reignite the country’s economy."

Indian MSMEs are in need of urgent credit to reinitiate their working capital and business operation. MSMEs have suffered losses and were unable to pay the previous loan because of the current economic distress. The government have extended a lifeline by giving them 100 per cent guarantee credit from the date of announcement till 31st October. 

Timken Foundation of Canton in Collaboration with Association of 41, Round Table, Ladies Circle has Provided PPE Kits to Hospital Warriors

Kits for Warriors

* 7500 High Risk Personal Protective Kits

* 500  Ration Kits has been distributed to Hombegowda Nagar, Lakkasandra, Wilson Garden

The Covid-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges for India and the world with the number of infected people on a steady rise. Timken Foundation of Canton in collaboration with Association of 41 India, Round Table India and  Ladies Circle India  has made several  efforts to support people in distress &  ramping up its community outreach programmes and reaching out to all stakeholders in this battle against the pandemic.

With the objective to ensure the protection of those who protect us by jeopardizing their lives and leading from the front during emergencies, Timken Foundation of Canton in collaboration with Association of 41 India Round Table India and  Ladies Circle India  has provided a total of 7500 HIGH RISK Personal Protective kits to Dr.B.N.Gangadhar, Director, NIMHANS, Mr.Venugopal Reddy, Finanace Director,Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology, Dr.H.S.Chandrashekar, Director, Sanjay Gandhi institute of Trauma and Orthopedics, Dr.Ramesh, Prof and HOD, Radiology,Indira Gandhi institute of Child Health. Dr.Ramachandra, Director, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology and Dr.Manjunath K.R, Director-cum-Dean, Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College.

Also Timken Foundation of Canton in Collaboration with Association of 41 India ans Round Table India and Ladies Circle India  distributed over 500 Ration Kits has been distributed to Hombegowda Nagar, Lakkasandra, Wilson Garden to the vulnerable and most needy sections of society, who have been harshly impacted by the pandemic and have faced significant disruption in their livelihoods.

Mr. Sanjay Koul Chairman and Managing Director of Timken India Ltd , said, "This situation has united us all to help each other and I am hopeful that through our collective efforts, we will succeed in fighting this dreadful pandemic. Timken as a responsible corporate has been ramping up varied community outreach programs to reach out to the ones in need to battle against this pandemic."

Timken Foundation of Canton in collaboration with Association of 41 India, Round Table India and Ladies Circle India has recently, handed over One Lakh of 2 Ply Honeycomb Masks and 2 Ply Pure Cotton Masks to to Mr. Bhaskar Rao, Commissioner of Police, Bangalore City to support the Covid-19 Warriors.

Also present were   Prasanth Shah- Share your joy convenor 41 India & Round Table India Foundation Trustee. R Girish, National President, Round Table India 2003/04 & member 41 India, Rajesh Raghunandan, Chairman, Area5 Round Table India,  Srinivasu Saraswatula, Chairman Area IV, 41 India,  Anil Kesavan,  Yaps Convenor 41 India, Mahabir Somani Area 6 Project Convenor, Vikram Talreja, AHT, Area6 Round Tabler and Abhishek Agarwal - AHT Area6.