Homegrown Startup Trell Surpasses International Social Networking Giants like Twitter and Pinterest in India

Homegrown Startups 

* With over 45 million downloads, 20 million monthly active users, the lifestyle community commerce app witnesses a 25x surge in last 1 year

With the increasing demand for home-grown apps in India, the Lifestyle content commerce platform Trell has surpassed International Social Networking Giants like Twitter and Pinterest in India with more than 5 million daily active users. Trending at #1 in Free Lifestyle Apps, the platform has received 1.2M uploads in a single day with 400K+ New content creators.

 

With the bold decision by the Indian Government, budding startups like Trell are emerging as a leading industry player in the space. In comparison with Trell, Pinterest and Twitter have also seen an upsurge after the ban on the Chinese app with more than 2 Million DAU on Pinterest and 4.4 million DAU on twitter.

Popularly known as Video Pinterest for Bharat, Trell is the go-to platform for users to share their experiences, recommendations, and reviews across various categories including health and fitness, beauty and skincare, travel, movie reviews, cooking, home-décor and much more. The lifestyle vlogging platform allows users to create 3-5-minute videos in their native languages along with a ‘shop’ feature that lets them purchase the products featured in the vlogs. Additionally, the platform also allows users to earn rewards, goodies and vacations through its interface.

Commenting on the development, Pulkit Agarwal, Co-Founder - Trell said, “We are very excited to see the regular developments on the platform and the increasing interest from users and content creators. With this opportunity, the Indian Internet Startups can grow faster and build a superior experience for the consumers in the long run which was being capped by the established players earlier.”

Since its inception in 2017, Trell has been committed to serving the Lifestyle content needs of vernacular consumers across the country with over 60% of its users hailing from tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Trell has recently launched its platform in three new languages; Marathi, Kannada and Bengali, making the total count to 8 languages (Additionally, Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam) active so far. 

Takeda Strengthens Patient Offering in India Via Availability of Vedolizumab (Kynteles)

* Introduces innovative Gastrointestinal portfolio for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) and Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease

* Kynteles is likely to benefit patients with a low risk of serious or opportunistic infections like Tuberculosis[1]

* Current disease burden for IBD is over 1.5 million in India[2]

Takeda India, part of the Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, a global values-based R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader, today announced the expansion of its highly innovative portfolio for patients in the country with the launch of Kynteles (generic name: Vedolizumab) as part of its Gastrointestinal (GI) portfolio. GI is Takeda's second therapeutic area in India after Rare Diseases (Haematology, Genetic Diseases, and Immunology). [3]

Kynteles is used for the treatment of adult patients with moderate to severely active Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn's Disease (CD). Kynteles, more widely known as Entvyio, has shown favourable safety and efficacy results in treating patients suffering from moderate to severe IBD[4],[5],[6].

Speaking about the launch, Koki Sato, Country Head, Takeda India, said, "At Takeda, we are continuously working towards developing innovative medicines to considerably improve the quality of life of patients. The launch of our highly innovative GI portfolio is a testimony of our commitment to India and patients living with diseases like UC and CD. Patient access to Kynteles will further augment our vision of providing additional and innovative treatment options to HCPs treating UC and CD."

Both UC and CD are chronic idiopathic Inflammatory Bowel Diseases that can be debilitating and sometimes lead to life-threatening complications and require life-long disease management. Therefore, their treatments involve ensuring long-term remission with a proven safety profile. Entyvio® is currently marketed in more than 60 countries. In just five years since its global launch, Entyvio has touched over 415,000 cumulative patient-years of experience.12

Talking about Kynteles, Dr. Sandeep Arora, Medical Affairs Head, Takeda India, said, "India has the highest burden of IBD in Asia and one of the highest in the world as a result of rapid urbanization, changes in diet and lifestyles. Kynteles, with its novel mechanism of action, selectively reduces intestinal inflammation that allows long-lasting remission and provides a safe and effective treatment option for patients with UC and CD. The safety and efficacy of Kynteles is well established and proven through robust and comprehensive clinical trials and large real-world evidence programs. Evidence also suggests improved quality of life without an associated increase in overall risk of infection."

There are currently over 1.5 million IBD patients in India. 

Indian Apps Making a Clear Win Post Ban of Chinese Apps

This is the demonetisation moment for many Indian companies, with Prime Minister addressing to be ‘Atmanirbhar ‘ it has opened several opportunities for many young entrepreneurs, product specialists to enter the blooming ‘Vocal for Local’ market. Ban of 59 Chinese apps has given push and opportunities to many ‘Made in India’ companies. Many users of the Chinese apps have been looking for a good alternatives to start creating content again. If you are also looking for Indian alternatives, here is all you need.

1.      Mitron: Mitron a short video-making app platform Made in India. The app allows users to reimagine digital entertain and engagement which is designed for people to showcase their innovative videos online with the theme of light humour. You can create, edit and share your videos as well as browse through a library of top videos across the globe. Just over a day after the Government of India announced a ban on several Chinese apps, popular short-form social video app Mitron reported that its daily traffic jumped up by more than 11 times. Mitron has crossed 21 million downloads, Mitron app has been one of the most downloaded apps in India during the last two months with 40million video views per hour. Nearly 1 Million new videos created per day on the platform

2.      Trell: Popularly known as Video Pinterest for Bharat, Trell is the go-to platform for users to share their experiences, recommendations, and reviews across various categories including health and fitness, beauty and skincare, travel, movie reviews, cooking, home-décor and much more. The lifestyle vlogging platform allows users to create 3-5-minute videos in their native languages along with a ‘shop’ feature that lets them purchase the products featured in the vlogs. Additionally, the platform also allows users to earn rewards, goodies and vacations through its interface. Trell records a whopping 12+ million new downloads since the Chinese app ban. Trending #1 in Free Lifestyle Apps, the platform has received 500K original content uploads in a single day with 220K New content creators on board. With over 40 million downloads, 20 million monthly active users the lifestyle community commerce app witnesses a 25x surge in last 1 year

3.      Rooter:In Sports, Rooter is a very unique product and has built a strong moat for its business with fans and community-driven content. India’s only and biggest User Generated Content platform for Sports and Gaming. Rooter’s unique product positioning is in Live Content Technology that allows tools like Sports commentary, Live Quizzes, Mobile Game streaming etc. Rooter offers a personalized sports feed consisting of videos, images, polls etc & Scorecards in 10 Indian languages covering Cricket, Football, and multiple other sports. Rooter has witnessed 8x growth in daily users since the Chinese apps ban.

4.      Khabri: Khabri is a podcast application with more than a million downloads, is turning out to be a great platform for creators in Hindi-speaking markets across India. With around 40,000 influencers already on the platform, the company has got over 5,000 new influences onboard in the last two days. "Influencers can join 'Earn With Khabri' programme through Khabri Studio App and make their channel on which they can start creating content and publish it on Khabri App. There is an opportunity to earn from day one through 'Gigs' in addition to regular monthly earning basis content consumption"

5.      Sharechat: A social media startup, Sharechat is an Indian initiative to share daily WhatsApp messages, status across 15 Indian languages. What started out as a sharing only platform developed into enabling users to generate content to share posters, images, audios, GIFs and hashtags.

Enjoy a Six-months EMI Holiday on Your New Tata Car in India

Key Highlights:

* Enjoy up to 100% on-road funding with zero-down payment

* Service only monthly interest during the 6-month EMI Holiday period

* Loan tenure of up to 5-years

* Offer available on Tiago, Nexon & Altroz

Tata Motors, India’s leading auto brand, today announced the launch of a novel and attractive financing offer on its popular brands Tiago, Nexon and Altroz. Customers can now make zero down payment, avail a 6-month EMI holiday (only interest needs to be serviced monthly) and access up to 100% on-road funding for a loan tenure of 5-years. This offer is being made available through a partnership with Karur Vysya Bank (KVB), one of India’s oldest and most trusted banking institutions, to eligible salaried and self-employed persons.

In its endeavor to make safe personal mobility solutions more affordable and accessible to individuals and families, and help maintain norms of social distancing, Tata Motors is also offering affordable, step-up EMIs on long tenure loans of up to 8-years through its association with multiple financing partners. For just Rs 5,555/- as starting EMI, you can now drive home the 5-star GNCAP safety rated premium hatchback Altroz. Popular SUV Nexon and hatchback Tiago are also available for EMIs starting at only Rs. 7499 and Rs.4999/- respectively

Tata Motors manufacture cars that are proudly Indian with international quality, design and safety. To know more about the offers and car buying options, call your nearest dealership or visit cars.tatamotors.com. Customers can also enquire, request a test drive, make bookings and select their preferred financing option via the recently launched ‘Click to Drive’, an end-to-end online platform from the comfort and safety of their homes.

Test drives are being offered on demand at the customer’s preferred location. To maintain social distancing, only one person drives the vehicle with a dealer staff member sitting in the rear seat to avoid any physical contact.  Following every test drive, the vehicle is fully sanitised including replacing protective covers shielding the interiors of the vehicle that come in contact while driving.

ITC Facilitates Creation of Livelihood Opportunities in Rural Sector During the Pandemic

Opportunities

* Leverages the MGNREGS scheme of the Government of India

* Adopts a 4 pronged approach –Mobilisation of people, Facilitation by engaging with local authorities, Technical Support during execution, Focus on Asset Building

In line with its commitment to put Nation First and responding to the needs arising out of the unprecedented lockdown implemented to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, ITC has spearheaded a unique initiative to enable the creation of an eco-system that would lead to signification livelihood generation for farmers and daily wage earners under the ambit of the Government’s MGNREG Scheme.  

While ITC had already put in place a comprehensive plan to provide relief to the needy as well as the frontline warriors in 25 states within days of the lockdown, the Company also recognized that economic rehabilitation of its rural stakeholders was the crying need of the hour, given that there was significant loss of livelihood among marginal farmers and landless labourers. The situation was compounded further by challenges arising out of reverse migration.

As soon as restrictions on agricultural activities were eased, ITC swung into action. Initiating discussions with the government and people on the ground, ITC galvanized its NGO partners to mobilise farmers and wage earners in the catchment areas of its operations to enable them access work opportunities under MGNREGS. Extensive dialogues were carried out with authorities at the Taluk and block levels to identify families in distress and help them apply for job cards if they don’t have one already. A holistic plan was put in place covering the safety of the workers and ensuring the creation of long-term assets for the people, including structures for water conservation like irrigation tanks, farm ponds and field bunds that would also enhance crop productivity.

Commenting on this pioneering initiative, Mr S Sivakumar, Group Head of ITC’s Agri Business said “Inspired by its credo of Nation First: Sab Saath Badhein, ITC, in collaboration with district administrations and NGO partners, is enabling the rural workforce in the catchment of its operations to access income generating opportunities under the MGNREG Scheme.The objective is to scale up this programme by extending it to more regions in these unprecedented and challenging times”.

ITC also provided technical support for planning and execution of work in different areas. To demonstrate outcome, impact data was shared with the Government. Emphasis was laid on adoption of requisite precautions, quality of work and output, large-scale employment generation and asset creation as well as helping in timely muster submission and payments.

The scale and impact of the programme was significant. Within just 45 days, 7.6 lakh person days of work, valued at Rs 17 crores, was created. This was heartening, given that initially there was lack of clarity on protocols for initiating work under MGNREGS. In the short span of time, the programme has been scaled up to cover 1,467 villages in 63 districts across 14 states.  

LTI Launches Canvas, a Modern Software Engineering Platform for Remote & Hybrid Workforce of Future

Larsen & Toubro Infotech (BSE code: 540005, NSE: LTI), a global technology consulting and digital solutions company has launched LTI Canvas, a modern software engineering platform that addresses critical need of enabling work from anywhere. LTI Canvas is an integrated platform that brings together various processes, tools and methodologies to drive technology and business outcomes in an environment where teams are operating in a distributed environment.

A resilient digital platform, LTI Canvas can help organizations improve their effectiveness and ability to innovate in a remote or hybrid environment. LTI Canvas is a bundle of Microsoft technologies and LTI solutions to help IT professionals across industries collaborate easily and stay productive. It is based on microservices architecture and leverages Microsoft platforms like Azure and Microsoft 365 including Teams, among others along with LTI’s Ways of Working solution stack. LTI Canvas streamlines processes like software development, support, transition, knowledge management, infrastructure management, and information security. It consolidates capabilities across Cloud, Agile, DevOps and Design Thinking leveraging AI/ML and analytics.

Nachiket Deshpande, COO & Executive Board Member, LTI said: “The pandemic has forced enterprises to rethink their approach to business continuity and employee productivity. With hybrid work environment gaining quick traction, we designed LTI Canvas as an integrated platform that allows software engineering to be delivered remotely. LTI Canvas drives impactful interventions and also enables upstream processes like solutioning, requirement workshops and transitions to be carried out remotely. LTI Canvas is our design for the future of software engineering.”

Meetul Patel, Executive Director, Strategic Growth, Microsoft India, said, “We are inspired by our customers and partners who are harnessing digital tools to navigate the emerging environment across industries and geographies. Microsoft Azure and advanced technologies will help securely accelerate tech intensity across organizations and enable the innovations that can reimagine the workplace. We’re pleased to partner with LTI on LTI Canvas, which has a unique layered approach to achieve the best outcomes for organizations developing work-from-anywhere capabilities.”

Going beyond Work from Home (WFH), LTI Canvas approaches Everything from Home (xFH) in five layers, each with a specific set of tools, governance and outcomes. The first layer addresses the core requirement to be ‘Operational from Home’ and enables swift and efficient remote working for employees. The next layer offers secure connectivity options to be ‘Secured from Home’. The third layer helps to stay ‘Engaged from Home’ and enables active collaboration with remote workforce. The fourth layer helps attain higher output levels and be ‘Productive from Home’. The final layer enables ‘Growth from Home’ at both, personal and organizational level to be able to scale appropriately.

To know more about the platform, visit https://canvas.lntinfotech.com/

Ex-Britannia, Ex-Unilever Honcho, Neeraj Chandra Joins Innoviti’s Board

Leading provider of intelligent payment solutions, Innoviti Payment Solutions announced the addition of former Britannia and Unilever senior executive, Mr. Neeraj Chandra, to its Board of Directors as an Independent Director.  This position was created as a part of the structuring carried out during the recent fund raise from FMO and Bessemer.

An alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Kanpur, Mr. Neeraj Chandra brings over 30 years of experience in diverse sales, marketing & business roles with exposure to 25+ countries in Asia & Middle East. He was previously associated with Emami Limited as the CEO of their Consumer Care Division. Prior to that he held a variety of leadership roles including VP & COO at Britannia and Regional Brand Director for Asia at Unilever.

Mr. Neeraj Chandra’s appointment is in-line with Innoviti’s aggressive plans of a) building exceptional, large new market opportunities through vertical focused products that connect to the customers in truly innovative ways, and b) building specialized market building & distribution models to rapidly scale up these markets while delivering high quality service. 

Innoviti is designing intelligent payment solutions that help every merchant extract the full power of digital payments, not possible with stand-alone terminals and QR stickers.  Architected as a network of networks, Innoviti is using data intelligence to bring together merchants with brand and bank networks, helping them connect, collaborate, and create new and unique offers for their common customers.  Networks use the power of modern technology to intelligently target customers, create superior offers, and grow their sales faster with unmatched efficiency. 

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).

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:

“We believe designing great products requires an obsession with differentiation and excellence.  In a complex disruptively changing world of opportunities, Neeraj’s guidance will help sharpen delivery to our vision of creating great payment products.

Our customer centricity and focus on delivering sustainable value has already helped us become the most capital efficient company in this space.  A stronger Board will help prepare us for the next exciting phase of our journey as we leap and lead our market.” – said Mr. Rajeev Agrawal, CEO, Innoviti.