FloBiz, neobank For Indian SMBs, Raises $31 Mn In Series B From Sequoia Capital India, Others

 Key Highlights 

Company’s flagship product, myBillBook, is a simple & affordable GST billing & accounting software 

SMBs on the app record transactions over $1 Bn monthly 

FloBiz will deploy the capital for team expansion, product development & scaling distribution 

Company also seeks to triple its engineering, product & data teams within the next 6 months 

FloBiz, a neobank for the growing Indian SMBs, has raised $31 million in Series B round led by Sequoia Capital India, Think Investments and its existing investors Elevation Capital & Beenext. The capital will be deployed for team expansion, product development and scaling distribution to serve more businesses. FloBiz will also focus on building additional technical capabilities within the organisation, as it prepares to venture into financial services soon. 

The latest round also saw participation from renowned angels like Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm), Kunal Shah (CRED), Jiten Gupta (Jupiter), Amrish Rau (Pine Labs), Neeraj Arora (HalloApp), Nitin Gupta (Uni Cards), Ankit Tomar (Bizongo), Sayali Karanjkar (PaySense) and Krishnan Menon (BukuKas), along with 9Unicorns and Whiteboard Capital. 

FloBiz’s flagship product myBillBook was launched in January 2020 to help SMB owners digitise invoicing, streamline business accounting and automate workflows of their enterprises. It helps maintain inventory, manage receivables & payables, and access important business reports to enable efficient decision making. With over a million monthly active users, SMBs now record over $1 billion worth of transactions on myBillBook every month. 

myBillBook, which is currently available in English, Hindi, Gujarati & Tamil, has consistently been a top rated app on Google Play Store under the Business category. The company aims to launch the app in at least 5 more regional languages within the next 6 months. The product will also see deeper use of technologies like AI & image processing to make the onboarding process for the less tech-savvy SMB owners in tier 2 and tier 3 cities of India a delightful first step to digital accounting. 

“SMBs form a large part of our economy and our daily lives. Everyone in the FloBiz team is driven by a deep passion to create an impact by powering growth of the small & medium businesses around us. It has translated into our thoughtful product development process and widespread customer obsession across the organization,” said Rahul Raj, co-founder & CEO of FloBiz. “In addition to our current investors, we’re extremely thrilled to have Sequoia Capital India & Think Investments along with such a stellar set of angels back us on our mission. This raise will help us accelerate projects which have been in the works up till now - building personalisable modules & features into myBillBook, diversifying core product offerings and preparing to roll out financial services. We have a slew of developments in the pipeline to further delight our SMB partners in the next 12 months.” 

“Small businesses are the real heroes of our economy. In order to power the SMB economy with technology, one needs deep understanding, instinct and empathy for this audience. We are really impressed by the user centricity, product focus and experimentative approach of the FloBiz founders. There is almost a perfect founder market fit. The team is stoked to partner with FloBiz on their mission of building a neobank for the growing SMBs of India,” said Tejeshwi Sharma, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India. 

​“As consumers, most SMB owners are exposed to best-in-class apps and software products. With the rapid acceleration in digital adoption over the last 18 months, the need for business tools and software that match those high standards is more acute than ever – myBillBook is a leader in this segment. We are privileged to deepen our partnership with FloBiz as they continue to build myBillBook & more delightful SMB products and expand the FloBiz platform to become the neobank of choice for SMB owners”, said Mridul Arora, Partner, Elevation Capital. 

With over 5 million downloads across the country, myBillBook app has a strong presence in regions like Maharashtra, Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, which account for more than half of its total user base. FloBiz will continue to strengthen its presence in these regions while focusing on growth in others such as Bihar, Rajasthan, Karnataka and West Bengal. To enable the fast-paced growth trajectory, FloBiz looks to triple its engineering, product & data teams within the next 6 months. Before the $31 Mn Series B capital raise, FloBiz had raised $10 Mn in Series A from Elevation Capital and existing investors in March 2021. 

To view the FloBiz series B funding announcement video click the below link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJjKp26Wt-s 

https://twitter.com/startupkesari (Rahul Raj)

https://twitter.com/beenextVC (Beenext)

https://twitter.com/sequoia_india?s=21 (Sequoia Capital)

https://twitter.com/ElevCap (Elevation Capital)

JK Tyre & Industries Launches Its New TVC Campaign ‘Smart Tyre - Tyre With A Brain’

* SHOWCASES THE FUTURE OF MOBILITY WITH SMART INNOVATION IN TYRES

* Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zphxhCuBzfc

Indian tyre industry major and the pioneer of radial tyre technology in the country, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd. has launched a high-impact TVC for their latest innovation, ‘Smart Tyre – Tyre With a Brain’.

The TVC campaign aims to establish JK Tyre as a new age tech-driven brand that understands the pulse of their customers, in line with shift in customer preference towards connectivity and smart devices. The new TVC also showcases the cutting-edge innovation of JK SMART TYRE, and the new features that will define the future of mobility.

Featuring India’s first Formula One racer and motorsports icon Narain Karthikeyan, the new television commercial by creative agency Cheil India, builds a thrilling connection with Narain’s ambition to explore the unexplored, equipped with all the information on the tyre health provided by JK SMART TYRE. 

The ad showcases the character of an enthusiast, portrayed by Narain Karthikeyan, who trusts JK Tyre’s future of mobility - SMART TYRE - to be a part of his everyday journey, enabling him to experience the ever-changing road conditions.

Talking about the commercial, Mr. Srinivasu Allaphan, Director - Sales & Marketing, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd. said, “Our new TVC aligns with JK Tyre’s philosophy of driving innovation and excellence in the tyre industry. We have had a long-standing relationship with Narain Karthikeyan and the new TVC intersperse his spirit of excellence, performance, and endurance. Through this new TVC, we have highlighted the importance and benefits of our SMART TYRE and how it provides innovation exemplified for total control, utmost safety, and delivers excellent performance. With this, we hope to build a strong brand connect and strengthen our position in the category.”

The advertisement has been directed by Andreas Bruns, with CGI contributions from UPP Prague. The TVC is currently running across platforms, including television channels and social media.

SMART TYRE comes with inbuilt smart sensors and new-age technology, bringing in connectivity through a phone app. The indigenous product from JK Tyre provides real-time updates about the health of the Tyres (pressure and temperature) on your connected smartphone. The one-of-a-kind technology-based tool is geared towards smart monitoring and maintenance of tyres, ensuring total control over any journey. SMART TYRES are available for premium vehicle models and are available for purchase at authorized JK Tyre showrooms.

Production Credits:

Director: Andreas Bruns

CGI: UPP Prague

Creative agency: Cheil India

Actor: Narain Karthikeyan

JK Tyre & Industries Limited

The flagship company of JK Organisation, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd is amongst the top 25 manufacturers in the world. Pioneers of radial technology, the Company produced the first radial tyre in 1977 and is currently the market leader in Truck Bus Radial segment. The Company provides end-to-end solutions across segments of passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, farming, Off-the-Road and two & three-wheelers.

A global force, JK Tyre is present in 105 countries with over 180 Global distributors.  The Company has 12 globally benchmarked ‘sustainable’ manufacturing facilities - 9 in India and 3 in Mexico – that collectively produce around 35 million tyres annually. The Company also has a strong network of over 4000 dealers and 550+ dedicated Brand shops called as Steel Wheels and Xpress Wheels.

JK Tyre’s unwavering commitment towards innovation is reflected through its state-of-the-art global research and technology centre – the Raghupati Singhania Centre of Excellence - in Mysore, which houses some of the world’s finest technologies and techniques.

JK Tyre launched India’s first ever ‘Smart Tyre’ technology-and introduced Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) which monitors the tyre’s vital statistics, including pressure and temperature. In 2020, the company rolled out its 20 millionth Truck/Bus Radial tyre becoming the first and the only Indian company to achieve this milestone.

It is the only Indian tyre manufacturer to be included in the list of Superbrands India in 2021 for the eighth consecutive year. JK Tyre has been conferred the Sword of Honour for Safety across its plants by the British Safety Council, UK. The company entered the Limca Book of Records with the country’s largest off-the-road tyre - VEM 04. Another remarkable addition to the list of the brand's accolades is being a 3-time recipient of the Economic Times - Iconic Brand of the Year Award.

JK Tyre is also synonymous with motorsport in the country. For over three decades, the Company has relentlessly worked towards shaping India’s positioning as the motorsport hub of Asia, developing the right infrastructure for the sport and promoting young talent in the arena.

Proposed Online Game Ban May Not Hold In Court Of Law – Experts

The comprehensive nature of ban on online games being proposed by the state of Karnataka through the amendment of the Karnataka Police Act of 1963 may fall short in a Court of Law opine experts. The proposed amendment states “games means and includes online games, involving all forms of wagering or betting, including in the form of tokens valued in terms of the money paid before or after the issue of it, or electronic means and virtual currency, electronic transfer of funds in connection with any game of chance.” However, experts believe that such a blanket ban will not hold in a Court of Law. In the event that the bill is passed, impacted parties including Gaming companies, associations, investors, employees may move court seeking relief. Rahul Narayanan, a senior advocate practising at the Hon’ble Supreme Court said, “An all pervasive ban usually does not stand the test of law. Further there are certain precedents and judicial orders in this particular instance where an appellate may have a compelling case.”

Earlier this year, the Government of Tamil Nadu had passed the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, amending the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, 1930, prohibiting all forms of online gaming (games of skill and games of chance) in the state. This law removed the exemption usually accorded to games of skill from being penalised when played for wager, bet, money or other stakes. It was challenged in the Madras High Court on the grounds of being unconstitutional. On August 3, 2021, the High Court struck down the amendment stating that by imposing a wide-ranging complete ban, the least intrusive test was violated, and the ban had thereby fallen foul of Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution.

“The Bill tabled in the Karnataka Assembly seeks to equate all games including online chess, online farming with the same brush as online gambling. The bill has made some exemptions including online betting on horse racing. I am not sure that application of a judicial mind will see any compelling rationale to this move,” said a senior corporate lawyer employed with a gaming company.

“The Government should consider regulation rather than legislation. The industry has submitted itself to the idea of regulation being brought in and already moved towards some steps of self-regulation. A comprehensive framework with active participation of the industry association is a prudent way forward,” added the lawyer quoted above.   

35 MIT – Manipal Students Recruited By Microsoft With A Package Of ₹44 Lakh

35 students from Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), Manipal secured placements with a pay package of ₹44 lakhs per annum from Microsoft. This is the highest number of offers made by Microsoft at MIT, Manipal.

In addition to Microsoft, reputed companies including Adobe, Amazon, Bajaj Finserv, BlackRock, Chargebee, Cisco Systems, Citrix R&D, Cloudera, Cohesity, Commvault, Deutsche India Pvt. Ltd., Fidelity Investment, Flipkart, Goldman Sachs, Hevodata, HPE, JP Morgan, Komprise, Nvidia, Oracle, Sabre Travels, SAP Labs, Tejas Networks, UBS Business, VM Ware, Wells Fargo, Western Digital participated virtually in the campus placements during the first phase of academic year 2021-22. The placement process is still continuing.

292 students secured placement and internship offers with an average package of ₹18.2 lakhs per annum.  Cdr (Dr) Anil Rana, Director, MIT, Manipal congratulated the students on their success and assured that the institute will always provide support to all its students to pursue excellence.

Atlassian Named A Visionary In The 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant For IT Service Management Tools

 

* Over 35,000 customers rely on Jira Service Management for modern, high-velocity ITSM 

Atlassian Corporation Plc (NASDAQ: TEAM), a leading provider of team collaboration and productivity software, has been named a Visionary in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Service Management Tools. Its Jira Service Management solution focuses on the convergence of digital experiences for development, operational and business teams, catapulting it to the fastest-growing ITSM product by new customer count in 2020. This comes on the heels of Gartner recognizing Atlassian in the March 2021 Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice for IT Service Management Tools. 

As companies sprint to digitally transform, they are recognizing that every team has to operate with the same urgency and speed. Their teams must come together to respond to business changes and deliver great digital service experiences fast - or they run the risk of going out of business. With Jira Service Management, only Atlassian connects development, IT operations, and business teams, allowing them to operate at high velocity and deliver the exceptional service experiences their customers and employees demand. The recent Gartner Magic Quadrant report states, “In response to digital disruption, ITSM tools are beginning to address integration requirements with the DevOps toolchain and support for agile workflows across ITSM processes.” Atlassian’s differentiated approach to ITSM centers around DevOps and agile service delivery. 

“We believe Infrastructure and Operations (I&O) leaders have an exciting role to play in reimagining ITSM processes, practices, and tools to fast-track their digital transformation initiatives. At Atlassian, we’re excited to be joining forces with over 35,000 of our ITSM customers who are at the forefront of crafting a fresh, new approach to service management–one that is designed for a digital, remote-first world. This recognition by Gartner is further validation of Atlassian breaking new ground and charting the future of service delivery,” said Cameron Deatsch, Chief Revenue Officer at Atlassian. 

Atlassian’s vision for ITSM and its investments are influenced by three major beliefs: 

Dev + IT + Business teams must converge – As DevOps philosophies and practices gain momentum, ITSM and the way it fits into the entire software service delivery lifecycle needs a reboot. Atlassian is investing in Jira Service Management that connects development, IT operations, and business teams, so work flows seamlessly from concept to design, and on to building, launching, operating, and supporting great product and service experiences. 

Team autonomy, with coordination, is paramount –Remote work, distributed architectures, and an uptick in agile methods and new ways of working is stressing the seams of the old, central command-and-control approach to I&O. Atlassian’s innovative ITSM solution provides teams within enterprises with the flexibility and simplicity required to run fast and operate with autonomy, while still allowing for common terminology, experiences, and administrative controls, necessary for coordinated work. 

Right-sized, cost-effective functionality is crucial – ITSM cost-complexity fatigue and frustration is at an all-time high. Atlassian is committed to being the solution of choice for enterprises looking for a fresh approach to ITSM - one that focuses on delivering the right set of capabilities its customers actually need, in a transparent, cost-effective way. 

The company continues to make significant investments in innovative capabilities mission-critical to delivering service management at scale and enabling every team to operate at high velocity. This includes recent acquisitions such as Code Barrel (no-code automation), Halp (conversational ticketing within Slack and Microsoft Teams), Mindville Insight (asset and configuration management), Chart.io (visualization and analytics), and ThinkTilt ProForma (low-code/no-code form builder with 300+ templates). 

A complimentary download of the complete 2021 Magic Quadrant for IT Service Management Tools is available here. 

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Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice constitute the subjective opinions of individual end-user reviews, ratings, and data applied against a documented methodology; they neither represent the views of, nor constitute an endorsement by, Gartner or its affiliates. 

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About Atlassian 

Atlassian unleashes the potential of every team. Our team collaboration and productivity software helps teams organize, discuss, and complete shared work. Teams at more than 236,000 customers, across large and small organizations - including Bank of America, Redfin, NASA, Verizon, and Dropbox - use Atlassian’s project tracking, content creation and sharing, and service management products to work better together and deliver quality results on time. Learn more about our products, including Jira Software, Confluence, Jira Service Management, Trello, Bitbucket, and Jira Align at https://atlassian.com/. 

Jagdale Industries Partners With Rotary India To Provide Immune Nutrition To Vulnerable Children In India

* With an objective to drive behavior change, the nationwide partnership program will reach out to 30,000 orphan children across India to highlight the importance of immune nutrition 

Jagdale Healthcare, today announced its partnership with Rotary India to provide immune nutrition as preventive health support to vulnerable children in India. Under Mulmina Bal Suraksha Kavach Program, Jagdale will distribute 30,000 trays (8.1 lakh packs) of Mulmina immunity drink in Tetra Pak cartons to children from marginalized communities across India, including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, National Capital Region, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Telangana, and West Bengal  The team will also conduct awareness sessions about immune nutrition with assistance from medical practitioners in a 27-day course to 30,000 children.  The initiative was kick-off earlier today with distribution of immune kits to 300 children from Bosco Mane, Chamrajpet, and Bengaluru.

Mulmina Bal Suraksha Kavach Program is being launched to commemorate the Birth Centenary Celebration of its JIPL Founder- Late Sri Radha Krishna N. Jagdale.

Mulmina® provides mesonutrients, micronutrients to boost immunity and to increase total antioxidant capacity. Mulmina® is a tasty refreshing blend of Immune Nutrients like fruits, herbs with essential vitamins and minerals. Mulmina is available in two variants. Mulmina Mango contains Mango, Turmeric and Gotu Kola/Centella asiatica and Mulmina Amla Orange contains Amla and Orange. The components of Mulmina® synergistically act to provide a rich blend of micro and Meso-nutrients contributing antioxidant and immune boosting property through their high ORAC units of 5668 & 5400 respectively which meets the daily recommended dose of ORAC units. The drink has been well received by users, especially children, owing to its delicious taste. Both are proven to be completely safe for oral consumption among children with or without antibiotics. Mulmina® is the first beverage of this nature to use Tetra Pak’s aseptic processing technology, and comes packed in tamper-evident, safe and sustainable Tetra Pak cartons, which are proven to keep the nutrients intact for as long as 12 months without refrigeration until opened. They are also easy for children to handle and consume from.

Commenting on the initiative, Mr. Rajesh N Jagdale - Chairman & Managing Director JIPL said, “Due to the ongoing pandemic, we are deeply concerned about the current and future health impact on young children, especially from vulnerable communities. As per WHO & several health experts, immune system is the body’s defense against disease and infection. There are certain micro-nutrients & vitamins which, when consumed, can bring additional health benefits. With this program, our ambition is to create awareness and provide support through a comprehensive immune nutrition curriculum to children from the impacted communities. This is our humble effort to help build a healthier nation.”

“It is our honor to have customers like JIPL, who share our vision of making food safe and available everywhere. Tetra Pak’s processing and packaging technology helps protect food, keep it safe for months without preservatives while leaving no room for adulteration/contamination. It is especially critical for products such as Mulmina where all the nutrients like Vitamin C need to remain intact. It is heartwarming to see the power of our technology being used to bring nutrition to the remotest corners and the most disadvantaged communities across the country,” adds Ashutosh Manohar, Managing Director, Tetra Pak South Asia.

To understand the supplementary requirements for children, clinical trials of Mulmina Mango were conducted among young children with respiratory tract infections. The trials successfully proved the immune boosting and antioxidant properties of Mulmina Mango. Additionally, Jagdale Industries has also conducted other studies on Mulmina among COVID-19 patients and healthcare workers, which showed successful results in terms of speedy recovery by boosting immunity & increasing antioxidant benefits.

Commenting on the partnership, Sreedhar Ramamurthy, Rotary Bangalore Aagneya said, “Proper nutrition & education are the catalyst to social change and one of the most critical aspect to empower young children. We are honored to have partnered with a thought leading organization – Jagdale Industries for this one-of-a-kind community initiative aimed at bringing positive change & improving lives amongst the community.”

During the first phase, the programme will focus on working with local communities and develop a workforce. These volunteers will be provided with adequate training by public health experts, pediatricians, and community development specialists, and education about the immune-led good nutrition.

CaratLane Is Back With Its New Collection: DUNES For Indian Market

CaratLane, India's leading Omni-channel jeweller is set to astound you with their newest collection - Dunes, a story hidden in the golden sway of sand dunes! Each timeless design in the collection holds secrets of the eternal sand dunes and is sculpted after the ever-changing forms of dunes, it’s curves lined with mirage like shimmering diamonds.

There's a lot to love about Dunes, it’s larger than life curves that add drama to any look, it’s painstakingly intricate carvings that whisper ancient dialects lost in time and it’s artfully hidden pearls like the deep mysteries of the dunes.

Talking about the collection, Kinnari Shah, Head Of Design & Merchandising, CaratLane said, “Dunes is a medley of unique, intricately carved designs that are exquisite enough for occasions, yet modern enough to be worn casually. 25 hours of craftsmanship brings each exclusive design to life.”

Dunes stays true to its inspiration and endeavours to distill the essence of the majestic sand dunes in each unique piece of art. This 14kt gold jewellery line has something for everyone and makes a perfect gift for the upcoming festive season. Dunes features 27 exceptional designs comprising rings, earrings, pendants and bracelets starting from INR 9,200/-.