Cult.fit Eyes Expansion Across Karnataka State Via Franchise Model

* Cult.fit seeks franchise partners to dig deeper into other markets in Karnataka

* By the end of 2021, Cult aims to expand in 50 cities, including metros and smaller markets

* Cult.fit will provide end-to-end support for franchise partners via its tech-driven and automated operations process

Cult.fit, India’s leading health and fitness platform, is scaling its operations by amplifying its nationwide expansion using a franchise business model. It is eyeing partnerships with local franchisees in Karnataka to dig deeper into smaller markets. It currently has centers present in Bangalore, Mysore, and Mangalore.

With an existing footprint in 21 cities across India, the company aims to be present in 50 cities, including top metros, by the end of the year. With this expansion Cult.fit will further cement its leadership position in the Indian fitness segment.

Under the Franchise-Owned and Franchise-Operated (FOFO) model, people with an entrepreneurial spirit and inclination towards fitness or running a fitness business can take up a Cult franchise license to operate a Cult Centre, a Cult Gym or both. Due to their local expertise and knowledge of regional market nuances, these franchise partners can contribute fruitfully towards delivering a better customer experience at Cult centres.

Cult.fit will provide end-to-end support to franchise partners via a dedicated central team which will help ensure that a standardized experience is offered to customers across the nation. A highly tech-driven and automated operations process has been put in place to ensure smooth functioning. Cult.fit will also support these partners with digital marketing and brand campaigns to drive growth and generate higher revenues.

Talking about the expansion, Naresh Krishnaswamy, Growth and Marketing Head, Cult.fit, said: “Over the last year, we have seen a rise in demand for our services online and offline, not just in the top metros but also in smaller cities. Our online presence has increased Cult’s demand for centres in new pockets.

The FOFO model of expansion supports Cult.fit’s aim to make fitness accessible for everyone everywhere. With more tech-enabled Cult centres and gyms across the nation, we can not only create a larger and healthier community but also ensure that the right experiences drive that community.”

About cult.fit

cult.fit is a health and fitness platform by Cure.fit Healthcare Pvt Ltd and is headquartered in Bangalore, India. Founded in 2016 by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, cult.fit caters to living a healthy life through its critical dimensions — physical fitness & wellness. The platform provides fitness-related services through a mix of online and offline channels. These include offline group workouts at cult.fit centres and other gym- or equipment-based workouts at partner gyms and fitness centres across the country. cult.fit also offers online personal training, group workouts, and live fitness classes across various formats.

cult.fit is an app-based service provider and is available on Android and iOS.

For more information on cult.fit: www.cult.fit

Transcosmos Composes Effortless Experiences With Avaya OneCloud CCaaS Enhanced By Conversational AI

* Japan-based business process outsourcing giant with a presence in 30 countries and regions is now able to deliver effortless customer experiences on behalf of its clients after adopting the Avaya OneCloudTM CCaaS platform with conversational AI.

* Avaya OneCloudTM CCaaS, composed with Google Cloud™ Contact Center AI, is the first of its kind to be implemented in Japan.

Avaya (NYSE:AVYA) today announced that transcosmos inc., a Japan-based business process outsourcing giant with a presence in 30 countries and regions, is now able to deliver effortless customer experiences on behalf of its clients after implementing the Avaya OneCloudTM CCaaS platform with conversational AI.

Avaya OneCloud™ CCaaS, with Google Cloud™ Contact Center AI, is the first of its kind to be implemented in Japan, and delivers new levels of self-service that both improve the customer experience and increase agent productivity.

Pilot projects using the AI-infused platform are already underway with several transcosmos clients, with the company expecting a significant expansion of the service in the coming year.

The clients already leveraging the platform are taking advantage of advanced virtual agents, which deliver intuitive and natural conversational interactions, with no agent intervention required, across any touchpoint. These self-service options will help transcosmos’s contact centers to improve response times and reduce call volumes.

The solution also aids human agents by providing them with in-the-moment, contextual knowledge on live customer conversations. This removes a significant burden from users, who are no longer required to repeat their issues, while enabling agents to resolve problems more quickly, as they enter every conversation with details on the enquiry.

Transcosmos will also use the solution’s built-in sentiment analysis features, powered by natural language processing technology, as a primary source of insights and analytics to drive higher CSAT scores and operational efficiencies.

The solution composed by transcosmos is just one of many that will be on display on Avaya’s stand at GITEX Global 2021. Avaya’s presence at GITEX comes in partnership with Future Technology, Gulf Applications, RayCom Technologies, Sestek, Summit Technology Solutions, Toolwire, TOPAZ, and Verint Systems. Visit Avaya at its stand in Zabeel Hall, Dubai World Trade Centre, between October 17 and 21, 2021, or tune into the live broadcast.

Cybersecurity and Safety, Collaboration, Innovation: three-way approach to propel Indian automotive ecosystem: NXP Tech Summit

* Cybersecurity And Functional Safety Needs To Be Ramped Up As Future Of Mobility Focuses On Enhanced In-Car User Experience

* A mix of robust security measures, active collaboration, and a framework of government support essential for the sector

NXP India one of the biggest R&D Centres for NXP Semiconductors, a world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications organized their 9th Mega Tech Summit- Security & Safety Week. With the theme ‘Are Safety and Security a source of competitive advantage for next-generation products’ the virtually held event shed light on how in the hyper-connected and constantly evolving Indian automotive sector, safety and security technologies should be given due importance.   

Cybersecurity and functional safety, multilevel stakeholder collaboration & engagement, and sparking innovation through incentives, were identified as the pathway to an indigenous automotive ecosystem.The four-day long virtual event comprised of multiple engaging keynotes by NXP Global leaders starting with Rafael Sotomayor, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Connectivity & Security, Henri Ardevol, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Automotive Processing, Lars Reger, Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer and Steve Owen, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing.

The four-day Summit comprised of much-awaited Industry Panel Discussion which broached the pressing need of cybersecurity and functional safety for automotive and steps that should be taken in a fast-digitalizing automotive sector. The panel discussion comprised of distinguished leaders from industry, government, and academia who shared insights on the dire necessity of instituting robust security mechanisms, creating public awareness, keeping pace with tech advancements, being ahead in the race against unethical programmers and malicious hackers, and above all, a cooperative ecosystem to foster innovation.

The panel was honored by Lars Regar, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, NXP Semiconductors, Dr. KR Murali Mohan, Mission Director, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, Dr. Manan Suri, Associate Professor, NVM and Neuromorphic Hardware Research Group, IIT Delhi, Satish Sundaresan, Managing Director, Electrobit India and Mohan Krishna Raj, VP & Global Head, UX Heuman Design, Harman International.

Sanjay Gupta, Vice President, and India Managing Director, NXP Semiconductors, who moderated the panel discussion said, “Collaboration is the key to a secure & connected future. At NXP, we are working with academia, start-ups, and government to boost the ecosystem to be able to cater to create a vibrant ecosystem in the country and proactively address the most important technology challenges”.

The panel highlighted that the line between software and hardware from a cybersecurity and functional safety perspective is increasingly getting blurred and there would be a need to re-look at the problem from a combined perspective.

“Software functionality is important, but all security is actually interlinked and anchored. There’s nothing like distinct software or hardware security, it is the overall security that matters at the end of the day”, said Lars Regar, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, NXP Semiconductors.

The panel further highlighted, with connectivity fast transcending barriers and redefining mobility, complacency regarding security is a strict no-go zone. From in-car infotainment, real-time updates to HD maps for navigation and lane detection, cars of the future would be powered by smart sensors and tech.

Without stringent cybersecurity measures, the entire vehicle can be hacked. The notion that hacking is only limited to software or integrated systems is becoming a thing of the past with integrated and embedded systems coming into play. For strengthening cybersecurity through tech adoption and giving impetus to innovation, multiple players need to be on board. This cannot be done without government incentives, concerted approach and a knowledge sharing framework that involves all stakeholders.

Functional Safety (ISO26262) integration into semiconductors development cycle is a niche skill and requires specialized training. Skilled workforce and keeping the curriculum in sync with latest industry innovations is another imperative for a world-class ecosystem.

“A nation that can do this best in keeping curriculum updated with times and imparting best-in-class training to college grads will have the thought leadership lead when it comes to innovations and building a tech ecosystem”, added Lars.

“Safety and security are non-negotiable. Any future product irrespective of its performance and intelligence cannot capture the mass market without consumer’s ‘trust’. 

Hence future belongs to those who take a holistic approach to safety and security and is focused on correct-by-construct approach by building next-generation products and solutions” added Sanjay Gupta.

The 2500+ engineering community of NXP India benefitted from the Technical Tutorial sessions, Tech Talks and Invited Talks on varied Security and Safety topics like Safety Hardware, Security in UWB Products, Over the Air Firmware Upgrade in Automotive, Introduction to Cryptography, Safety for Electrification solutions and many more. It concluded with a poster competition and award ceremony wherein NXP participants presented some cutting-edge ideas on Safety and Security solutions.

About NXP Semiconductors

NXP Semiconductors enables secure connections for a smarter world, advancing solutions that make lives easier, better, and safer. As the world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, NXP is driving innovation in the automotive, industrial & IoT, mobile, and communication infrastructure markets. 

Built on more than 60 years of combined experience and expertise, the company has approximately 29,000 employees in more than 30 countries and posted revenue of $8.61 billion in 2020. Find out more at www.nxp.com.

‘postpe’: BharatPe’s Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) Consumer Offering

* Universal usage – on QR, Card or Online

* Interest free credit of up to Rs. 10 lacs for a period of 30 days

* Repay easily through EMIs

* Up to 5% cashback on all purchases

* 3,500 free passes for ICC T20 World Cup in Dubai for postpe users

BharatPe, one of India’s fastest growing fintech companies, today announced its grand entry into the ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ (BNPL) category with the launch of its clutter-breaking product- ‘postpe’. postpe provides credit to customers to buy now and pay later, for anything, and from anywhere. Customers can download the postpe app from Play Store and avail interest-free credit limit of up to Rs. 10 lacs. postpe is first-of-its-kind BNPL product that is not limited to big-ticket purchases, but can also be used for micro-purchases. BharatPe aims to facilitate a loan book of US$ 300M on postpe in the first 12 months, for its lending partners.

This truly digital product empowers the customers to shop across offline as well as online merchants, and repay easily through EMIs. Customers can simply open the postpe app, scan QR code and pay using postpe credit at merchant outlets. They also have the option to pay via a postpe card that will be accepted across millions of offline merchants as well as on e-commerce platforms. The customers can also unlock cashbacks and win exciting rewards on their first and specific milestone transactions.

postpe is designed for the new-age customers who believe in shopping smart and are also well-versed with digital payment modes. postpe aggregates all the transactions done by a customer, across channels, and generates one bill for repayment. Also, there is no annual fee or transaction charges on payments done via postpe app or postpe card.

postpe is Global Sponsor of ICC T20 World Cup to be held in Dubai this year. All transacting customers stand a chance to win 3,500 free passes for the World Cup matches to be held from 17th Oct to 14th Nov 2021. postpe is the only app which could reward you with passes for India vs Pakistan match on 24th October, 2021! There is an aggressive media campaign planned around postpe which will go live with the T20 World Cup.

Ashneer Grover, Co-Founder and Managing Director, BharatPe said on the launch, “We are excited to shake up the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) category. postpe is a product built on 3 simple principles: 1) Consumer should be able to pay using credit everywhere – QRs, Card Machine or Online; 2) Consumer should be able to convert into EMI at ease – not inconvenienced at point of sale and 3) Merchant should not be charged for accepting payments through BNPL.” 

“Our aim with postpe is to make EMI and credit available for everyday purchases. ‘Golgappa’ on EMI as well ‘iPhone’ on EMI is our motto. We find the current BNPL plays in Indian market suboptimal trying to copy the west for online checkouts whereas the true market in India is offline. postpe will be the leader in BNPL space in India by virtue of being no cost to merchants and universal acceptance.”  added Ashneer.

Previously, BharatPe announced its entry into consumer Fintech with the launch of 12% Club. The app is available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store. With 12% Club, consumers have an option to invest and earn up to 12% annual interest or borrow at a competitive interest rate of 12%. BharatPe has partnered with RBI approved NBFCs to offer this investment-cum-borrowing product for consumers and facilitated investments of more than Rs 100 crores within 1 month of launch.

CoinSwitch Kuber Raises USD 260 Million In Series C Funding From Coinbase Ventures And Andreessen Horowitz

 

●        With participation from both its Crypto and Growth funds, a16z is making its first investment in an Indian startup

●        Coinbase Ventures joins a16z and existing investors Paradigm, Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital India and Tiger Global

●        CoinSwitch Kuber has reached unicorn status and is now India’s largest crypto asset platform, valued at $1.9 billion serving 10 million+ Indian customers

CoinSwitch Kuber, India’s fastest growing crypto asset platform, today announced that it has closed a $260+ million Series C funding round from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coinbase Ventures and existing investors Paradigm, Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital India and Tiger Global. a16z is a globally leading venture capital firm known to back bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology while Coinbase is one of the early pioneers of creating a crypto economy and operates one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges. This investment makes CoinSwitch Kuber a unicorn and the most valuable crypto company in India valued at $1.9 Billion.

CoinSwitch Kuber will utilise the funds for:

●        Onboarding 50 million Indians on the CoinSwitch Kuber platform and introduction of new crypto products – Through this investment, CoinSwitch Kuber’s primary goal is to onboard 50 million users and make crypto a household name, thereby continuing to dominate the retail crypto market in India. The firm plans to achieve this through the launch of new crypto products/services such as lending, staking among others, to enable users to benefit the most out of this decentralised technology.

●        Leadership hiring – CoinSwitch Kuber also aims to acquire the best talent including leaders and experts across Engineering, Product, Data, Growth etc to define the crypto industry in India.

●        Addition of new asset classes – The company plans to design ways of simplifying the investment journey of Indians, and in the process offer multiple avenues of investment for them through different products and asset classes.

●        Onboarding institutional clients – There is a growing interest amongst institutions to enter the crypto market and CoinSwitch Kuber intends to tap into this opportunity. The crypto leader will facilitate institutional investments by offering them a unique product that serves their end-to-end requirements.

●        Launching an Ecosystem Fund – India has a huge talent pool that can build world class products/ protocols in crypto. Currently, a strong support system to back these brilliant minds at work is lacking. As the biggest crypto company in India, CoinSwitch Kuber will be setting up an ecosystem fund to identify and enable the budding talent in the country.

●        Crypto awareness & education - Crypto is still at a nascent stage and there isn’t enough awareness around it. The firm will utilise these funds to create a knowledge-driven crypto ecosystem in India and provide holistic crypto education to investors, both current and prospective, thus, helping them navigate the market and understand multiple facets of this new asset class.

Ashish Singhal, Co-founder and CEO, CoinSwitch Kuber, said, “CoinSwitch Kuber is on a mission to build wealth for Indians by making crypto more accessible. I believe, simplifying crypto investments for the Indian youth has helped us to stand out. We wanted to remove all the complexities in crypto trading, educate consumers and give them a simplified experience of one-click buy and sell in crypto. We are humbled by the trust shown in CoinSwitch Kuber by two of the biggest names in the global crypto investment arena with Andreessen Horowitz choosing us to be their first investment in India. Coinbase Ventures’ investment is also testimony to the confidence they have in CoinSwitch Kuber’s business model and the tremendous potential India’s crypto space has to offer.”

“The CoinSwitch Kuber team has worked round the clock to be the most preferred platform for crypto investors in India. This has helped us to reach the unicorn status in just over 14 months of operations in India. Over the last one year our focus has been to develop a robust product for Indian consumers. Now with this funding, we hope to propel ourselves further on our mission to bring crypto to every household in India.”

“We are incredibly excited about the crypto market opportunity in India, and with its breakout growth, CoinSwitch has emerged as the leading retail platform in the country,” said David George, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. “Ashish and the team have demonstrated strong execution abilities and the ambition to deliver an investment platform for the masses in India.”

Started in 2017 by Ashish Singhal, Govind Soni, and Vimal Sagar, CoinSwitch was launched as a global aggregator of crypto exchanges. The company launched its India operations in June 2020. CoinSwitch Kuber’s previous investors include Paradigm, Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital India and Tiger Global along with notable angel investors like Kunal Shah. CoinSwitch Kuber has over 10 million users in India with a monthly active user base of over seven million.

About CoinSwitch Kuber

CoinSwitch Kuber is India’s fastest-growing and foremost crypto platform with more than 10 million users. Started in 2017 by Ashish Singhal (CEO), Govind Soni (CTO), and Vimal Sagar (COO) as a global aggregator of cryptocurrency exchanges, the startup offers buying of over 80+ coins with 1-click experience. CoinSwitch Kuber began operations in India in June 2020, to make crypto investing as easy as ordering food online. It aims to create an investment ecosystem that simplifies investing in crypto for retail users. The leaders at the firm believe in financial inclusion - that wealth, investment, and financial knowledge are for everyone. The company’s mission is to democratise cryptocurrency investment so the everyday man can make his money work for him. The exchange combines transparent pricing with an extensive knowledge hub so users can make informed decisions and thrive in a dynamic digital investment world.

CAPTION: L to R: Vimal Sagar - Co-founder & COO, Govind Soni - Co-founder & CTO and Ashish Singhal - Co-founder & CEO.

Bengaluru Traffic Police, Honda 2Wheelers Celebrate 1st Anniversary Of Safety Driving Education Centre In The City

* Sensitized nearly 9,200 people of Bengaluru on importance of road safety

Instilling positive awareness on road safety among the riders and drivers of Bengaluru, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) and Bengaluru Traffic Police celebrated 1st anniversary of its Safety Driving Education Centre (SDEC) at Traffic Training and Road Safety Institute (TTRSI), Thanisandra, Bengaluru.

The celebration was held in the august presence of Sh. Sajeeth VJ (Deputy Commissioner of Police, North Traffic, Bengaluru) and Sh. Keshava Murthy M (Assistant Commissioner of Police and Principal, Traffic Training and Road Safety Institute, Bengaluru) along with the other dignitaries from state government and Honda 2Wheelers India.

In October 2020, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) in association with Bengaluru Traffic Police inaugurated their first Safety Driving Education Centre (SDEC) of Karnataka in Bengaluru to initiate a unique ‘Road Safety Training’ exclusively for all traffic rule violators of the city.

Spreading awareness on driving rules & regulations, road signs and driver’s duties on road, HMSI announced that through its daily trainings, it has educated more than 3,200 traffic rule violators of Bengaluru since its inception. In addition to this, HMSI’s safety instructors at Bengaluru SDEC have spread road safety awareness to nearly 6,000 people of the city through classroom trainings and digital program ‘Honda Road Safety E-Gurukul’ during the COVID-19 lockdown. 

Sharing his thoughts on this occasion, Mr. Prabhu Nagaraj, Senior Vice President - Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Road safety has been a major cause of concern in India. In 2019, Karnataka reported over 40,000* road accidents and ranked as the top 5th state in terms of number of accidents in India. Lack of knowledge of road safety is one of the main causes of accidents. To enhance their basic Road Safety awareness, HMSI with Bengaluru Traffic Police started a ‘Road Safety Training’ for all citizens especially the traffic rule violators of Bengaluru and are happy to have completed 1 year of this collaboration. 

Moving forward, we will continue to instil more discipline among the riders & drivers of city and make them responsible road users in future.”

About HMSI’s road safety training at Safety Driving Education Centre at Bengaluru

HMSI’s 2-hours free-of-cost mandatory training educates traffic rule violators through theory session on road rules & regulations, riding gear & posture explanation and safe riding etiquettes. This is followed by a practical training on Honda’s virtual road safety simulator to increase an applicant’s risk prediction ability before they start riding on roads.

HMSI’s entire road safety awareness program is developed keeping contact-less learning a priority. Honda safety instructors adhere to strict Government guidelines and ensure safety of participants - right from sanitization, temperature check at entry point to maintaining minimum 6 feet distance between applicants inside the classroom, to certificate handover and exit.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd.’s CSR commitment towards Road Safety:

For Honda globally, road safety comes first. Fulfilling its corporate social responsibility (CSR), HMSI has been promoting road safety in India since its start in 2001. Today HMSI’s road safety awareness initiative has already spread to over 41 lac Indians. Its team of skilled safety instructors conduct daily programmes at its 10 adopted traffic parks across India and 7 Safety Driving Education Centres (SDEC).

Not only this, all 1000+ dealerships of HMSI across India spread road safety awareness. HMSI’s proprietary virtual riding simulator increases the risk-prediction ability of riders; while new customers too are given pre-delivery safety advise (PDSA) before they start riding at every dealership across India.

Additionally, ensuring that learning doesn’t stop in the New Normal, HMSI started the digital road safety education initiative - Honda Road Safety E-Gurukul. Since its start in May’20, this initiative has sensitized over 6 lac Indians on importance of being aware & responsible road users.

Banking Sector Shows High Discrepancy Trends In Q2-21: First Advantage

* Sectors like Banking, BPO, Engineering & Infra, Financial Services, FMCG, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Pharma, and Telecom display discrepancy percentages way above the industry average of 8.7 percent in Q2-21.

* Engineering & Infra, Financial Services, and Telecom have shown a much higher discrepancy percentage in the second quarter this year as compared to first quarter.

* 17 out of every 100 candidates screened in the Banking sector were found discrepant.

* Associate level employee category discrepancy tops the graph at 64 percent.

The Banking sector showed a high discrepancy percentage at 17 percent, double the industry average of 8.7 percent in Q2-21 as per the Trends Report released by First Advantage – a leading background screening company in India.

Sectors like Banking, BPO, Engineering & Infra, Financial Services, FMCG, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Pharma, and Telecom display discrepancy percentages way above the industry average of 8.7 percent in Q2-21. Both Employment and Address Component (Check level) have contributed to the high discrepancy percentages in these industries.

Alternate modes of verification in the Address component, is a good example of how First Advantage- not only identified but moved swiftly from the standard modes of verification to alternate modes. In Q2-21, 44 out of every 100 Address verifications - were conducted through the alternate modes of verification.

“In the current digital workplace, significance of background verification of a candidate, a vendor or a partner has become crucial to safeguard from any potential risk. As companies compete for the best talent available in the marketplace, it is important to get insights that will help you ‘Onboard Faster. Hire Smarter’,” apprised Amit Singh, Head - Commercial, First Advantage India.

The case level inflow has shown a monumental and historic rise in the second quarter of 2021 – furthermore holding good the theory of recruitment and background screening trends coinciding with the pre-Covid cyclical trends of the job markets. The second quarter of 2021 has shown an increase of 25 percent in volumes as compared to the first quarter.

“With our digital initiatives driven by modern technology and alternate screening solutions, we have transformed our processes to adapt with the changing environmental and economic conditions. Our focus, as always, has been to enhance customer onboarding experiences, reduce delivery cycle timelines and provide improved quality performance,” adds Singh.

About First Advantage:

First Advantage (NASDAQ: FA) is a leading global provider of technology solutions for screening, verifications, safety, and compliance related to human capital. The Company delivers innovative solutions and insights that help customers manage risk and hire the best talent. Enabled by its proprietary technology platform, First Advantage’s products and solutions help companies protect their brands and provide safer environments for their customers and their most important resources: employees, contractors, contingent workers, tenants, and drivers. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, First Advantage performs screens in over 200 countries and territories on behalf of its more than 30,000 customers. For more information about First Advantage, visit the Company’s website at https://fadv.com/.