Renault India, CSC Join Hands For Digital Empowerment In Rural Areas

* Donates Five Renault cars as part of its CSR topromote financial and digital literacy among rural population in the age group of 15 to 60 years across the country 

Renault India has partnered with CSC e-Governance Services (Common Service Centres) to support “Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan” (PMGDISHA), Government of India’s flagship programme that aims to provide digital literacy to six crore rural citizens.  

Renault India has handed over five cars to CSC e-Governance Services to upskill people in rural and semi-urban areas across India and help them develop vocational and professional skills. It intends to cover more than 600 gram panchayats in a year across India. 

Venkatram Mamillapalle, Country CEO & Managing Director, Renault India Operations said, “Digital literacy is a key component of the Government’s vision of building an empowered society and we are excited to contribute to this development of a digital economy by collaborating with CSC, one of the crucial enablers of the Digital India Program. The Renault cars will act as ‘Knowledge Repository on Wheels’ supporting in empowering people in rural areas by providing them access to information, knowledge and requisite skills.” 

“This is a significant step in rural integration as it is in sync with the government’s aim of strengthening the rural economy and empowering the rural and semi-urban sectors not only in terms of financial viability but also by skilling and building knowledge capacities of the masses,” he added. 

The partnership between Renault India and CSC Academy is aimed at empowering the citizens in rural areas by training them to operate computers or digital devices like laptops, browse internet, access Government websites & banking services and undertake digital payments. The Renault cars will participate in distributing information on learning courses and support the CSC teams in conducting trainings to impart financial and digital skills in the rural areas, enabling them to actively participate in the process of transforming India into a digitally empowered society. Through these cars the VLEs (Village Level Entrepreneurs) will also spread awareness on the Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and protocols. 

Dinesh Tyagi, CSC SPV Managing Director said, “The foundation of CSC is based on education. We have a mandate of training six crore rural citizens in digital skills under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA). We would like to thank Renault India for their immense support. These cars will be deployed across different locations and will support our teams in conducting trainings, further bridging the digital divide particularly in rural and semi-urban areas.” 

Last year Renault had partnered with CSC Grameen eStore, a subsidiary of CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd (CSC-SPV), to strengthen its rural presence and move closer to customers in remote areas. Through this, Renault India’s leading product range is listed on the CSC Grameen eStore and made available to potential customers in the rural areas. 

riidl TBI Invites Applications From Aspiring Entrepreneurs And Innovators For Nidhi Prayas Grant & Nidhi EIR Fellowship

Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratories (riidl), a not-for-profit organization under Somaiya Trust, supported by NSTEDB, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, BIRAC, Government of India, MSInS, Government of Maharashtra and Somaiya Vidyavihar University is inviting aspiring entrepreneurs and budding innovators to take up entrepreneurship and support them with funding opportunities through NIDHI PRAYAS and NIDHI EIR.

DST-NIDHI’s Promoting and Accelerating Young and Aspiring technology entrepreneurs (PRAYAS) is specifically to support young innovators turn their ideas into Proof of Concept. This support shall allow the innovators to try their ideas without fear of failure, hence allowing them to reach a stage where they have a ready product and are willing to approach incubators for commercialization.

NIDHI PRAYAS Grant is up to INR 10 Lakhs per startup/innovator and will be granted for a duration of 12-18 months. Last date to apply: 20th Feb 2022. Eligibility: Hardware Startups on the idea stage and want to develop a prototype. For complete eligibility: riidl.org/programs/nidhi_prayas

Application Link: https://riidl.org/NidhiPrayas

National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIR) Programme is one of the programs introduced under NIDHI to inspire the best talents to be entrepreneurs, to minimize the risk involved in pursuing startups, and to partially set off their opportunity costs of high paying jobs. Graduate students will be provided funding to take up entrepreneurship through a fellowship.

NIDHI EIR Fellowship is INR 30,000 per month per student innovator and will be granted for 12 months. Last date to apply: 22nd Feb 2022. Eligibility: Students having completed a four-year graduation program in science or engineering or a three-year diploma in either science or engineering along with two-year full-time work experience are eligible to apply for the NIDHI EIR scheme. For complete eligibility: riidl.org/programs/nidhi_eir 

Application Link: https://riidl.org/NidhiEIR

In the last 2 years, riidl.org has supported 11 startups with a total grant funding of INR 100 Lakhs under NIDHI PRAYAS scheme and supported 10 entrepreneurs with a total grant funding of INR 36 Lakhs under NIDHI EIR scheme.

Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratory Foundation (riidl) is one of India's leading startup incubators. They have incubated 130+ startups & facilitated in creating 500+ full-time job opportunities with a community of over 5400 makers/innovators while the total valuation of startups is over INR 660.5 Cr.

Gaurang Shetty, Chief Innovation Catalyst, riidl said, “Most entrepreneurs struggle to raise angel or seed funding during the early stage and these grants from NIDHI is like a boon for entrepreneurs in the ecosystem. We, at riidl want to support startups with the NIDHI Prayas and NIDHI EIR grants of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, additionally providing access to business mentoring, technical mentoring, early customer access support, virtual incubation, networking & outreach opportunities, and many more.”

Manipal Hospitals Launches Tele-Consultation For Women, By Women To ‘Break Her Silence’

* Now women can let their guard down and talk freely about their health queries and concerns with women practitioners

Most women tend to keep their health issues on the backburner due to their inhibitions, and avoid sharing their health concerns to their loved ones. There is a dire need to break her silence and disclose the challenges she faces, be it physical or mental health. Today, Manipal Hospitals takes a step to address this silence without any doubt or prejudice through an initiative 'For Women, By Women’, a video consultation platform where women can come forward to discuss all their health needs with the women practitioners at Manipal Hospitals.

The platform addresses any problems that females are likely to face, from a lump or swelling in the armpit, discomfort, mental fatigue, tiredness, loss of weight, missed period, headache, to psychological-emotional disorders. Moreover, it has been curated for their comfort with an easy 2-step registration process, and assures 100% confidentiality. It is time for women to open their deepest worries and find comfort in the arms of women specialists at Manipal Hospitals. The exclusive consultation will be launched on Valentine’s Day - 14th February, and will remain functional.

Women can reach out to a dedicated phone number (+91 8951146852 OR +91 9731122666) to avail the video consultation, at a nominal consultation fee of INR 250. Women across the globe can access this platform to address their medical needs.

Speaking on the initiative, Mr Karthik Rajagopal, COO, Manipal Hospitals said “We understand the challenges faced by women, and endeavour to ease the process for them to reach out for medical support. We want every woman to share her silence and avoid suffering from it. This is an attempt by Manipal Hospitals to clear the roadblocks for women to come forward and openly share their health issues. We at Manipal Hospitals understand that every woman needs to find comfort in disclosing their concerns, and we strive to provide it in a timely and cost-effective manner.”

3i Infotech Plans To Setup COEs Across India And Global Markets In The Coming Quarters

*  Aims to repurpose its entire sales cost, onboard the right talent and make investments across key areas

3i Infotech Limited (BSE: 532628, NSE: 3IINFOTECH), a global Information Technology company, committed to accelerating business transformation, during their Q3 FY22 earnings call announced a series of initiatives, one of which includes their plan to setup COEs (Center of Excellence) across India and global markets in the upcoming quarters. The company has an upcoming COE and Lab setup planned in collaboration with a leading research park in India focussed on 5G and cognitive computing. They will also look to expand these COEs across Tier-3 cities. The company is investing in insurance COE to offer end-to-end solution on cloud platform and will also build COEs for Credit Union, Mortgage and Capital Markets.  

Post the recent strategic alliance signed with MDEC Malaysia to launch the Oracle-powered NuRe 3i+ services for mid-market & SMB, 3i Infotech will further partner with various government bodies to generate employment and work on skill development. One of the other strategic initiatives which is operational, is around creating a Resident Entrepreneur Program in the fields of cognitive computing services and education technology. They also have a white labelled start-up accelerator program that is active with SD WAN/SASE technologies and blockchain powered - video content lifecycle management. 

The debt free company which has a vision to achieve revenue of $1 billion by 2030, is building on its RUN, GROW and BUILD proposition aligned to the new 3i Infotech business strategy. The company is working on margin enhancement projects focused on reduction on indirect cost and built proactive competency centre aligned to the regional strategies. They have also hired BUILD and next-gen technology teams.  

Mr. Thompson Gnanam, Managing Director & Global CEO, 3i Infotech Limited said “We want to assure all our stakeholders that the company is very much on a growth trajectory and the coming quarters would reflect the same. Post the carve out last year, the company has been steadily solving legacy related issues and trying to build a more robust foundation by proactively provisioning slow moving debtors that will be reduced aggressively by the year-end. With regards to the results which show increase in costs and expenses, it is important to understand that the investments of GROW and BUILD are happening from the same RUN P/L and going forward build projects of capital nature that would be capitalized by year-end as they will be creating products and platforms. The GROW business will be the new services business which will replace RUN and will be tracked as a separate P/L. This will ensure that you see a holistic view of the results, which is not the case presently, and appreciate the growth that we are able to successfully deliver quarter on quarter.” 

“We have enlisted the service of one of the Big 4 global consulting firms to help us in the entire global restructuring and achieve a major turnaround for the company, which would also include closing of certain underperforming and old subsidiaries. By end of this year, the company will be totally reorganised with RUN, GROW and BUILD being a separate organisational structure, and each driving their clear mandates and goals,” he further added.  

Announced during the call, the company has a string of business updates that spans Indian and international markets, with a strong sales funnel and order book pipeline of Rs.136.3 Cr. The company recently signed a multi-year deal in US, with an industry-leading Multi-Enterprise Product and Supply Chain Platform, for their cloud-first services with a TCV of $20 million. Also, an India PSU deal of $6 million TCV was signed for 3 years. The current revenue mix contains the highest revenue share from Banking Financial Services and Insurance sector. The other sectors in focus are manufacturing, government, and consulting. 

On the Q3 FY22 results announced, the EBITDA has seen an improvement by 9.4 Cr, primarily due to cost optimization and the normalized EBIDTA is positive for 9M FY22. A growth outlook of 10% annually is projected with one-time cost of 9.6 Cr being recorded as ‘exceptional item’ as part of FCCB early redemption. There has been an overall interest reduction due to long term debts being paid off and reduction in funded limits utilization. The GA cost optimization/rationalization through digital transformation has led to 10% cost reduction. 

For the period 9M FY22, the India Business Region (IBR) reported a revenue of Rs.153.7 Cr, the Global Business Region (GBR) that includes North America, UK, Europe and MEA reported a revenue of Rs. 333.4 Cr and finally the Emerging Business Region (EBR) that includes ASEAN reported a revenue of Rs. 14.1 Cr.  

For 3i Infotech, Q4 looks bullish as they optimistically look to build projects being identified for capitalization which was in P/L in YTD Dec 21. The GA cost optimization will lead to further improvement in EBITDA. There was an improvement in DSO in Q3 from 109 days to 99 days and this is expected to be improve further in Q4. 

Altron People Solutions Acquisition Drives SA Business Growth For iSON Xperiences

Following its acquisition of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Customer Experience Technology (CXTech) businesses of Altron People Solutions in October last year, global customer experience management firm iSON Xperiences has significantly strengthened its presence in the South African market to meet growing corporate demand for specialist onshoring services.

“We were looking to gain a foothold in the country and makemore jobs available to South Africans in ways that made the most strategic sense for us. At the end of 2018, iSON Xperiences secured the Mutichoice business to deliver customer experience services. Within six months, we were made their exclusive partners for providing inbound customer services and focused on strengthening the three call centre facilities we developed for them. At the time we had 1 200 agents serving Multichoice customers,” says Pravin Kumar, Global CEO of iSON Xperiences.

But to build on this, the company realised it needed to focus on more than just organic growth. In conjunction with the international intellectual propertyit would bring to South Africa, iSON Xperiences wanted to ensure that a foundation was in place to harness local talent.This was critical, as many of the large multinationals operating out of South Africa have been focused on outsourcing services to other countries instead of developing the potential of the market here.

“The timing of the Altron deal could not have been better for us. It presented iSON Xperiences with the ideal way to build its base in South Africa,especially in the telecommunications space,with Vodacom being an anchor client of Altron People Solutions. The country presents us with significant opportunities in this segment to build on the 75% pan-African market share we have in telecoms. Discussions with our global partner Vodafone gave us further impetus to pursue the acquisition,” says Kumar.

“We took over the Altron People Solutions businesses knowing they had a well-established employee base who understands the market extremely well. Our close engagements with their management teams meant that there were no challenges following the acquisition of the business and the integration of their South African staff into our operations, while also providing the opportunity to create even more local positions.We are now well positioned to increase our presence not only in South Africa but on the rest of the continent as well. Ultimately, iSON Xperiences has a vision of becoming one of the largest BPO and business process management organisations in South Africa and a significant player globally. With Altron People Solutions bringing a team of more than 1100 experienced people, we will deliver the best possible customer experiences for all the local onshoring needs of our customers with over 2300 agent strength in SA,” concludes Kumar.

About iSON Xperiences

iSON Xperiences is a subsidiary of the iSON Group and is a global leader in Customer Experience Management and Business Process Outsourcing. With a presence in 18 countries across Africa, Middle East and ASEAN, through 36 delivery centres worldwide, it has been managing customer interactions for some of the world’s most renowned brands and redefining the way people connect with enterprises.  iSON Xperiences’ talented and dedicated workforce of over 18000 employees, combine human efforts with technology to delivery exceptional customer services by developing intelligent operations, for digitally powered business process management and data solutions to enable business agility, increased productivity, and leading returns for their clients.

Persistent Systems: Acquisition To Strengthen Microsoft Azure Competencies Globally

BUY

CMP: Rs4413  

Target Price: Rs5000

* PSYS has entered into an agreement to acquire assets of Data Glove Inc (DGI), its Indian subsidiary and affiliate entities based out of Australia, UK, Canada and Singapore. Additionally, Persistent Systems Germany GmbH will acquire Data Glove's subsidiary in Costa Rica. The total purchase consideration is USD90.5mn (~1.95x EV/S on adj. CY21 sales), payable in cash.

* Deal rationale: Through this acquisition, PSYS will enhance its partnership with Microsoft, strengthen expertise in Azure-based digital transformation and other offerings in the Microsoft stack, as well as expand its geographic footprint (near-shore delivery center in Costa Rica and presence in US and India) and talent pool. Building on Microsoft Azure's impressive growth, these expanded capabilities will bolster the company's existing partnership and serve as the foundation for a new dedicated Microsoft business unit at PSYS. In addition to client sales and service delivery, this newly formed unit will focus on Microsoft training and certifications, working closely with community colleges and regional universities to foster new talent.

* Deal details: PSYS will pay an aggregate consideration of USD90.5mn, which includes  1) an upfront payment of USD50.69mn, subject to customary adjustments for working capital, debt and cash on closing; 2) maximum earn-outs of USD34.88mn to the founders of DGI over the next two years, contingent on the achievement of certain performance thresholds; and 3) a retention and performance-based payment of USD4.93mn to key employees of DGI over the next three years, depending on employment continuity and business performance. The transaction does not require any government or regulatory approvals and is expected to close within 4-5 weeks.

* Call highlights: 1) PSYS expects Microsoft Azure relationship to scale to ~USD75mn post the transaction (existing ~USD25mn Azure practice and ~USD50mn from DGI). IBM and Salesforce practices are already USD100mn+ on a run-rate basis. 2) Gross margin profile of DGI is slightly lower than that of PSYS, but due to lower SG&A costs, DGI has a similar EBITDA margin profile as PSYS. 3) PSYS expects ~75bps of impact on EBITM in FY23 due to the impact of employee retention payments and amortization charges, which the company expects to be absorbed by synergy benefits over a period. 4) DGI derives around 75-80% of revenues through the Microsoft channel (billed to Microsoft or catering needs of clients referred by Microsoft). 5) The company plans to draw USD35mn debt to fund the transaction. 6) PSYS plans to amortize the acquired intangibles over a period of seven years. 7) PSYS suggested that recurring revenue was ~USD46mn in CY21 as the balance revenue may not continue post the transaction and ownership change. 8) The earn-outs are based on DGI delivering 22.5% YoY growth. 9) The company indicated that the top client revenue run rate is in the range of USD8-10mn+, while revenues from the top 5-7 customers are in the range of USD2-4mn+ for DGI.

* Our view: The acquisition accelerates and deepens PSYS's Azure competencies, and bolsters vertical capabilities within the Microsoft ecosystem. DGI will also add a near-shore delivery center for PSYS in Costa Rica and expand its presence in the US and India to meet rising talent needs. The deal will enable PSYS to capture market share by taking advantage of growing Azure and Microsoft-led opportunities. The transaction is expected to add ~5% revenue in FY23 but to be low single-digit dilutive to EPS due to a 75bps EBITM impact (employee retention payment, amortization charges) and lower other income. We have yet not factored in the transaction in our estimates, pending its closure. We have a Buy rating on PSYS with a TP of Rs5,000 at 40x Dec'23E EPS.

21K School Launches ‘Junior Ideathon’ Series To Help Students Gain Entrepreneurial Prowess

21k School, India’s online-only school, has rolled out its 'Junior Ideathon' series, a platform where young student entrepreneurs can present their ideas, within a 15-minute timeframe virtually to a panel of distinguished entrepreneurs and businessmen. The ‘Junior Ideathon’ series has been created to help develop students hone their curiosity and innovativeness, and therefore develop an affinity to build their entrepreneurial skills at a very young age.

'Junior Ideathon' hosted by 21K School is based on the popular ‘Shark Tank’ format where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of investors or "sharks," and persuade them to invest in their idea. The 21K School ‘Junior Ideathon’ saw 145 young students present their ideas across 15 breakout rooms to ‘sharks’. The students were scored on their originality, presentation skills as well as their in-depth knowledge on the subject matter. Students developed highly innovative ideas like dog waste composting, hydraulic ceiling fan, an allergy identifying machine, a self-walking dog collar, temperature controlled smart jacket and many more!

Gagan Mathur, parent of a 21K School student, said, “It’s great to see that our children are provided a platform like ‘Junior Ideathon’ by 21K School. This will definitely help inspire and encourage young entrepreneurs.”

Entrepreneurs like Sagar Daryani, who serves as CEO and Co-Founder of Wow! Momo Foods Pvt. Ltd and Ajeet Khurana, India’s Cryptocurrency Maverick have also been a part of the ‘Junior Ideathon’ series to share their journey and career learnings with the budding entrepreneurs.

Speaking about how the ‘Junior Ideathon’ will help students, Santosh Kumar, Co-founder & CEO, 21K School said, “Students are naturally curious and creative. At 21K School, we want to provide our students with an enabling environment where they can use their innate skills to identify problems and develop solutions. The Junior Ideathon series will definitely help students increase their knowledge of business, as well as, learn problem solving techniques and develop their passion for learning, experimenting and taking risks.”

21K School’s ‘Junior Ideathon’ series was kickstarted in February 2022. 21K School will be funding the top 5 student start-up ideas and will help nurture them into a start-up product to amplify the ideas presented by the children.

About 21K School:

Founded in 2020, 21k School is the first online-only school in India. Co-founded by Santosh Kumar, Joshi Kumar, Dinesh Kumar and Yeshwanth Raj Parasmal, the school’s objective is to make world-class education accessible to all children irrespective of their geographical location and fluid lives. The school is known for its intellectual rigor, application-based learning, flexible options, trained faculty, and an environment of collective learning in a community that grows together instead of competing with each other. The school has 3,500 plus happy students from over 35 countries and is well poised for global expansion. Mr. Ronnie Screwvala has recently invested in 21k School’s vision to expand the reach of quality International Education.